From One War to Another: Chapter 2
A Strange New 'Verse
AN:I felt like I had to explain how they came to the 'verse. They being Triela, Hilshire, Henrietta, Jose, Rico, Jean, Petrushka, and Sandro…I hope you can not mind me coming up with this beginning scene on the fly. I just thought of it last night after reading the Review from DesselOrdo. I'll try not to disappoint anyone who might be reading this. Just so you all know…
Italics= A character's thought
"Italics."= radio communications
"Bold/italics."= Mandarin curses.
This chapter will also cover the following scene from the current situation on board the sleeper ship following Triela's Third person POV. Also try listening to Beyond the wasteland once you reach the sleeper ship again. As for the first scene, Deranged by Coheed and Cambria
Without further procrastination, Here's Chapter two: A Strange New 'Verse…
Triela checked her Winchester M1897 shotgun as Hilshire and her approached the rooftop entrance. Their mission was a joint operations with three other Fratello.
"Remember, capture the target alive and disarm the bomb." Their field commander, Jean, reminded everyone. "Rico, target the sentries on the first floor, south entrance."
"Yes sir." Came the reply from Rico.
"All teams, wait for my signal. Rico after our first shots, prepare for Close Quarters Combat. We'll be following the other Fratello shortly after." Triela held her breath as Hilshire placed a hand on the door and tried it.
"Hilshire here, our route seems blocked." Hilshire reported.
"Let Triela deal with the barricade. Rico…wait for it…not yet…NOW." Two muffled shots rang out through the comm. Followed by: "All teams move now!" Triela hastily moved in front of the door and kicked the door in a martial arts sidekick. The door flew open and she rushed down the steps. Hilshire followed with his new Glock out. An Assault rifle barked out once, cracking the silence.
"Jose here…Ran into a few terrorists, they're dealt with. One of them managed to fire his weapon though." Jose said calmly over the radio.
"Suppressors off everyone. No need for subtlety now. Rico! Let's move." Jean ordered.
"Yes sir." Triela lined up next to the door to the third floor of the office building. Hilshire threw the door open and a trio of shots were heard from down the hall, followed by a shout:
"It's the Agency!" Triela had found the voice, broke cover and spotted a pair of AK-47 wielding terrorists down the hall. Hilshire followed her and got off a surprise shot, catching one of the terrorists in the shoulder, a second shot from Hilshire dropped him. Triela raised her shotgun and fired. The terrorist took the slug round to the face, killing him outright. The two agents proceeded down to the door that the terrorists were guarding.
More gunshots could be heard over the next room ahead of Triela and Hilshire followed by a:
"What the hell –" A spattering of submachine gun fire answered the voice, silencing it. The voice of Allesandro spoke over the comm.
"I was wondering if you guys would ever show. Petra, let's join the others." The door then opened to reveal Sandro holding his Beretta. He saw them and waved. Then Petrushka came out with her Specter SMG in one hand.
Sandro closed the door behind them and said:
"Come on, let's try this way." Sandro said, gesturing.
"Triela, Hilshire, find that bomb and disarm it." Jean said over the radio amid gunshots. They hurried down the hall with weapons ready. More terrorists jumped out to try and shot them, a burst from Petrushka's M4 Specter took one of them down. A blast from Triela knocked the man's aim off as a burst was fired. Hilshire and Sandro both fired off a shot, taking the terrorist down. They reached two doors, one to the immediate left wall and one on the far wall. They'd reached the end of the hallway. Allessandro and Petrushka lined up next to the left door. Triela and Hilshire took either side of the far door.
"Jean, Hilshire here. About to breach a door on the southwest corner of the office."
"Copy that."
"Now!" Triela lined up with the door and front kicked it off of it's hinges. A terrorist guarding the door was knocked flat. Triela stormed in and swept left, blasting a Mac-10 wielding terrorist before he got a shot off. Hilshire followed and shot the terrorist leader in the head. They searched the room and found nothing. Triela cocked her head to one side. Am I hearing things?
"Sir. Something in this room is ticking. Try under the desk." She said, keeping an eye outside. Petrushka was doing the same, their room just had hostages.
