The Return of Queen Anne's Revenge: Chapter 1: Another Ship on the Barbie (Closed, Started)

[Mr. Omega]

Hamilcar followed behind Viduka, taking a moment to admire the ship in front of him. "Not bad, considering the circumstances. I was half expecting a pile of scrap with an engine strapped to the end of it." he said jokingly. "Still, hopefully you won't mind me making a more thorough examination..." he took the first chance to get onto the ship before anyone could stop him.

He thought back to the crew as he wandered through the cockpit, heading back through the ship checking the gallery and med bay with little interest beyond whether or not they were sanitary. The crew seems reliable. Not too sure about the pilot, but I haven't seen that one in action. Ray seems good in a scrap. Navigator is a bit exotic for my tastes, but has the more subtle signs of experience. Hoping not to need the medic anytime soon. Ms. Lacy is more educated than appearances let on. His thoughts were interrupted as he reached the crew's quarters. Hamilcar reached the closest bedroom to the cockpit, taking a look around. He scoffed at the modest conditions, taking off his grey jacket showing the white shirt underneath and throwing the jacket onto the bed in a simple gesture to claim the room as his.

And as for Mr... El Suhra. Might need to talk to the captain about that one. Preferably alone. He went out to try and meet whoever would step on next in an effort to run into Alberta in a more natural manner.

 

[Athol]

"There she be. Tha Queen Anne's Reveenge!"

Lacy raised an eyebrow, as Scott 'unveiled' the ship. Well she's certainly not going to win any beauty contests. She thought, a faint smile on her lips. Still, she'd crewed on worse; at least the Anne didn't look like she was liable to explode if you stared at her too hard.

"Gwon up in 'er. Giver a look. Get ta know 'er a bit."

"Don't mind if I do." She replied, making her way up the ramp behind Hamilcar. Inside was pretty much as she'd expected, spartan but well made, this was a simple working ship to the core. Her first item of business was to claim a bunk; making her way to the crew quarters, she threw her jacket into the first room she found...and then moved it to the room across the corridor when she saw she'd thrown her jacket on top of Hamilcar's.

Her next stop was Medical. While she hadn't been hired as a medic for this trip, her training wouldn't let her rest if she didn't check it out. What she found there pleased her; though not surprisingly it lacked any brand new gear or fancy meds, it was well stocked, and the gear was in good shape. Now let's just hope we don't need any of it.

 

[blaze96]

Jack looked the ship over as he climbed in and searched for his little hole in the wall.

It's little more than a shit heap in comparison to the Enkidu, but most things do when compared to a battleship. It'll get the job done and keep a lone profile so it will work. He thought as he found a bunk and set his things down on it. He then decided to check the medical supplies. He wasn't a doctor so much as a combat medic so he was less interested in instrumentation so much as the more basic supplies for triage and stabilization.

What he found the pleased him, he had brought his old case so that he could order things and access them as he already knew how to. But the case itself had been empty. However in the room he noticed not only the other member of what would make up the ship's medical staff, but all the supplies he would need to get the job done with none of the frills. To some extent he preferred the spartan medical bay, much as he preferred his old ship It all too often had facilities that were more for showing off how advanced the ship was rather than for any real practical reason.

"Just like a medic, new ship we don't know and the first thing we do is check for morphine and bandages."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Get ta know 'er a bit."

"Gladly." Langley said, catching the ring then dropping the ring but picking it up before she boarded the ship. To Langley, the first stop was the cockpit where the majority of her time on this lovely ship would be. It wasn't exactly a Class-Three gunship or a Space-liner but for all its intents and purposes, it was a good enough ship. Sure, it wasn't going to turn heads at the refueling stations but that was a good thing. The less flashy the smuggler, the more likely the authorities wouldn't notice them.

Langley went through the controls of the ship, checking various devices on the console. The ship's controls were rather simple which Langley also favored. No fusion reactors to worry about or fancy electronic sub systems to run diagnostics checks for. It was as simple as simple could get.

"Let's see... Controls, check. Grav, check. Engines, check. Oxygen, of course..." Langley said, rattling off several other checks which was purely out of habit alongside military protocol firmly ingrained in her head. Then she came to a rather startling discovery. "Viduka! Where the hell are the cup holders?!"

