The Makers of Pearls

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Yangon(Rangoon), Nova Sol Terra

Sailing at moderate speed, the Banshee had left the Australian port of Fak-Fak setting course due west towards the Indonesian Archipelago owned by Manilla Island. The Manilla Islanders were an isolated people from much of the rest of the world, but given that the islands were so close together and the strength of their naval forces. Samantha thought it best to risk the southern route near Darwin, the capital of the Australian Queendom, rather than sail straight through the archipelago itself. It would not be a quick journey, the Banshee would have to keep to a steady speed of thirty knots per hour to conserve fuel, not going either too quick or too slow, but fast enough that they could reach their port of call, before rations ran out and they would have to find a port where chances they may not be welcomed at to resupply. Given their speed, it would take about six days to complete the journey to Yangon and as Al estimated there would just be enough food to complete the journey and just enough fuel for one refueling session. But those small bumps in the journey weren't enough to stop Samantha's maiden voyage.

By the first night, they had crossed the risk of Darwin and had sailed into the open waters west of Kupang, by the second day, they had begun traveling up the coast of Java and from there the days pasted as they rounded the archipelago, nearing the port of Yangon with every passing day. Finally on the night of the sixth day, the Banshee sailed quietly into the Andaman Sean and from there, to the crystal waters of the Gulf of Martaban, deep in Nova Sol Terran waters. Samantha had explained that raiding ships prior to landing in Yangon might damage their chances of striking a deal with the rebels that she wanted to make contact with. In addition to that, they had no base, if you were going to raid ships, you needed to have either a hideout to store the goods until a viable market could be found, or a base near the market that you planned to use. The Nova Sol Terrans could benefit two ways. The rebels benefiting from the raiding on council ships, while the general population by the raiding on foreign vessels for exotic goods for cheap.

Once inside the Gulf, Samantha ordered for a flag to be hoisted on the mast for fake identification. Flying the flag of the Republic of Taeunas, it Samantha knew English, it was the national language of Promised Land and could fake an Irish accent easy enough. But if things didn't end up working out, they wouldn't be caught right away that they were loyal to no nation and to any leader.

As Samantha stood on the bow of the ship, Erik walked over to her and stood next to her as they beheldthe illuminated city of Yangon ahead of them. "We finally made it. So this is what it feels like to be open on the ocean."

"I'd say something like that Erik. It is beautiful though isn't it, the lights on the buildings."

"It reminds me of Brisbane a little bit, different architecture and all. But it seems calm here."

"Appearance and reality are two totally different things Erik. We need to hope that things are not all right with the world here, otherwise, things won't be all right with us."

"I didn't think we'd be the ones that wanted to cause all this chaos. But I guess after we've been around it so long, its second nature." He looked up at her, her dirty blonde hair shimmering in the illumination. "Barely recognize us anymore."

She reached down and held Erik's face in her hand. "We just have enjoy the calmness as it comes to us and remember the beauty how we see it. There's no eternal peace Erik, just the calm and peace that we make for ourselves in moments like this." Samantha smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Hopefully landing in Yangon won't be as hectic as it was in Fak-Fak, but go tell Al to prepare our docking supplies."

"Aye Captain." He said jumping off the platform of the bow and running along the metal deck towards the bridge. Samantha turned back around and looked out as the Banshee turned down the river leading towards the harbor of Yangon. She closed her eyes and drifted into thought, no it was time to play hardball again.

[Kevin Kingswell]

The illumination that came from Yangon's lights did indeed make the city look quite beautiful and peaceful however, it was an illusion at best and a fantasy at worst. The city of Yangon was firmly and successfully in the hands of The Principality terrorist organisation and the once wonderful city had degraded into a den of crime and violence. Gambling dens and whorehouses lined the streets as far as the eye could see and hundreds of men, women and even children wasted their lives and money in them never leaving the endless cycle of loss and decay.

However, as disgusting and order free the streets and buildings were the docksides and harbour entrance was heavily patrolled and maintained by the Principality and the knowledge and reported sight of a foreign corvette approaching sent worry and dread through the leadership of the terrorists who blundered about making calls and arranging escape vehicles until they were silenced by the swift and calm orders of the man known as "Silent Snake" the one true leader of the Principality.

He quickly had an armed response readied and sent out to greet the oncoming Corvette, the waters of the harbour docksides were quickly churning as three small river boats armed with nothing more than machine guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers started their engines and turned out towards the harbour entrance. Snake also ordered that the Hind-D attack gunship they possessed be sent out as well against the opposition from the other minor leaders.

