April System Mingle

[thespaceopera]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Possibly!
Action: April System
When: Month of April!


[Welcome to the Belt, a huge asteroid belt that's been terraformed for life. Here you can explore the different asteroids, become a rock star, race on some ATVs, enjoy not being underwater.

In other words, it's a mingle! Get in everyone!

> System Info ]

Comments

[all7seas]

After being held for a few nights in a Meston jail cell, Jack will be doing a bit of pickpocketing to get some spending money. When he's got enough, he'll get some fancy new duds, get his hair did just right, and visit one of Telluria's swankiest casinos. There, he will chance upon a smuggling job offered by some underworld types: his mission is to transport cargo from Vingloria to Telluria! Easy money!

Unfortunately, this cargo turns out to be a crew of hapless slaves, trafficked from Vingloria to Telluria where they will serve as nannies, maids, and in other low-status positions.

So naturally he's going to find a way of doing this a) while setting the slaves free and b) still getting paid. He is going to deeply piss off an organized crime syndicate in the process. It's just like home.

OPTION A: Meston

--Let's get thrown into jail together!
--Let's break out of jail together!

Option B: Vingloria

--Let's load poor unfortunate souls onto a Belt trafficking vessel!
--Let's drink in a ratty dive bar!

Option C: Telluria

--Let's steal pastries!
--Is Jack robbing you? I'm SO SORRY.
--Let's rescue Jack from angry syndicate thugs who want to break his legs!
--Let's stop human trafficking!
--Let's lie low and not be arrested or murdered!
--LET'S DO SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAT IS UP TO YOU

c -- let's stop some bad dudes

[ladybro]

-- Are you sure these guys are gonna show?

[ cue kate bishop, dressed to work, and with her bow strapped to her back. it was just dumb luck that she earlier managed to save the pirate in the nick of time before his legs got broken, and it's dumb altruism that convinces her to stay on for the rest of the right. because futz trafficking.

she pushes her aviators up onto her head and eyes the dingy back-street -- it's not half as nice as the rest of telluria. ]

okay!

[all7seas]

Lucky for me you came along, eh? So I'm sure they'll show. My luck tends to hold fast as a noose.

[The back street leads directly to the warehouse where he arranged to meet said bad dudes. Inside are all the sculptures Jack stole from the art museum. Human-ish forms, draped in whatever clothing Jack managed to scrounge up for them.

Nudity would be a dead give-away.]

[ladybro]

Morbid, but sure.

[ she scrutinizes the alley's mouth. there's sophisticated revelry happening at a tastefully over-priced restaurant just beyond the corner, and she's sorting the passers-by based on whether it seems likely that they're veering to join the sophistication or whether they look like mobster toughies. kate wishes she had higher ground, but this would do. ]

You know, I gotta give you credit. The you-know-whats in the warehouse? Very smooth idea.

[ look! someone could be listening in. ]

[all7seas]

Possibly. Also might get me thrown back in prison. Very attached to their fine art, these Tellurians.







Orange nudes are unsettling, I find.


[if they ARE listening in, they might find themselves...confused.]

[ladybro]

You're not going back to prison. [ ... ] Hawkeye's honour.

Option A!

[directed]

[It hasn't even been a full day yet.

So goes the thought in Rip's head as he is thrown into a jail cell, and in truth, he's not even sure how the bloody hell it happened. It felt like he'd only just gotten off the shuttle when he got caught up in some sort of ruckus, wrong place wrong time, but apparently that's not a thing they care about in this particular corner of outer space so much as "arrest first, ask questions never."

They haven't even bothered to take off the damn handcuffs.

He's just settled onto the bench, leaned against the wall, his head rolled back when the door opens again, and honestly? Rip barely bothers to look open, because the chances that someone is there to let him out just don't exist at this point. They can't. Not in this ongoing nightmare of sheer ridiculousness, and oh look, now he has company.

Hello company. Have an frustrated British guy in a cowboy's duster looking in your general direction.]

Gotcha!

[all7seas]

All right, all right -- keep your hands off my particulars, gentlemen!

[Jack gets shoved into the cell and stumbles rather gracefully about until coming to rest beside Rip. Maybe too close beside him.]

Mestons! They don't even take the irons off a man, do they? [He directs this complaint at Rip, hoping for some commiseration. Bloody cuffs.]

Re: Gotcha!

[directed]

[Well, yes, go right ahead and settle in. It's not like Rip was making use of that personal space or anything.]

...Apparently not. [He closes his eyes, once more tilting his head back to lean it against the wall behind them.] Should I ask what you got thrown in here for, or did they not bother to tell you either?

[all7seas]

Me? I'm in for hijacking an all-terrain-vehicle and stealing this from the butcher's.

[His vest pops open to reveal an Ung. It werfs at Rip and snuggles back into Jack's clothing.]

Heh! He's very squishy and cuddlesome. Couldn't bear to see him get the chop. Named him Posy. You?

[directed]

[This does get Rip to look over, just in time to see--something. He frowns briefly at the wrinkly thing that this man has apparently opted to liberate.]

"Cuddlesome" isn't the first word to come to mind. [Squishy, however, he can see.]