 

[RandomMan01]

"Gwon up in 'er. Giver a look. Get ta know 'er a bit."

Will was getting a pretty good impression of the ship from the outside as it was. Simple, practical, and reliable. Well, the last part might have been wishful thinking, but the point still stood that this ship practically defined the term "spartan". Will couldn't help but smirk looking at her. She reminded him of the first ship he had served on. Climbing on board, Will's first order of business was claiming a room.

Walking through the crew quarters, Will couldn't help but notice some of his crew-mates had had the same idea as he had, and that many of the rooms had been claimed. Settling for the first empty room he found, Will walked in to take a look, his pack falling unceremoniously onto the bed. Taking a look around, Will nodded his head in approval.

"Welcome home Will," he muttered quietly, still glancing around the room. He had seen better, but this would be more than suitable for his needs. It made him think of his early days in the IO, except this time he was more prepared for whatever the universe planned to throw his way. Now that he was settled in, his next order of business should be-

"Viduka! Where the hell are the cup holders?!"

Will's thoughts were interrupted by a shout emanating from the front of the ship. It seemed the pilot had found something in the cockpit to her disliking. Will sighed and began walking towards the source of the noise. Honestly, he wasn't sure about this pilot. He assumed she had a bit of experience at least, otherwise she probably wouldn't have been hired in the first place. However, her earlier statement about being drunk on the job worried Will deeply. He could work as hard as was physically possible and it still wouldn't make a bit of different if the pilot was too drunk to do her job properly. Still, he would reserve final judgement until he saw her in action.

Walking into the cockpit, Will took a look around. Sure enough, there was the pilot. Giving her a quick wave, Will walked to his seat and took a look at his workstation. The navigation software wasn't too old. There were better options out there, but the stuff Viduka had provided would be more than capable of getting the ship where it needed to go. Glancing at the controls he went over a quick mental check-list, checking to make sure each piece was functional.

After a few minutes, Will stood back up, "Looks good"

 

[Athol]

"Just like a medic, new ship we don't know and the first thing we do is check for morphine and bandages."

Pulling her head out of the cupboard she was rooting around in, Lacy laughed. "Well, you know what they say about old habits and how they die." Standing, she turned about and lent against the counter. "While it's no military grade med bay, I've definitely seen worse. Mind you with any luck, you or I won't have to do too much in the way of patching the rest of 'em back together."

 

[Lefthandofgod]

This ship had seen better days.
That was the expression that came to mind when Muhammad saw the ship. The phrase didn't quite suit it though; Muhammad doubted if this boat ever really had a "good day"

"Well, I better see what I'm working with," he muttered to himself. He drained his drink, took another look at the ship, poured himself some more tequila, drained it, and walked up the entrance ramp.

The ship, while looking nearly dilapidated on the outside, was quite a piece of work inside. An eye untrained in boarding would have just seen slightly narrow corridors and angles on the corners that stuck out a little too much. But Muhammad knew what he was looking at; this ship was a small fortress. Any boarding party would spend most of their time funneling themselves through the hallways. Easy picking for a crew who had to defend themselves.

I have to admit, Viduka knows what he's doing. Hell, we could all retire just by baiting illegal salvage jobs for a few weeks. He's gotta have something planned.

As Muhammad continued on his tour of the ship, he passed by the crew quarters. I might as well claim my room now, he thought, tossing his jacket into the first open room. He noticed the Turk's jacket was already in there. Doing a quick double-check in the hallway, Muhammad ran his hands quickly through the pockets. There was nothing interesting, save for a set of lockpicks and some small jammers for getting past security cameras. Interesting. He always needs to have a way out. Not much of a fighter though. I?ll have to keep an eye on him. This guy gives me a bad feeling He made a mental note of his findings, gathered his jacket, and left the room, making sure to arrange everything to it?s original location and position.

After moving his jacket into a room that hadn't been claimed yet, Muhammad continued his tour, this time searching for the ships gun room. This boat was, at least by outward appearances, a cargo ship, so the gun room would be hidden somewhere. The obvious location would be above the cargo bay, he reasoned, to give the gun the best range of fire. But he really wasn?t looking forward to the prospect of searching a room that big for a hidden panel or secret button. He walked up to the nearest intercom panel.