The three river boats quickly scythed through the calm waves that lapped into the harbour and against its harbour walls and sailed out to meet this unknown corvette, the Hind-D quickly caught up with them maintaining a position roughly four hundred meters above the boats. Once the small group had reached the corvette's position they switched on each boat's searchlight bathing the corvette in a deep glaring white light.

In the middle river boat that had taken the lead a black toned man walked to the prow with a portable radio in his hands which was connected to a set of loudspeakers on the cabin of the roof's hull. He quickly switched them on and made sure they were working before speaking.

"This is Wild Bill to unknown naval corvette you are in Principality waters. Halt immediatly and identify yourself or we will be forced to open fire. This is your only warning!"

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Perfect." Samantha smiled as she jumped off the bow of the ship and onto the deck. "Al!" She shouted up to the bridge. "Kill the engines, we found our guys!" Sliding her hand across her throat in case he didn't quite get it. But he did and underneath her, Samantha could already feel the engines beginning to cool and come to a stop. After the corvette had stopped, Samantha walked up to the bridge and picked up the radio from the communication panel. Flipping it to loudspeaker, she tapped on the sender and put her mouth to the speaker.

"Wild Bill, this is Captain Samantha Aran of the Banshee. We have come to Yangon for the sole purpose of meeting with Principality Leaders as myself and my crew have something to offer them. I respectfully ask you to allow my ship safe harbor in Yangon and to organize an audience with Principality leaders. If you control the harbor then I'm guessing you control the city as well. Please do not open fire, we can see eye to eye I am sure of that. Please grant my request, I'm positive I can make it beneficial to your faction."

Putting her hand over the mouthpiece, Samantha looked up at the river boats heading towards their position. "Byron."

"Aye Sami?"

"If things get hot, are the munitions prepared?"

"We'll be good, it'll take a lot from their little rafts to bring us down."

"Al, can you steer us out of here?"

"It'll take some time." He said with a grin on his face. "But I can do it."

"All right then." She nodded and lifted her hand. "What do you say Wild Bill. Friends?"

[Kevin Kingswell]

The man known as Wild Bill laughed to himself just quietly enough so not to be picked up by the radio. That corvette had enough firepower to lay waste to his entire three boat flotilla and the gunship and yet the woman, Samantha, was still asking to come in as if he could say no to an offer of such magnitude. He quickly radioed the other two boats and had them head back to the docksides as they weren't needed anymore and the Hind-D was also sent back as it was their only one and thus too precious to risk having it destroyed.

"What do you say Wild Bill. Friends?"

"Oh hot damn Lady, or should I say Samantha. You got one fine ship and thats one sweet offer, I'll tell you what you follow me back to the dockside and I'll see about getting you a meeting with Snake himself. Okay".

As soon as he finished speaking Wild Bill had the river boat swung back around with its searchlight still on so the corvette could follow and lead the military vessel deeper into the harbour. As the two ships passed into the harbour itself the crew on deck of the corvette would notice that the only defenses the harbour had was a twin-barrelled 4.5cm anti-aircraft gun on each pier, both of which were pointed out to sea away from the corvette as so not to seem rude or threatening.

Eventually after about six or seven minutes they came alongside a section of dockside that was hastily being cleared of equipment. Anyone looking out would notice both men and women carrying different sized crates away from where they had been standing next to the water's edge and were now being carried into a nearby warehouse. Anyone taking a really close look would just be able to make out that the crates either contained ammo or rocket propelled grenade launchers and there were many of them.

Once the corvette came to rest against the dockside the terrorists on the dockside worked quickly with the corvette crew to have the vessel moored safely and securely thus allowing a gang way to be lowered down so that the Captain and any of her accompanying crew could disembark.

Whilst this had been happening though a plain green camoflauged jeep had rolled up to where the vessel lay moored and with three heavily armed and armoured guards the leader of the Principality "Silent Snake" got out and walked over to where the gang way.

He was a tall man with a dominating stature which seemed to make his seem even larger than his 6'1 height really was. He was clothed in black military grade boots and green and brown trousers, clearly from some kind of uniform, he was also bare topped revealing his well muscled chest though he had a brown trench coat on that slung over his chest in such a way that it made your eyes focus on it for a split second. That and his long blonde hair was all that made him seem different from any military commander you were likely to meet.

