Vaughan Roth's Story

In a side-alley just outside Abenueit's Den, another confrontation was going on. A large dark-haired man was on the ground, pinned by an unseen force as he struggled desperately. Every time he tried to move an arm or a leg or even his head, it was pulled back down by a metal clip, or a buckle, or the decorative chain he wore around his neck.

A short distance away stood another figure, with startlingly red hair swept around in a dramatically long quiff that hung down to the right side of his scarred face. His name was Vaughan Roth .Vaughan Roth was a well-known name around Lochchrest, though many spoke of him only by his alias of 'Steel'. A bounty hunter without mercy or remorse, Vaughan was the last person a lot of people who'd made the wrong enemies ever saw.

This wasn't a job, though. No, he didn't have time to take up any of those while Kane recruited. This was personal business.

Vaughan made his way over to where the man had sprawled and bent down to lift him up by front of his jacket, placing him on his feet. "Did you really think you were going to walk away from a debt with me, Jack?" he spat derisively into the man's face, "I'm a bounty hunter. Hunting people who are trying to hide down is my thing. And look at you, creeping out of the same shithole you always crawl to. You aren't even very good at this."

He dropped the man down again, fixing him with a cold stare. "You can't play this game and expect to keep your head, Jack. Give me the money."

Jack, a man considerably taller and bulkier than Vaughan himself, pulled himself back up to his full height in an attempt to regain some composure. "You rigged that fight you cheating bastard, there's no way your mech pulled ahead like that. You were using your mutie shit on it, I know i-"

He was interrupted as Vaughan's fist met his windpipe, reducing him to gagging and choking as he clutched at his throat. "What the fuck did you just call me you sack of shit?"

Jack spluttered, coughing uncontrollably as he gasped in air. "N- nothi-"

"You call me 'mutie' one more time and you won't ever have to worry about what to call anyone ever again. We clear? Good. Now, the money."

Still struggling to breathe, Jack shakily reached into his jacket and pulled out a wad of notes. "There, take it you cunt. And get the fuck out of my face."

Vaughan smiled, leaning down to pat the man on the cheek as he took the cash. "Could have saved yourself a fair amount of pain just doing that when I walked over, Jacky. Maybe you'll know better next time."

As the red-haired mercenary turned to walk away, Jack glared after his retreating back and muttered under his breath. "Know better than to trust a fuckin mutie is what I'll know better."

Unfortunately for him, he spoke a little too loudly. Vaughan stopped where he was. He didn't turn, but the metal on Jack's body abruptly pulled him downwards again, pinning him against the wall of the building. Slowly, ponderously, a single bullet drifted out from inside the large man's gun, drifting through the air to hover in front of his head. "Shit, Steel, I'm sorry, I didn't thi- didn't mean-"

Vaughan didn't reply. As slowly as it had risen, the bullet drifted head-first towards Jack's forehead. It didn't stop as it met the skin, or the bone, pushing steadily in with a sickening squelch.

Jack let out a short-lived scream.

His voice cut out mere moments later as the bullet penetrated through into his brain, killing him where he sat. It popped out the other side with a coating of blood as red began to trickle down from the entry and exit wounds. Vaughan let the bullet fall to the ground with a clink, then continued walking without so much as a glance backwards at his handiwork.

A few moments later he entered the bar. A few wary eyes fell on him as he entered, recognising his unmistakeable hair and his casual sauntering gait. They'd heard the scream outside, and quite logically conjectured that his time of arrival just after it wasn't a coincidence. Nobody said anything of it.

Vaughan made his way over to the bar, leaning onto it and nodding to the bartender. "Whiskey." he said, before looking across at Kane and Chris. "Captain. Braddock." he said, nodding to each of them in acknowledgement. His searching blue eyes fell on John, then. "And this is?"

John gave a hearty laugh. "A huge fan," he answered. "I just won some money on ya, and that means you're okay in my book. The name's John, and these two gentlemen are trying to get me to join their club of rough-and-tumble pirates. 'Scuse me a moment." He turned back to Kane.

"Beyond our borders, eh? You've piqued my interest. Never been outside the motherlands myself."

