Penny is reaching out with her hand to crush the drow's mind when she catches the only part of his surrender he said "Yeild your Bounty?" then she is ignoring the man and looking for the gnome.
"Block the door someone, credits are credits."
"You do realise we weren't trying to take the bounty in the first place?" Ben asks, looking down at his horrendously damaged jumpsuit. The admission doesn't cause him to countermand Penny though. She's right - credits are credits.
"Dammit, Horizon!" the bartender says, holding out her comm unit which shows an image of a gnome. While similar to the one that was brought in, the image bears distinctive differences. "Ya got the wrong gnome!"
"Filho da mãe!" the bounty hunter growls to himself.
"You folks!" she barks, turning her attention on you. "If you're done bustin' up my furniture, the 'party' that you're supposed to be meetin' is back there in the VIP room." She points towards a secured door and shakes her head in annoyance.
The indicated door opens at your approach allowing you access to the nicely furnished VIP meeting room. The sole occupant is a tall, handsome drow dressed in expensive garments that would fit right in to a party or rave.
"Hello," he says with a grin as he rises from the soft couch where he'd been reclining. "My name's Tause Jarzeed. You must be Captain Daxos. And Talah Lehdos, of course. I've heard so much about you." The elf flashes Boots a winning grin that probably sweeps the ladies and gents off their feet.
"So there's no misunderstandings," he continues. "The job consists of transporting fifty tons of weapons from here to Voxha. The job pays very well. Why? I couldn't say. Maybe there's an emergency on Vohxa that prompts this sudden delivery." He shrugs. "Oh well, not for me to worry about. The Gideron Authority is paying the bills here. If you’re willing to take the job, sign here, and I’ll have the armaments delivered to your ship." He proffers a datapad with the shipping contract on it.
Replacing her pistol, she slaps Ben on the back. "Nice work taking its attention of us, Cap. Well done."
Talah normally revels in the attention of her name being recognized as a thief, but not today. She offers in response some nervous laughter and looks around as she asks "Soooo. Is Sinjinn here?"
"No," the man says with a shake of his head and a smile. He eyes roam over the others. "My lord Sinjin was born here, on Apostae. But it’s difficult for a man to really... show his merits in drow society. If one wants to rise socially, one really must be a woman or seek opportunity elsewhere. So Sinjin made a fortune on other Pact Worlds and chose never to return to Apostae. While that means I have a job, I can’t help but mourn his absence. For all its limitations, Apostae is still possessed of a certain... haunted charm, don’t you think?"
Talah seems to sigh in relief at the realization that they were going to be able to pull this job off without having to interact further with Sinjinn or the League. In fact, she smiles broadly and boasts "Indeed. Ya know I used ta work with Sinjinn. We were partners in crime-"
Turning to her crew she holds up her hands defensively, "Just a phrase, y'all. Don't be alarmed."
Clearing her throat, she says "We won't be askin' no questions. We'll get this cargo where it oughta be gettin' to on time. Won't we, Cap?"
"Why would be alarmed?" Penny asks without looking at the thief, as she takes the datapad to look over the contract.
"Oh, yes. My lord Sinjin has told me quite a bit about you," Tause says with a wink towards the pilot.
The contract seems to be fairly standard in its terms. By signing, you agree to accept delivery of the itemized weaponry (tactical infinity rifles and mk 2 frag grenades - fairly standard infantry issue) and transport them to Labor Camp 1120 on Vohxa.
There doesn't seem to be any more weasel clauses than would normally be found in an agreement of this sort.
Once Penny has deemed the contract suitable Ben reads through it for himself before adding his signature. "Please begin delivery." He says, handing back the pad with a nod. "We will return to the ship and await our cargo. It doesn't seem as though there's any point in trying to get a drink here."
Indeed, with a considerable chunk of his torso showing, with a fairly large amount of blood across it, Ben looks like he's on the back end of a bar fight - not dressed for a night out.
Penny leans over and whispers to Ben "It is a good thing he didn't stab you lower, captain" the mirth in her voice evident. Then she agrees "With the damage to the stools, the proprietor might excrete something into our drinks if we tried."
"No need to rush off," Tause says giving Ben's exposed chest an appraising eye, blood notwithstanding. "I can arrange for drinks if you'd like to stay. A little pleasant company is always appreciated and it can take hours for them to load the cargo." The man reclines back down on the couch and grabs a nearby tablet, waiting expectantly.
Ben, at least, has no intention of fraternising with the employer. Sure, sometimes it leads to bonuses - the rest of the time it leads to complications and those are absolutely not needed right now.