"Jean, Triela and I have located the bomb now, disarming it." She heard the snick of scissors and the ticking stopped. "Jean, the bomb is disarmed." What happened next was audible to all the agents, hostages, and terrorists remaining. A hissing sound as a green gas flooded into the hallways and rooms.
"Gas!" Triela shouted and quickly covered her mouth and nose. The attempt to keep out the gases was futile however as one by one, the agents and hostages fell to the ground unconscious.
Orbit of the Future Lilac, October, 2154
The captain of the Alexander hit the record button. He cleared his throat.
"This is Captain Giorgio Lombardi Captain of the Alexander. I have found a planet that seems suitable for Habitation, I am sending the coordinates to any other Exodus ships out here in space. My ship's mission is to find an adequate hiding space for six of the Italy's agents. I've read these 'cyborgs' files, may god have mercy on the person's soul who did this to them. And may I be forgiven for abandoning them here on this desert planet. I've preset the landing calculations necessary to land in the crevice of a mountain. Hopefully it will shield them from prying eyes with the Alexander's automated lock down procedures upon my death. I've set the power priorities to keep power to their cryo chamber to ensure that they survive to live a free life in this new universe. This is my last recording…" With that the good captain passed on due to old age.
Triela heard a distant click and a hissing sound as she opened her eyes and a gas filled the small space she was in, causing her to cough and push on whatever was holding the fumes in. She saw people she didn't recognize and took a wobbly step out of the container she had been in.
"Where am I? I don't recognize these surroundings…" The person in the lead seemed to have a futuristic version of an MP5A3 submachine gun.
"Huh…" Came the response from a man with two toy like pistols at his side and a sniper rifle on his back. They can't understand me. She thought.
"Where am I?" She said again, in English this time. "This isn't the office I remember being at."
"You're on a sleeper ship on a planet called Lilac. Dare, if you would be so kind as to dethaw the other, that would be fantastic. Krys, Hammer, weapons cool. They're no threat to us." The same man said again as the man in the Browncoat, 'Dare', began inputing commands on a keypad. The little guy is most likely Hammer. The woman with the submachine gun is most likely Krys. That would make the man with the toy pistols the leader.Triela deduced. All five of the men and women looked to be capable fighters, probably three steps above your average Padania terrorist that she was fighting during her missions. There was a series of rapid fire clicks, followed by hisses and coughing. Hilshire pushed open his hatch.
"Sir! Are you ok?" Triela asked. She stepped in front of her handler as he spoke, shielding him from the group with guns.
"I'm fine Triela, but why are you speaking English?" The German asked back in English. She looked back at him and pointed. "Ah." Jose came out of his tube right after Henrietta. Hilshire spoke to them. "Jose, Henrietta, stand down." Then Rico and Jean stepped out. "Everyone, it seems we have someone to thank for helping us out of that situation." He said in Italian. "Also, our rescuers can't understand Italian so English only."
"What do you mean?" Henrietta asked. "Were we captured?"
"Possibly." Jean said, then in English: "Where are we?" He demanded.
"It's a combination of where and when you are." The leader stated. "Its Five hundred and Four years after Humanity left Earth-that-was in the great Exodus. So it is the year 504A.E. or to you 2554 A.D. You are also on the desert planet known as Lilac."
"You expect us to believe you?" Jean asked hotly. "What proof do you have?"
"Look at our weapons, far more advanced than yours I bet." Krys said. Jean glared at the brown coated woman. Jean glanced at the unique shape of their weapons and the unfamiliar logos and sighed.
"I concede to your point. May we check these lockers for our weapons?" The leader nodded and Triela put her hand on a hand scanner that was on her locker, which scanned and the light went from red to green. She opened the locker and was surprised to find her weapons inside, including her G3A3 assault rifle. Triela took out her Winchester M1897 Trench Shotgun and Sig P232. She checked for ammunition and found enough for two reloads each and proceeded to insert the shells into her shotgun and rounds into her pistol. Everyone was doing the same thing quietly. She removed her coat and began strapping her shoulder harness for her pistol underneath her right shoulder. She pumped a shell into the chamber of her shotgun, and loaded one more shell. Hilshire was reloading his new Glock 9mm pistol. Once everyone was almost through loading their weapons she heard a voice over a radio.