Kane narrowed his eyes at Vaughan's entrance. The man was useful, but his usefulness was rapidly waning beneath his utter lack of discretion and blatant disregard for the consequences of his actions. Things on Cryo kept on working the way they worked because no matter how big of a badass you were, there was always a bigger fish out there to knock you back down a peg or two. The very lawlessness of the planet created a sense of order that was maintained through that expectation of consequences for ones actions. In a wolf-pack society where strength came from numbers, no lone man stood a chance above any other when repercussions come knocking.

Now Kane was no cowardly man, but he was a business man, and Vaughan was liable to be bad for business if this kept up. Like Chris before Vaughan, Kane had little tolerance for members of his crew drawing trouble down on him and his men unless it was for business.

He downed a second glass.

"We're shipping out in the morning," Kane told John before he slapped a few drachmali down on the counter to pay for his drinks. "If you're in, don't be late."

He spoke lowly then as he moved away to address Vaughan.

"Who was it," he growled under his breath.

The red-headed man flashed Kane a cocky grin, "Easy there champ," he said, winking. "Just a low-life gambler who tried to screw me out of what he owed me." Vaughan waved a reassuring hand vaguely in Kane's direction, "I'd got the money, all smiles and a friendly tap on the wrist, but no, no; here's the funny part. As I was walking off, all done and dusted, he opened his mouth, right? Never a good plan to start with, but then -"

Kane's scowl deepened. "I don't give a flying fuck why you did it. Who."

Vaughan folded his arms and shot Kane a disgruntled glare. "I was getting to that, honestly. So impatient. Alright, alright. His name was Jack... something. Jack Morgan? No, Marten. Jack Marten. Probably, anyway." He shook his head dismissively, "Don't lose sleep over it. He was a real unlikeable guy, I got the impression he made a habit of running out on debts, probably had more friends than enemies. Too bad for him he didn't run very fast this time, am I right?"

"Jack Marten," Kane repeated. "And I suppose it didn't occur to you that the reason Jack Marten was still around to be unliked was because he's Haken Maddocks nephew?" Kane growled. "Let me make this very clear to you. I pay you. That means you kill who I say you kill. You fuck up this operation, and I'll cut you loose to the sharks and we'll see how well you make it on your own out here. Are we clear?"

With an exaggerated sigh, Vaughan glanced off to the side and nodded his head. "Whatever you say, Cap." he replied with a tone of exasperation, before he paused to think for a moment. "I don't suppose you think Maddock would appreciate a bouquet of flowers as an apology for his loss, do you? I know a lovely florist girl on another world who owes me a favour..."

Kane's sense of humor seemed to be running dry where Vaughan was concerned. "Clean it up. Quietly," Kane told him. "On your own. You act alone, you handle the consequences alone."

"Is it my birthday already?" Vaughan quipped with a grin, "I love cleaning things up. I should be a janitor. I'll get it done, Cap. Don't you worry."

"Chris," Kane called out as he headed for the entrance of the establishment. "Come with me, I have a job for you."

While the NPA were questioning Joshua on the disappearance of Shanthi Hakkar, another transaction was about to occur well outside the city limits. With the police nosing around, O'Leary had opted for a last minute change of meeting locations to avoid the chance of the NPA nosing around his place of residence and finding the missing girl.

Of course this development remained unknown to Kane who was less than pleased with the abrupt change of plans. This stretch of coast was remote enough as to be highly unlikely to attract unwanted attention or random beach strollers - but a few look-outs would be posted all the same.

As Kane's ship set down and the hangar bay dropped open he was already giving orders out to the crew.

"I don't like this 'change of plans' shit, so Chris I want you up top," he instructed.

The ship mounted railgun on the top of the ship would provide ample firepower if things went poorly on the ground - as well as a good vantage point of the surrounding beach.

"Thorne, get some men posted there, there, and there," he said as he singled out three locations in the distance that afforded cover via a few displaced boulders. They would serve as look-outs as well as fire-support if the deal went south.

"Vaughan and John, you two with me. They should be here soon. And Vaughan? Let me do the talking."

"My lips are sealed, boss-man," Vaughan said with a smirk as he sauntered towards the exit of the craft. "I'll just stand there and look pretty, and kill people if things go tits up. That sound good?"

