The morning comes, and once you verify that the vehicle is in decent shape to complete the journey you jump in and within an hour, reach your destination.

You all have assumptions of pirates’ dens from bad trid, so even though you know it’s crap there is a bit of a letdown when you reach the hidden cove and don’t see a single well-tanned white boy swinging from any rigging, or any rigging for that matter. Instead, spread around a well concealed inlet are camps of different sizes and qualities, each clustered near about a dozen watercraft of varying shapes and purpose.

There is some work going on, ship maintenance, cargo off-loading, camp life duties, but a great majority of the men and boys in the cove are simply waiting. Your arrival causes a bit of a stir, but not much. When you stop and begin piling out of your truck, one man, who may be a guard, comes toward your spot from the closest camp. He is more curious than challenging, but he is armed with an SMG, and he stops a generous distance away. He calls out something in a language none of you understand, then when you do not reply, tries again in stunted basic French ‘Hello, who are you, what do you want?”

In his mind O'Connor knew that this place wasn't going to be anything like in the trids, but in his heart he still disappointed with just how mundane the place looked. He took in his surroundings, his stance alert but relaxed. He had his rifle slung over his shoulder, and his machine pistol visible on his hip.

After getting the translation from Snow, he stepped forward to take point. Torley may have the silver tongue, but O'Connor knew scum. Torley could use all the pretty words he wanted, but all the pirates would see was that he had a pretty mouth that needed to be shut up. Whether they shoved a gun down his throat or something more phallic was a matter of debate.

Blunt and aggressive was the way to handle this. He roughly shoved the two captive kids in front of him, "Snow, translate. We're here to hire a crew to get us to Lagos. Our pilot was too chicken drek for the job. We also have these two, you known who their captain/owner is?"

As they drove towards the beach, Sammy prepared herself, just in case. First she cast the 'speed up' spell, as she called it, in order to move faster.

Then she summoned a water spirit. She felt she only had the one service, but that should be enough. She told it to wait on the astral just as they drove up to the beach. She looked around in the astral to try and see if there were any magically active and/or wards in the location.

She was a bit annoyed when O'Connor got out and started talking. She'd rather have someone else do the talking, someone who was actually good at it. Well it was too late now, so they would just have to see and be prepared.

When the party was greeted, Sam swore to himself internally. He could recognize that the man was using French, but he hadn't managed to pick up enough of that language yet to take the lead. While he was waiting for Snow to step forward, O'Connor went into his aggressive spiel. Damn it, is he ever going to understand that he's not the face? I don't try to take over his job as muscle, do I? he thought to himself. He hid his reaction, however, trying to look like a bored guard idly scanning the area.

Snow is a bit concerned that Sam is not doing the talking, but Con had moved too quickly and doing anything else now would probably harm their position. She walks up to stand a bit behind and off to the left in a position of subservience and translates the French as well as she can. She keeps her head generally lowered to add to the guise of being under Con's control.

The man keeps his eyes on O’Conner as he listens to the translation, then looks over the boys. He considers things for a moment and then speaks again to O’Conner in his halting French. “They might be Thabo’s, his camp is there-“, pointing to one cluster of boats on the lagoon, “-he might take you to Lagos, or find someone.”

Jane moves over to O’Conner and slips something into his hand, a cheap audio player from the bargain bin of a Stuffer Shack back home. “Pay him and thank him.” she whispers as she moves away, going to settle by Torley. “Those two have good instincts, I am going to need one of you two males to take the lead while we are here unless I say otherwise. The culture here is a very chauvinistic one, most local men won’t even talk to a woman, and expect deference from them. Don’t fight it, lean into it and get the job done.”

Starlet’s scan of the lagoon reveals no obvious awakened metahumans, but there seems to be a warded building somewhere among the shacks across the lagoon. As usual, the jungle lends a glowing backdrop to the dead shapes of buildings and boats.

Snow maintains her position of subservience as she translates for Con, her head lowered so that she can just barely make out who is talking and see their lips move, which helps her in figuring out what people are saying. She adds a bit to the next sentence for Con. "I am going to stumble in my translation to him. React and get angry and hit me. Don't fake it. I can take the hit and it will give you some status here."

