| abstract
| - Landing Pad - New Alhira - Demaria - A large area of ground has been flattened out and filled with thickly poured ferrocrete; yellow lines and blinking lights mark off landing pads, taxi lanes, and runways. A large building that serves as the small spaceport's terminal sits at the edge of the area, opposite the tall flight traffic control tower. Service crews stand by to help people through the decontamination corridor. To the west, far past the outskirts of the spaceport, lies the blunt Stubtooth Mountains. Several loud, strange noises come from inside the Decon Corridor, they faintly sound like a person being violently sick. Several moments after the noise has ceased, Malion appears from the corridor, using the back of his jacket sleeve to wipe his mouth and a half empty bottle of rum in the other hand. Silvereye just nods slowly to Arnassis. "Must be." The Battleclaw remarks absently, turning away from the Lunite with no words about his condition as Malion announces himself on the landing pad. The Demarian sighs, ears and tail drooping. "Mind taking care of that before you leave? Looks like he could use some time cooling off." Tiana looks up as the noises of violent illness filter to her ears, moments later Malion entering her line of sight. Picture was lifted, the young woman looking between it and Malion for a moment before she tentatively approaches him, "Excuse me..are you Malion Vincess?" Ren Arnassis turns to follow Silvereye's gaze, his own expression drooping in time with the Demarian's tail. "Shit, Lawcat," Arnassis grumbles, defeated. "Well, I s'pose I oughta. But I ain' cleanin' up anythin' he spits out, y'unnerstan'." The Lunite approaches Malion at the same time as the young woman. Malion walks onto the tarmac, not staggering or anything and having a slightly disappointed look on his face. The Weapons Maintainer looks straight at Silvereye and bluntly says, "No, I'm ain't drunk, don't need any help... the tablets brought it back up before I had a chance." The Martian then looks to the human female and coldy asks, "Who wants to know? If your from the Hospital, fuck off... I'm not paying." Silvereye falls in line behind Arnassis, shrugging his shoulders at the Lunite. "Don't expect the man just looks like he could use..." The Demarian trails off as Malion speaks to him, quirking an eyeridge at the human and then glancing at Tiana. "Alright then." He allows, waiting to see how this plays out. Tiana hugs the old photo to her chest as she looks to Malion in shock, "I..I'm not from the hospital..I'm looking for my brother." Photo was held out to the rude Weapons Maintainer so that he could have a look. Valerie has arrived. Valerie disembarks from the LMS Artemis. Voliarin walks onto the landing pad from the corridor. The Vollistan is glowing a dark green color, and yawns slightly. "Yer mouth says no, but the bottle a rum in yer han' an' the way yer dinner's all over the tarmac say yes, kiddo," Ren growls, folding his arms and turning to face Tiana with a bemused expression. Valerie steps out of the artemis, carrying a sheet of paper in one hand. A strip of tape is attached to the top, and the sheet reads in large, block letters: GONE HUNTING. BACK TONITE. -V The little human tapes the sign to the ship, gives it a nice thwap, and heads for the shuttles. Valerie heads into Demaria Express Shuttleport. Valerie has left. "Shits sake," Malion replies as Tiana starts her story. "I ain't ya brother..." he drifts off when he sees the photo, a wave of soberiety suddenly strikes and a step back is taken. As if by instinct, he moves his hand towards one of his pockets. "Where'd ya get that photo... Who sent you?" he quickly asks, not believing a word of her story. "My sister's dead, ya lying." Silvereye quirks a brow as the conversation develops, looking from Malion to Tiana to Arnassis before crossing his arms over his chest. "Huh." Tiana shakes her head, taking a step back and pulling the photo back to her chest as if it were a precious hierloom, "I'm not lying! This is the only thing I had when they sent me to the orphanage." Bright jade hued eyes flicker to follow Malion's hand to his pocket, her own experience telling her he likely had a weapon of some form in there. Ren Arnassis reaches out his hand, an attempt to grab Malion's forearm. "Not here, kid. Leave shootin' to the lawcat in these parts." He gives Tiana a narrow-eyed look, saying in a reasonably-timbred grumble, "Best ta explain yersel' a little better, girl." Voliarin continues along, finally looking at Tiana and Malion. He just watches now, looking down at the two humans from a slight distance. Malion's arm is seized by Ren, straight