Session One - The World In Ice

[heart havok]

With a bit of enthused arrogance, Dean nodded and gave a sly 'Yes'. He inhaled remembering his possable connection down at the docks. "You wanna join me? We... er.. I could use someone..."

The smile on Naal's face faded. She lowered back from her toes and eyed him carefully while he continued: "You, like, wouldn't happen to know anything about a bounty head named... Keiran, wouldja?" Her eyebrow raised, as Dean dislodged the digital screen from his tight pocket and showed her. Naal hesitantly placed her hands on the edge of the screening device. She was suddenly treating him as though he had just told her that he believed he was a large orange and that if she peeled him, he would die. She looked down, into the contraption, and quickly back up...
Just kidding. ..with a mischevious smile.

Naal stared back down into the digital screen and her face grew serious as her eyes collected the data carefully. For a few moments, she eyed over the mechanism before suddenly shooting her chin back up to look Dean in the eyes.
What model is this?
She examined the device carefully as though it were a life or death situation. Thuough as soon as he began to open his mouth, she unintentionally changed the subject back to its original; Is this him?
Her rhetorical question was followed by her finger, which pointed at the photo on the screen that accompanied the text. Though, immediately after asking, she became very disappointed to tell Dean; I'm sorry, I don't know... Like I said, I haven't had any opportunities... and... It was clear she didn't quite feel comfortable discussing what she apparently felt she was required to lead herself into.
I hope that offer still remains...
She became calm again. And she twisted towards him and brushed the hair out of her face. ..I'm a quick learner. I'm sure I can help. I would be most appreciative if you took me in... She almost seemed she doubted he would want her company. As though she had just failed a test or stepped on his foot. Sorry.

She bowed and took a step back as she lifted her boot from atop his.

[Kayay]

“Hm?” Ace pulled off the VR glasses and stuffed them quickly into his bag with another grin. “Forgot I had those there, “ he mumbled to himself, then looked up to notice the other man’s lips were turning an odd shade of blue. “So, you sell coats, hm? Looks like you should have kept one for yourself Buddy.” His smile broadened and the redhead decided to press his luck. “Hey, I know, lets go inside! Its freezing out here…”

This was, obviously, what Brink was dreading most. Un-paying customers free-loading in a ship was bad business. So was letting a VR junkie with a case of super-charisma wander around your holds in search of whatever he could probably get his hands on.

"I dunno..I've got a couple of things I need to take care of before I pick a name off of the MANY people I have waiting to board this beauty." That's what he tried to say..unfortunately, the saliva around his constantly smiling face had gotten cold enough to freeze a bit, and his whole face was numb..it came out more as a garbled spit wad of humming sounds. "Mmmmnyeeadit da doo..." Brink had just lost. He expressed his anger by hitting the door open key rather hard..sending a spark flying, and leaving the door still closed.

“I think you broke it.” Ace observed solemnly, yet the gleam in his eyes betrayed the amusement with which he was watching Brink. “Soooo…” he drawled as he leaned against the ship again, hand in his pockets, and tilted his head to look at the door. “I guess you’ll be staying out here a little longer, hm? Of course I could op…nah, nevermind.”

Having breathed heavily enough in and out of his nose, and having heated up his face in a bit of anger, Brinks lips unstuck from his teeth, allowing him to answer. " All right, all right. Go ahead and see what you can do. I've been pumping bullets into it all morning, and that didn't even fully shut it up. At the mention of bullets, Brink drew out his gun in a nonchalant gesture, that didn't exactly say "Don't mess up my ship"...but didn't exactly NOT say it either.

[Brissar]

A giant stopped its steady tread, and set down in the snow. It was growing a little hungry and wanted to get the "dirty" off it before it found some food. Rubbing his hands on the frozen ground, crimson stains left his gloved limbs.

He didn't have a problem with killing, but hated the "dirty" that always got on him. The warm, sticky, metal smelling red that got on him. The grey, slimy, pulpy, head-goo that splattered across everything. He rubbed until the ground wouldn't help anymore, when he would move to a new patch.

Pulling his coat back around him, Tiamat left for the nearest restaurant or shop he could find. He could smell some down the block, the aroma carried by the steam on the wind. He entered the small diner, inhabited only by the regulars. He sat in a booth, the metal protesting his bulk.

A short time later, he didn't know how long, some one came by to ask what he wanted. Pointing to the plate of another customer close by, he simple said, "That." The waiter looked the golem up and down, writing the order down. "Not to strong in the brain department, are ya? Well you got brawn to spare so..."

