Firefly - Take Me to the Black (Closed)

[Obuzeti]

The console beeps, and Emmett kicks awake with a snort, the shrill noise drilling a hole through his safely-stolen naptime. With a cautious look back towards the main room - the captain hadn't busted his ass yet, which meant likely he'd gotten away with dozing - he pops the com and checks for the message. With Nightmoth in for refueling and refitting, the crew has a couple days of downtime, and a new job to roll out with would save them all some shiny, instead of having to trawl for shipments. It looks like one, sure enough, just a location and a time for a meeting, along with an authentication ticket from one of their fixers. Emmett punches the code in, and when it lights green he grins.

"Hey, boss!" he calls, glancing back to the hallway, as he stretches, bones popping from his, ah, extended break. A loud rap echoes through the hall, and Emmett continues, "We got another green-bid! It's asking for 1700 local down in the China Tavvee! And Nelson confirmed it; it's looking solid, I think."

"Good luck, that," the captain replies, and moseys out to lean against the open doorway, tall and slender and too still to take lightly. As always, his eyes are affixed to the reader tablet he takes goddamn everywhere with him, long fingers cradling it absently as he listens with half an ear to Emmett. "Not losing any time dawdling, now are we?"

Those steady grey eyes affix on Emmett, and the crewman swallows uneasily, smiling. That's a stare like a blowtorch - burns right through a man. "Naw, work's always good by me! You gonna pick this one up, chief?"

Boss Jo nods, incremental, and stashes the reader in a pocket of his heavy overjacket, glancing at the time on the com. "May as well," he allows. "Time's getting close, I'll head on down. Try to keep Surly from eating anything that keeps the ship flying. He'd get indigestion. And then we'd all die, of course."

Emmett rolls his eyes, but the smile flares into a full-blown smirk at the ancient joke. Suranna had a stomach like a hungry star, and everyone cracked jokes about it at every opportunity. "I'll put th' warning labels up, Captain," he drawls. "Go on, put some food on the table, Daddy."

"Don't call me that," Boss says, mild, and turns about to head to the shuttle, the steady click of his bootheels audible even through the carpeting. After a moment, the console lights up and the display indicates Captain Joachim Monterley departing. The ship rocks with the transferred inertia as the shuttle takes off, descending to the surface in a long arc towards the visible lights of the Tavvee, a terrestrial landing pad and trading post that's the heart of commerce in Vivinons - at least, their kind of commerce. Some would argue that the real money passes through Arcadia, the great university maybe a hundred miles west, but those people don't know, too bound up in red tape and sticky rules to get niu shi done.

Tavvee is where people and cargo goes to disappear and show up someplace else positively convenient, and that's what the Nightmoth does; one of the finest smugglers and blockade runners in the business, it never quite runs dry of things to move about quietly.

Captain'll see what this new business was about, Emmett figured, and he leans back in his chair, pulling the cap down low over his eyes with a smile. He'd, ah, requisitioned leisure time to catch up on, after all.

 

[La_Reina]

Summer smiled as she got off the transport. It was a given that even if she missed a week of University she would still be able to maintain her GPA. This surprise visit to her parents home was just what she needed. Her parents probably would be upset at the week off and she was sure her mother probably already knew Summer's rash decision to pick up and leave to visit home. She just needed to come home.

Summer ran to her home, but stopped short seeing the door ajar. The house looked dark inside. All of Summer's trainings kicked in. Ever since she could remember both her parents instilled in her to be cautious and safe; taught her how to defend herself and how to disappear if she ever needed. Her mother was wanted by the Alliance and the Alliance had hired her father to capture her mother. The details were a little fuzzy, but Summer knew her father had hunted down her mother who had grown close to a crew on ship called Serenity. She had been so close to them they considered themselves family and they strove to protect her. Her father had been the cause of one of the crew member's death before he was defeated, but not killed.

Her mother hunted down her father and over time they fell in love. They eventually fell off the face of the universe in the Alliance's eyes. Because of this her parents were perfectly honest with her and instilled that she was not safe. If the Alliance knew she was alive they would come for her to either use her like her mother or use her to get to her mother and father. For years she trained and as each year passed that nothing happened she grew complacent. Seeing the open black door brought all those lessons crashing back.

Summer dropped her bookback and slowly made her way to the door. She peeked inside and confirmed no one was in the entry way. Still she used her training to go through the house and confirm it was empty. The house had been ransacked and her parents were no where to be found. Summer sat at the table staring at a glistening white envelope that was so out of place. After a long debate she slide the letter out of the envelope.

