Closing in on the Moonflower

Posted on Sun Jan 4th, 2026 @ 1:17am by Black Market Jemison (Jemi) Ajayi & Plexie Natalya Petrovich & Plexie El Plexuco

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: Skyplex Storage level 7
Timeline: Following 'Search for the Moonflower'

Jemi followed Cassie to the door and exited the Land of Storage business office. She paused to survey their surroundings and the nearest stacks, and held up her mobile cortex, displaying the holo map and locations of each of the four stacks it seemed were on their agenda. Stack 68 was the closest, 128 was next and the site of a portrait of Natalya's eyes, then stacks 304 and 540.

Jemi looked up at Cassie, wishing they were cuddled up on the sofa in Uncle Zeno's suite. But she knew that finding Natalya was important and urgent. "What do you think, head straight to stack 68? Should we try to be stealthy? Or, uh, pretend we are visiting our own storage unit?"

"Direct approach will be best in this case. While I don't think anyone's fixin' to do anythin' too terrible, today's events ain't makin' me feel too sure of that notion." Cassie said, giving her a small smile, "Not that today hasn't had some good to come of it."

Truth be told, it had been a long while that Cassie felt this...well...useful. And it wasn't bravado telling her to keep Jemi safe and bring down the wrath of the Almighty Himself to anyone who dared touch her...she genuinely wanted to see her safe. And to keep seeing her, day after day.

"Besides. They'll do somethin' stupid when they see us pokin' around. It's like throwin' a few hands, let the other fella get to thinkin' he's got your number and then you clean him out, and you've got creds for the top shelf stuff for the rest of the night." Cassie said with a growing, confident smile, concluded with a wink.

Jemi grinned back at Cassie. She knew the basic rules of poker and a few other card games but had never truly done much gambling. "Got it. You just… tell me what to do. I'll follow your lead." It seemed Cassie was in her element, so confident and sure of herself. The warmth that spread to Jemi's core was accompanied by a twinge of guilt. That poor teen girl Natalya was in trouble, and Jemi was letting her thoughts and wander, enjoying the adventure with Cassie.

Referring to her mobile cortex map to direct them, Jemi followed behind Cassie, trying her best to keep her attention on their surroundings instead of lingering on Cassie's backside. Soon they were close to their first destination, stack 68. Jemi thought she heard voices, murmuring. "Just up ahead, and to the right," whispered Jemi.

Stack 68 was a tall pile of container boxes, it looked like 2 layers up the containers were shifted back making an open space. The general flow of graffiti seemed to also cover most of the surfaces on the stack. The partial silhouettes of two people could be made out in the shadows. The conversation between the two sounded heated, clearly in a Slavic form of language.

The heavily accented Russian was spoken hastily and low, neither of which hid the fact that the two men, clearly associated with the Bratva, were having a rather heated discussion that anyone else would have considered an argument. Viktor was a young member, and Alexi was none too happy with the man’s complaining. And now that he knew that they were no longer alone, he wanted to punch Viktor in the nose. Of course, it wouldn’t do to hit the other man with a closed fist, no he’d use the heel of his hand, one of the moves he’d learned over the years as he’d worked his way to the position he held. Or maybe a bullet to his forehead would be better.

Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose. No, that wouldn’t work either.

Vikto had yet to realize that two others had joined him, and was mid sentence still ranting, when Alexi turned, stepping free from the shadows to eye the two...women. A dark eyebrow arched as he quickly looked them over both in male appreciation and assessment. “Did you two ladies get lost?”

Before the older man's switch to perfect English, Jemi understood only a few words the men spoke, but they sounded angry, and she'd rather not be the target of that anger, or worse. If she had not been accompanied by Cassie, she'd be terrified. Still, Jemi wished she knew more about Uncle Zeno's organization, these two could be foes or allies – she didn't know. "N-no, sir. We're just, uh, passing through… looking for a friend." Jemi gave them her best innocent, don't-mind-me smile.

Cassie slipped back into her usual demeanor, a cocky half grin on her face. "Y'all ain't seen anyone pass through here, have ya?" She began to position herself to put Jemi between her and the men. It was their hands she'd watch, just like playing cards...

“You two should not be here. Go.” Viktor’s voice was harsh and full of command as he spoke, gesturing with his arm and pointing to where he thought they should go. Alexi, however, had been eyeing both women as if they just might hold the key to a secret he’d love to figure out.