Tiamat nodded, as the person left. A plate with his meal came, and the hulk began to eat. He didn't know what the food was called, but it tasted good. Ignoring the small knife and fork, he tore the food with his hands and teeth. The giant ate silently, without a word or gross sound effect. His glass of water, drained quickly, and he got another. When the small plate was emply, he put the plasic on the top of the table. He had learned early that putting the plastic on the table avoided trouble. The first few times that he remembered getting food, he kept getting into trouble. Whenever he finished a job, the bulk had his employer put the Woolongs he earned on the same card.

The waiter left with the plastic, and returned placing it infront of Tiamat. His proportionatly oversived limb moved over the card and placed it back in his belt. The heavly built man rose from his seat, cleaned himself in the rest room and turned to leave.

[Fairybane]

Gill walked into the chilly sterile corridor of the Europa spaceport. Behind him, The King of Rock 'n Roll was being lightly dusted with a layer of white powder by an impromptu flurry. There was an unerving silence pervading the spaceport, the usual busy din was nowhere to be found. As he walked into the main corridor, flashing red lights could be seen outside the windows, through the veil of falling snow.
What's going on...?
The patter of running footsteps caught his attention, and turning around, he reached for his pistol.
"HANDS IN THE AIR, SCUMBAG!!" Gill yanked his hand from inside his coat, and slowly raised them above his head. Turning around cautiously, he beheld two uniformed officers, drawn pistols aimed at him.
"Hey, settle down guys, I'm one of you." Gill said, trying to calm the cops before they accidently blasted him.
One of the officers sneered. "Yeah right buddy, I already fell for that once today. Let's see what you have in your coat. Nice and slow."
Gill sighed in annoyance...this wasn't turning out to be the best of days, by any standards. Pulling open his coat, he slowly withdrew his badge, flipping it open and shining it in their eyes. "Detective Gillard Glass, Ganymede ISSP. Satisfied? Now stop pointing those damn guns at me and tell me what's going on here."
The two ISSP officers exchanged cautious glances, and haltingly, they lowered their weapons and holstered them.
"Well, you see..." started one. "There was some short of shoot-out here."
"A real bloodbath," piped up the other. "The survivors mentioned some beast of a man, but he got away clean. Now, we're trying to keep this spaceport secure, without locking it down completely.
The other officer nodded. "Yep, can't very well go out and seal up a place just because of a shootout, hahaha!" The man's nervous laughter quickly withered under Gill's blank stare.
"Just...stay out of my way. If you could, let the rest of the on-duty officers know about me and my subordinates...we're trying to keep a low profile here if you get my drift." Gill glared at the two. "That'll be all officers, good day."

[Kayay]

((OOC: Hehe. Guns.))

Quickly pulling his VR interface and laptop out from his bag, Ace casually commented, “Daewoo DP-51. Not bad.” Talking absently his fingers flashed over the keypad. “I’ve got a couple of Walther P99s myself. Nice smooth trigger and good accuracy…now letsee here…ah…even got a hold of some 16 and 24 round magazines…” Ace continued to ramble as he tapped into the ships system. And just for a little insurance, Mr.Not-so-Friendly-Look-I've-Got-A-Gun, I’ll leave something special behind.

“..yup. Found a .50 AE Desert Eagle too, but you wouldn’t believe what the guy was asking for it…BINGO!” He grinned as the computer keypad hissed and sparked and the door slid open with a soft metallic whoosh. The redhead stepped aside, and with an exaggerated sweep of his arm motioned for Brink to enter the ship. He was then about to then suggest he join the half frozen coat merchant, when another ship caught his attention. Glancing at his watch, he grinned apologetically at Brink. “SorryhatetodashofflikethisbutIreallymustgonowbye!”

With that, Ace tucked his computer under his arm and dashed off back towards the terminal, pausing just long enough to set his alarm to notify him when Mr.Carraway would get his little surprise. Although by no means a computer whiz, the self proclaimed jack-of-all-trades knew enough get to information -- which was one of his skills for hire -- or cause trouble -- which he did naturally whether money was involved or not -- and the little gift he left Brink was sure to be…interesting.

[YellerCrakka]

With a slight uneasy cringe, Dean exhaled a slight laugh to try and lighten the mood.

"No, It's alright. I'm just tryin' ta get info on this guy. That's all." Lightly pulling his fingers from the burn on his neck, he retreated the screen back to his side and slid it back into his pocket. With another glance he realized she seemed to be a little dissapointed and he remembered that she was asking if she could still join. 'I thought I said she could join me... maybe I didn't' "Sooo... you ARE going to help me to find this guy, right?" He fealt his heart pick up a bit in it's pace but tried to ignore it with a smile.