She intentionally mistranslates some words back to the French and repeats herself before stopping. She apologizes profusely in both French and English before shutting up and bowing her head to wait for the inevitable.

O'Connor tried to keep his cool, as a wave of complex emotions bubbled to the surface. Unable to remain stoic, he focused on his anger to sell the rouse. He threw Snow against the truck, and pressed a forearm against her throat. He leaned in and whispered, "Don't you dare put me in this position again needlessly." His voice was a mix of anger and regret. He followed up with a gut punch. He let Snow fall and spit on the ground near her. He walked towards the guard. As he neared the man, O'Connor yelled back to Snow, "Get the frag over here and translate! Don't screw it up this time!" He presented the audio player to the guard, "Thanks for the help. What's your name? Our work may bring us back this way, and it's always good to know helpful men."

Composure: 5d6t5 1

Unarmed Combat: 7d6t5 4

Snow is not expecting the toss against the side of the truck, but it is the right move. She hisses back to Con, "I think it IS needed. They will not trust a nice man." The punch to the gut is more expected and she rolls with it, turning it into a glancing blow that still knocks her to the ground. She winces a bit from the blow and stands, quickly shuffling over to stand in her position of subservience and continues translating for her master. She is very careful to get the translations right.


Snow Defends against the gut punch. Defense: 9d6t5 4

Sammy almost took a step forward when O'Connor pushed Snow against the truck, but then she got Jane's words and held back. Especially when she noticed that while O'Connor threw a real punch and not a movie punch, which she was sure he was physically incapable of doing, Snow did roll with it and turned it into a glancing blow.

She waited with Sam and Jane at the truck, hoping they would quickly get out here.
"No awakened as far as I can see," she wispered to Jane, Sam and Clem, "but there is a warded building so there has to be at least one somewhere."

There is a bit more respect in the man's gaze when O'Conner turns back to him, it is even more visible once he receives the gift.

"I am Dayo, we are waiting for our boat to be repaired, so I have time to take you to Thabo. He speaks your tongue."

The man hands off his weapon to a young boy in his camp and shoves a pistol into his pants, then with a wave, starts walking a well worn footpath around the lagoon.

Sam was watching Snow, O'Connor, and the other man's interaction, and although he couldn't hear what she said to Con, he could see his rage and her bracing for...something. The nature of Con's attack seemed to catch her off guard, but by the time Sam could have reacted, she was picking herself up and he could see what her plan had been. Sam was impressed; so far, the only form of persuasion he'd seen Snow use was her femininity...or, rather, her straight-out sex appeal. Through all of this, he did his best to maintain his air of indifference, as if he'd seen Con treating his "interpreter" this way many times before. He didn't like being an "extra" in any scene, but knowing that it was far too late for him to try to step into the spotlight, he instead tried to blend into the background.

O'Connor yelled at the captives, "Get a move one you little dreks!" He turned to Torley, "Get the gear ready, I want to move as soon a possible! We've already lost too much time thanks to that slot Dobiri!" He fell into step with Dayo, "There's a lot of you here. This must be good hunting territory." As he chatted with the pirate, O'Connor scanned the camp and prioritized possible threats if things went south.

Perception (Visual): 7d6t5 3

Snow follows close behind Con as he walks with the other man. Her head is cast so that she cannot really see much around her, but the two tiny spider drones she has in her hair give her a pretty good feed of her surroundings. She is very careful to do as good a job translating as possible, as if afraid of making another mistake. She realizes that she is likely to be superfluous when they get to this Thabo, but she may still pick up some words the natives may speak to each other.

Sammy also followed, keeping an eye out both on the material as on the astral plane. She had had more than enough surprises not to be weary.

Jane also fell in with the group, bringing Torley with them, she exchanged looks with Clem to handle things at the truck.

The path around the lagoon did not take the group through any other camps, but rather past them. Thabo's seemed to be one of the larger areas, it had multiple boats docks at a short pier. Dayo leads you through the place, up to one of the few fully dress people in the camp who is with a group of armed men. A quick conference occurs and Thabo approaches your group, speaking a more educated French, "You need passage to Lagos?"

