I sat down comfortably on my piloting chair after inspecting the newly plundered cargo I had acquired from the remains of a trade ship. Nice, more trinkets to sell to the Junkers again I suppose, I thought to myself grinning. Not too bad for a lone pirate.
I couldn't help but wonder though of the days in the Vanguard Raiders. Those were the days! Causing fright onto the liberty population had always been something I enjoyed doing. Even hauling supplies to the VR base was not too bad. There was still the opportunity to anger a few Liberty Capitol ships that could only scream halt as I cruised by on my Pirate Transport. Its funny that up till recently they started allowing Admirals to fire freely at transports... But it doesn't matter, I can still outrun the whole damn fleet anyway.
The nostalgic memories kept steaming into my mind of time after time outwitting the LPI and LN. The great battles that I had overcome at times where quite astounding, considering a whole band of navy fighters where after my head.
However, I then became once again aware that the VR where no more. Was it a lack of supplies? Members? Maybe, at least that's what people think was the case, but the real reason lied behind the head of the whole operation. Our leader, Blain Spike, had finally cracked. Fearing the Hellfire Legion would discover our newly built base of operations, he commanded it be annihilated himself. I guess it was some sort of pride in him that pushed him to make the decision. After that, all hope was lost to continue VR, and everyone split. I don't even know what happened to anyone of them. One day they existed as a feared force, the next, *poof*, vanishing from the face of Liberty Space. Boy the Lawfuls were releived by this... even housed a celebration at Manhatten. I wish I could just show my face there again, just once, and see that shiver down their spine.
Well, I guess back to a base I go, I thought,... Lets see here...*click*click*click*... Buffalo Base is not too far... might as well make a quick stop there.
Hunted
Entering the new base, I knew it was gonna be the same old difficulties arising. Rogue bases were always difficult to begin with. If you weren't a Rogue, you knew you were being watched at all times. Even a former VR member like myself was never trusted by them in their base. Paranoia I guess. Liberty's crawling with traitorous Pirates and Indies. I don't blame them for trying to keep the place tightly secure, let alone be stationed in a dark, gloomy asteroid field where any capitol ship captains and admirals dare not go. Just as well, I planned to only grab a quick bite to eat at the bar and get out. A man like me had to earn a living somehow and sitting on my butt wont do anything but let all the traders out there roam free.
At the bar, I sat down at the open counter and ordered myself a shot of vodka with an extra percentage of alcohol. I took a swing at it and forced it all down in one swallow. Man that stuff was intense! Too much and i could be already spoiled drunk, not a good thing in a place like this.
I proceeded to eat my sandwich I had ordered from the bar tender when suddenly a knife zoomed past the tip of my ear and into the backdrop of the bar, crashing and spilling at least a dozen bottles of Rogue beer.
Instincts kicked in. Not looking over my shoulder and not caring who was watching I threw myself over the counter and dropped on the opposite side . Who knows who threw that? An assassin? Bounty Hunter? Not likely, the Rogues would have dealt with it. It must have been someone from the inside... someone who knows me...
I glanced around the floor littered and drenched with shattered glass and alcohol and spot the knife. Reaching for it, I recognized a distinct pattern and logo emerge form the hilt... could it be...
Bar fights on Rogue bases were not rare at all, but most of them often were settled outside in space. No one died through, but sometimes people got severely wounded. This was different. This was a direct lethal attack.
I went through all the possibilities in my head. If I stood up now, the attacker might have a gun on him and shoot me on the spot. If I stayed down here, he could just leap over and finish me off. My only option would be to flank him and catch him off guard at the end of the counter.
As started my crawl below the counter the only sound I could hear was the sound of one pair of footsteps getting loader and loader. How could that be? Normally in a bar brawl everything turns into chaos. Had the attacker cleared the room? Had he killed everyone? What was going on?
I reached for my gun and was about to leap out and start shooting, when a loud low voice spoke up:
"Jackson! Quit hiding and acting like a damn fool! What the HELL are you doing!?"
I slowly stood up and my face went white.
Blain Spike was right in front of me.
"Son, if you don't speak up quick I'm gonna beat you in the face till you sober up" he laughed.
"Blain! What the hell man! You could have killed me!"
"Bah, I was never good at knife throwing anyway, I missed by a mile..."
"You skimmed my EAR!"
"Calm down man, let me buy you a drink. Lets talk."
We sat down at a table in the dimmed corner of the bar and Blain lit a cigar.
"So, Jackson Stone, how have you been boy? Liberty treating you well?" he asked jokingly.
"I was fine until you almost jammed a knife up my skull. I thought you were some kind of assassin or something!"
"What? You didn't get the clue with that official VR knife?"
"I did, but I didn't expect to see YOU out of all people at the other end of that counter."
Blain grinned.
"Listen boy I've been searching for you for some time now, there has been a change of plans." Blain reached into his coat and pulled out an official Liberty Rogue badge.
"Woah! Where did you get that from!" I asked, shocked as the sight of it. "Are you crazy? If they catch you with that your..."
He grinned. "Moka gave it to me."
A new beginning
"Close you mouth boy or you'll swallow flies," chuckled Blain.
I still couldn't believe it.
"You mean THE Moka gave you it?"
