Local Hero

Posted on Sun Apr 18th, 2021 @ 12:47am by Plexie Zane Ryan & Security Johannah "Mack" Shepard & Civilian Xiulan Song

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: Clay Pigeons Restaurant - Deck 3
Timeline: Evening after Riders on the Storm

Clay Pigeons was never the most popular eating establishment on the Skyplex. Many visitors considered the idea of Cuisine of the Rim to be an oxymoron. But to locals, it was a casual environment with comfort foods for cheap prices. The restaurant looked like most small diners with a central service and order island adjacent to the kitchen and a row of booths along the outer walls. The decor was largely made up of a menagerie of trinkets and oddities collected from across the planets and moons that made up the rim. Much of it was farming implements that helped emphasize the wholesome home cooked vibe of the food. There was also memorabilia from the war... lots of it. An entire wall adjacent to the entry door showed holograms and images of companies and regiments of the Independent forces, most snapped with personal cortex units by soldiers in the field. There were also banners and regimental flags representing squads from all over the Verse. The rather provactive nature of the decor often turned Core worlders around the moment they stepped through the door. The staff didn't care. They didn't need a bunch of pro-alliance traitors and sell outs. Their defiance and cheap prices made the restaurant very popular with the Plexies, who often hung out in booths near the back.

Jennifer Ryan gave her son a sidelong look as she moved about waiting on tables. Zane seemed a bit nervous and agitated. She shot him a look for him to calm down. He rolled his eyes at her, which got him a stern finger pointing back at him. He shook his head. Hopefully Mack and Xiulan would get there soon, and this little bit of theater he got roped into could play out.

Mack shifted nervously outside of Clay Pigeons. She felt pretty awkward about the invitation she'd received. Yeah, she'd gone a little above and beyond to rescue Zane, and she couldn't in all honesty say that anyone would have done the same. But...

Mack sighed, shrugged of the uneasiness, and then entered the restaurant... and was blown away. The place was practically a museum dedicated to the Browncoats. "Um... wow," she said.

"What?" said Xiulan, standing at her side. The overwhelming-ness of the decor was lost on the tiny martial artist, her pale green eyes staring into nothingness as she held on to Mack's elbow.

"Oh," Mack said quietly. "This place is like a Browncoat museum. It just... it brings back memories, not all of them very good. Still, it's good to know that someone will remember that time that a bunch of idiots like me stood up to the Alliance. Win or lose, that was a feat in and of itself."

Jennifer saw them enter from across the restaurant. She nudged one of her co-workers and indicated toward the twosome. The younger man walked towards the front door where Mack and Xiulan had entered. "Come right one in. We are honored to have you here this evening. Is this your first visit to Clay Pigeons? Literally, whatever you want tonight is on the house. Come on, we got a booth set up for you." he said warmly. He grabbed a pair of menus from the front counter and lead them back to a booth towards the back that Zane was sitting in.

Zane started to try and get up for them, but found himself a bit stuck under the booth to be able to quickly slide out to stand. He gave up in a bit of frustration, but looked up at them pleasantly. "Hey." he said in greeting with a nod.

The booth, was small lit by a couple candles on the table and a hanging lamp from overhead. Around the booth was more memorabilia from the war. For those paying close attention there was even a holo of Mack's old company, placed there intentionally. The host allowed them a moment to settle themselves in.

After she sat down, Mack got a chance to look around. Her eyes got a little misty when she saw the holo of her company. She choked up a bit when she tried to speak. "Meimei, there's a... ahem... a holo of my scout company. I hav... ahem... I haven't seen that picture in years," she said. "I've run into a few of us who are left, but not often." Mack turned to Zane. "Thank your mom for keeping their memory alive."

Under the table, Xiulan took Mack's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, then quickly went back to getting comfortable in the booth. "Musta taken alotta research and money to collect so much memorabilia, especially personal snaps," Xiulan observed. Even if she couldn't see the decor, she could appreciate the dedication that went into the collection.

Zane smiled nervously. "I think she kind of wants to talk about that tonight, you know, like in addition to feeding you for helping me out."

"...Feeding them both a lot." Jennifer said as she walked up to the booth. "What are you two drinking tonight?"

Mack sighed. "I'd better stick to something unleaded, like sarsaparilla or something like that," she said. "As you probably saw, we have a VIP aboard. Wouldn't do for me to show up with booze on my breath or looking like hors de combat if something jumps off."

Jennifer smiled slyly at Mack. "Far as I reckon, you're the biggest VIP aboard at the moment. A lot of folk here would take a bullet for you. You have no idea what it means to our community to have a hero living on the station. Is it true you escaped their prison camp after the war?" she asked excitedly.

