Winning is for losers... }{ Contest Plot (Sid,...

[Friedrich Hoffman]

Soon all their opponents were either lifeless on the ground or badly beaten and under guard, Friedrich being the primary guard. He kept his rifle trained on the surviving men from the main group of opponents. It was lucky that they didn't know how desperate their ammunition situation was. Or maybe they had deduced it when three men armed with guns attacked with spears and fists but now they were just so thoroughly beat they wouldn't try and resist.

After he had recovered himself, the man they'd rescued spoke to Sidney. It was certainly welcome that the feeling of recognition and friendship went in both directions and they hadn't just charged into battle for nothing. "Deadwood." Friedrich quickly replied to the comment about the planet above them, repeating the conclusion of his earlier astronomical talk with Sidney. "Friedrich Hoffman." he added, pointing to himself with his left hand while still balancing the rifle at their prisoners in his right.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

By the time Sidney had helped Onas to his feet the battle was over. Hoffman had the watchful eye over the now defeted opponents and Jordan had assisted Clairabella with the remander of the targets. It was a quick battle and left them with little hope of standing to the newly formed alliance of people. "Not sure how we got here but it is good to see another pair of friendly faces.

Sidney wished he could offer more as to how they got here but he had trouble recalling anything leading up to this. "I wish i had more to tell you but I have no clue how we ended up here. As Hoffman said we believe the planet is Deadwood." That was of little help though until they could figure out a way to get the downed ship back up and running. If they could do that they had more then eough people to get that ship up and running.

Sidney wasn't much of a pilot but he could fly if needed. Hoffman and Onas would be able to do what they could to get it space worthy, or at least so he hoped. As far as Cliar and Jordan, we they would be good help in keeping them alive. From what Sidney had seen Jordan was no first time fighter. "We have a ship we can use to try and get off planet but we are going to need your help. It has been crashed down sense the war and we need to find a power source to get it up and running."

[Clairabella Corinth]

Clairabella was glad to have the assistance from the unknown man. She hadn't realized it was Sidney running with the man that had come to her rescue, but she would see that soon enough. The man that now had her attacked pinned down and ready for her asked her if she wanted to finish him off, but she had no reason to kill the man even if he had tried to do the same to her.

"We don't need to kill him, at least not me." She said as she looked the scene over for Onas and how he was doing. It seemed that three people had come out of the wood line and assisted them. Then she saw him, Sidney was helping Onas up.

"Sidney! It's good to see you, glad you weren't going for a second round with Onas." She said with a bit of a laugh.

she went over to the new, hopeful team mate and the prisoner an grabbed the prisoner other arm and brought him back to his feet. "Shall we take him over to the others and figure out what to do with him?"

The man had little to say at this point, his focus was now on holding back the pain he was feeling for the attack. It was satisfying to know hewas in ain after he had tried to kill her, and she applied a bit of extra pressure in his arm as she twisted it around in to an armbar. Then they walked over to Onas and the rest to join in the conversation. She over heard Sidney talking about the ship and the possibility of getting off of this moon. "We should get right to it and get out of here then." She said as they apprched the group.

[Ezekiel Leviticus]

Ezekiel was ok with the girl not wanting to kill them man. When she asked if he wanted to help her assist him over to the rest of the party he just helped her pick him up. he took his bad arm and rest the bone. It would hurt like the dickins but if he didn't reset it, it would just be cruel and unusual punishment. Although Ezekiel wasn't opposed to that either he needed to show a softer side if he wanted his new allies to trust him.

As they passed the man he had dropped his bowie knife into he gave it a quick tug and pulled it from the dead mans chest. He wiped the blade and but it back in its sheath.

When they got to the group he extended his and towards Onas and then ClairabellIm Jordan.
O.O.C. If you dont shake its no big deal but i am going to continue as if you did. Because he wont be offended either way

After the greatings he said Well if these Hooligans could track us then there are definently people out there who could find our tracks.I'll leave you four to figure out what do to with the prisoners, and i will meet you at the barn in about six hours. I am going to go out and see what i can do about covering them so we dont have anymore runnins like this one. Which way did you two come in from he said the last sentence Looking at Onas and Clairabell.