"Is there a different Moka?" he asked still grinning.
"But... how... I don't get how you..."
"I just sent him a message saying I was the VR leader and he let me in with open arms. And you know whats the best part?" He leaned in. "I don't have to do that damn Greyhound test."
"Whats a Greyhound?"
"Exactly!"
Blain laughed and continued.
"I've been talking to them about you, you see. Mokas looking forward to meeting you soon."
"No..." I gasped in surprise. "ME? I'm just a regular pirate..."
Blain slapped me in the face.
"Don't you remember boy, you where part of VR! Not a regular pirate! This is your big break! A game changer! Join me, join US, and it will be like it used to be, only better! Well boy, you in?"
"Hell yea i'm in! But what about Snowball?"
"Oh she'll be fine," chuckled Blain," They don't mind having an animal in the group at all. In fact, Moka loves animals!"
A few day has pasted since I got accepted into the Liberty Rogues and it was great having to not do that test thing... I still dont know what a Greyhound is... Oh well!
The first ship that caught my eye was the Rogue Barghest Bomber. Damn fine ship if you asked me! With an extra bomber torpedo slot I imagine myself already shredding enemy ships to pieces! The lack of maneuverability? Who cares! With that much power who needs to turn faster!?
It all went quite smoothly until I showed them my pet.
Snowball was a baby polar bear cub. Maybe a bit older than a year or so. I found her when I crash landed on California Minor about half a year ago. I nearly missed hitting her too! She was wandering all alone in wild tundra, probably her mother died or abandoned her. I couldn't just leave her there to die could I?
I guess any unlawful man still down there somewhere has a soft spot and she happened to hit it dead on.
Now I had some training befor with animals. Back in the days of VR I was made to do a test of survival in the wilderness and I happened to choose a arctic climate out of a random draw form a hat. Those days were rough, trying to survive off the wilderness all alone... it really got you thinking. But it was necessary. As a pirate you cont always get back-up form your buddies. Since there was nothing to do I spent my time learning about animal behavior and slowly grew to like them.
I left snowball at Buffalo for the night once, told everyone not to worry, she wont do anything crazy. When I came back however she was GONE!
At first I thought it was all a joke but gradually I started to panic. I saw some Rogues snickering and whispering looking at me look for her, so I asked them what was so funny.
I guess I shouldn't have.
Turns out one of them killed her, the other sold her to the other Rogue and then the last one made her into an undergarment!! When I herd this complete anger overcame me and I couldn't control it. My two 44 Magnum Revolvers were drawn and things were gonna get ugly!
I laid sprawled on the floor and struggled to move but was pinned by someone holding me down on my stomach.
"Lay off! Let me at the idiots!"
"Those 'idiots' are way higher up than you in rank! Show them respect Jackson! You wana get yourself killed!?!"
I finally got enough leveraged to rotate myself onto my back. Blain was right on top of me.
"But they... they killed my bear!"
"Just get a new one kid! Your lucky I showed up!"
I grinned back at him a little.
"Yea, or I would have made bullet holes in their chests!"
"Someday your gonna need to learn who you can take on and who you cant kid... now get out of here! Fly a little and get used to your ship! The sooner the better. We ain't a charity here. We are law!"
Blain walked off grumbling and I slowly stood up and made my way to the hanger. I got in my Barghest and stared at the map. Finally making my mind up I hit the launch button.
Back to California Minor I go.
_____________________
California Minor was the planet I chose back in VR. It was the planet that grew on me and made me who I am as a pirate. Without knowledge of extreme weather and survival one would easily die. I stayed at the equator of the planet mostly so that I wouldn't be effected by the -110 Celsius temperatures at the poles. Minor was also the planet that I found Snowball in. I figured if there was one bear down there then there should be more.
I landed and the darker side of the planet to not get noticed by the base present on the other side. That was the constant fear. That they would notice some weird activity and send men to investigate.
Screw it.
I was out looking for a new companion. One had to take chances.
Landing on the planet I took quick surveys on the temperature. -30 Celsius was average on the planet so I put on my extra heavy fur coat, hat, snowshoes and oxygen tank and went out into the snowy desert.
Dunes of snow and snowy mountains covered the landscape. Wind on the horizon was starting to pick up, blowing the powdery snow into the air and making it difficult to see at some points. The reflections of light hitting off of the pure white snow made it even more difficult to navigate.
I started to make a shelter, cutting out blocks of snow to make a igloo surrounding and covering my ship to hide from detection. After a few hours of working I was able to finish and decided to go out look for some food to eat.
It didn't take long however to find what I was looking for.
Looking out into the horizon it was basically all the same. White. for miles on end. Still, I remembered while flying down that there were bodies of water close by. After looking around a bit more I noticed a change in the horizon and decided to head there.
Getting my hunting rifle out designed for Minor's weather, I set out to see if I could spot some game where the water was. The wind had died down enough so that it was easier to navigate and I peered in my scope from time to time to see what I could spot.
Peering through the rifle's scope it all seemed to same. Just landscape. Nothing else. As I was about to give up trying something caught my eye. It thought I was something move but was not quiet sure myself of it. Checking again I couldn't really spot it... until I saw a black dot move. At first I thought it was only a fault of the scope. Dust or something. But when I stopped moving the gun it was clear that was no dot. It was a nose.
