“Alright. We made it. So here is the deal. This is the meeting spot. Message me like we did before Draykon, and I will meet you here at this spot. I have some errands to run in the city, but I won’t travel farther than fifteen minutes away from this area. Good luck. Although you won’t need it.” Emmett nodded as Ursa left the ship.

Emmett put on his coat that he normally wore on missions. After it was on he motioned Juniper out the door of the ship to find his target. They walked down the streets heading to the Casino where the target was said to be, and to Emmett's surprise it wasn't very busy. Normally there were lots of people selling wares, shopping or even just stealing stuff. Different smells filled the air as they walked, smells of dust and people who obviously haven't cleaned them selves in a while. Juniper turned her head in embarrassment as there was what looked like an intoxicated alien running around naked waving his noodle and screaming at the top of his lungs running from the cops. As they almost reached the outside doors, Emmett turned to Juniper "Here I don't know if you have ever used one or not, but I'd rather you have it and not need it then need it and not have it." Emmett said as he pulled out one of his twin solo's. "I also want you to stay outside just in case things get a bit hairy in there. To use the gun just flip the switch on the side point and shoot" The Gun is a high velocity short pistol with a scope. After handing it to Juniper, Emmett walked through the door to the casino nodding his head at the bouncers as he walked by.

Emmett walked into the Casino looking for the target, and as he was looking around, “Biggest pitcher of the strongest liquor on the shelf. Preferably whisky or rum. Actually, a mixture of the two.” comes from the bar. There sits a gray Goat like creature. Emmett walked over and sat down at the bar, "Vash, is it not?" Emmett said with a tilt of the head and a menacing smile.

~Vash~

Simultaneously Vash received the pitcher desired and responds to the newcomer. Rather 'stereotypical', not to mention possibility of amusement, for onlookers Vash acted as one could imagine a 'goatman'. Unable to resist performing a 'goatlike bleat' sound during the heavy 'e' part of his sentence(s). Vash was overly concerned about his beverage to even look at his inquirer.

"DepeeeeEEEEEeeeends on who's askin'...."

Several large swigs from the pitcher finish Vash's first remark. (Draining almost half of the pitcher.) Belching horrifically loud, even disrupting some other patrons, before A large sigh and chuckle was made. The drunken bastard already possessed a plan, complete lack thereof. The goat even laughs a second time, as he mulls over the ideas in his mind over how to handle the situation unfolding.

"Aand you don't look like a bartender, so I may have to pass on talking to you."

Again, taking several drinks of beverage within hand and pitcher empty by now. Briefly looking over shoulder, doing so in a manner that gaze crosses Emmett, the goat quickly observes their environment. Only to return focus onto the bartender. Who Vash demanded 'keeeEEEEeeep those pitchers coming, boss!'. Sadly the Goat received his wish and started draining the new beverage. Expecting Emmett to keep talking, or at least do something.

“Pangalactic LOVE baby! Hold down the button and blow up the stars. OOOooooOOoooOo.” Ursa sang loudly, her voice carrying up with the steam to fill the wooden banners supporting the single bathing room. She sunk into the suds, the wire from her old yellow headphones cascading down into the water before connecting to a CD rom beside her. It was old technology but the bathhouse itself was centuries old with bricks from ancient times hosting the warm stone bathing pools. The owner, Angelica Mataeo was an old soul and hated new music, so anything from generation X era was her jam. If it couldn’t be played on a CD she didn’t want it. Ursa became fast friends with her, even providing transport for some illegal drug induced bath salts that only high paying customers indulged in.

She lifted her toes up out of the water, balancing back against the rim of the large bathing pool, letting the stress of the last few days soak out of her with ease. See this is the life. The meaning of life. The simplicity is all I need. If only I had a book this would be perfect. Also a Leroy to give me a backrub to. Yeah, that’s the good stuff. She shimmied a little closing her eyes as she hummed to the tune when suddenly she heard a small little noise from behind her. She didn’t know what came over her or why she decided to move but she sunk down immediately as a bang shot off and a small projectile erupted into the water just in front of her barely missing her head. She twisted diving down towards the bottom of the pool while staying near the edge. She swam for her life barely dodging two more shots before her lungs demanded she leave the water immediately. She reached the other side of the small pool and pulled herself up to the rim, where she knew a small stool was located. She grabbed a leg pulling it down to block one more shot before she pulled herself awkwardly out of the water. She ran towards the wall, pulling down a table of candles to hide her naked form. Shots followed her, one grazing her leg, as blood began to spill out onto the stone. She hid behind the table swearing profusely when a voice made it’s way through the steam, “You better come out from behind there Cooper before I really hurt you. I promise if you surrender it will be quick.”

Ursa shut her eyes. Maria Delgado. Like Emmett, she was one of the top assassin’s of the galaxies and incredibly lethal. Ursa had, again like Emmett, transported her to many of her hits, shared plenty a drunken night with her and one some would say lesbian experience. She looked down at her leg then spoke back with a bored voice, her yellow eyes scanning the area around her, “Ugh Delgado. You know I hate fighting. I mean seriously...YOU are going to make me fight for my life naked.”

Maria laughed, her voice slightly closer, “You could always not fight. Makes my job easier.”

Ursa rolled her eyes as she scanned her area looking for anything to help her survive this encounter. She knew her chances of survival were in the 15% range and that was being generous. She was naked, without a weapon and injured. Also, Maria was a good fighter, completely skilled in multiple martial arts. Ursa could hold her ground but she doubted she would play the offensive field often. Maria was fully armed and moving her way over. They were in a closed area and her clothes and guns were over by the door that Maria had entered, currently, about 5 to 10 feet from where she guessed the woman was now. She adjusted her footing knowing that her chances were bad. Alright Ursa. What have we got? Candles. No. Towels. No. Headphones, soaked. Table Leg. Useless against a gun. Come on you asshole search..search. GOT IT!

Ursa spoke up, grabbing a few of the candles before speaking up, listening intently to the footsteps to the left of her “Not funny Delgado. Come on, as sisters of the criminal persuasion, I think we should support each other in…”

She stood up quickly and bolted a candle towards where she had guessed Maria was. Thank the gods, she had great aim. The candle hit the assassin square in the face giving Ursa some time to run to the opposite side of the pool, whilst throwing two more candles hitting Maria in the arm and then, unfortunately, the wall behind her. Maria swore as she let out two shots that barely missed Ursa. Ursa jumped over to the only other table located in the room. It had a collection of soaps, bottles of salt, and a few other bath essentials. She hit it hard on a corner and tumbled over, bruising her arms and legs as she moved the table to cover her body. She didn’t give herself a moment before she started digging through the soaps to grab one. She let out a breath before Maria suddenly spoke about a few feet to the left of her, moving towards the table quickly. She had two black eyes already beginning to form around her hazel green eyes which made her furious. Maria was from Mars, like Ursa, and like most Martians on the eastern side, unlike Ursa who was from the Northern parts of the planet, she had beautiful olive skin, deep auburn hair and a thin physique. Ursa grit her teeth as the gun let out a few shots, one grazing Ursa’s arm as Maria roared,“You throw a candle at me? I come all the way here from Omeron Eight to get a candle thrown in my damn face! I was going to go easy on you Cooper but you can forget it now.”

Ursa raised an eyebrow. Omeron Eight? I’ve heard that before..FUCK!

Suddenly the table was raised and a gun was shoved in her face. Ursa stood grabbing the barrel as she shot the shampoo straight into Maria’s face. The gun went off and Ursa screamed, the shot grazing the top of her shoulder before she kicked forward forcing Maria to let go of the gun. She turned it around quickly taking a shot at Maria but the gun was out of bullets. She raised her nose in confusion, “Ahh shi..”

She was mid-sentence when Maria let out a sucker punch right in Ursa’s face, knocking her back on her ass. She twisted to the side just as Maria kicked out knocking her back again. She gained some footing barely dodging the second kick as she threw a punch herself, her knuckles hitting Maria in the gut. She doubled over for a second, not prepared for the punch and partly blind due to the soap. Ursa took the momentum and ripped her elbow around and up into Maria’s jaw knocking her back a few steps. She rounded around taking the advantage as she landed a solid punch into Maria’s face before Maria was back on her game and kicked out knocking Ursa into the wall. She snarled, “I will fucking kill you, Cooper.”