Snow translates for Con and waits for an answer that she can translate back to Thabo.

O'Connor nodded, "Yep. Also, our new buddy Dayo here said these belong to you." He kicked out the knees of the two captive boys. O'Connor wasn't one to pick on weak prey, but these pirates seemed to be the types to enjoy it.

Sammy stayed a bit behind for now, looking around and checking things out, ready for trouble should it present itself.

The pirate called Thabo doesn't even spare the boys a look, "How many, what cargo, which district? And, most importantly, what currency?" He looks from O'Conner to Snow, Starlet and Jane as he says this last part. Apparently human currency is not out of the question here

O'Connor did not like the implications in the captain's words, but refrained from commenting. He instead answered the question, "Nuyen is our payment method."

Clementines' normally stoic expression transformed into a snarl as O'Connor threw Snow into the truck. Her hand fell effortlessly to the hilt of her blade and had already broke the hold of the scabbard by the time she recovered her composure.

"Gaijin fool" she thought while slowly resheathing her weapon. "That move nearly lost him his arms."

She recovered quickly, and she reverted back to her calm exterior. "No need to over sell it. If any saw, let them read into it what they want to see."

--------------

The relief of being left behind as the group moved on was obvious to Jane when the looks were exchanged and Clementine nodded in response. She began surveying the area to find a good place to stash the truck.

Snow is still translating from the French unless Con signals her to stop. If her partner knows the language, there is no reason to let the pirate know that. She looks up at the pirate when he makes the obvious suggestion to trade one or more of the women for transport and looks with a bit of surprise at Con when he turns down the offer. Snow lowers her head again and shuffles a little closer to Con, as if getting to him for protection.

"Certified cred? That is certainly doable, are you looking round trip or is this a one-way passage?" Thabo asks, his eyes looking over the group of you, taking a headcount.

"There's six of us, with a dufflebag each. The trip will be one way to Lagos." Having an exit planned might be a good idea, but O'Connor didn't trust this Thabo. He held no loyalty to the crew that was captured, hadn't questioned about the rest of his men, and the way he kept eyeing the women put O'Connor on edge. This pirate was their fastest way into the city, but O'Connor didn't want to rely on him a second time.

"I have a small boat making a supply run that direction in a few hours, 1k per head and you will be in Lagos by midnight."

Snow translates for Con and waits for his response so she can give it to the pirate captain. Lagos by midnight sounds pretty good. She does not lift her head to see how the others are taking the news.

Sam continued his dumb guard act, though it was difficult when Snow translated the cost. It wasn't the specific nuyen, of course--just the fact that he doubted Con's ability to handle a negotiation. Maybe Snow would be able to use her "woman in the middle" position to cover the gunman's weakness.

In the meantime, he continued listening to the French. It sounded similar to Spanish, so he found that he was starting to recognize some words, but it would still take a while before he could hold a conversation in it.

Snow has seen this sort of negotiation many times in the past and has frequently been involved as a deal sweetener or a present when the deal is done. She shuffles closer to Con and talks in a low voice. She is not certain that the pirate cannot understand English, so she keeps her words as if from servant to owner. "Master, perhaps I could be used to reduce the cost a bit if I entertained the brave captain until we arrive in Lagos?"

O'Connor kept his voice equally low, but played along in case they were overheard, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop with this Master drek? I know my position, and you know yours. 'Any man who must say, "I am the king" is no true king.' At any rate, you will not offer yourself to Thabo. Haggle the price, but not too forcefully, just enough to show that we aren't weaklings to be taken advantage of. Suggest we're willing to pay a premium for VIP treatment, I'd rather not worry about a double cross. It doesn't seem so, but in case his disinterest is just a negotiation strategy, see if the boys are worth anything to the captain." Despite using her an an intermediary, O'Connor stood firmly between Snow and Thabo. The pirate captain's slimey demeanor towards the women of his group was bringing up a lot of old memories. O'Connor never imagined that someone on the other side of the world would remind him of his mom's pimp Vadik. He wasn't an underfed scrawny child anymore, and he would stand between this scumbag and his teammates.