?Hey, Kangaroo Jack. Do ?ya mind telling me how I find the guns on this boat??

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Ray took a big swig of his coffee before resolving to clamber into the ship. It was no looker, that was for certain, but he was raised better than to speak up about it. As his ma always told him, 'if you didn't have anything nice to say, it's best to keep it to yourself.' The ship was obviously built for utility more than anything, and Ray felt it added to the charm.

The moment Ray stepped aboard, he had a good feeling about this contract. It would take some time getting used to the crew, but he hoped he'd be able to get along well with everyone. He was fortunate enough to have few problems with shipmates, so it was hardly a major concern.

At any rate, Ray felt it was about time to get settled in. He set his duffel bag into the first quarters he saw that weren't already taken before setting off to explore more of the ship.

 

[NeoAC]

Jewels followed the lead of the other members of the crew and climbed aboard the ship to get a closer look at what she would be working with. Since the galley was closer then the rooms she decided to check there first, intent on seeing what was going to be available to work with given that the ship itself didn't really seem like much.

It turned out to be a standard affair, less glamorous then the restaurant's massive work station, but suitable enough to cook larger meals. A plus, considering it looked like some members of the crew liked to eat. It was definitely in need of cleaning though. Later. Definitely later.

She continued into the back, coming across the quarters. A good percentage of the rooms had already been taken from the belongings scattered about, so she claimed one of the bunks off to the side, near the entrance and sat down on the bed, drink rested on the small end table as she leaned back against the wall to try and clear her head of the way the meeting went. Come on Julia. Shouldn't be moping like this. I'm going to be blasting off into space soon! And not in hiding! That's something to get excited for! And it looks like the crew is good, not all stuck up or anything. Though I probably should hold back with the pilot...Still, this is going to be great! No more life stalling in the back of a bar! Yeah! All right! With renewed vigor she grabbed the remains of her rum and moved out to explore the rest of the ship.

[hr]

"Hey, Kangaroo Jack. Do 'ya mind telling me how I find the guns on this boat?

The communicator in Scott's pocket buzzed, informing him that the two-way system appeared to be in fine working order. Mo had decided to start the culture war early, as the repartee between the two usually went, and he started right at the bottom. He pulled the device out, and buzzed back. "Cahm down, Aladdin," he told him. If Francisco and Kim did their jobs, his voice should only go through to the activated intercom. "Guns're locked up inna pair a cab'nets near tha cockpit. Easy access 'n all. Then if ya need access ta Big Brit'ney, tha sheila'd be up tahp, trew a hatch neah tha cahrgo bay, but that's onlee for eemergencies, copy?"

With the question answered, Viduka headed back towards his office to fish another device out. The new crew should have had plenty of time to get themselves acquainted with everything. Soon it would be time to start earning their keep.

 

[blaze96]

"I'll keep my hope to with any luck their wounds won't be too bad. Don't exactly want my skills to rust because all I'm working on is the occasional stubbed toe." Jack said with a laugh.

"But I have most certainly seen worse. One time a bunch of dumb colonists had put down roots on some god forsaken rock and hadn't even brought the most basic medical supplies. That was one of our more humanitarian runs. Had to even build them a place to heal and train some of the poor bastards to actually do what they needed to. Turned out they had read some stupid pamphlet and thought it would be easy to survive in the middle of nowhere."

 

[Athol]

Lacy chuckled as Jack spoke, then grew more serious when he started talking about ill prepared colonists. "Ain't that the truth." She said softly. "About nine years ago the Tamerlane got sent to check out why some little homesteader colony stopped calling home."

Standing up, she began to pace the room, idly looking at some of the equipment. "When we got to the little ice ball that these idiots had decided to stake claim to, orbital scans gave us nothing...no RF, no thermal, nothing."

