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

[NeoAC]

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

"Ummmmm," Jewels stalled, trying to look for any clues as to where coffee might be hidden, "I'm...not...sure, really. I didn't get much of a chance to look around before we got blasted off. There's gotta be some around here somewhere though, right?"

She started to rummage through the cabinets, rapidly opening and closing doors trying to find the ones that contained food. "Ummmm, dishes, dishes, pasta, cans, breakfast!" A quick scan revealed that there was a large tin of coffee on board the ship, but it appeared to be of cheap quality. "Here we go! Uh...'Escobar's Finest.' Looks enough like coffee! So there you go, uh...sorry, I'm kinda bad with names..."

[hr]

Watching the ship take off into the wild black yonder gave Viduka a sense of pride in seeing something he had a hand in creating...well, financing, slipping the surly bonds of NeoTeno. We'll show them PGP bastards what's wot! He was distracted from his reveling by a crackling voice coming over the communicator.

"Viduka! If you're going to throw my ass in space like that, there better be some drink on this boat!"

"Veg out Mo!" he answered back. "Only wanted ta give a litt'l push, is all. Ain't any drink onner yet, but there'll be plenty 'ere on the return. So stay savvy, it's a short run, shouldn'a take more 'n a couple 'ours. I'll see ya on tha return." He shut off the communicator and tossed the device on the messy desk he kept in the back office. Stretching out he moved to make a return to his beloved bar. 'Bout time I checked back in, anywho.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

"Here we go! Uh...'Escobar's Finest.' Looks enough like coffee! So there you go, uh...sorry, I'm kinda bad with names..."

Ray stepped over to Jewels and picked up the tin can. He looked over the can's label, scanning the brand. Recognizing the brand as a generally cheap grind sold at wholesale marts with the smaller tins being made up of what's scraped from the bottom of barrels. But he could live with it. Ray turned to Jewels and tipped his hat. "Thank ya kindly. Y'know, ya sound a little nervous. Ya new to this kinda work?"

 

[blaze96]

Jack had gone silent at the latest story told, that and a combination that the intercom had essentially said they may be leaving without a pilot. He had completed his check anyway and decided it would be for the best if he largely got out of the way.

"Well I'll leave you to it, seems like you got a fine handle on this anyway." He said before making his own way to the small mess area, if nothing else he could try and find a deck of cards or something. His job didn't really begin until they hit planetside anyway.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hamilcar saw Will nod off and chuckled "Certainly a fellow who isn't easily flustered." He took the chance to give the room a quick examination. "Well, as long as the pilot understands this tech..." Electronics were certainly something Hamilcar enjoyed, but the intricate innards of complex flying machines were still something he still needed to learn.

All the excitement had gotten to Hamilcar, so he decided to take this chance to get something to eat. Now that he knew there was someone piloting and the ship wasn't going forward aimlessly, he had calmed down. "A ship owned by a man who runs a bar damn well better have some good food..." He took a few steps when he remembered the other person in the room. "Say, Miss Langley, I'm getting a bit of food. And since you're clearly occupied at the moment, well... you want anything?"

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

" And since you're clearly occupied at the moment, well... you want anything?"

"A filet mignon and your best bottle of merlot if you please." Langley spoke in a posh, British accent before switching back to her own. She would wink at him but considering that she felt the navigator thought of her nothing more than a reckless drunk she thought it best to keep her eyes on target. "On second thought, surprise me, sir. I'm sure you'll bring back something nice for your pilot. Oh and the navigator too. You want anything...Will, right?"

 

[RandomMan01]

"On second thought, surprise me, sir. I'm sure you'll bring back something nice for your pilot. Oh and the navigator too. You want anything...Will, right?"

Will shook his head as he opened his eyes.

"Did I fall asleep? Ah crap.

Glancing around the cabin, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. He was about to turn down the offer, but was interrupted by a rumbling in his belly. It was at that moment that Will realized he hadn't eaten since he left his apartment.

"Ah...same here. No alcohol though, sir," Will answered, before turning to Langley, "And yeah, Will's right," That said, he turned back to the navigation computer.

 

[NeoAC]

"Thank ya kindly. Y'know, ya sound a little nervous. Ya new to this kinda work?"

Jewels looked down at the ground. "Uh, well, not cooking. I've been cooking for a while. Just never really done it on a spaceship, you know? I haven't been on many flights or anything yet."