Waiting and looking at it move I could then make out a grey object being dragged with it at the same speed. Looking closely it looked like a seal and there was some red it was leaving behind. Definitely blood. It was a bear alright. And an adult one at that too.
Getting closer I could make it out more. There were no cubs with it. Just a lone bear. So I assumed it was a male. His face was spotted with blood from the seal apparently but I noticed it was a small one. The bear could easily eat two or three of those before it was no longer hungry. He was definitely starving and didn't look like it had much energy. The bear walked slowly carrying his probably last meal with him.
Without thinking I got closer, watching the bear as it pulled the carcass along the snow. As one point though he stopped and sniffed the air. I suddenly froze. He had detected me.
The animal then looked my way and I could see hunger in his eyes. I stood frozen facing a starving bear that was about to rip me apart. The bear started to walk towards me, leaving the seal behind him. I could tell that he would even try to outrun me just to get more food. I stood there watching as he got closer, and then started to circle around me. He was inspecting me; evaluating his soon to be kill.
The thought kept on coming back to me to shoot him before I would get hurt, but my gut told me I shouldn't. If I was to get a bear it would be stupid to throw away this opportunity. instead of shooting him I straightened up and raised my gun and hands in the air as high as I could. I watched as the bear did the same, standing up on two feet and as if towering over me. I then shot my gun in the air. I regretted that decision instantly.
Instead of backing away and running however, the bear attacked, tackling me easily and making me hit the snow instantly. Pressing his weight on my arms and pinning me down he bared his teeth and growled. He then sniffed one more time and suddenly his mood changed. Instead of biting my flesh away the polar bear started to lick my face as if I was his best friend. I didn't know at the time what had influenced him to do so until later where I noticed I still had the scent of Snowball still on my fur coat from the last time I had visited California Minor. Even if the scent was weak after all this time the bear had managed to pick it up.
It was funny that even after Snowball's death, he still managed to save my life.
The bear after a while got off me and walked back to his meal, starting to it hungrily. I watched from a distance as he devoured the meal and watched the blood splatter on the pure white snow. That could have very will been me I thought.
Walking back slowly trying to give him as much space as possible, I watched him finish and then he looked up and started walking towards me. Not in an attacking manor but a causal one. I started walking backwards and kept watching him come nearer and nearer until he was next to me. We walked for a while and the bear kept his pace following behind. I looked around trying to find where my ship was. In the horizon as i looked and saw a faint gimps of the Igloo, I looked and in the distance I saw a heard of deer around my camp. The bear must have noticed to because he was sniffing the air and picking up his pace. I noticed though that he didn't have enough strength yet to actually hunt them. I hadn't heard of bears being very proficient at killing deer anyway. But that didn't stop the bear form being interested and through his hunger, wanting to at least try to grab another meal.
It came to me that he needed me to survive and since he hadn't eaten me, i guess I should pay him back. I aimed at the heard, picked my shot, the biggest one out of the whole pack, and fired. A loud bang broke the silence and stillness of the tundra and I saw the heard disperse. The one I shot however trotted a few meters and then fell dead. The bear was watching with curiosity through the whole thing and when he saw the deer drop he went into a dead run after the corpse.
When I finally caught up to him he was already devouring the meal with half of his body covered in blood from the animal. While the bear ate I went back to my ship and got a hunting knife. Cutting the deer into pieces I managed to lure the bear onto my ship while feeding it.
To normal people it would have seemed a crazy idea to bring a wild bear onto a ship. But then again, who said he would be wild for long?
_____________________________________
I named the bear Fluffy. I don't really know why, but it suited him well. I guess from my first encounter with him he had from then thought of him as a friendly and tame creature. Most of the time anyway.
It took about a week of training to finally be able to trust Fluffy to walk around the ship and not be tied down by a chain leash to a wall. Slowly though, he became to be as faithful as any dog would be. He had grown on me and I started to relish the thought of loosing him to another Rogue idiot.
I decided I would have to do something to protect him so that would never happen. On a junker base I found a man that was good at mechanical engineering and such. When I proposed an idea of protecting my bear, the man was intrigued by the idea and got to work. The outcome was Fluffy being mechanically modified to be resistant to gun fire and blade wounds through installing metal plates under his skin, enclosing his body and protecting him. Although it made him heavier, Fluffy quickly got accustomed to the extra weight and operated normal after a few weeks. When shot, the bullets ricoshaded off his body doing minor damage.
After each day we became more and more close together. One could argue we became almost insuperable.
A few weeks pass and Jackson returns to land on Alcatraz. He leaves Fluffy in the ship and heads into a bar that he had heard about. Besides doing his runs and pirating, he heard it was a good place to stop by and take a swing or two. He appears to be in a bad, angry mood. Entering he heads straight for the bartender.
“Could I have a Shot of Vodka... Extra on the alcohol?” he asks.
Hands shaking, he leans back and swallows it all at once.
A girl sitting near sighs. “That'll kill yeah.”
Jackson smirks and turns around looking at her. "Ha! This? It’s what I always have when I enter a Rogue base. It’s sort of a tradition. Normally I only have one but.... GOD DAMN IT..."
