Great Khan City | Morning
“This is a motherfucking mistake,” came the complaint, one of many since his the start of the meeting as he sat languidly with legs crossed and a cup of wine in his well manicured hands. Devine stared at the face of the man on his screen, unamused, before looking out to the window. His brooding, storm grey eyes peered at the busy streets below as he pondered his own involvement. This was utter shit, pure and simple, and he had no clue what he did to deserve this dubious honor.
“Ain’t like this place got enough that we need to be hiring Vagabonds for this job, and you want me to manage them?” Devine continued, although his voice had lost its jovial edge, “Oh sweetness, my fee is about to double on this bitch!”
“The fee remains the same.”
“The hell it does!” Devine replied, exasperated, smacking the wine cup down by the screen. He straightened his hairdo before speaking again, “Now listen here dollface, this be Vagabonds we talkin’ bout, you feel me? I ain’t getting a nail chipped cause they don’t know how to keep their hands off me! Those are buffoons, just one of them is bad enough!”
An amused laugh escaped the other side, “You’ll manage, you always do. Besides, I know you’ve been wanting to get back into the game. Good time as any.”
Damn, you have me there! Devine shook his head, “The shit I put up with… alright what’chu want? Vagabonds are always thirsty so you gotta make good on this, bringing the fucking riffraff into this city.”
“Larger than 10,” came the calm reply.
“Larger than 10! Are you fucking serious!? Aw hell nah, precious, you want that you gonna fork up my motherfucking double or we end this talk now! Call me when you have something sensible!”
His eyes peered impassively at the other for a handful of moments that stretched into an eternity.
“...Double it is.”
“That’s what I thought,” Devine said snidely, letting a heavy breathe lose with a sigh. He peered at his own laptop that sat to the right, the device that took a chunk of his personal fortunes to procure from a snarky dark hair tech girl from some backwater hole, and ran down a list of possible Vagabonds who might even have been in Great Khan City.
The ‘list’ was a misnomer, as it was never an assured source given a Vagabond lifestyle, but those that had been hired before and identified through whatever systems that still existed on this planet had records. Its details were sparse and it took someone like him to narrow who was what: that was his specialty, after all. The laptop was a wonder of its own and he was told never to lose sight of it, she would need it back one day.
Like hell.
The voice on the other end drew Devine’s attention again. “The ad needs to be something above reproach, if you could.”
Perking an eyebrow, “Do you know who I am?”
A smirk in response, “Of course. Devine, as always.”
“Oh sweetness,” he gave an unamused smile, “flattery won’t get you nowhere. I’ll have the ad up by noon. You had best have my money by then also or this shit gonna go south faster than eyeliner on a sobbing queen.”
He clicked off without preamble and settled himself by the windowsill to think on his situation, glass of wine in hand. This was a mobile militia they wanted; god knows for what but they had their reasons and the money was sizeable enough to attract almost everyone, from the homeless to the psychos. He could already see the nightmare of picking and choosing and fuck if he knew how long that was going to take. He had two days to make good on his end, two days to form a team and set them out toward the harsh desert this city thrived in.
The streets below him was noisy as always, business was bustling with merchants, hookers, soothsayers, bankers and vendors with all manner of spoils. The same breeze that wantonly toyed with the fabric of his crimson damask robe also brought with it the distant rumble of the traders bartering and bargaining (“Seventy credits! Fifty and a food heater!”). Residents, travelers, wanderers and miscreants alike milled throughout the busy avenue; behind them, not too far a distance away, nestled the ancient spaceship that so many revered like some god.
“Transmission ready.”
Devine got up from where he sat and walked back over, reading the contents of the message he had been working on despite the banter between him and his contractor.
It read simply:Skilled people needed for the Great Khan Desert outside!
Job will be told once qualified applicants have assembled!
Must have own equipment and deal with danger!
Field of expertise varies!
Pay guaranteed!
Inquire with Zsa Zsa Devine at Khan’s Pithole, 3 pm!
Cuties a plus!
He shook his head and confirmed the transmission that would place the ad in every newsfeed (made accessible through the morass of shops that could afford it) and polished off his wine.
He was going to need more if he had any hope of getting through the day. Much more.
“Vagabonds. What have we come to?”
AN AYREONIA & CO ROLEPLAY
Shot to the entire gang in the middle of a bar fight. Willis and Aubrey stand back-to-back with their guns raised. Camera focuses on each of them and a gunshot sound echoes as the screen freezes.
CYLARN as WILLIS CLARK, "the Mercenary"
and MINCALDENTEANS as AUBREY SIAN, "the Con
Camera turns to Esma, as she hits someone in the jewels with her quarterstaff before Constanza KO's him with her copy of 'The Mandate'.
SWITH WITHERWARD as ESMA AKSU, "The Survivalist"
and IMPERIAL JAPAN as CONSTANZA XIONES, "the Zealot"
Mathias is sitting somewhere in a corner, and the camera pans to a shot of a guy duct-taped to a table while Zed carefully moves his scalpel closer, only to be nudged by a passing brawler and accidentally stabs it directly in the man's neck. Mathias squirms as blood sprays all over him. Zed shrugs.
TILTJUICE as MATHIAS STRAND, "the Pacifist"
and ESTERNIAL as ZED M.D., "the DIY Surgeon"
Camera pans towards Johanna; dropping from a ceiling fan and landing in the neck of her unsuspecting foe, twisting his neck with her legs. Temir stands nearby, swooping a guy off his feet with his cane.
JESSJOHNESIK as JOHANNA, "the Assassin"
and HIGHFORT as TEMIR TALGAT, "the Tinkerer"
A drugged-up Charly jumps in front of the camera. One of the goons grabs her, but she head-butts him and dives away just in time as Slat slips a smoke bomb down the back of his pants. The man squirms as it explodes and a cloud of smoke bursts forth from his pants, and he falls down on the floor. Slat extinguishes her cigarette on his head and smiles. Charly rolls back into view across floor, tripping hard.
GALDIUS as CHARLY, "
and TRANSOXTHRAXIA as SLAT, "the Pyromaniac"
A shot of Eira as she chokes a goon with the sole of her boot while taking a swig from her glass and throws it in the face of another guy, who staggers backwards and is tripped by Shimmer.
THE CARLISLE as EIRA, "the Plural"
and her daughter SHIMMER, as a mistake!
One guy stands back and watches everything go down, slowly stepped back to the exit until a teddy bear falls right in front of him. He picks it up, looks up and sees the vagabonds taking cover as Slat smirks, diving behind a table.
Shot of the bar, camera panning out as a explosion follows and a trail of smoke rises from the building. Camera pans out further to give a panoramic view. The title appears.
In Memoriam, Ayreonia