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RP: Bounty Hunts Prologue 2 - A New Flight, and a New Fight

Helric grew curious at who Nicholas was looking for. Was it McRenar? Was he a bounty hunter as well? He certainly had the look for that line of work. He decided to save the question of who he was looking for for later, he didn't know the man well enough yet and he didn't know how he would react to a little competition.

Looking back towards the man who was waving at them, he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in a questioning manner. "Who is that?" he thought, "Why is he waving..?" He pondered for a moment and figured that he was just another person stuck on this unfortunate space-boat. He returned the waving with an encouraging thumbs-up.

He then heard the grunting of pain coming from nearby and whipped his head around to see where it came from. It was Jacob. He was hit. He grit his teeth in rage, but was able to calm himself down a bit.

"Jacob!" he yelled to his friend, "Are you all right?" He looked over where the blood was coming from and was confident that it didn't hit anything vital. He was usually able to tell whether it was or not just by looking at a wound and giving a quick look at the angle of penetration. He couldn't tell how deep it was, but he didn't think there was anything it could have hit. He sighed in relief, but was still furious about his friend being shot. With a noticeable fire in his eyes he looked up over the seats and emptied the remaining six shots in his magazine at the pirates with adrenaline-tempered accuracy, letting out his anger by aiming to cripple shoulder-joints to render their arms useless.
 
Desmond dropped down on the floor after saw the other man (Helric) respond to his waving. After seeing him firing at the pirates by getting up he quickly realized they would be looking there in a couple of time, giving him the perfect opportunity to do something. He knew that the pirates could cut him piecemeal with those Ripshots since he didn't have his body armor and since all the pirates were facing forward and not looking down he'd have a much lower chance to get noticed if he was lying down.

Lying down he could see the feet of the pirates, facing his way, as well as from the civilians, facing the other way, and some of the pirates who had been shot and were down already. He aimed for the closest one and fired, aiming for the man's legs, then waited for the pirate to go down so he could fire again, waiting to get a body shot.
 
Kendra grunted as her side was grazed by bullet. She praised the gods for the vest she wore. It was very good at stopping pistol rounds and this one was not even direct hit. The man was not down yet though. Kendra hissed as he jumped at her. Wrestling with a snake, how foolish off him. Kendra did not have much reason to struggle too much. She did her best to not let him put her in a lock, but otherwise she welcomed the closeness.

That was when her tail started to move as well, closing in on the man and coiling around him. He was close, that was his mistake. Kendra was a constrictor, there was reason why few nepleslian friends she has called her Boa. It was time to crush that man.
 
Jacob, more shocked than he was hurt, returned to the cover of the seats. He quickly applied pressure to the wound and checked to make sure nothing vital was hit. After noting that it was not a life threatening injury, he quickly regained his composure. He heard Helric yell out "Are you all right?" Jacob looked down at his wound and back up to Helric, to which he replied with a thumbs-up. He watched as vengeance filled his companion's eyes and decided to sit this round out and wait for his pain to diminish.
 
"...I...I don't... no." The Captain stammered out. John smilied victoriously, "Then call off the marshalls, the longer you wait, the more innocent civilians will die."

The Captain's hand hovered over the button, he wore a conflicted grimace. John stepped over, and "assisted" the Captain in pressing the intercom button. "Now... call them off." He whispered.

Hesitating slightly, the Captain announced over the intercom, "All flight marshalls, stand down... all passengers, please comply with the demands." He gasped, feeling excruciating pain in his chest. Looking down he would find a short sword sticking out, around where his heart would be. "What... no... pirate......filth." The Captain slammed into the deck, and other bridge operators exclaimed in surprise, then fear.

Kara slid her sword out of the Captain, wiping the blood off on his shirt. "Now..." She turned to face John, "Anything good in the cargo hold?" John smiled, "Maybe... some of the cargo crates were an interesting color."

==========

In his rage, the pirate did not know the danger of wrestling with a Separa'Shan. By the time his rage cleared enough for thought, it was far too late. Kendra's tail had already coiled a few times around his legs and torso, and he could feel the squeezing of the powerful muscles. Kendra would feel him struggle, but the struggle became weaker, very quickly. A distinct crunch of bone would reach Kendra's ears. Some nearby passengers had been watching, and upon seeing the snake crush a man with sheer strength, they whimpered in horror. A Nepleslian woman stammered out, "You...you...monster."