Mack sighed. "Nothing so grand and exciting as that, I'm afraid," she said. "I could embellish or even flat out lie, so you'd keep thinking I was awesome, but I'm not much of a liar when it comes to the important stuff. No, I grew up in the Core on Londinium. I started my military career, if you can call it a career, in the Alliance military forces. Now, the way I saw things, I'd resigned my commission to do what I thought was right. Since I didn't join the Browncoats until after I'd resigned, I didn't think I should be charged with desertion, treason, and so forth. The Alliance didn't agree, so I was taken to Londinium, thrown in Newgate, and held pending a courts-martial. Now, it was possible I would have been pardoned without any grease being applied to the wheels of justice. A lot of former Alliance officers were, though they might have had the wheels greased for them, too. Anyway, my dad was an Alliance military officer and it seems he felt a trial and public execution would be too, well, public. It would embarrass him and my family more than my actions had already. So he quietly arranged for me to be pardoned. Told me to go out to the rim and never come back, or if I did have to come back for some reason to keep it brief and keep a low profile. To encourage this, he got me a job escorting a martial arts master by the name of Song Wei and is gawky kid, the blind chick sitting next to me now, out to the colonies. The rest, as they say, is history. Not quite as exciting as a jailbreak, but more honest, I suppose."

"I knew you would say somthin akin to that. You fought for what was right, despite the whole Verse an your elders telling you otherwise. Sounds like a hero in my book. There are a lot of people on this station that stood proudly for the cause even when all hope was lost. But we are still here and no revenue snatchin Alliance folk can stop us." Jennifer said defiantly. "An to think you came to our little corner of the Black and saved my son. I don't have the words."

"You don't need to say anything," Mack said. "This community has welcomed me, given me a place to call home. A person defends their home. I just got started a little early is all." Mack grinned. "Besides, meimei and Arturo have the hard job, though I hear Zane is a great student. Not many people would put up with hours of training on how to fall down, get up, fall down, fight on the ground, did I mention being taught how to fall down? Though I suspect Zane is looking forward to getting good enough on his feet for Arturo to really teach him how to fight with that cane."

Jessica smiled like a proud mother. "All of you have been so kind. I know things arent the same for Zane these days. Kids can be cruel. But it looks like he has found a good place to fit in away from the old crowd." she titled her head slightly indicating the kids in the booth towards the back. "They are not really all bad kids, like that Petrovich girl. They just got nothing to inspire em these days. Actually lots of folk on the Plex need a little bit of hope these days, especially with that butcher on board. Can't believe that Wilson woman let him set foot on the Plex. It ain't right. Good folks layin in the ground cause of that Gose. An he strutting around like the King of Londinium. Why in the seven hells is he even here?" Jennifer said getting more agitated as she discussed the minister.

Zane leaned up to Xiulian. "Mom's got a little attitude toward the Alliance. Her family got hurt bad int he war."

"So I gathered," Xiulan replied to her 'interpreter', then spoke up to address Jessica. "If any of the kids need help stayin' outta trouble, you can send 'em my way. I don't charge for basic self-defense classes, helps to hook them in for the real classes, but even if they don't wanna take the classes, they can come around for a safe place to hang out and do their schoolwork together."

Jessica was looking intently at Mack, listening with an unusual intensity. When she turned back to Xiulan, she looked slightly annoyed, but recovered quickly. "I don't know how I feel 'bout a bunch of hoodlums learning ta fight all fancy. But a safe harbor is just what Zane needs. He's going to be graduating from the Education Center right soon and will need to look for a job. I know he don't have much friends these days on part of that Slavic jien Huo."

Zane glared back at his mother. "She's not a jien huo!"

"Bai tuo, uhn jin tee dien." Jessica snapped back silencing Zane, who sat back in the booth most clearly annoyed, but obedient.

Jennifer looked back over to Mack. "I do apologize for my son's outbursts. Kids you know. We were speaking of that trespassin high and mighty that cam aboard yesterday. Hearsay is they're rounding up folk for interrogating. That true?"

Mack scowled. "Only if they do it themselves or convince Marshal LeMat to do it," she said. "My people aren't going to help. If I identify a threat, I'll deal with it or hand it over to Alice LeMat. If he decides to turn that information over to the other Purple Bellies, I can't help that. But at least he's the Federal law in these parts and I know he's a decent guy. There's a good chance he'll look into things himself before handing anyone's file over to the VIP's security detail." Mack sighed. "If you hear anyone planning on doing something stupid, you let me know right away. I got more reason than some to put a bullet in this VIP, but that ain't gonna solve nothing. That war's been fought already and we lost. Now ain't the time to start things up all over again. They're just looking for an excuse to crack down on Browncoats and Independents. I'd prefer we didn't give them one."

