Several of the goons rubbed bruises and scrapes. They sure looked like the same men who had gotten their butts kicked on the video, but it was difficult to tell from the grainy, jumpy footage.

Badger frowned as he replied, "So, Captain... Mister... Li is it?... is one of yours? Well this... 'catalyser' has complicated matters quite a bit. My men were to take stock of the Jade Pearl, to see what kind of shape the old girl is in, but we are that much farther behind..."

Badger paused to send a text wave before continuing, "As you may know, the Jade Pearl is an integral part of the job requirements. Your... employer... who has empowered me to recruit you... will return the ownership of the Pearl to Captain Braylock at the end of the job as part of the compensation for completing a series of missions. As I understand it these are three delivery missions... details of which are unknown to me."

"Your first task will be to get the Jade Pearl running again. Since my men were unable to complete an inspection of the ship, that is more for you to do. Any questions before we get down to brass tacks?"

Before any questions were asked, there was a knock at the door.

"Ah... ladies an gentlemen, I believe your new pilot has arrived..."

Fae appears appears at the bottom of the steps, escorted by a guard. The guard seems to be attempting to juggle the task of keeping his weapon ready, and keeping a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Exactly why the guard has his hand on Fae's shoulder becomes quickly obvious, as she manages to sway slightly even with the steadying hand, though does keep her footing on the stairs. Far from the picture of professionalism.

"I heeard ya gots ah job for meh, Baddga?" she slurs as she takes an unsteady step forward.

As she remains near the entrance to the room, she manages to do a good job of making standing look difficult, the guard looking to Badger for a sign as to if he should keep supporting her or not.

Fae looks around at the others gathered. She quickly dismisses the guards and focuses on the ones that look like potential crew as best she can. Her eyes have a slight glaze to them, but look sharp underneath it all the same.

Badger stared at the seemingly drunken pilot with disdain. "Ms. Rokurou, did anyone ever tell you it's not a great idea to show up for a job interview while you're drunk? It might be taken as a lack for respect by your potential employer..."

Badger turned from the young woman to address all of his assembled gueests, "...anyhow, back to business. Are there any questions before we dicuss monetary compensation?"

Fae glares at Badger, or more accurately, at a space just over his shoulder, but doesn't make any comment, instead taking a few more steps into the room, away from the support of the guard's hand.

She manages to stay upright, perhaps only being tipsy as opposed to outright drunk.

Bruce, politely and awkwardly, offers her an arm of for support, and a with a raised eyebrow at Badger, takes a sip from his grit stained flask, before offering it to the new arrival.

Not getting a chance to answer the previous questions before the interruption, Jacob glares as he learns this is the pilot. As if I'm not already skeptical of Badger supplying a pilot, but a lush? He first instinct was to tell Badger to take his pilot and shove her back into the bottle he found her in. Having slightly more diplomatic tact than that, he resisted the urge.

Turning back to Badger, "There seems to be a few issues caused by your making assumptions on my behalf." He places his hands on his hips, "If you had contacted me about your.... plans regarding my ship, accommodations could have been made." He turns his head to the pilot. "and why would I let a lush crash my ship after finally getting it back?" before Badger can reply, he turns back to the hood turned employer. "Scratch that. She can serve as fodder and draw fire, cause she ain't flying the Pearl."

Fae gladly takes Bruce's arm, managing to become significantly steadier with the extra aid. She eyes the flask for a moment before shaking her head and replying in a carrying whisper "Baddga's alredy mad at mee 'cause he callsed me so late... cahn't have ah few sipsh befor noon any more."

Fae closes her eyes and smiles slightly as she rests her head lightly against Bruce's arm. "Pearl? Wha modal ish she?" Opening her eyes she looks at Jacob, managing to get the position of his eyes right to look into them. "'course may ash whell have Baddga 'hind the wheeel, 'cause Pearl don't look like shee's goin' anywhare for a bhit."