"Captain, a group of men just boarded through the cargo bay on the western side of the ship, about ten minutes ago."
"Thanks Burl. You all might want to hurry up. We might have unwanted company soon. Krys, get into position. Everyone find a place to hide." He ordered, it was easier said than done in a room with only a handful of overturned boxes.
"Sir I think we found that secret the Alliance don't want found." Krys said, heading out and hiding around a corner. Triela, took position behind one of the three overturned crates while Hilshire set up behind her. Henrietta stood innocently on the far side with her Amati Violin case in both hands. Jose was behind her standing without his FN five-Seven in hand. Rico had her sniper rifle in hand as they prepared to wait for anything to happen. Soon they heard a trio of voices arguing.
"Jorge, why are we searchin' this ghost ship again? There ain't nuthin' tae be found on a wreck like this, 'cept them corpses." A nasally voiced man complained.
"Dolt! Because Badger ordered us to! All we have tae do is find this secret and get it back tae the boss. We ain't gettin' paid tae dink!" Replied the second, a deeper voice and more aggressive.
"Both of you Shut the Gorram hell up! Yer givin' me da creeps, along with the rows of frozen corpses! Just focus on findin' da goods!" Krys popped around the corner and gave a rapid fire series of signals that stated wait, three coming. Triela hefted her shotgun onto the crate, using her left hand as a bracer. It felt like minutes before the first man passed, holding a pistol. Then the second goon stopped in front of the door, holding a pistol in both hands.
"Jorge, I'm goin' to check out this cryo chamber." The hired gun in front of the door said.
"All right." He said. The man walked in and it took him a moment to register what was going on. "What the –" He said, pointing his weapon at Jose. "Everyone that in here drop your weapons before I make this man's head into a canoe!" It was the wrong thing to say for Henrietta scowled, and charged the unfortunate man and swung her violin case with all of her might. The case belted him across the chin and she caught her submachine gun and put a burst into the unfortunate man, killing him. A submachine gun burst sounded off a bit further away and the third man yelled and collapsed.
"The ruttin' hell?" The last man said, turned and fired down the hall, the bullet ricocheting off the bulkhead. Triela advanced quickly and put a shot into the man's spine, causing massive internal damage as the slug burst out of his gut and imbedded itself into a wall. As the man fell, Krys put another burst into him, killing him out right as he fell. The man known to them as Phoenix had both of his guns drawn then, he holstered them. He looked very angry.
"Gorram it Krys, I wanted one of them alive!"
"Whoops, sorry sir, I wasn't aware capture was your intention." She said, shouldering her SMG. "Now, are we going to leave or what?" Over the comTriela heard a voice asking:
"What the ruttin' hell is goin' on in there?" The woman named Krys put a bulky walkie talkie up near her mouth, and said:
"Not now brother."
"He's your bro–"
"Of course not. We served in the same squad so he's familiar and we might as well be." Krys said. "I reckon we need to head out the cargo bay, we'll find out what they're lookin' for in the process. Besides, I don't like complications on our jobs sir."
"Sounds good, only if these six are willin' to come along."
"You're the ones that rescued us, if you want to head that way, then all we can do is follow." Jean spat out.
"Right." Phoenix deadpanned. "Krys, you have point with Hilshire since he understands the language, Triela your behind him. Dare, you're rear guard."
"Sir!" Krys and Dare replied in a professional manner.
"Understood." Hilshire and Triela stated. So, these five and anyone aboard their ship currently are allies. Triela thought.
Triela could hear a man yelling through the com they took off one of the dead hired guns. They were now at the cargo bay, Phoenix had ordered, Hammer, and the Doctor, Dare, to take the others and split into two groups for a three pronged assault. Soon the two reported that they were in position. Krys, Hilshire and her were with Phoenix. The captain slowly and quietly slid the door open to reveal that they were on a catwalk. She could hear the person she could only assume was the leader yelling:
"Giorgio! Status report!" Silence greeted him, Phoenix looked left.