Snow shakes her head. "it is not a matter of protecting me, or any of your teammates. It is negotiating with the man. He has something we want and we have something he wants. Fortunately, he likes the money and women, which is an advantage for us. I will never claim to be as good a negotiator as Sam is or as glamorous as Sammy, and certainly not as good a fighter as you are. But I think that I recognize this type of man, having been part of a number of negotiations in the past. I have often been included as part of a negotiation and do not feel demeaned by that at all, so neither should you. In this case I am another asset that you have on your side of the table and you should freely consider me in that light, in this or any other future situation. My skills at entertaining him are quite good and I am willing to be used in this way. Using me may get us a better price or upgrade us to VIP status, or even help prevent a double cross. I do not feel abused in any way, so you should consider me simply as another bargaining chip. I am not sex starved or insane, just realistic and used to this role and I would give full value for what we can negotiate."

O'Connor sighed heavily through his nose, *Why does she keep putting me in this position?!* He couldn't take the risk that they were overheard and understood. He turned and backhanded Snow with all his force to knock her to the ground, "I take it back, you don't know your position!" He reached down and yanked her up by her hair, "Your job is to translate my words, and a mouth speaks only what the brain tells it to. So tell him what I told you to, and drekcan the back chatter! I'm not protecting the virtue of a whore, I'm holding you in reserve so that your loose and worn slot might actually be worth something!" O'Connor's whole body was shaking, hopefully the pirates misinterpreted it as fury.

Composure: 5d6t5 1
Unarmed Combat: 7d6t5 4

Clementine looked around and saw a nearby copse of trees that looks promising. She turns to their ever so young driver.

"Ahmjay, park the truck over there" she points to the selected spot "in between those two trees. With any luck, people will think it recently crashed there and was abandoned." Ahmjay looks over his shoulder where she was pointing, and clearly thinks on it a moment. He shrugs his shoulders and starts up the truck, preparing to park as suggested.

With that settled, the Ork woman looks to complete the next tasks. She starts to walk towards the camp, looking for some form of cart or baggage carrying device, and someone to speak to about fueling the truck.

Snow sees Con tense and so is expecting the blow when it comes, but even so the force is enough to hurt and she falls to the ground in a heap, moaning in pain, only to have Con pull her back up to her feet by her long, snow white hair, bringing tears to her eyes. This is not the first time she has been treated like this and she wills herself to numb the pain, just as she has been taught. The thought goes through her mind of how funny it is that her years as a corporate joy girl allow her to fall back on that training out here. She faces the pirate, bowing her head just enough to still be able to see the man's face. His expression tells her that Con's reputation has gone up considerably in the pirate's estimation. "Mighty chief, my master believes that one thousand per person is too much and makes an offer of eight hundred. He would up that price a bit to have him and all of his companions other than myself provided with good food and respectful treatment during the journey."

Some time, and many confused and unintelligible exchanges later, Clem finally finds someone who speaks broken English.

"Excuse me," she said to a lanky young man. "Is there any fuel for a truck I could purchase?" The shirtless resident scrunched up his forehead. "F-fool? Fee-al?"
"The Universe conspires against me..." She mentally sighed, and kept that thought to herself.
"Fuel. Diesel?"
"Ahh! Dee-sel. No. No dee-sel." He animatedly shook his head and waved his hands back and forth across each other to indicate the negative to the slow Ork.

"Goddamit."
"How about a cart? Or Wheelbarrow?" She mimicked pushing a cart that looked almost more like pushing an old manual wheel chair.

"Kard? Weeburrow? Oh. Oh, oh, oh. Bar-r-r-ow." He pointed at a rotting wooden wheelbarrow that looks like it might be centuries old.

"Well, it is something. Not good, but something."
Clementine pointed to the overturned wheelbarrow, then to herself, then back to where she parked the truck. Then repeated the sequence once more. "I. Take? I. Take?" The boy just nodded his head while waving her off and went back to listening to his music player loud enough that Clementine could hear the music even though he was using ear buds.

"Maybe the Buddha was right. My life sure is suffering..." She righted the wheelbarrow and started pushing it back up to the truck. As she passed the frustrating boy, she nearly whispered to him "Domo."