“Замолчи!”* He tossed over his shoulder at the younger man before turning his attention back to the newcomers. One was trying to feign innocence while the other had a look of pure...what was the word? Eh… It didn’t escape his notice that the one seemed to shift into a position to protect the other. Was interesting. “Passing through?” He glanced around, dark eyes darting among the containers, “Interesting. No. We have not seen, as you say, your friend.” (OOC: *Shut up)

Viktor had decided he’d been quiet long enough, and snorted, “Likely story.” Which made Alexi jaw twitch as he turned his head to speak over his shoulder at the younger man, again, russian flying angrily from his tongue as he told him to leave and to hope he didn’t inform the boss of the younger man’s insolence.

These two men were damn scary, but maybe all that aggressive talk was posturing between them. Jemi raised her eyebrows and grimaced at Cassie, as if to say, What the hell do we do now? Then building on the just passing through cover, she said apologetically, "Well, uh, gentlemen, you clearly have a lot to discuss and we wouldn't want to interrupt. So, uh, we'll just be on our way…" Jemi made a move to walk past them.

"Y'all just carry on as you are, we'll carry on as we are." Cassie said, "It's just a big place, we're supposed to be meeting a friend. Maybe she said 86 and uncle said to not pay anything over 68. I swear, I must not have a great head for numbers..." She laughed a little, but she was watching for what the two did with the careful sprinkling of numbers and the word "uncle" would help direct the conversation."

Viktor wasted little time in leaving, tossing a glare at all three of them before removing himself and disappearing from view. Alexi hoped he didn't do a stupid and instead went back to the casino. His attention turning back to the two women, he found the one's words confusing. "Maybe you two should meet this friend elsewhere. Such ad odd place to be meeting."

Jemi watched the younger man leave, and wondered if Cassie's obscure name-dropping was the cause, or if it was something the older man had said to him. "That's, uh, good advice. Thank you, sir," said Jemi respectfully, then walked past him.

"Besides, the 'verse is a odd place, ain't it? But, we play the hands we're dealt by the good Lord. Not to worry, this ain't gonna be a habit, just a one time deal is all." Cassie was now making a point to "talk" with her right hand, overly animated gestures as they moved to go past him. She was watching him carefully though. Strangely, many of the rules that applied to cards also applied to gunslinging. Keep their eye focused away from the hand you're going to draw with, watch their movements carefully. In this case, her left hand was moving a lot slower towards the holsters at the small of her back. If this guy looked like he was gonna pull a piece, she'd have one up to match. If he didn't, it would be easy to play it off. A stretch, scratch an itch, anything innocent enough.

It just all depended on what the other guy did at this point.

The big Russian kept his eyes peeled on the pair as they stared to move on beyond the stack. He made no overtly aggressive moves, but he watched them carefully. "Hope you find your friend, da. Not a safe place for dalliance." he commented as the women passed.

Heart pounding in her chest, Jemi hurried past Alexi, sending furtive glances back toward him. Once she and Cassie were well away from the large man, she slowed down. "That was so strange. I thought those two were going to try to hurt us. What do you think all that was about?"

"Well, either they're not involved or they're lookouts." Cassie replied as they walked, "But I'm gettin' a notion the next folks to harass us won't be so pleasant."

It was a short hike to stack 128. The stacks loomed up over them reaching up near the ceiling of the deck. Stack 128 had the unique distinction of housing a small pile of candles, stuffed animals and flowers placed along it's base. Spray painted messages referencing someone named Jessica and a preponderance of leopard print patterns and broken hearts were graffittied across the area. A pair of lit candles were left at the top of a nearby container with a ladder leading upward.

Jemi tipped her head back to look toward the ceiling, and the shrine's tokens of affection. "Looks like some kind of memorial display, in honor of someone named Jessica." She faced Cassie. "Maybe Jessica was a friend of Natalya's, maybe she came here to mourn?" Jemi gestured toward the ladder.

Cassie's eyes were darting around, an old and unwelcome feeling of impending danger creeping up and down her spine. But there was a thrill that came with it, too. She had to watch her breathing, slow and deliberate breaths, or else she'd end up hyperventilating unintentionally.

"Based on what Zemo told us, she ain't strikin' me as the sentimental type." Cassie said slowly. "Wonderin' if I ought to have known who this person was. But when hedonism is on the agenda, one tends to miss current events." That was a difficult admission despite how easily she said it, "Reckon I ought to reconsider that lifestyle."

