To the Victor Goes the Spoils

[Deleted]

0502 Hours, April 19th 2582
Peerless, Georgia System

Had someone asked Pacifica a month ago what her job was like she would have told them it was exactly what one would expect from a small time PMC. They conducted little jobs here and their sometimes even coming to blows with a target in a job. Now though she would likely avoid the question but if she did take the bate and answer the question she would say things here remind her of the Red Pact War. She had ended her military career doing much the same thing as she did now with the Peerless. They were now in full scale combat with the much larger PMC Cobalt. Pacifica hadn't to date looked much more in to Cobalt then what the captain had told them. That was going to change as soon as she had some down time though. She had always thought it best to know more about your enemy than they knew about themselves.

Having free time though was not likely to happen soon though. Once the battle had ended and all assets were recovered Pacifica was logging all the data from the battle for future review by the captain and herself of course. Next was plotting their course to leave the area and get out of here. By the time she had gotten all her tasks done while they were on their way out from the surface and leaving the area. Finally the captain arrived on the bridge and briefed the crew over the comma to meet in the cargo bay. Aside from essential staff of course like the pilot.
"
Pacifica stood up, ready to make her way down there when Roger handed a stack of papers to her. Her eyes looked down to the small print on the pages. It was a manifest of all the items stored on the base. "How much of this did we manage to get from the base?" She inquired of him as she realized how much was on all the pages of this list. It was wit that that he informed her that she would be leading the charge on inventorying the whole collection of goods they had secured. The pair walked down the hall and made their way to the cargo bay, Pacifica struggling to keep pace with the captain the whole way.

When they arrived Cordoba, Gunn, Riley, Hutchins, and the new member of the crew, Kelly. Pacifica hadn't met him yet but she had spent some time getting him entered in to the system and looked at a picture of the man. Pacifica walked over to Cordoba and Gunn and inquired about the one thing that had been on her mind. "How is Elijah? I haven't been able to check on him yet." She had watched what had happened on the field and seen him make it over to Row. She even got word that he was last in the medbay with that nwew Doctor but not status update on how bad it was.

[Deleted]

The "pallet" the Peerless crew had liberated from the base on Sweethome was more like what Vitale commonly associated with a loading space. Like, when you're at a spaceport, those marked off sections on the tarmac beside your starship? Yeah, that was the size of the hunk of metal that Cobalt loaded these crates on. He and Gunn had used the biggest forklift Vitale had ever driven to load it into the Peerless herself, there just wasn't any other way to move it without unloading it. Vi had tried to convince Davis to ditch one of the ROTIs to make room for the cargo lift, but of course the Captain had been shortsighted. Something about armored transport over big stupid toys. Whatever the hell that meant, Cap got a mech, Vi got the shaft. When Nate had buttoned up the belly of the old girl, it had been a moment out of a scifi movie, the bay floodlights shining in rays through the layers of mist off the battlefield that had floated into the cargo bay, lighting up the looming shadow of the mech, which towered over the massive dark cluster of crates.

It had been an eye opener that was for sure, being in the SETA-proof warehouse of Cobalt. They'd had six tanks, a mech, this giant portable war starter kit, and tons of other fun stuff. Dez and Rio had oohed and ahhed at a huge stack of white labels which they'd combed through. Vitale and Gunn had done the same over a crate of powered armor. Dez and Vitale had discussed making some stuff like this before, but to have your hands on the finished product, Alliance grade, state of the art, infantry powered armor. Man, that was something else entirely. Gunn had pulled out a few pieces and checked them over, commenting on this or that, while Vitale had discovered the one all important missing feature. Like any good weapon, they had been stored without bullets. No power cells. They could find them. Or Dez could make them, if nothing else, having a mad scientist on the crew made it less complicated to get ahold of custom parts like a restricted Alliance high power capacity cell. Besides, even without all the added functionality of the power, the plates would offer three times the protective coverage of what Vi currently wore, at about the same weight. Perhaps a little heavier.

It had been sad to leave the MBTs behind, that would have been an excellent addition, but there was only so much space in the cargo bay, and everyone had argued to keep from filling in the range with new gear. The Peerless wasn't a democracy, Davis was definitely a dictator, king, tsar, master and commander. But evvvvvvery once in a while, the entire crew would rally behind something, and he'd give in. Like the gigantic holographic monitor up in the lounge that everyone jumped at but Davis, and now it sat as he predicted, collecting dust. Perhaps now that Vitale had another cinema buddy, Gunn, that over-sized waste of money up there could get some use. He'd talk to her about that soon, first thing was first though, they had a lot of unloading to do. Work before play and all, which now that he thought about it, was why the greatest movie screen average money could buy would likely never get used.