When she arrived back at their truck, she had to tell Ahmjay the bad news. "Sorry, Ahmjay. They have no fuel here for the truck."
"Not a problem," he replied to her quickly.
She felt he must not have understood him. "Has some chickenshit mage cast a spell on me to conceal my words?"
"No, Ahmjay. There is no fuel here. Is there a station or location nearby to fuel up?"
"No. You don't understand. I have enough fuel to make it back." He puffed himself up. "I am prepared for this trip." He smiled assuredly.

"Man... If he was about twice as old, I'd slap him around a bit. He might not deserve it, but it'd make me feel a whole lot better." The Ork woman frowned ever so slightly.

"Fine. At least something is turning out right." She parked the wheelbarrow next to the back door of the truck and proceeded to load all of their bags except hers and O'Connor's onto it. She stashed hers and O'Conner's bags in the door opening, and prepared to wait for word of what is happening.

"How long is this gonna take? Can we not get out of here already? Damn!" Clementine's face easily showed the dark mood forming behind her eyes...

She pulled out her commlink, and nearly called Snow out of reflex. "Nearly slipped up there." She took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Come on girl. It is just a simple text. You can do it..." Clementine glared at the comm like it owed her money.

"Alright. Let's see here. Text. Recipient."
<<Snow>
"Then it was... Flag."
<<Snow | Unimportant>
"There." She stood there for what seemed like minutes to her staring at the comm trying to will it to write the text for her.

<<Snow | Unimportant> Moved truck to cover. Gear packed and ready to move. I can move it all, but I bet O'Connor doesn't want any but him to carry his. Let me know if we are sailing, or driving.>> She sent the message, secure in the knowledge that Snow's comm would use the most subtle indicator that a message was received, and that it could wait for her convenience to read it.

"There. I can't be blamed for screwing over any negotiations then."

Snow's implanted 'link lets her know that she is receiving a message from Clem and she uses the time it takes for the pirate chief to consider Con's counter offer to send a response. >>Hey, Boss. Looks like we are going to take a boat to Lagos. Con is working on the details of the cost right now.<<

Her face stings from the force of Con's blow and she knows that she will have a mark there for a bit. Still, it is a slight price to pay if it helps them get to Lagos safely and within budget.

"You will have a spot on the deck for the trip, it's only a few hours and it is a small boat, and as for treatment, we won't sell you to slavers for eight. You can bring your own food." He apparently thinks that is the end of the conversation, he directs a couple of people in the tongue you have not yet mastered, one goes to get the boys and the other seems to be your guide to the transport. He is waiting to be paid.

O'Conner feel a light touch and the small weight of cred sticks being dropped in his pocket, Jane would probably make a good living as a pickpocket in the Barrens if anyone had money.

Snow translates the pirate's words to Con, still not sure if the pirate can understand English or not. "The chief is willing to accept the eight hundred per person and it looks like he is done with the negotiations and wants to be paid. We are to bring our own food. This other man is to take us to the boat. I will go get your things if you are ready."

She sends a note to Clem back at the truck. >>Boss? Looks like Con negotiated our ride. We will need to head to the boat so I will be coming to help move things down here.<<

"'Bout Damn time," the Ork woman cheers in her own head - despite it only being a few moments of standing around.

<<Snow> No need. I can handle it. I'll tell Ahmjay to give us five minutes as a fail-safe, and if he doesn't hear from any of us by then he can bolt.>>

Clementine slips the commlink back into it's pocket, and turns to Ahmjay smiling.

"Good news! We are nearly out of your life. I'll be toting our things to the boat now. Wait five minutes, and if you do not hear from any of us, you can head on back home. Just watch those turns in the Jungle, eh?"

She slings one duffel over each shoulder, and hefts the wheelbarrow by the handles with a little grunt. She calls over her shoulder, "Should Innocent want a report, tell him you did a great job." And she proceeds to roll along the path her colleagues went, without even thinking about the fact that Ahmjay has no way to verify his claim of a job well done to Innocent.

Snow reports to Con. "Master, Clem is bringing the baggage down." She then lowers her head again, waiting for the blow that she knows she deserves for not waiting for Con to tell her to speak. Given that the pirate is still right there, it would be out of character for him not to hit her and she braces for it. She put herself in this position and she has to play the part, and she knows he has to play his role as well. The pirates would expect nothing less and might even do them harm if he eases up on her now.