After this Kendra would hear the Captain's voice, announcing for all marshalls to stand down, and civilians to comply with the pirates demands.

==========

Upon seeing Helric rise, and begin to fire, he reached up and pulled him down, "Stay down! Or you could end up like your partner!" He waited, then stated, "We need to find the leader, killing him, should disorganize the pirates." He eyed his own pistol, "We shouldn't draw unwanted attention to ourselves either."

Upon finishing this statement, he would hear the announcement, "And that's why. I don't know about you, but I think taking the bottom deck may be a bit safer."

==========

Jacob would find that his wound was minor, and needed no more than bandage. The passenger next to him would tear a piece of cloth off of a blanket she was carrying, and said, "Let me help you." She then wrapped the cloth around Jacob's torso, and bound it tight, keeping pressure on the wound, and helping the blood close the wound by clotting. Jacob would also hear the announcement, she would whisper to him, "Don't let them do this." The passenger was a younger Nepleslian woman, with green eyes, and dark brown hair. She had a rather appealing form as well.

==========

As Helric rose to fire, his first shot would fly off target, feeling Nicholas begin to pull him down. The bullet instead of flying into the arm, shredded through the gun of a pirate, instantly shattering it. The pirate looked down in disbelief, failing to comprehend what had happened to his weapon. Seconds later, a round from a flight marshall took him in the chest, and sent him sprawling to the ground, atop body of a civilian caught in the crossfire. Helric, being trained in weapons, would not continue to fire, or risk the chance of shooting himself, or someone else. He would hear Nicholas's statement, and then the announcement.

==========

Desmond would see not just the pirates who had been taken down, but a handful of civilian, and a couple flight marshalls as well. Desmond's aim was true, the bullet entered the right combat boot, and tunneled through the foot, and exiting the other side. The bullet continued on, and stopped within a fallen body of a flight marshall. The pirate shouted in pain, and took a knee, panting heavily, and she began to examine the foot, trying to deduce where the bullet had come from.

Desmond would also hear the Captain's announcement over the gunfire, and he heard younger Nepleslian nearby, "No way I'm going to let them rob me..."
 
Kendra unwrapped her tail from what used to be a nepleslian being and looked at the lady. "You are welcome," she said and hissed. "Maybe you can deal with the next pirate!" She added half-jokingly. Like it would be first time Nepleslian was weirded out by her. Also from listening, the marshals might give up. The voice of authority, who Kendra assumed must have been the captain ordered them so.

Well Kendra did not plan to stick around. Pirates are known to not like to leave witnesses around. The Separa quickly opened the above head compartment after checking if anyone could shoot her while doing so. From within she grabbed her teddy-bag and went down to the ground again.

Now looking for McRenar was no longer possible thing to do. Now it was time to get the hell out of there and only possible way to do that was the pirate shuttle. Chance of taking it alone though was not big.

The snake-tailed girl looked around for others. There were several people who obviously were not marshals and were still shooting at the pirates. One of them was laying on the ground, with his pistol out. Obviously to not get shot and be able to shoot their feet. He might have been about three rows in front of her.

"Hey you," she hissed at him and throw the pistol pirate had next to him to get his attention. After she applied the safety on the gun. "This ship is in chaos. I have a plan to get out of here. Want in on it? I need another trigger finger."
 
After seeing the pirate go down, Desmond fired twice again, then fired as many more times as it would be necessary to put the pirate down times to put the pirate down. He wasn't about to just let the woman have time to figure out where he was shooting from and fire back at him.

He started looking for more targets when he -surprisingly- head someone calling for him over noise of the gunfire, then looked at someone who at first looked like the average nepleslian woman, but then bawked for a second when he saw her lower body.

The sound of gunfire brought his attention back and Desmond went to catch the pistol after his short pause, examining the new firearm and pulling the slide to check if there were any bullets it in. He then stashed it away as he looked back to his newfound ally.

"Just give me enough cover to grab the rest of my gear." He said. He didn't ask about the plan yet, but he was sure it didn't involve fighting through all the pirates on the main level. No, it would be much safer if they simply went through the cargo decks while all the fighting would be concentrated on the the upper levels.

