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Tyler laid on his bunk as he stared at his fish tank. When his cat, Charlie, jumped onto his lap and meowed, the captain of the Viator turned his attention to the cat, rubbing its ears and jaw as he thought hard on what he was going to do.
The 'Miranda Incident' had thrown the 'verse into an uproar, with civilians protesting and demonstrating, enormous civil unrest, and former Independents wearing their brown coats openly. Business had boomed for him and his crew, but now Ty found himself grounded. The climate was dangerous even on Ariel, and a long lasting riot had kept the Viator from taking off for three weeks. Coolie knew that his crew was getting to be upset with him, and he was sure that if they hadn't have been grounded on Ariel, some of them might have jumped ship.
Petting Charlie gently, Tyler let his eyes travel back to his fish tank, watching the 'bloops', as he called them, swim around. It wasn't right. They weren't right. And they damn well might not ever had been Tyler had been a war hero for the Alliance, fighting in some of the bloodiest and fiercest battles, and had made a few key victories in the Battle of Serenity Valley. But he couldn't but help to wonder if he had picked the wrong side after all.
Ty's hand drifted to a halt, prompting Charlie to meow pitifully. "Sorry, Charlie. Got something to do." Carefully setting his cat aside, Tyler ran up the ladder out of his quarters and to the bridge, bringing up the communicators that he insisted that his crew all carry whenever leaving the ship. "Everybody, get back to the ship. We've got something to discuss." Clicking off the communicator, Ty crawled beneath the navigation station and pulled out the IFF transponder that he had installed like a good law-happy officer when he bought the ship. While he waited for his crew to arrive back on the Viator, the captain busied himself with preparing for take off, not wanting to waste any more time or to over think his decision.

As much as he had grown to hate Ariel over the past few weeks, Merrion had gone out seeking information every few days, simply because there was so little for him to do in the ship when it wasn't moving. Though that boredom from being cooped up was, as he was finding out, significantly safer. He was leaning against a pile of shipping crates, not too far from where the Viator was docked, when the call came through.

"Impeccable timing, Captain." Merrion said with a sigh, reaching for his pistol and knowing what was coming next since the announcement had been anything but quiet.

"Over there!" One of the two thugs that he had been attempting to hide from shouted, making the obvious even more-so.

Popping out and snapping off a trio of shots at them, one went down while they both scrambled for cover. Ducking back around and moving around to the other side of the crates, Merrion swung around and opened fire. Unfortunately this thug had more sense and was already taking aim at that side. A very brief exchange of gunfire later and the gunman was on his back, his weapon clattering across the ground and out of reach. Merrion lowered his gun, wincing as he looked at the blood staining his upper right arm where one of the shots grazed him and then at the slug almost in the middle of his torso, thankfully stopped by his bulletproof vest.

The shooter groaned as Merrion approached, looking up at him. "Y-you'll pay... for this..." He stuttered, causing Merrion to roll his eyes. Typical, cliched goon lines are common no matter what galaxy it is.

"Yeah, yeah..." Merrion grumbled, his boot connecting with the man's head and knocking it back against the ground with a hollow thud. "...that's what they all say. Jerk. Going ballistic over a simple question. I really gotta stay aboard the Viator from now on." He complained to the now unconscious thug as he holstered his pistol and quickly headed back to the ship before someone could come to investigate the gunfire.

Rhyzo, as he called himself these days, wasn’t among the crew members that had left the ship. He was glad to finally be on one, and he wasn’t about to leave it. It had taken him long enough to find a ship that would take him on, in the capacity of a medic no less, rather than just a passenger. Of course, he wasn’t trained as a surgeon or the like, but as a pharmacologist he knew everything about medication. He knew a bit about diagnostics, too, and he knew first aid as well as anyone who had at one point in their lives been employed in a hospital. How often was he going to do anything other than handing out adhesive plasters or prescribing painkillers for minor ailments on a cargo vessel, anyway? Many common ailments associated with space travel were well-documented. Most of those were easily treated with specific meds, and Rhyzo had made sure the ship was fully stocked with them.

He had been incredibly lucky, though, and he knew it. He was here for lack of anyone better. It didn’t bother him, however. There wasn’t much left of his pride since he had managed to lose his former job, and he just wanted to get off this damned planet and away from civilized space. Perhaps he could start anew on a far off border planet. Too bad for him, no ships were authorized to leave since the riots broke out.