Without waiting for a response from Jacob she grins up at Bruce "Your big." she comments on the obvious.

"Mister Braylock, I do not really care who flies your ship. I know the girl is quite a gifted pilot, but she needs to learn some common sense. Time is of the essence and confidentiality is required. Unless your man shows up, she's all you got for now. You're the captain... it's your job to make sure she stays sober." Badger said, clearly annoyed at Fae, but not letting on too much in his words.

"As for who's ship it is, I believe the Persephone Port Authority currently owns the craft known as the Jade Pearl... I'm here to help you change that fact, not listen to you dispute it. Spare me your belly aching."

Badger set his jaw, and began to grind his teeth. He was nearly ready to blow his stack, but he still kept a icey calm about himself.

"Now are there any more questions or can we get down to talking personnel overview and salary?"

"I am" Bruce agrees, looking down at Fae and grinning broadly. "And I'll get the ship ready for you to fly as fast as you get ready to fly her."

Jacob reaches up and pops his neck. He realizes he'd come on too strong, too early. A deep breath and he nods to Badger, "As long as we're clear." He then smiles looking around at his crew and extended team then back to Badger, "and we're here to help you profit from the situation. Let's get down to it."

JJ simply stands in the corner and grins like a maniac for the entire converstion. He has eyes only for the lovely woman who had not completely introduced herself. Pretty, pretty girl. My joo how rin seems to be going up. Nice! His eyes slide over the figure of the so called pilot. Hmmmm, not bad if she wasn't five sheets to the wind. I wonder ........ The men were nothing to write mother about, but there were a few possibilities. Which made going back and forth between sides a wonderfully fun experience.

Tatjana has been standing near the wall, watching the scene unfold before her, politely waiting for an opportunity to speak up.
She has chosen to dress into her more casual clothes, which make her fit in better, mostly out of practical considerations.

"I have a question." she finally says in heavily russian-accented english, when Badger asks for it.

"You said I should come back at noon and I suppose it is because you want to offer me some kind of job. Is that so?"

Badger turned to Tatjana, "Ah, yes... you are correct, Miss Ivanova. I am told by our benefactor that some parts of the missions we are talking about will require a skill set such as yours to complete. Suffice it to say that you will be told more by that party in the future."

Tatjana nods towards Badger indicating compliance.

Hicks listened closely to the exchange - his eyes regularly darting around the room. Exit strategies - sizing up the ruffians - looking at Badger for any tell-tale signs of a double-cross - the usual. He hooked his thumbs through the front belt-loops of his fatigues, trying to appear as relaxed and casual as possible, though he was anything but.

When the vid came on the screen, at first Hicks tensed-up a bit, his concern for Li taking a bit of a hold on him. But as he watched the 'battle' unfold, he could barely supress a smile as he recognized one or two of the moves the ship's cook had used on Badger's boys, as he, himself, had been on the receiving end of them many times in the cargo bay of the Jade Pearl during their occasional sparring sessions.

~Yep... that's Li, alright.~ Hicks thought to himself, shaking his head slightly with a slight smurk, hoping that Badger's boys wouldn't take offense.

Hicks listened to the Captain and Badger banter back and forth. Both were men of position and standing - leaders - wanting to make sure they both knew where each other were coming from. Hicks knew when to remain quiet, but attentive, while the Captain was 'working'. This was one of those times.

Hicks was also susprised to see that the pretty-looking official lady had joined them for this meeting. He was extremely curious what her story was, and figured that the whole crew would find out sooner rather than later.

Another woman he didn't recognize, dressed in casual clothing standing back against the wall, finally spoke up with a thick accent he couldn't immediately place. Badger mentioned something about her particular 'skill set'.... interesting.

A man who did not appear to be one of Badger's ruffians stood in one of the room's corners, a big cheshire cat's grin on his face. He looked pleased about something, as if enjoying an unspoken joke that only he heard. Hicks noticed him obviously looking the various women up and down several times. ~Not likely one of Badger's men... so who the hell was he?~ he thought to himself.

