Welcome to the Jungle

Posted on Sun May 10th, 2020 @ 10:06pm by Skyplex Administration Scarlett Wilson & Blue Sun Juni Hart & Jacerelyn Ellylo & Security Johannah "Mack" Shepard
Edited on on Sun May 10th, 2020 @ 10:08pm

Mission: Bright and Shiny things
Location: Deck 3 - The Hub
Timeline: Immediately following Mistakes were made.
Tags: #Scarlett Wilson, #Johannah 'Mack' Shephard

Henry Chang had been standing in the same spot for nearly five hours as the lottery queue stretched around the central hub of Deck 3. Lots of standing around for nothing. Since they released the order for meeting with the Blue Sun distribution sales agents, the crowd had gradually swollen to over 3,000 despite the best attempts to cut down on just this sort of thing. No one was moving and even folks that had their place held to get to a refresher station got steely dagger eyes when they attempted to reenter the queue. Everyone was bored, tired and counting the moments as more and more of the precious contents of the Mega Hauler got bought up by those that had somehow been fortunate enough to be early in the queue.

Henry wasn't new to a distribution event like this. His family's farm on Jaingyin had been dependent upon new seeds for crops brought by Blue Sun for decades. Neighbor's blamed it on poor terraforming, but the seeds never seemed to feild more than one crop. So every year they would make the voyage to the Skyplex on a freighter rented by their combine to get the next year's seed. They were destitute, they got fair market prices for what their land produced, the problem was that they couldnt survive without new seed from the Core. So each year, they gathered with thousands of folk from other worlds and moons in the sector to wait. The lottery this year had been against the Changs. They were some distance back in The queue, which meant the largest cash crops would be picked through by the time their numbers came up. They would be harvesting broccoli again.

Henry Chang never saw where it started. The sudden surge in the crowd that had barely moved caught many by surprise. The sudden cloud of confetti like paper was an equal surprise. Some started shouting, "Free Priority Draws!" Tired grumpy people desperate to change their fortunes in the lottery surged forward into the shower of twirling paper. Henry felt someone shove against him as they leapt up for the floating tickets. Henry stumbled to his knees as the crush of the crowd flowed over him. He desperately tried to regain his footing but an unknown fist suddenly pounded into his stomach and sent him back to the floor. Instinctively Henry tried to keep his head covered as other bodies tripped across him, their weigh bearing down on his body. Then there were kicks and people violently tearing at his clothes trying to get him out of their way. More feet, more weight. Henry's last sight was the darkness of countless bodies pouring over his,fighting, clawing and kicking.

The Hub of Deck three was a mass of humanity, fighting, screaming and crying out in pain and confusion. The disturbance could be heard from the adjoining decks as people began to rush in and out of the area striving to figure out what was going on.

Mack heard the commotion before she saw it. "What kind of riot gear and crowd control tech does this station have?"

Scarlett rushed out into the corridor trying to assess what was going on as well. "We have bulkhead containment shields in sections across all decks. As for riot gear, security should have the usual batons, shields and body armor, along with tear gas and non lethal ammunition rounds. These are all just crazed customers, not criminals,” she responded back to Mack.

"I wasn't planning on killing anyone... anyone else, anyway," Mack said. Mack took out her encyclopedia and called up a program her adopted meimei had put together for her. It had come in handy over the years. Within a matter of seconds she had a holographic image of Deck Three. "Have Security get up here in riot gear, with shields. No guns, not even with non-lethals. If someone grabs a baton, it's not that big a deal. If they grab a gun, we have a bigger problem. We'll push the mob back, force them to go down these corridors here, drop the containment shields to separate them. I'm not sure we should gas them, but we need to separate them and I don't want to send officers in with what look like clubs to beat down desperate poor people. Once we get the size of the mob down, we can reassess."

Scarlett, wiping a blood soaked lock of hair out of her face, nodded. "That sounds fair, but we gotta do something now. People are dying in there." She turned to Juni. "Ms. Hart, we are going to have to call a break in the sales for a few hours to get folks calmed down, can you tell your people to close it down and get to safety?"

