On The Raggedy Edge

V

Vay

Guest
On The Raggedy Edge​

We stand ready to fall, hoping to fly another day.

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They say they there was once a man who stood on the edge of space and looked outwards.

What he saw and what happened to him? Accounts differ, some say he saw god and could not return to the sins of man so he died out there. Some say he saw nothing and so much nothing warped his mind and he became... one of them. Still others claim he just saw more space and there are better questions to ask than what he saw.

I believe he saw his reflection, what was inside him and what he stood for. And the sight of all that made him question things. Sure soon enough he was doing what he always did but after that, he knew why he was doing it, and he was a happier man.

This is not a story about that man, or about what he found, we start on the Alderan an alliance cruiser skirting the edge of civilization. For her and many of her crew its the first time on the rim.


"This is Alliance cruiser Alderan to medium transport vessel you are ordered to surrender control and prepare for docking. Failure to comply will result in the use of force."

There was a flag out on a ship like this, contraband.. endemic this far out but they had to do what they could to curb this blight.

Lt. Dunsan was unremarkable among the others in the docking day, waiting to board and search the ship. He was however under orders to extort the ship's captain to a holding cell. They could not bind her under law without proof but they could make things uncomfortable for her.
 
Rindi Awenson cursed softly, running down the hall and barking orders to her crew.

"Get the gorram stuff hid and assemble in the cargo bay." She paused, leaning over the railing and looking down into the bay at her handful of crew moving the precious cargo-- she'd been told it was crop seeds-- from the bay itself into more hidden areas of the ship. Nodding, she trotted down the stairs to await their boarders. As soon as the rest of the crew was there with her, she headed to the door. With any luck, she could quick talk her way out of this. She sorely missed her gunbelts, which currently resided in her room, far from her hips as was possible in the confines of the ship. She wasn't about to wear them with Alliance boarding her.

She stood there, waiting for the ships to finish hooking up so that the boarding party could come aboard. "Nothin' I hate more than things that take too long."
 
He wasn't the first to enter, that was a dozen men on full armor and wielding Rapid-fire rifles and shotguns. But Dunsan entered right after them his uniform setting him apart from the others, and instead of a weapon in his hands he held an identcard scanner.

"Captain... " the ship had no registration markings, fine right there.

"Sorry... What was your name?" he held out his hands for an ident card if she had one, papers if she didn't.

"A ship of your class is cited as running stolen cargo. Alliance cargo. I trust we won't find anything...." he gestured to the men who apart from two who stayed behind to cover the crew wen to search though the cargo hold. "... While you join me for a talk regarding why you're out here in the first place. Its a yellow zone, I'm sure your nav systems told you that or will we find something wrong with them and fine you for that?"
 
Rindi stood there, long brown hair tied back in a bun at the base of her skull, a simple cotton blouse worn beneath an open vest and a thick, corsetted belt. Blue trousers and brown knee high boots completed the look, and if anything, she looked more like someone who belonged rustling cattle than a respectable captain.

She frowned at the scanner, taking out her card and handing it over. Best to be honest where she could and make the lies harder to spot. She moved slowly, making sure that none of the very armed men thought she was about to do something heroic.

"Rindi Awenson. Pleased to meet you. And you might be?" She gave a slight grin. His list of charges made her want to twitch. No doubt he was going to find everything wrong and cite her with it unless she came out with the goods.

"You won't find anything but dust bunnies. We just offloaded our last cargo on a little station, well, the whole thing's in the logs, which I'm sure your very fine gentlemen with their very fine guns are already helping themselves to." She nodded and started to walk with the man, gesturing to her crew to stay behind. "Nav systems are just fine. Now. They had a minor glitch and we got it repaired, but sadly my navigator's been right sickly like lately and we didn't notice it until it was too late to get a correction on our course. All in the logs."
 
"Of course it is, I would expect professional thieves and lairs to have a well-placed and practiced story. If our men find anything on your ship with so must of a trace of alliance stamp on it your ship will be seized and sold to cover the costs of your trial." he reminded her as he ran her card. "You have a record Ms. Awenson." he remarked handing her card back to her. "Repeat offenders rarely see leniency. Unless they were to reveal who hired them."

It was a common and well schooled practice. Putting the captain on the defensive so they'd talk to keep themselves out of trouble. "The interrogation room is through here, you will stay here until my men have reviewed your logs and spoken to this... sick.. navigator of yours. Might have out doctors have a look at him too."