He stood with his arms relaxed by his sides though his right hand remained with in easy grasping distance of the desert eagle that lay in his belt holster. The reports he had recieved from Wild Bill had been quite interesting and he wanted to personally meet this Captain Samantha Aran and see what she had to offer. Time would quickly tell whether she would be useful though first impressions weren't always that truthful as he full well knew.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Very good Will Bill, guide us in." Samantha said hanging up the radio and stepping back from the control panels. "Take us in Al, we're cleared." The three men on the bridge breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that, the loudest one being Erik, who Samantha turned and smiled at again. "See, I told you everything would be fine, we found exactly what we were looking for and they're not even going to give us any trouble. This is going to go just like I planned."

"Or so you hope." Erik said looking out the windows of the bridge as the gunboats turned their motors and began escorting the Banshee towards the inner harbor.

As they traveled inward, the Terrans made sure to lessen any signs of hostility against the corvette, anti-aircraft guns were turned away and near the slip that the corvette was being led to, crates of munitions were removed to provide a place where Samantha's crew could disembark and travel out into the harbor itself. The amount of weapons and material however that was gathered in the harbor astounded even Samantha, everything here had potential and if Yangon was run by the Principality and if she could secure a friendship between her raiders and this syndicate, all of this weaponry and material could be her's to use. Finally they came to rest in the slip as the crew of the corvette and the Terran dockworkers began to moor the ship to the dock and put out a walkway for Samantha and her officers to use. Samantha descended down the walkway, flanked on both sides by Byron, Erik, and Al, she wearing the same white tank top from Fak-Fak, though with a pair of black pants and a blue coat hugging her back. Her pistol and knife both out in the open for easy access and she was the most lightly armed, compared to the shotgun that Byron hung over his back.

Walking onto the concrete of the harbor, Samantha finally came face to face with the leader of the Principality. He was a domineering figure, attractive, and seemingly strong willed, though she was not about to act intimidated. After all, they both commanded their own organization, albeit, his was much larger than her's, but Samantha was just as dedicated to her cause as she was sure he was to his own.

"I'm guessing you're Snake." She smirked and held out her hand. "Fitting name for a terrorist, but we pick them ourselves normally, so they got to fit somehow." For a moment she was silent and then looked up into his eyes. "I want to thank you for allowing my crew and my ship safe harbor in Yangon and since the Taeunasian disguise is pretty much put to waste with my offer. I'm a fugitive from Australia, pirate if you'd rather a more exact definition. I want to ask if there would be any way possible for my crew to birth in Yangon as a permanent harbor. There aren't many respectable countries that would take us in, but since I've heard of the war in Nova Sol Terra, between your men and the Council, I figured maybe there was a way to meet in the middle ground. I scratch your back you scratch mine, that kind of thing. If not that's fine, but I'll do a lot to make my time here worth your while Snake." Her face was stern and her eyes bright as she let go of his hand and stood just as domineering in front of her own crew, waiting for the response of the Terran.

[Kevin Kingswell]

The woman's grip was strong and very confident which placed her quite high in Snake's regards as she wasn't from a military background judging by her stance and posture so she had managed to obtain a naval corvette on guts, brains and probally a little luck. Quite impressive.

"There is no need to thank me Captain, I heard you had something to offer me and I am always willing to hear any proposal. As for this civil war we havn't quite gotten to that point just yet but we are working towards it. Now would you care to follow me and we can go somewhere to talk in private"

Leading Samantha and her men accompanying her to his jeep he climbed in letting Samantha and the other three men get in also, his gaurds visably annoyed quickly ran over and commandered a nearby truck which they brought out behind Snake's jeep before the two vehicles started and made the short journey down away from the docks passing sandbagged machine gun positions and piles of ammo or weapon crates.

Eventually after an almost collision with a laden down cargo truck they came to a stop outside what must have been the portmaster's office. Climbing out of the jeep Snake lead Samantha and her group into the building past two heavy guards who through Snake a quick salute and up into his office on the tope floor. Moving behind his desk Snake took a hold of his chair and flipped it round before sitting down with the back of it covering his chest.

"So Captain how about explain to me what it is you exactly want from men and I will see what I will want in return. Does that sound fair to you?" he asked with smile.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"More than appropriate Snake." She sat down on the chair and folded her arms across her chest. "At the moment, to even have made it out of the confides of the Australian Queendom, I had to borrow a hefty sum of money from a man named Anton Voly in the port of Fak-Fak, which is where we sailed from. The corvette was heavily damaged from when we stole the ship from the Australians, we had few supplies, so on and so forth, just in a mess. Voly got us out of the bind but expects to be paid back through raids on cargo vessels. In all honesty I have a bit of experience in that line of work. I've been a criminal and a fugitive most of my life, pirate is pretty recent, but I'm ready to make myself known very fast." She ran her hands through her hair and looked back up at Snake. "Anyhow, the problem is that I can raid all I want, but I don't have a market for my goods, nor do I have a base to return my material to for sake keeping or even just to hideout if things get bad. That's what I'm asking from you Snake, a safe hideout and a market for my goods. I doubt I'd even be able to land in Cochin, but you never know."

