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Post by Grace Forjacks on Sept 22, 2009 1:15:44 GMT -6
The stately estates of the vampires were unlike anything on any world. Grace had seen pictures of human houses, before the megasprawl had taken the whole planet, back when the population was below five billion and plants grew in the wild. They had an eerie look to them, ancient and decaying, and unchanging. It suited the pale corpses that lived in them.
The ship touched down in the meeting spot. It was dangerously close to the homes, but Grace had been there before. Malcolm and Grace had met twice with very few problems. He did have a unruly following of vampires who liked to come near and stare at them, but they hadn't been an issue. Yet.
But with a dead crew member and a wounded first-mate, was time to show her teeth and make sure they all understood that fiking with Grace Forjacks was a deathwish of the highest order. She set the guns to auto-targeting and then typed in the self-destruct code. As long as Enan sat in the cockpit and looked threatening, they would have no idea that the guns had to be triggered by Grace before they worked. She had a feeling he would deliver when she needed him too, even if his grin was more boyish than malicious.
She headed down the stairs. Klove had changed into a shirt not covered in blood and set Quillan up with the detonators for the coolers. The vampire was safely in a garbage bag. He was starting to wake up and wiggle around. That was good. Losing your limbs was horrifying as-is, but putting him in a bag helped make it creepier and much more unsettling. It was the way they squirmed across the floor that really sold it. They'd left the other two at the last drop-off point after Grace decided it would be too difficult to drag them and the coolers out. Right now they were lying on the black glass, dangerously close to the funeral pyre they'd made for Gnirmar. A few stray sparks and they'd go up in flames. If they were smart, they'd inch closer the second they woke up and go out in flames, instead of finding out if they could starve.
Grace unzipped her jacket and picked up the vampire. "I'll go down, talk to Malcolm. You bring the coolers when I signal for them. Stay in the mouth of the ship and cover me until then." She nodded to Klove. He opened the ramp.
She was standing on the end of it, and as it sunk down, she sunk down with it, the world sliding into view. There were already a few vampires waiting. Malcolm was there, and the rest kept back. Grace wasn't sure what his position was. Some sort of clan leader maybe. Or just the most powerful. He kept them in line, and that's what mattered.
"Hello Grace." He called out to her. "Good to see you."
"Malcolm." She tossed the garbage bag off the ramp and at his feet. "Sorry I'm late. I came across some trash I had to take care of."
On cue, the bag squirmed. The vampires all stepped back. Malcolm looked at her, then carefully bent down. He opened the top of the bag and peered inside. Something flickered across his face. Disgust, probably. Maybe a little fear, though she doubted he'd show that so easily. "I see you met Joshua."
"Is that his name? We didn't get a chance to exchange pleasantries. But there's good news for you and your friends." She gestured to the vampires, jacket sliding back to show off the gun she was carrying, "I've got an extra cooler of blood for anybody who has some money lying around. You've got first crack at it Malcolm. Just $150,000 credits and you'll have fresh, pure human blood. All flavours. Enough to feed you for months." Only on Nox would it be possible to ask that much for anything. But it wasn't as if they had anything else to spend the money on. And when your kitchen was made of marble and gold, but you sucked every meal dry, there wasn't any reason why you wouldn't just sell the countertops to buy a few packages of real human blood.
"One is enough for me." Malcolm declined. Grace wasn't too surprised. Too much blood and it would go bad before you could eat it. The cooler was enough to keep Malcolm fit and full, and enough to let him sell off a few to recoup his costs.
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Post by Eli Wellington on Sept 25, 2009 0:01:02 GMT -6
Eli always grew antsy during blood deals. As much as he hated the idea of the cold nasty bagged stuff, if it was all there was to drink, and it was right there for the taking, it took everything in him not to just go for it and screw the humans inbetween. (And either translation of the word would work for him, really.)
Not to mention the idea of his way off the planet landing so close to their houses, just out of reach. He wondered if he could even get on one of those ships without being asked. Were they considered homes or vehicles? Both, perhaps?
At any rate, he found himself standing nearby as Malcolm waited to deal with the human, watching the ship land. It was a weird one... round like a plate, unlike the usual longer shape that seemed far more common. Sleek though. Eli liked that about it, at least. Even if it looked worn and old, at least it wasn't jagged and square and ugly.
Speaking of not ugly, he noted the hunk sitting up in the cockpit, peering out of the window all broody-like. He watched with interest as the ramp opened at the captain showed herself. Pretty and mean looking. Eli licked his lips, feeling all sorts of tingly and hungry at the same time. Well, until she tossed a garbage bag onto the ground and it wiggled around.
Eli couldn't help but feel a little worried as he watched Malcolm peek into the bag. His curiosity grew when the other vampire spoke up. "I see you met Joshua." Joshua, Eli thought. Now that vamp was a piece of work.
...and apparently now in pieces.
Eli liked this woman even more already. He only assumed Joshua had tried to pull what Eli itched to. Only Joshua had been stupid enough to actually attempt it instead of just think about it. But was the deal for the extra case of blood worth it, Eli wondered. Prey was rare on Nox, and money wasn't. At least not for the vampires. With the native humans long gone, and the Weres who tended use a more primal trade system, the Vampires' wealth had sat for hundreds of years without much use until the Humans arrived.