Juni muttered expletives under her breath, and quickly sent the instruction to suspend trading. This trip was proving far more eventful than she'd expected. Within seconds the displays across the deck would be displaying a Blue Sun holding message.

TAG #Zuzutoo

Being closer to the heart of the hubbub, where in the nerve center of the riot folks were already worked up into a frenzy, the clenched fist of Jacerelyn’s uniformed escort pelted the windpipe of one of those crazed customers, though their actions placed them more firmly in the lot of criminals. “I advised against this course of action, Lady Ellylo.” A tall Captain Eros had placed himself protectively between the worked up crowd on Deck 3 and his.... It was unclear the exact arrangement between he and Jacerelyn - he being a Captain by rank in the Alliance and she a registered Companion. She appeared to be his employer and he her bodyguard, though at times their banter suggested they may have crossed the boundaries between professional and private on at least one occasion.

Jacy quickly stepped out of someone’s way. “If I followed the advice of every man who thought he knew better on my behalf, I would not be half the woman they paid me to be. A Companion must know her own mind and body.” From out of the rioting crowd, a rough hand took a mean interest in Jacy’s Aphroditic ass and the blonde instinctively threw an elbow, connecting with a sickening crunch. Despite her claim to daring, she moved closer to the Captain and looked around at the worsening conditions. She had wanted to see for herself the activities associated with the lottery/shopping, but this was quickly become more than she had bargained for.

The faceless assailant curled back from Jacy's elbow in pain. "Hey! That jien huo just broke my jaw! Get her!" the man shouted, a group of rough spacers catching a breather in the fray turned towards Jacy.

“Don’t be silly,” Jacy quipped lightheartedly. “If I had broken your mandible you would not be nearly so vocal. Though it does appear your face has suffered some ill sort of trauma....unless...oh that’s my mistake. You simply have a deficiency of comeliness.”

Captain Eros sighed and cracked his neck.

Not far away, Mack overheard Jacy's predicament. "Just one sec," she said to Scarlett. "Get Security up here and in the positions we discussed. I'll be right back." They hadn't really 'discussed' anything, but Mack was in a hurry. The situation was totally out of control, and honestly Mack didn't have time to waste saving one person, but the woman in immediate peril was within arms reach. She hadn't wanted to draw her gun again, so...

The thought crossed Scarlett's mind about when she started taking orders from this woman that showed up out of nowhere and started shooting people. There were bigger problems at the moment. She didn't have her Cortex on her. She leaned over to Juni. "Can I borrow your Com. I need to coordinate security. And maybe get a towel..."

TAG @Debstar

Juni slipped her the datapad, and shrugged at the other request. "Do I look like I'm carrying a spa kit?"

Scarlett slipped her a clood soaked glare and opened up the datapad. "Trish, I need you to get the Marshal from whereever he is at down to deck 3. We have a full scale riot going on. And relay to security to get everyone they can up here in riot gear to help get this quieted down."

"A Riot? I thought this was a hostage situation." Trish repsonded back.

"It got a lot messier. Get them up here now. And have them coordinate with Mack Sheppard when they get here."

"She got the job?" Trish replied with some excitement.

"We will see. Just get folks up here now!" Scarlett called into the device before cutting the line. She handed the device back to Juni, somewhat envious of the sleek new cortex interface compared to her clunky old unit. "Thanks, let's see if we can get things under control here."

Mack inserted herself between the blonde woman and the crowd before they had a chance to charge. She drew her kambantuli with its 13 inch blade from under her coat. She hit the ma

"Hold it!" she said in a loud authoritative voice, the one she'd used to command the respect of the soldiers under her command. "I'm gonna tell it to you straight. I don't have time to play games with you. You come at me or this woman, you're going to get cut up until you can't attack anyone or, frankly, do much of anything. You may take me down, but I imagine there's severed limbs and a great deal of blood in the immediate future for a lot of you if you don't wise up. Look around you. Is this really the kind of people you want to be? Rabid animals fighting over scraps? I know how hard it is to hold on to your dignity and humanity when the survival of you and yours is threatened. I swear to you, if Miss Wilson puts me in charge of Security, I'll do what I can to sort this out... after this mess is put to rest. Right now, you need to go cool off. Walk away now and I'll not press for consequences. Stay, keep causing trouble, well..." Mack let them get a good look at her knife as she stared the angry group down; a cold, hard look in her eyes. "Stay and you'll find out why they call me Mack the Knife."

