Blood on the Rocks [2430-1-2-Fri 1:00 am]

[Grace Forjacks]

The Queen of Spades came down through the atmo, rockets blasting intermittently as the ship let gravity take hold and drag the ship down. Grace sat at the controls, one eye on the controls and the other on the surroundings.

The volcanos around them radiated heat and an eerie red light that made it seem like the landscape had been dipped in blood. Grace picked a flat spot with good defence and set down there. The ship's AC went on and even still, she could feel the temperature slowly rising. Stepping outside would be like stepping straight into the mouth of hell.

Grace got on the comm, "Alright boys, here's the roles. Klove, Gnirmar, you two carry the cooler out. Castle, you follow as backup. I'll be up here working the guns in case anything goes wrong. Enan, stand by in the mess and be ready if we have casualties. Quillan, get a gun and cover Enan in case they breach the ship."

She snapped it back off and brought up the targeting system. There was an auto-target, and she'd even programmed it to aim at anything human-shaped without a pulse, but it had a nasty habit of obliterating corpses if someone was unlucky enough to die in the heat of battle. So Grace would be running it on manual today.

They were meeting with Christopher, who Grace had dealt with a few times before. He was alright, for a vampire. Claimed that he didn't have a thirst for humans, and that he and his men happily lived off packaged blood. Maybe it was true. But Grace still didn't trust him. So the blood went into a cooler rigged with a combination lock, and explosives. If the payment went through, they got the code to the cooler. If it didn't, they were stuck with a cooler programed to explode if opened improperly, or if the wrong code was given three times. She changed the combination every time for every cooler.

The current codes were sitting in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen so she could easily refer to them.

Grace waited for the boys to assemble themselves, and for the vamps to show up.

[Klove Makem]

Klove finished packing the cooler with blood and plastique as Grace made her announcement. He already had the drill down-pat, but the other guys were all new. They'd be pros at it by the time they made their last drop a couple of hours from now.

He stopped to admire his handywork. All the blood made him a little hungry, but he brushed it off. They'd have plenty of time to eat after this was all done. Klove brought the lid down and locked it into place. The keypadd powered up and it was all systems go.

Gnirmar showed up a few seconds later. He was probably the best dressed for the environment, wearing nothing but a loincloth and a shirt with the sleeves torn off of it. Klove dug out a bulletproof vest and tossed it to him, "Here, throw this on. Do you need a neck protector?" The goblin shook his head, snickering at the thought.

Klove made sure to grab one for Castle and made sure it was in his size. They were like short black kevlar scarves, wrapping around the neck and snapping into place. While they weren't a guarantee you wouldn't end up dead, it was still a good idea to wear one. That two seconds you gained as they tried to bite into your neck through the kevlar was often just enough time to get the gun up and to blow their heads off. Klove didn't wear one. He was meant to be bait.

He checked his gun. He had the so-called 'traq' gun today. Castle and Gnirmar were shooting incendiary rounds. Hopefully they'd walk back in carrying the same number of bullets they left with, but you did what you could.

[Enan Breese]

Enan listened carefully to Grace's words and got himself up, he knew this was coming, he was just glad he didn't have to go down. Nox was not exactly a safe place for a human, and he knew that well and he wasn't looking forward too seeing an aftermath of a vampire attack.

He sighed and grabbed the suit case, which was the only stuff he'd been able to take with him before entering the mess hall. At least it had some of his tools he'd need for basic operations. It was weird to think of the mess hall being used for any sort of hospital needs. The room was no where near equipped for it, but it would have to do. At least it had a table that could be used if needed. He obviously hoped it wouldn't come to it, but he got ready the best he could with what he had.

He kept a small hand gun in reach just in case. Though Quillan would be in the room, you never know when something could happen out of the blue.

[Jared Castle]

Castle had heard the announcement and went to the quarters. He picked his bag up and put it on top of his bunk. He opened it up and pulled out his Desert Eagle. He stuck it into the holster on his thigh. Then he took out an M-16. It took up most of the room of his bag. It was a good gun. He kept it secret the best he could for most of the time, but this occasion deserved this gun. As much as he preferred his Desert Eagle hand gun, he knew defending against vampires or even Weres would need heavier machinery.

He was given incendiary rounds to use in his M-16. He had never used incendiary bullets. He was looking forward to it. But he has used incendiary grenades, so he knew how they worked, and he was greatly looking forward to it. He badly wanted to shoot up a were and if need be some vampires. He met up with Klove and the goblin and he was given a bullet proof vst and neck cover. Never could be too careful with vamps.

Castle wondered how Klove would handle this situation. He's probably done this many times before. Jared was ready to go for his first time on Nox, or at least he thought he was ready.