"You're very kind Tause." He says, managing a rather winning smile, "But I need a change of clothes after that unfortunate run in with the drow outside. If any of my crew would like to stay and take you up on your offer then I'm happy for them to do so." He nods politely and heads for the door.
"You know the way back ladies, try not to stay more than... four hours."
"Free drinks is free drinks. Keep 'em coming!" Chase says with a grin. It's clear there's no hard feelings between her and the drow.
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"Whilst you all poison yourselves with alcohol, I am going to head back."
Katherine, not one to spend time socialising, follows Ben back to the ship and helps him with his wounds which now look much better than before. "That was reckless Ben. I know that Chase and Kes are not the brightest people on this ship, but sometimes if someone approaches in that way, you should let them go ahead of you. They are expendable compared to you on this crew."
Fussing over him for a few moments, she adds, "Penny on the other hand is a genius; you look to be in perfect working order. She is certainly not expendable."
"Well if at all possible, I don't want to lose any of the crew." Ben says, a hint of reprimand in his voice. "Thank you for your assistance though. I had best go and change now I think."
He takes off the ruined top half of his jumpsuit and walks over to his bed, which is the furthest from the door, before bending down to open his trunk which is packed with a precision that could make an android weep at the sheer beauty of it.
"How are you finding life as a trader?" He asks, stripping down without any particular ceremony, "Everything you hoped it would be?"
"While we're in port, I am going to pick up fresh supplies for our meals. One can only do so much with freeze-dried powders and pastes." the BD514 cook says after away from the employer, then heads off to the market. Salad night is coming and she had nothing resembling leaves other than shaping the nutrient paste in that shape then flash-frying it into a chip.
Talah isn't sure whether to stay or not and decides to go the cautious route instead.
It could be a trap by the League, best not to push your luck.
"I'm not feeling well and I think I'm going to head back too. Try not to have too much fun without me." Boots says to Kez and Chase, making her way to catch up with Penny, Katherine and Benedict.
"Hey wait for me!" she says, dashing after the trio.
Back aboard the ship, Talah busies herself with ship diagnostics with Lois.
With Ben's exit, Tause doesn't seem to be in quite the same sociable mood as before. He orders drinks for Kez and Chase, but spends most of his time occupied with his comm unit.
~~~~~
Just as Ben, Katherine, Boots, and Penny arrive at the ship, a transport hovertruck pulls up to the docking bay. Four orcs exit the vehicle and, with minor directions, begin transferring crates from the truck to the ship. Several hours later and the hold of the BD514 is full. With just minor grunts of acknowledgement, the orcs return to their transport and drive off.
=====================================================================
Pact Worlds Date: 321-07-31 AG
Location: The Planet Vohxa
Ship Ident: COM-EJCORP03-FS-BD514
Current Mission: Arms Delivery
=====================================================================
Your trip through the Drift to the planet Vohxa is uneventful and soon you arrive in orbit around a small world awash in snow and rock, its jutting mountain peaks competing with lofty factory towers that clutter the planet's surface.
As you're taking in the view of the planet a number of proximity alerts sound. Checking the display shows a Sword-class attack vessel approximately twice the size of the BD514 peeling away from the nearby fleet and moving close. At the same time a message comes over the broadcast channel in Common: "This is the Gideron Authority attack vessel Falchion. Identify yourselves and your mission."
"Transport Vessel COM-EJCORP03-FS-BD514." Ben replies. "We have been hired on a trading mission with delivery to be made on Vohxa."
A useful trick he learned for dealing with overbearing authority figures is to tell them exactly what they want to know and nothing else. Then its much harder for them to get annoyed with you.
"Transmit your manifest and destination," is the terse response.
As the information is being sent over, Katherine notes via her readouts that the BD514 is being scanned. After a few moments of tense silence, the communication channel crackles to life again. "You destination of Labor Camp 1120 is approved," the remote voice declares. Boots sees a prerendered flight path stream across her piloting display, showing their final destination at the base of a large mountain in the northern hemisphere.
"Any deviation from this flight plan will be met with sustained anti-aircraft fire."
As BD514 descends through the clouds toward its destination, signs of war and conflict quickly become apparent. Blast craters and wrecked vehicles pockmark fractured highways, shattered stumps of smokestacks rise from shut-down factories, and the tracks of hobgoblin war machines crisscross the countryside. Labor Camp 1120 comes into sight: a large rectangular compound nestled against the foot of a mountain, surrounded by high walls and spiral wire, accessed by a single enormous gate and protected by multiple guard towers with gun emplacements. A flat landing area with several parked vehicles has room for BD514. A cavernous mine entrance leads into the mountain.