Jacy pointed at the long knife - or was it a small sword - and in an aside, undated her escort regarding a future requisition requirement. “Captain Eros, I insist you equip yourself with one of those as soon as possible.”

Mack hoped the mob would make the right choice. She didn't want to cut anyone down, but she didn't have anyway of restraining the group so they needed to be taken down quick, dirty, and for the most part, permanently, without the use of firearms. That meant blade work. Mack didn't want to cut the poor bastards up, but she'd do it and move on like it was any other day that ended in the letter Y.

The small group of spacers looked at Mack. They looked at the Kambantuli she held. They looked at the man that had called them. He stared at Mack, not noticing his cohorts slowly vanishing into the crowd. "Let's take her boys!" he said, swinging his arm to lead the charge of... no one. He turned, looking about as to where his back up was. His eyes twisted back to Mack, his resolve lost, fear creeping into his eyes. "Let's take her to a drink. Some place other than here...." he mumbled out, looking for a way to escape the woman with the large blade.

Wise decision, Mack thought after the group and their leader were gone. She turned to the... the woman looked like she might be a Companion. Mack had no issue with Companions, or with "working" men and women, long as they were consenting adults and weren't being abused or otherwise taken advantage of. Everyone had to make their way in the Verse as best they could. "You okay?" she asked. "I really do hope so, because there's a few thousand people venting their frustrations on each other and it seems I'm on the hook to do something about it."

“I am well, Officer?” Jacy wasn’t clear what this woman’s position or capacity was on the station. She’d initially thought Mack to be a Good Samaritan civilian, but those last words about being on the hook had Jacy rethinking things. “My white knight and I thank you for the intervention. Undue violence would have done nothing to improve this situation.” The Companion looked around at what was still a hotbed of desperate people. “Is there anything I can do to help with...this? My presence on the promenade may not be conducive to such goals, but elsewhere? Otherwise?” Jacy had been blatantly ignoring the shifting then throat clearing and finally severe stance assumed by Captain Eros. Apparently he found something uncomplimentary about this Mack woman.

Mack slipped her Kambantuli back into its sheath on her left side and raised an eyebrow at the Companion's mention of being able to help her elsewhere and otherwise. She grinned. "My name's Johannah Mackensie Shepard, ma'am," she said. "But folks call me 'Mack' or, if they feel a need to use a name with more than four letters, they call me Mackensie. Best thing you can do to help is get yourself to safety, but I will certainly look you up when this is all sorted out, if that's acceptable to you. What's your name?"

There was a byzantine duality to Jacy. She was hard and feminine, approachable with deference. She was a woman and a work of art; admired and appreciated for her beauty, but coveted and sought after for the very same reasons. At times possessed with the heart of a saint, at others inclined towards the ribald. It was impossible to tell whether she were a thoroughbred Lady slumming among the classes, or a gilt-edged whore with aristocratic aspirations.

Eros chimed in indignantly, “This is Lady--”

“--Jacerelyn Ellylo,” Jacy answered quickly. “You don’t strike me as the sort to place a great deal of eminence in titles. And some would say I make my living implementing four letter words. But for now, please call me Jacerelyn. And this,” Jacy indicated her escort, “is Captain Eros. Ah, another four letter word for love. How absolutely clever of you, Captain.”

"Pleasure to meet you, Jacerelyn," Mack said. "I'll definitely look you up later."

Juni nodded at the social niceties, looked Captain Eros up and down somewhat dismissively, and inserted herself into the conversation. "Juni Hart. Nice meetin' all of you, blah blah blah. How long til you can clear this disruption, Ms. Wilson? Time is, as they say, money".

"As soon as Security gets here," Mack said. "We can start corralling people." She turned to Scarlett. "Is Security in position?"