Yet another woman was led into the room, a drunk from the looks of it, and at first Hicks feared that Badger meant to make some sort of 'example' out of her. Much to everyone's surprise (and to the horror of some), this drunkard was meant to be the Jade Pearl's new pilot. Bruce thankfully moved to help her, as Hicks was sure the woman would have collapsed to the floor if not for his assistance.

~Yep - this just keeps getting better,~ he thought.

Having not received an answer to her question, Fae seems to have become distinctly uninterested in the others or the conversation in general, instead closing her eyes again as she rubs her head lightly against Bruce's arm

"I'll hold yah twho 'dat, and no fare givin' meh mor tah buy yosef estra thyme.... whell... nhot tooo mush moh." she finishes with a soft giggle.

Despite a near lack of swaying, her far from lucid actions make one wonder just how many drinks she -has- had before noon, and how she managed to make it all the way from wherever she was to Badger's place. Her clothing shows no signs to indicate having fallen down, at least to those paying enough attention to a lush.

'Rung Tse Song Di Ching Dai Wuo Tzo, Merciful God please take me away.'
The doctor was exhausted, her normally acute mind was dulled and she felt about as unsteady as the drunkard swaying and slurring in front of everyone. 'How embarrassing for her, doesn't she realize it?' She thought to herself she had never seen such a roughneck and doubtful crew before and she had signed away her life for the purpose of what?

To stay alive.

Alive, what was so great about that?

No practice any more
Making beautiful people even more shallow

No family any more
That one wasn't so bad

No silk suits and hot baths
Alright that one hurt

She stood there stiff, straight, trying not to let out any sign of weakness and not saying anything where she clearly did not have the skills. This guy wanted a doctor she needed anonymity, maybe she'd figure out the alive part along the way assuming she could keep herself on the good side of this mob of ruffians.

Isn't this what you always wanted? To help 'real' people? Her own inner voice chided as she half-listened to the verbal sparring and negotiation going on.

Badger addresses the group, "All right then. The terms of the first part of this job are these: 7,000 credits for the repair for the repair for the Jade Pearl and any unspent credits are yours as salary for the first delivery. Tthe terms for the secodn and third deliveries will be negotiated with you by your employer. IS this acceptable?"

Fae mummers "7k fer repars? Ya shure ya gonna bee abble ta git 'er flyin' 'gin any thyme shoon? Or wee jhust gonna geht ah bihg payoff?". Though she doesn't move her head or open her eyes, it seems obvious she is directing her question at the large man who's arm she is still hanging from, Bruce.

Bruce leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Of course, the whisper was more of a low rumble, but still incomprehensible for those who are not exceptionally keen eared or Fae.

Then he straightened, and spoke in a normal tone. "'Course, the Capt'n don't like it none when I get that creative." Bruce casts a bit of a dirty look at the captain.

"Well, it looks like I am supposed to help you recover and repair your ship and then make some deliveries, so I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself," the red-headed woman said to break the silence. "I'm Tatjana Ivanova." After a short break she continues. "I already met your friend Li... on good terms..." Her eyes wander towards the beat-up goons. "Even though I didn't know anything about your acquaintance until now. He seems a good man and true to his word."

Captain Braylock straightens and turns to the proper young woman. He extends his hand gently to her, "Captain Jacob Braylock. Pleased to meet you.... and what would your specialty be?"

"Unarmed combat. Multiple styles." Tatjana then nods a greeting towards the captain. "Captain."

Now that she says that, her stance and her moves certainly give the impression, that she knows how to handle herself. Her looks might be a bit deceptive at first glance. Tatjana radiates confidence. This was not the damsel in distress; but rather a tough woman, independent.

"As to how that might be useful in repairing a ship... others here seem to know more about that."

JJ raises a well cultured eyebrow and takes two steps back from the declared multiple unarmed combat stylist. Curiously he also becomes deeply absorbed in the floor.

