Board Thread:The Mech Bay Bar'n'Grill/@comment-24930445-20140526230330/@comment-24930445-20140602003410

Escape



 For the fifth time in about as many minutes, the barrel chested  red-head checked the chrono on his wrist. “That the only wrist exercise you gettin these days, Joke?”

Brandon Michaels, aka ‘Joke’ glanced up at the taller man in confusion. “What?”  Jack just shook his head and chuckled as Joke returned to leaning against the nose gear of the freighter. “Damn kid. What’s taking him so long?”

“He’s your kid?” Jack shrugged.

Joke almost had a retort out when the “kids” appeared from around a corner. “Hey! Isn’t that….?”  Joke never got the question finished. Suddenly an ugly green streak flashed across the bay in the direction of the two men and one woman who had been quickly making their way towards the freighter. Immediately, Jack grabbed Joke’s bomber jacket and flung him off the landing strut towards the open hatch door.

“Fire her up! I’ll keep ‘em covered!”  Black leather duster flew as Jack ran towards the kids, his own blasters in hand and aimed just over their heads at the security officer giving chase. “DOWN!”  Dylan Michaels and the other two ducked, but maintained their feet enough to keep a full sprint in the direction of the freighter.

Suddenly, the man Joke thought he recognized screamed “NO” and shoved the woman, taking the blast meant for her full in his chest. Spinning, Jack caught the previously unseen sec officer between the eyes as Dylan’s friend collapsed. On the run, Jack holstered a blaster, then scooped to grab one of the fallen man’s arms. “Dylan, get him on board!”

Turning awkwardly, he helped the younger man drag his friend towards the freighter while trying to keep their escape covered. Without warning, when they were a little less than halfway to the freighter, the woman reached up and grabbed Jack’s holstered blaster and began firing down the tunnel the threesome had come from. Jack took the brief instant to appreciate her moxie as well as her aim as yet another sec officer fell.

They didn’t have time to be gentle with their downed comrade, almost literally chucking him into the freighter. Jack was slightly relieved to hear the man’s moans as he hit the floor and rolled to the far bulkhead under his own power. He didn’t have time to check the injuries. “Strap in! We’re in for a ride!”

No one argued as he slipped into the pilot’s chair. “Hit it. Our hospitality has played itself out, old friend.”  Jack barely got his straps over his shoulder when Joke shoved the throttle full forward, sending anyone and anything not held down to the far back of the bus.

“I’ll call our escort when we’re clear of this rock. Lets hope she has the home fires burning because I think we’ll be bringing friends.”  Joke only grunted.

Moments later as they cleared the thin layer of the moon’s atmosphere, Jack punched the Comm. “Gypsy to Krita. Hey momma, I’m comin home.”

“Krita here. Should we set out the welcome mat or did you leave your friends at home?”  The question was answered as yet another of those ugly green streaks singed the top of the old freighter.

Joke leaned towards Jack yelling in the general direction of the mic even though his eyes never left the scene out of the front of the freighter. “Oh mama…  it looks like the fourth out here. Send out the marching band!”

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<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Kieshon, damnit! Stop playing with him and get back in here!”  Travers was sure he was going to have heart failure as he watched the fighter that belonged to his wife tease and dodge around several decidedly unfriendly types.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“I got her, kid.”  In a beautifully executed loop ending in a barrel-roll, Jack’s Gypsy swept his own blaster streams over the field, missing his sister-in-law by a couple of centimeters and knocking another ten years off his brother’s life. Jack was far more confident at Kieshon’s abilities than Travers obviously had been. Their joint maneuvers took out three raiders that had been on her tail. Travers didn’t realize his comm was still open. “I’m gonna kill ‘em. I’m gonna kill ‘em both… if they don’t fuckin kill me first!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Jack smiled even as he heard Kieshon laugh through the comm. He had known that Kieshon and Gypsy could handle the move. Gypsy might have looked like an old lady far past her prime, but she was Jack’s obsession. Just as he had with all his old cars decades ago, he kept Gypsy in beyond peak condition, modifying her to out maneuver and out gun any small runner they happened across. His girl had saved his six more times than he cared to think about.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Krita, that it for the party?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Alex’s voice replaced Travers. “Afirm, Gypsy. Irish coffees waiting for ya on B deck.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“You better not be lying to this old man, pup. I can still beat you soundly!”  Jack growled into the mic, followed promptly by Joke yelling  “At cards! Only at cards!!! And he cheats!”.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Both men laughed before Jack suddenly remembered their wounded passenger. “Ya got her leveled, Joke? Gotta go back and see a man about a hole.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Aye, mate. I got her. Gypsy and I get along just fine, don’t we baby?!”  Jack rolled his eyes, unbuckled his straps and made his way back to his passengers.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“How is he?”  Dylan smiled up from his spot on the floor, one leg wrapped around a freight strap, the other wrapped around the girl’s waist. The two of them, in turn, had a death grip on the wounded man.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Dude. Seriously lucky!”  Dylan laughed.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“It wasn’t luck. It did what it was supposed to do. Mostly.” The shot man was sitting up and looked in better shape than he should have. “I think I’d rather have taken the shot. Do you know what it’s going to take to rebuild this thing?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Jack frowned at Dylan, clearly not understanding at all. In response, Dylan held up a very mangled metallic device. “Had this in his pocket when he was hit. Thanks to it the beam never even touched him, but it burned up as a result. It’s toast.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">The girl leaned closer to the wounded man. “Lawrence. You shouldn’t have done that. You could have been killed!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“You would have been killed.”  He replied. She touched his cheek lightly, but said nothing more. Dylan, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and smirked up at Jack. “Sir, I’d like for you to meet Lauren Dramnal and Lawrence Lenits, formerly of Joslynne ZyThyrn’s little empire.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Jack frowned again. “But we thought…”  Dylan quickly shook his head, his eyes speaking volumes even though his face remained much the same as it had all along.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“I’ll explain when we get aboard the Krita.” was the only answer Jack received.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Suddenly, a laugh made its way from the cockpit as Joke got Jack’s joke from earlier. “HEY! I get plenty of wrist exercise, thank you very much!”