Scarlett moved in closer to Mack and the Companion. "We should be getting back up any time now." Almost as if on cue, on the outskirts of the mob security officers began to line up with shields facing towards the crowd. "There we go. Let's start gently getting them to separate and get me a bull horn."

The Companion laid a hand on Eros’ forearm and made her farewells. “I’ll just have Captain Eros escort me elsewhere. You three seem to be able bodied women and now that the buying has been paused, I see no further reason to linger. Perhaps I’ll check in on the women of Mission Temple. This is as good a time as any and angry riots do have a tendency to take out those misguided energies on the working girl. Lead the way, Captain.” And the two left to pursue entertainments elsewhere.

Since Mack wasn't actually in charge of Security yet, she didn't actually have a bullhorn at her fingertips. She did see a Security Officer holding one, standing around like an cheerful, but overwhelmed, idiot. Mack shrugged and walked over to the man. Mack's interests sometimes moved in both directions, so she wasn't all that surprised that she found herself thinking the young officer was sort of cute. Dumb, but cute. "Excuse me," she said. "I think your boss just asked for that bullhorn." The young officer started to look like he was going to say something that was going to prove just how dumb he was and in doing so, completely negate his 'cuteness' so Mack stepped up and shut him down. "Look, you can get defensive and we can play dominance games of the stupid variety right now, or you can just hand me the bullhorn, and we can play dominance games of the more enjoyable nature some time after this nonsense is settled. I'll be on top in both varieties, but you'll have more fun with the latter." Mack held out her hand. The young officer wasn't sure if he'd heard Mack correctly, then decided he had and blushed furiously. He smiled shyly at Mack and handed her the bullhorn. Mack took the bullhorn, winked at the young officer, and walked over to Scarlett. "Here," she said. "One bullhorn, as requested."

Scarlett accepted the Bull Horn with a nod. Flipping a few switches and stepping up on a planter box housing a large Aspen tree, Scarlett held the device above her head and activated the speaker, emitting an ear piercing screech across the entire area. The bloodied young woman looked as big a mess as the riot in progress, but she stood there just above the mob, the screech bringing all eyes to her, even those engaged in beating down their neighbor. The sound continued for a full minute before she lowered her arm and brought the bull horn to her mouth. "IF I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, THE LOTTERY SALES ARE SUSPENDED FOR TWO HOURS. EVERYONE IS TO CLEAR THIS AREA. DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY IN AN ORDERLY FASHION." She ended the statement with another blast of the screech from the bull horn. Giving hand signal she hoped security would know meant to move into the center of the mob. She then handed the bull horn back to Mack. "You wanna clean this up Chief?"

Mack took the horn and smiled at Scarlett. "Yes, Ma'am, Miss Wilson." She took the comm that a Security Officer handed her and spoke into it. "Let's start moving these people back. If you witness an altercation, try to isolate the combatants and then separate them or subdue them as you deem necessary. Less-than-lethals only. Anyone who uses excessive force answers to me! These people are tired, hungry, frustrated, and scared. They're having a really bad day. Let's add as little unpleasantness to that as possible. Mark and move!"

The different teams called in their acknowledgement and began moving the crowd back.

"Should have this sorted fairly quickly," Mack said. "I assume this means I'm hired?"

Scarlett gave Mack an honest look over. "You sure you want it? You've had a busy day, and I wish I could say this wasn't typical. I suppose I should learn something more about you besides your name first though."

The security teams were wedging their way into the crowd and dividing the mass of people into small groups. When a section cleared the hub, the force field bulkhead went up to keep any one form doubling back. As a whole the initial panic seemed to have been spent. A couple clusters of rowdy folk were quickly subdued. The deck was a mess.