[Onas Knox]

Onas listened to what information Hoffman and Sidney gave, but it wasn't as much as he'd hoped for. But then, his lucky streak couldn't last forever could it? He found Claira alive, survived a waterfall, avaded attacks, found a field of food he couldn't hope to eat all of, and then was literaly snatched from the claws of death by a man who he'd only met once. So far, life was rooting for him.

"Deadwood... I don't reconise it, it does sound quiet though," he mulled with the two of them. Sidney went on with more, the streak, had only just begun. There was a ship, crashed, but hopefully something they could fix. Maybe they'd live to tell this tale after all. He also met Jordan, who was the man that helped Claira, Onas felt compelled to shake his hand. It was like Jordan had saved his own flesh and blood. That would not soon be forgotten.

"I have to agree with Claira, if we can get it running, then there's really no reason to wait at all. Can you give me any details on the damage from the crash? Fuel levels, coolant levels, oil line condition, structural hard points, thruster links, pilot's suite, navigation, emergency power cells..." as he said this, he rolled his hand to each item he named. When he finished though, it wasn't because he was done, he just trailed off as he looked at Claira and Jordan's prisoner. "That's the kid. He tried to take my gear when we got herded out of the compound. These are the same six who chased us to the falls?" Onas thought for a moment, then added, "Has anyone questioned him yet," looking around with curious eyes to each of the group as he walked to the man.

The guy was a very out of it, dazed, glossy eyes, broken arm... the works. Onas lifted his hand only a bit, and tapped the tips of his fingers, asking him, "Can you feel this?" He pulled each eye open from the bottom, and checked the man's pupil dialation. Then he popped him lightly on the cheek, "Hey buddy, can you hear me, come on, yeah. Can you hear me? Here, follow my finger." Here Onas held up a single finger in front of the man's face, and tracked it back and forth, the man followed it. He was coherent, just out of it. Jordan and Bella really did a number on him, Onas held up three fingers in front of the guy and finished. "Now, how many stars do you see?"

The guy started to say 'three,' but instead asked, "Wha?" Onas' face contorted into anger. Every bad thing that had happened to him leading up to his abduction filled his mind. He balled up his fist, grabbed the man by his collar and hit him as hard as he could in the middle of his face. Again, and again, and again. And again. All of his frustration and anger poured out on someone who finally deserved it.

As he beat the crippled would-be-rapist, he raged out loud in a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese. The Chinese, if you had a sharp ear, could have been translated as something about cooking intestines, or tasting one's own burnt colin. The Portuguese was much clearer. If you don't speak it, then all that I feel moraly clean about translating is this; It had a great deal to do with not stealing from those who had less than you, and what embalming fluid does to a living man's...


Never mind.




(((OOC: Onas is just going to keep hitting this guy till he kills him. If anyone feels so inclinded to stop him, go right ahead.)))

[Ezekiel Leviticus]

When Onas grabbed the man by the collar and started beating him Ezekiel didn't know what to do they seemed to all be way more level headed then he was used to.

Ezekiel decided that he wasn't going to put a stop to it if they wanted to question the other prisoners that was fine but the man had some frustrations to work out and better this man then him. Also if he beat him to death the others would probably be more likely to talk. Ezekiel knew many tactics for questioning prisoners and in his early days when he didn't have much of a consciences his favorite tactic was to line up a mans family and start killing them youngest to oldest. When he looks back on how he was and what he did for such vial creatures as the Alliance he is disgusted.

As he let go of the man he saidWell you guys look busy so i am going to go ahead and clean up the more noticeable tracks and try and get back here to help formulate some sort of a plan. he said with a half smirk on his face as Onas was delivering his punishment on the man.

then he wondered into the woods from the direction they had came in on.

