Futuristic The Blue Betty

[Cokes]

Hao drew his semi-clean handgun and loaded a magazine with a streak a of green paint on it. "If you're going to carry," he chambered a round, "carry something small, we ain't looking for a shootout." He idly waved the gun towards Trent, "That means you, Meat." BLAM. Hao shot Trent square in the chest. He wiggled a his pinkie around his ear while everyone was frozen in shock, or at least stunned by their ears ringing.


"So yeah, hope that's some sturdy kevlar or whatever!" He'd brought his voice up a few decibels over the ringing. "Low velocity rubber rounds! Hurt like a sumbitch and certainly can be lethal, but a body shot will just drop somebody most of the time! Good if push comes to shove and we need a distraction!" He shakes his head bit, attempting to clear the ringing. "I've only got 'em in .45, if you've got a piece I recommend picking some up the next time we've got some time ta shop. And remember, if they shoot back, they probably won't be using a rubber."


"Tempting as it may be to grab some nice kit from a fancy ship," he holstered his firearm, "there's way more chance of tracking equipment on it than if we loot a junker. Can't guarantee time for a full sweep of the drive, and while the cargo bay is EM shielded, the whole ship ain't. If any of it ain't quite up to par, we borrow some spare parts at our next stop."


"I'll be puttin' on some beat-up, baggy clothes, I recommend you all do the same, cover any identifying marks, keep a low profile." Hao put his cigarette out on the doorframe and began to head for his bunk.

 

[Th3Tru3Cr33p3r]

The rubber bullet pinged off the chest piece of Trent's armor. He didn't even flinch, having taken his fair share of gunfire in his time as a guard.


"This is a ceramic plate covered by kevlar," Trent said, hitting his chest, "I didn't feel a thing. Now I'd return the favor, but I don't think rubber shotgun slugs would bounce off you so easily."


After Hao finished talking, Trent also went to the bunks to shed some of the more obvious parts of his armor. In the end, he elected to keep only the chest piece of his armor on. He slung his shotgun across his back and put a leather jacket on to better blend in and hide his favorite weapon. He completed his disguise with an old pair of jeans and some aviator sunglasses.

 

[shadowdude505]

Tora frowned and almost objected to being nicknamed 'kitty' by Hao and the captain. I could get a lot of unwanted attention if they called me tigress... She covered her ears after Hao fired and glared at him before turning her attention back to the captain. After a long drag on her cigarette she flaunted a smirk. "Leave it to me," she replied, with her cigarette still between her teeth. "But since I only have the clothes on my back, my trusty pistol, and a packet of cigs... I'll have to commandeer a disguise."

 

[KneelingAngel]

"This is all I have too." Camo said looking at her boots, loose trousers and shirt. "The only other thing I have are my tools and they don't help much in disguise... Maybe we should go "shopping" first." She suggested, making quotation signs with her fingers. "By now I've already guessed that you guys don't pay for anything, just as long as you pay me I don't care and I'll gladly join." She smiled. "Now who has some extra clothes?" She smiled, tilting her head towards Hao. "I know you do because it took hours to get them off." Camo wanted to avoid that situation, she didn't want to talk about THAT night, but sometimes memories can come in handy.

 

[Circus]

The gun blast had caught Otter off guard, but it was not surprising. Hao was known to for wild antics. Behavior like this was something you got accustomed to on the Blue Betty. For Hao, it was easier to show than tell. Glad I’m staying aboard the ship. I’d rather not have bullets flying anywhere near me, Otter thought.


The conversation had turned into one of disguises and outfits. “Just like women to fret over what to wear. We don’t have any pretty dresses, but there should be something suitable in the living quarters. Hao had his share of escorts back there, sure more ‘n one of ‘em left something behind you could use.”


Otter swiveled in his chair and attacked the console. “Since we’re getting a new one, might as well burn out the old one.” The pilot inputted the coordinates and activated the FTL to full power. The Blue Betty vanished from its point in space outside of Station 12. The next instant, a blue-green planet was within view. “And there we have it, Lotari.” A red notification popped up on the console signifying the FTL was offline. And there goes the FTL.


