That's Not Cool..ac

Posted on Tue Dec 17th, 2019 @ 9:58pm by Gill Anderson & Skyplex Administration Scarlett Wilson

Mission: Opening Shop
Location: The Jail
Timeline: current

"Can I assist you? the Colonel is busy securing the levels which the Administer requested. I am Lieutenant Snow Baxter.." He glanced past the pair at the body but showed no outward sign of surprise or remorse.

Gill glared at the man. He still held his pistol, gripped in a shaking hand. He glanced down at the corpse and roughly shoved his pistol back into its holster. Running his finger tips back through his hair as he tried to calm himself. He needed a clear head right now.

"Lieutenant, I am sure that the Administrator will agree that whatever important tasks your superior officer may be mired in have been well and truly overshadowed by the dead body in this cell." Gill stepped up to the Coolac and met him stare for stare. They were gorram cold hearted bastards that was for sure.

"I want the body removed and handed over to station medics for a complete autopsy and I want every single member of your damned Coolac cult out of my prison now! My deputies will require unhindered access to the security footage, this is now an Alliance crime scene."

He turned to the Administrator then, "A message to your techs to get this damned climate under control would not go amiss." He delivered the words with a wry smile to take the sting out of it.

Scarlett nodded to the Marshal. "I will make sure it gets taken care of. It should never get this cold on the station. Something odd is going on."

Baxter looked at the Administrator. "We will place out medical staff at your disposal for the autopsy. If the Marshall wishes to have his people oversee the cut that is fine also."

Scarlett gave Snow a tired eye roll. "Greenleaf has the most advanced medical facilities in this area of the Rim. They can handle this."

Time stretched on and soon the medics were there busying themselves about their grim task. Gill considered heading back to his office but remembered that it would be just as cold in there and a darn sight more cramped.

The body was gone by the time Daytona arrived and several techs were at work on the local climate systems. The Colonel ignored Scarlett and Gill as he spoke in quiet tones with his Lieutenant. The strange lilt of their language now a familiar and somewhat unnerving sound.

Scarlett looked puzzled and turned to the Marshal. "Did they forget we are here?"

Gill shrugged, "They dont make a great deal more sense when they speak English."

A squad of Coolac security guards entered then with Sin at their lead and six sullen looking prisoners sandwiched between them. Daytona finally acknowledged Gill and Scarlett as his whispering with snow came to an abrupt end.

"Do you wish to have this meeting in your office or the Administrators?" He asked quietly, making no identification of the six who were surrounded by armed CDF, Sin at their head.

"We we were just leaving." Gill replied, "my office is a little cramped for everyone to join. Who is this that you have brought with you?"

"The six involved in this incident and a protection detail as and per Coolac protocol our unit's executioner. You are free to use the space that remains to the Alliance's here." Daytona answered.

"Thank you Colonel, for the permission to use my own facility." Gill looked around. The dead woman had been removed to the station morg while Scarlet had overseen the handover of security codes back to the Alliance deputies. Gill eyed the six men accused of causing the death of Samantha and his face darkened.

"They can remain here in holding cell one." Gill gestured towards the six. "Temporary heaters are being brought in as we speak and you may leave one of your men behind to give you peace of mind that they are being well treated. You may dismiss the others. There will certainly be no need for an executioner."

"Under Coolac Protocols any CDF member that kills an innocent dies by CDF hands. You may have the idiot who gave the orders, but the other five are CDF's. You can do what you want with the man who gave the order, but the other five will die."

"He doesn't care about the man who gave the order. However the five who caused the woman's death will die by my hand. As unit executioner." Sin clarified for the marshal. "It is Coolac protocol that should a CDF member cause the death of an innocent they will be executed. Personally I'm quite happy should you wish to stand in front of them."

Scarlett looked around her at the small crowd that had suddenly started marching through in front of them. She stood in front of the column and their escorts, her face turning a brighter shade of red. "Did IQ's drop with the temperature in here?! Nobody is executing anyone. There been enough unnecessary death for one day. One horrible mistake does not get better by making more. If these men are the responsible parties, the Marshall will take possession of them and they will be punished by Alliance law. This is not Coolac."