He smashes the shot glass on the floor. "Bartender! Hand me another one! Now!"
Sighing, Jackson mutters a few curses before dousing the second.
“What kind of day? Bet you it's better than what I had.” The girl asks.
"Bah! If it’s worse than having your money technically stolen by a bunch of scumbags, and almost being arrested by a damn chick cop, then do tell."
“I just found out that my brother is lost somewhere in Kappa.”She replies back.
Jackson grunts. “How long has it been?”
“3 Month's.” She says this sighing.
"And you JUST found out... what’s his ships name?"
She sighs again. “Black.Knight.”
"I heard about that one, but your right, I haven’t seen that ship for a long time. It must be heart breaking for you... Here let me order you a drink. Bartender!”
She smiles.
"No thank you. Not in the mood to drink.”
"No, no, don’t worry about it. It not nearly as strong as what I got. It’s a quite soothing blend actually. You will thank me for it later, you'll see."
He winks at her. “Bartender, a shot of that corsair wine stuff with a spray of martini and a bit of honey. For the gal here."
She just sighs again nodding. “Sure.”
The bar tender returns with the drink.
"Aye, drink it slowly. It will ease you up a bit. Mind telling me about your brother?"
“Well I could but why would I want to bring back all the good time and bad times we had. Sorry I just don't feel like it.”
She stands up. “Sorry...”
She runs out of the room with her head to the ground.
Jackson watches her leave and grumbles a bit more, he felt sorry for the girl and knowing how hard it is to lose someone wanted to help. Shrugging it off, he pays for the drinks and walks out the bar. He didn’t want to upset anyone else.
Jackson returns from his ship still is a foul mood. "So many things to do.... plans to be made...”
He mutters to himself grunting looking up, he sees the bar filled with people. "Evening...”
He spots the girl that he met before, hearing from people her name was Amy. “Um Amy, I’ve been meaning to talk to yea... unless you are still sad and all that...."
He notices another girls sitting next to her, white hair and blue eyes. For a split second he stops and smirks a bit, admiring her beauty. "Oh hello...”
He looks at the other girl thinking to himself how beautiful she looked. He nods a hello. “And you are?"
She grins. "I’m Thing.... And you are?"
"Thing huh? Beautiful name... I’m Jackson. I don’t believe we met before?"
Jackson doesn’t notice a man next to her until he speaks up.
The man smiles. “Not really, yourself?”
"I'm not myself no. Pissed off at the moment actually..."
Jackson shakes it off and looks back at Thing. "Is Thing a nickname or..."
She shrugs. "I don't believe so, I’m kind of new around here."
Thing looks at Jackson. "It’s my ships call sign, Wild Thing."
"Ah, so you’re afraid to give out your identity Ms. Thing?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Afraid? No. But there isn't a need for me to be giving my identity out either."
"Ah I see. Well if we are sharing nick names here then you can call me Blood. That’s part of my ship’s call sign... I'm new here too."
She nods. "Nice to meet you."
"Aye same to you...so what ship class is this ‘Wild Thing’ of yours? I heard some rumor about you earlier but..."
The man next to Thing looks at Jackson slightly annoyed. “Was talking to Thing here.”
"It’s alright Kevin, I can talk to both of ya."
She grins "My ships an arrow..... and rumours? Wow, I feel loved now!"
Jackson turns to Kevin. "Oh sorry, I’m just in a bad mood, my apologies if anything"
Kevin smiles. “It's alright we are all in a bad mood. It's our job.”
He laughs.
“That be an Arrow last time I checked.”
"An arrow? You don’t say? Huh... interesting choice, I bet you’re a good pilot then?"
She shrugs. "That depends on your definition of 'good'. And what the rumors say."
"The rumors say you annoy the hell out of Turtles. I'd say that be good since you are still alive and in one piece."
She cracks up laughing. "Well, they aren't far off from the truth..... That’s for sure."
"So Thing, you do anything for fun besides annoying Rheinlanders?"
Jackson says smirking.
"Does drinking count?"
She thinks for a moment. "What else is there to do here that’s fun anyway?"
He laughs. "Drinking? Ha! You don’t say? I got this tradition whenever I enter a Rogue base. Dates back to my VR years. Care for a taste of it Thing? It’s on me."
She looks at her glass before back at Jackson "Sure. Why not."
"Adda girl!"
Jackson laughs again and grabs the bartender’s attention. "Bartender! Vodka-extra, 90%! Make it 2 shots!"
He turns back to Thing as the shots slide to him. "Aye normally I take only one if I’m new in a bar. Already had 2 today, but I say this is a special occasion."
He hands Thing a shot glass. "Now to enjoy the full experience you drink it all at once! No fussing! Cheers!"
Chuckling, he takes a swing and empties the glass.
She raises the glass before shotting the drink and making a face. "Well.... That’s got... a bite to it."
"Oh let it sink in you your gut! It’s damn good!"
Kevin looks at his PDA. “Woops got to get going guys.”
He walks out of the bar.
Jackson nods. “Take care.”
Thing nods as well. "I'll talk to you again later Kevin."
She shakes her head and looks at Jackson. "I think I like your tradition."
