Mack the Knife Meets Hang'em High Parker

Posted on Sun Jan 4th, 2026 @ 5:01am by Alliance Johannah "Mack" Shepard & Alliance Isaac "Hang'em High" Parker

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: Greenleaf Skyplex Hospital
Timeline: End of This Week's Special

Carnahan’s troops had been closing in on Mack. The former Browncoat had been down to her last few rounds and was trying to decide whether to jump out blasting or fire off a few shots and then put the last one through her own head, when there was a faint high pitched sound. The soldiers all dropped to the deck unconscious. Then she heard the sound again, and then everything went dark for her, too. She woke up in a hospital bed… handcuffed to the railing of the bed. She’d been resting, waiting for the moment to either escape or do herself in. She had no intention of letting Major Black, Carnahan’s junkyard dog, lay hands on her again. She was ruminating on this thought when two Federal Agents walked into the room. These weren't Core world agents. They were rough and tumble frontier-types, Unification War veterans. Probably local recruits. One was definitely a former Purple Belly, the other a former Browncoat... at least he was wearing a Browncoat's coat. Mack wondered how this partnership worked. Were they both just such miserable, sadistic húndàn that which side the other fought on didn't matter to either of them? Or was there some sort of mutual respect? Regardless, Mack only knew they were agents because they were wearing Federal Agent badges and were armed with Hànyáng Arsenal 2511 Government semi-automatic pistols, popular among marshals and agents out here. They must be good at their jobs. While the 2511 was popular, it was also expensive. Most marshals and federal agents out here had to settle for the 2411. Still reliable and deadly in the right hands, but not the latest new shiney.

One had a case that might hold a medal. Mack wondered what it could be. She figured it was safe to assume they weren't here to give her a medal. The other had a book in his hand, which Mack also found amusing. Judging a book by its cover, Mack wasn't sure he could read. It was about the size of a portable federal constitution now that she thought about it. Mack recognized it because over her career as a bounty hunter, she'd had to swear on one when testifying in court.

Mack was about to make a quip, but hesitated. Memories of Major Black torturing her flooded her mind. She closed her eyes, calmed her heart and cleared her mind. Fear is the mind killer. It was a line from a book from Earth That Was, penned close to 600 years ago. Mack had heard it from a mentor of hers. Song Wei. Father to Song Xiulan, the girl... no... the young woman who Mack thought of as a sister. The feeling was mutual. Fear is the mind killer. Mack had yet to come across a truer phrase and concept. Well, Mack's mind was alive and it was free, even if her body wasn't. Qù tā de! Bring it on.

"Who are you two xiaochou supposed to be?" Mack said in a brazen tone. "If it's time for my sponge bath, could you maybe find a couple of better looking nurses?"

The Purple Belly frowned, the Browncoat chuckled. "Someone wants to talk to you," the Browncoat said. "Come on in yer honor."

Your honor? Mack was confused. A magistrate? Was she going to tried and convicted of attempted murder right here in her hospital bed in some sort of sham trial?!?

In walked a tall and powerfully built man with a commanding presence. "Captain Johanna Mackensie Shepard?" he said in booming voice and a no nonsense tone. "Magistrate Isaac Parker. You may have heard of me. I have certainly heard of you."

"Every bounty hunter working out here has heard of the Isaac 'Hang'em High' Parker, sir," Mack said. "Is that what you're here for? To see me hanged high?"

"That may have been it origninally," Parker said. "General Carnahan for certain sure wanted you dead. I was on my way somewhere else for an important trial when he ordered me diverted to this Skyplex to see you fairly tried and fairly hanged. But for some reason he's lost interest in you... for the moment, anyway. Said I could do with you as I pleased. So, here's where we stand. The charges against you for attempted murder have been dropped. But you shot it out with Alliance Army soldiers when you escaped, and the Army isn't too pleased with you. If you were put on trial for that, I probably would see you hanged if I could, or sent to prison for a long time, at least. But, on the other hand, by some miracle, you didn't kill anyone--"

"No miracle," Mack said. She shrugged. "It wasn't their fault Carnahan is a psycho. I didn't see as they needed to die because their head honcho was insane. I'm a damned good shot. You don't honestly think I shot it out and stay alive that long without killing anyone by accident."

Parker nodded. "All the more reason for my solution to this problem," he said. "Alice LeMat is being reassigned and I need a new Federal Marshal out here. This person would keep the peace here, track whoever I told them to track, serve warrants and summonses, and so on. You have a reputation for being a tough, highly skilled, extremely honorable and fair little biao zi. You have the respect of the locals, including Sasha Petrovich, which doesn't come easy. So," Parker said, a steady, unwavering gaze fixed on Mack. "Do you want the job?"

"Doesn't seem like I have much choice, if I don't want to go to prison or worse," Mack said. "Do I get one of those fancy 2511 pistols? Maybe two, just to be safe?"

Parker chuckled. "I think I can arrange that," he said. "Uncuff her," he said. The Browncoat Fed did so. "Theoretically, there's some bureacracy over your head, in the form of INTERPOL, who supposedly can dispatch you to do their bidding. In practice, you're on your own out here. The only person you have to worry about taking orders from, most of the time, is me. Yes, I imagine it'll be a rare occurance indeed for INTERPOL to bother you out here. I'll be passing through here now and again to hear cases, criminal and otherwise. There'll be lawyers to represent the government and the accused to make sure things are done legal and proper, but I will see justice done and done right. How much you get paid and all the opportunities for extra pay you can earn making that happen I'll have my clerk send you in a wave. You'll find your compensation potentially generous. Starting with your freedom." Parker turned to the ex-Browncoat agent. "Toss me the book." He turned to Mack. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Mack said.

"Let's get this done," Parker said. "Place your hand on the book and repeat after me..."

Mack took the oath for the office of Federal Marshal, a fact and process that seemed as surreal to her as it would to her friends, family, and colleagues, marking the start of a new adventure.