The camp has several rugged, prefabricated buildings, but also sports a large collection of plastic shelters that look like they provide little protection from the cold mountain air. Hobgoblin soldiers patrol or guard locations throughout the camp, but most of the population seems to consist of dwarven, human, and shirren prisoners, including some children.
As you land, a small squad of four hobgoblin troopers approaches, a female hobgoblin officer strides forward waving a datapad, a squad of troopers at her back. "What are you doing here? This camp is not cleared for civilian access!"
"Are you not expecting a delivery?" Penny asks as her stomach clenches in worry about another job going odd. They couldn't afford that... but at least this time their cargo is something that wouldn't go bad.
"A delivery?" the officer questions. "What kind of delivery would you be bringing here?" She seems genuinely confused.
"We don't tamper with the cargo as a rule. Just delivery people. Pick up cargo from X and deliver it to Y" she uses her hands to mimic picking up and them moving over and dropping "It is generally a bad sign when the place we are delivering to knows nothing about the shipment. Would you like to inspect the cargo? Maybe that would help."
You show her the cargo manifest and she shakes her head. "You can’t unload 50 tons of personal armaments here," the officer insists, gesturing around the camp. "Look around you! This is a prison labor camp! Do you think it’s a wise idea to put laser rifles and frag grenades a few yards away from this desperate swarm of vermin?" She gestures toward the dwarven, human, and shirren prisoners in threadbare and sometimes tattered clothing, hiding inside cheap plastic shelters or shambling in and out of the mine entrance under the close eye of Gideron guards. Some eye the starship curiously while also trying to avoid the attention of the soldiers. "We don’t even have a place to store them!"
The hobgoblin looks around with frustrated expression. "I'm Quartermaster Slib and I'm responsible for everything coming into and out of this camp. I understand that you've been hired to deliver these weapons, but I refuse to accept it, sign for it, or let you unload it. Unless ..." She sighs and looks around again. "You need to take this someplace safe. We have an armory just up the mountain, and a couple of trucks. I can spare some soldiers to drive one of them, but if you want your credits, you’ll have to drive the other."
Penny is holding her hands tight behind her back in angry worry but slightly relaxes at the uttering of 'Unless' "Yes, thank you Quartermaster Slib, we can manage that. Our pilot is an expert at driving anything." she looks to Ben to see if he disagrees, but she assumes not since they have little choice. They CANNOT go unpaid again.
"Perhaps I should stay with the ship, just in case and continue with some of my most recent experiment. You see, I have this new theory that I can..." She sighs as she realises no one is appreciating the start of her very useful explanation already and there would be no point expending any energy continuing.
"Or I guess I'll just come along in case you need my perspective."
Ben nods, although internally he's sighing at yet another job going tits up. "Let's get loaded and moving." He says firmly.
The labor of transferring the crates from the ship to the nearby hover-trucks is fairly mindless, giving you an opportunity to take in a little more of the compound around you. Near to one of the trucks is a pen containing numerous large, dog-like creatures. They seem quite vicious. As you watch, one of the prisoner/laborers approaches with a large bucket of meat scraps. He opens the gate and steps inside with the snarling and growling creatures. The man's confidence flags and then fails entirely. Dropping the bucket, he flees the enclosure right towards the truck you're loading. The creatures take up pursuit with a howl, the entire pack taking advantage of the open gate and rushing out of the enclosure to scatter among the workers and guards. Chaos ensues.
In your little corner of it, though, things are pretty focused. The fleeing laborer scrabbles under your truck while three of the beasts redirect their attentions to ... you.
Combat Begins!
Round 1
”Stay behind me!” Chase says. She steps in front of the group and pushes a few buttons on her Fistigons, causing a crackling pink energy field to surround her. ”Alright, doggies! Time to heel!”
"Gladly" Penny slips way behind their engineer as pulls her heavy autopistol. A large CRACK follows when she pulls the trigger at the nearest mutt.
"Penns, what are you shooting at?!" Talah asks confused when her blast goes nowhere hear the mutt.
She feints and then takes her own attack at the creature.
Boots moves under the truck coming up next to Kez and fires a round into the centermost of the large beasts. Chase activates her fists. Kez also fires at the centermost creature, hitting it and setting its dirty fur on fire. Penny's shot seems more an exercise in ammo expenditure than any actual attempt to hit the enemy.