Ursa hit it hard letting out a painful gasp before she tried to stand. She slipped on a bottle falling down onto the rough stone just as Maria shot out a punch her fist hitting the wall angrily. Ursa twisted to the side, pain searing through her bruised body as she reached out to grab anything useful to fight with. Ursa let out a small gasp, as Maria grabbed her leg meaning to pull her back to her just as Ursa grabbed a bag of soaps and slammed it around to knock Maria to the side. She stood up whipping the bag up and down until Maria stopped getting up. Ursa was breathing heavily, her hair sticking to her face as she took a few steps back to look at Maria who was letting out rough scratchy breaths, but was very much alive and preparing to stand up. Yellow eyes met hazel ones before they both shifted to the gun in between them. A small pause filled the space before Maria jumped for it and Ursa jumped backward grabbing at her holster. Maria was ready with a new set of bullets. As soon as the gun was in her hand, Ursa took a shot and Maria’s shoulder was blown backward, just as Maria raised her newly reloaded gun. Maria dropped her gun falling back on her ass in pain as she looked up at Ursa with a bored expression, “Good shot.”

Ursa kept her gun poised as she licked her busted lip, “I play a lot of video games. ”

Maria spoke evenly holding her bleeding shoulder, “You going to kill me?”

Ursa remained in shooting position, “I don’t want to. Who sent you?”

Maria shook her head smiling, “Oh no, babydoll. You know the code. Never snitch on the client. I love my job more than I love my life..you know that. Your gonna shoot me long before I tell you that.”

Ursa sighed, “You assassin’s and your codes, and you think that my job is difficult. Fine. You like your life more than your client. Fair. Do you like pain more as well?”

She let off another shot in Maria’s other shoulder, making Maria scream out an anguished cry, “YOU FUCKING BITCH!”

Ursa aimed the gun towards Maria’s leg, “Who sent you?”

Maria glared angrily up at Ursa, “Fuck you.”

Ursa let out another shot and Maria let out another cry tears streaming down her face, as Ursa calmly spoke, “Who sent you?”

Maria breathed heavily biting her lip before she spoke softly, “His name is Bob.”

Ursa blinked, understanding and panic reaching her eyes before pulling the gun away, “Thank you. Maria.”

She turned towards the door reaching for her clothes when Maria spoke harshly, “I will find you..you know. I WILL HUNT DOWN YOU, YOUR ENTIRE CREW AND THAT OLD ASS BASTARD YOU CHERISH SO MUCH. I SWEAR COOPER I WILL.”

Suddenly she slumped down in death as Ursa lowered her gun, the smell of gunfire breaking through the smell of shampoo after she loaded a slug into Maria’s head. After a second Ursa sunk down and a few sobs left her frame as the full weight of her wounds came over her. The adrenaline rush over. You couldn’t have just shut up, could you? You couldn’t have just shut the fuck up and let me walk away. FUCK!

Ursa collected herself moving towards the door, knowing that the front desk would have some bandages for such an occasion. Miss Angelica wouldn’t be happy about a dead body in her establishment but she knew that if you go into business with high criminal clientele it was bound to happen. She would deal with the removal of the body and provide Ursa with a few spare bandages to get her by but that wasn’t what was on Ursa’s mind. It was the name Bob. She knew the name alright. In fact, she was hired through the grapevine..by said Bob...and so was one other person she knew. Emmett Draykon. She had to get out of here fast and warn Draykon that they were being set up. If she was almost killed just for transporting then Draykon and Juniper by association were going to be in deep shit as well. She stopped just before leaving and turned to look at Maria, moving towards her slowly before she reached into her pockets to pull out some keys and a wallet. She looked around before she pulled out what money was inside and dropped the wallet into Maria’s cold lap. She headed to the door, limping slightly, “I am soo..going to hell.”

Mac walked over to the young man with sharp eyes, his expression guarded as he took the man’s hand tightly. Not tight enough to hurt him, but tight enough to imply he would. He gave three shakes before letting go, his deep voice was cold as he purposely ignored the comment on the name, “Nice to meet you. Name’s Mac. As for our captain, she’s tied up in a trade deal down in the city. She should be back in about an hour or so. Are you looking to trade?”

His steel gray eyes looked down at the man,not trusting him for a second. Ursa made it abundantly clear that she had no interests in friends or relationships outside of this ship, so that left two kinds of people who would look for her. People looking to make a deal or people looking to turn her in. Instinct and history made him think more the latter when looking at this cowboy. The fact that he got this close to the ship, and knew about Ursa’s name was just their bad luck. He had to be smart in his approach if he was law enforcement.

“Well not exactly, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here Mac.” Taking up a relaxed pose the sheriff looked around, admiring the outside hull of the Ranger, taking the freighter in with undisguised admiration. “See, I ain’t here so much for trade as I am about another, more lucrative style of business. I wouldn’t be asking to much if we could take this somewhere more private and get to know each other a little better would I? At least until Captain Ursa shows up. if it ain’t too much trouble of course? Cause we wouldn’t want th’ locals getting the wrong message now would we?”


Was it mere chance he’d happened upon not only one of the most high profile smugglers in the galaxy, but also the suspects in a much larger case involving the Theonia system? There was a massive amount of profit to be made even if Ursa wasn’t involved in what was going on there, but if Jean could rope two buffalos with one lasso, well he wasn’t going to complain. Idly Jean reached up and scratched at his vest pocket, feeling the reassuring weight of his audio recorder hidden inside the stitching, using the guise of insignificant itching he flipped a small switch turning the device on.

Mac nodded, his expression unchanging as he turned to look at the ship, before his eyes turned back to the cowboy, “I don’t know what other business you would be referring to other than trading. We are nothing more than a respectable trading vessel and I have the documents to prove such if need be. However, this conversation should continue more privately. Follow me and we can see what we can do for ya.”

He headed into the ship without a second word, knowing the cowboy would have to follow him if he wanted to continue taking. He turned as he entered eyeing Takashi, who was sitting just inside the hatch on a brown crate, a cigarette stuck in between his scaly lips. Mac nodded to him before heading down the hallway towards one of the rooms. He opened the door and walked in first. The room was small and very tidy. It was the captain’s quarters and contained both file cabinets, disc’s, bookshelves and a wooden desk that had two tablets set into the wood. The only thing out of place was Ursa’s western which sat just to the left of the large leather swivel chair on the opposite side of the desk. Mac turned pointing to a seat just opposite, before pressing a button on the wall, “Anna, can you bring some water to the Captain’s quarters. We have a guest on board.”

He waited for an, “Alrighty!” before he hung up and looked evenly at the cowboy, “Is this more to your satisfaction. I can assure you, that this room is highly secure.” He moved over to stand by the door leaning against the wall as he eyed the young man, “Interesting accent you have there, Mr. Wylder. Texjas?”

“Naw, you’re almost right there Mac. Its Tejaxs. You must get around a lot to know that, even if ya pronounced it wrong, Tejaxs is ‘ardly a well known system. Backwater n’ out o’ th’ way. And ya picked it out by my accent. Haw, I couldn’t claim to do that.” Jean reclined into the proffered chair, kicking up his boots so that they rested on the desk. He wasn’t in any rush to get to his business, even if Mac was First Mate chances were he wouldn’t dare say anything incriminating without Ursa’s permission. Maybe he could wheedle something out of the tough looking Mac, but he’d have to relax the man, convince him he was no threat.

“I saw th’ crewman back there smokin’, do ya mind if I?” Jean pulled a small pack of smokes out of his jacket pocket, rolling one between his fingers. “Y’all do seem like a respectable tradin’ crew. One I could trust with transportin’ something very valuable, an’ tha’s with minimal reportin’ to authorities thrown into th’ mix as well. I am talkin’ to th’ proper folks about this, right?”

Mac kept his tone even as he responded to this new fellow, “I get around. Tends to happen in my line of work and I am a lot older than I look.”

When the young man pulled out the cigarette, Mac waved him to carry on before he responded to the last question, “I’d rather you speak to the captain about matters of business, but on this ship we take the law very seriously. I don’t know what ship you think you are on but we focus entirely on trade. Legal trade as much as any vessel in this port.”

Suddenly Anna walked in with the water placing it on the desk before eyeing the cowboy with curious eyes. She gave him a small smile before turning to Mac, “Sorry if I was interrupting.”

Mac gave her a warm smile, “Nope. Not at all. Thanks beautiful.”

She winked at him touching his arm before leaving. Mac turned his attention back to the young man, “I won’t lie to you son. Our Captain already has an extensive clientele of trading partners. We don't take on new ones often. Especially small fry. So you may just be shit out of luck. Water?”

“Well, once Miz Ursa finds ‘er way back to her ship we’ll know for sure.” Jean lit up one of his cigarettes taking in a long draft. He eyed the stolid Mac with approval respecting the man for his tact and loyalty. If this was the kind of personnel Ursa kept close it explained quite clearly how she had managed to avoid the authorities for so long. Good help and unflinching loyalty was a rare sight in the galaxy now days, with criminals selling each other out for data slider with a mere hundred kredits on it, sometimes they’d do it just out of spite. Jean could tell even in his short conversation with the dark skinned first mate that Mac wasn’t the type of man to stab his captain in the back. At least not willingly.

