Planetfall: Newhall, Day One
Who: Rezek, King, Zeke
What: Out and about, re-supplying
When: Morning, planet-side
Where: Main port of Newhall on the largest island chain
Rating: TBD
Status: Ongoing



Freshly-washed and shaved, dressed neatly, shoulder holsters and gunbelt in place, Rezek shouldered on his long black duster. Within its folds he had enough weaponry to take down a small town. Not that he had any intention of doing that at this particular moment but in his experience it was always best to be as prepared as possible for any eventuality because usually that eventuality happened.

Nekhbet settled into dock with barely a shudder. Whatever else might be said about King--and plenty could be said, a great deal of it unfavorable--she was a damn good pilot, in truth better than the last. Rezek could put up with little quirks of behavior for good work. So far she'd not disobeyed a direct order nor her temper gotten them into more trouble than they could get out of easily enough. The day that happened, he and she would have a very interesting conversation. Far better that conversation with me than Dalia, he thought with a grim smile. But with luck, they'd avoid it for a bit longer.

He didn't anticipate any problems with Zeke. The man had a sarcastic tongue, sharp as a good blade, but a steady nature, not easily riled and he thought before he acted. Plus he obeyed any and every order given him without question. Rezek liked that; it made things a lot simpler.

Rezek put his foot up on the running board of the mule and rubbed a spot of dirt off his boot, checked the dagger tucked into the side. He began going over the list of supplies they needed and tallying it against the platinum he had in his pockets. He hoped that Zhang did have a job for them--they weren't exactly hurting yet, but he liked a bit more cushion than what they currently had.

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radhaking 2009-11-28 05:25 am UTC (link)

King for one was glad to be off the ship and doing the kind of work that means being planet side and out with folk. That was the one thing she missed out there in the black; she was used to being surrounded by people, whether they be of decent stock or the kind like her, rough around the edges and twice as hard to get along with. Up in a boat with the same people around you all the time made her a bit edgy come time to get off again and just setting foot on actual soil - terraformed, but that was hardly the point - felt better than she wanted to admit it did. Once she'd put what she secretly thought of as her baby to rest, though it wasn't hers by any stretch of the imagination, the slim woman came down from her usual perch, striding idly to where Rezek stood, her hands pressed into the pockets of slightly worn but still serviceable khaki pants. Dark hair had been half pulled back from her face and she'd dug into her store of pilfered accessories, adorning herself in dangling earrings and a necklace that looked like they were, but weren't actually, of worth. She was armed beneath the respectable looking jacket she wore; the slight woman was a crack shot, but mostly only under pressure. Gunslinger she was not. Sidling up beside him, King leaned with her rear on the mule, casting her gaze around before risking a glance in his direction. "Expect you've got a plan?" A brow arched at this; he'd better have one for how they were going to manage to get all this done. (Reply to this)(Thread)

zcrewe 2009-11-28 07:59 am UTC (link)

It probably shouldn't amuse Zeke so much, hitting planet-side with his two co-workers who pretended not to have first names. But, well, it was the little things in life that tickled him, really. The ship set down with barely a whisper, which spoke real good to the skills of their pilot, but half the time Zeke wished she was a little worse - just enough to make things interesting, not actually dangerous. He didn't really spend any time getting ready - they were goin' for supplies, not out to dinner - but he did make sure he didn't look like he'd just rolled outta the gutter. A man's gotta have some standards. He slid his usual revolver into its holster after double- and triple-checking it was loaded and the safety was on (wouldya look at that, the damned Alliance soldier training came in useful after all), checked that his boot knife was in place, and made his way out of his bunk to meet up with the other two, his subconscious already dreading the heavy-lifting he was going to be subjected to throughout the day. With a note to himself to knock off with the big words like 'subconscious' and 'subjected' before people started thinking he was a Core planet fop (and a further note cursing his pretty little pedigree that did indeed go back to the Core), he jumped the last few steps to land near the pilot and the second-in-command - first mate, whatever. Zeke managed not to rub his hands together with a rather misplaced feeling of glee by reminding himself that it was just another supply run on just another planet before (hopefully) just another job. Nothin' special at all, really. His own fault for being a bratty little kid obsessed with old Earth-That-Was colonists and adventurers, discovering new lands. Ah hell, at the very least he could get good and drunk in a few hours, and was that not what man had dreamed of ever since he looked at the stars? "We all set?" He directed the question to Rezek, who was, after all, the boss when the captain wasn't around. Kingy was only to be obeyed if it came down to actual piloting, and since that was pretty much a solo gig... he didn't take orders from her, nosiree. Yeah, 'cause that makes you sound so much more like ya got a spine, he snarked inwardly. (Reply to this)(Parent)

rezek 2009-11-28 04:04 pm UTC (link)