[Grace Forjacks]

She didn't have to wait too long. From the north came Christopher and two of his men. They walked over at a reasonable pace. Once he was close enough to see the ship, he raised a hand and waved at her. Grace, never certain if he could see her or not, waved back. Nobody was to see her make a fool of herself if he couldn't see her.

Once they reached the designated spot, Grace opened up the storage bay and picked up the pad. She switched channels over to the earpiece in Klove's ears. "Here you go. Good luck kid." She didn't really need to wish him good luck, but it was better wished than not at all.

Grace picked up her eInkr and watched her bank account, waiting for the transfer.

[Klove Makem]

The storage bay opened up, ramp extending down to hit the black dirt. The smell of sulfur and ash swirled in around them. Klove took a deep breath of his homeworld's air and headed down the ramp with the goblin. Castle brought up the rear.

The vampires came into sight. Christopher waved at Klove and Klove gave him a wave back. Chris was alright for a vampire, or as alright as they came. He hadn't ever tried to kill Klove, always paid up, and was polite. He never felt the need to threaten to kill anybody.

"Long trip?"

"Not so bad." Klove replied back. He and Gnirmar set the crate down. "Been busy?"

"Only a bit." He brought up his own padd, one of the obsolete models most backwater planets had, "I'm sending the money now. What's your friend?"

Klove glanced at Gnirmar, who was picking his nose. "Goblin. They're from Heimdall."

Christopher winced a little, "Well, it's no great surprise he would leave. What a horrible sunny place" Just like a vampire. There was a pinging noise. "And there we are."

In his ear, he heard Grace whisper the code to him. "29528." Klove said as the group backed up and into the ship. "Later Chris."

The vampire's partners picked up the crate. As the ramp ascended, they could see the vampires entering the code. The cooler lid swung open and Chris pulled out a pack of blood. The ramp shut before they could see him dig in.

[Grace Forjacks]

The exchange went smooth, just like a well-oiled machine. Grace listened in the conversation, crosshairs across Christopher's forehead, just in case, and send down the code when needed. After that, all she had to do was bring the ramp up and wait until the vampires were away from the ship before turning the engine on.

She brought her baby up and over the plains, and moved on to the next meeting place. This was the one she wasn't too sure about. Grace knew where they were meeting well enough. It was a good place to defend, but she'd rather not defend it.

Grace hit the intercom. "Nicely done everyone. We're headed to the next destination now. Like I said before, if the shit is going to hit the fan, it'll hit it here. Stay on your guard."

She flicked it off and got her pistol out, checking the rounds. All full. Good.

The black glassy plane came into sight. Lava had spewed here for generations, maybe even centuries. There must have been a lake here once to cool the lava, before it all dried up, because there was nothing but black obsidian for a mile. Grace brought her ship to a landing in the middle of this. The ground here was pockmarked, good for gripping. The ground the vamps would be standing on, however, was slippery and lacking in traction.

She sat back and waited. There wasn't much they could do until the vampires showed up.

[Klove Makem]

Klove offered Castle and Gnirmar both high-fives. The goblin just stared at the hand, so Klove limited himself to offering a high-five to Castle. Then he got to work packing the next cooler with blood and plastique.

He could feel the ship land. Klove finished, locked the cooler up, and sat on it. He drummed his fingers on his thighs and waited for a heads-up.

[Jared Castle]

Castle walked slowly behind Klove and the Goblin. He could never remember it's name. He didn't care anyway. His M-16 was well gripped in his hands. Man, Nox sure is damn hot for a planet so far away from the sun. He thought. Then he thought it probably wasn't like this on the whole planet. If it was he wondered how anyone could live on such a boiling rock.

He looked at Christopher. He looked like a regular human being for the most part. He was a lot paler and had sharp fangs, but Castle had imagined them differently. Klove must have traded with him many times before because it seemed that they knew each other pretty well. Jared kept his intimidation face on the whole time they were out there.

Klove put his hand up for a high five. Jared hesitated. He didn't normally like to high five, but he liked Klove enough to trust him and call him a friend. That's what friends do, right? They high five each other a lot? He put his hand up and moved it forwards. It collided with Klove's in a slapping sound. Castle smiled and waited for further orders.

[Grace Forjacks]

They played the waiting game. And then, finally, the sensors beeped to let Grace know there was someone approaching. Five vamps were coming toward the ship. She frowned. While it wasn't unreasonable to bring four guards, two was the standard. And what was more, five was just enough to cause some real trouble.