In those few days that he had been aboard the Viator, he had busied himself with getting to know the ship, although he had kept mostly to the parts of it in between the sickbay and his bunk.

When the captain’s voice sounded through the communicator that lay beside him, Rhyzo was seated at a desk in the sickbay, studying the details of G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate, the failed Miranda experiment everyone was getting worked up about. Or studying what little bit of information about it had leaked from the Alliance’s firm grasp, anyway. With a slight frown and a glance towards the communicator, Rhyzo wondered what there was to discuss. If he had been inclined to optimism, he might have hoped they were finally going to take off, but he wasn’t made that way. Instead, he figured someone had misplaced the coffee machine or some such silly nonsense. With an annoyed grunt, he turned his attention back to his reading.

The docks weren't the nicest place for a girl to hang out- but Sondra wasn't exactly a nice girl. Dressed in cargo pants, combat boots, and a hooded jacket, she visibly carried only a backpack as she walked slowly through the crates, checking out the ships docked there. A noise to her left interrupted her thoughts, and she ducked behind a crate as a gun clattered her way. Looking around the corner, she saw a man clearly too busy to notice her, and snatched up the gun, the previous owner laid out on the ground. She watched as the blonde took out his second assailant, then holstered his own weapon. Tucking the gun she'd retrieved into an empty holster at her ankle, she walked quickly, catching up to the stranger in just a few steps even though he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. "Nice shooting, Rex."

Jumping at the sudden voice, Merrion spun around and reached for his gun. He'd barely touched the grip before the pain shooting through his arm from the abrupt movement made him stop. Apparently it was a bit more than just a graze after all. Gritting his teeth and noting that the woman wasn't pointing a weapon at him, he removed his hand from his pistol, moving a bit more slowly this time.

"Sorry, reflex." He said, eyes drifting behind her to the downed goons. She didn't seem to be with them, at least judging by the fact she didn't shoot him in the back when he'd been leaving. Which meant a witness. Great.

"Look, they shot first, alright? It was self-defense, no need to tell the authorities. I've been stuck on this planet far longer than I ever wanted to be without being locked up over something stupid." He explained quickly, then it dawned on him that wasn't quite right. They may have chased him and threatened violence, but he was technically the first one to open fire. Oops. Hopefully she didn't see that much.

Sighing, he idly pulled the bullet out his vest and flicked it off to the side. "I just want to go back to my ship, down a couple painkillers, curl up by the engine and sleep until this damned lockdown ends."

Tyler anxiously waited and watched the signatures of the ship communicators as they registered on-board or off. Rhyzo was already aboard, and Merrion, predictably, was not. His crew was small, his fist mate having left on Whitefall, citing 'political reasons'. Meaning that he'd gone to join the Browncoats. And Ty's pilot had gotten himself drunk, shot, and arrested at their last stop, with an incarceration of a few years.
As he mused on the diminished size of his crew, Kambel's communicator registered as on-board, and slapping the door control, then the power to the thrusters, grabbing the yolk and beginning to pull up.
"Unidentified craft! You are not cleared for take off! Power down and surrender your port control immediately!
Tyler glared at the comm center, reaching over with one hand even as he continued to rise. "No need to get in a tizzy, Control. Just stretching my legs a bit."
"Unidentified craft! You will be- Damnit! He's not the only one! Four, ten more are taking off!"
Grinning, Coolidge had enough sky under his feet to engage his thrusters properly, gaining more speed and more altitude as he scanned his sensors, seeing other ships taking off as well, the radar looking like a cheap firecracker in the few moments he looked.
Garnering enough clear sky, Ty hit full burn as soon as he broke atmo, running for a minute or two before stopping and changing course, heading for Beaumonde.

Rhyzo frowned when the hum of the engine came on. Not that he noticed it, at first. It was one of those droning background noises that you learned to ignore after your first few flights. His frown was one of concentration, absorbed in his reading material. The sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as the ship lurched and took off was difficult to ignore, though.

He looked up with a surprised expression, holding on to the table to steady himself. He wondered if the Alliance had finally subdued the riots. He found it all too sudden to be real, but he wasn’t about to complain. It seemed they were off. Finally. And it was a good thing that no one misplaced the coffee machine after all.

When the ship left Ariel’s atmosphere and everything got less bumpy, he got up and left the sickbay, looking for someone to ask what was going on and where they were headed.