"Aye! Lovely is it? Just don’t take too much or you will.....*hick* Damn it."
Thing giggles.
"That's what I get for having three in the span on an hour. It’s ok... I'm good...*hick*... uughh..."
She shakes her head, giggling, before waving the bar tender over and ordering 2 vodka drinks, she slides one across the table for Jackson.
"HAHA! Another? Well I can refuse the offer. I'm a Rogue, but mama *hick* taught me manners. Don't mind if I do! On the count of three and we drink it whole. No drops remaining!"
"1, 2,..."
Thing grins. "Now, that’s what I like to hear..."
"3!"
Jackson shoots the drink into his mouth, empties the shot glass, slamming it on the table.
She drinks the drink, not quite finishing it before Jackson. Realizing this, she pokes out her tongue and brushes her hair out of her eyes.
Jackson notices her eyes and starts to admire them. "Aye those eyes are marvelous..."
She grins before covering them with her hands. "No they aren't!"
Jackson reaches over and moves her hand away and stares into her eyes. "Aye, they are... like small diamonds... more precious than bloodstones."
Jackson notices a man waking up at a table, seeming to have dozed off before. He ignores it though.
Thing shakes her head. "Nah, nothing that special about them."
She orders another drink for the two of them.
Just then, Fluffy walks happily into the room dragging a broken chain with bite marks on the end. Jackson turns around hearing the jingling sound of the chain and sighs when he sees him. "Fluffy! I thought I told you to stay put! Damn it something might happen to you!"
Another man not far away takes a look at Fluffy and remembers he is starving. “Mmmm.”
He proceeds to orders the usual mystery meat at the bar and sits back on his distant table.
Amy stands up and walks over to the door, being preoccupied with something else. “I'll see you guy's later.”
She leaves the bar.
Jackson doesn’t notice Amy but then turns to the man that ordered the meat. He then recognizes him as one of the men, named Romario, that killed Snowball. He sees him staring at the bear and quickly gets angered as he is still intoxicated now. "DONT you LAY a FINGER on him PAL!!”
He takes out one of his 44 Magnums. " Or there is A BULLET WAITING FOR YOU!"
Romario grins and keeps eating. “Be puttin' dat in di dam place again or yu bi gettin hurt mon.”
Thing looks sideways at Jackson. "Put that away. Don't need no trouble here."
"God damn it! He's the trouble! He in his two friends murdered my other one! And he was just a cub!"
“Where be de proof?”
Romario replies back.
Jackson puts the gun away.
Romario grins at him. (secretly putting a screwdriver back in its place, unnoticed.)
"Where’s the proof!? Ask the people that wear his skin!"
Thing leans back in her seat and takes a sip of her drink. She glances around the bar to see who else was about in case this got messy.
Jackson grumbles and purchases a rare steak from the bartender, who is staring at the bear too for a few moments as well, and then goes back to his bear. He cuddles Fluffy.
Romario keeps looking at Fluffy and decides it's not worth the shot. He lights a spliff.
"OK Fluffy, I’m gonna give you some food and you shoo out of here and back on the ship. Got it?"
*Fluffy nods*
“It understands? Pft.”
Romario rolls his eyes.
"Adda boy!"
Jackson pets the bear’s head and watches Fluffy grabbing the steak and running off happily. He turns seeing still Romario staring at the bear and close towards him. "You so dare as you %*#$ up that one, I’ll personally skin you alive just like you did with snowball. I'm a nice guy but animal cruelty in my parts is beyond seriously stupid, even for us."
Romario exhales in Jackson's face and says nothing. “Sit. This started wrong. Sit.”
Jackson hicks again.
Thing watches them and moves her hand to her gun, turning the safety off.
Jackson, hearing the click, spins around taking his gun out and aims it for Thing's head. "Now easy there girl...”
Romario looks around confused. “Wut?”
“I heard that click."
Jackson squints.
“All calm down!”
"We are all drunk here...well.. I am..."
Romario says something in his comms. Seconds later a slave enters the room with a crate of luxury goods. “Look what I got. Have some. Chill.”
He lights the spliff again and lies back exhaling.
Thing raises an eyebrow and pulls her gun out, resting it on the table, her finger still on the trigger pointed at Jackson.
Jackson walks up to Thing still with a gun pointing at her.
"Now, now... I like a girl that can defend herself... but don’t try anything crazy."
Romario sees this has no effect and simply watches.
The man that was sleeping before, Buster, appears behind Jackson. Jackson only knew of him a bit. The man reaches forward and crushes the barrel of his weapon with one robotic hand. “Now now...we don't need any of that here.”
Romario nods. “Dat works too.”
"Buster! WHAT THE HELL!"
Jackson yells still drunk.
“I’ll buy you a bigger one. Now sit down.”
Buster replies.
Jackson doesn’t do so but pulls out his other 44 magnum.
Thing watches the two, her gun still in hand. "Sit down before you hurt yourself."
Jokingly, Buster sticks his metallic pointer finger into the barrel.
“See this? This here is a 44 magnum and it can blow you head clean off.”
“Pull it. I dare ya.”
Thing points the gun at Jackson again, before looking at Buster, slightly confused.