He stood up again, taking a quick look to see if there were any pirates looking his way and then went for the overhead compartment to grab his duffel bag.
 
"Oh, what color is that?" Kara was clearly interested in the cargo, the spoils of this hijacking. She paid no mind to the whimpering of the bridge operators. "Well, lead the way John, I think we're all interested. You..." She pointed at the Yamatarian operator, "... stay here, make sure they stay here as well." She gestured at the cowering operators.

"Yes ma'am." She responded, checking her handgun, a Zen Armaments .45, Gold-plated. If one looked closely enough, the name "Jonathan" was engraved along the barrel. Clearly, her name was not Jonathan, perhaps the name of a victim, or from a lover long ago.

"Right this way." John disappeared from sight as he descended the staircase to the lower level of the bridge, which was connected to the cargo hold.

As Kara and John descended, the Captains moved slightly. His hand was coated in his own blood as it slowly reached for a switch underneath the console. "Game...... is... is... over..." He flicked the switch, and took a last quiet breath, and moved no more. The shuttle began broadcasting a high-priority distress call. The flight marshalls would pick up the signal on their datapads, letting them know help was coming soon.

==========

The Flight Marshalls stopped firing, as did the pirates as the announcement rang out. Some of the Marshalls dropped their weapons, and dropped to the ground, awaiting the pirates to "relieve" the passengers of their possessions. A handful of marshalls however instead took cover, not relinquishing their weapons. A three tone tune would emit from their datapads, the response to the Captain's distress switch. Instead of resuming their firefight, the marshalls stayed in cover, waiting for the pirates to come closer. Some of the civilians were crying loudly, fear riding high.

During the lull of the firefight, a single civilian, a Nepleslian male, middle-aged, stood, "You don't have to do this! All this murder, and crime! Just stop!!!" A single crack of a firearm, and the Nepleslian would slump back, landing with a loud thump, "We don't have to, we want to." One of the pirates near the front responded, "Anyone else want to tell us how evil we are?"

==========

Kendra would feel a tug on the back of her tail. It was a small Nepleslian child, a girl. She appeared to be no more than three years of age. As the child was tugging on the tail, Kendra would see the civilian, rise and fall by the pirates hand. The man would fall across the aisle in front of her, gasping for air. Kendra would see the bullet had traveled through the man's neck.

She would also see the pirate then turn his gaze towards her new-found ally. The child was still tugging, and now began crawling on the tail, childishly laughing. The child was too young to understand everything around her. Her mother was reaching out to grab her, but the child was just out of reach.

==========

Desmond's shots tunneled through the knee, causing the woman to collapse. The second bullet pierced through her upper chest, popping one of her lungs. The following rounds created wounds all over her body, though one delivered mercy, a headshot. Desmond would have half clip remaining.

Desmond would find that Kendra had thrown a Zen Armaments .45, with a Heavy Barrel. The clip had 5 bullets remaining.

Desmond chose an almost ideal time to retrieve his gear... almost. Though bullets were not flying, he had risen just after the pirate in front had shot the protesting civilian. The pirate turned his cold-hearted gaze towards Desmond, the sudden movement catching his eye. "You too?" Desmond had opened the compartment, and his duffel bag was teetering on the lip of the compartment, any disturbance would knock it from the compartment, and send it to the floor. The pirate aimed the handgun, a Styrling Silver Special at him, "What do you have to say, spit it out."

==========

Nicholas was able to hear the Separa'Shan, without the noise of the gunfire and screams. Or, at least the gunfire, some passengers continued to wail, perhaps at the loss of one cared for, from a stray bullet, or just from fear. His cybernetic right ear was able to pick out the Separa'Shans words. He nudged Helric, "Come on, I think I found someone who can help."

Before he could attempt to find a way to meet up with the Separa'Shan woman, he would watch as a pirate shot a Nepleslian man in cold-blood. Nicholas had a sort of disbelief, though during his time in the gang, he had witnessed many acts such as this, it made it no more acceptable. As he saw the pirate turn to another who had risen, Not another. He rose, just enough that he could point his gun, and see what he was shooting at. He fired two shots, directed at both shoulders. With no arms, the pirate could harm no more. He had returned to his cover as fast as he had rose.
 