Only, very few Humans dared to do business with Vampires, and Joshua was a very good example why.
Needless to say, Eli had the wealth. But did he really want the blood? The cold, dead, boring blood that would make him look weak in front of the others if he gave in to purchase it? The growl in his stomach said yes, despite his pride and desire for a challenge saying no.
"Got any spare crew members instead?" Eli wondered out loud.
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Post by Grace Forjacks on Sept 25, 2009 0:26:36 GMT -6
The pretty vamp beside Malcolm spoke up. Grace hadn't seen him before, but she didn't pay too much attention to vampires, other than to note if they were getting too close for comfort. These ones were all staying their distance. Death was one thing. Being undead without limbs? Yeah, that was something you didn't want to risk.
"Sorry kid." She said, arms tucked into her pockets, weapon within each reach. "But I tell you what. You place an order next time, I'll see if I can find you something warm and breathing."
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Post by Genevieve La Marr on Sept 25, 2009 22:54:00 GMT -6
Genevieve sat and watched from up on the balcony as the ship came to a slow stop. If they weren't here for a typical blood drop she'd be down there in an instant. But she knew this was a deal that wasn't to be messed around with. Most of the humans who did these drops were experienced in dealing with vampires and were not to be taken lightly. So she stayed out of he way.
So, Joshua got chopped up? Served him right. He was worthless anyway, so it wasn't a big loss. He never really used his brain much and it was only a matter of time before he did something stupid of this caliber.
The only way she would head down was if something started to go down. If her kind needed her, she'd be there in a heart beat. Otherwise she knew she'd get a share so why interfere?
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Post by Eli Wellington on Sept 27, 2009 0:17:04 GMT -6
He almost made a crack about her calling him a kid--though some who were thousands of years old might take it as a compliment--but he was too busy simply grinning at her, impressed. Yes, he definitely liked this one. Most Humans would have simply told him off. Or, you know, he'd already be sucking on their neck by then.
He scanned over the cooler once more. It was a decent deal, he supposed. But still, the idea of drinking that stuff just pissed him off royally. No, he wasn't going to give in until he knew there was no prey left on the planet for him to take down himself.
He smirked again, glancing back at Grace. "Maybe we'll talk at a later date."
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Post by Grace Forjacks on Sept 27, 2009 0:47:23 GMT -6
She thought she had him hooked for a moment, but he backed down. Looked like he wanted something fresher. Grace didn't usually bring live prisoners, if only because you had to worry about a mutiny. But she could think of a few dozen people she wouldn't mind throwing to this particular wolf.
"Malcolm's got my info." Grace met his eyes, and winked at him. She turned her attention to the rest of the crowd. "Last chance, or I'm taking it with me and spitting it out the airlock once I break atmo."
The idea of that much blood wasted managed to get one of the vamps moving. A female stepped forward, speaking to Malcolm in low tones. Grace couldn't make out the words, but she was fairly sure she was asking Malcolm to cover the cost for her and she would pay him back. Most of them didn't have access to the necessary technology. But that's what happened when you killed every human who wasn't armed to the teeth. You didn't get all the wonderful technological goodies.
Discussion over, Malcolm looked back at Grace, "I'm sending you payment for both containers." He pulled out a padd and transfered the credits.
Grace nodded, and waited for the sound she needed to hear. Her eInkr beeped twice, and she walked backwards up the ramp, "Alright. Klove, Castle?" Once they put the crates out, she'd send the codes directly to Malcolm's padd instead of calling them out. She trusted Malcolm, but the rest of those savages out there? Not so much.
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Post by Klove Makem on Sept 27, 2009 0:59:49 GMT -6
That was his cue. Klove picked up his container and brought it down the ramp, glaring out at the crowd of vampires with a barely constrained hatred. Fiking bloodsuckers. He would have been happy to shoot 'em and stake the survivors, but they couldn't afford to do that. The entire point of blood runs was to make enough money to pay for fuel and time spent doing things that were fun, but not exactly guaranteed to make money.
Klove set set the cooler down in front of Malcolm. The vampire inclined his head toward Klove in what was probably meant to be a friendly gesture. Klove gave a brief nod back. Be cool, he reminded himself, even as all the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He could handled smaller crowds, but the bigger packs always reminded him of the first day, the first landing.
He kept a hand on his gun, waiting for Castle to finish setting his cooler down so they could get up the ramp and out before someone started making catcalls.
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Post by Eli Wellington on Sept 27, 2009 18:06:24 GMT -6
Eli watched with interest as two men carried the coolers of blood down the ramp. No. One man and a boy, really. Eli sniffed the air, and he knew in an instant that the younger one was a were. The smell of cat was all over the place at once. And interestingly enough, his neck was bandaged up. Which idiot Vamp of Joshua's tried that? he wondered as he scanned the young man some more, a smirk coming across his face. He certainly wouldn't mind giving that one a few other kinds of bites, though, that's for sure.