A malevolent look washes over Busters eyes and he gives Jackson an evil smirk. He curls his index finger and the barrel curls with it.
"You do understand a man when he is &#%$in’ annoyed and drunk, do yea?"
“You do understand your barrel is now pointed at the ground do you not?”
Romario takes out a AG-BS sawed off plasma shotgun.
Thing realizes her gun is probably pointless at this moment and puts it away, clicking the safety on again.
With the other hand, Buster places a hand on Jackson’s shoulders and presses down. "Sit."
Jackson sighs unwinding and sits down again.
“If you plan on shooting your Boss in the face, make sure hes far enough away not to ruin your weapons. Ok?”
Jackson points a figure at Romario.
"You *hick* better watch it pall *hick*.... YOU DAMN MURDERED MY BEAR!"
Jackson starts lunging at Romario.
Buster grabs Jackson by the collar and slams him down, Hard. “The next step is I throw you out.... the exhaust port.”
Upon hearing the commotion, Fluffy appears in a dead runs and run and covers Jackson's whole body
Buster looking at Romario shakes his head. ”Put the damn gun down Rommie.”
"There’s a good boy Fluffy..."
Jackson says quietly.
*Romario puts it back.* “Okay, okay... It be a nice gun I be stealin' of dem LPI SWAT teams.”
Buster lets go of jacksons shoulders and returns to his table. “God damn kids...”
Thing glares at Jackson and stands, walking up to the bar to order some cola.
Jackson manages to get out of Fluffy’s grip and stands up to dust himself off, picks up his 44 magnum and hides it away. "Ok Fluffy, now shoo. I mean it. I’ll be fine." He says quietly.
The bear walks off. " Ughh... that slam woke me up..."
Romaniro shakes his head and finishes off the spliff.
Thing takes the cola and goes to sit at an empty table. As Thing passes Buster's table, he pushes a chair at his out with his foot.
She flinches slightly before taking a seat at Busters table. She shakes her head. "Thanks for that, before.... I didn't actually mean to cause trouble this time."
“Not a problem. How have you been?"
Jackson sighs, still with his damn problem pulsating in the back of his mind.
She shrugs. "Alright, I guess. How about you?"
Jackson mutters to himself but load enough so the whole bar can hear him. "Damn you Hellfire... Damn you to hell."
Romario looks up. “Hm?”
"Oh... You don’t know? IS it just me that knows? They invaded Humbolt not long ago damn it!"
Romario shrugs at this. “I been stayin' away for a while. My son be knowin' more. Maybe. He's out huntin' dam traders again."
"They claim to be 'protecting' the DSE."
Jackson grunts. "To hell with them! They are ruining my income! I plan to finish them off! Even if I will have to murder each DSE member one, by one, by one..."
Thing glances across at Jackson, shaking her head slightly, refraining from commenting.
Jackson looks back and around. "What? You seem to be quite about this. I though HF the damn enemies of the Rogues! Bah! guess it’s just me."
Romario glares for a while but is too stoned to react. ”...Yes.”
"You know who the Hellfire Legion is!? They are cunning damn f**kin terrorist scum ruinin’ business! I know cause i got history against them... Damn it if it weren't for them... VR would be still up and running."
Romario keeps staring and smiling foolishly.
"Oh keep smiling man! Keep doing it!"
Romario goes back to his seat in some sort of drug induced trance.
Jackson sighs and gets up. He goes to the bar and orders a milk in a glass and another liter of milk to go.
Thing sighs and looks at Buster. "So, you're...."
She thinks for a moment. "Ah, never mind. I dunno what I'm trying to say."
Jackson grabs the milk, drinks his glass, pays for the drinks and the broken shot glasses.
Buster smiles back at Thing. “What?”
Amy walks back to the bar and goes to sit at a table back in to corner.
Thing smiles sheepishly. "No, it doesn't matter."
Meanwhile, a younger rogue enters the bar clearly looking for someone. He then notices the wreck called his father and slowly helps his old man get out of the bar. “Apologies if he caused trouble. Let’s put you to bed. See you tomorrow. I guess.”
They both walk out of the bar, Romario trying to light another spliff and his son face-palming.
Buster smiles. “You don’t seem the type to be bashful.”
Meanwhile, Jackson sees Amy again and walks up to her to sit at her table. "Amy dear, we still didn’t have a chance to finish our talk about this brother of yours."
She looks at Jackson. “That's because I told you I don't want to.”
"What if I said I could help?"
“Excuse me?”
Thing thinks for a moment before shrugging. "Who I am and who I make people believe I am, are generally two completely different people."
"You heard me right. I mean it."
“You best get to leaving me alone. If you know what’s good for ya.”
"Funny thing. I don’t. Now...."
He attempts to sit. "Can I help or not, if he means that much to you."
She smiles back. “Damn straight you don't.”
Amy stands up walking away from Jackson.
Seeing this, Jackson becomes confused. He runs and softly hold Amy’s shoulder, making her stop. "I don’t get it, why can't I help find him?"
Amy stops mid place. “Get your %&$#ing hand off me.”
"I got the experience; I got the tracking abilities to get him back..."