Rezek watched King slip down the stairs, light on her feet as a breeze, earrings and necklace winking in the overhead lights. His practiced eye could see that it was cheap stuff, but not hard to look at. "It's not exactly brain surgery," he replied. "Nor something requiring a lot of advance planning. Get fuel cells, get food stock." Get a few bottles of good whiskey, but he'd tend to that. "Not expecting a lot of trouble here, so if you manage to keep out of it, everything should be all nice and shiny. Just make sure those fingers of yours don't get caught when you steal something." That she would steal was a given; she was like a little magpie, unable to resist anything pretty and sparkly. He didn't care what she stole as long as she didn't bring the locals down on them. Local involvement always seemed to lead to fed involvement, and that would be a Very Bad Thing. He liked staying under the radar. Zeke came down the stairs, leaping off the last few and landing with surprising quiet, and Rezek watched the casual saunter over to them. "I'm thinking so," he said to Zeke. He pushed off the mule and went over to the control panel to punch the button to open up the cargo bay. The doors slid open and the ramp went down. The breeze that curled in smelled salty, like the ocean--little surprise, as Newhall was a water planet--beneath the normal scents of a working spacedock. "You get to drive," he said, returning to the mule. "King and I will look pretty. Or possibly psychotic. We're fairly good at both." He reached into his coat pocket and slid on sunglasses. (Reply to this)(Thread)

radhaking 2009-11-28 04:52 pm UTC (link)

King snorted derisively, but she was grinning the kind of grin that said she knew exactly what he was talking about; she knew she was a magnet for trouble and always had been. Sometimes that was just the way of it. Of course, it was wholly aided by the fact that she had a bit of a problem with having sticky fingers, but it's not like that was kept a secret from the crew. Half the time what she landed was worth a bit of coin and since she'd gotten off Beaumonde, she hadn't kept it to herself anyways. Seemed fair in her skewed vision of fairness to be sharing it with those around her. Of course, factored into this here version of fair was the fact that any one man who had more than another on a boat like this was bound to find his or herself sleeping like they had a ton weight on their chest every night. So mayhaps it was a little more wise than it was fair. Either way. "I'll either behave or be really good when I don't," she promised, wriggling her fingers as her grin turned sly, "More likely the latter than anythin'." Well, no point in not being truthsome, was there? Her gaze panned to Zeke as he materialized near them, grin dying and brows now arched in his direction. That was just a touch ostentatious for an entrance, but who was she to judge? Well, she was she. Meant she was gonna judge either way even if she was doing so silently at the moment. She watched him as Rezek spoke, smirking a bit as he got to the bit about Zeke driving. Yes, she was decently good at looking pretty and psychotic, occasionally at the same time. "Hope you drive as well as I fly," she ventured, clapping a hand on his back in a 'good luck with that' kind of way. No, she didn't get behind much touching as a rule, but this was on her terms and she reckoned there was a fair chance he'd be irritated by it and hey, that was just half the fun, wasn't it? (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

zcrewe 2009-11-29 09:17 am UTC (link)

Zeke faked a massive pout. "Aw, Rezek, does that mean you don't think I'm pretty?" he batted his eyelashes somewhat ridiculously. (Not that everything he did wasn't somewhat ridiculous...) Driving a mule wasn't anything new, really, he'd done the same thing a million times - even the carnival'd had a few mules, although they generally liked the good ol' fashioned method of making the teens and forty-milers haul everything around. It tickled them, they said. Zeke had personally figured out pretty early in the game how to make himself scarce on moving days (which was usually every Monday - carnivals had to be careful not to overstay their welcome on Paquin, because there was always about fifteen others waiting in the wings - and even some that didn't rig the games and send out pickpockets, although Zeke thought that idea generally ridiculous). Now, however, he was an adult, and adults totally carry their own weight and do work. It probably wasn't a good sign that he had to repeat this to himself on a daily basis. Worrisome, that. "Hands to yourself, Kingy," he said mock-sternly, shaking a finger at her. What, first whiff of non-recycled air always made him loopy. That was his excuse, anyhow. (His excuse for acting like the rest of the time, he hadn't quite come up with at this point. And wouldn't say anyway, because first of all, it made him sound touched in the head moreso than usual, and second, it wasn't probably the truth. Maybe.) Zeke clambered atop the mule and started 'er up, enjoy the purr of the engine. Sure, it was real satisfying ripping shit apart as a cutter - the sheer destructive power was nothin' to shake a stick at - but manipulating the controls wasn't quite the same as feeling it. Honestly, he envied Kingy a bit for the piloting, but at the same time acknowledged that him flying anything wasn't a good idea, because he sometimes got it into his head that hairpin turns and loop-the-loops were totally necessary in day-to-day operations, and for some reason captains weren't too pleased with that. He didn't bother warning the other two before taking off. They were smart people, they could tell when a mule was about to move. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

rezek 2009-11-29 11:37 am UTC (link)