Giving Anna a big smile Jean accepted the humble liquid raising the glass to his lips when a thought stopped him just before he drank. Only a day earlier he’d been foolish enough to wet his throat from the offerings of a young lass, only to end up helpless on the floor drugged and beaten. The signs of that brutal punishment still showed, though Jean had been careful to wear gloves and makeup his eyes to conceal the bruising from the casual observer. The idea that he could’ve been caught in the same trap twice in the space of twenty five hours would be beyond embarrassing. Without lowering the glass from his mouth Jean cast about, his eyes landing on the loaded bookshelf. “Which one o’ y’all is the big reader? Ursa sounds like a smart gal, I wouldn’ be surprised if’n she was a page turner herself. Say, what’s th’ titles of all them books y’got there?” In the process of distracting Mac Jean dropped his hand holding the glass of water out of sight below the desk, emptying it into his boot. The movement was swift and seamless, and Jean placed the now empty glass on the desk as if he’d just drunk it, his face the perfect expression of innocence.

Mac gave the young man a shrug as he watched calmly the young man pick up the glass. At the mention of the book shelf he looked over looking at a few titles, “Ah... Our captain is quite the arduous reader. I would like to offer up a genre but she reads everything. Even Plasmogon’s Bible 12th testament. That tomb took her three days and drove the crew half mad when she wouldn’t stop talking in ye old english. Feel free to look at them if you wish.”

When his eyes turned back he saw that the young man had finished his water. He smirked walking over to the jug to pour himself a glass. He did it slowly making sure the cowboy got a good look as he brought the glass up to his lips and drank. When it was fully downed he smiled, “Nothing better than quality water. A luxury many people don’t fully appreciate.”

He was about to say something else when Takashi came in and whispered something into Mac’s ear. Mac’s expression didn’t change but he did move away from the cowboy to stare Takashi in the face, “Are you sure?”

Takashi looked at the cowboy before nodding, “Of course.”

Mac turned back to Jean and gave a small smile, “Sorry. I have to deal with something. Be back in a few minutes.”

Jean waved Mac off reassuring his host of his intent to wait patiently in the office, going so far as to take a book off the shelf, leafing slowly through the pages. Mac headed towards the door, turning once more to show his steel grey eyes, a sinister smirk highlighting his words, “I hope you are comfortable. I promise this won’t be long.”

He exited the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Once the door was shut, thick metal covers slammed over the one small circular window and the door on Jean’s side. Leaving whatever occupant that was inside completely secure. Takashi leaned against the wall of the hallway, “Idiot shouldn’t have come on this ship. He was trapped the moment he went in that room. By the way it was hell and a hassle getting that beast onto the ship. Damian almost lost a ball pulling him inside. What are we going to do with them. ”


Mac pushed the little lizard man towards the cockpit, “We wait for Ursa to decide. If it were a few years ago I would say plug him and get it over with but she will probably say to desert him on an abandoned space port or something. You know how she is with cops. Now tell me more about her text...who the hell is Bob and why the hell would Ursa want us to search him now?”

While listening to the rudeness of the goat, Emmett studied the room. To his surprise he saw an unexpected friendly face. Gyork was a humanoid alien from the planet Percy 9. Gyork was taller then the average human but to their race he was about average standing at 9'10. The green eyed, gray skinned creature also worked in the same line of business as Emmett and for the same people. Gyork happened to be at the same place as Emmett was. Emmett nodded at Gyork and left to the washroom, Gyork followed as expected.

"They have you working a job here too?" Emmett asked after checking to make sure no one else was around. "You could say that." Gyork said with a concerned look on his face. "Listen, we're friends and all so I'm going to do the nice thing and let you know who my contract is," he paused a moment trying to find the words as he knew how dangerous Emmett was. Emmett was among the top 5 killers in the company and has a track record for never missing his contract, and has only been found once or two times in the process but he has yet to be caught by any kind of police force in all the galaxies that he has completed jobs at. While Gyork was among the top ten he knew he wasn't up to Emmett's standard so he knew it would be really tough. "Emmett the target is you" abruptly he spoke again "now please don't do anything rash as like I said I'm being out in the open with you. But you know a contract is a contract so as we are friends and all I will give you and Ursa's crew a head start but that's all I can do."

Emmett listened in silence as Gyork spoke and thought about what to say next. "Well we could do this one of two ways, and I'm sure you know them by now Gyork. You know I don't really play nice with others but you do have the balls to tell me upfront instead of doing it while my back was turned. So here's what were going to do. I will go back out there and finish my contract then I will head out and leave the planet. You can follow me when ever you feel like it but know this, when it comes time that we are face to face, I cant let our friendship get in the way and I will kill you." Gyork thought for a moment and then nodded that he understood what Emmett was talking about.

Emmett left the room and walked back up to the goat person, put his hand on the front of his shoulder and spoke "You know I have never met any one so rude in my life except for one person, and I let her get away with it simply because she had not only the balls for it but also, she could back up the words and rudeness in her tone. For that and that i have a contract to fulfill, you must die" as Emmett spoke the last words his hidden blade *shink*. The blade moves from the inside of Emmett's coat and pierces Vash in the heart. Blood dripping on to the floor Emmett leaves the building and in a quick motion grabs Juniper and says"Okay it's time to go." rushing her out of the area heading back to the ship to warn Ursa that there were other people sent to kill them.

Before Emmett and Juniper were able to leave there were more people looking for them then, Emmett could have predicted. He knew that the Syndicate occasionally killed off the weak and those who couldn't complete their contracts, but he never would have thought they would kill someone as good as him. Emmett knew taking them on one-on-one would be his best bet but they were in groups of four or more and there was also Juniper to think about, he knew she wouldn't be able to handle herself with this many assassins and she would most likely get killed or worse captured. As they walked the streets weaving through the backstreets and hidden alleyways, Emmett was very cautious before making his next move as it could be their last.

Emmett soon found him self out of places to run until this black hovercraft pulls up next to him and without a word the door opens. Knowing this is their only hope for escape Emmett and Juniper got in the car.

Ursa kicked open the door of the car shouting loudly in an angry voice, "COOPER TRANSPORT. GET THE FUCK IN!"

As soon as Emmett and Juniper were in the car, she slammed back the clutch and reversed backward hitting a few of the assassins running towards the others before she cranked the wheel and headed down a side alley when suddenly three other hovercars were following. She looked horrible, one of her eyes was turning black, her lip was busted and part of her jeans was growing to be soaked in blood. She drove at high speed, moving out into the city before weaving through cars, before speaking in harsh tones to Emmett,"You were right about the coincidence. They sent Maria to kill me. Bitch almost succeeded to. You know how many times I transported that bitch! GOD DAMNIT! Sorry, I am just really pissed off right now. Thank god you guys are okay."

She rolled down Emmett's window, as shots began to fly at the back of the car. She reached behind her grabbing out a thick plasma gun and gave him it, "Compliments of your fellow assassin. Make sure your hits counts and get rid of those three before we reach my ship.

She hit the break, curving to the right as she rolled down her own window. She pulled out her gun letting off a few shots as she turned down another road. Her knuckles were raw and bleeding and she turned to Juniper with a pained smirk, "Hope your aim's good kid. Use whatever you find back there and blow them a new asshole."

She suddenly felt shots plunk on her side of the vehicle and she grunted, curving to the left to smash into a bunch of garbage. People on the sidewalk screamed diving out of the way as Ursa tried to retain control. She grits her teeth, going back on the road. She kept weaving through the cars, trying to keep steading and figure out the best way to make time to destroy these fuckers and make it back to the ship. After Emmett and Juniper had dispatched of the three cars, Jax let out a sigh. Suddenly one more car was behind them. Jax turned to Emmett who showed her that there was no more juice in the gun. She turned down another road her eyes scanning ahead as her thoughts went into super drive. Suddenly she saw a large white truck with the words 'Daisy's PANAMA Cruiser Oil: Best in the Galaxy.' She turned to Emmett, "When I say duck. DUCK."

She turned left quickly her arm darting out to let a few cover shots out before she slammed open her door and leaned down, hooking her leg around the back of Emmett's chair and the seatbelt as she let go of the steering wheel. She duck out her head, letting out a breath as she closed one of her eyes as the world began to slow way the fuck down. Her black hair scrapped across the dirt as she aimed at table sitting just at the edge of a cafe. The car to the right of them, a poor blue hover car who just happened to get caught in the mix. She had to make this shot to make this work. She smirked waiting for the angle to hit just right when she let out a shot, the table leg exploding as the contents of the table fell out onto the street. The blue car swerved trying to avoid it as it slammed into the car behind them. As Ursa's black hovercar turned left she leaned back around coming up to shoot at the 'Daisy's' truck which swerved a few times before suddenly a soft pop filled the air. Ursa came back up grabbing the door screaming, "DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!" as a warm blast exploded to the left of them, taking the assassin's vehicle to hell with it.