The creatures split off for different targets. One moves to Ben and grabs his leg in powerful jaws. The second one moves near and bites her leg as well. The third lopes towards Katherine and latches on to her arm.
As the dogs rip through them, shaking her crewmates by their limbs like chew toys, Penny considers retirement. But it isn't like the corporation would just accept a resignation letter at this time, even if expertly typed.
So she has to help, instead of running in the cab of the truck where any smart person would be when bloody hounds were loose (she actively stops herself from moving toward it like she was doing). Then reaches out her mind of one of the hounds
eeny meeny miny MOE she attacks the one on Katherine. Having the doctor alive to treat any infections after this is probably a good idea.
"Ow! Bad dog! Bad dog!" Chase shouts as the hound bites through her energy field and grabs her leg. She shakes and kicks it off before calibrating her Fistigons and trying to punch it, but she only pounds the pavement instead!
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Talah is easily distracted with how much blood Ben is letting. Her mind wonders...
Do you think it's the soap he uses? Does it attract violence? I bet it is. Note to self, do not ever use Ben's soap.
She snaps back to reality and tries to fire her gun, but isn't able to focus well enough to make it count.
Ben is wondering surprisingly similar things to Talah, although a large part of his mind is also being concentrated on the large hound trying to eat him.
Unfortunately the dog doesn't seem likely to let go so Ben simply does his best to wrestle his way clear - something that is never likely to go well.
Katherine fails to shake free of the hound's grasping jaws. She attempts to stab the thing with a syringe, but the tough hide prevents it from getting through. Ben manages to wrench himself free from his foe's jaws.
Round 2
Boots' shot fails to hit as does Chase's fists. Kez manages to burn the center hound with her laser pistol again. Surprisingly, the one Penny targets manages to resist some of the effects of her mental attack.
The hound fighting Ben seems surprised that the man was able to escape his grasp and stares at him in surprise. The beast attacking Chase ignores its own burning fur and takes a chunk out of her leg. Katherine tries to fend off the hound attacking her, but takes a huge bite on her arm for her recompense.
"Damn it!" Chase curses as the beast bites her again. She brings both Fistigons up over her head, then back down to try to wallop it!
Ben puts some distance between himself and the hound before shooting at it!
"how in the abyss are you still up!" Penny snaps at the dog who didn't die. There is too much blood all over the battlefield to use another of main spells, so she tries to befuddle it until one of the others can kill it.
Boots tries the feint maneuver once more, but meets with the same ineffectiveness as she did previously.
Katherine yells out in pain before rushing out of harms way as fast as she can.
Katherine turns and runs, ducking under the truck to get away from the hound attacking her. Ben does something similar while attempting to shoot his attack, but misses.
Round 2
Boots fires at the hound that was attacking Katherine and does nothing other than attract its attention. Finally seeming to get a handle on her fists, Chase slams the beast attacking her into the ground and it doesn't get up. Kez fires at the hound that was attack Katherine as well, hitting it with a glancing blow. Penny's attempt to daze the same beast doesn't seem to slow it a bit.
Ben's opponent advances and snaps at him, taking a hunk out of his arm. The other hound moves towards Kez, but she manages to avoid its jaws.
Chase moves in and smashes the hound she had previously marked!
Ben collapses to the ground, with his arms (this time) badly shredded.
"Ben! Again? Talah, Kezred, kill that one. Chase... nevermind" she leaves off the suggestion of killing the one gnawing on their dear captain since the engineer is already taking care of it.
The quartermaster sees to the fallen captain "Come on, up and atom, though I don't know what atoms have to do with getting up."
Staying safely out of the way, Katherine tends to herself quickly and efficiently.
She pulls out a nanite patch that she keeps in that useful inside pocket of her lab coat and applies it to her forearm. She relaxes somewhat when she can feel the nanites begin to do their job, stitching up some of her wounds and stemming the worst of the blood flow.
Katherine administers some self-healing and Ben falls to the dirt.
Round 4
Boots fires at the hound attacking Kez and manages to hit the beast. Chase slams her fists into the one standing over Ben's prone form, drawing its snarling attention. Kez takes a step back and fires her laser pistol at the vicious creature, hitting it. Penny races over to Ben's side and administers some magical healing.
The hound attacking Ben turns its snapping jaws on Chase, but only catches empty air. The one attacking Kez, however, latches on to her thigh, tearing into the flesh.
Chase smashes the hound again before calibrating her weapon against the fi al foe.