"As to what I can give you." She smirked. "You said that a civil war is brewing. I'm sure the nationals are dependent on some foreign shipping. I can help us both out. In addition to foreign vessels that come through that would be trading with the nationals, I will target any and all national ships moving for export and deliver their goods to your cause. Think of it like this, all ships that I raid, I will give you say thirty percent of everything I capture. It'll help me pay my debts to Voly, make a nice little dent in the Terran National economy and we'll both profit from it. Profit, no matter what sounds good, don't you agree?"

"So that's my offer, you give me a market and a base to operate from and I'll make sure the Terran Merchant Navy is brought to heel from this point on. Of course if you had a different idea, I'm all up for terms." She smiled and winked. "So tell me what you think."

[Kevin Kingswell]

"Your offer is interesting Captain as I see great benefits for the both of us so I will agree to your offer. You may take what supplies you require from out stores here though I am afraid we will have nothing that can refill your corvette's guns for now but I might be able to get some bought and transported here for the next time you pay us a visit"

Snake stood up and moved across to the window looking out of the port, the city and the open sea a smile on his face before he turned around to face his desk and began to rummage through the sheets of papers and files that lay scattered across it. He took a few seconds before finally unearthing a red file which he grabbed and tossed over to where Samantha was sitting.

"That file Captain contains the known trade routes that the Council uses for transporting its goods to and from other nations, it would be put to greater use in your hands. Call it a welcoming gift if you would like however, I do have a favour to ask of you. The Council has a good sized Uranium deposit to the north of the country and we can't get to it but they do sell it to some other nations. If you run into and raid any transports carrying Uranium I would like to purchuse it from you at whatever price you deem appropriate".

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Samantha opened the folder and looked down at the map in front of her, the Bay of Bengal along with much of the Eastern Indian Ocean was highlighted by lines of red and white criss-crossing each other. Nova Sol Terra was divided pretty much equally by this point, the Principality holding most of the land and ports in the south and in the west, while the Council forces controlled the north and east, their sea trade coming in at Alanbya on the mouth of the Sittoung River, a perfect bottle neck for Samantha to use if it came to having to do most of the raiding inland. However, she was much more interested at looking to see how far the lines were drawn across the ocean, and Terran trade was scattered throughout, all she would have to do is isolate their shipping lines from reach of the larger naval powers in the region and out on the open sea, Terran trade would be subject to her.

"This is quite a gift Snake." She said looking up at him. "I think together we can put a pretty dent in the Council's trade network and as to uranium sources, if you can get me military supplies. I think that would be a valid trade, along with free supplies from your warehouses and stores. Uranium for the lifeblood of my sailors. But please do work on getting things transported to us, Yangon will probably most likely become my base of operations for a long time, it works best when both our markets are in the same place."

Standing up she pushed her chair out away from the table and smiled at Snake. "Well Snake, I believe I have some work to set off to accomplish. So if you won't be needing anything else from me. There anything else we need to discuss?"

And if was nothing else, then Samantha would turn on her boot heels with a smirk and a wink to Snake before becoming nothing more than a silhouette in the illumination of Yangon across the river.

[Kevin Kingswell]

"There is nothing more we need to discuss Captain, I will ensure that your vessel is stocked with supplies and fuel for your journey. I will also see about aquiring some munitions for your vessel's weaponary, I am sure I can find some out there on the black market. Until we see each other again Captain, Good luck and Good hunting"

Once Samantha Aran and her followers had left Snake radioed ahead and ensured that the vessel was refueled till its tanks were full and that they had enough food and other supplies to last for a month or two at the very least longer would be better if they could spare the supplies. Knowing that the Captain would handle the naval element of disrupting Council supplies he could now work out how they intended to halt Council air and ground supplies.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Walking out of the office, Samantha and her officers stood against the sky line of Yangon where there was a strange balance of the calm winds of the river and bay sweeping inland along with the music, screaming, and other unruly noises coming from the city's center.

"Well." Said Erik with a sigh of relief. "Now that that problem is all fixed and we have the map of the Council's trade routes its time to head out right?"