As he was jerked down by Nicholas, he saw out of the very corner of his eye the pirate's gun being utterly destroyed after his Silver Special let loose a round and took a small bit of satisfaction from that. He then heard and understood Nicholas' words, realizing his folly. He glanced toward the speakers and cringed at the announcement delivered from them. He nodded to Nicholas and checked how much ammunition was left in his magazine.

He remembered earlier that he had slipped an extra round in the chamber before inserting the mag, and he fired three shots total, so he had six left to go. He then noted the different choices the flight marshals were choosing, some dropping their weapons and getting to the ground. He smiled a bit when he saw at least one or two of them moving behind seats into cover. They aren't giving up, he thought.

He had been watching the Separa'Shan as she threw the gun to the person he recognized as the man who waved to them earlier and was able to understand her intent from what she was saying from her lips and from what blurbs of it he actually heard, there was too much screaming. He felt Nicholas nudging him and listened to what he said just then, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

He shifted his attention to the Nepleslian civilian man and winced and gritted his teeth as he was shot, another needless death today. If I ever get a hold of their captain... They'll have no mercy from me... He saw the executioner turn towards the man who waved at them earlier and noticed Nicholas beating him to the punch by firing two rounds. He looked back to the man trying to get his bag from the compartment and gave him the all-clear-thumbs-up, offering to him all the potential cover fire he could as he retrieved his goods.
 
Too many things going on at once. There was kid playing with her tail, there was the guy she wanted help from having aimed gun in his face. There was pirate just killing people for fun. That of course started more shooting.

It was time to resolve the situation. First Kendra fast-drew her silenced pistol from under her jacket. The Iron Sights set themselves at the face of the pirate aiming at Desmond. He was not paying attention to her luckily.

Kendra pulled the trigger and the pistol puffed twice, sending tow 10 milimeter bullets at the pirates head.
 
Desmond froze, staring at the pirate with both hands still reaching for his 'belongings'. That was it, he wouldn't be able to get out of that one situation, it was terrible-terrible, awful-awful and at any second thepirate would fire and it would be the end of him and- then the pirate was shot, twice.

He stared at where the pirate used to be for a moment and pulled the heavy duffel bag down, taking cover behind the seats again, then procceeded to get his 'tools'. First came the vest, too heavy and too bulky to be worn under his clothes that even a blind person could see that he would be packing heat. He put it on, glad for the ballistic plates between him and any bullets.

Desmond then started getting the rest of the contents from the bag, the shotgun and the ammo for it, then his toolbelt, working fast to get ready as quick as possible. He had a hunch that when the dust settled down the others wouldn't wait for him.
 
==== Lower Bridge - Joyride ====

At the bottom of the stairwell, also the lower half of the bridge, Kara and John looked on to a scene similar to the one above, a pirate keeping the bridge crew quiet. However it seemed one of the crew tried to resist as a body lay in a pool of its own blood, towards the front of the bridge.

"Well well, another would-be hero?" Kara pointed at the body, asking the pirate, a male Nepleslian, a younger face too.

"Yes ma'am, yelled about all of us being damned to hell and such. I got tired of it eventually."

At this Kara laughed, heartily, "Try to have a bit more patience, the less "problems" the better." She gestured to John, "Well, lead the way, I'm anxious to see these crates of yours."

"Ah yes, right this way..." John strolled over to the door in the back of the bridge, leading to cargo, through that, engineering. "I'm having them loaded onto the shuttle now, the crates aren't too big."

As the twosome left the lower bridge, the Nepleslian pirate spoke quickly into a walkie talkie, "They're coming, get ready..."

==========

==== Passenger Deck Lower Level - "Middle" ====

Nicholas puffed, "That solves that. Now let's see about getting back there, should probably tell that we're coming." But how can I do that... Nicholas wondered for a sec when he felt the outline of his journal in his bag. I got it! I make paper airplanes all the time with my bad ideas!

Nicholas tore out a piece of paper, and quickly wrote down a quick note, asking if he could join in. I'm sure they won't mind these two as well. He threw the airplane, something he had "practiced" by aiming them into a trashcan across the room when he was small.

He peered over the seats, watching and waiting for the Separa'Shan's reaction to the small craft. Upon seeing her search for him, he quickly made another, and threw it at her over the seats. She didn't respond verbally, but she motioned to follow.

"Helric, let's go, get Jacob too."