At present, Vitale had just unlatched the final buckle holding the nets to the bottom plating, and with Riley's help, he threw the lead lines up to Gunn and Lewis, who began to peel the cargo nets back to reveal a full setup. Riley handed Vi the manifest, and shortly after he was joined by Gunn. Shortly after that, they were joined by Pacifica.

"How is Elijah? I haven't been able to check on him yet," She'd asked. Vitale smirked at her.

"He's fine, nothin a few stitches and ah shot ah codone won't fix."

[Deleted]

Twenty-four minutes. That's all it had taken the Peerless' crew to knock over the Cobalt PMC installation on Sweethome, the moon they'd just left eating wake. Landing the ship and cleaning the place out hadn't taken much longer either, and they'd broken orbit with the goods and intel before the hour was up.

Lasky wasn't yet sure how he felt about working for a private military company, but he had to admit the op's execution had been damned impressive and he was even tempted to feel a hint of pride. There was a certain satisfying quality to being on the winning side, not like back when his homeworld Aesir had been a part of the Red Pact and dragged into the War of Containment against Jiangyin and her Commonwealth allies.

'Containment. Yeah. Right.'

Taking a washcloth off the small shelf above the sink, Lasky wet it down with cold water and brought it up to his face to let the cool temperature soak in for a few seconds. He considered the faded circles under his eyes, rubbing at them to encourage circulation. It'd been a month since he'd come under Captain Davis' command, and he'd spent many a time since burning the candle at both ends as they said, trying to get a quick but firm grasp on the schematics and inner-workings of the ship. Not that this was new to him or particularly difficult, but every boat had a few oddities or "unique traits" (aka recurring issues), and Lasky was a perfectionist. When the time came to get his hands dirty and put his technical engineering expertise to use he wanted it to go off without a hitch - no surprises.

Stepping away from the mirror, he peeled off the leather flight jacket he'd been sporting and tossed it onto his bunk as he passed to exit his quarters. He'd considered leaving behind his thigh holster and personal sidearm as well, but he knew he ought to get more used to wearing them. Just before heading out the door, Lasky retrieved the set of throwing knives his Uncle had gifted him before leaving Skyfall Station. He slid one from the multi-pocketed sheath and flung it across the room in a single motion, the blade's tip pinning one of the target boards he'd attached to the starboard wall. It was no bullseye, striking a little low and just right of center, but Lasky hadn't been practicing long. He was better with the darts.

Jaunting back through the corner of the galley and to the bridge, Lasky checked his chrono. 0501. He reminded himself that his buddy Nate would be on piloting duty for another several hours, considering whether to get back to his studies or head down to the cargo bay to see if he could help out and get a peek at the haul. The decision was made for him however when the Captain strode in a minute later and announced over comms that he wanted non-essential crew to meet in the bay.

Checking over his console at the Tactical Station, Lasky waited a few moments to allow those in operations to vacate the back of the bridge before swiveling his chair back towards the main viewport and making his way sternwards to board one of the elevators, he and Nate exchanging a fist-bump as he passed. Just ahead, Lasky saw the Operations Officer with Cap'n Davis on the other side of the galley, and not for the first time cringed at the sight of her struggling to keep pace.

As always though, Pacifica was putting on a brave face, and likely would've refused help had anyone offered. Lasky had made that mistake with her when he'd first come aboard, and it still nagged at him. 'Helluva gal,' he thought to himself.

Once down in the cargo bay, the Peerless' new pilot approached the growing crowd of crewmen but hung back within earshot. Getting comfortable, Lasky leaned against the pile of crates behind him and casually crossed his arms, waiting to see what the Captain had to say.

[Roger Davis]

"How much of this did we manage to get from the base?" Pacifica asked him.

"Not much." the captain replied. But a small fraction of a mountain was still pretty damn big, and that's what was currently sitting in their cargo bay. "It'll be up to you to determine just what we actually have." he informed her as they walked. "Get Del' Rio, Hutchins, and anyone else you need to get the job done."