I think someone was trying to cut in line, but bloody hell if I actually know. [Certainly not for stealing, which is what both of Jack's charges amount to.] A row started, and then security showed up and started slapping cuffs on everyone nearby.

Apparently they're quite eager when it comes to keeping proper order in a queue.

C -mix of robbing and stop the trafficking because I can't choose, let me know if anything isn't ok!

[padadin]

[Taking the cargo transport job is easy for a pilot like Shiro, who soon hears about some of the more illegal operations going on. Dressed to fit among the locals, Shiro quietly makes his way around the warehouse, trying to look like he belongs and guess which ships are transporting the slaves at the same time. He needs to help them.

Of all the bad things he expects to happen here, though, a hand slipping in his jacket isn't one of them. Pickpockets? Really?]

Can I help you? [He asks with a serious voice as his metal hand closes around Jack's naughty wrist.]

Sure thing!

[all7seas]

Hallo! [Jack's reaction is to act drunk and slurred. He's not, really. And a certain ship full of slaves is waiting for takeoff.

This WOULD be easier with a pilot, though...]

Why are you wearing my jacket, mate?

[padadin]

I am not.

[Shiro squints as Jack - how did a drunk man end up here? And still have the ability to sneak on him? Something is fishy. He glances at the slave ship - he can't waste time here, but also...]

Are you one those passengers?

[Vague enough to get out of it if necessary, but good enough to know if the guy is with the slaves.]

[all7seas]

Not at all! I'm delivering them, savvy? To where they rightfully belong.

[He's identified a safe asteroid, where they can be free from this horrible traffick. Understandable if Shiro thinks he means that he's transporting them to a miserable fate, of course.]

I'm from the Fleet, same as you, mate. Neither of us are orange, eh?

[padadin]

To where they rightfully belong.

[He arches an eyebrow at that - definitely ambiguos. But it's the beast lead he has, so he goes for it, finally letting go of Jack's wrist. The guy gets a chance for now.]

Yes, I'm from the Fleet - a pilot. Are you in need of help for those deliveries?

C, rescuing silly pirates

[nonightdriving]

[Though he's usually one to mind his own business, Ignis can't help but notice the men clustered in a group at the end of an alley. They stand out in this very nice, upscale neighborhood. They're being loud and moving threateningly into a small circle. It spells trouble.

With a flick of his wrists, Ignis makes sure that he can still summon his dual knives and then makes them disappear as he walks down and tries to assess the situation better from a closer perspective. It definitely appears as if the unsavory men are about to injure another man, one he's seen briefly aboard the fleet's ships.]

Excuse me, gentlemen. What appears to be the problem here?

[He's ready for trouble, but he's not going to start of being rude.]

C, rescuing silly pirates

[all7seas]

[What a polite comrade-at-arms.]

The very thing I just asked! [Jack pipes up. One guy with bright orange skin has him by the scruff of the collar, about to land what probably isn't the first punch.] What appears to be the problem, indeed!

[A smaller man -- dressed to kill and probably the leader, from the look of him -- turns to face Ignis.]

This is simply a business matter, my friend. It's best if you turn around and walk back the way you came.

[nonightdriving]

[ Ignis is nothing if not polite. Even when beating the crap out of things.

Now that he's closer, he can see that blows have already been exchanged. It causes his face to go from a pleasant blank to a slight frown.]

I'm afraid that I can't do that. This gentleman happens to be someone that is associated with myself. [Loosely, but still associated.]

And unless you unhand him this instant, I'll be forced to contact the local law enforcement agents.

[all7seas]

[It might be telling that BOTH Jack and the slavers shout a hearty]

NO!

[Simultaneously.]

I'm certain we can solve all of this without the involvement of the authorities! [That would be Jack.]


[The organized crime goons are not as verbose. Three of them turn menacingly toward Ignis. The one holding Jack continues to hold Jack, though his attention is mostly on the pirate's would-be rescuer. And the leader just laughs.]

I'm best friends with the chief of internal affairs. Go ahead. Call them.

[nonightdriving]

[The sudden shouting makes Ignis reconsider the use of his short swords and wonder if he should go right for his lance. Even with the "threatening" of the thugs, Ignis looks unperturbed, but he is looking for openings in all of their stances.

How he wishes that he had one of his normal combat partners with him now. He only wished to assist someone who needed it. And now he's probably going to have to fight.

With someone whose intelligence might be marginally higher than his shoe size.]

That is good to know for later. However, I believe that they won't be needed if you would let my acquaintance over there go.

C - Bad Jack, robbing a fellow pirate

[english_dignity]

[...And that was why Arthur had been keeping a hand near his wallet. He grabbed hold of the other's wrist, letting out a sigh as he turned to actually face him. They'd spoken before, hadn't they? His face was familiar at least.]

Really?

C - Bad Jack, robbing a fellow pirate

[all7seas]

[Jack glances down at where Arthur's fingers have closed on his wrist.]

Really, mate -- really. I like the ladies. It's not going to work between us, savvy?

[english_dignity]

[Snorts, taking hold of his wallet before letting go of Jack.]

Perhaps decide that before reaching into my clothes, hm? Besides, you're a bit too young for me.

[all7seas]

I'm...but you're barely much more than a tiny baby. I'm MUCH more older!

[Wow that got him huffy for some reason, thanks Arthur.]