Samantha smiled and shook her head. "No, that was the easy part of what we have to do here, I expected leadership to behave themselves, no its time to go into the pit of this town and see what we can round out, those who can actually fire a gun or man a ship and not just some petty thief."

"We're going into the city?" Erik looked back at her with wide eyes.

"We have a crew of about twenty men Erik, that ship can barely stay afloat with twenty men, a skeleton crew. If we're going to be even remotely effective, we're going to to need a full crew."

"We're also going to need to pay them." Al Said with a frown. "And we don't have that much money at the moment."

"We'll pay better than the Principality would for services, they're pretty much a reactionary movement to this Council anyhow and that probably means some kind of salary, we pay by loot. The more you work and the more you raid the more you earn, I'm sure that there will be people in Yangon that would want to settle for that lifestyle."

"Mighty sure of yourself aren't you Sami." Said Byron with a smirk. "Remember, you were a petty thief until you joined the Trading Company, so don't go looking for golden apples in a town of rot."

"Never would Byron, I know expectations are never met, so I'm surprised we're here to begin with. If we get five that even can tell their $@! from their boot, I'll be happy."

"That a girl." Byron smacked her on the back and then grabbed Erik's neck and began to drag him as Samantha and Al began to set of for the city. "And I'm sure that if you want to impress her just a little bit you'll turn off this fear !@#$. Christ Erik, just think of it as a city entirely made up of Brisbane's Red Light District."

"Yeah but I know who will shoot me and who won't in Brisbane."

"Well just think everyone wants to shoot you here." The giant said with a great chuckle as they began to walk off towards the bridges that connected the harbor with the inner city. Byron laughing as Erik tried in desperation to return to the Banshee.

The illusion of beauty that had mesmerized Erik and Samantha on the bow of the corvette as they sailed up the river into the Terran harbor was dashed immediately after they crossed the bridges into Central Yangon. It was a city that you would expect was owned by a terror and reactionary organization, crime was rampant, the buildings, probably once quite beautiful in the hay days of the Dragon Empire or what ever land had owned the port before, had been reduced to dilapidated structures with boards over the windows, cracks forming in their foundations and the walls themselves that held the buildings together falling in on themselves. The concrete of the sidewalks were cracked, litter covered the streets and in the dark corners between buildings and down alleys, the officers of the Banshee could see dark shadows and silhouettes moving around, their hunched over backs and dirty complexions making everyone feel a bit more uncomfortable. There were men sitting on the street corners with hard drugs in their hands and others who were already effected just sat on the ground, their faces in a daze enjoying whatever high they had been induced into. Screams of pain coming from some of the buildings and down a few alleys had hastened Samantha's hand to her pistol more than once, but every time she had, Al was quick to lay a hand on her shoulder and another hand on her gun.

"No, not here, I know its worse than anything you've seen before. But there aren't any heroes here, you don't have morals remember."

Samantha scowled. "That doesn't mean I can't have a streak of good-works."

"Not here. You'll end up in some back alley. When the people are tired of this then they'll stop it, but this is the society we work for now, so its best to just get whatever we need and go." He sighed. "Though I almost agree with Erik, I don't know who we're going to find around here. You're going to put the living fear into them once we're on the ship Sam."

She smirked back at him. "Don't worry. I have methods of keeping loyalty." Finally, the officers stopped outside a large building at the end of the street they had been walking on. The wooden structure, of Chinese design, was a ruin of what it had probably looked like only a few years ago, windows had been blown out and only a handful had been boarded up. It was enclosed by a small grass courtyard with a gate that led to a sidewalk and then up the wooden stairs to the doorway. As they walked down the sidewalk, scattered around the lawn were drunk men passed out on the ground, liqueur bottles in their hands and the disgusting smell of cheap rum and vodka permeated from the structure as well as the sounds of upbeat music and coarse yelling. "I think we may have found our place." Samantha said walking up the staircase and incurring a few stares from the people around her that she only scowled back to before pushing open the doors of a large gambling hall packed full with people of all shapes and sizes and walks of life.

There were two floors to the Hall, the first floor was primarily cheaper games, poker on both floors naturally but on the first floor the stakes were lower, the whores weren't as pleasing to the eyes and to Samantha, neither were the men playing. Sounds of cursing went along side the laughter of the whores sitting on men's laps, whilst cigarette smoke and stale beer and liqueur played with her nose, nearly causing her to vomit as soon as she stepped into the building. Even for a Brisbane rogue like herself, this was an entirely new experience and one she figured she would have to get accustom to quite soon if they were going to be spending quality time in Yangon from now on. Up the staircases to the second floor, that hung over the first like a large balcony, the men were dressed a bit nicer and there was a wider range of whores, some looking like they were perhaps even of Australian, European or American descent and she could even spot a few craps tables.