As of that moment there was little else for the operations officer to do other than assist the others tasked with digging through information, and in a way the inventory would provide them intel as well.  Sweethome was their one lead.  Until this raid panned out, they had nothing.  So all there was to do was get the hell out of dodge and look through their loot.

When they arrived in the bay, about half the crew was already there around and on top of their new cargo.  Most had been up all night or close to it, fought a battle, loaded up all this crap, briefly debriefed and wound down for an hour, and now were back here.  Maybe Ollie would be able to stay up with everything that had been going on, but Davis was personally ready to collapse.

But there was work to be done.  "What've we got?" Davis asked as he walked up toward the crew unveiling the haul.  "Did anyone slip any surprises in that I should know about?"  He gave one of his rare little grins.  "Flesh eating nanites?  Tactical nuclear warheads?  Domesticated reaver?"

[Abigail Gunn]

Despite Gunn's reputation among Onas's boys as 'Killer Keller' and her rank as enforcer, Gunn had never been in a fire fight quite like that. She had been Alliance Interpol, not a soldier somewhere. Generally, she had been used for individual targets, sometimes a group of them – mostly to send a message written in red to the upper or lower ranks of some organization, but nothing she'd ever done could even relate to the Sweethome mission. While her adrenaline was up, and while Elijah was on her arm, she hadn't been quite feeling the weight of it. It was a decisive victory and she was on the winning side, but the battle at Sweethome, particularly the mech's fire disintegrating the shapes of men, would occasionally worm its way into her dreamscape for years to come. But, that is irrelevant to her present.

For the moment, all those shapes in the dark had evaporated from her mind, and she was joining Vitale in the presentation of their shiny new whack-a-Cobalt play things. The best toys were always the ones someone else had paid for. Nice of Cobalt to keep them warm until the Peerless got there. For once, though, Onas wasn't the one paying for it. She'd gotten a kick about his bitching about her overuse of grenades and large firearms, but he was an engineer who didn't understand that everyday was a good day for excessive force! That and he never followed through on his threats to dock her pay.

Gunn had been back to chatting with Vitale like she was just one of the boys, treating him no differently than she might have Lewis or Dez. She did think back to that moment before mech Roger had shown up to paint the town blood red, to that moment when she thought she was going to be mowed down standing next to Vitale and her list of regrets that she hadn't lingered on prior to the experience.

Vitale should have kissed her.

That tangled little mess aside, Hurric-- er, Pacifica, was coming up. Gunn liked to imagine that Pacifica was doing a little war march, clenching her cheeks to keep the stick tightly secured. Pacifica was more than a bit robotic in Gunn's eyes. Her and the mech would have made a lovely couple had Roger not come between them. When Pacsun 2000 reached them, it was like she scanned every face, checked them off in her mental list as alive, then immediately moved to one she hadn't verified.

Vitale answered her with, He's fine, nothin' a few stitches and ah shot ah codone won't fix.

”I'm afraid the prognosis for his pride is going to be critical over the next few weeks. He and Vitale nearly getting their rumps roasted I mean,” Gunn replied without looking up from the prizes they were inspecting.

”Hey! If I'd had a better partner, I wouldn'tah nearly bit it.”

”If you would learn to read hand signals, you wouldn'tah nearly bit it.”

”Oh yeah? Can you read this hand signal?”

”Classy, Vi. Very classy.” Gunn grinned... then reciprocated the rude gesture.

When the esteemed captain made his comments, it was more than a little amusing. His sense of humor was kind of dry, but amusing when he'd use it... Actually, come to think of it, the whole of Roger was kind of dry, but he worked it well. (If only he could teleport...)

”I didn't know flesh eating nanites were an option. We got a catalog for those things cap?”

”Yeah, Gunn's got a wart she needs removed somewhere real private.”

”Yeah. It's on Vitale. He swears it's a penis, but I don't believe it.”

”Classy, Gunn. Very classy.”

[Deleted]

he battle was over and everyone had loaded the spoiled abourd the ship. That is everyone but Elijah and Esmay. Elijah had been injured on the battlefield, stabbed four times in fact. Not his proudest moment but he had survived it and been stuck with the doctor who lacked bedside manor all together. She seemed more like a robot then a person. On top of that he really didn't know her at all adding more to the awkward feel of it all. In the end though he was fixed up and medicated. The meds had subdued the pain and he had been told he was to remain there for awhile so she could observe him.