We're in trouble. Come to Serenity. You can find us.

"It's a trap." Summer knew it was a trap. When her mother married her father the crew of Serenity was not happy. No one showed up to the wedding except her uncle, her real uncle and not just a friend of the family that she called uncle, and her Aunt Kaylee. After Summer was born she could count on one hand the number of times she met her "aunts and uncles" from the Serenity crew. She didn't blame them for the distance they put between them and her mother and father. It was understandable, so to receive a letter telling her mother and father to come seemed out of place. She was sure the crew would have rather died then to reach out to her parents.
.
"If they went then I'm going. But ...I'm not my mother. I'm not psychic. Where would they be." Summer drummed her fingers on the table top. "Persephone." It seemed as good a place as any to start.

 

[Obuzeti]

The quiet dome of the Tavvee looms ahead - a long, low shape like a form in the grass, half-crouched beneath the canopy of roofs about it. In comparison to their rigid square architecture, the rounded curves of this circumspect marketplace are terribly distinct, and rightfully so. The Tavvee is a seller's market - those who come for a service are meant to be put ill at ease. It's easier to drive a bargain with a nervous man. Additionally, the odd construction makes the building completely soundproof, a valuable consideration in a business such as this.

Stepping up to the rear entrance, Joachim nods at the silent bouncer, Magroy, and takes the frisking stance, allowing him to quickly pat down the captain for any forbidden weapons. The hilts of his paired knives are touched, but ignored - stabbings occur almost weekly in the Tavvee, and indeed, honor duels are frequent. It's gunplay and more destructive weaponry the lady of the Tavvee won't allow. As per usual, he's limited himself to simple clothing: the blazer and slacks combo so common to this rigidly academic world, and that had permitted him unnoticed passage through the exterior - and the odd, triplebanded ring on his right index finger that both marked him as Captain and permitted him unobstructed passage through the Tavvee. His tall, slender build fit right in with the native scholars, and only the extreme stillness of his stare gave the lie to his disguise.

Emmett liked to joke about "Captain Jo" and the ninety-nine nights he spent mastering the martial art of Not Giving a Fuck. You could hear the capitals when the idiot said it. Joachim felt like smacking his head off every time.

Magroy steps back and the ivory band at his throat clicks twice and gives a green light. Joachim bows, ever so slight, and passes onwards. The Tavvee's bouncers are all mute, as part of their contract and vow of silence. Speaking is an unnecessary addenda to their responsibilities.

Spotting the designated booth, the Captain steps through the darkened doorway and into the sealed compartment. It's Spartan and nigh featureless, sporting only a table and a small radio for requests of refreshments or the like. He takes a moment to check himself over - compose himself, and exhales quietly.

Gametime.

He clicks the overhead light on to indicate his presence, then settles down to wait for his potential employer.

 

[La_Reina]

Sooo taking transports takes a hell of a lot more credits than Summer had. She was a University kid and spent what little credits she had with the expectation that her parents and/or school would provide what she needed. She had a savings that both her parents had access too that was super controlled and secret, so as not to alert the Alliance of her presence. All in all it meant she had no more money. She had made it to a transport station though with no real way of getting to said transport to Persephone.

Summer stepped off the ship and looked up. She quickly glanced back down not wanting to look like a tourist or worse an easy target. She sucked in a deep breath of air and squared her shoulders. She would have to put all her training into work. She would need to stay vigilant. She needed to find a ship that was on it's way to Persephone and hitch a ride.

Summer walked into the local bar and cocked her head a the crowd. "Weapons," someone said to her right. Summer looked and shook her head. She didn't have any weapons to put in the holding case. "You can't come in here with any weapons, darling. I don't care how pretty you look."

Summer turned slowly towards the face trying to do her best father's face - a dead expression in the eyes and a very soft and yet gentle tone that totally contradicted each other. It was a very creepy effect."I do not carry weapons as I do not see the need for them." Summer lifted her jacket to show she had none at her hip.

The woman's eyes widen and Summer wasn't sure if it was the effect of her changed demeanor or the fact she didn't carry weapons. In honesty she didn't need them. She was considered an expert in hand to hand not from just her parents, but studied at the University as well. She could take down about 4 grown armed men with only a few scrapes. She wanted to be like her mother who took down the whole alliance all by herself. Her mother claimed it was hearing their thoughts that alerted her to who was next, but Summer was determined to be able to be that focus and do the same. Besides Summer had the sneaking suspicion her father could do the same and he wasn't telepathic.

Summer walked to the bar ordered a drink and kept her ears open as she slowly cradled her beverage.