[hr]

The short hop that Viduka talked about was living up to it's name as the QAR quickly left Neoteno's airspace. Tlaxcala wasn't too far off, sharing similar founders to it's MesoAmerican cousin. The clay-colored dot could be seen approaching on the horizon. There were no distinguishable features on the planet that stood out like Neoteno's financial and entertainment districts, but there were good enough coordinates located on the ship's computer that even a drunk monkey would be able to tell where the contact was to be met.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hamilcar saw the planet in the distance, stepping out to get something for himself, the pilot and now awake Will. He made his way to the kitchen and started looking around, taking a second to notice Ray and Jewels, then another second to remember them. "Hey, you two. Everything situated here? You got a good grasp on what sort of food is where?" He decided it'd be better to wait for a response than start rummaging through the ship. Hamilcar knew that getting on a cook's bad side was never a good idea.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

"Uh, well, not cooking. I've been cooking for a while. Just never really done it on a spaceship, you know? I haven't been on many flights or anything yet."

"I reckon ye'll do alright," said Ray, "give it a li'l time with good company, ya may come to like it. 'Sides, ya ain't got much worry working in the kitchen, 'less ya get the inklin' to get yerself out and about more oft 'an not. Name's Raymond, by the way. Nearly forgot. Not my name, mind you, just that ya'd asked. And just Ray'll do, if ya find that preferable."

"Hey, you two. Everything situated here? You got a good grasp on what sort of food is where?"

"Eeyup. With the help of Miss Crosby here, I'd say I got this kitchen figured out." Ray chuckled a bit as he stepped to the cupboard to replace the coffee. "Miss Crosby, would ya like to take over from here? I don't wanna be steppin' on any toes, 'specially not on the first day of the job."

 

[RandomMan01]

Will looked down at the planet below. He had been to many planets throughout his career, but that still didn't change how awe-inspiring one was from space. How one could see so much, yet so little, hundreds of miles above a planet's surface.

Damn, I forgot how cool this looked.

Clearing his head, Will looked back towards the Navigation Computer. Sure enough, there were the coordinates for the meeting place. Focusing his attention to the computer, Will began charting a path for the landing site closest to the target.

"Charting a path to the nearest landing site," Will called out.

 

[NeoAC]

"Miss Crosby, would ya like to take over from here? I don't wanna be steppin' on any toes, 'specially not on the first day of the job."

"Oh, it's not a problem!" Jewels told Ray while indirectly addressing the second in command. "I mean, it's fine! I think everything's figured out! Besides, Scott said this was a short trip, right? Hopefully I'm not going to have to do much more advanced then coffee at the moment, right? So yeah, it's all good for now. And you know, you don't have to call me Miss Crosby all the time. Probably way too formal for me anyway. So yeah, you can just call me Jules. So yeah." She leaned against the counter of the kitchen now that she was done fumbling around the answer to Hamilcar's question.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Charting a path to the nearest landing site,"

"Roger that," Langley said while she piloted the ship towards its course. The planet was unremarkable unlike its shining big brother which meant to Langley that either the deal would be low-key or its an ambush. An assumption that Langley always kept in her mind ever since her incident. "Tlaxcala.... what a tongue twister."

Langley flew the ship effortlessly into the planet's orbit which followed some very slight turbulence but nothing worrying. She saw the coordinates that was given to her and made her way towards it.

"Touching down soon." Langley called out.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

"Touching down soon." Langley called out.

Muhammad jerked awake in his chair. They were landing soon. He chuckled to himself; twenty years ago, he'd still would be reading any information he could on his target. Ten years ago, he'd at least have been ready by now Slept through the whole flight? God, maybe I really am getting old this time

He left the gun room and quickly made his way to the bedroom he claimed earlier. This place was pretty backwater, so no one would mind (or notice, for that matter) hooking up the electricity mods on SamSam. The circuitry slit into a hidden compartment in the handle of the sword, and the electric current ran up the tang and throughout the blade.

He prepped his JAWS .45 and holstered it into a shoulder harness. Muhammad always liked using them on missions with backwater targets. It was a standard kind of harness for government agents, and just wearing it brought up memories of raid squads to locals in the area. It was a great trick for leaving your target unsettled and willing to listen to you.

Finally geared up, he made his way down to the kitchen. Muhammad had seen the cook-girl before once or twice back at the Dingo, and it wasn't exactly a wild guess to assume she didn't have much combat experience. He figured Viduka would prefer if Muhammad kept the girl alive.

"Hey, kid. We're already in At-Mo. You wanna grab some gear? You're gonna need something to defend yourself with."

 

[NeoAC]

"Hey, kid. We're already in At-Mo. You wanna grab some gear? You're gonna need something to defend yourself with."

Jewels was a bit startled by the burly man coming in. She recognized him from a couple trips onto the bar floor at the Dingo to collect dishes, but he was still a very forceful presence. "Um, really? I'm not really much of a shooter...but OK...Um, where are the guns and stuff then?"