Elijah had made no argument against remaining there. In fact the idea of just resting seemed quite nice for the moment. That was till the orders came a cross the comms for all crew to report to the cargo bay. Elijah said nothing, instead opting to stand up and begin walking out of the medical bay. He may have been wounded but he was still part of the crew, ready to do his job. At least what he could of it. Just as he made it to the door the doctor turned toward him and raced his direction. "Mr. Bainbridge, you are to be resting your work can wait." The young doctor told him but he,proceeded forward anyway.

"Your concerns are noted doctor." Elijah replied as he made it down the hall toward the cargobay . He knew the doctor had a point but he still took orders from the captain and not her. In fact she wasn't even part of the crew just a stranger who had been rescued a short while ago and hadn't been dropped of yet. Sure he was greatful for her help, for the meds and a moment to swollow his pride before facing the crew again.

The doctor continued to scold him as they made their way in to(((Yautja- Really dawg, again?))) the cargo bay with the gathering crew. "Cap, please tell me they got my nuke." Elijah replied to the distant comment that the captain had said shortly before.

"Captain tell your idiotic crew member he gas been stabbed and lifting heavy objects his bad for him." Esmay belted over the top of Elijah. Elijah kept walking right up to Vi and snatched the clipboard from his hand "I ain't doing the heavy lifting. I'll oversee the inventory. So get your keep your fancy doctor mumbo jumbo away from me." Elijah said as he looked over the lost. He had listened to he long enough for now and wanted to be working, something to keep his !Ind off his unfortunate accident. "Don't you sorry doc, I'll be back for our next date soon, and if you ask pretty please I'll take my shirt of again." Elijah joked with her just as Vi slapped him on the back as if to greet him, causing Elijah to wince from the pain.

[Deleted]

Kalli waited around the ship keeping herself busy while they had been on the ground. What else was she supposed to do, stand around and worry about Eli and the others the whole time. Lets be honest though even with the busy work she found for herself on the ship she couldn't help but worry. There was that part of her that wanted to be up on the bridge with Pacifica watching everything happen, knowing moment by moment all the gritty details. In the end though she had decided against it. With all that happened it was best, she would have been a walking sobbing disaster.

When the ship finally did decent to the ground Kalli was greeted by Ros assisting Elijah on to the ship. Kalli quickly helped Ros get her to the medical bay where Esmay took over care of her friend. kalli spent nearly an hour there with him, making sure he was taken care of and that their doctor did everything she could for him. Kalli watched ever move the doctor made for better or worse. Eventually Elijah insisted she get back to work and not let him distract her any longer. She would have fought him on it, and for a short moment she did. Elijah got his way though, he always did when it came to her. She went back to the engine room and began to reorganize everything for the second time today. Not being there in the medical bay didn't mean she wasn't thinking about it all. Her and Elijah had been friends for so long and she couldn't help but worry. Her mind raced through all they had been through together, all the times she had been there to watch over him when he was hurt. He was sort of accident prone after all, at least the way she remembered it he was.

Her thoughts bounced back from all the dreams of the past when the voice of the captain echoed through her 'office'. Kalli had no essential work she was supposed to be doing so she left the engine room heading toward the rally point that Roger had given them. By the time she walked in the group had already gathered aside from maybe one or two more to come in shortly after her. Her focus turned from the group to the mountain of goodies they had brought on board the ship. Her eyes widened as she took it all in. There were sure to be so many toys in all that good. Right away she began to look over the set of crates and the labels on them. CoreTech they produced computer parts and satellite parts for the Cortex. The Baudelaire Group, she wasn't sure what that one was which meant it had nothing to due with ship parts or she would know it. Harris Corp, They produced military equipment, or survive equipment, or something of the sort. And finally her eyes laid on the one she had been looking for, Blue Sun Corp. Sure they made most everything but there were so many things they built for ships and engines. "Bingo! She exclaimed fair louder then she had intended. She grabbed at the crate and began to pull it open. "I call this one.

[Deleted]

Dr. Willows had treated her patient to the best of her ability. She wasn't really a medical doctor. Her education had covered all that was needed for basic medical treatment. Prescribing medications, stitching up a wound, controlling and stopping bleeding, they were all basic things. The honest truth though was she was a research doctor who's specialization was for from the tasks she was requireded to preform her. It wasn't her first time preforming on a human, though it was the first time it was not a cadaver. She had not been a full fledged research doctor for long at this point.