Mack steeled herself for rejection. "I was born and raised on Londinium," she said. "Good schools, roof over my head, no worries about where the next meal was going to come from. My family moved in good social circles. That made my very vocal displeasure with the way the Alliance treated the colonies all that much more difficult for them. I went to an Alliance military academy, and I was a 2nd Lieutenant with two years service when the war broke out. The Browncoats made me a 1st Lieutenant and when we were short on Captains, they made me a Captain. Now, the way I see it, I resigned my commission so I could join the Browncoats without committing treason. The Alliance saw things a bit differently. Decided I was a traitor and when I surrendered at the end of the war, they tossed me in Newgate prison. My father helped broker a pardon for me on the understanding that I'd head back out to the Colonies and return to the Core as infrequently as I could possibly manage, and that I never contact our family again. I've been making my way as a... private contractor, mostly legitimate work. Bounty hunting, protection work, courier jobs, other security-related work. It's kept me alive, but I haven't been able to land a serious regular position. Jobs like that are hard to find and almost all of them go to Alliance military veterans and their kin, or to them that can afford to buy respectability. So I'm really hoping you're not going to change your mind. I could use a place to settle for a bit."

The blood had started to dry in Scarlett's hair, coalescing together in lumpy tangled masses. Her face had broad streaks of dark crimson that had started to flake off in places. She looked about as miserable as she felt. Her icy blue eyes looked out at Mack as she relayed the story of her life. "Ms. Shepard, my family remained neutral throughout the war, while friends of mine shipped out on both sides and got shot to hell. When the dust settled, we were still here. We have been called traitors by both sides, war profiteers and a quaint variety of less than mentionable titles that keep respectable people steering clear of this station. We kept the skyplex open for anyone that could do business, and kept as many of our people safe as we could. I have plenty of grudges against and admiration for veterans of the Alliance and Independents. I don't quite care who you were during the war or before. I care about the character of who you are now and are you going to be an asset to this station. If you will have us, we will have you, Chief Shepard."

Mack was surprised to find herself a bit misty-eyed, but managed to keep from tearing up as she swallowed the lump in her throat as discretely as possible. "Thank--thank you, Miss Wilson," she said. "Let whoever's been running things up til now know I'm the new boss and I'll start getting things squared away. I may have a couple of ideas to run by you once I get the lay of the land. Til then, I'd suggest you go and get cleaned up, maybe get some food into you, and get somewhere you can get warm. Not sure if that fracas earlier was your first gunfight or not, but either way, you've got an adrenaline crash in your immediate future. Best to be back in your quarters when it happens, at least for a couple of hours. We'll get this cleaned up and I'll find you later and update you. Oh, and I can promise you that when you open the lottery again, Security will be better prepared."

"Welcome aboard Chief. I will see that your file gets set up on the station manifest and we can start getting you paid." Scarlett replied. So many things to get cleaned up and operating again. Scarlett closed her eye for a moment to let the throngs of stress flow through her. Honestly, she was a mess, and needed to get her self in order before she could get her station back on a smooth footing. "I'm going to climb in the shower and peel off at least three layers of skin. Can you have your teams ready to start lining folks up in two hours? Lots of money burning in people's pockets. Gotta get things restarted." God she needed a shower... and a massage... and a strong drink....

"Yes, Ma'am," Mack replied. Some would balk at taking orders from someone more than ten years their junior, but Mack wasn't so worried about things like that. She'd follow orders unless they were stupid or unnecessarily dangerous, and then she'd do what needed doing, based on her education, training, and most importantly, experience. "Two hours. Just make sure I have the proper access I'll need to do the job, codes and all, and I'll get it done."

"I'll get it taken care of as soon as I can get back to the office. Stupid skirt." Scarlett responded. She reached over to a nearby security officer. "Gimme your comm please." The officer handed it over, knowing exactly who signed his paycheck. Scarlett opened up a frequency to all security. "This is Administrator Wilson. Effective immediately, Mac Shepard has been selected to head station security. Proper orders will be logged shortly. Obey her directives and please accommodate her while her credentials process. That is all." She turned the comm back over to the officer. "Get this place ready to reopen. I'm gonna get cleaned up and will be back." She turned to head towards her cabin, stopping when she saw Juni Hart. "Ms. Hart, I am afraid we will need to continue our conversation in my office once I get myself a bit more presentable. Since out lunch was interrupted, feel free to grab something to eat, bill it to my account. I should be ready in about half an hour."