Nicholas watched as Helric motioned for Jacob to come over. Jacob muttered something to a woman he was next to that had patched him up. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." is what is sounded like. Jacob checked the aisle, finding it empty, and slid over. He simply nodded, motioning for Nicholas to lead on.

Nicholas grabbed his case in the compartment above him, and strapped his sniper rifle on his back. The group would have no troubles passing the remaining rows, as it was only about seven or so. Upon reaching the end, they found the kitchen door open, and slid inside.

==========

==== Passenger Deck Lower Level - "Middle towards Back" ====

Desmond would find that the world seemed to have stopped and waited for him to get all his gear together. He was safe from the "cold-blooded executioner" with Kendra's and another man's rounds in him. He got up a couple moments later, this time in his full gear and the shotgun, grabbing the last couple of shells from the bottom of his bag and stuffing them on his pockets.

The engineer didn't waste time reloading it, though. He simply pulled the slide back, loaded a single shell into the breach then pulled the slide forward again while he looked for the others.

Kendra would still feel the little child pulling her tail. No pirates entered field of view either. It was quiet for now.

Kendra had no time to spend. That child was annoying and in danger. With Desmond's assaulter gone she could finally pay attention to the little girl. Her tail very softly coiled around the child, hefted it and lifted it towards her mother.

"Here take it and keep you head down!" Kendra hissed at the mother, her eyes returning to scan the surroundings.

The mother hastily reached out grabbing the child and putting her behind the relative safety of the seats, "Thank...thank... you." She stammered out.

Kendra quickly moved forwad to Desmond. She did not know his name yet though. "Are you okay? What is your name, I am Kendra." She said.

"Desmond." He replied, looking down and noticing that Kendra looked only nepleslian from the waist up. "So, you got a plan?", He added.

"Yeah too many pirates here," Kendra said looking over the seats for a seconds to get grasp on the situation. "We move to where they shuttle is, take it and steal their ships. Then we either run away or call them and tell to give up. Shuttle is going to be guarded. I expect at least 2 guys."

He regarded that last sentence for a moment, "Let the marshalls worry about the pirates, I don't plan on shooting my way through every single one of them to get there.", He said, then looked around, "I know spaceships such as this like the back of my hand, what we can do is find a way to get to the cargo deck, then to that shuttle."

"Lead the way then" Kendra said and raised her silenced pistol. "I can deal with arseholes without raising way too much attention. Let's get out of here."

"Right." Desmond said, getting up and moving along the aisle, shotgun panning left and right. He was looking for something that would look just like a small trapdoor. He kept moving until he reached one of the attendant's cabin. If there was an access to a lower deck then that would be the place to look for one.

It was about now that a paper airplane bravely soared above the seats, catching the attention of some. It was expertly made, suggesting a person who made them frequently had created the small ground defying paper. It began it's descent, and hit Kendra on the arm. Upon unmaking it, she would read, "Name's Nicholas, hear you got a plan. Need a hand? You can reply here." There was a Communicator ID written below. "Thanks for reading."

Kendra read the paper and then raised her eyebrow. Was she really reading this? Why did the guy just not come to her. And she had not time to use her comms now. She just looked at the guy or rather looked for him expecting a wave or something.

All Kendra recieved was another airplane, though she'd be able to tell where it came from. It hit her in the forehead. All that was written on this one was, "I'm over here."

Kendra was starting to get miffed, she at least knew the way from where the plane came. She just waved her hand in that direction to follow her. "Let's just go," she said to Desmond. "We might have some clown to support us as well. Hopefully he can do more then just fold airplanes."

"Yeah, over here." Desmond replied, motioning with his head towards a staircase that would lead to the lower passenger deck. He kept his shotgun pointed at it in case anyone came through that.

"Grab a fly attendant on a way down or something, if you do not know the way." Kendra said to Desmond following it.

"Ladies first." Was all that he replied. If she wanted to go first into potential danger instead of him then he was fine with it.

"Not trusting me eh?" Kendra said and shook her head, she brushed past him and just moved towards the back of the liner. Kitchen and what not should be there. Good place where they can find someone who knows this machine and knows what is where.

Desmond took the time to load the remaining shells into his shotgun. He followed Kendra to where she stood. "Just the place." He said, pointing further down the room they had gotten into and where the engineering access was, moving towards it.

