Tin No More (open) }{ The Fall of 'Tinman' Garret

[Thomas B. Garret]

Life was becoming harder and harder for Garret to make an honest living. The Aliance was becoming heavier handed on all tinmen in the rim. They were putting restriction on where their law functions. As for Garret his only choice was to go back to Whitefall his first placement as a tinman, yet that was unstable at best. A fellow tin on Whitefall had heard rumors that some thing big was going to fall upon Whitefall. What it was he had yet to hear.
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In the cargo bay working his frustrations out on a pair of bars and a body bag he tried to exhaust himself. It he didn't have time to think them it to him would not matter much for a while.
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The crew had camed down now that they were in the black and going. The new passanger had made him a bit nervous on a few occasions. He was not sure what it was about her. Her look or her working on what looked like a human arm. Yea she said it was a cybernitic arm but still it unnerved him. Even being around the Cap and cookie was getting harder. As that thought came back to him he remembered why, it was his anniverary.
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With a snarl he want to work hard on the poor body bag. Upper cuts, body blows, round houses, single to twin kicks and a few flying spin kicks that a fellow tin taught him once was unleashed upon the bag.

[Friedrich Hoffman]

Friedrich made his way down from the upper deck and into the Cargo Hold. The Raven was flying which would be good enough for most people but certainly not for Friedrich. The mechanic sought perfection, something which was hard to achieve in an outdated and worn eighty year old vessel like a Firefly. It was even harder to do with a limited budget and without going into drydock for an extended period. Still, he would not be deterred. No matter how long it would take, he'd eventually get the ship to be "good as new" or damn close to it.

It would be an impossible task for most, not just because of the time and labor required but the simple fact that there wasn't exactly a surplus of replacement parts for older ships. The best you could typically do would be to scrounge around in some heap or cannibalize a used part from another ship. The part would still be hard to find and you'd only replace an old and broken piece with an old and almost broken piece. It was a patch job, nothing more.

Luckily Friedrich had no such problem. He wasn't the gifted mechanic that knew exactly where to place the duct tape and exactly how hard to bang the engine to get it to work. He was the machinist that could assemble the engine from nothing and knew how to fabricate the components to do so. Given the proper materials and tools the possibilities were endless. So now, in between fixing non-mission critical systems, Friedrich was working on replacement parts for the major systems. Garret had done a fine job with the list. Everything was there and all was of adequate quality, although not all of it looked pretty. The man apparently had an eye for the items even if they were buried in a mountain of .

Friedrich turned to the sound of impacts and strained breathing to see none other than Garret himself working out in the hold. The mechanic raised a piece of steel in a bit of a wave to the man both as a greeting but also a sign of appreciation for the acquisition of the materials. "Herr Garret, do you mind if it gets a little loud in here?" He asked, indicating toward the heavy machinery stored over in the opposite corner. Cutting and shaping the metals into the required components could create quite a ruckus.

[Thomas B. Garret]

Thomas noticed Hoffman's wave a little late. He had not noticed him coming in and even working. When the question was asked of him he waved a hand, in a out of breath manner he said,....'One sec.' Moving over his travel bag he removed a pair of ear plugs and inserted them and gave a thumbs up for a 'good to go'.
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'If you need a hand get my attention. I'll be happy to help ya.'
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With that Garret switched to Tai boxing and began to rain heavy blow after every quick combo. He did not really know why he was in such a befouled mood.

[bobbomb]

It was about time for Andrew to come out of his bunk room. He had missed that eventful first supper with the crew, and from what he heard, he had missed a good bit of drama. It was better that he didn't attend. With guns going around, he might have just ended it before it had gotten that far. He had loyalty to the person he was employed to, and that was the captain. He wouldn't have hesitated to place a bullet in that man, whether he was a passenger or not. He lived by the rule that if you pull a gun, you damn better well use it.

Despite that, he was glad to be off that gorram rock of a planet. He was just pissed that all his possessions that he owned was on the shuttle they had tried to escape in. He was happy that the guy who had booted his ass out of the moving ship was blown to pieces. It was better that way, start off clean. Well, cleaner than last time. He had not left his bunk since take off, settling all his furniture, trophies of excellence and all those weapons he didn't have. In all truth, he was searching the room for bugs and listening and or hearing devices. He didn't like being spied upon. When he found none, he ventured out of the room.