"I was part of the first team into the 'colony' site, and...damn...I've seen kids groups that were better prepared than this lot. They hadn't thought to bring pre-fabs with them, just a bunch of those surveyors tents...fine if it's a temperate world that has local fauna to build with, or you've got something else coming in later waves...but no, this was a one shot deal. We found'em all huddled in one of the larger tents...froze to death before we even got the call."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Looks good"

"Same here, dear." Langley rhymed to Will. Langley gave him a smile as she gently rose from her seat, making sure that everything would be in the same place she left them by the time they would leave. If there was one thing she learned to when it came to smuggling, it was that the job would soon start mere moments after the crew was settled in. She left the cockpit and went to a open room looking around but then deciding that she would simply find a bed to sleep on later or someone to share it with. Langley certainly didn't mind sharing a bed.

"Heaven knows... I've shared plenty of beds with people less friendly than this..." Langley thought to herself. She toured around the ship, looking around every nook and cranny as she made sure everything was to spec. She wasn't an engineer but she knew whether or not the ship would be concealing some dirty secret like a hastily patched hole. She wanted this job to be done as quick and safely as possible. Langley stopped at the storage room, gazing around. She heard that the weapons were here as well but she didn't look for them actively. Langley already had her trusty sidearm by her side and that was all she needed.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Ray stepped into the mess area and just surveyed the quaint room for a moment. There wasn't much to speak of, but he didn't need much to begin with. Just a place to cook steak and eggs as well as brew his coffee. He hoped they had some kinda brewing machine, or a french press at the very least. He really didn't want to have to settle for the cheap instant stuff. It simply wasn't the same. He decided to poke around the cabinets a bit. Couldn't hurt, with him being a member of the crew and all.

 

[NeoAC]

As she made her way out into the hallway, Jewels heard a noise coming across from the mess area she had just checked out. Oh damn it. Don't tell me they're already looking for the booze. I'm finding it first!

She did come into to see someone snooping through the cabinets, one of the people from the meeting who's name she couldn't remember. "If you're looking for more drinks," she commented. "I don't think there are any in there."

[hr]

When Mo remained silent, Viduka assumed that meant he had found the weapons cache he was looking for. Roight, time ta go. The device Viduka was looking for was in the second drawer of his desk, where he had left it. It functioned similar to a remote starter, with a couple added tweaks that the Aussie descendant had asked for during the construction process. He pushed the first button, closing the doors on the outside of the ship. Once they had slammed shut, a couple of the flunkies worked the station, opening the roof of the hangar. Viduka then pressed another button, and the engines began to churn to life with an audible thunk, high octane fuel flooding in and sparking the conversion process that allowed the QAR's homemade brethren flight.

[hr]

As the loud chunk rattled through the ship, Jewels instinctively grabbed onto the countertop. "What the hell was that?"

"Ladies 'n Gentlemen!" The intercom crackled with the thick accent of Scott Viduka. "You lot are gonna be deepartin' off now on your first litt'l run. Nothin' special. Just a walkabout ov'r to Tlaxcala, delivrin' a package to me mate Culina, he's a right one. He'll know whatta do once it's on ground, and he'll give tha payment ov'r. So roight, you're off inna minute, and Ang, I'd be in ya chair. Cause the ship takes off wither without a pilot. Ov'r n' out!"

"What...please don't tell me we're being blasted off without a pilot..."

 

[RandomMan01]

"Ladies 'n Gentlemen! You lot are gonna be deepartin' off now on your first litt'l run. Nothin' special. Just a walkabout ov'r to Tlaxcala, delivrin' a package to me mate Culina, he's a right one. He'll know whatta do once it's on ground, and he'll give tha payment ov'r."

"Easy enough," Will said as his settled himself into his chair. Running over the operating systems one more time before settling himself into his chair.

So roight, you're off inna minute, and Ang, I'd be in ya chair. Cause the ship takes off wither without a pilot. Ov'r n' out!"

"..."

Will glanced around the, decidedly empty, cockpit. Suddenly keenly aware of the lack of a pilot.

"Well," he began, glancing towards the empty chair, "Fuck,"

Will stood up from his seat and leaned towards the pilot's controls. He figured the pilot would probably be back before take-off, but it never hurt to be sure, and while he wasn't really sure how to actually fly a ship, he was pretty sure he could keep it off the ground until someone who did showed up.

"This...this could be problematic,"

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

The ship gave Langley a rattle as she surveyed the room. The familiar rattle of a take off it seemed.