In her schooling they had done work on cadavers to learn some of the basic skills they would need. Her medical treatment had never gone beyond that level till now. Even in the research end she had only made it as far as that till just before she was on the run. Bedside manor was never really a concern before and it showed in her dealings with Elijah. She moved him around the same she would have, had he not been living. She didn't take much care in explaining things to him or peeping him for the process mentally and physically.

When it was all said and done she went back to her research and insured he remain there for a time so she could monitor him. He had made not quarrel with it as a few came to visit him and check on him, but it all changed when Captain Davis requested all crew to the cargo bay. Esmay payed the request no mind, she had not been part of the crew. She was merely a guest aboard his ship so long as he would let her stay. Working in the medical bay was simply a way for her to pay him back for that kindness. Alas her negelect of the words of the captain were not shared by her patient who promptly stood up and walked out of the medical bay like a fool. It was as if he wanted to reinjured himself.

"Mr. Bainbridge you are to be resting, your work can wait."her protest continued as she stormed down the hall in pursuit of her escaping patient. The merc simply dismissed her concerns the whole way till there was finally someone who could be a voice of reason. The captain was present and might just be able to make the man see some reason. "Captain tell your idiotic crew member he has been stabbed and lifting heavy objects his bad for him." Esmay requested of Captain Davis paying no mind to those gathering in the area.

[Roger Davis]

"We're not wasting valuable nanites." the captain replied to the friendly banter going back and forth. It was good to see that the crew was in high spirits after the operation and were more eager than tired at this late hour. Surprisingly, even Elijah showed up in the cargo bay to answer the call. Perhaps the general assembly order was a bit too broad.

The wounded warrior was followed closely by Esmay trying to order him back to bed. "Bainbridge, be advised that you were stabbed." the Captain stated, taking Esmay's request literally. "We have enough hands down here. Feel free to observe this one." The tone and words were that of suggestion, but it was really an order to which Elijah at least partially followed, taking a clipboard instead of actually digging into the mound of equipment like the others. "Be sure to mark off that nuke if it's in there."

[OOC: Sorry that it's so short, but I felt like I needed to give the thread a little bump to keep it moving.]

[Deleted]

It had been a nice shuttle rise back to the Peerless. Gavin had strick up an almost instant camaraderie with the shuttle pilot, Mitch, both of them being Aberdeen boys. Granted, they were from very different parts of Aberdeen, but they shared a home nonetheless. As they had neared the ship, Gavin could have sworn that they had just flown into a war zone. Eli had told him they were doing a job, but he had not anticipated anything like what lay before him. Mitch had even set the shuttle down where it seemed the bulk of the action had happened so Gavin could scavenge for weapons, a plan he had apparently formed after hearing of Gavin's horribly failed attempt at starting his own company.

"'Fyeh gonna be ridin' wif us, ma'e, yeh need yehself a gun."

Fortunately, the pickings were rich, and between them it hadn't taken long to get a satisfactory loadout. Then they'd reboarded, docked with the ship, and Mitch had taken him to the bunk to which he'd been assigned, which was coincidentally right next to Mitch's own room.

Gavin busied himself with unpacking, and once ge was settled, began cleaning and inspecting his recently and questionably acquired toys. They were a little dinged up, but no worse for the wear, and after a little TLC, we're ready to go. It wasn't long after he finished that the call went out for all hands to convene in the cargo bay. Figuring that the summons applied to him as well, Gavin set out to oblige the captain.

By the time he managed to get there, Eli was being addressed by a man whom Gavin rightfully assumed to be the captain. He approached his old friend.

"Looks like you've finally realized your dream of becoming a human pincushion. Congratulations. "

Gavin extended his hand and pulled Eli in for a bro hug. He chuckled as he looked over his friend's numerous bandages.

"You look like shit."



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using proboards

[Deleted]

"He's fine, nothin a few stitches and ah shot ah codone won't fix." Vitiale told her giving her a quick brief on Elijah's condition. She had intended to stop by and check on him but time was limited for her since the mission. "Glad to hear it. Next time maybe he can avoid it all together." She replied back to him with a calm but direct voice. She not only wanted to check on him but also give him a piece of her mind. It only took a short moment of not being on the top of his game and he ended up injured. That wasn't all of it though she felt personally responsible, had she been watching closer to it then maybe it wouldn't have happened. She had served in the New Melbourne military and been part of a small team that watched over an entier battalion. Sure losses happened, they were unavoidable in the end but she couldn't help but feel like this one was as much on her as it was on him. 