O'Connor stepped forward and deposited the credsticks in the lackey's hand. He turned as Snow gave the update and cringed as if expecting to be hit. A pained grimace slashed across his face as O'Connor was forced to play his role. He struck Snow across the other side of her face. He didn't say anything, he didn't trust himself to speak.

Unarmed Combat: 7d6t5 4

Even prepared for the blow, it forces her to her hands and knees on the ground. Con walks off and the pirate captain calls out that he should thrown the wench into the sea. He bends over and whispers in Snow's ear. "You tell him that I said that. Maybe he will sell you to me after all and I can use you until I tire of you." The captain stands and laughs as he walks off. Snow shakes her head and sends a message to the others. >>Well done, Con. You have his respect now, something he would not have given you if you had not done this. He wants you to sell me to him so he can use me, so you will need to have an answer ready for him. Sam, Sammy, Clem, Jane. Do not come to help me as my apparent caste here is low servant. In fact, looking at me with derision would probably help.<<

Snow moves to her feet and walks off after Con, passing Jane, Sam, and Sammy, but keeping her head down as she does, as if in the presence of her superiors.

Sammy wasn't happy with how things were going. O'Connor seemed to like his role a bit too much. But at least they had a way to get out of this jungle. She did give a quick look over to the pirate leader in the astral, just in case.

Clementine hauls the gear through the pirate camps, both slow enough to not have to deal with these 男性の狂信者, but fast enough to leave before she does something the pirates will regret.

She looks around at the rather squalid conditions and wonders how this life can be considered better than wherever these… Pigs came from.

Clementine sees the group ahead, and is glad to be getting out of here.

Snow follows behind Con until they get to Clem pushing the wheelbarrow, at which time she falls in behind her. When they get back to where Con had talked to the pirate captain, they find a man waiting to lead them to the boat. Snow translates as well as she can and the man turns and begins walking down the trail, eventually breaking through some trees and pointing at what must pass as the pirate's ship.

Once the boys were taken from him, Sam fell into step a half-stride behind O'Connor, continuing to act like a jaded guard. When Snow followed, he was between her and Con, which hopefully would help avoid further physical demonstrations.

Snow sees Sam position himself between her and Con and feels grateful for the gesture. He is acting a role, too, right now..........not as a slave, but as a guard. That role still puts him above her in the pecking order, but not so far above her that she must pretend to fear him as well. She picks up her pace just a bit and comes up next to Sam on the trail and reaches out a hand to softly touch his arm in silent thanks, dropping it and resuming her distance from him. Any of the pirates watching should be led to believe that there is something going on between the guard and the slave, if they thought about it at all.

Clementine resisted the urge to scowl in confusion. Instead, she kept her face passive. But she clearly missed something during her "party" with Ahmjay. O'Connor was brooding more than usual. Sam seemed to be inserting himself between O'Conner and Snow. And now it looks like there might be something happening between Snow and Sam.

Just what the hell happened here?

Your boat turns out to be a heavily modified tug. The captain points you to a small spot at the bow of the boat. There is enough room for you to sit with your bags close at hand and not much else. You have barely enough time to settle in before the pirates start up the engine and move out of the cove.

When you reach the open water the boat turns east and keeps the jungle choked shore in sight. The boats crew keeps their distance from you, but there is plenty of chatter in the odd language of these locals, especially between the pairs of guards that watch you from port and starboard to make sure you don't wander.

Snow does her best to keep her role going and sits as much apart from the others as possible given the limited space. At least she is able to paint a picture of being alone. She uses her hands to check her face and body, wincing as she touched those places where Con had hit her. The man had not pulled his punches and Snow accepts that he could not under the circumstances. Still, her face hurts and she knows there will be bruising there, and the soreness around her left eye tells her that she has a pretty good black eye forming there. The visual damage would be less if she could get to and use her medkit, but that would be out of character and the grim reality is that the kit will not be useful by the time she gets to Lagos and can get to it. She shrugs her shoulders and tries to get some rest.