==== Passenger Deck Lower Level - Kitchen Area ====

The duo would find the small kitchen in disarray. The cupboards were thrown open, and had a few unwelcome inhabitants feasting upon the contents. There was food littering the floor, and the ovens and stoves were burning the food inside them. A group of flight attendants were being "watched" over by a pirate with a shotgun in one hand, and a sizeable bottle of whiskey in the other.

There were two more pirates stuffing as many bottles of whiskey and champange into a box from the mini-bar. Kendra and Desmond entered the room with the Cupboards to their left, the mini-bar and ovens on the right. The attendants were cowering in the top left corner, in between the cupboards and a sizeable refrigerator.

The pirates didn't notice them open the door, they were far to busy stuffing themselves with food and alcohol, just like any normal Nepleslian. Their weapons were holstered, they didn't expect any fight.

Kendra freezed for a seconds. Luckily pirates did not notice them yet. Kendra was breathless, then she just pointed to the guys on the left for the Desmond. Then she aimed her pistol at guys on the right. Three fingers were held up on her left hand, slowly being pulled back in a count. Three, two, one. Kendra started firing going from the pirate watching over the fly attendants moving to the right, two shots per pirate, hoping Desmond understood her gesture.

Desmond moved to the left after Kendra's gesture, firing his shotgun at the clustered group of pirates. He didn't fire a second shot, though, and instead grabbed one of the cupboards and pulled it down in front of him to make some cover. He crouched behind it, racked his shotgun and looked up to see the mess he had done.

Kendra's first of the two broke the pirate's whiskey bottle, causing the remaing half bottle to spray everywhere, including the cowering attendants. He started to turn, "Hey!" The second round capped the pirates left hip, sending him falling flat on his face. In his intoxicated state, he could barely raise himself, let alone finer movements like unholstering his weapon. The bullet buried itself in the wall after exiting the hip, causing the attendants to shriek in fright.

Kendra's second twin set hit the left pirate in the arm, and in the lower neck. The pirate couldn't scream, only vainly attempt to. He hit the ground with a *thump*. He wasn't getting up again.

The last set hit the pirate in his torso. He looked down at the wounds in surprise, and turned to see where they came from, though he was wobbily on his feet. Kendra did not wait and pulled the trigger one more time. The next round hit him in the torso again, and the pirate lost the will to stand, he fell to his knees, though still barely alive.

Desmond's shotgun blast in the small confines of the kitchen was, shortly put, "effective". Both pirates fell, one dead, and the other attempting to draw his weapon, while he was now slumped against the cupboard, covered in blood. The noise from the shotgun made the attendants try to cower even lower, if that was even possible. He saw that as he raised his head to look over the cupboard he used for cover, then dispatched the last pirate with his sidearm, not wanting to risk hitting the flight attendants with another round from his shotgun.

The pirate had barely drawn his pistol, and reflexively fired it when Desmond's round put him out of his misery. The fired round richocheted off the floor, and buried itself at the top of the cupboard door that he had opened. If it wasn't there, that round would have buried itself in his neck.

Desmond got out from his cover and inspected the mess he had done, then looked at the flight attendants, "That was your cue to get out." He told them

"We might take them with us," Kendra said suddenly. "I do not plan to take the whole starliner with us, but we will surely have space for few girls."

"Whatever. I'm just making sure we do get to the shuttle." Desmond replied

It was at this time Nicholas, Helric, and Jacob walked in, weapons raised, but lowered after seeing the threat already eliminated.

Nicholas looked at Kendra, "I don't believe my airplane introduced me properly. The name's Nicholas Clarke. Now I assume you've got some plan to get off this ship, right?"
 
Cargo hold

Pirates scurried to and fro, loading crates onto dolly's and cracking some open to see what was inside as they generally ransacked and looted the ships main cargo bay. All save for one who leaned back against the far bulkhead.

She was glad in body armor, with a long brown duster over it and a dark, wide brimmed fedora pulled down low. Her hair was raven and very long and she had neko ears. A hint of silver told of the pair of large nasty pistols on her belt and an impaler rifle resting against her leg, the long barrel pressed against the cool dark deck plating.

"Hey, Red, y'know ye can help out with these crates at any time?" One of the pirates commented, giving the woman a frustrated sideways glance.