“Nuts,” Otter addressed the engineer, “detach the FTL. I will eject it as we make our descent. No sense in having excess baggage. As for the rest, we will be docked shortly.”


The Betty swam towards the planet, appearing larger and larger with every passing minute. Re-entry was one of Otter’s favorite things about flying, next to the chases. The ship shook and burned red hot as Betty entered Lotari’s atmosphere. Otter flipped a switch, the FTL flew from the Betty and burned in re-entry. It was over as quick as it started and Betty propelled toward Lotari’s main port.


A hail came from the port’s command station. “This is the Blue Betty requesting permission to land… Yes, that Blue Betty… For the last time, this is the Blue Betty, damn you! We’re entering the port. Put us somewhere respectable.” Otter cursed under his breath, “idiot.” He turned in his chair and smiled. “Cap’n, we are cleared to dock. Don’t forget to bring me back something nice.”


The Betty pulled into the bustling port and attached to the dock. The cargo bay doors opened to release its crew.

 

[Vudukudu]

Aaron covered his ears moments after Hao pulled the trigger, but was still far too late. His ears rang for the next few minutes, making it extremely difficult to focus on what anyone else was saying or doing. He'd have to remember to carry ear protection around in tight spaces from now on.


He found a place to stand during re-entry, gripping one of the rails tightly as the ship rocked through the atmosphere. Soon enough, the violent shaking came to a pause and he released the rail. His knuckles were bone-white and still tense, but some flexing solved that soon enough. "Alright boys and girls. Finish playing dress up, then get out there. I've never liked the way Lotari looks, so I'd rather not stay too long. Best of luck to you, try not to die, et cetera et cetera."


He retrieved the earpiece from his pocket and put it in, adjusting it until he got a good fit. He frequently carried a magazine of non-lethal rounds for Dolly, and it seemed like he had remembered to include it in his gear for the day. He loaded them in and chambered one before holstering the pistol in a concealed portion of his coat. Few, if any, security guards could find it without doing a pat down, and even fewer guards than that knew how to handle a belligerent captain who didn't like being touched.


He set out immediately, walking down the cargo bay door and waiting outside, more than ready to ward off anyone coming to inspect his vessel.

 

[WrittenHollowness]

Harmony looked out of the port window as the ship broke past the burn. As the best part seemed to come to a close, he added the finishing touches to his disguise: a long trench duster, sleeves cut for air; a pair of Hao's commando shorts that he'd snagged for the cigarette issue; and a dark orange knitted cap(though "knitted" could be used as loosely as possible with the scrap of fabric). A set of hand wraps covered his tattoos and he was set for the adventure.


After waiting a few minutes, Harm followed the captain out of the ship, unarmed. If things got rough he could handle himself with whatever was within his reach. The second sun was setting on this planet, casting brilliant hues of green and silver across the sky. Harm watched the sky with vigor as he waited for Hao and The Big Guy to join him.

 

[shadowdude505]

Tora braced herself against the wall during the rocky flight through the atmosphere. Once the Blue Betty stopped rocking she followed Hao to his quarters. "The pilot implied that you might have a stash of clothes from your lady friends," she said to him after extinguishing her cigarette. "What you do in your free time is none of my business, but right now we don't have time to go shopping. Where's the stash?" she asked. She wasn't going to wait for permission and if he didn't want to help her get a disguise she was going to force him to. The mission clock was already ticking away.

 

[Th3Tru3Cr33p3r]

Trent was on his way to the large cargo door when Otter started bringing the Betty through the atmosphere. The sudden shaking caught him off guard and he picked a crate to lean against for the remainder of the reentry.


Once the Betty was docked, Trent made his way down the exit ramp and stood off to one side waiting for the rest of the group that he was going with to steal the FTL drive. He saw Harmony watching the sunset, but made no move to talk to the kid.

 

[KneelingAngel]

Camo headed down to detach the FTL. She grabbed her tools and loosened the bolts that held it in place. Just when the last bolt was loosened, the ship started shaking at re-entry, catching the engineer off guard and making her fall backwards on her ass.