Well mi tian gohn. Maybe not the best idea to eye her up like that then.

He glances briefly at Badger to see whether or not the odd man was going to keep his end of the bargin.

Hicks watches and listens to the exchange between the Captain and the lady who called herself Tatjana. He notes very clearly her movements and body-language, and right away gets the impression that she can back up what she said. If she looks in his direction, he merely nods at her, respectfully.

Following the Captain's example, Hicks turns to face the oriental lady in the glasses and silk suit, the one he had seen in the restaraunt earlier.

He slowly approaches her, and offers his hand.

"I'm Hicks, I work security aboard the Pearl. Are you part of our first delivery, perhaps?"

Extending hands for a handshake, that's very frontier...

The Doctor bows formally back to the man self-introduced as Hicks.

"Greetings Mr. Hicks, you may address me as Doctor Tsan. I have been contracted by Mr. Badger to offer my medical services to this crew in exchange for passage and some money as warranted. I have neither met him, nor anyone else here and so you must forgive the disadvantagous lack of information from me. I only arrived on the planet this morning."

She pauses and gives him a few seconds to respond, then continues as he absorbs the information.

"Which reminds me, I have some extremely valuable supplies at the docks that will need to be transferred to a safe holding area immediately. These will supply the ship's medical needs for quite awhile as well as anything we might need on this trip. Perhaps you can arrange for this?"

Her manner is polite but brusque, on a closer look she seems exhausted but wears it well. Certainly the most poised of the group it is difficult to determine age but not difficult to tell her accent and manners as pure Core world, you would guess Sihnon or Ariel.

Hicks withdraws his offered hand, and instead bows clumsily in return.

"Hear that, Captain? We've got ourselves a full-fledged bona-fide doctor, now."

Hicks smiles warmly at Dr. Tsan. "Sure, we'll do what we can to get your supplies to the ship, ASAP."

He decides against pointing out her fatigue - no sense in risking embarassing the lady the first few minutes she's meeting the crew - and apparently being added to it.

Braylock raises his left eyebrow while shaking the woman's hand at her professing of being a martial artist. Resisting a wince from the movement of his own wounded eye he replies, "I'm thinking we can find a use for those skills."

He turns to Hicks and their new doctor, "and something tells me we can find a use for those skills as well."

Most introductions appearing complete, he turns back to Badger. The pay seems short, but this weasel has me over a barrel.. He's arranged transfer of title, so it looks like I'm climbin' in bed with the devil...

He reaches up, rubs his chin and turns back to the crew and extra folks. The rubbing of his chin was one of his 'tells' that several of his long term crew already knew. It meant that it was time to be serious for a moment. It meant hard conversation was coming. "Not gonna lie to ya, the pay is gonna be mighty slim on this first job." He looked around, making eye contact with those assembled. "The Pearl, she's needing quite a bit to get her back in the back. For those of you that know me, you know I'm a fair man. The second and third jobs will be considerably more lucrative to your wallets than the first, but we gotta get through the first."

He took a deep breath before finishing turning now to look at Badger, "So I'm in and take all who'll fly under those terms." As an after thought he looks to the lush, "We'll even take her.... not quite sure what we'll do with 'er though." His last statement had more of a ring of sincerity than a crude malicious overtone. Captain Braylock was nothing if not a conscientious leader. It was a quality that drew people to him, even if it also tended to draw more than a few problems.

In a carrying whisper, Fae replies to Bruce "Yeeah, 'e dohn't lick mush dosh 'e? 'cept 'dat stichk oh 'is." She tries to give Bruce a knowing wink, but it turns into a drunken blink before she settles on closing her eyes for the introductions. As each person makes their introducations, she barely opens her eyes again, however anyone who actually bothers to pay attention to the lush may notice that her eyes open a bit more to take in the doctor. After giving her a good look though her eyes slide shut again, content to simply listen and not waste energy on seeing things.

