The days that followed the confrontation with Daikang Longdong were tense but grew better. They disposed of the body of the scraver they executed, they attended to the safety of the work crew and they legitimately had some expertise at mountain survival that made the stay up in the mountains much more comfortable. The Daikang took up their own camp in a separate storage room in the hangar bay, there was always one on watch and always one on patrol. Ian was absorbed in the potential cost of this gamble, finding himself doubting his earlier zeal now that blood and been spilled and frozen to the floor. Sakura was struggling keeping her polite composure dealing with the disrespectful Diakang. Kira was coldly calculating how best poison the Daikang, they weren't offering much for the cost of keeping them and they were sure to turn on her and Ian when they'd rather they not. Worse still was the crawling progress of any repairs on ship's systems without power.
Word came back that the Senior Engineer Hume had referred them to was excited to examine the power plant and was arriving the following day. Ian decided it would be best to take Sakura and get her out to Carllion to take care of some business. Kira politely asked to come along. Ian knocked on a few Guild Counters to see about help with the financing but even his own guild was unwilling to advance him funds without taking a share in the ship. They purchase the rice and heating oil they bargained for with the Diakang as well as a few other necessities, Kira invested in some new glassware and condensing agents for making poisons and some Blue Camiya beans, a local flora that when overcooked made people who at it dangerously sick. Both Ian and Kira discovered that guild-fees from their recent clandestine work had caused a recalculation and both of them had promoted to full vested work within the guild. It didn't mean a great deal in Firebirds but there were a lot of nice benefits, like not having to pay to have the laundry they brought with them washed in the guild barracks.
They met Crafter Uther Letch on the landing pad when his flitter came into Carllion. He was a pleasant but unattractive old man. He naturally began ordering Kira around to carry his things and answer his questions about the ship and it's locaiton. And stranger still Kira went along with it, recognizing and respecting the man's power within the Guild.
They stopped back in Lawton to check on a few things and Kira made a distillation of a Ricin-like poison out of the Camiya. They hurried back to the mountain and as they set down and were unloading the skimmer Kira poured the Ricin impregnated in an oil into the rice being given to the Daikang. She instantly realized how sloppy of an idea this was as she watched Scravers loading the heavy rice bags dripping with poison down into the hangar bay with bare hands.
Letch was very excited to see the Starship but troubled by it's condition. He donned a filter mask and went in to analyze the power plant of the ship. Everyone else set about preparing for the long night. Letch slept briefly and continued his work. Time away didn't make things more comfortable for Sakura and she found herself in constant stand-offs with the Daikang. Everyone was on edge with a feeling that someone was watching them and Ian had to admit he had a crawling sensation in his skin since he returned.
Ian set out to look around Tikal Village just to settle his anxiety and Kira not wanting to be bossed around by Crafter Letch. Kira noticed a pair of the Diakang guards were following them some ways back. She wasn't sure what to think about that. While out and about they spotted a girl in white watching them, very obviously trying to stay hidden in the snowy streets. They both gave chase, determined to find out who was spying on them. However, their zeal led them directly into a trap as the girl ran into a box courtyard and a massive armored Vorox bearing Muster livery stepped quietly out from under the eaves of the building behind them. The girl in white drew a pistol and said in a soft voice "Ian Corruthers, We have a warrant for your arrest for trafficking in illicit technologies, Don't resist..". Kira smiles blushingly at the big alien and held out her hand to shake his. The Vorrox's massive eyes smiled from under the visor of his duraplast knight's helm causing Kira's stomach to knot.
