"Lowdown"

[LeftEar JoNs 0]

Note: this is a supplemental character log following "A Blade Reforged" written by Cptn Irae Varen.

03.28.09

ISS Excalibur NCC-2004 C

"Lowdown”

MVess “Left Ear” JoNs, commander of the Caitian mercenary ship CSS Dark Fury, stood in the center of an open warehouse. The openness and feeling of vulnerability caused her feline instincts to go absolutely nuts, but with an effort she pushed down the feeling and concentrated on the business at hand.

 

The cargo runner was meeting with a scruffy looking human and his crew in order to complete an exchange job. JoNs had brought the supplies -- clothing, rations, civilian data padds, and no weapons -- and the human was taking possession of the said supplies.

 

He eyed the brown furred Caitian with a critical look. “It’s all there I assume?”

 

The panther-like feline gave him a flat look. “My father always tells me never to assume. It makes an ass out of you and me. But, yeah, it’s all there. Calm down Sigidin, I’m in business to get a good rep and make some credits, so why would I risk that and cheat you?”

 

In contrast to the almost rags the human wore, Left Ear was dressed in worn but well kept civilian clothing. The dark gray jacket she wore had the cut of a uniform to it, and her brother Srrett also wore the same type of jacket. Compared to the rag tag humans, the Caitians -- who tended to look scruffy anyway, living the lives of cargo runners as they did – looked downright impeccable.

 

Srrett JoNs, a big ginger furred male, wore a disruptor pistol slung low on his hip, and was providing the back up for Left Ear. The third member of the party, Mrrett JoNs, was perched on a stack of crates as she kept an eye on the general internal perimeter of the warehouse. At sixteen years old, the female Cait was still very young, but was the eldest out of the children on board the Dark Fury; it was time she started learning something about the family business before she enrolled at the Imperial academy when she turned eighteen. As such, the female cousin was keeping watch over her the two elder siblings, providing more backup as a lookout.

 

Sigidin just snorted, and then gave the signal for his people to start gathering the supplies; they started transferring the clothing and food stuffs efficiently and quietly to waiting hover skids. He moved with a slight limp toward Left Ear, handing her a small leather pouch. “Latinum. It’s all there.” He nodded, and then started helping his crew with the off loading.

 

Within minutes, the human crew had cleared out of the area, and it was just Left Ear, Srrett, and Mrrett left in the warehouse … to the untrained eye that is.

 

Mrrett hopped down from her perch and enthusiastically galloped over to her elders. Whereas both Left Ear and her brother bore the uncommon panther genetics that occasionally popped up in this gene pool or that gene line of the families of Cait, Mrrett resembled the very common leonine type of Caitian feline. The young feline had her adult height but was still all knees, elbows, and wide paws. The young leonine feline had not yet filled out into her adult weight, and was downright gawky.

 

She skidded up to the two siblings, staying on all four paws. “What a rush!”

 

Srrett gave a good natured smirk in response to the statement, but Left Ear’s visage remained dour. “Yes, it was a rush. Did you track all your targets?”

 

“Of course I did.”

 

Left Ear gently hauled Mrrett up by the collar. “Walk on your hind paws; you were not raised in a barn. And you missed a sniper.” A brown paw pointed to a darkened corner atop another stack of plasti-crates set off in the distance. A few seconds passed, and then sensing that his cover had been blown, a blond haired head poked out. The human sniper then had the audacity to wave at the three felines in a friendly gesture, and then he jumped down and started to make his way over to the small group.

 

Srrett chuckled with purring laughter at the whole situation, his feline eyes dancing with mirth.

 

Mrrett let loose with a mildly outraged, “I can’t believed I missed that damn son of a b*tch.”

 

Left Ear tightened her grip on the collar. “Watch your language. We’ll do a debriefing back on the Fury. Go on, off with you now. Go get the transport shuttle booted up and ready to go.” A paw cuff to the rump got Mrrett moving towards the general direction of the warehouse exit.

 

By this point, the human sniper had reached the group, and the young gold feline passed him. She stopped though to goggle at the sniper rifle he held slung over his shoulder. “Nice! A Piranha GX model?”

 

Nothing pleased him more then to discuss his rig. “Actually, it’s more of a mongrel. Made it myself. Mostly a Pirahna model, but combined with an Imperial model, with various spare parts thrown in for good measure. Serial numbers have all been filed off, and I can switch out the ammo between plasma stun rounds, shredder rounds, or high impact distance rounds.”

 

“Nice! What kind of distance rounds to you use?”

 

“Mrrett Shaow JoNs. Don’t test me kitten.”

 

“Oh come on MVess, we’re just talking weapons …”

 

A hiss from Left Ear directed at Mrrett stopped the conversation flat, and the teenaged feline again scampered off to perform her assigned duties.

 

The human looked at Left Ear with piercing blue eyes. “Keep her on a tight leash do you?”

 

“That’s not your concern. You were left here as backup?”

 

“Yep. Precaution to make sure you didn’t follow the main crew and back shoot them. We need to be careful with you Caitian mercenary clans. Never know which way you lot will pounce.”

 

“…. You interested in making some extra credits?”

 

“Always.”

 

The brown furred feline reached into her inner jacket pocket, pulling out a bar of gold pressed latinum. She tossed it at the sniper, who easily grabbed it out of the air. “Where’s that raggedy crew heading with the clothes and rations?”

 

“Somewhere in the Wakith sector. I have no idea the reason, but there are rumors circulating there that there may be rebel activity in the sector.”

 

“… you going with them?”

 

“Hell no. This sniper cover job was my last contract with Sigidin and his group. I’m a free agent as of right now. If they wanna get themselves blown up six ways to Hell by the Imperial fleet once the insurgents are found out, that’s their business.”

 

“How’d you like work on my ship?”

 

The human was honestly surprised. “Say what?”

 

Left Ear casually leaned against a nearby cargo crate. “Well, you just said you’re a free agent. We need a sniper cover man, and you wouldn’t be the only human on board a shipful of cats, so don’t panic. The pay can be sporadic depending on the jobs we get, but your billet will always be clean and dry, and you’ll get three square meals a day.”

 

“… what happened to your last point man?”

 

“He was a stupid, drunk Klingon who couldn’t follow orders and was so plastered that he endangered an entire drop off mission, not to mention several members of my immediate family. For his troubles, he got shot in the back by my brother over here.”

 

Srrett merely gave a jaunty one pawed salute in confirmation of the tale.

 

A slow smile spread across the human’s fair features. “Honesty. I can handle that. It’s a lost art these days. You got yourself a point cover man Captain… JoNs was it?”

 

“Aye, that’s correct. C’mon, let’s get out of here. I have a ship to run.”