The red-headed killer looked out across the beach and whistled. "Nice planet they got here. Rolling waves, white sands, a climate that doesn't try its hardest to kill you at any given moment. What more could a guy ask for? Bet you they're soft as hell for it, though."

O'Leary made sure everyone was in his van. He had talked to the Kane about changing the location and the fact that making a trip like that would mean more people needed slave wise. But O'Leary could do that. He had a ton of slaves pulled back of the Black Market in Wing City that could also be sold. And it was this that got him thinking about broadening his business over seas, and intergalactic.

Maybe Joshua wasn't so stupid after all. The money would be a lot better. Once everyone were shackled up in the van, including Shanthi, they were off. It was a good hours drive but they'd be there on time. O'Leary was never late. There were three vans. Each van carrying ten squashed slaves. Thirty slaves in total. It was a tight fit in the small van. One of the vans was Joshua's. O'Leary had his own van. Shanthi was in Josh's van. He had someone watching Josh's place and knew he was been talked to.

This made it perfect. The van would be left here, set up so that Josh was in the clear and couldn't possibly of been here and been questioned, and some guy that didn't work for him, that he'd hired for a couple of hours driving it. Someone from Wing City. It was perfect to set up with Josh's story that he'd tell the cops.

When they got there, Kane was already there. O'Leary made sure everyone stayed in their van's while he got out and looked at the men. "So, which one of you is Kane? I hope you ain't been waiting too long for us. Sorry about the change of plans. My son has a party today. I didn't know the wife had planned it at my place until guests started arriving, hence the change of plans." It was a small lie. Josh was the reason for the change of plans.

Chris gave his commander a quick nod and gave a quick roll of his eyes when he had his back turned. The pirate tore a trapdoor open, skipped up the rungs of the ladder two-at-a-time and hauled himself atop the roof of the ship. Chris laughed in approval as he cradled the rifle, and pulled the charge handle.

It was times like these that Chris realized just how lovable his captain in crime was. Chris gauged the distance between him and the three vans and leaned against the gun. It was time to wait for something exciting to happen.

The Van was cramped and Moira was frustrated, she wasn't even suppose to be here. She was suppose to be the one catching slaves not being one. Though that was the price of failure it seemed, when she had turned up short someone nabbed her. Now she was passed along the lines changing hands multiple times it was mostly a blur.

She was starving and hadn't eaten in days, moved from place to place blindfolded before she was shoved into the cramped van. She was trying to keep herself together but the hunger and anguish was getting to her. She could try to fight her way out but it wouldn't be effective she had tried that earlier to change but they noted her ability and put some fancy shock cuffs on her. Now if she changed she got a zap.

It appeared she was going to have to hope she ended up somewhere not as pitiful as some old mans toy or tossed into some sort of arena. For now she closed her eyes and just focused on not passing out.

"I'm Kane," the Captain of the small crew spoke up.

His eyes were sharp as he watched O'Leary with suspicion. He didn't believe the man's story - and given the urgency in getting this particular cargo moved off planet his instincts told him that the law wasn't far behind this one. That of course would make O'Leary all the more desperate to get this lot off the planet. The question only remained as to which of the captives were the ones that had O'Leary keen to move his goods as far out as Isiria.

"It seems to me this cargo of yours is a bit hot," he drolled. "You wouldn't be trying to slip anything past me would you?" he asked.

He intended to haggle O'Leary down from the original agreed upon price, but not too far as to make future business unlikely.

O'Leary scoffed at the words that came from Kane's mouth. "I'm not trying to get anything past you. This cargo is a mix of things. All decent. Especially some Volarian that we found in Wing City. It's up to you. I have them all lined up for you to inspect. If you don't want them, your loss." He told the man.

He nodded to the men that had come with them, letting them pull the hoard of slaves out of the vans so that they could be looked at, so their condition could be checked before they were sold.

He stood there silently while letting Kane take a look at the goods they held. He looked at the man while he went around his business, ignoring everyone else.

"So. What do you think? Are you going to take them?" He asked rather impatiently.

Kane moved to the lineup of slaves, glancing over them as he went. He paused to lift Shanthi's chin up to get a look at the girls face behind the cascade of her unwashed hair, but the girl jerked her head away and he smirked as he moved on. Moira too caught his eye as he grabbed her by the chin to get a look at her.