The blast let out a wave of energy that pushed Ursa's black stolen car off its hover route, the windows blasting apart as the car rolled into a hydrant before it hit the side of a building with a large crash. Ursa slammed into Emmett before falling back into her seat. The car was luckily right side up. She sat quietly for a few minutes, pieces of her jacket were scorched as she looked outside. She reached out adjusting the mirror before pulling back in pain due to the heat. The mirror fell to the ground a few minutes later and she blinked turning to look at Juniper then Emmett,"Well that was nice."

She hit the gas and turned into the road, making her way to the ship. When she arrived she hopped out of the car, motioning for Juniper and Emmett to follow. Mac ran up to meet her, "Oh god. You look like shit."

She flipped him the bird,"Oh I feel fucking fantastic. TAKASHI! Get us in the air..we stay on this rock any longer than necessary and we are gonna have an army of assassins on our ass, and someone get me A DRINK!"

Damian looked at the two behind her, "What about them?"

Ursa turned to look at Emmett and Juniper, "What about them. They are coming with us. Aren't you?"

At their response she smiled then hobbled in, ripping off her jacket to expose her blood soaked bandages that covered her arms. She flung it against the wall as Mac ran up, "Um...Ursa we can't leave yet. Someone came aboard earlier and I don't..."

Ursa gave him a look interrupting him, "I don't care if we have the president of the galaxy on this ship. I want us off the ground and I WANT A DRINK!"

Anna gave her a bottle of something. She popped the cork and took a slug before she tossed the woman a thankful look. She moved down the hallway heading towards her office, to grab her medical kit, Mac on her heels trying to explain something to her as she got closer. She grunted ignoring him as she opened the door walking in to see a young cowboy holding one of her books. She paused, her one good eye widening, as Cutting Crew's, 'Dying in Your Arms Tonight' broke through her thoughts. The world turned foggy except for the handsome cowboy who moved almost in slow-mo. She whispered to Mac, "Can you hear that music?"

He gave her a strange look, "What music?"

She blinked and the music was gone, clearly only heard by her. She gulped before speaking, moving her scabbed fingers up to fix part of her hair, "Uh...who..what are you ship? I mean...who are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

The fact that he was now very obviously locked inside the Ranger did more to phase Jean Wylder than being surrounded by a pack of hungry Coyslugs. As the hydraulic metal plates sealed the only two possible exits his hand went instinctively for his pistol and the weapon was drawn and raised almost before the mechanisms hissed securely into place. Spitting out his cigarette Jean took a moment to calm down glancing between the door and porthole a few times to mentally process what’d just occurred.

“Ah shit, of course they ‘ave a secured office, why in th’ hell wouldn’t they. Makes sense right ya untrusting piss-bags. Lock me in 'ere will ya. First drugged, then locked in a office library. It ain't my fucking week now is it.” Jean angrily shoved his pistol away and stalked over to the viewing port trying it with his knife blade. No amount of leveraging could even push the long blade in-between the durasteel plating making escape essentially impossible. Unless he had a magma-eleven level blow torch and ten hours to make the necessary cuts. Neither of which he possessed. Returning to his chair Jean picked up his abandoned book beating out a rhythmic tattoo on the hardback cover. Obviously he’d been made. They’d either sniffed him out as a known sheriff or strongly suspected he was an undercover cop, neither of which bode well for Jean. Hardened criminals might’ve just killed him on the spot, so he was lucky in that regard. He had space to fight to the last at least even if it is a short battle, as there wasn’t much potential for epic last stands in the cramped office space. Of course there was always the chance they were testing him, trying to sweat out a confession by keeping him locked up for a few hours. What better way of rooting out bad business partners or sting operatives then putting them under a strenuous amount of pressure? Jean really didn’t have any way of knowing for sure until Mac or someone else returned, and at that point it could be with open arms or a gun set to kill. Sighing Jean reopened the book, briefly scanning over the words. There was only one tried and tested way of finding out, and that was sitting pretty with a smile on his face and one hand on his pistol grip.

Of course Jean didn’t even consider the one thing that did happen.

After several long minutes the sealed door slid back and Mac returned accompanying a young women who Jean could only assume was Ursa Cooper. For the longest time he stared uncomfortably back at her, making sure to close the book he’d been reading and set it on the desk. Normally she might've been very pretty, with her black hair and pale features, but at the moment she looked as if she’d just been through a rough day. Jean's sore hand twinged and he smiled in despite of himself. He could relate all too well. But what was off was the way she was staring at him, sounding almost flustered… Not what Jean had been expecting at all.

“Howdy y'all.” Jean replied at last, slightly unsure of how to respond to this development. Mac and Ursa whispered something to each other that Jean couldn't hear. Jean still suspected weapons would be drawn at any moment and stayed tensed up. Nevertheless he put on his best relaxed act, touching the brim of his hat and standing up to introduce himself. “Th’ name’s Jean Wylder, I was here to talk business… Are ya alright miz Cooper? Pardon my sayin’, but ya look a little roughed up.”

"DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ursa Yelled out, as she did Emmett ducked out of the way from the blast. Once Ursa was back in the drivers seat Emmett Took out his remaining blaster and started firing at the last two cars. With precision Emmett shot his blaster directly into the front of the cars blowing up both of them. "Well that was nice" Ursa said while fixing the mirror.

Once they were back on the ship Mac ran to the three of them, "Oh god. You look like shit."

She flipped him the bird,"Oh I feel fucking fantastic. TAKASHI! Get us in the air..we stay on this rock any longer than necessary and we are gonna have an army of assassins on our ass, and someone get me A DRINK!"

Damian looked at the two behind her, "What about them?"

Ursa turned to look at Emmett and Juniper, "What about them. They are coming with us. Aren't you?"

"Better than staying here to die" Emmett replied.

As Ursa started walking away Mac had spoke again "Um...Ursa we can't leave yet. Someone came aboard earlier and I don't..." Emmett was curious as it must be someone they don't know who had climbed aboard while they were busy dealing with what they had to deal with. Emmett watched Juniper go toward the medical area, then followed Ursa towards the office.

"Can you hear that music?" Emmett listened but could not hear music how ever he did see a cowboy standing holding a book in her office. "Uh...who..what are you ship? I mean...who are you and what are you doing on my ship?" Emmett watched readying his hidden gun and blade in case the cowboy made a move Emmett did not like.

“Howdy y'all. Th’ name’s Jean Wylder, I was here to talk business… Are ya alright miz Cooper? Pardon my sayin’, but ya look a little roughed up.”

Ursa seemed to be fairly uncomfortable, or flattered, or something. She was fidgeting and fumbling her words. Emmett stared at her for a second then moved his attention back to Jean. His accent was thick and the cowboy hat he wore seemed to match it well.

Ursa turned three shades of red before she let out a slight breath. She brought up her beer and took a swig as a means to hide her nervousness. She shook out her hair and turned to both Mac and Emmett whispering lightly, “Let me do the talking. I don’t want either of you to incriminate yourselves..and no violence Emmett. If he is a cop. He’s not dying on my ship.” Or ever if I can help it.

She blushed again at her thought then walked into the room, straight past the cowboy to the opposite side of her desk. Her guns remained in her holsters, for him to see as she opened the desk drawer to pull out a metal box with a red cross on the top, “Oh...Well to be fair. I wasn’t really planning on guests.” She mumbled before she fell into her seat, opening the box harshly as she began pulling out some gauze and cloth, “Look, Mr. Wylder, I am not entirely sure what Mac told you, but I ain’t really looking for a new bed partner. I MEAN...trading partner.”

Ursa sunk back into her seat as she began to undo some band-aids to cover her knuckles, biting her lower lip in embarrassment. Jean felt his cheeks redden at Ursa’s word fumble despite himself. Even the stoic rough rider couldn’t keep the heat from rising in his face. Leaning back on his heels the sheriff coughed awkwardly, his mind racing for something profound to say. He was hopelessly stuck on ‘bed partners’ and no amount of metal reaching could formulate an intelligent or clever quip. “That’s unfortunate…” Jean managed at last, biting lightly on his lower lip.

Ursa looked over at Mac’s guarded face and Emmett’s amused one and gave them both an awkward shrug before she ripped off the two blood-soaked bandages on her arm and flung them over to the garbage. She continued more somberly, her attention still on her desk,“Plus Mac here, has an inkling that you are law enforcement, which you very well could be. With my luck today, you probably are. Oh by the way...you are correct. My name is Ursa Cooper. Mac has been careful enough to refrain from using it, in case you are recording me. I am telling you this because I want you to be fully aware that I have absolutely no fear that any audio will make it off this ship.”

