Doing the Job [RILEY/ATLAS/ESTEEM]

[hackanut]

OOC: This is a sort of flash-forward for the Whitefall events. Since Atlas was moving it kind of slow in the original thread and I didn't want us to have to play out the process of getting moving and met up (if you DO still want to do that, you can post in the "Gunfight at the Whitefall Corral thread, since it precedes this one). So...EVERYONE can post there, and everyone should! We're giving Patience some Alliance goods and of course there will have to be some hell to break loose (a sort of tribute to the first episode of Firefly). Any plot points pre-made should happen here...though I forget what they were. xD All I remember is that the party is eventually crashed by Esteem.

PS: oh, and sorry this post sucks. I tried!
--------------------------------------------------------------

Ryan stepped off of Atlas as it landed, Riley setting down next to it. Faye was also stepping off of her ship with her crew; it was time to do the job.

"Okay, let's get these crates off-ship," He said to his crew, and they worked together to load up the dollies with several large, black crates full of whatever Murdo had decided to steal and whatever Patience decided she wanted. Ryan wasn't concerned with it.

The two ships met, dollies in their midst, and carted them to the rendezvous point where Patience was to come meet them. The two crews decided to keep the ordeal away from their ships, just in case they were spotted during the transaction. Ryan kept a gun under his arm and one at his hip, as they traveled to the deep valley that Patience had picked out for them. He had a bad feeling about this; he'd never dealt with Patience before but she had a reputation.

"Ain't feelin' easy," Stoot remarked ((Sorry, power-playing my own dude haha)) from Ryan's side, and he turned to look at his friend.

"Thought you were excited-fer this?" He asked, almost amused, but mostly worried. Stoot was the epitome of confidence in a situation like this; it was a hell of a moment to be uneasy.

"Hell, I'm still excited," he waved off Ryan's woe with a sweep of a hand. He almost lost control of his dolly, and he quickly caught it. He chuckled. "I just got a feelin' that we ain't gonna get our coin without bloodshed's all. We prepared fer that, I just ain't feeling it's gonna be easy."

Ryan looked over to Stoot. "Just let Faye and myself do the talkin', it'll be cake n' pie." The two men smiled at each other and they trudged on.

They found the valley mostly silently from there, most of them stuck in business-mode instead of Stoot-mode. He reapplied gravity to his dolly and it stopped floating, falling heavily to the ground instead. The plan was, they'd let Patience see the goods; but she wouldn't be able to lift it if she tried, not without re-applying the hover technology to the dollies. If she wanted trouble, she wouldn't get her goods. If she didn't, she'd be allowed to hover them back to wherever she was to store them. The only problem was getting the Dollies back--Murdo had made them pay for them.

"Well, we're here," Ryan remarked, wiping sweat from his forehead. Some of these moons never seemed to cool down. He turned to Faye, who annoyed him with her superiority complex but Ryan had to admit that she was the more experienced of the two. He would feed her ego, grudgingly.

"So, whaddya think?" he asked.

[Ari Deschain]

The build-up and excitement of finally doing the job did not hinder Ari's professionalism any. She had her mind on the work, and immediately set herself to helping load the crates into the dollies. Her mouth, usually twisted into a playful smirk, was set in a hard line as she concentrated. Despite her jovial and optimistic attitude earlier at breakfast, she was starting to get a bit of unease swirling in her belly. Something didn't feel quite right. She'd never done business with Patience herself, but her reputation was well-known in some of the circles she had traveled in. Patience was a hard case, and wouldn't part with money if she could help it.

As they traveled, she overheard Stoot reflecting her own thoughts to their captain. She was walking behind them and slightly to their right, so that they were in her blind spot. Her bad left eye, given away by the patch she wore now, had to be covered by people she trusted. She turned her head a bit to focus on the captain and first mate with her good eye for a moment. The fact that Ryan seemed worried about Stoot's uneasiness did nothing to settle her own stomach. Stoot's words echoed her own thoughts, and her mouth turned down in a slight frown.

She didn't talk much as they went, just helped with what she could and scanned the land surrounding. When she was doing business, any of her usual good nature was gone. She had her heart and mind on the job, and on doing it right and helping to get their crew out safely. As they came to a halt, the dollies thudding to the earth with finality, she turned a slow 360 to check out the area they were to meet Patience. It was not ideal; it seemed Patience would most definitely have the upper hand. Not that that surprised her, given what she'd heard about the woman. As Ryan spoke to Faye, Ari stepped beside Stoot, her left shoulder lightly brushing his right arm. She hadn't forgotten his thoughtful offer to be her left eye. "Here we are," she muttered, unnecessarily. Her hand went to the pistol that was stuck in the waistband of her pants, reassuring herself with its cold bulk, and she looked around at the small crew of people from both ships. She hoped they were ready for whatever Patience was going to do.