[Friedrich Hoffman]

Friedrich didn't respond to the comment about it being Deadwood or not. If the man was really skeptical then they could explain but it was't an important topic at the moment. The status of the ship is what mattered and apparently this man knew a thing or two about ships.

"Fair con-di-ti-on fur somesing so old." Friedrich answered. "Alles in Ordnung. Engines und Strahlruder..." He contorted his face and tried to pronounce the English word. "Srusters look O.K. but I didn't do a full diagnostic. A little buried unterground, ja?" he gave a faint smile. "Ze hull suffered minor damage in places, Life Support ist operating at sixty per-tscent, emergency power is functioning aber mit dvindling battery supply. Vhat little fuel zey had vas leaked or has mostly gone bad but coolant, hydraulics, und so weiter are at acceptable levels. Ze ignition system is also kaputt."

"Piloting systems are verking but not all ze support systems are reporting properly to ze cockpit, avionics problems oder so. Com-mun-i-kat-i-on is offline but I sink zat is also avionics issue to ze cockpit, not problem fur ze array." Friedrich concluded his report. They had a lot of work ahead of them and that didn't include covering their tracks, interrogating people that had no information to give, or simply making their deaths prolonged and painful as the "Diebe" wanted.


[After some thought, I decided to go FULL German spelling for this one. Here is a complete translation for what was said. You loose the English-German mix but it conveys what he meant to say. The above full version includes german words, mispronunciations, german pronunciations spelled out phonetically for words that would otherwise appear English, etc.

"Fair condition for something so old. Everything is in order. Engines and thrusters look O.K. but I didn't do a full diagnostic. A little buried underground, yeah? The hull suffered minor damage in places, Life Support is operating at sixty percent, emergency power is functioning but with dwindling battery supply. What little fuel they had was leaked or has mostly gone bad but coolant, hydraulics, et cetera are at acceptable levels. The ignitions system also is broken. Piloting systems are working but not all support systems are reporting properly to the cockpit, avionics problems or something. Communication is offline but I think that is also an avionics issue with the cockpit, not a problem with the array."


For those who actually read through the original and got all the phonetic parts but no the full German words:
Alles in Ordnung - literally "everything is in order" but it also means everything is straight, everything works, everything is in it's place.
Strahlruder - a thruster as in a jet engine.
Ja - Yes
Ist - is
Aber - but
Mit - with
Und so weiter - and so forth, et cetera
Kaputt - broken
Oder so - literally "or so" but meant as "or something"
Diebe - Thieves. Friedrich's word for Claudio "Il Diablo." It's the closest word to what he thought he heard. It also seems to apply to a man who stole them all away from their lives.]

[Clairabella Corinth]

Clairabella watched on as everyone discussed what was going on, and what they were planning. Shorly though her attention fell on Onas and what e was doing. If he kept going he would end up killing this man. Though the man had attacked them and made threats that should never be made she couldn't stand there and watch it happen and do nothing. Killing wasn't in her nature if it wasn't needed and that wasn't the way Ona was either. This situation was straining him and she had to help him.

She leaned forward and grabbed Onas' arm to stop him. "Thats enough Onas, we're better them them." She told him as she looked him in the eyes. "Please." Once Onas was stopped from his assault she pulled him back from the man so he wouldn't feel the urge to start again.

"Lets focus on what is at hand now. Everyone had a map fragment when they left the start of this. Let me see them and I will peace it together." She said as she pulled their two fragments from Onas' bag.She waitedtill the others turned theirs over and set them on the ground and signaled to them all to gather around.

The man that Onas had been hitting now rested on the ground completely blacked out from the beating he had recieved. He would no longer need someone to guard him. Clair began to arange the map peices to get them in to one big map. there were a few missing ares but they could get a good idea of what there was to be seen.