He sighs. "Fine, but I bet he was a fine fellow... what I could make out.... And it’s a shame that you keep all this sadness in you and won’t let anyone help."
Thing takes a sip of her cola, leaning back in the chair she looked deep in thought.
Amy thinks for a sec before wiping out here pistol and knocking Jackson in the face with the pistol butt. “I am telling you this once. Keep my brother out your &$%#ing mouth you don't know shit about him."
She continues to walk over to the bar, her hands now shaking.
Jackson steps to the side from the hit and coughs a bit. He speaks load enough so everyone can here.
"Oh look here you have a pretty little gun. Such a shame that I got MINE broken... O wait I have another... but BUSTER doesn’t allow me to protect myself!"
Jackson takes a few steps following Amy. "Amy, don’t do this to yourself. I might not know him, but I’m as loyal as can be to any Rogue out there. Just... think about it.”
She stares angrily at Jackson. “What the hell did I just say!”
She points her gun at his head. “You don't know HALF the shit what I have been through. I would not even be here if it was not for Nathan. I suggest you shut the fuck up and get on with your sad life, before I end it right now!”
Tears are seen rolling down her eyes.
"END IT THEN! I KNOW how it is to loose someone too! END IT FOR ME! Just know when you do then hell is gonna break loose!"
Amy pulls the trigger.
In a split second Jackson makes a move and sweeps his hand against Amy's arm. The bullet goes flying to the other side of the bad and breaks open an expensive wine. "GOD DAMN IT"
Jackson sweeps around and holds Amy in a death grip. "CALM THE #$%& DOWN!"
“Telling me to calm down after I tell you to not talk about my brother.”
She kicks him in the balls. “Calm THIS @#&% down!”
"ugghh... real nice...."
Jackson being hit, falls on the floor cringing in pain.
Amy throws here gun on him and runs out the room crying.
"Damn my luck.....ugghhh...every time i try to help someone I get injured....
*cough* *cough* "is that... blood? uuughhh can... *cough* anyone give me a hand? Damn it......"
Thing shakes her head and sighs. She stands up and walks over to him, holding out her hand, offering to help him up.
"uughhhh.... I think I’m in heaven... I see an angel in front of me...."
Thing raises an eyebrow. "Yeah. Alright. You want a hand up or not?"
"Yea, yea, beautiful. Just give me a sec here...."
He finally notices Thing is in front of him, he feels embarrassed and slightly blushing a bit. "Actually I’m fine.....Good as ever."
He tries his best to ignore the pain and manages to stand up on his own. "There... no need for... *cough* assistance...."
"Uh huh, your fine... Don't need my help then."
She turns and walks back over to Busters table.
Buster looks back to her. “Very noble of you.”
Thing looks slightly confused. "He... I... What?"
Buster smiles.
Walking ever so slightly, Jackson manages to walk into the washroom.
Inside however Jackson can be heard panicking but his voice is muffled a bit in the washroom. "HOLY @$%& WHAT DID THAT WOMAN DO TO ME!!!! I THINK IM GONNA DIE! AHHhhh.....!!!”
Thing takes a seat again, and another sip of her drink, trying not to react to Jackson's outburst. She looks across at Buster. "So, is it always like this here?"
Buster shrugs. “More or less. I like it when it’s quiet. But it seems that just isn’t in the cards today.”
From the washroom. "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN HERE, AND I'M BLEEDING IN PLACES I HAVE NOT BLED BEFORE!"
Thing nods, kind of glad he wasn't asking questions about her comment earlier. "I don't think you'll be so lucky."
She put her glass down on the table and brushed her hair out of her eyes again. "Think hes ok in there?"
“He will live.”
Out of nowhere Fluffy comes into the bar, confused and sniffing all over. He goes to Buster and Thing and starts whining, confused about where his master is and seeing some blood on the floor.
Buster points to the washroom and Fluffy runs in.
“So what were you saying before we were interrupted?”
Buster asks.
Fluffy he emerges and runs out and comes back with a role of band aids and cloth and goes back into the washroom.
She shrugs watching Fluffy head back into the washroom. "I dunno"
Buster looks at Thing, catching a dose of how beautiful she is before switching his gaze to a more quizzical one.
Fluffy then runs out again, and comes back pulling what appears to be a big sled and pulls it into the washroom.
Thing stops for a moment watching Fluffy with the sled. "I’m not gunna ask...."
She smiles and looks at Buster. "Whats on your mind?"
*Abrupt* “Huh? What? nothin. err. nothin. daydreaming I guess.... haven't slept. ya know."
His gaze wanders elsewhere.
She nods. "Something keeping you up....."
Thing looks up at the bar, before back at Buster. "I... uh... You don't... actually needa tell me, if you don't want to."
“I suppose not. perhaps I should sleep. They gave me a new room. And I hate it. So I haven’t been sleeping in it.”
Fluffy comes out again, this time with a note in his mouth. He walks up to Thing and hands it to her, forcing it in her hands.
The note reads: "Sorry for the misconfusion my Angel, but first impressions are not my sort of thing. Hopefully next time if we meet will be different, maybe in space......"
The rest is smudged or bite off by the bear.
Thing looks at Fluffy, taking the note. She reads it and goes to scratch him under the chin with a smile before folding it carefully and putting it in her pocket.