So, Grace traveled with a Were. This was an interesting development. She certainly wasn't wary of the inhabitants of Nox like so many Humans tended to be, even though she had every right to be. She had guts, and that impressed Eli, enough that she didn't look so much like a meal to him anymore. Suddenly she was... opportunity.
Yes, he would definitely talk to her at a later date. He just needed to figure out a plan...
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Post by quillan on Sept 27, 2009 19:50:29 GMT -6
Thomas leaned against a wall with his hands shoved in his coat pocket humming an old song he once heard in a picture on Terra.
The day hadn't been terribly exciting despite the sounds of chainsaws and a few yelps of pain now and again.
He imagined if he were to be in the cargo bay two things could have happened:
Situation A) A large catastrophe involving witty remarks and an interesting use of the phrase "Dont burst a vessel!"
Situation B) A slightly smaller catastrophe with a few more elephant costumes.
Regardless, it was not every day that someone wanted a gun in Quillan's hands.
Quillan quickly took a moment to ponder the idea of elephants on Nox but placed it to the side as he tried to listen for any trouble down below.
Lots of shouting but no terror just yet.
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Post by Jared Castle on Sept 28, 2009 18:13:32 GMT -6
Castle watched the ramp lower. He saw a lot more vampires than the last encounter. Hopefully the same thing wouldn't occur because if it did, Castle wasn't sure if he'd be able to survive with this number of vamps. The one vampire that Castle was sure was Malcolm stood in the center speaking to grace. There was a girly looking vamp beside Malcolm who was eying them.
Castle waited for Klove to bring down his cooler and then castle followed suit. The girly vampire looked at him then began to study Klove. He returned to the mouth of the ship after Klove.
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Post by Benjamin Grey on Sept 28, 2009 18:28:06 GMT -6
Ben walked out onto the balcony that Genevieve was standing on. Ben was starving. He really wanted some blood, badly. He'd rather rip apart a human and drink it's delicious blood rather than get it secondhand in bags. He badly wanted to just go over and rip the head off of the woman and the other humans from that ship, but he knew that would be a dumb move because those humans looked tough and resourceful. Considering what they did to Joshua.
He spit down off of the balcony and unintentionally hit another vampire's head down below. The vampire looked up and shouted some sort of profanity. Ben ignore it. "So, Eli's finally fallen to their level. Shamelessly being fed from the hands of humans rather than doing it they way they we were meant to."
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Post by Klove Makem on Sept 28, 2009 18:38:48 GMT -6
One of the vampires was actually staring at Klove. Klove did his best to pretend he didn't notice. You couldn't win with them. Either they'd threaten to kill you, or they'd start trying to first and Klove was not okay with either option.
With Castle back, Klove walked back up the ship's ramp, eyes on the crowd. The ramp raised up as he got halfway up it. Grace's handywork. It slammed shut. Grace quickly headed out and up to the cockpit while Klove kept his hand over his gun, waiting just in case some idiot tried to get into the ship.
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Post by Grace Forjacks on Sept 28, 2009 18:45:39 GMT -6
The trade went exactly as planned. The coolers went out, and Klove and Castle came back in. Grace raised the ramp and just before it closed completely, she sent out the codes for the coolers. Then she was off like a shot, up the stairs.
Grace startled Quillan in the hallway. He fumbled with the triggers, and she caught them before he could accidentally set off an explosion. Then she was up the stairs and into the cockpit.
Enan looked up as she popped the panel off and hit the transparent switch. Before he could get up, she just sat herself down in his lap, fired up the engines, and took off. The ship banked sharply to the left, scattering the crowd. Grace laughed, feeling on top of the world, and pushed the steeling column up, ship heading high up into the air. She set a course to the spaceport and triggered the autopilot.
Then she turned her attention back to Enan, shifting so her legs were hanging over one side of the chair, "So, how do you like being morally ambiguous and badass?"
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Post by Enan Breese on Sept 28, 2009 21:08:41 GMT -6
Through the whole exchange he watched carefully at the crowd of vampires that were standing around and waiting. There were quite a few of them and when the whole thing was over he was glad that everything had gone smoothly. If this many vampires had attacked he was pretty sure they'd be done for.
Once done Grace had been so quick to hop her way back up to the cockpit that he barley had time to realize that she was there before she had hit the clear button and found a place on his lap. He couldn't help but smirk at her question, "Pretty good actually." Even though all he did was watch, he still had a part in slight intimidation.
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Post by Grace Forjacks on Sept 28, 2009 21:42:57 GMT -6
Grace grinned at him, much in the way a shark grins when it smells blood in the water. Losing a crew member was always irritating to Grace, but being as he had been an unexpected addition, she didn't mind the loss. And she could always send Klove off to fetch another one.
The sun was coming up on the horizon, much quicker than it normally would have. But they were moving toward it, and before long the wonderful sun was poking it's head out. It was dim here, but it was still sunlight.
"Isn't it a good thing I kidnapped you?" She signalled the spaceport. An automated response came back listing the nearest open bay in the docks. "I'm going to have to calculate everyone's shares so they can go out and paint the town red before we head to Glacies."
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