"Now here is the starting point, and here is where we are now. This was the water fall Onas, like i showedyou earlier. Sidney can you point out where the ship was. It also looks like there is a town not to far of from here maybe seven miles from where we are now. that would be a good spot to look for supplies. Fredrich could you tell us what supplies we need?" Se carried on trying to get everyone to help figure out the plan. if all went well they could figure out all of what they needed and have this whole thing in order shortly.

"If we can get this figured out we can be off this rock in no time."

[Onas Knox]

Life is interesting sometimes. For instance, when a man lives with a personal set of morals, he tends to only focus on what he personally feels is important. Onas for example, was a starship thief. He chose his marks as he'd been taught, steal from those with insurance. Then, they won't come after you. They've been repaid, both for the starship, and for the lost time. He didn't feel bad for them. Maybe once apron a time, but not anymore, he had a code though. Never steal from those with less than you. Only defend yourself, never pick a fight. Never hurt someone who can't fight back. Never take more than you can use.

I'm not saying it's a perfect system, I'm just saying that it's his. Drug dealers will tell you that at least they don't sell weapons, and arms dealers will say "at least it's not drugs." Everyone makes that standard for themselves to make what they do 'OK.' Hurting this man was 'OK' not because Onas had no code, but because the guy had broken it so completely. Hunt them mercilessly for days over nothing. Threaten his friend, leave him to die on his knees. Then have the gall to sit there and look as though someone should pity you? No, Onas didn't think so.

It should be noted that if you ever find yourself in Onas' current situation, you should enjoy it. Not beating someone for no reason, no, this was punishment. So yes, enjoy it. Feeling the cartilage of a man's nose rupture under your knuckles. The bone in his jaw dislodge from his face. His eyebrow open under your rage. The front teeth rattle before they come free. Everything, just enjoy it.

That's how Onas felt once he'd started, in fact, he really hadn't planned to hit him more than a few times, but each swing felt more and more freeing. Each time the punk's head rocked back, he felt something inside him diminish. Like a storm that had been brewing for years was waning. Or a pressure behind his eyes had purged. It just felt good. It was Clairabella who stepped in between them, the reason he'd come over here in the first place. And she wanted him to stop. "That's enough Onas, we're better them them." He shrugged her off at first. Like he'd quit, but the moment she started to let go, Onas felt the irresistible urge to not be better than them. He took another swing. His fist was ready for another, but Claira made him stop with "Please."

Onas dropped his hands, he took a deep breath, and sat on the ground, not far from Bella. She dug in their rucksack, and produced the map shards, he dug in it and produced the cigarettes. He got out some of their last matches, and lit one. Smoke never felt so good, if your not a smoker, than it's rather hard to describe nicotine withdraws. Your back feels constrained, your irritable for no reason, you breath too easily. Your hungry and thirsty. I mean, real nicotine withdraws, like toothaches, the term has been watered down. Anyone who has had a true toothache or migraine can tell you, the real thing will put you on your knees. Real withdraws can be painfully unsettling, and effect your judgment, your character, and your morality.

Onas was far to addicted to cigarettes, just a lung full proved it, if he'd had this a moment ago, would he have ever hit the guy? Or did he just feel better now that all that was out of his system?

The others didn't seem to mind, Hoffman had simply answered his questions, and when he'd taken the first swing, done nothing. Jordan had left the area entirely. Almost felt like he'd given his blessing... Bella was an odd one, she was dirty, yet innocent. She didn't mind breaking the law, she could scrap like any man worth his weight and she was a damn good shot with a firearm, but wouldn't hurt a sole. How does one maintain such a balance? But even Bella showed little remorse for the punk, all left him bleeding and behind. Bella simply got the map shards out, and began to piece together where they were, and what was before them.

Semantics aside, this was a queer little group Onas called on for alignment.