"Oh yes, Zeke, I harbor such a powerful attraction to your manly charms that I lie awake at night and pine to possess you," Rezek said drily, then found himself slammed against the passenger seat as Zeke took off. Not that his thoughts hadn't turned that way once or twice, lying in bed late at night. Zeke wasn't that tall, but he was well-built and muscular, and Rezek had contemplated the breadth of his shoulders, the swell of his biceps once or twice. He had a glint in his eye and a certain curve of mouth that Rezek figured translated into a fair bit of fun between the sheets, though he'd never tried for it. On Newhall, it was mid-morning, and the docks were already bustling with people, drab as mudhens and colorful as peacocks. Workers and wastrels, the honest and not, a seemingly endless parade of humanity of all ages and colors. It wasn't as big as Eavesdown Docks, but there was still plenty astir, enough to keep a man occupied, legally or not. Today was mostly legal. The morning's jobs were not necessarily the most interesting of tasks, but necessary--Rezek liked to eat, liked better not to be floating the black without fuel. Rezek's green gaze flicked everywhere, keeping an eye on everyone and everything he could. He saw no one he knew, but more importantly, he didn't spot any Alliance goons strutting about self-importantly. None of the stealthier ones in plain clothes either, as far as he could tell; the Alliance sometimes put them on docks to watch for people of a larcenous or murderous bent. Not me, I'm no one special, just a fine, upstanding citizen out on legitimate business. Nothing to see, moving right along. The sun spread warmth across his shoulders and it might've been unpleasantly hot in his black coat if there hadn't been a breeze to sift through his hair and finger over the back of his neck. A bit further from Nekhbet it was a little noisier, people bustling around, the food kiosks doing a fair business. The scents were tempting, and the cup of tea he'd had for breakfast wasn't enough to keep his belly from rumbling. Later, after business, he'd see about something to eat, and he'd definitely visit a bath house--they didn't have enough water, even recycled, aboard Nekhbet for more than sponging off, and a real bath sounded like a little bit of heaven. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

radhaking 2009-11-29 09:34 pm UTC (link)

King held up her hands in mock defense before she too climbed aboard the mule, holding on for what she assumed was going to be a warningless start. And, true to form, it was. The wind whipped her hair back and there weren't much point in speaking unless you had something real important to say on account of the words would be lost in the wind and it just wasn't worth shouting save if she had an inkling something bad was afoot. 'Hey, we're about to get shot at' was a good example of this, while 'Ai ya Zeke I can hardly resist yer pretty face' with a side of sarcasm was not so much. And since she was more like to say the latter, the pilot kept her gorram mouth shut. Her lips pinched together as she kept a lookout around them, eyes panning over the area. She liked checking out every planet, comparing it to the one she thought of as 'home' in a distant kind of way. Weren't a place she was looking to go back to, but all the same it held that so called special place in her heart. Or whatever passed for a heart in the cave she called a chest. Already she picked out a few prime places to go looking for spoils, could see a few marks just waiting to be relieved of some of their things. But she'd get to that after they'd done what they came to do. No sense in getting priorities messed up. King's thoughts unconsciously mirrored Rezek's as smells began to waft over to them now. The idea of a hot meal that was actually food and not just protein sounded damned good, not to mention a bath. Maybe a few other things too, but she wasn't about to go mouthing off about those. Sometimes being stuck on a boat was lonely and much as King didn't go in for being touched without permission, she wasn't against giving permission either. Just as a side note, really. By the time the mule stopped, the slim woman was already off the beast with her feet planted firmly on the ground. Well hell, she was gonna use and abuse any time on firm ground that she could. Glancing back to the boys, she raised a brow in question. "So what's my part in all this? I'm assuming it's not really standing around and looking psychotically pretty." Actually, she just wanted to know if she needed to keep her mouth shut and look like she was the muscle - okay, not likely, but most people underestimated a girl like her who looked like she'd snap like a twig but was more like to do the snapping - or do some bargaining because she was gorram good at it. Mayhaps something entirely different. Usually she wasn't big on deferring to others but she'd learned during her time on Nekhbet that things went a whole helluva lot smoother if she complied every once in a while. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

rezek 2009-11-29 10:27 pm UTC (link)

Rezek swung off the mule and straightened his coat. Reaching into a vest pocket, he withdrew a pouch and tossed it to King. "See about fuel cells," he said. "Bargain, and get the best price on product and delivery that you can. Tan will give you a better deal than Solomon, particularly if you drop the captain's name." He pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. "Zeke and I will pick up foodstuffs, and meet you here in half an hour." He tucked away his watch and offered her a little smile. "If I recall, there's a few jewelry shops a couple of streets over. But business first, don-luh-mah? If you get nicked, I want the assurance we'll get our fuel without problems. But I trust you're not going to get caught, right?" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

zcrewe 2009-11-30 05:59 am UTC (link)

