Expendable

Don't Forget Me

"What, you guys don't have a mechanic?" Black Jack scoffed, eyeing the escort with open doubt on his face. "All ya gotta do is post a decent offer on any job board, you don't have to waylay them coming off a transport."

Okay, he admitted to himself, playing dumb wasn't fooling anyone here, but if it created just a moment of doubt, they might start to wonder if maybe they got the wrong transport.

Like they see transports all that often, he frowned, taking in the vacant field as he followed Richard back to his ground shuttle, keeping his hands open and away from his weapons. Still worth a shot.

Just how many knew they were coming, anyway? Couldn't that guy keep his yap shut?

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

A large open cavern, without torches. Strange, that. Did the people who tend the torches not come in here? Or did something here like it dark? At least they hadn't taken away the moss that glowed dimly. Still, she could hear others in the cavern, moving about, hunting for something...?

There were ledges along the cavern wall, Sam pulled herself up on one, hampered slightly from having to carry this small blade without sheath.

Now a little higher, she looked down into the gloom, hoping to spot whoever else was in this dark place with her - and she did. Were these goblins, like herself? It was looking at something gray in the dim light - but what wasn't gray here? Was it food? Was it alive? She couldn't tell. Inching forward, some pebbles got knocked loose and fell off the ledge,

Sam swore as the falling pebbles hit the stone floor of the cavern, echoing in the small space. She better move, now.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

"You say that," Jack says with a shrug, "But how could any of us possibly surpass the Glen? Especially in running! You've quite the advantage in that department."

He couldn't remember seeing any former Olympic runners in the crew manifest, or among the people they'd dragged along with them.

"And I'm not so sure I would be comfortable partnering with a monastic order. What they might ask for in return may not be mine to give," he added. "You see, I follow a difficult path we call the Prime Directive, which forbids us from interfering in the development of other cultures. At least not without learning everything we can about them, first. And our wise ones caution against interfering with a planet's social development."

"It's similar to an oath our doctors take, which is to do no harm," he added. "First, we must learn more about this custom before we could hope to participate, so as to not do any harm to your reputation."

He hoped that Silbermine would accept that, for now.

He only smiled when Shirik gave his warning. Had his people found an alien ship had scattered bits of itself across the world, they wouldn't necessarily tell them about it all at once.

Don't Forget Me

"I dunno," Black Jack Doe says with a shrug. "If she's shillin' for 'em, they probably have lots of eyes on her, too."

Even grabbing her would get them noticed. Whatever they did, it had to be quick and away from prying eyes. They were going to need something non-descript, generic, just like hundreds more still about in the town. Definitely nothing corporate. And they'd need to sweep her for trackers, hope she didn't have something internal.

Without wanting to, his eyes flickered to the girl in the holo. In the streets, everyone said how they were related to this or that corporate bigwig, how one day a limo would pull up and they get whisked away into the lap of luxury, a corner office and more credits than you could know what to do with. Well, sometimes a limo would stop, but what they wanted was an hour or two with you tucked away in some hotel room. It was at least warm, with a bath, and sometimes something to eat before they threw you out with a few extra credits in your pocket "for your time."

Some of them, you were lucky if you could walk out. Sister Mary found him a few times in some back alley, all cut and beaten black and blue, and dragged him to the free clinic or the mission to recover.

And this crazy chicka actually walked out of that, leaving behind all that safety, good food, comfortable rooms, soft clothes, and hot baths whenever you wanted?!? What was wrong with her?

Black Jack's eyes flickered to Sunrise, wonder if she'd...? No. She looked hard, alright, body screaming you can look but you don't touch iffen you want to keep your hand. Probably shot the first guy ever to ask. She wasn't street kid hard. Probably grew up someplace nice, away from the city. If only that judge's kid had handed over his ride when he lost....

He was only dimly aware they had landed, then the pilot interrupted his pleasant daydream, followed by the suit and his muscle showing up. Black Jack wondered what sort of shakedown this guy was gonna try to pull.

Caravan: An Episodic Fantasy with Worldbuilding! [Always Accepting]

The others were staring past her. Ilyana turns her head and nearly fell over in surprise to see Terilu striding up and introducing himself.

She shuddered, remembering the dark cells in prison, the bats nesting above, rustling, chirping, covering the floor and herself with their guano....

But after Terilu talked to one of the undead, she shook her head to clear it.

"Invade...?" she demands hoarsely, pulling herself upright. "It didn't attack us, nor do we know the numbers down there. Look how wide that opening is, it's designed for several people to come and go. There could be hundreds down there. If we go rushing in, they could retaliate and go after the caravan. They...."

There was a rumble behind them. "What the...?" she demands, turning around. Something unseen hit, making the ground shake and knocking her off her feet as the trees swayed above her. For a moment, there was silence, then what wildlife that still lived in the Emerald Forest began screaming at the top of its lungs.

Somewhere, on the other side of the caravan, there was smoke rising.

"That would have woke the dead!" Ilyana yells, then glances worriedly at the tomb entrance.

Don't Forget Me

Name: Jack "Black Jack" Doe

Age: 25

Appearance: This gentleman makes you think of a strutting cat. He has round chestnut eyes. His fine, wavy, neck-length hair is the color of varnished wood, and is done up in a pompadour. He is very short and has a graceful build. His skin is pale. He has a wide forehead and small hands. His wardrobe is utilitarian, with a lot of blue and black.