[stoot]

Stoot turned to Ari when she made contact with his shoulder and commented on the waiting process. He smiled at her. "Yep," he replied. "Ain't much fer havin' to wait. Don' worry," He added, noticing the hand that found her pistol. "Nothin's gonna happen t'you. I'll be goin' down 'fore you will, and I ain't plannin' on goin' anywhere." He hoped his words would be reassuring. The way her jaw was set and her stature was rigid and tense, he could tell that Ari was very serious about this. Stoot, in a way, was as well. He didn't really have a great feeling about today, given the location that they were going to be doing this job. But if they needed help, the ships were going to be prepped and ready for a quick takeoff and Stoot had been practicing his shooting a lot lately. He didn't like to be rusty.

He had worries, but he wouldn't let himself worry for Ari. He would keep her safe even if she didn't need the protecting. It was in his nature to be intensely loyal and protective over people he cared about. Speaking of, he turned to Ryan, who was currently turned to Faye.

"Think it could get much more hotter out here? Damn," He remarked, wiping his forehead. His tone of voice when speaking to Ryan was the same and yet different than the one he used when talking to Ari. He was a little more soft-spoken with the latter. He continued. "When we get back to the ship, I'm gonna ride back on the hood so I can cool off. ." He hoped a little light humor would lighten the stiff mood. Stoot really couldn't see how this could run smoothly if people were so tightly wound. Maybe everyone had their own methods, though. It had been awhile since Stoot had had to be in a situation like this.

------------
OOC: Ok so anyone who is Riley or Atlas crew and ISN'T a pilot could post here. Just FYI Need others to interact with!

[faye]

Faye's face was stoic. Her hands were dry. Her breathing was even. Every semblance of insecurity had been carefully covered or fixed. Nico Stone was behind her, on the side that Hannigan wasn't. Behind him was Stoot. Faye walked ahead. They couldn't afford to falter now.

Patience wasn't just a shrewd businesswoman -- she was downright ruthless. Faye and some of the other experienced captains she knew had heard the horror stories; crews gave up the locations of their goods, and not three hours later, they'd be lying in that same spot, being buried in the very holes they'd dug. Faye's heart was doing a sort of dance in her chest. It was hot, but she didn't mind. She had too many things to worry about.

"So, whaddya think?"

Hannigan's voice permeated her thoughts like water through sediment; it took Faye a few moments to answer. She blinked, and looked at him. Then she turned her gaze back out to the desert in front of them.

"Patience is brutal, to be sure," she said, thinking aloud, "but she's also a decent businesswoman. I've heard of crews treated right nice by her, and others..." Her voice trailed off, then picked up again. "We negotiated a fair price. We should be all right. But we need to get this cargo off and buried, before she gets here."

[radegrasan]

Rade walked off the cargoramp with an old aluminum round box, that used to be filled with shoe polish. On the small box he had written 'Whitefall' with a black marker. He knew he had to stay behind on the ship for this one, but he wasn't going to return to the cockpit before collecting a bottom sample from Whitefall.

Rade looked around. So this was Whitefall. It was a pretty name for a whole bunch of nothing. Rade opened the small box and bend to his knees. He filled it to the brim with earth, and then closed it again. It was the first box of earth he collected. Now there were dozens more to go. He had no idea whether or not he would be able to see every planet in the galaxy, but he was determined to keep collecting earth from every place he went.

He then stood up and made his way back to the cockpit, hoping the wait wouldn't be too long and things wouldn't get too boring in the meantime.

[hackanut]

"Ain't that the truth," Ryan agreed with Faye's sentiments on Patience. She was right; they needed to get this cargo hauled off. Which seemed a perfect job for the crews; the captains would wait just in case the old woman decided to show up a little early.

"Stoot, Ari," Ryan nodded at each one as he called their names. "I need y'all to go with Faye's crew and get this luh suh buried. If th'party gets here 'fore you do, I'll raise th'signal." He held up his gun for them to see, letting them know that "the signal" would be the sounds of gunshots. "Y'hear the signal, ya come runnin'."

He turned back to Faye, stowing his gun back onto his hip. "Hopefully Patience is patient 'nough t'wait."