Fae opens her eyes to watch Braylock as he gives his little speech and makes his little snide remark. Somewhere in the layers of drunkenness are a few layers of anger mixed in with one or two of contempt "Yah'll puht 'er 'hind tha wheel oh anhyting dhat flies, ahnd hang ontaya drahwers 'cause..." she seems lost in what the heck she was saying. She stops a moment to puzzle it back out, fails, and finishes with a rather lame "I flys ghud."

Fae grins, closes her eyes and rests her head against Bruce's arm once again, adjusting her head just enough to make known she is talking to him "Ishn't 'dat ight?" she asks in a confident voice, as though he knew, or had even met her before a few minutes ago.

"Chen meru mono"

In reply to the captain, Tatjana says: "Great, I'm looking forward to doing something productive. I guess we'll just start with that first job, see how it goes and continue from there..."

Braylock nods to the martial art. That is the best I can hope for from each of them.

JJ detaches himself from the wall and steps forward.

"Personally I would be happy to lend my impressive list of talents to this motley crew of absolutely lovely people."

It's clear from his vowels and bizarre choice of words leads most folks to deduce his birthplace as one of the Core worlds.

"You may address me as JJ. He bows gracefully and tips his bizarre hat.

Hicks turns his attention to JJ when he speaks. He appraises the lavishly dressed man with a piercing gaze and reflects that looks are often deceptive.

After a few moments, Hicks takes a few steps towards JJ and extends a hand. "Hicks, security."

"Could you give us an idea of what some of these impressive talents of yours are?"

JJ returns Hicks vice like handshake less than effectively. Hicks spots the slight wince in the odd mans eyes.

Mother of God! He's strong!

"I am an expert in the art and ability of persuasion. I am a fully competent swordsman and have a deep knowledge of custom and culture"

Letgo,letgo,letgo!

After the introductions, Badger looked over the crew he'd assembled. He scanned each in turn, looking for further questions.

"Very well then. If the terms are acceptable, I have a transport en route to take you to the Impound Yards. Captain Braylock... you'll need this authorization..."

Badger handed over a small data chit to Braylock.

"... to secure the Pearl's release. There is also a one week berthing authorization for the Eavesdown Docks. Should you require additional... down time... you are on your own"

The there was a knock at the door, and the guards indicated that it was the driver of the transport had arrived.

"Gentlemen... and ladies... your carriage awaits."

Captain Braylock takes the data chip with a nod. As he turns, he is struck by the fact that he is once again dealing with some of the darker elements. Granted, Badger is far from the darkest, but his reputation is sullied at best.

Watching the entourage head for the door he continues to be lost in his thoughts. What an assortment he has assembled. Martial artist and doctor; he is expectin' lots o' trouble. "Let's go people. I'm mighty anxious to be back in those hallowed halls."

"Good bye, Mr. Badger." Tatjana says, as she leaves the room with the others. Let's see what mess you brought me in now...

"Come'on, Miss Fae. I'll give ya a tour of the ship" Bruce says to pilot as he helps her follow the others out of the meeting.

Fae sways slightly as Bruce begins leading her out of the room. She gives a slight giggle "Alrite. Shlow me Pearly... and maybly a bhit moah." she finishes stroking his arm before having to stop suddenly as she nearly trips, grabbing tighter onto his arm to steady herself.

JJ tips his hat to Badger and follows the rest of the crew out the door.

The Impound Yard, Eavesdown Docks, Persephone - October 1, 2519 - 12:50 PM

The transport took a fairly direct route to the impound yard, and the trip lasted roughly 20 minutes. The driver stops just short of the gate, and says, "Everybody out. This is your stop."

After the last of the crew disembarks from the transport, the driver speeds away, as if he is late for another pickup. He nearly takes the corner too short, and the airflow does blow over some garbage cans that had been sitting there.