He shook his head. Too many deep thoughts, with too much work that needed to be done. He didn't have the luxury of contemplating such things. Bella was right, they needed to confirm their resources, and figure out exactly what was needed to continue. Onas leaned closer and looked over what she laid out. When she finished, he pointed somewhere east of their location on the broken map and added, "Is this about where the ship is? Hoffman, would you take me there, and let me look things over? Perhaps we can piece some things together. Maybe extend the batteries, or see what's misfiring in the avionics."

(((OOC; It's late, and I worked a double today. If this post isn't as good as my usual, I'm sorry. Hard to get a clean concentration)))

[Ezekiel Leviticus]

((((OOC Im going to let the map thing play out then i will hobbly my broken butt back.))))))

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Once Bella had pulled the map peices and the rest of the people there handed off the ones they had to her she was able to give a full run down of what things looked like. Sidney had no problem following along. Back in the war the 217th was an advanced drop unit so maps were a requirement.

As she finished and onas chimed in on it he pointed out the ships location from here. It wasn't to far but they would need to figure out the supplies as well. Knowing what Onas did for a living though meant that he might be able to put a second mind to things and figure it all out. "Onas maybe your praticular skills could be of help in getting this thing up and running. Maybe we should double back then we can head off to the town and see what we can find there?" He questioned he wanted to figure out what their opinions of it was maybe they would have a plan as well.

Sidney wanted to be quick about it and had through about spliting up but that wasn't the best choice who knows how long Jordan would be to get back and the last thing they needed was them to get cought apart like this earlier. Their numbers was their greatest strenght right now.

[Onas Knox]

Sidney offered the ship location on the broken map, Onas really couldn't tell how far that was suppose to be, but everyone seemed to agree that it wasn't far.

"Onas, maybe your particular skills could be of help in getting this thing up and running. Maybe we should double back, then we can head off to the town and see what we can find there," Sidney asked.

That was an oddly pressed question in light of what Onas actually knew from a mear hand full of days prior. But that was another story. For now, Sidney had a strong point, Onas did have a unique skill set for this type of work. And as neither of them truly needed to gut each other here and now over covertly spilt milk, OJ simply let it pass without incident. He studied what he could make out on the map and agreed with Sidney's basic outline for a plan. Based on Hoffman's prognosis, and the close proximity of the town, they could very well be off the planet soon, as per Bella's ascertation.

Onas took a long drag off the half smoked cigarette, and then offered it to Sidney as he thought out loud, "You think this town would be anything more than some dilapidated buildings? I mean, that's rather out in the open. We found it fairly quick with what we have here. Others will too. It's a good bet that if we go there, we'd run into some... contestants..."

After this, he stood to gather his and Claira's rucksack and pushed his concern further, "I'm not saying that it innit worth checkin out. Rather that we should definitely decide whether or not we need to go there in the first place." Here, he retrieved a potato from the ruck, and tossed it to Hoffman. He set the ruck down and pointed to the general vicinity of the farmhouse he and Bella had shacked up at, looking to her for clarification on location, and added;

"This is a massive field, enough food to get us further out if the wreck is a no-go. Would anyone object to just leaving this whole mess behind if we can't get her up? We could go out further than this map shows..." Onas studied the fragments that didn't match up, and a new thought hit him. He didn't wait for everyone to jump in, instead he changed his mind in a matter of moments. "You all know how to read this la shi, tell me something. These shards here, do these go to a different map? Is it possible that this... ah, game? That this thing we're in stretches further than what our map shows?"

[Onas Knox]

(((OOC; So to get this thread moving along, do ya'll want me to go again, get us on the road, so to speak? Or was someone else planning to post?)))

[Ezekiel Leviticus]

((OOC))

If you would like i could have Ezekiel limp back in now?

[Onas Knox]

(((OOC: yes please, an if you can, get us preped and moving out. even if he and Onas have to leave as an advanced party. I can only assume he remembers how to get to the ship? Will he be able to move with his injuries? If anyone else jumps online, your all free to post of course, I just need to get Onas to the ship to get this plan in motion. Need a hand here...)))