"What've we got? Did anyone slip any surprises in that I should know about? Flesh eating nanites? Tactical nuclear warheads? Domesticated reaver?" The captain chimed in jokingly, a round of jovial retorts came from around the room. Vitale, Abigail, and even Elijah who showed up just as the the captain had spoke followed by the new doctor close behind. It seemed that everyone was still spun up and running on adrenaline from the battle. That of course would only last a bit longer befor ethe crew was feeling the fatigue of being up all night or nearly all night and fighting in battle. She remembered the feeling from when she had been back in the war. It was go, go, go then you dropped in a second.

Elijah split of and greeted his old friend who had just arrived on the ship and the doctor turned to the captain. The exchange that followed nearly broke Pacifica's stiff serious wall.  Had she not been like a robot when she was on the clock she would have broke out in to laughter in that moment. Despite her efforts not to laugh she coudl not stop a small smirk from forming on her face. Davis had always been the closest to being as serious as her making it that much harder for her to hold it in when he was the one to make light of a situation. There had been one time a long time back when they were on the bridge and completely out of left field Roger had make a joke of the situation. At this point Pacifica couldn't even remember what had been said but she remembered she wasn't able to hold it back. She had busted in to all out laughter ending in a snort that caused her to stop on the spot and make her best effort to return to her serious persona. 

It was to her fortune that most of the crew that was on the ship now had not been there when that happened, and even fewer that had been on the bridge at the time. Roger was really the only one who could retrieve that tragic moment from her history and relive it for the crew. Pacifica returned her mind to the task at hand and looked over the crew that had gathered. "I know everyone is going to crash here soon so i don't want to waste to much time. I need a few volunteers to assit in going through this later." The cold hard truth was it was more being voluntold not volunteered for this duty. She looked down at the roster of the crew and began to rattle off names. "Gunn, Cordoba, Hutchins, Willows, Bernett, Del' Rio, Kelly, and seeing as I know you are going to show up despite not being on the list Bainbridge. You have all been volunteered to assist with this task." It was right to the point and may not be everyone's favorite duty but they needed a lot of hands to get through it all in a as sort of time as possible. 

[Deleted]

A lot of joking and gathering aside, the main idea behind gathering everyone down in the cargo bay appeared to be to gauge the crew. Vi had known the Captain a long time now, and the man hardly made a move without a reason. Davis was one of those guys you only ever read about. He always planned for everything, and even when you thought he was wingin it, even when you'd swear he was acting on instinct, you find out that there were moves and counters from word go. A hell of a leader, and a good friend, but not much of a joker. Therefor, Vi had to assume that his Captain was gathering a general sense from the crew, and in retrospect, it was a good call.

They'd never done anything like this, the contract. These kinds of things were generally left to actual militaries or at the least, much larger companies. For example, Cobalt. Not that Vitale felt like Peerless wasn't up to the challenge, they just didn't have a lot of reach. For all intents and purposes, they were a small gang of well trained killers living in an RV. The Peerless was armed and had hardened plating, but even in her hay day she was no frigate. They had contacts that had pull and could access some pretty high tech equipment, but most of their advantages came by chance or sheer persistence. If you were to ask any of the crew, as Vitale had, they would tell you that the biggest advantages in combat were the DV tech and the new satellite. Being able to mark targets and have real time intelligence in the field were very serious advantages over any force. So in that way, having Desmond to create all their little toys, Rio to create a realistic "shock and awe" when they needed it, Pacifica to provide experienced intel years beyond her age, and a Captain with the tenacity to use it combined with the wisdom to use it correctly, they made a hell of a shock team.