Given his background, Zeke really should've felt guilty for thanking sweet baby Jesus that he wasn't being sent off on his own. Lord knew he'd gotten more than a few smacks in his time for takin' the Lord's name in vain, but for some reason it hadn't seemed to stop him. See, Zeke had some problems when it came to makin' decisions for other people. Wasn't like he followed orders so much just because he liked to take orders, it was 'cause someone else decided and takin' responsibility. Zeke was pretty much the definition of Not Responsible. One of his more technologically literate nephews who'd been a year older than him (and the fact that he had nephews older than him, wasn't that just a kick in the ass) had actually hacked the school's dictionary to show a picture of him under 'irresponsible'. Zeke hadn't minded, mostly because he had given every family member a different adjective, and had been fairly soundly punished when caught by the teacher. Plus, he had this feeling that his dear sweet co-workers would happily string him up if he came back with the plain protein bars that he favored as far as rations went. For a group of people who'd almost certainly grown up worse than him, they sure liked their food with flavoring. He followed Rezek and King off the mule and awaited orders. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

radhaking 2009-11-30 09:11 am UTC (link)

She caught the pouch easily, a light grin decorating her lips. "Will do. Ship business first and my own after." Half an hour wasn't a lot of time for all that, but she'd manage; she usually did. "You boys try and stay out of trouble while I'm busy not getting caught." Hazarding a wink to them both, she took off in the appointed direction, a slight swing to her usual gait simply because she was glad to be off the boat. Wouldn't be long before she was back on it again and she intended to enjoy every moment of freedom even if part of it would be spent haggling, flirting and conning her way to a decent price for the fuel cells they needed. As she padded out of their line of sight, King wove her way through the crowds as best she could without actually touching anyone, a task that wasn't particularly easy. (Reply to this)(Parent)

rezek 2009-11-30 09:48 am UTC (link)

Rezek watched King slide through the crowd like a knife through water, nimble and quick enough, with such a sense of where others were that she could do it without touching anyone. A neat trick, that. He hadn't blinked about giving her a substantial amount of money and turning her loose. They had an understanding--she knew that if she crossed them, Rezek would catch her and kill her, and the killing part would take a very long time. Besides, he'd given her just enough to cover costs, no more. And he thought that she actually liked the life she led now with them--a ship to pilot, freedom to sail the black, enough platinum to rattle in her pockets. He turned back to Zeke, standing beside the mule, waiting patiently for orders. "Ah, alone at last. How I have longed for this moment," Rezek said, utterly deadpan. He removed his sunglasses, folded them, and tucked them into an inner pocket of his coat. He nodded to their left. "This way. And Zeke? The only reason I didn't send you off on your own to resupply is that I know what mi tian gohn you'd return with. Personally, I prefer my food with a little taste to it, if at all possible." (Reply to this)(Thread)

zcrewe 2009-11-30 07:41 pm UTC (link)

Zeke gave a slightly sarcastic salute after Kingy - it would've been more sarcastic, but it's hard to put too much sarcasm into arm movements, so he didn't worry overmuch about it. "'Tis indeed a dream come true, dear Rezek," Zeke responded, equally deadpan, and with a little added flourish learned from some of the performers whe he had been a tiny little brat (rather than the decently-sized brat he now was). He fell into line half-a-step behind Rezek, the position he always took unless forced to lead (usually in handcuffs - he liked to think it was pretty impressive, his lack of a criminal record, when compared to the number of times he'd technically been caught). "Shi ma? You think I wouldn't come back with highly delicious foods at low, low prices?" he asked innocently, resisting the urge to bat his eyes again, this time because it felt like there was something in them. He had to come up with a new move, honestly. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread)

rezek 2009-12-01 08:44 am UTC (link)

"That's the problem," Rezek said, one corner of his mouth crooking upward. "It would be cheap, all right. We'd end up with cases of the flavorless protein bricks and cans with no labels. I'd really rather not do that if at all possible, thank you." After their mother had died, his life with Io had been a rough, catch-as-catch-can affair with food often scarce; they'd eaten their fair share of rats or cats when they could find or steal nothing else, though by that age, he'd been an accomplished thief and pickpocket for years. And in prison--well, that had been literally the barest minimum to keep them alive. As a result of both those experiences, he was now fairly particular as to his food if he had an opportunity to be so. "After we get supplies and get them loaded, feel free to occupy yourself in whatever manner you choose--we won't be leaving until tomorrow. Get drunk, get laid, get a bath--I heartily recommend the latter--just don't get yourself nicked or killed. You're a decent cutter, and it would be most bothersome to have to replace you on short notice." (Reply to this)(Parent)

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