"The boss doesnt pay me to load crates" she replied without bothering to look up at the pirate.

"Heh then what are you paid to do?" the other scoffed

The woman didn't reply as the boss's voice crackled over the radio

"They're coming, get ready..."

The neko woman looked up, her blood red eyes gazing across the cargo hold and to where the group of troublemakers that had appeared aboard the ship would have to enter, then her eyes swept down to observe the reactions of the other pirates in the hold with her, some moving to load crated faster, others getting their guns ready to fight.

"Understood" she replied, hefting her rifle, checking it's ammunition. A slight grin touched her red lips. They had no idea what was about to happen.
 
Kendra looked at the newcomers. She raised her eyebrows, looking at the man and duo following him. So this was the clown that threw the paper-plane? Pretty young fellow, but if he was here and not trying to just go and fight the pirates or just surrender he probably was not an utter idiot.

"You bloody plane did not introduce you at all," she replied with tough voice. "But I am gonna willing to take you on board. You got guns and that sure is helpful. We are going to take the pirate shuttle and board their ship if they got any. Then we shall see."

Her head then turned to the flight attendants. "Hey girls you wanna stay on this bucket full of pirates? I bet they will be more then happy to rape and then kill you. Or the other way around. You can on the other end follow us if you want. Choice is yours."
 
Leaving the others to discuss whatever it was they wanted to, Desmond moved to examine the door that would lead to the engineering deck without saying a word to them. If they wanted to make plans before actually get to the shuttle he wasn't going to stop them.

He made his way around the ruined room, stepping around the body of a pirate who had been hit by his shotgun. He didn't stick around too much to stare at the damage, though, so he got his attention back to the door.

The door itself was just like any other airlock one would find in a spaceship: simple and designed to keep the air in if the other compartment was breached. Because of that it didn't have a regular key someone could pick to break in, instead it had an electric lock that only a person with the right access could get through. As the bounty hunter approached the door panel he busted it open with the butt of his shotgun, exposing the circuitry and the wiring inside.

Desmond reached with his hand and pulled a wire from the bundle. The person who had assembled the airlock had even made the decency of tagging each wire with its function. It was pitiful, no wonder the pirates managed to get inside the starliner on the first place. Hell, even the Engineering school had a better security than that.

He used his wirecutters to cripple the power wire, and thus deactivate the motor that kept the airlock sealed tight. With the power out anyone could simple pull the airlock open.

Desmond then opened the airlock, staring at the engineering access corridor.
 
===== Cargo Bay Third Deck =====

Amanozako would only have to wait a few moments before the Pirate Captain, and her Co-Captain arrived. Kara and McRenar gazed upon the scene, and noticed a handful of pirates not working to search the crates, to find the most valuable items to steal.

"Get to work! Don't just stand around doing nothing!" Kara pointed at various figures around the room, including Amanzako. "I don't pay you, feed, and shelter you for nothing!"

McRenar pointed towards a pair crates labeled with an exclamation point in a triangle, colored yellow. "See, this isn't something you see everyday." Kara pondered for a moment, "Load it up, now!" A handful of pirates scurried over, and hefted one of the crates onto a dolly, and started pushing it over to the shuttle, "Anything else John? Or can we go deal with the "heroes of the day"?"

"I think we're done here..." is all he said.

Amanzako would receive another radio call, "Start the party, will you?"

===== Lower Level Kitchen =====

Nicholas shrugged, "Lead on, I'm sure you'll find..." He stopped, raised his pistol, firing it into the head of the pirate on his knees. If Kendra had been looking, he had been slowly raising a gun, pointing it at her. "... That we'll be more than just useful."

He outstretched his hand, offering a handshake, "Nicholas Clarke, Bounty Hunter."

When Nicholas fired the handgun, the flight attendants squealed, and then looked around. Besides the intoxicated, not moving pirate in front of them, they realized all the pirates were dead. The oldest one, looking to be close to her thirties, medium length brown hair, green eyes, a pretty face, and a curvy body stood and replied to Kendra, "We'll go with you, anything is better than these filthy pirates."

"Helric, Jacob, keep these three safe, will you?" Nicholas had turned his head, speaking to the duo following him. They nodded, "Yeah, we can." was their response.