away the Weapon Maintainer glares at him. "Let go of my fucking arm you idiot!" he barks out, whilst trying to break from the Lunite's grip. Straight away he narrows his eyes at Tiana. "Let me guess, ya either a fucking fruitloop who's out for revenge for that bloke I did some man work to back on on Mars or ya after money." He sneers at the young woman, "Ain't bloody happening, neither is bloody happening." Silvereye glances at Ren as the Lunite tries to grab Malion, apparently not thinking that the Martian would be going for a weapon. "Let's hear what she has to say." The Battleclaw says calmly, "Or if you want to leave, Malion, feel free to do so." Tiana looks to Ren then back to Malion, "I'm not after money or revenge. I just want to get to know my brother! Is that really so hard for you to believe?" Hair was brushed back, her eyes wide and rimmed with tears. He wasn't anything like she'd dreamed he'd be, "My name is Tiana-Maria Winfield, when we were young mum and dad sent you to work in the foundry.. I barely saw you. All I came here for was to get to know my brother.." Ren Arnassis clearly cannot maintain the hold for too long without exerting some real effort, so he just tosses Malion's forearm back and aside. "Mind yer tone," he growls, a warning, turning to refocus on the girl. Voliarin just continues watching the humans as they talk yet. He doesn't really do anything though, more fascinated by the conflict than anything. Malion glares at Ren and bites his lower lip, drawing blood as he attempts to keep his anger under control. "Fucking faultly specialist," he mumbles under his breath. He diverts his glare away from Ren and back to Tiana, "Then you'd remember how they abandoned me in the hospital then," he says, with a sneer. "I had a sister called Tiana-Maria, but her last name was Vincess not Winfield... She is dead, my parents are dead." He slowly balls his fists and then relaxes them, "My whole fucking family is dead." "Boy, yer in a bad stretch now so I'm gon' let this slide. But nex' time you say somethin' like that I'll knock you down, crew or not." Ren growls, holding his own displeasure in check. Silvereye quirks a brow at Malion. "I might not hold him back, either." The Demarian replies in reference to Arnassis comments. "If you don't want to believe the girl that's fine, this is between the two of you but you'll get whatever you ask for callin' him that." Tiana bites her lip, trying to hold back the urge to cry. She hadn't cried since her mother died, "Winfield is my adopted parents last name." She didn't know what else to say, she was standing right here and it was easy to see that they looked similar. The same chestnut hair, similairly hued jade eyes, it was all there for anyone who took a moment to really look. "We have the equipment on Artemis to do bloodwork," Ren says. "Genetic matchin'. An' no shortage of doctors, neither. You don' believe her, I don' care, but she looks enough like ya that I'll take her aboard to run the righ' tests as my guest." He gives Malion a dark look. "Dare ya not ta let the doctors draw the blood," he says. "I'll break yer nose an' git it that way." Voliarin listens as Ren explains everything to Malion, "I'm a doc." he adds simply. As usual, his vocal tone seems strained and highly pitched. Malion glares at Ren once more. "Mate, I'm a lot harder than picking on a teenager." He snickers for a bit and starts to slowly undo the buttons on his jacket. "That's fucking threat mate... I don't like when people threaten me." The weapon maintainer stops half way through and casts a curious glance across to Voliarin and blinks several times. "Alright, we'll do the blood then and me and the big man here step outside... Regardless me current injuries." Silvereye glances at Voliarin and then nods at what he says, turning back to the others. "If you're gonna fight do it somewhere else. I don't care where, just don't disturb the peace." "Let's make a bet," Ren drawls. "This girl's yer sister, you swallow yer pride. Girl ain' yer sister, hell, I'll let you take yer bes' shot." He gestures to the Artemis. "Fair? Now let's go inside an' see what we c'n see." Voliarin walks towards the Artemis. The Vollistan yawns once again. Then he looks at the sign on the ship, before shrugging once again. Malion roars out laughing and slowly shakes his head. "Your gonna regret this mate," he says, in a cocky tone. The Martian starts to walk towards the Artemis with a grin. Silvereye just shakes his head. "You take care of that. I've got work to do." The Battleclaw chuffs, walking off towards the decon corridor. Tiana looks after Voliarin and Malion as they depart for the Artemis, following their lead soon after anxious to get this all sorted out. Voliarin continues to look at the sign Valerie left. He glows a dark green for a moment before shaking his head and then turns to wait for the others. Ren Arnassis punches in the code for Artemis' airlock, stepping hrough and waiting for the others. Malion walks through the air lock, taking a deep swig from the bottle of rum he's still carrying. Voliarin has arrived. Voliarin boards through the ship's airlock. "Where's the medical equipment?" Ren asks Rin as they all enter the airlock and the hatch closes behind them. Voliarin walks onto the ship, looking about slightly, and with this question he shrugs. ~Don't know.