FF:01 Double-crossed by Marion Morrison

Next: 02 We're Surrounded! →

Starring: Einion Uren, Lilly Summerland, Lamar Alexander, Deacon John Crow, Kaia, Captain Ben Ross
Guest Starring: Marion Morrison
Challenge: Five "customs agents" who were looking for Marion
Location: Started at Persephone and traveled to Hannibal on Sweet Home
Date Played: 09 Feb 2015

Getting the Job on Persephone

Einion: The c-c-captain got a call for a gig and he takes Crow and Kaia wit 'im to the Broken Rose Saloon. Every t-t-time that we get a new job ev'ryone's walkin' around on pins 'n needles wonderin' if this'll be the job that does one of us in, like the gig that did in previous ship's mechanic. T-t-that's why I don't go volunteering for whole lotta off ship work.

The gang returns with one Marion Morrision, w-w-who is lookin' to hitch a lift to Sweet Home. She's promising us a whole mess of ore as payment, perhaps even enough to fix stop the coolant thrusters from shaking. Of course, she's lookin' to get smuggled into Sweet Home quietly. That's a thing that w-w-we do.

Ben: I meet with a lady named Marion Morrison on Persephone, who's looking for a ride to Sweet Home, nice and quiet like. She's promised us a shipment of ore in return. I get the sense that she's not telling us everything about her situation, but everyone's got their secrets. I think we can do business.

"Customs Agents" on Sweet Home

Einion: We l-l-land at Hannibal, the company town outside of the Morrison mines. Lamar sets us up with a landing and five rough and tumble t-t-types enter our ship, sayin' they's customs agents. As they s-s-start to tear through our cargo Lamar hops on the line with the port trying to fix things. Seein' as things ain't right, I start a double-backed hedgehog trace on the line to make c-c-certain that our signal wasn't gettin' shifted to another place. Turns out that this is a legit, least as much as it kin be on Sweet Home.

L-l-lamar manages to piss off the locals at about the same time that things head south in the guest wing. Turns out the "customs agents" were actually lookin' fer Marion, and as they found her, they started to rough her up. Crow gets gunsy and a nasty fight breaks out, so I rush to the kitchen sink, where I've wired up a hidden kill switch to bolt down all of the doors and lock 'em up tight.

Not sure you know this, b-b-but the Hades Class Prison Transport has lots of hubs for alternate wiring. As I've been on the ship most've a year, I gone in and done some rewiring to make things a bit more accessible. E-e-everybody else was telling me that I'm doing it wrong until the generator lapsed and I was able to run the grid off of just Crow riding the stationary cycle. No one complained after that, 'cept fer Crow.

W-w-with the fight going on I hear a snap and the sound of a woman screaming, which means that Lamar was hurt. I load up my syringe h-h-hand with powerful knockout drugs, figuring that I can shut down the "customs agents" or shut up Lamar. By the time that I poke my head outta the vent I was crawling through, most've 'em were dead and the others were nearly.

Lilly and I get to t-t-tending their wounds and we keep 'em alive. Thank goodness.

Ben: We land on Sweet Home, and the locals tell us that we got to sit tight for a customs inspection. Lamar tries to take it up with some higher authorities but gets shut down. Still, Marion doesn't seem worried. As much as I hate letting a bunch of hayseeds from this backwater moon root around on my ship, it doesn't seem like we have much choice.

It doesn't take long for things to go pear shaped. I hear a commotion coming from the crew quarters and rush over to check it out. A couple of the "inspectors" are tussling with Crow, while two more have grabbed Marion. I try to pull one of the thugs off Crow at right about the time that Kaya rushes down from the bridge and opens fire with her shotgun. I figure the time for finesse has passed, and I draw my gun and put down another. We throw the other two in lockup, and get to figuring out how we're going to salvage this job.

Following Marion by Drone

Einion: We're fer f-f-figuring that Marion aims to double-cross us, so I suggest that I use the drone that I've been buildin' to be the eyes in the sky. C-c-crow is gonna be her escort, so I give him a tracking device so in case we lose him. And wit no surprise Crow loses Marion right outta the gate but fortunately I'm still followin' her.

Ina weird turn of events, Marion actually gives Crow a signal and tells him that she hasn't b-b-been honest with us. She's offerin' us twice as much ore to help her "retake the mine". The capt'n puts it to a vote. Some of the crew are on the fence, so I start pointing out all of the t-t-things that we can fix with this haul.

Ben: Marion still wants to pick up the shipment; I send Crow to go with her. Einion rigs up a drone to keep eyes on 'em. Crow barely gets a foot off the ship before he's stopped by a sheriff, but Marion manages to slip away.

I manage to talk the sheriff off the ship, but he's threatening to call backup if he doesn't see his boys soon. Meanwhile Crow gets a call from Marion offering a new deal--she'll give us the whole shipment of ore if we help her retake the mine. It's awfully tempting to just take the Charon and leave this dust ball behind, but I'd like to still make something from this job, and we don't betray our passengers. The crew votes to stay and help Marion