Camo quickly grabbed hold if something to help her up, but her eyes went wide when she heard something open. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw the ejection hatch open. Camo stumbled as fast as she could towards the stairs and grabbed the guardrail, holding on with her dear life as the old FTL and her toolbox plus some other lose things laying around disappeared from the platform.


Once the hatch closed, Camo could feel her heart in her throat. She quickly got up on wobbly feet and climbed up the stairs. Once she was up she collapsed against the nearest wall, staring at her shaking hands, listening to her shaking breath.


Once she got control over herself again, she tossed a bolt at Otter's head. "You asshole!" She shouted as she got back up, shaking a bit. "Don't open the ejection hatch when someone is still there! Do you know how dangerous that is?!"


Camo buried her head in her hands, calming down and grabbing the nearest shaggy coat. She straightened her storm blown hair and pulled it into a small ponytail with an elastic band that was around her wrist. "Look." She said towards the pilot. "Next time give me a warning, thanks all I ask. You're lucky that everything, beside some small stuff, was still attached. We could have lost a whole lot more and we would have been even further from home or where ever we are going." After that she turned on her heels, heading down the ramp and took a spot next to Trent, shooting Harm a look. "Dude, stop staring." She said to the boy. "You look like a lovestruck girl or something." Camo then turned to Trent and looked him up and down with a careful eye. "Okay," she mumbled. "You get to carry the FTL, you look strong enough to carry it by yourself."

 

[Circus]

(Been about four days now. Who we waiting for?)

 

[Cokes]

(Me, in the process of moving, should have my computer set up in a few hours.)

 

[KneelingAngel]

(I'm gonna go on a one-day safari so I'll post again in the evening when I get back, I leave in an hour. Just wanted to let you guys know :3)


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[Cokes]

Hao opened the door to find Tora, having changed into some dingy street clothes. "Here," he rummaged through the remains of his closet and tossed her a set of fatigues, "those oughta fit well enough, and they're discrete." Hao grinned, "Unless your plan involves some femme fatale action, in which case I think there's probably a dress or two in here that would be appropriately too-small. Help yourself." Chuckling to himself as he grabbed a spare speedloader off his nightstand, he left Tora with the dusty, old closet and headed out onto the dock.


He stepped up beside the others and began digging through his jacket pockets. After producing a handful of earpieces, he put one in his ear and held out the rest to the present crew. "Pretty standard models, look enough like the kinds used by dock personnel to blend in most places. I assume they're still set to the Betty's secure channel, Cap and Otter can come through any time, press on them to transmit." He put a finger in his ear to depress the sensor, "These ol' pieces of shit still work Cap?"


Hao paused a moment to inspect the crew. Trent was a little lumpy, but that's not unusual, Camo looked a little worse for the wear, but that's fine for his purposes, the kid is still weird. Whatever.


"Alright kids, we're looking for craft about Betty's size, get it checked by the gearhead, obviously." Hands in his pockets, he headed into the facility to begin scouting.

 

[shadowdude505]

Tora shifted through the clothes and grabbed a faded pink, long-sleeved Chinese shirt with dark red trim, a pair of brown baggy pants, a brown jacket, an old pair of sneakers, and a hair ribbon. She walked into an empty, unclaimed living quarter and quickly changed. Tora left the clothes she had been wearing on the lowest bunk. Before leaving the room she secured her pistol under the jacket and zipped it up half-way. As she walked out to join the others she tied the hair ribbon to hold a pony tail.


Tora arrived in time to hear the end of Hao's instructions and grabbed an earpiece. She put a finger up to her ear and pressed the receiver. "You guys find the target, I'll create the diversion as planned," she said, testing the device to see if it was working. Once she got a reply, she'd start her mission.