"They're not broken yet," he remarked dryly. "Tell me girl, do you have any skills?" he asked Moira.

Moira stood in the line nervously waiting until Kane came up to her. She couldn't believe she was even here, she was suppose to be in this mans position not standing here in chains. She debated on telling the man about her ability but pushed the thought aside. Instead she tried a different tacit. "Guess for yourself." She said to the man putting on a seductive smile, it probably wasn't the best plan but she didn't want to end up working hard labor.

O'Leary moved over and raised his hand to hit Moira over the head. Whether she ducked in time or not was hard to tell.

"Bitch. doesn't know what's good for her. Don't think she's human though, not like the other one though. The rest are humans." He told Kane. "So, how much are you looking at? I was thinking thirty thousand. Got a couple of rare ones here." He smirked. Never in his life had he got that much for a batch like this on the Black Market in Wing City.

Kane smirked at Moira's efforts before he released her chin and turned his attention back to O'Leary.

He didn't much believe the man for a minute. He was too urgent in wanting this cargo moved, too flippant in his seeming dismisal of Kane's inquiry. No effort to haggle at all. The man wanted this deal done and that left Kane wary of what lingered at O'Leary's heels. Though that wasn't to say that Kane was afraid of making the deal, but if O'Leary was desperate then he might as well milk it for what it was worth.

"Fifteen percent less than the agreed upon price," he replied. "For the inconvenience," he added with a gesture to the impromptu meeting grounds. "Unless you want to come clean with me on why you're so eager to get this lot off planet," he added with a pointed look that said he didn't believe O'Leary for a moment.

Whatever risks were posed by taking on this cargo, Kane seemed intent to take it out of O'Leary in the cost of the entire lot - unless O'Leary came clean.

O'Leary stopped and frowned at the suggested price drop. "Fifteen percent less? You have got to be joking. There was little inconvenience, I'd say." He told Kane. He frowned some more debating which would be the better option. It wasn't like it was going to affect Kane, surely. Once the woman was off planet, and sold on there, no one would find her.

"Fine, I'll tell you. That one there." He pointed at Shanthi. "Was a mistake. One of my idiot men took her by mistake and we need her gone. Once off planet she won't be known and people probably won't care, so you'll be fine. But I need her gone from me before people associate my men with her. Questions are already being asked. I want her gone."

O'Leary glanced over at Kane again. "So. Now you know. Full price."

Kane rubbed at his grizzled jaw as he looked over Shanthi once more. The girl was physically attractive, and the wings would appeal to some. Definitely worth more than he was currently paying for this lot. But she was also dangerous if she was as high profile as she seemed to be.

"Half for the girl," he told O'Leary.

It was still less than what they had originally agreed upon, but losing out on some of his profits for Shanthi was a fair bit less of a blow than losing out on fifteen percent for the entire lot.

O'Leary really needed the girl gone. It wouldn't be long before the trail led to him. He frowned mulling over what he'd get instead. Half for Shanthi was still more than if he got 15% less for the whole lot. But he wanted her gone. And he didn't want it been tracked back to him.

"If anyone finds her and asks where you got her from, it wasn't from me. You don't name me. You don't recall business with me. You recall getting her from elsewhere. Got it?"

He wasn't going down for Josh's mistakes. He was just going to be fixing them. "If you agree to that, then I will accept that price."

Kane chuckled lightly at O'Leary's demands and waved for one of his men to pay him.

"We'll be gone from the Local Region by morning," he reassured O'Leary before gesturing for Vaughan. "Get them on board," he instructed before he turned to head back aboard his ship to prepare for their departure.

"Gotcha." Vaughan said, nodding his head before stepping forward to loudly address the slaves. "Alright, boys and girls, do me a favour and meekly shuffle onto the ship for me, would ya? I'd hate to have to ask a second time, 'cause well, thing is, I won't. I'll probably just hurt you, and since I'm a real sensitive, empathetic guy, that'd suck for both of us!"

He jerked his thumb towards the ship. "Move it!" he snapped, as the chains binding each of the prisoners jerked forwards seemingly of their own accord to spur them into motion.