She finished her last bandage up, then looked up putting on her serious tough guy glower, to show she was willing to kill him if necessary. After a few minutes though she immediately regretted it, blushing all over again. She dropped her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek. She felt like a creepy she goblin, ready to pounce. She never found men attractive. In fact, she found them more a nuisance if anything else. Emmett was just as good looking but when she looked at him, there was nothing. Looking at the cowboy was different though. There was just something about this one that lit something within her. It was like seeing an original edition of her favorite book, bound in leather just waiting on her desk. Her eyes just went green. What she saw she wanted. Regardless of her lack of experience and the fact that she quite truly thought he was a cop, she wanted this man, and somehow she would have him. She was sure of that.

Remaining quiet for a long while Jean studied Ursa a little closer admiring her for more than just her looks. They were clever folk them. He supposed one didn’t become so infamous by being a dullard. Still, he was right. They did strongly suspect him to be undercover, and Mac had somehow even picked up on the recording device. How? Jean couldn’t even begin to guess. Apparently, the big man was more astute than Jean had originally given him credit for. But if they thought he was law enforcement why hadn’t they plugged him and dumped his corpse in the nearest asteroid belt? Perhaps that’s what they still planned to do, he could hear the muted engines of the ship firing up, and feel the slight change in the artificial gravity as it took to the sky. Maybe they just wanted to make sure no one else would come after them. Or they wanted to know what he knew. Either way, it was going to be a serious chore trying to gain their trust, especially Mac’s. Jean would have to watch his step around him.

Sighing Jean sat down, interlocking his fingers together and sighing dramatically. “It’s a shame y’all don’t seem to trust me. I ain’t-a cop, there isn’t a recorder, no badge, no hidden motive. Sure I know who ya are Ursa Cooper. That I feigned, I’ll admit. Famed smuggler, roughish outlaw you’ve got an eight-digit bounty hoverin’ over yer head gal. But I don’ want no trouble. I just want to talk business. Lookie ‘ere see.” Reaching down with two fingers Jean eased his revolver out of its holster, placing it on the desk and sliding the weapon towards Mac. Even the slow movements caused the room to spark with tension. And now disarmed Jean knew he was playing a very dangerous game, and he had no more aces up his sleeve. Just a very incriminating hidden badge and recording device...

“I know y’all ain’t on th’ search n’ peek for a new tradin’ partner. But how ‘bout a one-time deal? A one n’ done as they say it on Tejaxs. Seein’ as ye’ve already taken’ off with me onboard, how far out o’ y’alls way would it really be to take a detour an’ smuggle some merchandise for me. Shouldn’t be too much trouble to make two stops along th’ way to wherever y’all are off too. Not in any which way I sees it. If I make it work your while.”

Ursa watched Jean with sharp eyes as he spoke about who she was and her bounty. She remained calm only until he lifted his gun and placed it on her desk, her body turning rigid at the moment. Mac took it without question, not trusting the young man for a second. Mac didn’t trust anyone though. He was the closest thing to a conspiracy theorist before actually going nuts. He trusted his instincts and in the early days of smuggling, he had saved Ursa’s life multiple times with that same instinct. If Mac didn’t trust, Mr. Handsome. Neither did she, but still the thought of spending more time with this charming devil was something she desired. Maybe...just this once she could give him the benefit of the doubt. She grabbed her beer after her upper arms were re-bandaged. She would need stitches but for now, at least they were clean. She finished the rest of the beer then tossed it into the bin raising an eyebrow at the cowboy, a smirk moving up her busted lip, “Worth my while?”

She shrugged standing up only to pull up her shirt and began pulling down her pants exposing some simple white briefs underneath, completely aware that three men were paying attention to her. A large gaping red cut was on the left side of her leg, the wound that had basically soaked her pants. She placed her hands on the table and turned to Mac, “Go get me the needle and some tongs please.”

Mac gave her a long look, which she reciprocated before speaking slowly, “I will be fine. Go.”

Mac gave the cowboy another hard look before leaving, taking the cowboy’s gun with him. She then turned to Emmett, “Perhaps you can go to Medical and check on our guest as well? I want a few words by myself with Mr. Wylder here...if you would be so kind. If I’m not there in fifteen, come back here and check on me. Thanks..”

Ursa knew that Emmett would do whatever the fuck he wanted and if that included leaving her to die, he would, so she didn’t have a right to ask him to check on her but she figured that regardless of her denying their friendship she trusted him to be on her side if things went down. After a few moments, he left the room and Ursa turned back to Jean before slowly sitting back down, pain moving up her features, “Look..Mr. Wylder I don’t know what you have heard about me but I am a rather simple person. I do my job and on most days I am actually quite cordial with newcomers, but you caught me on a bad day. So let me be blunt. I don’t have time to focus on what the fuck you are, and I sure as hell don’t have the time to help you with your business. As for it being worth my while. I am pretty damn sure that you can’t afford it. However..because you have been so accommodating.” She paused, her inner voice chiming in, ‘And for being such a stud. No man can be that pretty and a cop. No. My luck isn’t that bad.’ She blushed, “I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I will help you with what I can for transport but as for your business. I really don’t have the time...”

She suddenly saw her book at the opposite side of the table and gave a wide smile, “Oh you like Tolstoy as well? Well, look at that.”

She stood up slowly reaching out to grab the book when suddenly her leg gave out and she knocked the jug of water over, most of it spilling on Jean. She jolted over the desk, “Oh shit...I am so sorry about that. I am such a damn clutz..I…”

Suddenly she noticed a slight indent and wireline under his shirt and her yellow eyes met him with a cold fury. She reached down quickly to grab her guns only to find that they were still lying on her blood-soaked jeans. Her eyes moved up to Jean’s and she opened her mouth to call out instinctively for Mac, even though Emmett was probably closer, at the top of her lungs,

“Ma-”

Reacting fast Jean reached around her neck cupping his hand over her mouth silencing the cry before it could reach full fruition. Both the now ruined book and empty water jug clattered to the floor as Jean bucked upright squeezing Ursa’s throat with his free hand. Pressed in close to her hair Jean could smell the strong scent of shampoo and blood. A million questions flashed through his mind as to what she might’ve been doing before returning to the Ranger. But that was a question for another time and Jean focused instead on the rapidly deteriorating situation playing out right at that moment.

“Miz Ursa, I’m real sorry ‘bout this but I’m gonna need you to not be hollerin’ up a storm, alright.” Jean relaxed his hold on her, just enough so she could breathe and talk, but not enough to let her attempt to yell out again. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. I’m mighty feared o’ that big bruiser first mate you got, especially disarmed as I am. And if he hears you yellin’ yer head off ‘bout wotever it is he’s gonna come stormin’ in here shootin’ first an’ asking questions later. And I don’t wanna die. So, if you would please not be making life difficult we could ‘ave a pleasant and civil chit chat about Theonia Z17. That’s it, that’s all I want. Then we c’n part ways an’ forget this ever happened.”

Jean felt a slight twitch in his gut at those final words. A part of him didn’t appreciate the idea of just forgetting Ursa. Even if it was a statement of point not a reflection of reality. Just the inflection of having to disregard Ursa’s existence on the front of a gambled negotiation tactic caused an unwanted sense of regret, that even Jean couldn’t quite place. He’d never felt that way before, even after uttering those same words countless times in many similar scenarios. It was strange and foreign and Jean wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

Ursa panicked when she felt something behind her. She was pulled close and her breath was cut in half with his hands at her throat and mouth. The back of her legs hit the edge of the desk as she pounded on Jean’s chest frantically before grabbing at his hands. He was way stronger than her, and after the fight with Maria and the car chase, she was in too much pain to put up much of a fight. After a few seconds, she slumped listening to him speak. Her eyes rested on his shoulder as he began to speak in her ear. Theonia Z17? Juniper’s planet. She automatically felt defensive, her guard up when it came to her stowaway.

When Jean explained that all he wanted was for them to chat and then he would leave, something made her heart jump. ‘He couldn't leave. Not after she had just met him.’ The thought came out of nowhere and when he finally relaxed his hold on her she let out a slightly choked breath attempting once more to pull away from him. She didn’t get anywhere. She sighed speaking softly, into his own ear, “Alright. I won’t call him, but if you want to have a proper chat, let alone get off this ship alive you better not lie to me again. I don't react well to people recording me. So you better fess up and tell me who you are!”

She paused, not understanding why she wasn't furious right now, or trying to get him to release her. She shut her eyes letting out an exhausted groan, “Look. If your worried about us killing you. We won't. I have a strict no killing cops policy, and Mac would never break orders, but..if..if you hurt me…”

She shivered, finally realizing that he could if he wanted to, “Y..you will be in big trouble.”