The hallway and living areas held no one. It was either late and all the other crew and passengers were asleep, or they were all elsewhere. He make his way past the living quarters, when he heard the sound of metal on metal. It wasn't work, it sounded like weights being crashed against each other. He had a small hope that it wasn't their gun happy passenger, he would have to look out for that one in the future. He made his way to the cargo bay, where he finally saw two of the crew. There was the lawman and that mechanic. He had not met either of them yet, but he was about to.

Standing on the landing overlooking the cargo bay, he raised a hand in greeting before stepping down the walkway. He watched the lawman work the punching bag. He was skilled, and that had to come from years at the job, the mechanic was about to start on something. "Howdy," He said, looking over from one to another. "Name's Andrew, I'm the Raven's new gun hand, you all need any help, you let me know."

[Friedrich Hoffman]

Again, Garret seemed accommodating as he reached for ear protection. It really was a shame they had such a bad first impression. "I don't need anysing but you're velcome to. Maybe try uh, bifurcating sheet metal instead of hitting zat bag." he responded loudly, hoping his words would carry through the ear plugs. Friedrich didn't know if Garret had any special reasoning for being down there today but he could guess. The man was getting more than a simple workout and he clearly didn't need to hone his skills any more. It was cathartic or at least it was probably intended to be, wash away some memory or emotion.

The mechanic fired up the saw but before he could start another man came in, the most recent addition who joined up right before they'd left Persephone. They hadn't really had a chance to get to meet since he'd missed all the fun at dinner the evening before. Most weren't exactly ready to try and make new friends so soon. "Friedrich Hoffman." He replied and then reved the saw. Mechaniker." Not knowing if Garret heard the new comer or not he motioned toward the man and added " Herr Garret." He stumbled a bit thinking of the word. "Polizei... nein, Gerichtsvollzieher oder Sheriff?" He finally decided on, "Recht Mann... Lawman."

(Just checking but I couldn't remember if Garret actually announced himself as a lawman or whether he has been keeping that quiet. I'll edit the last bit about his occupation out if needed.

Mispronounced:
Anysing - Anything
Velcome - Welcome
Zat - That

German:
Mechaniker - Mechanic
Polizei - Police
Nein - No
Gerichtsvollzieher - A marshal or the like
Oder - Or
Sheriff - Sheriff, spelled the same but still a German word
Recht - Right but in this case it means Law
Mann - Man. There's no real word for "lawman" so he's basically building the word before translating it over.

[bobbomb]

Andrew looked over at the lawman. "You mean a tinman?" He said, an eyebrow raised. "Thought the Alliance stripped all the tinmen of their positions and started running their operations." He shrugged, it was just like the Alliance to take jobs away from their citizens and give it to their own men. Next they will be taking over colonies past their boarders. Andrew wouldn't be surprised if they tried to tax reavers someday soon.

He looked over at the ex-tinman again, It was a shame, but sometimes jobs become obsolete. That, or someone makes the job obsolete. Andrew gave a brief thought as to what an ex-lawman would do. He could become a sheriff on another planet, or a bounty hunter. Andrew could care less, as long as the man's new profession didn't interfere with his life.

[Thomas B. Garret]

Garret could hear some wordsd through his ear plugs and over the noise of the machines the few words he heard were: Alliance stripped, tinmen, running their operations. Garret slowed till he missed his final jab as the words sunk in. There was no way he would be simple tossed out like yesterday's trash. Stopping he removed his ear plugs and made his way over to Treskon.

'What was that you just said about the tinmen in the rim?'

His hands were starting to shake at the thought of not being a tinman have no-law-enforcement rights. Even the thought of haveing to become a bounty hunter made his knees weak. There it was again fate trying to draw him into his father's footsteps, first a hunter next a two time three striked criminal. He shook his head trying to clear those thought out of his head to no availe. Each time he tried the deeper it engrained into his being.