She looked to the ladder as well and started to approach it, "Only one way to find out though which one of us is right."

"I haven't heard of Jessica either, but I only arrived on the skyplex a couple days ago." Jemi stopped at the ladder and hesitated, thinking about Cassie's self-identified hedonistic lifestyle. "I reckon there's nothin' wrong with indulging in pleasurable activities, except when it results in pain and folks gettin' hurt." She licked her lips, reminded of what Uncle Zeno might have interrupted. "Who goes up the ladder first?"

"I'll go up first." Cassie replied, "Keep a lookout, I'll let you know if it's clear or not." With that, she started up the ladder to the top of it.

Once atop the container, a fantastical scene opened up. A large range of candles were laid out beneath a mural of a pair of icy slavic eyes. Beautiful yet haunting at the same time. A closer look at the mural would show distinctive dried blood stains spattered across one section of the side of the container, not obscuring the piercing eyes, but like an energetic artist flung the splatter from the bottom upward in a macabre fountain.

Despite the distinct hints of violence mixed with an almost occultist altarpiece, the area was quiet. The silence while making perfect sense in the deserted stack, felt unnervingly tense.

Waiting at the foot of the ladder as Cassie had asked, Jemi impatiently called up to her in a stage whisper once Cassie'd reached the top of the container. "Is it clear?" Jemi started up the first two rungs of the ladder. "I'm coming up."

"...it's clear, but it ain't pretty." Cassie reached behind her and drew one of her pistols. This was the kind of stuff Daddy had told her about, the things he warned her would give her lasting nightmares. Granted, he never had pictured what actually happened to him happening...

"Wǒ tài qīngxǐngle..." (OOC: I'm too sober for this)

Jemi climbed up the rest of the ladder to join Cassie at the top. "Wong dahn"*, she gasped when she got a good look at the eerie tableau of mural and candles. The eyes looking at them were especially unsettling, and the spatter on one section... "Uh. That, uh, brownish red stuff... Th-that's got to be paint... right Cassie?" (OOC: * Done for or imminent doom)

"Seen enough of it to know that ain't the case." Cassie said, making her way over to one of the doors, "This is gonna get a mite unsettlin'. So, we're gonna have to be swift and decisive."

She put herself up against the side next to the shack door and gripping the door latch with one hand and thumbed back the hammer on her pistol.

Blood. It really was blood. Jemi swallowed down a sudden wave of nausea but followed behind Cassie nonetheless. "Just, uh, tell me what I need to do."

The candles flickering in the darkened section of the storage deck gave a sense of motion to the area. The light danced with the tiny flame, illuminating many of the vibrant colors on the mural behind them. Looking very close the women could even make out a tiny red light that swept along the wall in a broad arc.

Jemi strained to see around her, the creepy dancing flame didn't help much. But that red dot moving around reminded her of a laser pointer a friend from the museum had, he'd used it to play with his cat. Wait. Ta ma duh. "C-Cassie? What does that red light mean?"

Cassie stopped reaching for the door as Jemi mentioned a red light. Her eyes flickered over to it and realized...

"Aw hell!" Cassie shoved Jemi aside before dropping down herself.

As Cassie dropped to the floor, one of the candles on the altarpiece behind her blew apart. The little red dot began to swing across the landing. Several small crates were tucked away in the shadows, apparently used as a table and seat for the artist of the portrait and somewhere for those paying homage to settle themselves. Suddenly multiple candles and offerings began to shatter as they were ripped apart rapidly. A shower of glass and debris fell on Cassie and Jemi as they lay flat on the ground.

Jemi lay flat on the floor, terrified, her hands covering her head. Somebody was shooting at them. But why? They were just two women, wandering around the storage containers, looking for a missing girl. Jemi had known, in an abstract way, the Petrovich family was involved in illegal and likely dangerous enterprise, but she was only now confronted with the reality that looking for Zeno's missing niece could get them killed. And yet, Cassie kept a cool head, and didn't even seem surprised. "What now, Cassie?"

It had been a while since Cassie was last actually shot at, but one didn't easily forget such things when they reacquainted themselves so suddenly. The problem now was that she realized that it had been an equally long time since she carried more ammo than she had. Each pistol had one full cylinder and that was it, station authorities had made it plain as day they weren't keen on entertaining the notion of a gunslinger carrying more than they did. Particularly one who got as liquored up as she did...