But even with all their advantages, Cobalt had more, and were properly equipped and hooked up to deal with most any threat. They had enough men to wage wars, and they did so victoriously in countless examples. Vi may not have known every detail a month ago that he knew now about them, but for a Core rat, Cobalt was a household name. That's not easy to do when you sell mercs, it wasn't like expansive retailers such as Sudutsu who had everything you could buy, or Cappison who had an answer to ever mechanical problem out there, even if they were known to be cheap. So it wasn't like you had a Cobalt shirt in the pajama drawer, but if you'd watched the news, you'd heard the name wherever the Alliance was. Saying all that to say this, Cobalt was the real thing, and they were big and strong an they knew it. Their pride was their only weakness, and that base on Sweethome was proof. Had they been on their A game, had they put a full compliment of men on the ground, the Battle of Sweethome would have gone very differently. Vi wasn't a fool, he knew their biggest and hardest fights were still in front of them, but that was exactly the point. The Peerless didn't do this kind of work, nor did they advertise it. The average job Vi had done for the last two years was contract work on the rim, against small time governments with small time combat effectiveness. They'd never challenged a tank before, hell, he'd never even considered it. And the closest thing Vi'd ever seen to a special forces group was drinking with them in a random bar, or the Syndicate's Alpha Teams, whom he'd personally failed miserably at engaging, and hid from. They had all the advantages in the rim worlds, with their training and equipment, the whole crew were men amongst boys really. But here in the big leagues, they were rookies and everyone had to know it.

So to Vi, Davis must have been trying to feel out the crews mood. As it stood from what he could see, everyone felt elated in their victory and was high on adrenaline. That would pass, but the facts were that they had taken on impossible odds, and came out nearly flawless, and certainly the clear victors. At this point, they would likely follow Davis to the very precipice, Vi knew he would. Hell, he'd jump off, all Davis had to do was say go. But that was Vitale, it wasn't his style, it was his nature. He followed orders, and to the letter with but one exception to date. Well, two... if you counted Colt. Vi certainly didn't. Elijah was the biggest representation of the mood of his comrades, being poked more times than a‏ prostitute... figuratively speaking, but still ready to get right back to work, even going so far as to take the digital paperwork from Vitale's hands and blow off his doctorial warnings. Pacsun and the Captain gave out the orders to take a break and the list of who all would be back to go through everything the next day. Davis also later told Vitale and Chuck in private that he wanted it to be a light detail, "I don't want to take all this apart in the morning, just look for anything out of the ordinary. We may not get another break for a while, so make sure everyone gets some rest tomorrow." And that had been that for the evening, or morning, and shortly after, the group had dispersed.



Twelve hours later Vitale was tired, in a great mood, but tired. He'd only gotten about four hours of sleep, but between all that had transpired, things were rather looking up. For once. A lot of help had shown up for the unveiling ceremonies. All their new hires were there, which one might view as the new guy treatment in full swing. Lasky was a huge help thus far, and Abigail was there with not but a tank top and jeans on, which for Vitale was providing a distraction throughout the last hour. Also Gunn's personal... bodygaurd? Self imposed indentured servant? Whatever, Lewis was there, and though he was pretty much of no help with sorting the information out, he was a ton of help with the moving. Eli was also there, working hand in hand with Vi on the lists, and he'd been accompanied by their new doctor/stowaway, and she surprisingly proved to be an incredible help with all things regarding inventory. Kalli and Charlie were also on time and as usual, Charlie cut the poor mechanic zero slack in any department, which was even more noticeable that morning as her usual attention relief was Eli, but Charles was cutting him a great deal of slack. Then there was Eli's new suggested hire Gavel, or some such, Vi hadn't learned his name yet, and kept crucifying it. He was a fantastic do-boy though. Currently, they had been at it for just at an hour, and the initial progress had just gotten into the groove after what is more than likely, the start up hour of every working place. Vi was calling out serial numbers of boxes to Eli and Willows, then based on the list, they either culled the box to Lewis and Gavel, or popped the crate and had a looksee. Vi stepped back up to the stack as Lewis and Gravel took another crate away, and Vi called out the numbers.

"Zero, one, one, four, eight, seven, nine, nine, nine, two, three, eight... Commmme on, be somethin awesome..."

[Deleted]

Elijah had felt ready to go when they had all gathered earlier but it was a blessing that they had been given time to recover from the battle before they dove in to the task of inventorying the new haul. Elijah stayed up for maybe 45 more minutes before he crashed from the adrenaline rush. it wasn't till just ten minutes before they were to report back that he finally woke up and rushed down to the cargo bay once more this time with out the doctor in tow. To no surprise she was there waiting and jumped up to tell him that he was not to be doing the heavy lifting. 

Elijah had taken on reviewing the list as the others assisted in moving things and going through what was worth going through. Pacifica, Vi and Esmay had taken turns looking over the list as if they were checking Eli's work every step of the way. Honestly though he could care less so long as he was not laid up in some medical bay doing nothing. At least here he was doing his part of the duty to keep things moving forward. 