"In the closet up the hallway there. Near the cockpit."

"Uh, OK."

Jewels took a quick walk down the hall and after opening and closing a couple of doors, she found the aforementioned gun cabinet. A lot of the weapons in there looked a bit too advanced for someone who had minimal to no experience with firearms. "Uh.....hmmmm, OK....these are all way too big..." After a minute of perusing, she settled on a little pistol that looked like it would conveniently fit in the pocket of her pants if need be. Holsters did not appear to be readily available.

Walking back towards the kitchen, she felt the floor shift as the ship made it's final approach.

[hr]

The ship finally touched down on the surface of Tlaxcala, dust flying up as the landing gear lowered down to anchor the ship in place. The area where they had landed did not appear to have much for scenery, a flat landscape resembling the most boring parts of Wyoming circa 1933. The coordinates appeared to be off. There was nothing here.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Muhammad trudged out the loading dock, and looked out to see a whole lot of nothing. Nothing for what looked like miles and miles. A small, calm voice in Muhammad's head noted that miles and miles of nothing was, interestingly, a fine spot to leave a bunch of bodies. This wasn't a good sign, and Muhammad was too old to believe in coincidences, but, as he groped for his com-link, he was still hoping he could believe in accidents.

"Langley, come in. This is Mo'. I'm out here, and there's nothing. Confirm contact time and coordinates. Over."

Muhammad grabbed his JAWS.45 and held it at the ready, moving backwards to the entrance of the QAR.

SHIT! The kid's out here!

"Kid, listen. Get yer gun and keep yer back to the entrance of the ship. You see anyone looks like they wanna hurt you, shoot first, shoot 'em again, and don't bother askin' questions."

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

""Langley, come in. This is Mo'. I'm out here, and there's nothing. Confirm contact time and coordinates. Over."

Langley scanned the perimeter as they landed noting the lack of... rather anything. A bad feeling already ran her spine by the time she responded to Muhammad.

"Roger, watch your ass." Langley said curtly as she double checked all the coordinates and time that Viduka had given them. This had to be joke, maybe some prank that Viduka played on first time crews or something but Viduka was not a man that joked around.

"Will, are you sure these are the coordinates Viduka gave us?" Langley asked as she ran through the checks. In the middle of her check she reminded herself to check one last thing. Langley gave her pistol a look to make sure that it was still there and ready.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Hamilcar walked into the cockpit during the landing. "This place hardly seems like a place that would require such a ship, or a crew of this manner." Hamilcar muttered as looked at the surface of the planet. "Muhammad, stay near the entrance of the ship. Langley, get the ship ready to get the hell out of here."

Hamilcar did not like this current situation. This sort of thing reeked of funny business. He knew Viduka was normally on the level, but he knew things could have changed. "It never hurts to prepare for the worst."

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Stetson firmly on his noggin and pistol belt around the waist of his denims, Ray stepped into the firm ground and looked around at the still scenery. Dry, flat, and far from interesting. The place reminded him of home. He scratched the back of his head, wondering what exactly it was that was here for them. Providing the directions were correct and the pilot flew true, it was likely only a matter of time before they found out.

"Kid, listen. Get yer gun and keep yer back to the entrance of the ship. You see anyone looks like they wanna hurt you, shoot first, shoot 'em again, and don't bother askin' questions."

"Ain't partial to silence, I take it?" Ray asked, with a hint of a smile. "Don't reckon it best to make us appear like' to shoot on sight. Least, that'd be my two cents."

 

[RandomMan01]

"Will, are you sure these are the coordinates Viduka gave us?"

"Yeah, pretty sure," Will said.

"Ah crap, stay calm, just check everything again," Will thought as he began to type the coordinates back into the computer. Each time, it would display the exact same location. Subconsciously, one of his hands drifted down to his pocket, and began to fiddle with the knife there. Will took a deep breath, it did him well to know a weapon was within reach, even if it would be practically useless in a fight.

Turning towards Langley, Will shrugged, "I'll keep checking, but see if you can reconfirm things with Viduka," That done, Will turned towards the console and continuing putting in the coordinates. On one hand, he would hate to have made a mistake on the first flight. On the other, a trap would be even worse.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"I'll keep checking, but see if you can reconfirm things with Viduka,"

"Okay, checking comms." Langley said as she switched the engines on in case any sudden dangers would occur. At least then they could make a hasty getaway and make it back in time to ask Viduka just what was this little detour they took. With the engines prepped and ready she switched to comms, trying to get a hold of Viduka.

"Viduka? I never took you for a joker. What are we doing here?" Langley asked as she ran by the engines again. She turned to Hammiclar.

"The engine's prepped and ready to go on your word."