 

[WrittenHollowness]

Harmony was off on his way as soon as he snatched an earpiece out of Hao's hands. He'd strutted off on his own to start the search, using what little evidence he had from the Asian. The facility was a little sleeker than Station 12, but not by much. Harmony sighed, then pressed a button on the tech he'd hidden underneath his hair and the hat. "Hao, can we get any specs on what we are looking for?" he asked while casually looking at an area rug made out of Althorean beetle fibers--both durable and softer than any material in this solar system. "I'm drawing up blanks, being that we don't know the color, make, or registration number attached to the piece of scrap." he added.

 

[Cokes]

Hao paused his casual inspection of Dock 16A. With a sigh, he pushed on his comm, "Fan out, get eyes on ships of similar size to ol' Blue, give Bolts the dock ID and she'll vet 'em and pick the best target. Only a few slip drive manufacturers and they're mostly compatible with mixed parts, so size is the primary concern. If I remember how this shit works."


Hao strolled past the dock, "Everything on 16A is too small, prolly not even FTL-capable." The ships may not be right, but that kid over there is an addict. Easy enough for a professional to spot a mile off, and from the looks of him he'd been living around the docks a while.


Hands in his pockets, a few fingers brushing against the grip of a knife (safety first), Hao strolled up beside the kid and leaned against the wall. "I think we can help each other out, kid. Need a light?" He lit himself a cigarette and held another out to the street rat.

 

[KneelingAngel]

Camo looked over the docks, there was nothing there that was like the Blue Betty or anywhere near it. She was about to leave when a ship arrived, looking high and mighty. It was maybe even bigger then Betty, more luxurious at least!


"Hey guys." She mumbled into the earpiece. "How new do we want our FTL to be?"


The ship Camo was looking at was brand new. It was shining and blinking in the light. It was rare that you saw those kind of ships, but this ship was a supermodel on heels.


"Remember hundreds on years ago, that Titanic ship that hit an iceberg and sunk? I think I found its futuristic twin. You guys have to see this. This thing is brand new!" Camo was almost squealing in happiness. She couldn't wait to tear that thing apart.


She was even so excited that she forgot to tell the others the dock number.


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[Cokes]

Hao gave the kid a pat on the shoulder while slipping something into his pocket with his other hand. The young junkie quickly disappeared into the crowd, and Hao followed suit. After getting a suitable distance from his illicit exchange, he hit his comm. "Keep yer pants on 'til later darlin'. If that ship's all ya say it is, it'll have security personnel and a dozen kindsa electronic security. Most importantly, tracking devices. Even if ya can override its security protocols to get it to run on the Betty, we ain't got time to turn the thing inside out looking for tracers."


Hao made his way to dock 17B and inspected the ships docked there. "Alright ladies and gents, got it on borderline good authority that we should be checkin' docks 17 through 25 for the kinda ships we want, get eyes on 'em all and give gearhead the IDs on the best ones."

 

[KneelingAngel]

Camo growled a bit at Hao's comment, but said nothing as he kept speaking. "But I want this ship." She protested when Hao said that they would want. She pointed at the ship from in the shadows even if no one could see her. "I don't mind tearing it apart, if I know what model it is I probably know where that tracer is. And who puts a tracker in their FTL now a days?" She questioned. "I've barely seen any for the last couple of years... Can't I have this one?" She asked sweetly and with a pout.


She really liked the way the ship looked, but that meant that the FTL was even better!


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[WrittenHollowness]

"He said no, lass." Harmony whispered into his earpiece. "And if you had any sense, you'd see that there is security up the ass on that one." He peered off into the distance, counting six snipers trained on that one ship. Something wasn't right about that detail, at least not to the kid. He sighed and walked out to the dock opening. Silently and deftly, he scaled up the wall that nestled between docks 20 and 21. When he reached the top, a smile crept up on his face. "This is the weirdo, and I have visual on all 9 docking areas." he announced.

 

[Cokes]

"If you're not lookin' to get spaced, I suggest you watch your god damn mouth, kid." He lit a cigarette. "And 17B's a bust." One ship too small, the other two in even sorrier shape than Betty. After a long drag he reopens his comm. "If you get caught doin' somethin' stupid, I wouldn't bother prayin' too hard for a jail break. Ain't our problem if you get caught somewhere ya ain't 'sposed to be dressed like somebody from a bad twentieth century action flick."