~ he answers. ~I never worked on this ship. It's okay though, I can do what I need to in the crew quarters.~ Ren Arnassis punches in a keypad code and enters the aft compartment. Ren Arnassis has left. Voliarin punches in a keypad code and enters the aft compartment. Voliarin has left. The hatch slides to the left, allowing passage into the wardroom. Spinal Corridor - A long, narrow space, crafted of gray metal bulkheads and reinforced framing, the freighter's slender spine connects the forward command sections to the aft engineering and power systems. The structural backbone of the little starship, this corridor is almost clastrophobic, a rugged industrial space fitted out with thick conduit runs and racks of back-up and secondary ship systems. A double stripe of soft red lighting tape borders both the narrow walkway and ceiling panels, casting the passage in a quiet glow. Heavy girders which run the entire length of the spine. Massive servos and actuators accompany the hullsteel beams, the interior components of the cargo container's docking latches. Near the center of the spine, two reinforced hatchways face each other, on opposite sides of the passage. Black and yellow warning striping marked each exit, and a pair of amber beacons used to indicate the status beyond the hatchway. The port hatchways are labeled CARGO HOLD C1 and CARGO HOLD C2. Malion finishes undoing his jacket and lets it slide off his shoulders, revaling the grey shirt underneath. A loud clang is produced as the equipment descretly hidden inside bangs on the floor. The weapon maintainer looks to the Voliarin and casually asks, "What does this bio-thingy involve and can I have some pain killers for my cracked rib?" "Ask the lightbulb," Arnassis says, shrugging off his jacket. "I'm tired. I beat the tar outta that punk Timonae. What's his face - Rillitan. I'm sore an' I don' got any more whippins left in me tonight, so if this woman ain' yer sister after all, you c'n git yer free shot in the mornin'," Ren says. He hangs up his jacket next to a bunk - his bunk - and starts removing his flak jacket. Voliarin follows along still. ~Oh, um, I don't think I'm allowed to hand out pain medication stuff, if you really need me to I'll take care of it but I'm still trying to figure out how best to do this right away since there aren't human doctors around.~ Tiana looks from Malion to Voliarin to Ren, feeling a little uncomfortable, this entire turn of events having been something she never expected to happen. Feet shuffle as she silently waits for the whole process to get underway, gaze finally settling on the 'good doctor', Rin. Malion doesn't say anything as Ren starts to take his jacket off, a smirk still resides on his lips. He ignores the woman who claims to be his sister for the time being, though doesn't allow her to leave the corner of his vision as he talks to Voliarin. "I'll go back to the hospital then, Miss Ranix was meant to look at them about a week ago." He signs and then asks, "Are we going to get this test underway and get this nutcase out of the way?" Ren Arnassis slips off his flak jacket and hangs it up as well, inside out to air out. In a white A-shirt and trousers, he sits on the edge of his bed and pulls out his boots. Voliarin yawns slightly, ~Okay.~ he agrees. ~I don't do the genetic testing thing very well so I'll just have to talk to both of you. You don't mind if I confirm what you tell me, right?~ the Vollistan asks. ~You can get a blood test thing tomarrow if you still need it.~ Tiana has reconnected. Malion slowly nods. "Alright..." he replies with a raised brow, "Your the doc." Tiana nods as well, agreeable to all. She really just wanted to get this all done and over with, "I'm fine with that." 'Whatever.' Arnassis tugs off his boots and trousers, pulls himself under the covers of his bunk, rolls over and tries t ogo to sleep. Voliarin yawns again, reaching in his robe for a small gourd, and an oversized coffee mug floating out from his robe. ~Okay.