Remote take off? And here I though he trusted me... Langley thought as she darted back to the cockpit. There she saw Will sitting in her seat holding the controls. While she was grateful of it, if She didn't know Will she would have shot him. But luckily she had the pleasure to have seen him and maybe they exchanged a word or two. Langley didn't have the best memory.

"Hey there!" Langley said as she got to the cockpit. "So much for first impressions, right?" Langley said as she took back the helm.

"Sorry about that. Just wanted to know what was back there before take off. But it seems like Viduka lacks some manners to when it comes to his pilots. Again, thanks for holding the controls but I got it and I assure you I know what I am doing."

Langley took the reigns of the ship for the first time and eased the ship off the ground. The thrusters would be getting used to but it would in no time that Langley would be doing donuts around Venus. Still, she had a mission to complete and without any other deviation she zoned in to her work. With the engines already started, Langley took off into the sky. In comparison to her other flights, the simple mission wouldn't take all that long but Langley wasn't one for speeding without the exact need to so she set sail towards the place at a steady rate.

"And we are off..." Langley exhaled.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hamilcar was near the entrance of the ship when it lurched to life, starting to depart. The jolt threw Hamilcar off balance. "So roight, you're off inna minute, and Ang, I'd be in ya chair. Cause the ship takes off wither without a pilot. Ov'r n' out!"

"Oh this is bad, this is bad very very bad very bad." He said to himself as he struggled to not fall over. The few drinks he had certainly weren't helping. He managed to regain his composure, looking around hoping that nobody saw that display. He dashed towards the cockpit, praying that somebody was in control.

He stopped in front of the doors and walked in, spotting Langley and Will. He let off a relived sigh and sat on the closest flat surface he could find. "Well, glad to see everything's under control. Good show, you two."

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

"If you're looking for more drinks, I don't think there are any in there."

"Well, ma'am," Ray began, pausing to give her a nod in greeting before going back to rummaging, "as partial as I am to whiskey, I'm more partial to coffee. If it turns out there ain't none, then wakin' up is gonna be a little less pleasant than I'd like it to be."

Through the commotion and fret of potentially taking off without a pilot, Ray just continued his search. There's gotta be one bag at the very least. Maybe even just a tin of grounds, but there has to be something.

"Miss Crosby, you wouldn't happen to know if there's a decent supply of coffee, would ya?"

 

[RandomMan01]

"Hey there! So much for first impressions, right?"

Will looked over his shoulder towards Langley, and let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Thank Christ, he thought, I thought I was going to have to pilot this thing.

"Sorry about that. Just wanted to know what was back there before take off. But it seems like Viduka lacks some manners to when it comes to his pilots. Again, thanks for holding the controls but I got it and I assure you I know what I am doing."

"Mph" Will made a noncommittal grunt as he returned the controls to Langley. Returning to his seat, Will brought up the navigational controls. It probably wouldn't be necessary for the first run, but you could never be too careful. Pulling up the overlay, Will began to adjust the map, looking for any potential obstacles the computer might have missed. Luckily, the computer seemed to be working better than the last one he had the displeasure to use, and the path was more or less clear. It was at that moment that the captain...no wait...second-in-command walked through the doorway.

"Well, glad to see everything's under control. Good show, you two."

"Aye, sir," Will said, allowing himself a little rest while the ship took off.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Muhammad was still in the bay, fumbling around trying to find the hatch to the ship's gun deck. It was nestled in the corner, far off to the back, hidden where the light wouldn't shine on it. He sometimes forgot how good Viduka was at this.

He pried the hatch open and climbed inside. The room was a single-pilot design; small and orb-like. An array of screens lined the wall directly ahead of the chair in the center of the room. Basic ship diagnostics, thermal readings, orientation, maps, ammo count, the list went on. The QAR may only have one shot in a ship-to-ship engagement, but dammit if it wasn't a good shot.

Muhammad sat down in the chair, hoping he could spend some time familiarizing himself with the controls. It was only after the system activated that he realized why Viduka was so eager to get him on as the gunner. The gun room must have been salvaged from a ship from a few sectors away, because the controls were all in Arabic.


He was still playing around with the buttons when he felt the ships engines fire. He chuckled to himself and picked his comm up again.
"Viduka! If you're going to throw my ass in space like that, there better be some drink on this boat!"