"Zero, one, one, four, eight, seven, nine, nine, nine, two, three, eight... Commmme on, be somethin awesome..." Vi called out from one of the crates to him to check on the list. 

"zero, one..." He paused as he went down the list to those stating with 01 "Four eight.." Before he could continue Esmay spoke over him.


"Zero, one, one, four, eight, seven, nine, nine, nine, two, three, eight. medical supplies." She called as she made he way over to the crate to have a look herself. Eli glared over at her as she walked off. "I got this handled thank you. What you got for me next Vi?"
Eli checked that crate off the list and prepared for the next one as Kalli and Guun pulled the next one down from the stack and Vi looked at the serial number and called it off to Eli. "Zero, one, one, four, eight, seven, nine, nine, nine, four, eight, seven. gotta be better then the last one."


Eli pointed at Pacifica who was standing next to him looking down the list already signaling her not to dare to call that one out before him. His finger moved back to the list and traced down it looking for the number he needed. The list of supplies had to be over ten times that what they had brought on board the ship. Just the thought of all that they had through that base recently just amazed him. It was as if they were building up a stock pile for a war to come. "Payroll..... wait? What? Jackpot Vi. open that sucker up. Payday is here." Elijah jumped up and walked over to them as Vi began unlocking the box with their handy dandy key, aka bolt cutters to get in to the good this one had in it. 

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An hour of heavy lifting had taken both Gavin and his partner, a big guy by the name of Lewis, down to their undershirts. Both men shone with perspiration from their labor. The pair had hit it off, joking back and forth over the crates they were handling. Gavin got the impression that Lewis was a few rounds short of a full magazine, but for as far as he could tell, the musclebound man was of a decent sort. Dude was funny, too, even if easily distracted. More than once, Gavin had to draw his attention away from the blonde in the tank top. Lewis wasn't the only one whose eyes seemed to be perpetually drawn to her. The guy reading off the crate numbers was also enjoying the scenery.

Gavin had not gotten to meet the rest of the crew, as they had been eager to crash after their most recent job. So, he worked in relative silence, ignoring various conversations, speaking only to Lewis. He'd even tuned out Eli. One word broke through his self imposed oblivion, however.

"Payroll..."

He and Lewis shared a glance before unceremoniously dumping their current load off to go check out the score.

Seeing as he hadn't been part of the acquisition, Gavin didn't expect a cut, but he couldn't help but to be curious. Exactly what kind of haul were they looking at? He made his way over to Eli and nudged his friend.

"Think you can get enough to get Sid's old boat flying again?"



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using proboards

[Deleted]

Like the others Esmay had plenty of down time after the battle to recover. The thing was she hasn't been down there for the fight and her only work coming from it was patching up Mr. Bainbridge. After they had all met up there in the cargo hold earlier Esmay had returned to the ships lab to continue with her research. She had continued to make progress on pricing together her and her fathers research in hopes of proving that is was able to success when she had tested it on Jeremiah.

When the time came for them to reconvene she was one of the first to arrive, and she dove right in to assisting with everything she could. Though she wasn't the strongest of the bunch she was able to assist with moving the load of goodies. She wasn't to sure what she thought about how they had acquired the new effects but it wasn't really her place to say anything about it. Honestly though she could care less about those who they had attacked. They had been part of the same group that had captured her for the ransom. Why would she care?

An hour had passed since they all had arrived in the cargo hold again and progress was being made. They had already found a slew of machine parts that the mechanic seemed to think would be useful for the ship. There was even a crate of weapons that the blond had taken a major interest in. Esmay hadn't made up her mind on that one she seemed stand offish. On top of that there was the whole deal with her pretending to be something she wasn't.

One by one Cordoba had been calling off numbers then came the roulette for how good the haul was. The next round of numbers came calling out and Bainbridge began to reply, though with an error in the number he was looking for. Esmay quickly corrected him to the right one. "Zero,one, one, four, eight, seven, nine, nine, nine, two, three, eight. Medical supplies Medical supplies, that was enough to send Esmay walking as Bainbridge looked over at her as If she had offended him by reading off the numbers. Surely he was actually thankful that she had saved him from making the error. Esmay met Pacifica over at the crate and the two opened it right up as Cordoba rattled off the next number with Esmay paying it no mind. This was the one that would hold her attention while they worry about the Payroll.