Place: Sowber

Time: Now

After 7 long months they eventually found John on Sowber, an inhospitable little rock at the far reaches of the J star cluster. The crap-hole moon, shouldn't have been able to sustain life, but it's natural atmosphere of barely breathable air and heavier gravity, meant that the J's most defeated souls had managed to make a home there. Dutch and D'avin stood amongst a decent sized crowd, a social gathering of sorts and she studied the people around them. They were dirty and pale and made even the poorest of Westerlyn's, look like Royalty.

Population on Sowber was low, as was life expectancy. People joked that it was the last place the God's made, molded together from the left overs of the universe. It was certainly a hell hole, a dark spinning rock of dust. But it's importance across the J was immense. The whole surface was rich in precious metal. Not only highly sought after on Qresh, but every central planet as far as the eye could see. Mining the metal was Sowber's one and only industry and pretty much the only way to make a living on the whole moon.

It was also pretty lawless, and that ungoverned way of life was supported by the large corporations who owned the mines. By turning a blind eye, they could pay less Joy to their employee's. On paper it looked like the perfect hideout for fugitives, but no-body voluntarily went to Sowber, unless life had thoroughly beaten them down. The quality of living was just so poor, that almost all forms of punishment were preferable over long term refuge on Sowber. Except maybe execution by black rain.

But in amongst all the surrounding Hell, they had found Johnny, and Dutch couldn't take her eyes off him as he walked out into the centre of the make shift arena. For a moment it felt like Déjà vu, recalling the first time she had seen D'avin in those slave ship fights, but that feeling didn't last long. This brawl was something else entirely.

Dutch felt like she was suffocating. The shock at seeing him like that, was just….. too much. After only a few minutes of the fight, she had to look away and tried to gain control of her breathing. She pulled out her portable oxygen tank and sucked back great gasps, helping battle the poor quality air. While she faced away from the scene, she looked up at D'avin who stood stone like, similarly effected by what they had just witnessed. His face was a sickly grey in colour and Dutch was sure she could see tears in his eyes.

The tightly packed crowd around them released a collective jeer, forcing Dutch to risk another look at Johnny. This hadn't been a fight. It had been a blood bath, one that John had apparently won, although there didn't look to be any winners, as both fighters lay motionless across the blood spattered ground.

"Trix!" D'avin stated, in little more than a whisper.

"Has to be" Dutch agreed, while trying to hold back bile rising in her throat.

Trix was a drug, it was aptly named too. While Jakk released a bliss-like state, Trix literally tricked the mind and body away from what was real. But it wasn't addictive like Jakk and you it wasn't something you took voluntarily. The fight they had just witnessed had no skill, no technique, no rules. The sounds of bones smashing as the fighters ripped into each other was beyond what any human could endure. That was why they knew Johnny must have been loaded. Only Trix, had the ability to suspend pain, to such a degree.

She looked anywhere but where Johnny's unconscious body lay. Her best friend was a tough son of a bitch, but he generally liked to talk his way out of a fight before fists started flying. He had a certain charm, those blue eyes of his could work wonders and she was proof of that. When they first met, she was a stone cold killer, but in no time at all she had got him a job at the RAC and trusted him with her life. He had always been the heart of the team. The humanity that both she and D'avin sometimes lacked. Dutch just didn't like the person she was, without him around.

It was then she saw D'avin's hands pump repeatedly into fists, while watching men drag his brother out of the arena. Even after all this time, D'av was still very much a shoot first, ask questions later, kind of guy and Dutch had to leap forward stopping him from storming the place and unleashing chaos.

"We've gotta think smart D'av, if we go in charging, we'll never get out alive"

"Well give me a damn plan!" D'avin yelled with desperation. Someone had pumped his little brother full of Trix and forced him into that arena. D'avin knew all too well what it was like to have his mind messed with and he didn't want Johnny to be haunted by his actions, the way he had been. But forming an Escape plan was a bit of a problem, they couldn't just haul him on to the ship. The increased oxygen levels on Lucy would kill him without proper reacclimation. But on top of that, they would now need to flush his system of drugs and work out how to mend a broken body.

"Just give me a minute to think" she answered D'avin, while scanning the area. The place didn't seem to have much in the way of a town. There was no brick built structures like in Westerly, just a string of cave dwellings scattered in all directions. Her gaze fixed upon one particular cavern that had a higher than average number of people flocking to it. Dutch prayed it was a drinking establishment, Bars always had such a varied clientele, and any problem could usually be solved, if the right person was approached.

"Come on, we are going in there" she pointed and pulled D'avin away from the blood soaked arena.

A thick smoke permeated through the bar and made it even harder for Dutch to catch her breath. D'avin didn't seem to experience the same difficulties and she wondered if he'd been in similar environment's during his time in the military. After taking a seat at the bar, Dutch ordered them both some cheap Hokk. Then, they just sat in silence and listened to the conversations around them, praying that an opportunity would present itself. The longer they sat there, the more hopeless things looked, but Dutch was determined they were going to get Johnny off the moon before the night was over.

The first point of the plan had to be seeing John up close. Dutch needed to assess his condition and hope he was able to assist in his own escape. But she had no idea where in town he was being held. Her eyes dotted around all the patrons and she noticed a couple of women giving D'av the once over. From their appearance and how they moved their bodies, she would guess they were sexers. An idea started forming in her head as she watched them for a few minutes, then she turned to D'Avin.

'I think I have found our plan" she smiled, and D'avin waited for her to continue.

"I'm going in undercover, Johnny always did love some undercover work".