Ian, of course, resisted. He quickdrawed his pistol and took aim on the girl. He simultaniously was hit in the back by an energy weapon fired from inside one of the ruined mountain shacks in the village and there was an explosion of birds rising up into the sky as he felt a sensation not unlike someone crushing his brain with their thumb, suddenly his mind was filled with the idea that now would be a good time to lay down arms and not get anyone hurt... fuck that. The big 4-armed alien tightened his grip on Kira's hand as she started to pull away and he warned her "Don't..". Ian fired on the girl in white and charged at her. He felt another blast from that energy weapon hit his skull and he felt surging pain in his skull, staggering in his charge but not falling unconscious. The girl in white pulled a gun but Ian grabbed hold of her and wrung her around to use as a shield. Kira wrestled with the Vorox, loosing leverage and being put down into the snow while he casually drew a splinter rifle and put a pair of drugged spikes through Ian's synthsylk. Ian shoved his pistol into the psychic's throat and struggled to keep his footing as he felt the drugs sapping his strength and the aching pain from the stunner swooning him. From inside the building they could hear a voice shout "Witch, don't do it.. we need him alive.. Don't you fucking do it! Fuck Jimmy grab him before he pops!". The big Vorox just hurled Kira away into a snow bank, dropped to all fours and charged Ian and the psychic girl shouting "I'm on it.." Ian saw the huge alien coming at him and just winced and threw the girl at him, but they were both slammed under the big beast. After a quick struggle the girl was ejected from between them by hands Ian couldn't' even see and he was utterly pinned by the Jimmy the Vorox's 6 arms. Kira got to her feet and got out her gun, putting three rounds into the Vorox's back but it wasn't enough to punch through his armor. Another shot came out of the darkened shack, this time striking Kira's synthsilk mittens, it stung but not badly. She took aim on the Vorox, walking towards him as a figure in black burst out of the shack and grabbed hold of her and twisted the riproarer from her hand before she could fire. He turned and shouted at the Vorox "Jimmy, we're shutting it down, pack up and run..". Ian pulled his arms loose from the Vorox's hold and grabbed the beasts neck, wrenching it hard but not as hard as the huge alien's corded neck muscles. Still Jimmy the Vorox was not pleased, staring at Ian wide-eyed. He dropped the fusing grenades he had clutched in his big hands and began pummeling Ian's pinned body.
The grenades under Ian's arms exploded in huge plumes of gas and just like that the mighty Vorrox released him and vanished into the white cloud. Ian clutched his breath mask and tried to fight his way onto his feet and find his pistol in the snow. Kira and the man in black were also overtaken by the cloud. She quickly snatched the weapon he had sheathed on his belt but wasn't expecting the wobbly shaft of a frap stick and her attempt to strike him went-wild. The man in black yanked her breathmask down and ran followed by something huge lumbering through the cloud of gas. Kira had to slow down to fix her mask but instead of giving chase she went deeper into the cloud shouting for Ian.
They found each other by yelling out and lead each other out of the cloud and found the two Daikang soldiers waiting just outside of the gas to lead them out. Ian could see the Vorrox in the neighborhood below hurrying towards the mountain gate out of the village. He drew is vibrosword and handed his revolver off to Kira "If they make it to the gate we won't know what they'll come at us with next. One of the Daikang soldiers tried to point out the stupidity of charging after trained Ashtati while wounded but Ian and Kira were already pushing past him. Ian charged after the Vorrox carrying the psychic girl and Kira bounded over an disused animal pen trying to find a shortcut.
Kira came around the corner quickly on the man in black, she recovered quickly and drew and fired her gun, hitting him twice in the face at point blank range before he could get a weapon out and then the smoke grenade he had just dropped went off, losing her in a cloud of dark blue smoke. Ian rounded two village homes in the twisting streets and lost sight of the Vorox, even knowing where he was going he knew he was losing ground on the galloping alien. He turned back to go help Kira.
As the smoke cleared Kira was safe and the man in black was very dead. The two of them walked back to the town gates and looked down the winding trail to see the Vorox just a hundred or so meters down. Ian contemplated giving chase, the icy path was treacherous and there was a good chance they could kill the Vorox with a fall. But then he caught sight of the psychic staring back up at him, he said "This isn't over, you're going to pay for murdering Bagger you slag." to no one in particular and then before he could catch himself he lobbed his still-running vibrosaber over the mountain, watching it tumble until it caught in a crag. The psychic on the Vorrox's back flipped him off with both hands as she was carried down the path. Ian was pretty sure aiming a gun at the duo would be much more dangerous. He retreated with Kira and the Daikang Soldiers.
Back in the hanger bay Mistress Aiko plucked the drugged needles out of Ian's back and let him sleep off the beating he took. Kira checked in on Hume and Crafter Letch who were oblivious to the chaos that had the rest of the camp going mad. Hume said that they were making progress diagnosing the drive but that the Crafter wasn't happy to be working in such a toxic environment so Kira had the Scravers concentrate on clearing the fungus that was growing in engineering out. While Crafter Letch slept, Kira slipped away with his think machine and cracked his password, a skill taught to her by her handlers in The Eye. She looked over his personal files for any signs of malice and found none, but she did find a truely massive archive of porn. Most of the shots looked like they were taken by the same person all of the women in various states of debauchery were cybernetically modified, an idea that unsettled her.