He paused for a moment to watch her reaction. She seemed excited to hear the news. 'I guess I didn't tell her... heh... well I hope she doesn't get herself hurt.' Dean fell into a blank stare, still holding his smile.

-------------------------------

The cold air pushed it's way through the hallway of the Lazy Gal as Marty blinked his eyes open. He could now breahe, but seemed to neglect all that for his shivering. Little earthquakes shook his skeleton till it decided to upgrade to convulses. He shook the wall that he leaned against. All the shivering made it hard for him to think, but eventually he realized that sooner or later he would have to do something to stop this shaking. In trying to stand up, Marty found himself falling to the floor. All of his organs still fealt as if they were trying to excape through his pores, and his belly-button was still happily on it's retreat with his spine. He landed hard. Upon the impact of his head thumping on the steel, he noticed a stained towel laying in the crack of the door.

It seemed to cry for help the way that Marty found he couldn't. The towel was innocently keeping the door open a slight crack, making the Lazy Gal unable to warm up. Marty left the heating unit on earlier for obvious reasons, but now he knew why he was so cold. It was inadvertantly the towel's fault. A weak and jittery hand reached up and ploped it's self down atop the poor, once-white, once-proud to be a towel, rag. It took some from of effort, but as an old man stands up from his rocking-chair, Marty dislodged the rag. The door seemed to thank him as it slid shut.

With little less than a decission, Marty fell back to sleep while rubbing the rag against his ear to use the poor thing as a pillow. Needless to say that the towel wasn't exactly happy with this arrangement either.

[heart havok]

Naal teetered on her heels for a bit and her eyes traveled the grounds; as though, perhaps, there was something she had in mind that her lips also had in consideration. Though after a short beat, she quickly uprighted herself and stood straight with an easy smile.

I suppose it'd be silly of me to say "no"... I'd been reading into Bounty Hunting but never knew quite how I'd get started. She nodded her head once and got straight on topic. I needn't stall your search any further than. Do you have any pickups on him? Or any leads?

She giggles slightly and then noted her realisation: Well you must've been on your way to someplace in specific before you met my 'pack. So where're we off to? She almost never stopped smiling.

[Hitomi_333]

**Approaching Europa* the computer stated. Nidia got up from where she was cleaning out her new weapons yet again, leaving it in pieces on the table. She hated doing that, but as of yet wasn't comfortable enough to assemble it was quickly as required at the moment. Silently she walked down to the control center (occ: is it called a cockpit on a cruiser as well? *shrugs* /occ), to make the necessary call to land.

She turned on the interactive channel and sent through the needed information to get permission to land.

"Welcome to Europa Spaceport. Please land at dock 37," the woman on the other end finally said.

She set the auto-pilot to land, but remained in her seat to see that it had done so smoothly. Nidia sighed, as it was finally landed and locked in.

The ride had gone smoothly, from take-off in Callisto to going through the gate to Europa, to finally landing it at the spaceport. But the next part wasn't going to be so easy, there was information to get... and information wasn't cheap. And then what if she was too late? Whatever the cost of capturing the bounty head, it was better than the cost of owing these guys...

She reassembled her gun before hiding a gun within her coat and making her way outside and into the Spaceport.


OOC: that was pretty bad, but I don't know much about landing procedures -_-;;

[Chesta chesta chesta]

What was the difference between a wrench and a spanner? More importantly which one was which? Karin did know what a wire cutter was. It was the one that looked like a twisted example of dentist equipment…right?

Karin drew a heavy sigh as she sat on the chair and was allocated the tedious job of handling tools. She should be out there doing stuff, catching criminals and taking in the sights. With her elbow against the sideboard she stared out at the snow outside, with its droves and continuously falling down. She was somewhat happy that she was inside as the weather looked like it could be a right killer, but Robert wasn’t the best of company. Too quiet.

“I am stepping out for a while.” She muttered and put the toolbox down on the floor. She had the need to fell the delight of having her feet on solid ground again, since the not so delicate landing attempt. And she needed to take her mind of what Gill said, that someone had deliberately tampered with the equipment. Why would someone do such a foolish thing?

She pulled on her puffer jacket and pulled up the hood. At the exit of the ship she stood still and looked at the empty space before her. Weren’t spaceports supposed to be really busy? Had Karin spent years being misinformed about things that mattered? It did make her feel extremely small, nothing she knew seemed to go along with how the rest of the Universe decided how it would be.