Sondra smiled at the blonde as she followed him, trying to keep him talking. "Hey there. I'm not saying you did anything wrong. And believe me- calling the dogs isn't something I had in mind." She followed him into the cargo bay of whatever ship he had walked into, hoping that he was distracted enough not to realize that she'd come on board until she figured out a way to stay there. Maybe they could use a... Her thought was left incomplete as she was thrown to the ground when the ship suddenly lurched to life. "Kao! Is your captain out of his ruttin' mind?" Groaning, she picked herself up off the floor, grabbing her pack, which had been thrown across the bay, and checking its contents. Satisfied, she looked around. "Did you know he was planning on rabbiting? 'Cause seems now I'm stuck."

Although glad the woman had no intention of calling anyone, Merrion's feet had kept moving anyway, goaded along both from the desire to see the ship's medic and fear of what the Captain might do if he kept the man waiting too long after being called back. Going aboard the ship, he did notice the footsteps continue behind him, but his idea to turn and confront the woman casually strolling aboard was cut off when the ship gave an abrupt jerk. Stumbling but able to keep himself standing, he finally caught the faint noise from the engines his divided attention had overlooked. He'd missed that sound. Of course, the woman speaking up spoiled any enjoyment he might get out of it for the moment.

He turned back and frowned at her. "Depends on who you ask, and no I didn't. Though I have to say it's your own fault, wandering onto ships uninvited. It's a good way to get into trouble, or shot, either with a gun or out an airlock depending on who the Captain is. As far as this one goes, it's a tough call." Merrion stated, rather irritably. Looks like medical attention would have to wait. "In any case, he'll need to know we've got an unexpected passenger. This way." He gestured for her to follow with his good arm. The Captain had mentioned something needing to be discussed over the comm, so he headed for where they usually had their crew meetings.

Tyler stared out the cockpit for a moment, watching the stars as he let the adrenaline work its way out of his system. He heard a quiet 'meow' and looked down, a smile coming to his face as he saw Charlie threading herself in between his legs in a big for attention.
Picking the cat up, Captain Coolidge smiled a little, then gave a chuckle and double checked his course before rising, heading for the galley to talk to his two remaining crew members. Cat in hand, he headed straight for the coffee maker before speaking to anyone, a quiet beep from his timepiece reminding him to take his medicine while he was at it.

Upon reaching the galley, Rhyzo noted that the Viator’s captain was already there. Along with that cat of his. The pharmacologist harbored a certain amount of distrust of cats. They were manipulative and ferocious little creatures underneath their endearing exterior, Rhyzo found. His mother used to house a particularly disagreeable one, and he would never forget waking up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling, only to find the hellspawn watching him seconds before it launched itself at his face.

“Captain,” Rhyzo said in acknowledgement when he entered, his voice neutral with the slightest hint of a question in it. With a wary glance in Charlie’s direction, the pharmacologist pulled up a chair and sat down, awaiting the explanation for their sudden departure.

Sondra raised an eyebrow at the wounded man. "Sounds to me like your Captain is a might unpredictable. Could be dangerous, flying in a bird like this not knowing him so well." She hiked her bag up onto her shoulder, following the man in the direction that he waved her. She bit back a response about being shot plenty before as the headed towards their destination, her eyes taking in every corridor and passage, just in case things got ugly, as they tended to get real quick sometimes. Recognizing the ship as an old Firefly class, she smiled, finding herself a little more comfortable in her surroundings. She pulled her hood up over her head, casting her face in shadow as they walked- more out of an instinctual habit than anything else nowadays. She spoke to the man again, trying to sound friendly. "So, how do you like flying on a Firefly? It's personally one of my favorite ships."

Tyler finished making his coffee, made one for Rhyzo as he was reasonably sure the man took it, then scooped Charlie up and on to his shoulder before taking a seat at the table, pushing the extra drink towards his new medic as he sat.
Taking a tip of his own liquid bliss, of which he'd managed to get a particularly excellent blend while they'd been land-locked, Coolie smiled at both blond men before he caught sight of Merrion's tag along, to which he gave a slight manic chuckle and grinned broader. "Good news! We're off-planet and we're also now fugitives!"

"The Captain's a hard one to read, I find. Can be both good and bad, depending on the situation." Merrion said. Considering for a moment when asked about the ship, he gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Well, I can safely say it's the best ship I've ever served on."