"Oh boy…"
"What is it?" Dare asked over the micro transmitter.
"Alliance soldier. Heavily armored and totin' an assault rifle."
"I'll relay the message to my team."
"Phoenix, Rico, the blond is an excellent marksman." Hilshire supplied.
"Sir, the blond girl has that ancient sniper rifle." Dare supplied.
"Open the door and let her get into position and hand her your transmitter."
"Sir." After some shuffling, a girl's voice came over the radio.
"Hello, this is Rico."
"Rico, to your right on the lower level of the cargo bay is an armored Alliance soldier. On the count of one, we fire simultaneously."
"Understood."
"Hammer, Rico, your teams don't move until both shots have been fired."
"Sir…message relayed." Lyle reported.
"Message delivered." Rico said.
"Three…" Phoenix got his sniper rifle ready.
"Boss! They might be lost." A man in the cargo bay suggested.
"Two…" Triela shouldered her Trench gun and un-holstered her SIG P232.
"Robert! Grechoivsky! Go lookin' f–"
"One." Two defeaning shots rang out and the grunt fell, unconscious. Krys, Triela and Hilshire all ran out onto the catwalks. Dare walked onto the catwalks, turned, saw a hired gun with a pistol and shot him in the left shoulder, throwing him off balance. Jean ran past him as the woman named Rift came charging through the middle door and put a burst into a woman who was trying to hide behind cover, killing her with three shots to the heart. Jose followed her and continued left towards Jean while Henrietta took the right side of the catwalk.
Two pistol wielding men near the cargo bay loading ramp fired off fired, the bullets missed their mark and ricocheted off the bulkhead behind their intended targets. One hired gun raised his pistol and shot at the browncoat medic, who promptly side stepped the potential shot on instinct, causing the bullet to pass where his head had been. A fourth hired gun fired off a panic shot that skimmed the female browncoat's arm.
The mercenary with the shotgun raised his weapon and shot at the female browncoat with a submachine gun. He cursed as the shot missed her completely. Another duo of deafening shots rang out, the mercenary was knocked flat as one of his hired guns fell with a shot between the eyes. The merc leader opened his shirt to check the wound; he was relieved to see that his ballistic mesh had stopped the round from piercing his body. It just hurt like hell. The blonde browncoat put a burst into a hired gun using a crate as cover, two of the shots hitting his chest, and one imbedding in the floor. The hired gun then died. Triela fired off a shot at the man that had shot at Hilshire, hitting the man in his gun arm. Dare fired his gun, hitting the floor from the momentum of his innate dodge. Jean fired once, hitting the same hired gun that had shot at Dare, hitting him in the right should. A burst from Henrietta put him down for good, traveling up from his chest and stopping at his head.
Taia put a burst into the far left hired gun that was guarding the cargo bay ramp, hitting him in the shoulder twice, and the last shot hit the bulkhead. The leader stood, brought his shotgun to bear on the woman who was sweeping towards him with her weapon. A shot rang out and he blacked out after getting hit in the chest again.
Hammer stepped out holding his grenade launcher and hollered:
"Drop your weapons if you still want to breathe!" He took aim with his grenade launcher meaningfully at the man who could still move his arm. "I have a grenade launcher and the first person to raise a gun gets a full helping of Fuck You!" The hired gun then promptly set his gun on the floor and put his hands in the air. Krys and Triela were the first one's down. The browncoat woman planted a foot on the alliance soldier, a look of contempt on her face. Hammer and Dare began policing the weapons and putting them in a pile. Phoenix walked over to the leader of the hired guns and slapped him into wakefulness.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" The leader asked.
"Now I think I'm the one in position to ask questions here." The captain commented wryly. Hammer and Triela watched the interrogation. "Now, who do you work for?"
"Chui Se!"
"Hammer! I believe the Jing Chai Feh Feh Pi Goh need a crash course in cooperation. Oblige him."
Triela watched as the little man picked up the man by the collar of his shirt and held him at eye level. He drew his shotgun and put it in the leader's face.
"Talk, unless you want a face full of buck shot." The man growled and the leader seemed to quail under the threat.