"Well. This gets any more interestin' and I'm liable to ask for payment from Zeno." Cassie replied over the din. "So, you make a break for the door, and I'm gonna lay down what fire I can, see if I can at least keep whoever's on the other end of that piece down. Maybe if'n we're lucky, I drill 'im and that'd make my day."

As soon as the fire stopped, either to reload or check for movement, Cassie shouted "NOW!" and came back up. Her eyes started looking for where the laser might've come from. Up came her first pistol, but only to about hip level. Her pistols were single action, they required the shooter to pull the hammer back every time they wanted to shoot. But on the frontier, there was a way around that - "fanning" as they called it, where Cassie kept the trigger pulled and used her off hand to palm the hammer. It wasn't accurate, and done too much it could damage the piece. But that was small compared to not getting riddled full of holes, so she did it as she sidestepped after Jemi to the door.

Sparks popped in the darkness in a tight arc where Cassie had been aiming. Suddenly a red flash slashed forward as the laser sight came back up narrowing on her muzzle flashes. Suddenly both shooters could make out where the other was. A flurry of fire erupted from where the laser originated as who ever it was laid down a blanket of lead on Cassie & Jemi's position.

Jemi had been ready. When Cassie shouted NOW, Jemi didn't need to be told twice. She dived for the door like a rabbit scurrying for bushes with a hawk screeching overhead, with Cassie right behind. She huddled in a corner of the storage container and glanced around the inside of the container for something useful. Then she touched Cassie's back and asked shakily, "Are you all right? Are you hit?"

Cassie swore as she got back to cover and rounds popped and sparked around them. She flicked open the loading gate on her pistol, and indexed the cylinder around a full cycle. She snapped it shut and swore again as she holstered it and grabbed her other pistol.

"I'm fine, but I ain't had to carry more ammo in God only knows how long. I got six left in this and that's it." Cassie growled. "Unless someone comes to make sure they finish the job, we might be needin' a more creative solution..."

The stacatto of gunfire subsided. Everything seemed still. Long moments passed.

Jemi swallowed hard. She was not only terrified, but she could hardly understand why this was happening. Why were these gunmen shooting at them? Were she and Cassie really the intended targets, or were they mistaken for someone else? Barely audible, she whispered, "I don't get it, why are they shooting at us?"

Cassie put a finger up to her lips. One thing at a time. She crept over to the edge, slowly cocking the hammer back on her pistol.

The sudden sound of something brushing against a nearby crate caught their ears. Someone was close. In the dim light atop the storage stacks, the silhouettes of two people could be made out. They moved cautiously checking their surroundings in quick turns. They drew close to the ladder leading up to the shrine area Cassie and Jemi were last seen in.

Shortly after the barrel of a gun tapped atop the stack, followed shortly by a pair of searching eyes.

Jemi really had no idea, but to her it looked like Cassie had a clear shot. She held her breath, waiting to see what Cassie would do.

In one motion, Cassie grabbed the barrel of the weapon with one hand, the other had her own gun. She had a mighty strong urge to turn their head into a canoe, but somehow, Jemi's presence seemed to temper her rage just enough that she instead put the barrel to their forehead.

"Howdy." She smiled sarcastically, "Now, I'll be takin' this here piece. And you best tell your friend to toss the other one this way. Or I'm fixing to bǎ yuèliàng tú chéng hóngsè." (OOC: Inbred stack of meat)

Cassie arched an eyebrow. "So. Say uncle or say when."

The Asian man looked crosseyes at the gun pointing into his forehead and then up into Cassie's eyes. She cleanly had the drop on him. "Okay, okay. Let's just talk about this." He said continuing to climb up the ladder. Cassie could feel the tension drop on his gun she held.

Suddenly two shot rang out from below the man. The bullets whizzed past in front of Cassie. The man she held on to gave her a weak shrug and smile as he twisted to the side to break the contact of her gun to his forehead. His arm came around to try and knock her firearm away.

Whilst Cassie grappled with the first man that came up the latter, Jemi cast about desperately for a weapon of some kind. A large wine bottle sat there, empty with the stub of a candle still stuck in its neck. She picked it up and scrambled to the top of the ladder, keeping low. The moment a head appeared, she brought the wine bottle crashing down on it with all the force she could muster.

