The few pirates that Jaydaar wasn't able to get, John was able to finish off with his two handguns. Or so he thought. Usually, a bullet between the eyes would kill its target, no matter its species. The captain though, being more machine than man, was able to duck behind cover with the only damage being a dent in his metal forehead. A [url=http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/9/90/AER9LASERRIFLE.png/revision/latest?cb=20110207054152]laser rifle[/url] in hand, the captain rose up from a chest high console and began taking pot shots at the two mercenaries. John turned to Jaydaar as they hid behind the wall and said, [color=ed1c24]"Don't worry, I'll get him."[/color] Holstering both handguns, the helmeted mercenary ran through the door and threw his machete at the cyborg captain. The blade knocked the gun out of its target's hands and John immediately punched the man across the jaw, specifically in the part of him that was still fleshy and human. The captain, now knocked to the ground, began to rise but was met by the barrel of one of John's guns. [color=ed1c24]"Do you realize just how much my day has been ruined by you and your friends? I can handle all the new dents and scratches you put in my armor. I can handle having to buy who knows how much credits-worth of ammo. What I can't let you get away with, is how you made me lose track of my kill count. That's completely unforgivable. Say goodb-"[/color] The crackling of the radio interrupted him though as Johanna's voice came on. [color=ed1c24]"Well, it seems today is your lucky day."[/color] -=-=- As the pirates began to surround the mercenaries inside the Babylon, a familiar voice rang out from behind them. [color=ed1c24]”Nobody move or metalhead gets it.”[/color] John held the pirates’ captain in an armlock with a gun pointed at his head. [color=ed1c24]”I’m calling a trade. You give me my team back and I’ll give you your leader back. Seem fair?”[/color] The pirates all began talking amongst themselves before finally agreeing to the deal, to the relief of the indisposed captain. Turning his comms, John gave orders to everyone still outside in their fighters. [color=ed1c24]”Everyone outside, disengage and land your ships in the Alamo. A ceasefire’s been called so I want you to follow the Babylon so we can finally drop off all this ore.”[/color] The helmeted mercenary released the captain then and threw him back toward his ship. [color=39b54a]"I better not see that helmet ever again, or else next time you won't be so lucky,"[/color] the captain said with a scowl as he walked back inside his ship. [color=ed1c24]"Oh, don't worry. Something tells me that that'll never happen,"[/color] John responded ominously. -=-=- Eventually, the pirates disengaged their anchors and the three ships all flew off wherever their destination led them. The helmeted mercenary sat in the Babylon's mess hall watching a timer count down on his helmet. [color=ed1c24]"Boom,[/color] he said as it finally reached zero. [i]Why is it that pirates never seem to think to have guards posted in front of the engine's core? Ah well, my only regret is that I never got to see that hunk of junk turn into scrap myself. Guess I'll have to leave it all to my imagination.[/i] Rising from his seat, he made his way to the comms room of the Babylon to make a long-distance call to Starfire HQ. [color=ed1c24]"We're a few minutes from landing. I thought I'd ask if we've got any assignments already lined up on Tharvis."[/color] The silhouette-like hologram looked as if it was typing in something before finally responding, [color=92278f]"Negative, Tharvis is a considered a neutral zone in the Xenovia Civil War. No contracts have been made with Starfire.[/color] [color=ed1c24]"Fine, I guess we'll just wait for further orders then,"[/color] he responded. As soon as the hologram disappeared though, he added, [color=ed1c24]"Not."[/color] John looked through a list of all the people he knew that would possibly hire a rag tag group of mercenaries like themselves. After a few calls, he chose the two highest paying jobs and sent it to all of his companions: [hider=Corporate Sabotage] Pakhan Xena Nova may be the leader of a very dangerous group of criminals, but that doesn't mean that everything she does is illegal. Case in point, she's a major shareholder in a major banking and financial services holding company. Many times the Mota Clan has tried to find some kind of dirt to bring the company down, but to no avail. So we've been hired to bring it down a different way. Stealing everything of value in their vault. The Mota Clan hopes that no one will trust the bank with their money anymore and the company will end up going under. So, you want to pull off a bank heist? [/hider] [hider=Assassination] This job sounds pretty simple. The Mota Clan has sent one of their higher ups to make a deal with some politician and we're supposed to kill that guy before he makes whatever the deal is. The problem is that that politician is the lord of Tharvis so he's going to be very well protected and, needless to say, so will our target. Sitting at a window across the street until we get the perfect shot isn't going to be possible, so we're going to have to break in and get our hands dirty. [/hider]