[bobbomb]

Andrew turned his head slightly, so that both the mechanic and the ex-lawman was in his field of vision. It was better to have both in view and be prepared, you never know with people you don't and be safe, then trust them just because they are your crew mates, and be sorry later.

Andrew nodded, "That's right, Garret, your name was? Just heard it a few days ago, Alliance decided all tinmen in the rim were wong dahn. Shut them down." He explained, his mouth drawn in a taunt line. He knew what it was like to suddenly realize everything you worked for went down the toilet. He had the same thing happen when he realized that the alliance he was working for would rather blow a colony of poor out of the black, then worry about paperwork.

Wong Dahn - Done for

[Friedrich Hoffman]

The broken introduction seemed to really draw Andrew's attention to Garret, who either hadn't been able to hear what was said or was in disbelief about the new crew member's revelation. Apparently Garrett was out of a job, and not just a job but an occupation. Friedrich had been short of work before but he'd never actually lost his Beruf, only taken another path. Luckily he had one of those skill sets that could easily transfer from one job to another. Garrett probably only had the skills to either hunt the bad guys or be the bad guy. The latter was not the greatest of career paths.

"Ach! Kein Problem." Friedrich interjected, noticing Garrett's strong reaction to the news. "Herr Garrett kann as Kriminalbeamter verk... uh, police investigator oder etwas." There was less freedom in it and it would require working directly for the feds but it's not like law enforcement wasn't required anymore. They'd probably be hiring to take up the slack left from the end of the tinmen. "Or you can learn to be mechanic." He jokingly added after a brief pause.


(Beruf - Profession, career
Ach - Oh, an exclamation
Kein Problem - No problem
Kann - Can
Kriminalbeamter - Literally "Criminal Officer" but more along the lines of a detective
Verk - Work
Oder etwas - Or something)

[Thomas B. Garret]

The news hit him like a bullet to the chest. His knees buckled and he had to find a seat quickly.
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'It finally came through, the bloody shift change happened. I had heard rumors of it but didn't think to much of it.
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Mechanic? Doctor Tsuchiya knows more about the working than I do. Hunt, capture and the keeping the law is all that I've ever known other than the ways of those that I've ran down.
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I don't know if I could make the change. .... Thanks for telling me. It's better to know now than walking around pretending.
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I very much doubt that the Alliance would hire me on with my record with them. Tho being a bounty hunter is as near to a lawman I could get till I hire out as a 'tin' for a ship.'
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Garret dropped his head. All the fire that once was Garret was replaced by a simple worn man who has lost every thing.

[Thomas B. Garret]

Slowly standing Thomas paced around the body bag. His anger finally rising. Moving away from the bag and toward Friedrick's work bench he slowed to a stop. Swipping a metal shard from the table Garret spun and sent the shard flying end over end toward the bag to bury deep within it.
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'Spaztic bloody alliance they want to play peace keeper then fine I'll let them but I'll never make it easy for them and their iikagen kyoku*.'
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Thomas snarlled and growled as he moved back to the bag and full stiff leg kicked the area where the shard had buried deep. The shard popped out the other side and clanged on the floor. The bag swung back and forth from the very primal strength of Garret's kick.
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Shoulders slumping a bit he moved to scoop up the shard and moved back to the work bench. Setting the metal down gently and head bowed Thomas said a single word before moving back to the bag to patch it back up.
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'Sorry.'

[Thomas B. Garret]

Slowly standing Thomas paced around the body bag. His anger finally rising. Moving away from the bag and toward Friedrick's work bench he slowed to a stop. Swipping a metal shard from the table Garret spun and sent the shard flying end over end toward the bag to bury deep within it.
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'Spaztic bloody alliance they want to play peace keeper then fine I'll let them but I'll never make it easy for them and their iikagen kyoku*.'
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Thomas snarlled and growled as he moved back to the bag and full stiff leg kicked the area where the shard had buried deep. The shard popped out the other side and clanged on the floor. The bag swung back and forth from the very primal strength of Garret's kick.
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Shoulders slumping a bit he moved to scoop up the shard and moved back to the work bench. Setting the metal down gently and head bowed Thomas said a single word before moving back to the bag to patch it back up.
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'Sorry.'