"Ok, ok! I'll talk. Badger hired my crew and me, to find some sort of secret that the Alliance wanted destroyed. He knows more!" Lyle shoved him to the ground forcefully. The leader lay there gasping for breath. Triela saw the blond soldier unholster her pistol and took off the soldier's helmet, and gave him a hard smack. Her expression showed clearly that she disliked this so called alliance. The soldier groaned as the captain walked over.
"What happened?" The soldier groaned.
"Time to get some information. Now then…" Phoenix started, "what are you looking for on this ship?"
"Chui Se browncoat lover." At this Krys palm struck him in the nose, breaking it.
"Mind your manners Alliance scum!"
"Now, let's try that again. Why are you on this ghost ship?"
"Did you have to let her hit me in the face?" At Phoenix's nod, he continued. "We were supposed to find some sort of valuable cargo, gather it up and wave 'them' to come once we gathered 'the eight'."
"What else?"
"I was just following orders. The whore understands, doesn't she?" Triela watched as Krys asked her captain a silent question that stated: Can I kill the bastard? The captain nodded and walked away. "Hammer, Rift, Dare, start looking for any valuable cargo we can use. The weapons from these Huen Dahns will be a start." Krys raised her pistol to the soldiers head and fired off two shots, the first to kill and the second to make sure. Triela and Hilshire approached the brown coat woman and Triela asked:
"You don't like the 'Alliance' soldiers do you?"
"I don't like what the Alliance stands for in general."
"Which is?" Hilshire pressed.
"Controlling all planets in the 'verse, and making sure that anyone who supported the alliance during the war got better treatment than those who supported the Independents. I'm wanted and not considered a citizen."
"Did you support these Independents?" Triela asked as Hammer, Dare and Taia began opening crates to check what was inside.
"Hey! What's all this skin and muscle doin' in a metal crate?" Hammer asked aloud. Jean breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's the synthetic skin and artificial muscle to help repair the girls." He said. "Bring as many of the crates as possible and also if you find their conditioning drugs, that would be helpful also."
"Conditionin'?" Phoenix asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"The only medicine that helps them cope with the surgeries and medical procedures." Jose finished. Phoenix nodded.
"Hammer, start loading up the crates that we can." Phoenix looked to Krys.
"Krys! Help Hammer! You know, that he's not as strong as you."
"Captain! I'm right above you, comin' down now." Came the pilot's voice.
Overall it took four hours to get all of the files, and gear necessary to the cyborgs from the sleeper ship, When they had first boarded the strange new transport, a very thin man had been waiting for them on the catwalks. His grey shirt was stained with what looked to be engine grease and his hair seemed to be an oily black hair that stuck out in clumps. His jeans had holes where the knees were. He took one look at the girls and newcomers with guns, quailed and fled.
"What was that about?" Triela asked the captain.
"That was Twitch, he's afraid of guns and freezes when the bullets start flyin' near him. His way with machines amazes me though, so I put up with his odd behavior." The man with the 'laser' pistols said.
"I see. He is the one warned us about is he not?" Jean asked, wondering if he should be worried for Rico's safety. The captain merely laughed while it was Rift, the twenty one year old girl that spoke.
"You honestly don't need to worry about him, he normally sticks to the engine room or the common area when he's cooking." She said plainly.
"I see…Where will we be staying?" Jean inevitably asked. Phoenix gestured for them to follow while the rest of the crew loaded the tissue, files and drugs on board.
He led them through what looked to be a lounge that was next to an infirmary. The infirmary was equipped with what looked to be state of the art medical equipment. They then entered what looked to be a hallway with several bunk rooms. Each room had a bunk bed along with a small table and two small lockers. The door to each room slid open with ease. Phoenix simply said:
"Go ahead and pick out your rooms, seein' as how you're not permanent crew at the moment, I recommend that you make your selves comfy. If I need you on a job, I will contact you via the ship's PA system. The room we just passed through is the infirmary. When you're done, follow me and I'll show you the common area, the other place you're allowed to be at the moment, unless escorted by crew." Triela picked a room by herself, next to Henrietta and Rico. Jean and Jose took a shared bunk and Hilshire took the room next to Triela. When they had stowed their weapons, each agent came back out to meet the captain.