At the mention of folks doing something stupid his eyes shot over to the table of hoodie clad teens on the other side of the restaurant. His eyes connected with a young girl who saw his staring and proceeded to flip her finger up at him. Zane looked away and back towards Mack. He thought he should mention that stupid things were planned. Stupid things were likely about to happen. But he had become such a pariah for the Plexies since the whole Jessica thing... He looked up at Mack, about to say something when his mother jumped in.

Jennifer nodded in agreement. "Absolutely, them purple bellies think they can just run all over folks here on the station. We got rights, but ain't no one to stand up for them for us. I hear they got cells set up in the Marshal's jail that are holding folks without warrants. No trial no nothing. Just waiting on Mr. Minister to do what ever the hells he got planning."

A group of Plexies gave glares over at Zane as they suddenly got up from their table. They flipped their hoods up and quickly issued out the front door into the station. Zane sank in his seat, knowing this would not end well.

Nothing that had just occurred was missed by Mack, whose life frequently depended on being able to observe her surroundings surreptitiously while carrying on conversations having nothing to do with what was going on around her. "I don't know anything about that, but I'll look into it and see what I can find out. I can almost guarantee that if what you say is true, it's being done over Marshal LeMat's protests." Mack glanced over at the Plexies as they exited. She wanted to follow them, but that would be rude. She wanted to have someone pin a tail on them, but Security was stretched too thin because of Carnahan's visit and the plainclothed constables she'd planned to place around the hub were otherwise occupied. Mack turned to Zane. "If they were really your friends, Dìdì (younger brother), they wouldn't treat you like that."

Zane gave Mack a look of resignation. "Seems I don't have a lot of friends these days..."

"It's that Petrovich girl!" Jennifer jumped in. "She has turned all of the kids against Zane. Meh lien duh jyah jee."

"Mom! She is not a slut. She is just upset. I don't blame her." he looked down at the table. "The kids look up to her above pretty much everyone. Since we broke up, other kids won't talk to me. Its really not their fault. Everything with the Cat.... Jessica...." his voice traced off.

"Not your fault," Mack said. "No matter what Natalya Petrovich says, and her lackeys don't get an opinion. As for friends, well... you've got me, Xiulan, and that Italian lunatic she's hooked up with. I know, I know. I'm old, and even Xiulan and Arturo are, nominally, adults, but we're a start. You won't find us tagging the bulkheads with anarchist slogans, but, honestly, is that what you want to spend the rest of your life doing?"

"You have a chance to do something in life, really make something of yourself," Xiulan chimed in. "It's okay to feel hurt at the loss of your friends, just keep in mind how many of those friends came to visit you while you was in the med center. Now, I seem to recall that we were offered food?"

At the mention of food, Jennifer's instincts as a waitress kicked in. She was being a hostess to the people that had saved her son and given him a new challenge for his life. She had pulled a lot of strings to put the evening together, and the cause of hospitality must be served. "I did indeed Miss Song. A delicious feast representing the finest of the worlds once held by the Independents during the great fight. I will be right back." she said spinning about and headed toward the kitchen.

As his mother mercifully ran off to her duties, Zane looked at his older friends/mentors/love interest. His life was becoming something new. Something unknown. "I'm sorry, but messing around, tagging stuff and screwing with security was the most fun, you could find on the Plex. I mean if we could all plug into sourceboxes and be on the cortex all day and night, I guess that could keep us busy, but most of us don't come from families of money. Nat pretty much did things because being bad kept her from getting bored. I loved the art of it all. Sure it wasn't much not much compared to what you see in waves, but it was my own thing. Nat was my favorite thing to paint... and stuff you know." Zane blushed a little while speaking. Hurt as he was, he still carried a torch for the Slavic temptress.

Mack smiled. "You don't have to give up your love of art," she said. "You just have to find a way to be an artist that doesn't get you in dà máfan (big trouble) and, judging from the way those wúyòng de xiōngbù (useless boobs) treated you, a way that doesn't involve the Plexies." Mack frowned as if she just thought of something, then smiled again. "How about I ask Scarlet if there's room in the budget to pay you to paint some murals on some of the walls in the public areas? It might not be much, but it would be a start."

Zane smiled through his self consciousness. "That would be great. I could even maybe like do something at the dojo?" he asked looking over at Xulian.

"First course!" Jennifer called out as she brought a large tray of hor-de-vours and stated placing trays on the table. "We got pickled cactus from Whitefall, Shrimp Ceviche from St. Micahels, baked walnut clusters from Hera and a Wheatgrass grain pudding from Silverhold. Make sure to save room for the entrees." she said with a smile. "In the center here I got a flight of genuine corn whiskey from Belix. Y'all said you didn't wanna get hammered, but a little 160 proof will keep you nice an warm."