“I feel like you n’ Mac are th’ kinda people who’d back that up.” Jean said releasing Ursa from the choke hold. He kept one hand on her shoulder, concerned her leg might give out again or more importantly she might go for the kill. “There ya are, free. But you go for them pistols there and I’ll make sure yer passed out on th’ floor in eight seconds easy. You’re in no shape to be fightin’ right now, so let’s call a truce an’ leave th’ killing out of the equation.” Increasing the pressure on Ursa’s shoulder Jean guided both Ursa and himself into chairs, all the while keeping an eye on the door. Mac could return at any minute which gave him precious seconds to ensure his own survival. Reaching down Jean snatched up the fallen book smoothing out the soaked and crumpled pages, hoping this act of goodwill would reinstate some mutual understanding.

“That’s fair enough Miz Cooper, I’d say you caught me fair n’ square. I’m a Sheriff from Tejaxs, with the Long Range Galaxy sheriff’s department, the ranger some call me.” Opening up his vest Jean unfolded the hidden flap in the fabric withdrawing the wire bug, turning it off in the process. Placing the small device on the desk, he pushed it towards Ursa inviting her to inspect it. “I was orbiting Theonia Z17, monitoring th’ situation and following up a lead when I watched your ship break off from th’ main shin-dig an’ fly here. I assume you’re workin’ for th’ head dogs an’ they’re paying you well. Let me assure you th’ Galactic Federation c’n pay better. An’ I c’n pull strings and make people forget things. Important things if you get wot I’m sayin’.”

After a few words, Jean let go placing his hand on her shoulder and guiding her to the chair. She tried to reset her footing grabbing his arm and shuffling over to the seat which she happily collapsed into. She kept her eyes on him the whole time, heeding his warning ongoing for her guns. She rubbed her neck lightly, looking slightly pale after the slight scuffle. She took the book from him cautiously, remaining quiet as he started to explain who he was and why he followed her. When he handed over the recording device she pulled it slowly over to her, her bandaged fingers pulling it close to her side of the desk so he couldn’t take it. She leaned back against the seat and considered how she should approach responding to him. She kept her eyes on him as she spoke, “I make a good couple of kredits doin.g what I do Mr. Wylder, and as for wiping the slate clean, I have never even considered changing my career or regretted my choices. Honestly, it’s a pure coincidence you found us leaving that rock. I didn’t even have a job there.”

She leaned forward against the desk, trying to keep her voice even as she omitted the part about finding Juniper, “We just heard about the attack and figured they weren’t using their resources anymore, and us smugglers can’t necessarily walk into any fuel hub easily, so we picked through what we could find. Which didn’t include any survivors...or invaders mind you. Just rubble and corpses.”

Her expression turned sad, but she pulled away trying to hide her emotions a bit better so that he wouldn’t catch on. Juniper was just a young girl and she wasn’t going to readily hand her over to someone whom she did not know let alone trust. Even if he was handsome.

“Damn.” Jean sat back in his chair causing the structure to creak in protest. He had no reason disbelieve Ursa on this point, not significantly at least. It made sense, the way the ship avoided the invasion fleet and warped to a seemingly random planet. They were just smugglers going about their business. This meant that his time here was being wasted, he’d followed a bad lead and was no closer to finding Bart’s boss because of it. The mastermind behind this grand criminal scheme couldn’t have planned it any better. Sighing Jean drummed his fingers on the desk’s top trying to collect his thoughts. He needed a ride back to Zaron, and he could only hope that by some miracle Leeroy and the Bessy Girl were still there when he got back. Then he’d have to contact the Director and report that the lead was a failure. Which meant that was Bart getting free early, and by the time he returned to Theonia Z17 the invasion fleet and any evidence would be long gone. So much headache and all for nothing.

“That’s a stinking pile of spugheffer shit.” Jean ceased tapping his fingers ending off by slapping the desk and making his hand smart. “I’ll be honest Miz Cooper. Normally I’d try and get something out of this whole debacle and take you in to collect the bounty. But I’m thinking I ain’t too far off in assuming that ain’t gonna happen. So instead I’m putting my cards on y’all’s anti-cop killin’ sentiment. Which is shit because Bob’s gonna walk again leavin’ me with naught. Guess I put to many eggs in one basket on this one.”

Ursa couldn’t help but smile at his cursing, happy he didn’t question what she said. Juniper was safe...for now. She crossed her arms at the mention of dropping her off, her expression an obvious, ‘fuck no!’ to that statement. She was just about to put his mind at ease when an easter egg of a name popped up, “Bob. How the fuck do you know about Bob? THAT SON OF A BITCH JUST TRIED TO HAVE ME KILLED!”

Once the words were out of her mouth she sunk back into her chair, her cheeks going red. She shouldn’t have said that. This would just lead into a whole new range of questions that she really wasn’t prepared to answer. She decided the best course of action was to maybe beat him at asking questions, “Is Bob related to what happened on Theonia Z17?”

Surprised by this sudden burst of passion Jean leaned forward, a fresh spark of interest shining in his brown eyes. “Not to be th’ bearer of stale news ma’am, but there could be a quintillion Bobs in this universe. Still, how many are th’ heads of massive criminal conglomerates, and have a stake in murderin’ big name smugglers?” Jean mulled this new information over, wondering whether he should indulge Ursa on his suspicions or not. She could be playing him, but something told him the wounds crisscrossed across her body spoke the truth and innocence of her curiosity. “Are ya well acquainted with this Bob who tried to kill you?” Jean countered, breaking the short silence that had fallen. “I ‘ave reason to believe he’s involved at Theonia Z17. Though I ain’t even sure if that’s his real name, or jus’ an’ alias he or she uses. Th’ Bob I’m referrin’ to has been frustrating in his avoidance of th’ law. Similar to you actually.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of Ursa’s lip at his comment about her evading authorities. She debated answering him openly about the mission and decided that it was perhaps in her best interest to introduce him to Emmett and Juniper. Emmett would know way more about Bob then she would, being a direct client of his and if Jean tried anything on Juniper, Emmett would be able to take him out with ease. She frowned at the thought, not liking the idea of the cowboy hurt. She shook her head then spoke evenly, “I do my best to stay under the radar. As for Bob, I think we should extend this conversation to some more of my….guests. They might be able to shed some more light on this particular topic. Plus...I really should get to the med bay.”

She stood up slowly, gripping the table tightly as she began to walk over to the door, reaching forward to lean against the wall as she pushed the button. Her left leg was feeling numb and with every movement pain seared through her. She opened the door and turned around to lean against the wall extending a hand, her words slightly gaspy, “You first. Mr Wylder.”

Following Ursa to the medical bay was an enjoyable experience for Jean, considering the previous string of events for him. From beatings, violent struggles, and nail-biting diplomacy, just strolling down the halls of the Ranger small talking with Ursa was a pleasant change of pace for the worn sheriff. Unfortunately the adapted freighter wasn’t large and the two acquaintances ambled into the medical bay in a short time, where Mac, another man Jean recognized from earlier in Ursa’s office, a med bot, and a strange, sleeping young girl, were all jammed together with the newcomers in the small room. Ursa quickly introduced him to Emmett, the steely eyed young man dressed in a white, green, and black coat and seemingly armed to the teeth. If Mac was intimidating by his size and bulging muscle, Emmett worried Jean by his cold indifference. As if he’d be happily shaking your hand one second and thrusting his knife into your back the next. He’d seen a man like that before, and still possessed the scars to prove it. If he could help it at all, Jean wouldn’t be getting on his bad side any time soon. Ursa moved away to have her injuries treated by the bot while Jean regarded this mishmash group in cautious contemplation.

“I ‘ear from Miz Cooper y’all ain’t friends wit’ Mister Bob no more so I'll get right to the point. Apparently e’ treats his associates jus’ as well as he treats his enemies. Like dried spugheffer shit, only thing it’s good for is burnin’, an’ from what I c’n guess, tha’s a pretty good retellin’ over what went down. So, if’n I’m right in that regard and there’s no love lost betwixt ya. Well maybe we could come to a consensus in regards to our good friend Bob. I suspect he’s been messin’ wit’ th’ Theonian’s as of late, though I ain’t sure why. Yet. But I know when it comes to me, he’s been prodding th’ wrong bull.” Jean’s attention momentarily shifted as the girl in the petal dress stood, moving closer to talk to Ursa. The smuggler must start her crewmates young he supposed, but he couldn’t quite pin down what was off about her. Maybe it was the dress, or her eyes, or her voice but she mystified the cowboy to no end.