Background:
No known family, a street kid with a juvenile record, mostly for petty theft - and one incident of grand theft auto at 17, Jack claiming he won the vehicle from its owner in a bet, and the punk was trying to get out of paying. Realized too late the punk was the Judge's son. Judge gave Black Jack the choice of going to prison - or be conscripted and spend four years in the CorpArmy.

Most of his service time was spent in the motor pool, maintaining the corporate military vehicles, including the aircraft. To learn about those, Jack had to extend his contract by another two years, but it included some basic flight training. He was also quite the scrounger, and managed to work out a deal to spend a little more time with the flight simulators.

Jimmy, another mechanic in the motor pool, got seriously hurt in a hit-and-run one night by a drunk officer, Lt. Sims, a rather pompous twit but one with powerful family corporate connections, who went to work squashing the investigation and blaming Jimmy. A few days later, someone overrode Sim's vehicle control system to temporarily suspend the brakes, and the drunk lieutenant ran into the General wife's vehicle. Nobody was hurt, investigators were unable to prove tampering. Lt. Sims within a day of the Corpos' report found himself reassigned to the Antartic training facility as its new weather officer.

Now out of the service, Black Jack provides a transportation service, able to talk and deal his way past the various corporate, gang, and rebel roadblocks. Sometimes called on to act as an intermediary or to investigate. And always a person of interest by the corppos.

At A Glance: While Black Jack is definitely shady, not opposed to bending the law (or breaking it, if the situation warrants it), he has his own code of honor that compels him to get justice for his friends.

Skills:

• Streetwise - no matter where he is, he can generally blend into the background and go unnoticed. It's amazing what he can do with a pad. Can read and write street code, used to mark hazards, friends, and territory
• Gunslinger - not the fastest, he's a fair shot.
• Mechanic - Can weld, cut, and reconstruct just about anything with the right tools and materials.
• Scrounger - able to make deals and arrangements, has a lot of personal connections so he can get information, tools, IDs, etc.
• Persuasion - He can tell you to go to hell and nine times out of ten, you'll actually be looking forward to the trip.
• Slight of Hand - it's amazing the sort of things one can palm.
• Concealment - with a little work, he's able to conceal just about anything.
• Driver - has commercial license, can drive just about anything.
• Pilot - sans license, but he's spent a lot of time in the simulations.

Equipment:

• Shotgun, 16 guage with folding stock. Has ammo.
• Bullpup - 6.8 mm ammo. CorpArmy records list it and its brothers as destroyed four years ago. Backup weapon kept in cache. Has limited ammo.
• Judge revolver - long 45's and 410 shotgun shells, doesn't leave brass behind. Backup weapon. Has ammo.
• Sap - basic tool, useful for knocking someone out.
• Multitool - handy dandy pocket tool box. Has the Jack and the Ace engraved into it.
• Omni - military surplus version, your basic burner smartphone with custom encryption. He has four of them stashed away.
• BigCasino - hacking tool to get past smartlocks, override control unit on 3d printers/autofacs. Looks like a beat-up mid-range portable game console.
• Leather jacket - with body armor lining to protect the torso. NIJ Level II protection against handarms and blades.
• Steel toe black boots - good for kicking and protecting the toes.
• Delivery van - looks ordinary, interior is lined with 2 inches of bundled paper (from print books being thrown out from a sale) to give it some protection from gun fire, explosions. Windows are poly-carbonate reinforced, and the tires are improvised run-flats. Various magnetic signs for phony businesses are in the back of the driver and passenger seats. There's a teddy-bear Brown bobble head on the dash.

The World We Left Behind (Steampunk/Sci Fi, Mecha, Adventure, Progressing Technology RP)

Sounds interesting, to say the least. I like the sound of breaker, myself.

Caravan: An Episodic Fantasy with Worldbuilding! [Always Accepting]

Ilyana's stomach clenched and began to burn, like it always did before a battle.

"Un... undead?" the half-human demands from Nemeia, her voice guttural from the pain that made her sweat. Irritably, she wipes her forehead with her free arm. "Tomb? What's going on, did you know this was here? Is this why the caravan stopped early?"

She plunges the tip of her cutlass into the dirt, then squats, her left hand going for the flask she kept on her hip. Fumbling with the cap, she took a couple swallows, then tightened the cap and putting back in its usual place.

"Well?" she demands again, her voice harsh and unforgiving like the grave. Many a king had been buried with his wealth, but what did they expect to find here, of all places?

Children of the Otherworld - An Isekai Story

Goblins are feral and like slimes. Good to know. Do they have a language?

New Roleplay Idea - Join the Adventure!

<Snipped quote by Expendable>

This all sounds like spicy drama. I like it. But just to get the story straight:

<Snipped quote>

This character's mother slept with the prince on his wedding night, carried the baby in secret, and after the baby was born, she brought it to the mage and the man-in-arms that raised it. And the baby, of course, is your character?

I think I followed, but I wanted to be sure.

@Balthazar007

Yup. And really the housekeeper (or towerkeeper?) Raised her. The Man-at-arms just trained her when she got older.