But as far as they knew, the Queen of Spades was unarmed. She brought the crosshairs to bear on the biggest of the vamps, a fellow who looked like he'd eaten steroids by the handful during his life. Grace flicked on the direct line to Klove, "We've got five coming toward you. I've got my gun on the big fiker. If it goes bad, keep them from getting to the ship."

They were both aware that if they were going to try steal, it wouldn't be the blood, but the ship. With the ship came the ability to reach Terra, and unlimited meals. Grace could forgive many things, even a little petty theft, but she would sooner see her ship a pile of burning rubble than in any other creature's hands.

Grace lowered the ramp and kept her sights on the big fiker's forehead.

[Klove Makem]

Klove heard Grace's whisper and repeated it to the other two, "There's five vamps. Everybody, be ready." He got up off the cooler. Gnirmar grabbed his end. The ramp lowered and they stepped out.

When Klove had been younger, he used to come to the volcanic areas to be alone, but he had never dared step out into the Glass Sea. With no traction for your feet, you would be a sitting duck if any vampire decided to torture you to death. Here, the glass had been broken and melted again and again until it formed grips for feet. It was a narrow area, just slightly larger than the ship, and the perfect spot for a first meeting.

The vamps had the typical look and smell of something old and rotten, like attics shut tight for years. The leader had long hair and he was smiling. Klove instantly didn't like him. The vamp scanned the three, "Where's the woman? I spoke to a woman over the Network."

"Look up. She's in the cockpit." Klove replied. He could see them glance up to see her. Grace was likely looking down at them.

"I want to speak to her."

"Go ahead. She can hear you." Klove brought his free hand back to rest on his side, just below his gun.

"I prefer face to face conversations. They're much more... intimate." The vamp was really pissing Klove off now. And he was getting creepy.

"This is all you're getting. Make the payment, or we take the blood and sell it to someone who's not going to waste our time." It wasn't an idle threat. There were plenty of vampires who would pay for this.

The vampire put his hands up in an appeasing gesture, "Sorry. The money should arrive any moment. Can we see the merchandise?"

"You see it after the money's in."

"How can we be sure you're giving us blood?" The vampire took a step in. Castle raised his gun to point at the vamp's head and he kept his hands high, repeating the appeasing gesture.

"Christopher vouched. If that's not good enough for you, then the deal's off."

The vampire nodded. "This is a fair point. But the deal is still on. We've send money to you."

"It's still not in." Grace said, an electronic whisper, "Fik it. Get on board."

Klove opened his mouth, about to tell the vampires that they were out of luck, when he heard a noise behind him. He dropped his end of the cooler and whipped around, yanking his pistol out. Two vampires must have been lying in wait, and one was going straight for Castle. The other was going for the ship. Klove shot the one going into the ship, nailing him with darts as he tried to get up the ramp, sure that Castle could take care of himself.

Grace must have opened fire because he could hear bullets hitting skull behind him. And then the lead vampire was there, grabbing onto Klove's shoulders and biting into his neck. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't the first time, and Klove knew it was about to hurt the vampire even more than he could have imagined. Two seconds later, he was pulling his mouth back, howling in pain. Klove ignored the dull throb in his shoulder and shot the vampire in the face, one dark nailing him in the eye. He howled and hit the ground.

Incendiary rounds flew around him as both Gnirmar and Castle fire. Gnirmar had three of them on him, and Klove threw himself into the fight, knocking one away. He got a stake out of the inside of his jacket and jammed it into the vampire's ribcage. The vamp screamed, and Klove yanked it out, slamming it in again and getting heart this time.

[Jared Castle]

Castle nodded as Klove informed them of the five new vampires coming. He took the clip out of his gun just to check if it was full, then stuck it back into the gun, loading it. Castle got a little nervous as tensions between Klove and the vampires grew. When the hole, 'you show me, I'll show you' thing began happening, he knew it wasn't going to turn out well.

Then one began to walk closer. Jared raised his gun and aimed it for his head to make him stop in his tracks. Jared loved heving the upper hand in a standoff. Suddenly, Klove spun around, gun in hand and aimed at something behind him. Castle looked and saw that there were more Vampires going for the ship and one was coming for him. How did he notice them? Castle thought. He hadn't heard him coming. He raised his gun and fired at the vampires that approached him. The incendiary rounds burst as they hit the Vampire's body, burning them a lot more than they would a human. Finally the Vampire went down after some shots to the head. He hoped it was dead. Even for something that should have been a weakness of theirs took a while to kill them.

Castle turned around and noticed the Vampire biting Klove. Castle's eyes went wide as he froze. Klove didn't seem to care much at all. There was something odd about Klove that was was keeping secret. But that didn't mater right now. Castle held the M-16 in one arm and pulled his Desert Eagle Pistol out and held in his left hand. It didn't have incendiary rounds but it would slow them down before they got to him.