Setting his back against the durasteel infirmary hull Jean withdrew a second cigarette, not bothering to light it up but simply chewing the end between his teeth. He offered the pack to Mac and Emmett before slipping it back into his vest pocket. Using the buzz from the strong alien tobacco to shake off the disquieting feeling he got from the girl Jean reengaged the three adults. “Lookie ‘ere now. I know y’all ain’t got any stakes in bringin’ him down, an’ more’n likely don’t give a piss ‘bout no Theonian but how’s th’ saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend… Yeah, if y’all could give me everythin’ you know it’d be mighty helpful. An’ let me assure you.” Jean gripped the tip of his hat, pulling it lower over his eyes to add emphasis. “I got beef wit’ ol’ Bob an’ his thugs and have a mind to handle it. So ya won’t ‘ave to worry ‘bout him no more once I'm through, an’ you c’n take that to th’ bank.”

Ursa slowly walked, or rather limped down the hallway. She spoke evenly with the young cowboy about the visit to the Theonia, and the rubble that was left. Needless to say, she didn't have enough information to help and it still slightly mystified her that she wanted to. When they reached the med bay she almost whimpered in relief. The pain from her leg and the arm burns were becoming worse as she kept on her feet. When she arrived she moved over to Mac telling him to leave Mr. Wylder alone, even though his suspicions were correct. He gave her a look that signified he wasn't happy that she was cooperating with him, but the bottom line was it was her ship and her rules. She gave the matter no more consideration then limped over to Emmett, "I know how you feel about cops but on this ship. He is just as much a guest as you are. You touch him and I throw your ass into deep space. Got it?"

She looked up at Emmett through her one good eye and tried to make her threat seem menacing, even though she was slowly swaying from side to side. After a few minutes, she gave up letting her threat hang in the air as she walked over to Taylor. Taylor was a small battle set Medical Android, which they had found from an old SC-17 Battleship. He was in pieces but Kira, the ship's mechanic found some fluorescent pink parts from the same model in the black market along with a few other small alterations so that he became the Ranger's sole medical practitioner. Ursa hoped on the bed, slowly turning so that Taylor could scan her fully. Taylor shook his head, "URSA COOPER. PATIENT 3217. LOADING MEDICAL HISTORY. SCANNING FOR INJURIES! ...PATIENT IS DEAD! HA HA HA! TAYLOR IS COMEDY ROBOT!"

Ursa blinked, "Taylor, as much as I appreciate your attempt at humor, just please get on with it."

Taylor lifted his arms, "PATIENT 3217 DOESN'T APPRECIATE GOOD COMEDY. DAMAGE TO FUNNY BONE...VISIBLE. PROCEEDING WITH MEDICAL ASSISTANCE! PREPARING ANESTHESIA! OUT OF ANESTHESIA! PROCEED WITHOUT DRUG?"

Ursa shut her eyes slapping the bed angrily, "Fuck. I knew we were low on it. Do we have any..."

Mac shook his head giving her a look of pity. She pinched the bridge of her nose as Taylor began again, "PROCEED WITHOU.."

"YES. Proceed without the fucking drug." Ursa shouted angrily as she moved to lay down, her eyes focusing ahead of her when suddenly she saw Juniper beside her asking if she was alright. She was about to speak when Jean spoke up talking to the room, but mainly Emmett. When he was done, Ursa gave her a warm smile, happy that the young lady wasn't hurt too much because of her, "Yeah...sorry. I usually am more careful when I am transporting my passengers. I'll be fine, once I am all patched up! Are you okay? That bruise on your shoulder looks like it..aaahhh.."

Ursa let out a cry as Taylor began to stitch up her leg. Her body immediately tried to move away from the needle but Taylor clamped down on her leg so she couldn't move. She shut her eyes gripping the edge of the table as she began to shake slightly, a few tears running down the sides of her cheeks. After he finished stitching up her leg, she sunk to the table, breathing heavily as she looked over at Juniper, "...hurt."

She turned to the right whimpering slightly against the table after Taylor placed the bandage on her sore and swollen, but newly stitched leg, then he moved up to her stomach and arms and pulled her back into position before he got back to work. Ursa tried to listen to Jean speak, but the pain was taking up too much of her attention. She just turned her head so she was facing the wall, trying not to let the handsome policeman, Draykon or even Juniper who she felt very protective over for some strange reason see her so weak. It wasn't even the wounds that made her lose it, it was all the violence. People had tried to kill her before, but 80% of the time she could talk or pay her way out of it. The fact that she had tried to be killed three times and that they were succeeding in at least catching her off guard made her feel out of her element. Her thoughts also went to Yondi and Maria, whom she had dined with, laughed with, and even trusted at some point. Now they were both dead and she was the one who ended them. She never hated being a smuggler, but she absolutely hated herself for taking the life of another person. Logically she knew what she did had to be done, but she detested the whole action none the less. More tears flowed down her cheeks when finally Taylor was done. She was mentally and physically exhausted, and after Mac waved away Jean's cigarette he walked over and gave her a hand. She paused for a minute turning to look up at him. He just gave her a warm smile, knowing exactly how she was feeling as he always did. She let out a breath and then nodded, wiping her eyes before she took his hand and sat up, her yellow eyes turning to look at Juniper, the last Theonian. Emmett was right, she was the one who found the girl so she was responsible in helping her any way she could. She turned back to Jean, her voice barely audible behind her shaking body, "All I know is, that the only one I met was Gertrude Skranger who provided me with half the kredits for the transport a phone number, and a file to be given to Emmett. She only mentioned Bob once and it was in reference to hiring the best for this particular mission. I never even looked at the file. Just gave it to Emmett and the number."

She turned to look at Emmett, swaying slightly as Mac came over steady her. She leaned against him, as she tried not to pass out or fall asleep, "Your turn."

Emmett watched as Ursa was in the medical bay being patched up, still unsure of Jean and what his intentions are. Emmett thought for a moment trying to recall the file for Bob. Emmett knew it was one that he received a while ago but never truly got around to looking at it but he did how ever read a small portion "there honestly isn't much on Bob in the file but i do remember seeing something important but i just can't quite remember what I read. I hate to break the bad news to you guys but the file that you gave me Ursa is sitting in my place of residence at the capitol and in order to get it we have to go there." Emmett said with his eyes still watching Jean to make sure nothing would happen.

"I personally have nothing against him how ever he is still a contract and I would prefer to keep my record of not failing a contract. So if you don't mind i will have to kill him." Emmett spoke with certainty in his voice, "you can help if you want but id rather you not get in my way". Emmett turned his attention to Ursa, "What's the plan now? did you want to try and head to the capitol for that file or would you prefer to keep moving on to the next jobs, what ever they may be?

During the whole conversation something seemed off about Jean, Emmett just wasn't sure what it is. Are we being lied to or is this another trap he wondered in the back of his mind. Emmett doesn't have many friends just business partners, he tends to keep to himself unless of course he's in the mood to try and pick up the ladies. With this he tends to pick up on a lot of things going on in his environment.

For his part Jean remained impassive throughout Ursa and Emmett’s explanations, silently chewing his tobacco and mentally jotting down any useful information. There wasn’t much to go off, even for a sleuth such as himself. The proffered dossier that the two spoke of gave the cowboy little confidence, a contract to kill from Bob would do them little service in hunting down the criminal overlord, moreover it would serve well as evidence to convict Emmett above all else. The number on the other hand, a method of contacting Bob, or at least his associates could be a vital first step in closing the investigation. Something well worth their while.

“Sounds like a reasonable enough strategy to me. At least for now. We’ll ‘ave to be careful not to tip em off though. Once Bob gets wind of someone getting close to his operation he likes making short em, I imagine we ain’t much different.. We’ve gone n’ lost more’n one sheriff an’ deputy to that bastard. An’ I ain’t keen to join th’ ranks of th’ fallen. To make matters worse he’s already got y’all two in his sights.” Jean turned to Emmett, an odd, easy going grin on his face. “We’ll see what happens partner, chances are if Bod’s dead it won’t matter to me who pulled th’ trigger. Long as he’s good n’ iced.”

The cowboy was distracted from the assassin at that moment, when the young girl in the petal dress spoke up, her eyes dramatically changing color throughout the course of her declaration. Removing the well chewed cigarette from his mouth Jean cast an appraising glance towards Ursa, wondering how much more she’d been lying about in regards to Theonia, and her young passenger. Deciding against calling Ursa on it just then Jean nodded to the girl, recognizing the passion for justice and vengeance from his own childhood horror. His was his family, but to have one’s entire home system eradicated in a genocidal slaughter, that was another thing entirely.