“Gill!” He must’ve heard her. Karin shouted his name again as she gingerly made her way outside and tried not to step on something that looked lethal. Across the stone floor she went, now almost running. Hopefully he wouldn't turn his heel and dash off. “Wait for me, I want come along.”

(ooc: Ackt.)

[DrZepp]

Griff violently adjusted a long antena to the right of the main control panel. There was a series of short buzzes followed by static... then more static. Griff was inwardly cursing, for it was the machines that angered him the most at times like this.
*Work you peice of ----*
He muttered under his breath, nearly twisting the contraption off of its plate.
Suddenly -on command- a low voice chimed in, still a bit fuzzy, but acceptable. The bootlegged feed with Europas local news was succesfull.

----"Riots BZZzzZzz CoNtinuinZzZbbbZ L-local BZZzZ sPaceZzzZportZZZBbbABaAZZaZZ yet toBeZzzzz ApprehendZzedZbZzz"-----

Griff nodded intensley as if soaking in and fully comprehending every muffled word that the reporter had to say.
"Roger."
He said to no one in particular. With one quick motion, and a dead serious expression gracing his face Griff acted with what he liked to call 'the quickness'. He flipped several useless switches to make himself feel good, and then opened up another com. link with Deirdre.
"Look."
He said without hesitation.
"We've got trouble at Europas spaceport. Over!"

There was a moment of silence. Griff closed one eye and stuck his head in towards the control pannel. He planted his ear directly next to the speaker, and as soon as his skin touched the metal there was a rather harsh and intrusive *BZZZZZZZZZZZ*ing sound.
Griff listened closely, seemingly unaffected.

"Roger that... Delta 0, 9er, 1, 5.... errr... yea"
Griff urgently switched the control pannel off. He had yet to understand the communications link lingo in full. It would take practice.

Instead of dealing with the troubles of machinery Giff gazed out into space, the planet of Jupiter looming ahead. The small moon in orbit was the Exodus' true destination. A desolate looking satellite really, but it would make Griff and Deirdre two of the richest bounty hunters to date.

[Kayay]

From the shadows he watched them exit the ship, making note of their appearance and any visible weaponry. Meh. Who does that guy think he is, Sam Spade, he thought of the ashen haired man who lead the way. And -- hello there -- she, his gaze lingered on the woman who chased after Gill, must be Lordes. What a waste, but I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. Still, she was quite attractive, and he sighed in disappointment. Maybe she's an unwitting pawn in their evil schemes, he tried to convince himself. Yeah right. 9 million woolong. Just remember that.

Slipping back behind a stack of cargo boxes, which, unbeknownst to Ace, held an assortment of coats, he waited for the pair to walk far enough away that the ship was out of their line of sight. Just as he was about to head back out into the open, he noticed another ship land not far away and a tall, dark haired woman disembark. I wonder if she'd...no, damnit. Business first.

The last target was probably still inside, so he’d have to be careful. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Ace walked nonchalantly,which was rather unusual considering the continued scuffle between the rioters and police, towards The King of Rock and Roll. Fortunately, everyone appeared too preoccupied with that mess to notice one lone figure slip into the shadow of the trio's ship.

[Brink]

As Brink looked down at his now named and identified firearm in confusion, he was dimly aware of a blur of red explode away from him, like a lit up pocket of methane. When next he looked up, Red was gone, and the door to his ship was opened, with narry a spark to be seen.

Holstering the "Die-Woah", or whatever the Red head had identified it as, into the belt of his pressure pants, Brink began to finally walk out of the freezing snow into the warm embrace of.....a very cold ship. Brink would have to invest in better enviornmental controls...or at least a sweater. Brink had neither, so he was heading towards the warm embrace of the engine room, where he was just as likely to be caught in a freak explosion as to get warmed up.

"Ah yes, nothing like being burnt to a crisp as opposed to freezing to death smiling down a Red headed psycho. Thank god he didn't tell me his name..I really didn't want to have to remember another one. Dai-wok? Day-who? 57? 52? Ahh..forget it"

Brink gave up struggling with the name of his pistol and, picking up the top half of his pressure suit, began to open the crawl space that lead to the engine room. It wasn't always a crawl space..after all, easy access IS required to an engine room. But, Brink had used the hallway far too often as an extra storage area, and it was now filled with empy boxes ready to be filled.

"Yes my babies..I hear you. You shall be filled soon my preciouses...very sooon....yes." Brink mumbled to his empty boxes, trying to, if anything, work the numbness out of his jaws. Before he could get to the engine room for a full denumbing(that would also have blasted the landing dock he was in, not to mention the next one over) a piercing wail broke out over his intercom system. Loud...very loud. But oddly..recognizable. If a gorrila had tried to hold a "si" note, and then dropped to a "do" it MAY have sounded close to this. As it was, Brink still noticed the light on an overhead monitor, displaying that the ships equivalent of a doorbell had been pressed. Reluctantly, Brink closed the crawl space, and made his way for the door again.