He walked her into a small brightly lit room with a table and two chairs.

"So where are you coming from and where are you going, theres no moon out here, theres nothing out here."
 
She practically waltzed into the room, running her hand over the table as if to check for dust before contradictorily sitting down and putting her booted feet up on the table's edge. She seemed to reconsider this, offering a semi-apologetic grin and moving them to the floor.

"I told you, we got off course. We were going from a private station by the name of Carroway and heading for Cybele. Figured we might be able to find some work there that would meet the approval of you tidy uniforms." She smirked, though her heart was racing. This was the worst place for any "independent contractor" to be, on the wrong side of an Alliance table. "Perhaps you could give us a push in the right direction." She leaned forward on the table now, still acting cocky.

"That is, when you find out you wasted your time walking round my boat."
 
"I know your type." he said. "Old medium transport, running with no apparent cargo for "the possibility of work" in some backwater. I will take your ship apart bolt by bolt if I have to to hind what you're carrying." he folded his hands on the table. "Until then I can hold you as long as I like."

There was a buzz and he stopped talking as a voice came from his earpiece.

"Well it looks like your contact has just come up on our scope. Hoping to do a little ship to ship transfer? With pirates no less. I'll have you in a chaingang for this. Tell me the human bodies they have strapped to the outside of their ship, do you even bat an eye when you see them?"

He smilked. "Unless you have more to say Captain, we're through talking."
 
"Hold me, then. I've got nothing to hide." It was a bluff, a big one, but she hoped it would hold him off. He seemed like he had something to prove, though, and those types were always the worst. She suddenly found herself longing for her guns.

"I don't make deals with pirates," she said. It hadn't been what she intended to say, but she was so shocked at his blatant accusation that she let far too much slip. Hastily, she tried to correct. "I'm an honest trader." But something was wrong, and she only mumbled what was meant to be a strong statement. Something felt off. There shouldn't be a ship here. And... pirates? Bodies?

"Ai yah tien ah," she muttered softly. "Listen, we gotta get out of here quick like, or ain't none of us makin' it out alive."
 
He tilted his head. "He know how to deal with pirates, a few warning shots and they'll be turning tail, a missile to their engines and they're as good as captured. Then they will confessing and nailing you as their fall guy, unless you beat them to the punch."

He looked ready to leave the same self-sure smile on his face. He had no idea what was going on out there, he had only been told enough to try to get her to confess and rat out the pirates. But they were a fully armed cruiser against....

The ship shuddered and the lights flickered... and his smile faded and he dashed for an intercom.

"This is Lt. Dunsan in interrogation whats going on out there." the only reply were screams coming from above them.

He drew his pistol and pointed it at the prisoner "Stay here I'm going to see whats going on."
 
"Like hell," she snapped, rising to her feet. "Give me a gun!" She followed after, not seeming to care about the immediate threat that was Lieutenant Dunsan at the moment. She certainly wasn't going to wait here while the Reavers set on her like a wolf on a trapped rabbit.

"If you've never faced Reavers... we have to get off this boat and to mine, or there ain't any hope. And we gotta pray that they aren't already over there, too." She actually reached out in an attempt to grab his shoulder and pull him to face her. She realized belatedly that this was a mistake.
 
He glared at her and tightened the grip on his gun. "Reavers!? They don't exists, these are petty pirates and we have enough men on this ship to put them down."

More screams and another shudder...

"Fine you lead but we're not going to your ship, access ladder three." he opened the door "And be happy you're not restrained..." there were inhuman sounds now, or at least they sounded like no sounds a same human ever made, then the ship's alarm came on... finally. So many screams ans surprisingly little gunfire... Dunsan was getting visibly agitated.
 
"You're ruttin' crazy!" she exclaimed. But he had the gun, and she was facing death either way. She seemed to be weighing her options. On the one hand, if she didn't go, he'd shoot her. On the other hand, if she did go... there were Reavers. There was also the slimmest chance of survival, provided she could get her hands on a gun. They got to the ladder.

She started to climb, trying to hold back waves of shudders. This was not at all good... She came up to the top of the ladder--

--and immediately dropped back down with a shriek as the grotesque at the top of the ladder slashed the air she'd just occupied with a wicked looking blade. She almost landed on the lieutenant, then made to try to push him back through the door. "Not that way! Get back, hurry, ya damn idjit fool!"
 