"Good, now if you'll follow me."
The captain led them through the cargo hold and up the catwalk, and into what seemed to be a dining area.
"This is where the meals will be held, three times a day. Our chef happens to be the mechanic, Isaac MacLeod. So if you taste anything odd ignore it to the best of you're ability. His trust fund keeps this ship stocked with fresh food and other goodies. Those of you who need to clean your guns can do so in your rooms or in one of the crew's quarters. Only folk who clean their guns out here are Krys, Myself, and Dare. By the way, my actual name is Edward O'Malley. Most folk aboard this boat call me Phoenix. My second in command is Krystal Reynard. We mostly call her Krys though for short. Our fine pilot is Tam MacBurl and he'll be sheparding our good selves across the black.
"The Doctor is Darek Yamura and the young woman is his sister, Taia Yamura. The demolitions expert is Lyle Hammer. That is all of the crew, so if you wouldn't mind helping us unload the rest of the gear you all need, that would be much appreciated."
Once all of the cargo was loaded, the Fire fly class transport lifted off and began exiting the atmosphere. Triela took the time to clean her SIG Sauer P232 and Trench Gun in the common area, sharing a table with Kriss, who was cleaning her pistol and submachine gun.
"You never answered my last question." She stated flatly.
"I'm sorry, we got interrupted. I served in the Independents. Much akin to what you did. Most of my operations I choose not to talk about."
"I assume that the coat you were wearing was the reason why that soldier called your captain a 'brown coat lover'?"
"Yes. When I was serving the independents, most officers and soldiers wore brown trench coats as an identifying factor. After the war it became a business to dye the independents coats to different colors. I kept mine the traditional brown because I don't want to forget why I chose to fight the Alliance."
"I see, so it wasn't just the supporters of the independents that suffered?"
"No, soldiers like me are not 'full' citizens; therefore we can't run for office. Dare, Burl and I were in the same squad and were all captured in the same mission."
"I see."
"What about you, who were your parents and how did you become a cyborg?"
"I don't know who my parents were; I was found in Amsterdam and taken in by the Social Welfare Agency. I was probably going to be the star of some snuff film if I hadn't been rescued by Hilshire. Next thing I knew, I was a cyborg being trained to kill. I've accepted what I have to do. I do remember someone who I thought was my mother, all I can recall was the way she held me, the smell of her perfume, and that she wore glasses."
"I see, sorry if I brought up any bad memories."
"No…It's ok, I'm fond of my years in the Agency."
Triela heard the sound of someone trying to sneak up on them when Krys addressed the culprit.
"Captain."
"Ta Ma Duh." He blustered. "How do you do that?"
"I'm special forces sir. It's what I do."
"Right…heheh I forgot that momentarily." He looked to Triela. "You two seem to have hit it off quite well."
"Yea, well, might as well get to know them. Seein' as We should be helpin' them integrate into society or bring them onto the crew." She retorted, not looking up from dismantling her submachine gun. Triela finished cleaning her shotgun and was through with her pistol fairly quick. She gathered up her gear and went down to the passenger dorms in search of Hilshire.
I have to share the information I've learned with Hilshire. She thought.
Hilshire mulled over the information that Triela had just shared with the group of agents.
"Hmmm…Well, they are our only option of transportation at the moment. Also they haven't shown any ill will towards us. That soldier had said that they were looking for eight of us. That means that Petrushka and Allessandro are still alive. Or it can be assumed so." Jean said.
"So, we need to also stay under the radar of this Alliance also since they are what the FRF would have become…or worse, have become." Jose pointed out.
"You're right brother. We need to stay with this crew for as long as we can, at least until we can afford our own ship."
"Then it's decided? Stay with the crew and work for our own wages?" Hilshire asked.
"Yes."
The days passed as Triela watched the crew go about their duties. Each person had their own individual past, but the most interesting character was by far the cook/mechanic. He seemed to talk with himself while cooking and working in the engine room. His meals were really good; he could cook anything from Alfredo pasta mixed with some pesto, to steak. This was surprising considering the fact that he wasn't all right in the head. During one meal, his condition was apparent.