"Whoa!" Xiulan exclaimed as all the food was named off; there had to be more than enough there for a full meal! Xiulan's nose immediately picked out the individual scents and she chose the walnut clusters first. "Oh wow, these are good..." she murmured as she chewed, only then realizing that Zane had asked about painting the dojo. Xiulan cleared her throat as she considered it. "So Zane, about your idea, I think that would be a great idea. In fact, I'd like you to help me design a logo, since I can't see and all, just something we could wear on our uniforms, and then you can incorporate it into your mural. How does that sound?"

Zane's mouth literally dropped open. "That would be so cool. Thank you! I promise I will do the best I can and it will be the most amazing thing you have ever seen..." the realization of what he was saying to Xulian kicked in just as the words came out of his mouth. "Uh... I mean... it will be awesome and people will love it...?" he concluded awkwardly and sheepishly. He was wishing to just crawl away and die at the moment.

Xiulan chuckled. "It's alright, kid, don't get yourself worked up over what you say around me, I'm used to it. But I'm glad you're excited about this project. You good working with Arturo since he can see what you're working on and can give input?"

Zane thought for a moment. "Sure, yeah Arturo is cool. I'm happy to describe it all to you while I'm working on it. IF there is anything specific you want I am happy to try and make that too."

Jennifer returned shortly with even more food, stopping briefly to clear away the plates formt he appetizer round. "Now y'all got seasoned beef from Jaingyn. The boss knows a guy that brings in cattle to be processed there from someplace in the Border worlds. Pretty sure none of it is legal, but it tastes great. We also got a Tika Masala from New Kasmir and a little bit of Peppered grilled Muskrat from Paquin. You gotta try it with the Mango Chutney. If y'all need anything like more drinks or whatever just let me know."

She set down the platters of food and untied the apron around her waste picking up one of the whiskey glasses at the center of the table. She called out in a loud voice that claimed the attention of everyone in the diner. "I would like to propose a toast to Xiulan Song, who has been so instrumental in the recovery of my son Zane." She held up the glass to all the customers and proceeded to drink it. "I also want to toast our local celebrity hero of the war for Independence, our Chief of Security Mack Shepard!" She held up the glass again to a resounding cheer from the customers. "May you be protected as you protect us, and inspire us to stand for what we know is right." The cheers picked up in intensity. several people in the diner moved over to the table and patted Mack on the shoulder. "Let me buy you a round. Anything you want is one me!" he called out eliciting another wave of cheers from the crowd.

Jennifer smiled at Mack. "I said you were appreciated around the station. You need anything from us, let us know. And you got free drinks on the house anytime you stop by."

Mack grinned. "Much appreciated," she said. "This all looks fantastic. Let's eat!"

The assembled party dug into the platters of food. By all fairness to a tiny diner, it was excellent. Not in the way that verse class chefs prepare a feast beyond measure, but by the fact that the foods were hearty, flavorful and just pleasing to eat. Originating from at best back end moons and worlds where rich land owners dominated the economy, the meals did credit to the communities of people struggling to live on their mostly terraformed rocks in the black.

The crowd of diners in the restaurant returned mostly to their own respective tables and conversations, while a few stopped by to pose with Mack in a quick holosnap. The environment was certainly welcoming of the chief of security. With a fork full of grilled muskrat, Mack's Cortex began to buzz...

Mack sighed. "No rest for the wicked," she said as she answered her cortex. "Shepard here," she said. "What's going on?"

The cortex responded with the confident voice of Marshal LeMat, "Shepard, I've got multiple alarms on deck three. Get down here."

"On my way, Alice," Mack replied. "Don't do anything stupid until I get there. I want to watch and laugh." She turned to Zane. "Thank your mother for me and apologize to her for me having to leave. Duty calls. I'll swing back around another time. What I got to eat of this was great."

Zane watched as Mack rapidly headed out the door. He sighed a little. At least the wildly awkward part of the evening was done. His mother could go back to her usual waitress mode and stop trying to impress Mack. Now things could be normal. It was just him and ...Xiulian. The blind girl certainly did not see him suddenly blush. He looked over at her. She was beautiful... in a different way than Nat had been, but still. The silence suddenly stretched for a bit. He caught himself staring at the girl as he held his fork half lifted to his mouth with a bite of Muskrat. "uh.... so.... like you hungry? looks like we got plenty of food." he mumbled awkwardly.

[Tag Xiulian]

OOC: Posting for Darrell while he is on LOA. If Zane and Xiulian want to finish up the post that would be splendid.