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Travers wasn’t so much waiting for Gypsy to dock as standing in the bay alternately yelling at his wife and hugging her. To her credit, she let him carry on as was his want, only pulling away when she saw Jack, Joke and their passengers disembark.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">She smiled up at Travers’ confusion then nodded in the direction of Gypsy. Travers glared at his brother, then gasped as he recognized one of the men with him. He whispered to his wife “Kat’s gonna go ape shit.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Jack you bastard! You scratched my paint!”  The smile for his brother belied the angry words.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“What the hell, pup? Ya can barely see it!”  The brothers hugged tightly, slapping each other on the back in welcome. Stepping away, Jack pulled Kieshon into a bear hug and kissed the top of her head. “Good flying there, shorts…. Yer old man couldn’t have done better.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Travers bristled slightly. “HEY!”  then both Jack and Kieshon burst out laughing. Shaking his head, Travers turned to face the passengers. “Cummon, you three. I have someone who’s dying to see you!”  He missed the confused glances between Lawrence and Lauren.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Without waiting for an explanation, he lead everyone to the flight crew’s conference room. Travers already had the comm open to Kat when the door closed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack quickly step out of camera sight and silently cursed himself for forgetting that Kat still believed Jack dead.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Kat! You’ll never guess what I found!”  With a flourish, he stepped aside to show her the errant Ben Stinel.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Dead silence. He blinked then glanced at the vid. Yeah… she was still there, and she was frowning. Darkly. “Who th’ ‘ell is tha’?!”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Confusion reigned as he glanced from Kat to Ben. “Uh…  Ben? Your brother? The one we’ve been looking for?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Kat slowly shook her head. “Tha’ ain’t Ben, Trav. Ben was rescued b’th’ Vextis aboot 16 hours ago. She pulled in a derilict outside RhyDin space only ta discover Ben an’ a few o’ th’ Colorado crew had been stranded in deep space fer th’ past ten years. I ain’t got a clue who’ tha’ is, but I assure ye, it ain’t Ben.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Travers looked back at his guest, confused and slightly embarrassed by his gaff, but the sight of the man only served to reinforce his earlier belief. He looked to Dylan who just smirked and shook his head at Travers’ discomfort. “Well then who the hell is he?”

<span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;">In the corner, Jack folded his arms over his chest and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. There was no way he was getting in the middle of this even if Kat <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">hadn’t <span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap;"> been on vid.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Lenits stepped forward, one hand clutched against his chest where the blaster bolt had nearly killed him, the other clutching the damaged device. Ms. Morghan, my name was once Benjamin Stinel. These days I go by the name Lawrence Lenits.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Kat’s eyebrow arched but she looked unconvinced. “G’on….”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Until recently I was employed by Joslynne ZyThyrn.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Kat’s eye narrowed dangerously, but she nodded for him to continue.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Lenits glanced back at Lauren and she nodded encouragingly. He didn’t look happy, but he squared his shoulders and powered through. “Lauren and I were working on Joslynne’s pet project. She discovered an ancient device and we were part of a team that was attempting to duplicate it. Until just recently. Dylan…” he glanced back seeing Dylan smirk and nod his own encouragement, “...We realized that Joslynne was beginning to tie up loose ends. A little digging and we realized that she was closer to completing the work than we realized. Multiple teams all working on different aspects of the problem. Dylan convinced us it was in our best interest to escape with what we could.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Lauren spoke up here. “We cobbled together a prototype based on all of the information we could gather.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">“Wha’ d’ye want fer yer prototype? Wait…  is tha’ it?”  Kat growled and pointedly looked at the device pressed against his chest. “Wha good is tha’ gonna do?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Lenits smiled sardonically and set the device on the table. “It was damaged during our escape, but I don’t believe it’s beyond repair. It worked, I’m living proof. Give us a place to work and we can fix it.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Michaels stepped forward now, “The device was important, yes, but even if he can’t repair it between the three of us we’ve got more than thirty years of experience with Jos’ organization.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Kat seemed to take Dylan’s words into consideration even as Joke took a step forward. “Cummon, kid. What can it hurt? Its not like he’s going anywhere. I’ll make sure he’s under guard at all times. Who knows, we may get to end this once and for all, eh?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Sighing heavily, Kat shook her head. “Alright Krita.. Tis on ye. Y’comin inta dock?”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Travers stepped back into place. “Aye, Kat. We’ll be there in about two  days. I’ll see he’s secured.”

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial;font-size:15px;white-space:pre-wrap;line-height:1.15;">Kat shook her head once more and rubbed her face. “I got a bad feelin aboot this. See ya in two days Krita. Kat oot.”