Castle let out a battle cry as bullets flew in almost every direction.

[Klove Makem]

Klove coughed as the vampire turned the dust, billowing out and getting into his face. He could see a few others coming up the hill through his squinting eyes, and then Castled started yelling, and bullets without the usual zip of incendiary in them went shooting overhead.

"Castle, no!" He tired to yell to him. Those bullets were worthless. You might get a vamp in the head and slow them down for a few seconds, but they could still come at you and they would keep coming until they were on fire, or their hearts was gone.

Gnirmar was down, vamps making short work of his ribcage. Klove stayed low and brought the tranq gun up, hitting both vampires in the neck. They came at him, but a combination of bullets and tranq helped keep them at bay until they collapsed. Then Klove crawled over to Gnirmar's dropped gun.

Above them was the rattle of Grace's guns, and the streaks of white the bullets left as they rattles out of the gun. Short concentrated bursts dealt with the vampires coming from the front, which mean Klove had to deal with those coming from the back. He headed to the back of the shuttled, still ducking, and too up point. There were fewer coming this way, a blessing since Gnirmar's gun was half-empty. He fired at every moving point and was rewarded by fires as his bullets hit home and started burning the vampires alive.

Finally, there were no more. Four vamps lay intact but subdued. The rest were dead, or had the good sense to have turned tail and run. Klove touched his neck and found it was bleeding pretty hard. "Fik." He muttered, keeping a hand on it. He'd probably just ruined this shirt.

But it could have been worse. He could have been Gnirmar, whose insides had become outsides. It was pretty clear that no amount of medical attention was going to save the goblin. And this is why you never paid up-front.

There was the sound of boots on steel, and a growl of "What the fik?" Klove walked back around to see Grace coming down the ramp. But that wasn't quite right. It wasn't Grace. It was the Bitch, and was pissed. And Klove was very glad he'd managed to tag four vamps because otherwise it would have been very unpleasant for him and Castle.

"Ambush." He croaked out, "But that's him lying right there, with the darts in his face."

[Grace Forjacks]

When the firing started, Grace reacted the way she always had: by blowing off the head of the asshole right in her crosshairs. And before she could swing the guns down lower to the firefight happening right below he, she saw other vampires coming out of their hiding spots.

What had originally given them an advantage was quickly becoming a disadvantage. It was almost impossible to pick out the vampires against the black rocks. Only when they move did they become targets. Grace switched one gun over to auto-targeting, telling it to only hit dead things that were moving, and kept going with the other gun, picking off anything that was coming too close. Both guns blazing, she managed to get rid of those heading toward the front, and hoped Klove was doing his job and keeping the bloodsuckers from coming up the back.

But nothing breached the ship and no alarms went off to let her know she should prepare for the worse. And when the automatic gun whirled down, she got to her feet and headed down. She took the long route, yelling into the mess hall, "Follow me!" and heading out onto the ground.

First thing she saw coming down the ramp was Castle, still standing, and then Gnirmar's guts all over the place. "What the fik?" she demanded, wanting to know how it had gotten this bad this fast.

Klove came around the side of the ramp. He was clutching his neck, thick red bloodstain down his shirt, but he was alert enough to immediately respond when said asked "Ambush. But that's him lying right there, with the darts in his face."

Grace stepped over. Four bodies were lying on the ground. Two were completely out, but two were still partly conscious. The idiot with darts in his eyes was awake and moaning in pain. Grace put a boot on his face, stepping down on the darts and listening to him howl. "Get patched up." She told Klove and Castle, then walked back into the ship.

It took her a moment to find what she needed, locked away in the storage bay. She checked to make sure it was full of fuel, and then carried the chainsaw down the ramp.

[Jared Castle]

Castle heard Klove yell and wondered what he said 'no' for. Must have been his other gun with the regular rounds in it. He Shot the incendiary rounds and hit one vampire in the leg which tripped him. Then he began shooting the downed vampire with both guns. He left the vamp in a gory mess as he moved on to the next vampire.

Once the shootout was over Castle looked over at the goblin. He was dead and Castle didn't care all that much. He never liked the thing anyway. Castle noticed the few Vampires running away and he shot at them, missing every time. He liked it when they ran, like cowards.

Grace came out and was 100% pissed. She came over and stepped on the needles in the lead vampire's face who was still alive. After Grace told them to patch up, Jared remembered how the vampire had bitten Klove. He peered at Klove who's shirt was filled with blood. That definitely did not look good. Suddenly Grace came out of the ship with a chainsaw. Castles eyes became wider. What the fik is she doing with that?