A press of a button and gust of wind later, Brink was staring eye to slouched eye with Toby, the Birchley(TM)-less Dock Coordinater. He didn't look happy, unless happy meant a snarl and a balled fist. Either way, this sure wasn't the Europa version of a greeting, as far as Brink was concerned. Then again, a Europa greeting didn't normally consist of stealing the Dock Coordinator's sunglasses.

"A red head stole your glasses from me. He went that way." Brink didn't miss a beat.

"Then WHAT," snarled Toby,"are they doing on your HEAD?!"

"Making me," said Brink, having missed a beat, "look like an idiot."

[YellerCrakka]

"So where're we off to?" Naal asked with the same amount of enthuiasim that seemed regular for her. She never stopped smiling. Dean smiled knowing exactly where his next move was to. The docks. A simple nod was given to the girl to signify that, yes, infact, Dean knew where to look.

'Toby's got to know SOMETHING! At least I hope. He deals with all these exported goods, he musta heard something about bounty heads wanting to flee or... well... something. *sigh* He's the only person I know on this frozen rock.'

Silently Dean pointed across the distance to where his ship was parked. The Lazy Gal resembled a fly from this distance. "There's a guy I know down at the docks..." he slipped quitely, "somewhere."

He held his hand out leading Naal into the direction of where he made up in his mind to be the first place he would check. It was just a random building, but fealt promising. The ruccas from earlier in the same direction had died down a bit, but screaming could still be heard. Dean cringed as Naal looked up at him. Despite the trouble, he made up his mind that this was where he would check. 'Damn rioters'

He began to step firmly on the snow, somewhat leading, somewhat following his new companion. He looked over his shoulder at her and cringed when his neck remembered the burn. At least it was cold outside.

((occ: Sorry fer the crappy post, but I'm falling behind. I needed to move us to TRY to find this lead... I'll get there, don't worry!))

[Pen2]

Being too inherently lazy to change, Deirdre just threw her clothes on over her flight suit as the Exodus lumbered it's way into making an orbital entry. Covered in grease from the hasty modifications she'd been making to her bike, Deirdre was hardly a serene apparition.

"Of course I'm going to pay him back. When I have the money, which will probably be a couple of days after never."

The Exodus' heat shielding started to take on a red hue. Europa's atmosphere wasn't as thick as Earth's but it still caused the rickety old ship to buffet as it lowered itself towards the ice moon's surface.

Griff looked nonchalant, but Deirdre was giving vent to a deeper and deeper sense of panic. Griff had built the Exodus from the ground up from whatever he had managed to scrounge or steal, and this didn't give Deirdre the greatest amount of confidence in making atmospheric descents, even after a year. All it would have taken is a loose panel or a missing bolt and Deirdre would just be a wisp of ionised gases stuck in orbit around this utter wastehole of a....

Deirdre closed her eyes and tried to stop worrying. She repeated her usual mantra in these situations, which was fervently swearing to Griff in her mind that if they died, she was going to kill him. Kill him dead.

Half an hour and a few screams later, the Exodus touched down on Europa's frozen surface. Griff had set the computer to avoid the spaceport due to the riots, and as the ship eased it'sway downwards the marks of Deirdre's displeasure at having to walk a mile in the freezing cold were clearly evident on the back of Griff's head. The ships panels creaked and groaned ominously as the stress of being rapidly cooled in Europa's climate caught up with them.

She cracked her neck slowly as the external bay opened, letting a blast of cold air whip it's way through the ship. Deirdre grabbed the ragged coats that they'd managed to keep for when the air conditioner broke down or they didn't have the power to run it, which was most of the time. She threw one to Griff and shrugged her way into another. She smirked slightly as she held up the remaining one to Keiran, who was still languishing in his little cage, though considerably colder for the draft that snaked it's way through the ship.

"Now, are you going to play nice?"

[Commander Fuyutsuki]

"Now, are you going to drop that tough bounty hunter act?" Keiran retorted. "A bounty hunter shouldn't fear a turbulent landing, let alone release a scream of fear." He approached the door to his makeshift cell. "Now give me the damn coat and let's get this over with. Oh, by the way" he said with a big cheery smile "bring my gun and bullets. You can carry them, because I assure you that even if you don't give them to me you'll want to have them with you later."