"So…uh, why do you girls carry guns?" He asked Henrietta nervously.
"We've fought terrorists for as long as we can remember. Why?" She answered.
"Little girls shouldn't carry guns…It's not right." The wiry man repeated to himself twice, then got up and said: "Jezabelle must be getting lonely. If you'll excuse me." He said, picking up his meal and walking off. The everyone but the Captain had a confused look on their face. Edward merely had a face that stated 'Oh no…'
"Who's Jezabelle?" Rico asked. From the captains nervous reaction it was something embarrassing.
"It's somethin' you should ask him about." He simply said with a slight laugh. "He's special in the fact that Jezabelle is the only girl he likes."
"Oh, I see." Rico said, continuing to eat her burger. "I didn't even get to thank him for the wonderful meals."
Then one day, there was a knock on Triela's sliding door in the morning as she was changing. She looked at the shadow and asked:
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Krys. We're about to reach Whitefall, you and the others need to accompany us on our trip to a meet. Our employer wishes to meet you."
"Ok. I'll be out in a sec." Then the bumping and rattling of the ship reentering atmosphere came. "Does this happen everytime?" She asked Krys as she put on her shirt."
"Every time. We'll be waitin' in the cargo hold." Krys said then walked away.
The Cargo hold was occupied by the captain, Krys and the other agents. Hilshire was also walking with her. Triela wore her black leather trench coat, black knee length skirt with calf high boots. Her shotgun was in her hands and the captain gave her a long look.
"Guns are only for appearances. I ain't plannin' on there bein' any shootin'." He said. "Now let's mount up and git."
"Sah!" Krys said and hopped into the driver's seat. Everyone else piled in and the 'mule' drove out of the ship.
They arrived at the meet area and waited around for 'Carol' to show up. So far, Triela's view of Whitefall was that it was a desolate desert planet. She heard the sound of hooves plodding towards them.
"Hilshire, Hoof beats to our immediate North." She pointed out.
"Right then, leave the talkin' to me and Krys."
Then the horses came around a rock and a middle aged woman cantered up with three men armed with rifles. The woman had grey-red hair and a weathered look to her. She wore the classic browncoat, same as Krystal.
"So, Edward, did you find that secret on Lilac. What is it?"
"It's not so much a what, as it is a who." He said slowly. Then he gestured to the six passengers. "These here folk are from that sleeper ship you had us investigate."
"What's so special about them?"
"We belonged to the Social Welfare Agency; it was an anti-terrorism organization that used these girls…" He gestured to the Triela, Henrietta, and Rico, "to hunt down a terrorist organization."
"Why does the Alliance want them dead?"
"We believe that the Alliance is what the Five Repulics Faction would or has become. We don't know." Jean said.
"So, you're on the run eh?" Carol asked.
"In a manner of speaking yes."
"Carol, I was thinking about integrating them into society with papers and coin, we were goin' to Persephone to get the identcards and paperwork cover for them. So, we'll take our payment in platinum."
"I got your payment right here. Should be enough to get you fueled up and some proper equipment for makin' some ammo for the pieces they're totin'." Carol nodded to two of her men, who tossed several sacks of coins to Krys and Edward. "Pleasure doin' business with you."
"Likewise Carol." With that the two groups departed, Edward and his crew went back to the ship while Carol went back to their homestead.
PAN: Well, I had much more planned for this chapter but seeing as how it's nearing 6000 words typed and twenty one pages in length, I thought that I should change scenery. By the way, I am looking for a beta for this story, preferably someone well versed in the GSG 'verse and the Firefly 'verse. I can't catch all of the mistakes I make, and I know I made quite a few. And as usual, I'll provide any and all translations.
Chui Se- Go to hell; literally "Go die"
Jing Chai Feh Feh Pi Goh- Brilliant baboon's ass crack
Huen Dahns- Bastards
If I missed any mandarin please let me know. Also reviews help me tell that people are reading and enjoying this Fan Fic. I'll accept Criticism as it will help me get better. If I repeat myself I do it unconsciously, so as stated before, I need a Beta. PM me if you're interested.