The impound yard office was closed for lunch until 1:00 PM. Naturally about 1:05 PM, three official-looking types exited the greasy spoon across the street and headed towards the office. The one in charge pulls an old fashioned key from his pocket and opens the door. The last one to enter turns the "Closed" sign to "Open".

"Captain, I guess that's your part..." Tatjana says, wondering in the meantime whether the driver rushed off so fast because he did not want to be late to another pick-up site, or whether he wanted to be away as fast as possible from this one.

The Impound Yard, Eavesdown Docks, Persephone - October 1, 2519 - 1:05 PM

Captain Braylock is quiet during the drive to the docks, the anticipation building. As the group departs the delivery vehicle, he consciously restrains himself and his feelings of giddiness. His elation is partially deflated by the Closed sign and the fifteen minutes between the sign's transformation leave him little to do with his nervous energy but pace.

As the officials approach, Braylock stops his pacing and stands watching the three men. After the signs flips, his legs are put into motion, clearing the distance to the yard office with a little more expedience than he intended to display. "Excuse me. I'm Captain Braylock and I'm here to collect my ship. How do I start that process?" He holds out his hand with the chit, "I have my authorization here."

Fae falls asleep almost immediately upon entering the transport, using Bruce's shoulder as a pillow. She wakes as transport comes to a stop and everyone gets out. She takes a moment to stretch, arms raising to the sky, shirt lifting to show off her midriff. She seems to have stopped swaying nearly so much, and looks around at the group with bleary eyes.

Fae's eyes rest on JJ for several moments, taking in his odd style of dress "Ok, the resh of you don't look sho bad, but who the di yu is the pimp?" Having asked that rather pertinent question she looks around at everyone else in what is as close as she can get to a thoughtful way. "Wasn't there something about a ship?" she asks, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings.

"Are you reffering perchance, to me, madam?" JJ raises an eyebrow at the particular epithet that had been tossed his way.

"That is not my profession. Nor has it ever been but if you care to make a start at it.... I'm .... open to suggestions." He flashes a gigawatt smile, and leers impressively.

"And Captain Braylock is presently arranging to reclaim our transport. Perhaps we should be very quiet little mice."

The man who seemed to be in charge looked up at Braylock and took the authorization chit from his hand. He inspected it almost as if he could read the data it contained. The name tag on the man's coveralls seemed to indicate that his name was "Connor". He put the data storage device down on the desk, as he bent over to turn on the terminal.

"Just take a moment to fire up the system. Which ship did you say this was for?"

"The Jade Pearl," Hicks responded for the Captain, his voice only slightly anxious.

He folded his arms and wondered, like the Captain, just how long it would take before they were back in familiar and comfortable surroundings.

Captain Braylock could already feel his temperature start to rise, What ship is it for? He wasn't sure what it was about paper pushers that caused his boil to bubble so quickly, but they did. He was glad his anxious crewmen spoke up and he remained still and quiet, keeping his disdain internalized.

"You're goin' to be our pilot, Miss Fae," Bruce says, as he pulled out a dirty rag, looks at it, and stuffs it in his pocket again. "You might want to ask the -er- pimp for a kerchief. It looks like some of the engine muck on my arm got on your face." Bruce looks to be nearing seven feet tall, and is both very well muscled and very dirty. Not in a 'never wash' kind of way, but rather in a 'I spend most of my time wresting with machine bits' kind of way. His hands are large, but judging from the ease and 'delicacy' with which he fished out out the rag, he is not clumsy. Bruce face sports a bit of stubble, a prominent lower jaw, an impressive mustache, and a lot of ugly. He is wearing an open vest with many full pockets, and a formally white sleeveless shirt underneath. It does not appear to have originally been sleeveless, though. He wears loose military pants. Old Independent cut, it appears.

The Doctor takes the opportunity to lean against the wall after checking it for anything that could marr her suit. She stays quiet and out of the way, too tired to use her glasses. I really hope we can get this moving so my supplies are picked up before I see them on the black market.