"Now that is settled..." Nicholas offered his hand again to Kendra.

===== Engineering Access Corridor =====

Desmond would find the corridor empty of persons. The corridor had four doors, two on each side, a set closer to the kitchen, and another set near the engineering access. There was some noises coming from a room on the right, it was only a few feet away from him. From what Desmond could tell, it was the sound of hushed whispering, but upon the airlock popping open, there was a sharp squeal of surprise, and the suppressed breathing, and the sound of an animal whimpering.

Upon looking at the door, Desmond would find that the door was labeled "Supply Closet". The door was cracked ajar, and the lights were off inside.
 
Kendra only looked at the pirate as Nicholas shot it. That would have hurt, she now ower him a nasty injury maybe a life. That meant he really was useful already and hopefully will be again. So far it seemed she could count on Desmond and this Nick guy could be dependable as well.

Kendra accepted the hand, but did not let go. Instead she pulled the man a bit closer. "Okay you are on the board. But this is my plan and you are going to do what I tell you, is that clear? That does not mean I am not open to suggestions. Anyway we need to move to the cargo bay and stole the shuttle these arse took here. Let's get a move on shall we?"
 
"Come on! while we're young!" Desmond said to the group behind him. What a time to do social work.

He then turned his attention towards the door to his right. He panned his shotgun from the left side to the right side of the corridor, considering whether he should shoot the door down or kick it. Whoever was in there was hiding from him, and he was sure there was more than someone there. That or someone mad enough to whisper to themselves.

Letting his shotgun hand by its strap, Desmond took out his sidearm again, holding the automatic pistol level with his head and reaching for the door. He looked at the others to see if they were catching up, then yanked the door handle down and oppened it stepping to the side and taking cover behind the door as he opened it, exposing whoever was inside to the corridor, and hopefully, to the others.
 
Amanozako listened to the message spoken into her ear and nodded. "Right" she responded. Looked like things were going to be a bit more interesting. At least she was not going to have to take care of everyone herself.

Amanozako flicked her Impaler rifle to full automatic. She had placed herself in a location advantageous to giving her a good clear line of sight and fire on the bulk of the cargo bay, especially where everyone was currently congregating, yet still reserving options for cover.

She let the large rifle rest at her hip, leveling it.

"Time to party" She said and squeezed the trigger, raking the cargo bay with fire.
 
===== Cargo Bay Third Deck =====

Upon hearing the gun begin to fire, most of the pirates quickly found cover, though a few were a little less fortunate, receiving various wounds from the powerful rifle. Kara and John had dashed to the other side of the cargo bay, and hid in the maze of crates. Amanzako would see some pirates begin firing at Kara and John, these were fellow mutineers. Though it was easy to tell that the mutineers were outnumbered, about two to one.

After a few moments, Amanzako was joined by two of the mutineers, "Red, we're getting hammered, just us, you, and another group of three being pinned down." The pirate gestured at a stack of crates with three pirates staying low as the crates were being raked with automatic weapons and shotgun fire by a group of five "loyalists", which had a superior position, as they were laying down on a crate, with smaller crates around them, providing cover from all firing angles except behind them. "We gotta help our mates out, before the Capt'n and her lackey get away!"

===== Lower Level Kitchen =====

Nicholas nodded, "Lead on, I prefer to stay as far as possible from my enemy if you know what I mean." He took a step back and shrugged off his Sniper Rifle, and removed the scope, "I won't need this in here..." After putting the scope in his bag, he gestured for Kendra to lead on. "Let's not waste another moment."

===== Engineering Access Corridor =====

Desmond would hear a weak scream, and if he looked inside, he would find a middle-aged woman slumped against the wall, with a few bullet wounds in her chest, blood seeping from makeshift bandages. She was pinned beneath a fallen supply shelf, and she had long given up on attempting to move it. However, it seemed someone hadn't given up.

Next to her was a large reptile, at least four feet long, and it was attempting to lift the shelf with its head. It was the source of the sound akin to whimpering, as it tried in vain to move the shelf, and all the fallen supplies which covered his master. "Haures... stop it." The woman looked out the door, "Come to... finish me? Come... on then..." At the command to stop the lizard, apparently named Haures, turned and face the door, questioning what was on the other side, though upon sensing with his tongue, he already knew.
 
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