Cassie's own pistol was knocked away, but the man was also on his way down too, thanks to Jemi. And Cassie still had the guy's gun, which she quickly brought to bear. The first burst went wide, she hadn't fired an automatic weapon in a while, but it was compact and controllable. The second burst caught the assailant though, spinning him to the deck.

"...I'm startin' to think y'all don't want us here." Cassie muttered to herself.

The assailants fell to the deck, one started to crawl away desperately, his head bleeding profusely from Cassie's shot. The other looked back up at the top of the ladder. Taking on Cassie's twin canon's while his own were taken away was not a wise course of action. But they had not been hired to be wise. He started back up the ladder. "Hey hey, shooter girl, no reason fight, we make up like friends see." he called out as he climbed the ladder.

Behind them the storage container opened up as a silhouette with a gun drawn came out quietly.

"I'm goin' to make this real plain." Cassie growled, "And if you do one more gorram cute thing, or if any of your buddies think about rushin' me, I got my finger hooked on this here trigger. I will paint this place with your brains as my last act in the 'Verse, so help me God."

"Now. Y'all have a girl. And some important people want her back. This can go without any further fussin', carryin' on and bleedin'." She continued, "You give her to us, we walk away. But killin' us don't make it go away. In fact, it'll get worse. Figure ten-to-one, y'all get spaced. If y'all hurt her...well, it's a certainty the end won't come fast nor peaceful like."

Jemi glanced from Cassie, to the man on the ladder, to the figure emerging from the crate. Cassie was good – amazing – but Jemi was pretty sure that tall gorgeous woman could fire a single gun in only one direction at a time. Then she caught sight of Cassie's pistol, knocked only a few feet away. Jemi scooped it up and pointed it at the dark figure framed by the open storage container with a shaking hand. She had no idea how to shoot but hoped that a second firearm would help their assailants pay attention to what Cassie was saying.

The man on the ladder kept moving up and reached the top. "I hear you clearly shooter girl. You understand this girl you are look for is worth a lot more than money to our bosses." He raised his hands up and gestured to the other gunman behind Cassie. "Course she aint worth nothin to me, if the price is right. You get me shooter?"

The man in the shadows looked none too convinced to what his compatriot was saying. He raised his firearm to center it on Cassie.

Jemi's hand holding Cassie's pistol shook, but to back Cassie up she gathered her courage and wove a threat from what she knew and suspected about the man who'd sent them here, voice loud and steady. "Let's be crystal clear. Zeno Petrovich sent us to retrieve Natalya. I've no doubt you've heard of the Petrovich patriarch, or as he likes me to call him, Uncle Zeno. This is your last chance to walk away. Like my friend said, if you harm Natalya or us, there is no place in the 'Verse you can hide from Zeno's slow and excruciating revenge. Hand her over."

Cassie chuckled to the man that had a gun on his head, "You might want to get to convincin' your friends...if'n they care much about your well-bein' that is."

"But as for the rest of y'all, the lady's right. Believe me, ain't no force in the 'Verse more powerful than revenge. Especially after the ones who hurt your kin." She shook her head, laughing a little more woefully this time, "I imagine after he's done with y'all, it's gonna make the gorram Reavers sound like tee-totalers. Whatever money y'all got tied up in this, ain't much use to you if your in some hole gettin' torn asunder very slowly."

The man before her nodded. "I got no quarell with you. The other boys aren't from around here, I'm just trying to make a living. So what can you get from Petrovich for his daughter?"

"Un tyen-shung duh ee-dway-ro!*" The man behind them shouted while firing once. (OOC: * Baboon Asshole)

Cassie felt the bullet whiz by to her left. The sudden hole in the reasonable assailant showed his purpose.

"Fay-fay duh pee-yen." The reasonable man exclaimed, his eyes starting to roll back a little as his knees buckled under him.

The shooter shifted her aim towards Cassie.

Jemi had never seen a man shot like that, right in front of her. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks - she could hardly see through the blur. With her hand shaking uncontrollably, she tried to point Cassie's firearm at the killer and squeeze the trigger, but the shot went ridiculously wide. Gasping in pain at the gun's recoil she didn't know to expect, Jemi dropped the gun then collapsed onto the floor herself.

More shots rang out, but Jemi stayed on the floor. When she looked up, Cassie was the only person left standing.

In the sudden quiet, Jemi could hear a rhythmic sound, like someone kicking the inside of one of the storage containers. "Hey, do you hear that? I bet it's Natalya!"