"No." Daytona answered. "If you do not wish for them to die, then you will need to secure them yourself."

He signalled his men to leaving only Snow, Sin and him with the Marshall and the Administrator. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss?" He asked both of them. "Coolac will offer a home to the child, if she does not have family, along with compensation for her mother's death."

Gill watched in complete disbelief as the arrogant bastard once again completely ignored a direct order from an Alliance official. The six suspects and their guards filed out silently. Gill held his temper as he walked over to the comm panel and spoke. Deputy Bridger lock down the prison and send Stenner and Mok here please. A moment passed by as Gill continued to ignore the Coolacs questions. The two deputies arrived and Gill looked up.

"Mok, Bridger please disarm our three Coolac friends and escort them to cell one."

"Sir?" Mok asked a little nervously as the deputy eyed the imposing figures of the Coolacs.

"They are under arrest for defying a direct order from a superior officer and refusing to recognise Alliance law. They are also openly harbouring suspected criminals. Until further notice the Coolac are to stand down and are confined to quarters. Set a guard on the Keller girl, they go nowhere near her."

"Touch my mate and they will die. No man touches a mate of another." Daytona stepped towards the Marshall.

"You are a man with no honour. He is ignorant, and he believes it will annoy us." he said to Sin as she stood beside him tense.

"You wish us gone, we will go." he went on. "It is not my choice to be here. The Coolac Council is responsible for this mess. We were told to treat this as we do on Coolac. I do not harbor criminals, every man and mate here was born on Coolac. You have the six responsible. Everyone else acts as per the Coolac Council's instructions. Your Administrator made the deal. There is an obvious clash between what we are trained to do and what you are trained to do. The simple way for this to end is for your Administrator to step you back and we will leave. I did not like this decision in the first place.

Gill watched the entire scene play out in utter disbelief. "Daytona," he spoke now as if to a child, "You ordered your men to remove the six suspects and told your partner that if I did not do things your way I would need to apprehend them myself. You did that just now in front of everyone here. We were all literally standing here watching and listening as you did that. You have threatened an Alliance Marshall countless times now and refused to comply with the simplest requests without adding a boatload of snark to the entire process. You were hired to run security not invade the whole damned station! I never at any point threatened to touch your mate, I am asking you all to step peaceful like into that there cell to await questioning."

He rounded back on Daytona again, "One day! One day of spite, snark and arrogance. One day to completely overwhelm life on this station with your all encompassing egos. One day and what do we have to show for it? One dead body. I wonder what your ass monkeys could achieve in a week. I mean please, I'll go back to my office and just watch the body count rise and Colonel wonder pants and his marvellous murdering mate settle themselves in amongst the unsuspecting populous."

"Y'all excuse me I have a big red button to go press and then you can show us all just how gorram wonderful you truly are."

Scarlett just shook her head before stepping into the middle of the fray. "Wait! As I clearly informed you Colonel, or whatever you call yourself, this is an Alliance station and it runs by Alliance law. There is no other way. You agreed to that when you took up the position of Security Chief yesterday. The station does need its security upgraded. I've made agreements that will see a lot of sensitive and valuable materials flowing through here in the coming months. And while I greatly respect what I believe you were starting on for improvements, I do not need a military presence." she turned to the Marshall, "Not by the Alliance," then turned back to Daytona. "and not by the Coolac Council. These are good people, mostly, on this skyplex trying to live their lives as best they can. They should feel safe and protected, not living in fear or folks hauling big firearms around shooting or freezing them. This has not worked the way my contract with the Coolac Council read. I'm sorry but y'all are fired."

"Then we shall leave." Daytona answered.

"Thank Buddha and all the saints!" cried Gill he left the cells then his voice trailing off in the distance, "I'm gonna feed my fish and find a bar to get drunk in... Mok?"

"Yes sir!?"

"Get those ass clowns out of my jail and let me know when they are off this station so I can start sobering up and get back to work."

"Sir."

(Edited from original to facilitate the exit of TJ from the game.)