The bear stares at Thing and stands on two legs. On his belly is another note reading: “A little bear hug for your troubles.”
Fluffy then covers Thing with his body and cuddles into her, pressing his weight and fluffy hair against Thing.
Thing sees Fluffy getting closer and quickly covers her face before he cuddles into her. She manages to slide off the chair away from the hug and stand up putting her hand out with one finger raised. "All right, that’s too far into my bubble....."
She looks at Fluffy sideways before shaking her head and talking quietly. "I dunno, tell him I'll see him later, and if he ever pulls a gun on me again... I'll blow his foot off."
Nodding, fluffy licks Thing happily and runs back into the washroom.
She sighs before grinning and looks at Buster. "Why not go back to your old room?"
“I never had a room in ‘Traz. Mine was on Fortaleza. I suppose I should get over my phobia of bed bugs and hit the hay. Goodnight, M'lady.”
She wipes her face, failing in her effort not to look disappointed. “You have a good sleep.... Oh, before you go. One more thing..."
From inside the washroom. “MUSH!!!!!!! YYYYYEEEEHHAAAA!!!!!”
The washroom door bursts open and Fluffy appears pulling the sled with Jackson strapped in and lying down.
She looks across at the rest room giggling quietly when she hears his outburst and shaking her head when she sees him lying in the sled.
“Yes?”
Jackson nods a farewell seeing Thing watching him. Jackson with Fluffy exit the bar, but not until a few chairs are turned upright and on the floor. "My bad!....”
Thing stands up and heads over to Buster, giving him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. "Again... Thanks for earlier. I didn't really feel like getting my head blown off today."
Buster blushes. “...uh...anytime.”
He gets up hurriedly and rushes out.
She watches him leave in a hurry with a grin. She sits down again and finishes her cola.
From the docking bay.
“FLUFFY! SLOW DOWN! YOUR GONNA HIT THE.....” *BOOOOOMM* ".... MY SHIP!"
Thing laughs and covers her face with her hands muttering "Wow....."
"THE WING! ITS GONNA TAKE WEEKS TO FIX BY MYSLEF!..... oh my GOD! NOT THE HEIMBALLS! YEA yea its ok Fluffy.... just get me on the ship please! Don’t worry I'm not mad, I'll find money to fix it later...
Wait a sec the rope it tangled.... no, NO, FLUFFY NO! AAAHHHH MY LEG! Damn it where is a docktor on a Rogue base when you need them!... Ahhggg.... ok ill be fine....you will be fine Jackson... no broken bones.... just a flesh wound....Am I hung over???"
Kevin enters the bar and goes to grab a Grape V-Shot “Hey, wow what did I miss?”
He says seeing the blood on the ground.
Thing looks at Kevin. "Take a seat, its a long story."
Kevin sits down and smiles. “I'm all ears, Thing.”
She takes a sip of her cola, finishing it, and puts the glass down. "Well. I'll give you the short story..... I got Jackson drunk. His bear came in eventually. Um, Him and some guy at the bar got lippy... Guns got drawn, had one pointed my direction, Buster stepped in and cooled everything off.
Thats the first part..."
She smirks. "Then this guy decided to hassle Amy. I didn't hear what was said, but she beat him up pretty good."
Kevin is surpised by this. “Wow... So I did miss it.”
Thing looks at the blood then up at the bar. "Yeah."
“Heck.”
Kevin downs his drink.
"I dunno, this place is pretty rough really. I wasn't expecting this. I might need to get my other gun out if I plan on staying around here."
“What? You plan on leaving?”
She shrugs.
"I dunno. See what happens I guess."
Kevin smiles. “Alright.”
From the hanger. "I dunno Fluffy... looks like we might be here for a while.... Aaahhhhh.... actually.........if you can get... I can heal quicker and get ou.... a bit..."
He looks at Thing. “Wanna drink?”
Thing thinks for a moment. "Sure, if you’re paying."
She pokes out her tongue.
Fluffy re-enters carrying a basket and two notes and money inside. The bear walks over to the counter, stands on two feet, and gets the bar tenders attention. The bartender looks at the note and starts loading a small bottle of Vodka into the basket. He then walks behind the bar door into the back of the bar and comes out with what appears to be a heavily decorated bottle. The bar man helps fluffy stick the second note to the expensive bottle and loads it on second basket, smaller than the first.
Kevin laughs not noticing the bear. “Alright I'll pay this time.”
She grins. "Thanks. My shout next round then."
“Alright, Tender Round us up on me.”
Thing rubs her eyes and yawns before frowning and moving hair out of her face again, muttering something about how it’s a pain in the ass.
Kelvin looks at Thing. “What?”
She shrugs. "My hair has a mind of its own.... I swear."
He laughs. “My little sister had hair like that once.”
Fluffy holds the handles of the two baskets in his mouth and starts walking first to the table with Kevin and Thing. He drops gently the smaller basket, then heads out the door. The bottle is an expensive wine and the note reads:
"To Angel,
My deepest apologies for the gun in your face; my reflexes kicked in. Hope this helps, it’s on me.”
Back at the docking bay Jackson yells. "Ahhh it burrnnsss!!!!!"
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