~ he points a free hand to Tiana, ~Explain what's going on.~ then he takes his cup and holds onto it. Tiana levels her gaze to Voliarin, "When I was two, Malion got sent off to work at the foundry because our mum and dad's income wasn't enough to support us. On my eighth birthday Malion had an accident and was put in the hospital and mum and dad went to visit him a lot, leaving me with their friends. One night on the way home from visiting Malion our mum and dad were in an accident and our father was killed, while mum had to be put into critical care for head injuries. I was sent to an orphanage and I never knew what happened to Malion. Our mum died just before my seventeenth birthday and that's when I decided I had to find Malion. My Adoptive parents had taught me to follow their trade as Private investigators and they helped me find out where to look for Malion, and that leaves us here." Malion hangs his head down, feeling some what ashamed of himself for the way he talked to Tiana earlier. "It's the same story for me until me olds stopped coming to visit me in hospital, thought they had abandoned me. I was taken in by the old man from the hospital, he helped me out with the hospital bills and such. Also taught me gunsmithing and how to handle firearms. I grew up wondering what happened to Tiana-Marie... I fell into petty crime to cover meself during my time, started off small with extortion and intimidation and then moved up more serious things like torture to make a living... I didn't want to do it, I needed the money." The Martian looks towards the foreward door and sighs. "I honestly thought that they did the same to Tia that they did to me.... Just left her someone to die." ~Okay, so have you two been able to work out if you're related yet or not?~ The Vollistan asks, ~I mean, it seemed like you two were about to hurt each other earlier.~ Tiana looks to Malion, several stray tears streaming down her face at the hardships he'd endured. All in all her life had been a good one, especially compared to those of a lot of other people, "I..think we're fine.." She was a little uncertain yet, waiting for Malion to make the final confimation. Malion looks across to Tiana and smiles. "I'm sorry about talking to ya like that earlier Tia." The Weapon Maintainer walks over to her, tears welling in his eyes, but yet he remains strong. "I've been gone from ya life for so long... I ain't gonna leave ya again, ya my little sister and I've gotta look out for ya." He opens his arms wide, hoping that she'll find it in her to accept him after he treated her. Voliarin glows a bright green aura now, ~Well, since both of you seem to be doing okay, I'll go for tonight. You can go and look into the blood test thing tomarrow, but I'm glad to see both of you are good for tonight, okay?~ Tiana rushes into Malion's embrace, her own arms wrapping around his midsection. Brief nod is given in reply to Rin, sniffles being the only sounds she could manage at the moment, just happy that her brother was in her life again. Malion smiles as he wraps his arms around his sister, the event having some effect on him. He looks across to the Vollistan and nods, with a weak smile on his face. "Cheers mate," he says, his voice crackly and uneasy, before returning his attention back to Tiana. "Don't worry, I'm here now... It'll be alright." He blinks several times to get the tears out of his eyes and slowly nods, as if trying to reassure himself. "It's alright." Tiana retracts one of her arms, wiping the tears from her eyes as she looks up to Mal, "I'm sorry things have been so hard for you.." She looks as though she's about to burst into tears again, "It seems like I've had such a priviledged life." Malion looks down to his sister, tears welling in his own eyes. "We've both had it hard," he says, grinning. "Ya wanna go and get something to eat? Nice little bakery nearby you'll like." Tiana smiles, sniffling a few times before she makes her reply, "That sounds nice, Mal." Poinantly her stomach gives a little growl, indicating that she hasn't eaten for a while, she likely having just forgotten. Malion release Tiana from his hug and steps forward, and then replace his arm around her shoulders. "We'll get you a bit cleaned up and I'll change me jacket," he says, trying his hardest to sound like a big brother. "Can't let my little sister go into town looking like hell." Tiana giggles, reaching a hand up to brush at her eyes, the little bit of eyeliner she wore streaking black across her face, "I guess we can't." Her face was flushed a bright, blotchy red but still a smile was held on her lips.
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