Turning into the galley, Merrion glanced at the two men at the table, attempting to gauge the Captain's mood before saying anything. Not that he got much chance before Coolidge made his surprisingly cheerful announcement. "T-That's... um..." He stuttered, a bit dumbfounded by both the information and the casualness of it. Then he sighed and attempted to keep his tone, as well as the general mood of the place, relaxed. "...the story of my life, really. Merrion Kambel: Perpetual Fugitive." He said with a weak chuckle, silently wishing it wasn't quite so true.

Moving to the side a bit, Merrion gestured to the woman with him. "Anyway Cap'n, this is..." He trailed off, just then realizing he had no idea what her name was. Bullets, bodies, pain and panic had all been scrambling his thoughts too much earlier to allow an idea of an introduction to cross his mind. He switched gears from intro to explanation, hoping the shift wasn't too obvious. "...is someone that took an interest in me, followed me back to the ship and got herself caught up in our sudden departure."

Rhyzo muttered a word of thanks when the captain pushed the coffee towards him. He had a long sip of it. Ah, coffee… A much safer addiction than alcohol. A somewhat poor substitution, he found, but it was better than nothing and the bitterness of the beverage fulfilled at least a small part of the ever-present need for a good bottle of whiskey.

He took another sip and saw the mechanic enter the galley, along with a guest. He didn’t get much time to study the newcomer, turning a stare on the captain as he deadpanned the news of their newly acquired status as fugitives. So the Alliance hadn’t subdued the riots, and they hadn’t been cleared for take-off. Rhyzo felt the need for alcohol rise, and he moved his stare from the captain to the mechanic. Both men seemed eerily at peace with the situation, and so Rhyzo stuffed his thoughts on the consequences away for now, and employed sarcasm in an attempt to make things manageable for himself.

“Yes, well, I’m new to it. Perhaps you can give a few tips-…” he started in response to Merrion’s remark, but he stopped and frowned when he noticed the blood on the man’s right arm. “You’ve been living up to it, I see.”

Sondra followed the blonde into the galley, coming to a dead stop as she was confronted by two other men. Making sure to keep her face in the shadow of her hood, she watched them very carefully, especially the Captain, taking in his mood- which was bound to change very, very quickly. A quick glance around showed that it was just the three of them, and she stood silently in the background while they spoke, biding her time until attention was drawn to her. When it finally was, she sighed, lifting her head just enough to that her brown eyes sparkled in the bright light of the room. "'Ello, Ty."

In the amount of time that it took the words, the accent, and the voice to register in his brain, Tyler was still smiling and in a moderately good mood. The former infantry grunt demonstrated one of the reasons he'd survived the war, however, by that time being far too short.
Launching himself from his chair at such speed as to send Charlie yowling and flying in Rhyzo's direction, Coolie crossed the room and, unless intercepted by Merrion, whom he handily outweighed, would try to grab Sunnie by her jacket and haul her straight up into the overhead bulkhead, shouting a blistering stream on obscenities in bot Chinese and English as he tried to decide whether to use his knife or his gun on his ex-girlfriend.

Merrion glanced at his wound at Rhyzo's reply, but didn't really have time for one of his own. One glimpse of the Captain barreling his way after the stranger's greeting was enough to spur him into action. The action of getting himself well out of the way before he was most likely simply tossed or slammed out of it.

It wasn’t the captain’s reaction that startled Rhyzo, but the cat that came flying for him, claws extended in search for renewed grip. The creature’s landing was elegant and calculated, but Rhyzo was unable to admire it. He was preoccupied with the four sets of claws dug in his lap, and the coffee that had spilled over one of his hands when he jerked them away from his drink on reflex. The pharmacologist growled a muffled, inarticulate curse through gritted teeth, but made no other movement. He sat, frozen, until the cat casually walked off him and he could relax again, bringing one hand to his mouth to sip off the drops of coffee while rubbing the other hand over his upper leg to relieve the sting Charlie’s claws had left.

Sondra, having anticipated an outburst of some sort from the man, was ready when he launched himself towards her. She pivoted out of his way, moving herself across the room and putting the third male between herself and Tyler. "Now, Ty... there's no need for that." Holding up her hands, showing that she was unarmed. "I didn't aim to climb on your bird. I just wanted off this rock, same as you. I'da known she's yours, I'da picked any other ship in the 'Verse."