Later that night Ian and Kira found out that two of the Scravers and one of the Daikang soldiers were too sick to eat. Crafter Letch emerged from the ship and stripped off his protective gear and held a meeting in Sakura's quarters for the ship owners. He described the state of the plant as "Encouraging" that one of the catalizers for their fusion plant was shot but since the generator was duel-core it could run at half-power with very little work. The other would have to have it's catalizer completely rebuilt and the entire cost of the work would be just under 12,000 Fb. If they have the means to repair the plant he would begin work immediately or if they don't he would agree to be a 10% share holder in the ship in exchange for the repairs of the power planet, but due-paying work would have to take precedent. He told them he understood it was a large decision and he would be another day evaluating the drives and forming a parts list before he departs, they have until then to talk it over. Oddly Ian and Lady Sakura agreed that it was too much to sacrifice for drive, but Kira and Aiko believed that there was no sacrifice until the ship is working.
The following day half of the camp was showing signs of some kind of toxin and Kira was very nervous about the poisoned rice. Genin Fox finally came to Lady Sakura and explained that her people were going to have to go back to town for medical care. Kira wasn't feeling well but after sleeping on it she noticed that those that got ill the quickest were those with the longest exposure to the ship. She suspected the fungus growing in the ship was toxic. She suited up and got samples of the blue glowing fungus and went back to town with the others who were getting sicker. Ian who had spent very little time in the ship, met with Crafter Letch and Sakura. After looking over a complete estimation of parts Sakura began to waiver under the costs and they decided to take Crafter Letch's offer to carry the expense of repairing the power plant of the ship for a 10% share in the vessel.
Back in Lawton, Kira worked on samples of the fungus with her limited tools and deteriorating health. She found that the spores from the fungus were fatally toxic in larger doses but even a brief exposure can cause a fungal infection that spreads. The fungus was delicate enough and could be eradicated from the system with a mild dose of a modification of the Ricin poison she had distilled to kill the Daikang Longdong, but more-so the ship could be easily cleaned of the fungus with an airborne version of the anti-fungal poison. She tried the poison cure on herself first and when she didn't croak she replicated the cure and brought it to the Scravers.
The next day the Scravers were vomiting up black crud but their health was improving. Ian and Sakura came to collect Kira and fly Crafter Letch back to Carllion to catch his flight back to the Engineer's research enclave. They stopped at the Reeves and modified their claim to give Letch 10% of the ship and he had the Engineer's guild pack parts of the fusion Generator to come back to the enclave with him. While boxing up the parts he brought along with him he talked with Kira and offered her a an opportunity to apprentice at the enclave to learn how to make advanced fusion generators. As much as she felt the gravity of the offer she asked for a day to think about it. She respected Letch, but not in a way that made her want to be alone with the man. Ian took advantage of the time waiting in Carllion to stop at the Scraver's guild and send word to Boss Harmon that he wanted to meet.
With Letch on his flight home, the three of them flew back to check on the ship and found the Scravers back at camp and looking much better. They were unloading supplies and getting the campsite operational again. As Kira came in they called her into the Scravers tent and gave her a cake, at first she was nervous and not sure if this was some sort of clumsy poisoning attempt but the guildsmen were genuinely appreciative that she saved them from fungal poisoning and wanted to show their gratitude so they all pitched in. Later as Kira ate cake in Lady Sakura's tent with Ian she brought up Letch's offer and everyone agreed it was likely too good of a deal to not take advantage of, and Ian mentioned it would give her eyes on Letch until the power plant was repaired.
The Next afternoon Genin Fox came to Ian to tell him that word had been passed back to her through the guild that Boss Harmon wanted to meet him that night for the last showing at the Grand Royale. He and Kira quickly made excuses, hopped in the skimmer and took flight across the ocean. They set down in Avalonia and raced to the theater, paying for tickets and taking their seats. About halfway through the show Boss Harmon walked in and took a seat next to Ian while the show ran. The two of them talked about the possibility of negotiating funding while Kira kept a nervous watch out for a double-cross. Harmon said he has a lot of work for a non-Scraver without reservations and he has connections at some of the biggest scrapyards on the planet. He was in a unique position to deliver exactly what Ian wanted. He complimented Ian for taking a shit deal like a pro, it showed character and Harmon admired that. He told them that his man Maeve would be in touch about jobs and then he Scraver Boss faded out of sight, just another hologram projected by the theater.
The two flew back to Tikal's Mountain hangar talking about the risk and reward of working for Harmon but ultimately it came down to there being nobody else right now paying them. They set down and Kira packed her bags. Ian flew her to Carllion. She contacted Crafter Letch to tell him she was accepting his offer. Five hours of sleeping in the skimmer later Ian got her on her early morning flight and she left for the Advanced Power Research Facility in Acadia.
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