He opened fire without thinking, three rounds into the hatchway and the... THING dropped down stone dead.

"Rung tse two tzoo bao yo wuo muhn... What the..." he stared at the dead reaver, it's face was mutilated and half rotted off, and the inhuman sounds were getting louder above them. He seemed at a loss for what to do.. "Your ship is safe?" he asked before shooting again as another of the things appeared. "Move... fast."

He was sure she wouldn't agree to his plan of using her ship to get to the nearest cruiser and rewarding her by dropping all charges against her and her crew... but any less would mark him a deserter.
 
She ran. It was all she could think to do. Staying and fighting was suicide. She tried to ignore thoughts of whether she was hearing her own heartbeat or were those really feet pounding along behind them. She wouldn't look over her shoulder; it would just slow her down.

When she reached her ship, she had a moment's hope. They hadn't gotten here yet! She just needed to alert her crew and find out where they were being held while the ship was being searched.

"Hey, where's my crew at? We need them to get out of here!"
 
He looked back into the cruiser's passageways and grit his teeth. "Fine, follow me.." There was no telling how many regulations he was breaking right now. They were being boarded and procedure demanded he lock her up, arm himself and head over to the secured areas and await orders. But he had no idea what these things were, what areas were secure of if there were any orders coming.

He stopped only long enough in the entrance back onto the holding area to pull a stunrifle from the weapons cabinet and then he used his card to unlock the holding cells. "Everybody out!" he yelled as he unlocked the cabinet that held the prisoners' personal belongings including Awenson's and tossed her her belt and holster. "You're getting out early and it not for good behavior."
 
"Fine by me. Might as well get goin.'" She grinned, then looked at her crew, stress showing despite the show of bravado. "We have what you might call--" The door quickly slammed shut when the last crew member was aboard, "-- a situation. We need to make tracks quicklike." Turning, she began to head up the steps. "Don't look, just do. No time for gawking," she snapped, ushering people to stations.

As they were leaving the bay, there was a noise as something, something that had once been someone, slammed into the door, trying to dig through it with its nails. The remaining crew member who had been stowing loose items cursed loudly and backed away from the door.

"What in all that's-"

"I told you not to look out the gorram windows! Get back to work, cause we're going to be moving--" the ship jolted, pulling away from the umbilical and setting the reaver floating free in space. "--well, now, I guess." Several unstowed containers went crashing to the floor.
 
Barry Dunsan, for that was his full name, however did now move from the cargo hold. He was the only fed to make it onto the ship and he assumed it was because he had let him go that they hadn't shot him yet was because they had bigger fish to fry.

"What about me?" he asked looking at the captain "I'll be listed as a deserter, I'll be hunted and you owe me no favors, What are you going to do with me?" at this point he didn't feel like it mattered much. If they shot him he'd die. If they dropped him on a fringe world he'd die. If they handed him back to the alliance, they'd get a small reward and he'd be court marshaled and probably imprisoned.

And to think he had been excited to come to the rim. "You have your ship and your crew... I'm not an idiot if you're going to kill me just tell me."
 
She spun, looking down at him with an odd expression. "We ain't gonna kill you less you try to kill one of us. For now, just find a corner and stay shut up til one of us has time to talk to you." She stomped out, heading off to make sure they got out of this situation without someone catching them.

But luck was with them, for the moment, and both the Alliance and reaver ships seemed focused on one another. She stayed on the bridge watching her pilot do his job for longer than she should have. She knew she had to eventually go back down and deal with their... guest? Prisoner? Just what was he to them? He might shoot them all in their sleep, steal the ship and claim some heroic medal for surviving the reavers and destroying the big bad petty criminals. She snorted before sauntering back down the hall, down a ladder, and down another hall to the cargo bay to see if he'd stayed put.
 
He could tell they didn't know what to do with him, and knew they would watch him constantly. He put the rifle down and stepped away from it but kept the pistol, you could never be too careful. Dunsan didn't want to doe out here, he didn't really want to die anywhere.

He sat down on one of the spilled crates and waited pulling off his hat and holding it in his hands. He kept the jacket on though, if he was going to die it would be in uniform like he had almost done so many timed before he transferred to the navy.

"You don't have to kill me." he said to the crewman who was watching him. "I'm a deserter now. Theres a small reward for them if you drop me off with a cruiser." The people our here spoke money, if he spoke their language he might live.
 
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