With a sigh, Hao wandered back into the central corridor and faded into the crowd. Amateurs. Amateurs in frakkin' trench coats. "Kitty, any progress on that distraction? Ain't ready yet, but need to know you're in position."

 

[Vudukudu]

A few minutes passed without interruption, at least from Aaron's perspective. He was hearing all kinds of chatter on the comms, and was glad to hear it was mostly Hao. He trusted the man (at least as much as one could trust a man like Hao) and intended to leave the ground ops to him. Hao would get the job done.


Then the first issue arose in his field. A port officer was on rapid approach, seemingly upset with Aaron and the ship he stood before.


"Hey! You!" The man called, still some distance away. Aaron sighed and let him finish his approach.


"Sir! I have it on good authority that your vessel is carrying illegal goods."


"Do ya now? And how would that be, officer?" Aaron grunted, quirking one eyebrow and taking a subtle, but aggressive posture.


"Yes. I've got dozens of reports about the Blue Betty and her registration number. Smuggling, interstellar piracy, kidnapping, murder, etc etc. Gonna have to board your ship and do a search."


Aaron rolled his eyes and moved one hand to his hip, lazily thumbing the flap on his holster. "Afraid I can't let ya do that, officer. Got a leaky reactor on board, most of the ship is dripping radiation like a Twelver whore on a good work night. Ain't got time to do paperwork if an official dies on my vessel, so you're gonna have to let it slide." This was, of course, a blatant lie, but it was one he had used in a half dozen situations like this before.





"We've got suits, I'm getting some guys ready right now to check this thing out. We'll be back in thirty minutes, you'd best have that damn door open when I get back." The man said, leaving a security guard nearby before turning around and leaving the docking area.


Aaron waited for him to be out of earshot, then quickly tapped his comms. "Guys, triple time it. We've got thirty minutes before a dock inspection team locks our vessel down. We can hold them off for maybe five minutes after that, but we're on a short window. Get moving Kitty, you're the only delay we can get for the time being. Cap out."

 

[shadowdude505]

Sounds like it's working, Tora thought as she heard some of the crew members in her earpiece. She stuck her hands in her pocket and slouched like a teenager before walking in the control room's general direction. She worked out her character and cover story in her mind as she leisurely strolled past the spaceships. "I'm on the move," she announced softly over the earpiece.


She moved her finger off the sensor and stuck that hand back into her pocket as she glanced around the port. To get into character she muttered to herself in Chinese about her father being late to pick her up. Tora started to look for a security officer so her character could ask for help. She found a guard on patrol and walked up to him. "Excuse me sir," she said in a slightly higher tone of voice. "My father was supposed to pick me up but it looks like he forgot it was his month to have custody over me."


"Have you tried calling him?" the guard asked unemotionally. "Of course I tried," Tora replied, before sucker punching the man out cold. "I just have really bad reception." She dragged the unconscious man behind some grates and took his security badge. By now she started to hear all of the Blue Betty's crew's chatter. "I'm on my way inside. All I need now are the dock numbers to the target ship and ours," she reported over the earpiece.

 

[WrittenHollowness]

"Got that." Harmony answered, crawling into a low enough position. He then flung the trench coat over his body, concealing it. 'I hope he chokes on his own fumes...' the man thought as he lay on his personal vantage point. Harm was starting to suspect that he'd always just be a kid in the crew's eyes. It sucked, being that he sorta respected the way the Captain and Hao operated--Otter could get impaled for all he cared. 'But, now is not the time to gripe over asshats.' he groaned internally, starting to focus on his task. He'd had complete access to the entire port station and that was pretty useful, whether Hao wanted to admit it or not. Harmony snickered as he kept a close eye on the area, watching Hao's tiny form dip into the crowd.


A deep rumbling came from Dock 20 as a ship arrived to port. Harmony turned his head and his eyes lit up like the jewels of a deep mountain. "Hey, we got something in 20." he said into his intercom, observing the details of the ship.