“I won’t deny ya miss, in fact I recommend it.” He vowed, rubbing his hands together. “I reckon it’s nothing short of a miracle you got out alive, perhaps in part to miz Cooper’s aid. That invasion fleet looked mighty powerful, especially considerin’ it’s operated an’ funded by a criminal syndicate.” Jean thought for a moment, eyeing the Theonian girl curiously. “Say, I know it might hard to think about, but do you have any notions as to why they might’ve attack y’all? Any reason or suspicion you might’a heard from someone? It seems strange an’ counterproductive to me at least, to attack a one hoss system like Theonia, just to remove a population. There has to be some logical explanation behind it.”

Ursa was quiet through most of Emmett's response, angry that he didn't keep the file with him. Well isn't that fucking convenient. When he asked her about heading to the capital Juniper decided to interject the conversation and reveal that she was Theonian and wishing to claim revenge for her people. Ursa looked up at Mac, before turning to Jean who was giving her an appraising look. She lifted her chin slightly, daring him to call her out on it after their previous conversation. Luckily though he let it go, instead opting to pose a question to Juniper about why she thinks her planet would be attacked. Ursa watched in curiosity as slowly Juniper turned into...well her. She looked over at herself, hazel eyes matching hazel eyes identically. When Juniper started to talk, and her own voice came out Ursa shivered. Oh god...that's creepy. Do I really sound like that? Jesus.

She kept her thoughts to herself, wishing she had a whisky in her hand as Juniper continued, explaining that she was royalty. Ursa's non-swollen eye widened and she looked over at Mac shaking her head. Both of them hadn't a clue what they had picked up, but both of them knew that having a princess on board would complicate things. The news seemed to turn the room quiet, so Ursa took the moment to push off the table, her one leg supporting her body as leaned against the table, nudging Mac before telling him to leave the room to grab her some fresh clothes. After he was gone she looked at Juniper with a slightly reserved expression, "Well pleased to meet you...Princess. I'm glad you finally feel that the time to reveal you're true nature is after a rogue bunch of the world's criminal elite have set their sights on killing us."

She let out an exhausted breath, "Sorry. I'm in a grumpy mood. So let me get this straight. A cop. An assassin. A princess, a gorgeous space smuggler and her band of misfit crew members are going to fly into one of the most dangerous planets in the galactic realm to get a file that will lead us to Bob who apparently not only has enough funds to hire the most deadly assassins in the galaxy but also has an army big enough to destroy a planet. That's what you're saying. All for the sake of vengeance and goodwill and all that shit. That is what is being discussed here? Also might I add..I won't get paid for doing any of this work. It will be pro-bono. No moolah..."

Ursa let what she said sink in before she pushed off the table, taking a step forward as she began to cautiously laugh, "Well I for one did not see the day going this way...I mean this is...I..." She was preparing to say something when suddenly she went pale and her eyes rolled up as she began to fall forward passing out after the alcohol and loss of blood caught up with her.

Taylor raised his hands up in usual robotic fashion, "PATIENT 3217 IS DEAD! CAUSE OF DEATH...FOUND HER FUNNY BONE! HA HA HA TAYLOR ROLLS UP WITH A ZINGER. PATIENT 3217 HAS ONLY FAINTED DUE TO BLOOD LOSS. MEDICAL HISTORY UPDATED. SENDING TO DILL. MESSAGE SENT! BAZINGA!"

Suddenly the com shot up, and a voice was heard from the speaker, "Shit...MAC SHE PASSED OUT. I'M MAKING PIZZA SO COULD YOU..."

Suddenly Mac's irritated voice was on the com, "Yes I will be right over. What kind of pizza?"

Dill spoke up only once as Mac re-entered placing the clothes on the table as he looked at Ursa with a shake of his head. His metal dreads rattled as Dill's voice spoke up, "Pepperoni, Vegetarian and Captain's favourite anchovies and onions!"

Mac nodded before looking at the group, "You all head to the kitchen. The captain is in no condition to speak about this matter right now, and I need to consult with the crew on her behalf. She needs some rest as I am sure you all do. We will set course for one of our fuel hubs in the meantime. We won't be going anywhere without more fuel since we have had to go to full burn too many times lately. We will follow her orders about you all being guests but if anyone tries anything, this is your warning."

He took Ursa into his arms, her limbs swaying slightly as he shook his head, "I don't get paid enough for this."

After being a sheriff in a big galaxy for several years Jean Wylder had seen many odd things. From the gross to the weird to the downright strange but there was always something new that managed to sweep him off his feet, leave him star struck and bamboozled. And in the last forty minutes he’d seen two such things. Although, Princess Juniper’s talents were more on the freaky side of things, they still fascinated him to no end. How did it work? Where did the extra mass come from and go? Could she change into anything at all? Hundreds of unanswered and unasked questions flooded Jean’s mind, and for many of them he suspected not even Juniper knew herself. “Yeah,” Jean slicked back his hair, holding his hat in his off hand over his heart as a sign of respect. “That’ll do it gel – erm highness. I can certainly imagine a million and one ways to abuse that sort of thang, legally speaking. Hell, I wouldn’t mind an ace like that up my sleeve every now and again.”

The sheriff chuckled at this, fitting his hat back onto his head and ensuring the wide brim sat just low enough to conceal his eyes. “Ya see right here, its th’ best I c’n do. An’ it don’t help much, as Mac n’ Ursa c’n attest. Especially if I’m workin’ city side. Oh, and Miz Ursa, if it helps some I could rustle up bunch o’ nice taxpayer kredits to cover the expenses. If’d please ya. Course, it probably wouldn’t be near th’ same as your used too- Whoa now.” Reacting with his quasi-famous speed Jean stepped forward catching Ursa before she struck the floor, resting her wait against his own and stabilizing her unconscious form. Glaring at the whirring pink medical bot Jean waved him away. “Ya damn blistering scrapheap, she’s probably gone belly-up cause o’ your incessant jawin’ more’n else!”

Once Mac arrived Jean passed the burden of supporting Ursa off to him, taking on a sour face when Mac hoisted her easily as if she weighed nothing. “Yeah, well you’ve got my gun and shucked me, so I ain’t trying nothing slick heels, word as an law keeper.” Turning towards the shapeshifter and assassin Jean jerked his head in a, come on then, motion. “Ah suppose I could use some proper vittles. If either of y’all know th’ way. I’m new aboard this vessel.” Gesturing for either Emmett or Juniper to lead, he fell into step beside the latter, lowering his voice to speak with the royalty semi-privately. “I know how you must be feelin’ lass. I lost my parents when I was very young too. Th’ pain, an’ anger of knowing he’s out there, free to hurt others as he pleases. It gets to man, and no lass nor lad deserve to go through that. So I swears come hell or high water I’ll make sure th’ yellow bellied, crowbait who done did it pays. They’ll receive their just due, planted nice n’ tidy neath th’ daisies. I promise.”

Emmett shrugged at Ursa as he knew she wasn't impressed with him. While listening and watching Juniper Emmett noticed her change in shape to mirror exactly like Ursa, Emmett wide eyed thought that truly would be helpful in all things assassin or even thievery. Ursa started talking again, Emmett turned his attention to Ursa listening to her talk in a grumpy mood like Emmett was used to.

"Well I for one did not see the day going this way...I mean this is...I..." as Ursa was talking Emmett noticed she started passing out, but before he could do anything Jean appeared behind Ursa catching her before she fell. After he handed her off to Mac and they left the room Emmett spoke to Jean "Good catch Jean, thanks for that. Also if it makes a difference I still haven't paid Ursa for the travels so ill foot the bill just don't say anything to her alright."
“Ah suppose I could use some proper vittles. If either of y’all know th’ way. I’m new aboard this vessel.” Jean gestured for Emmett and Juniper to move on, Emmett knew the ship inside and out but wasn't sure if Juniper did. Emmett looked at Juniper and nodded that he would lead the way. “I know how you must be feelin’ lass. I lost my parents when I was very young too. Th’ pain, an’ anger of knowing he’s out there, free to hurt others as he pleases. It gets to man, and no lass nor lad deserve to go through that. So I swears come hell or high water I’ll make sure th’ yellow bellied, crowbait who done did it pays. They’ll receive their just due, planted nice n’ tidy neath th’ daisies. I promise.”

While listening to Jean talk Emmett grew annoyed at least you had a family that loved you and not used you he thought to himself. Emmett wasn't annoyed about Jean trying to make Juniper feel better but about family in general. Emmett doesn't remember his birth family as they gave him away for money so they could survive, and Emmett's new family wasn't exactly caring either. Emmett recalled the life he had while growing up stealing, not because the family was poor but because they wanted him to get better at it to fuel their lifestyle. The family was made up of assassins and thieves as it pays more then any jobs around. If Emmett ever got caught he would not only be punished by who he was stealing from but he was also punished physically from his family. Thinking back makes the scars on his back ache and make him feel uncomfortable. "Here we are the cafeteria this is where you can get some "vittles", this is what you were looking for is it not" pointing to the now open door before walking off to his room.