"Well Sami." Byron said with a smile. Samantha knew he enjoyed places like this, it made him feel comfortable, knowing the fact that he could pretty much pulverize anyone in the gambling hall, having the big man on your side was always a good thing. "How do you want to go about doing this? We have a lot to chose from here."

Samantha sighed and stroked her chin. "Just have to grab their attention now. Hmmmm...Well...here goes nothing." The music was too loud and people were having to much fun engrossed in their own vices that anything besides something extremely dramatic would get their attention. So walking up to one of the dregs playing poker and holding a bottle of whiskey, Samantha tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He turned around with an annoyed look on his face.

"The $%&@ do you want?" He scowled.

"To borrow this." Samantha reached into his hand and ripped the bottle out of his palms and putting the bottle to her mouth taking a long swig.

"You little !@#$%*! What do you think you're doing!" The man screamed and jumped in the air cocking his fist back to hit the lady pirate across the face. But Samantha was ready and when he pushed his drunken fist out towards her face, she stepped back and brought the whiskey bottle hard down on his head. It cracked over and he stumbled forward drunkenly, before taking another swing at Samantha's face, this time landing a punch across her jaw. She turned in pain for a moment before laying another strike against his face, sending the incoherent drunk crashing into the poker table, spraying chips, alcohol and bills into the air. The men playing poker immediately got to their feet and rolled up their sleeves,all brandishing small weapons and the entire hall went silent. Exactly what Samantha wanted, albeit, she wanted to achieve the reaction in slightly a different way.

Putting her hands up and a nervous smile crossing her face. "Uh, now that I got your attention. My name is Samantha Aran, I am Captain of the pirate corvette, the Banshee and I'm looking for brave men and women like yourselves to come aboard with me. We'll be raiding Council and foreign ships for a hefty profit and anyone that joins up will receive a nice profit for themselves. I'm only looking for about thirty men so the first thirty that I get, I'll let you lovely people alone." The Hall stared back at her for a minute as she laughed nervously to herself. "So any takers?" It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop before the entire Hall turned back to their whores and card games leaving Samantha standing alone on the floor with a bloody alcoholic at her feet and even the five men that she had disturbed before turned back to their table and began playing again. Samantha's face dropped being wholly ignored and rose the whiskey bottle back to her lips for an even longer swing then turned back to her officers. "Well guys, lets go find a place were they can maybe find us. I have a feeling its going to be a long night." She said taking another swig.

Byron, Al, and Erik looked at each other and sighed. "You getting the feeling that this isn't going to be as enjoyable as we might have thought." Said Erik to Al as they began to follow Samantha towards an open table.

"Hey you're the one that sleeps with her. You gotta deal with this later, me. I'll be fine."

"Great. Just !@#$@#$ perfect." Erik said as they neared the table and Samantha sat down with her bottle and waited for anyone to come forward with interest.

[Kevin Kingswell]

Not long after the incident that Samantha has caused in the building, a group of thugs turned up giving everyone a quick menacing look that had many ducking their heads in fear. It was obvious that these guys were serious and from somewhere important and it wasn't long until they spotted Samantha and her companions seated at a nearby table. Pulling out their sidearms the group of five men made their way across the room harshly throwing anyone who got in their way to one side, they had almost reached Samantha when a second group of men got up from various tables and moved into their path.

The two groups glared at each other with undisguised hate and annoyance, the thugs had their guns out but pointed at the ground whilst the other group of men had only their bare fists and yet they seemed the more dangerous group of the two, espically their leader who stood at 6'1, a well built chest of muscle, wide shoulders and a wicked dragon tatoo down the right side of his face. His short crew cut hair, his well maintained clothes and the way he stood all showed that he was ex-military and the thugs knew it.

"What brings you here tonight Mark?" said the man with a deep commanding voice that threatend violence if you didn't answer correctly and quickly. The thug who the man had called Mark grounded his teeth together before replying "You watch your tone with me John you might have been a Marine Commander once before but not now so you better wisen up" replied Mark with a sneer.

John shook his head slowly from side to side before staring straight into Mark's eyes. "You shouldn't have said that, I never liked you and I doubt anyone would miss you" and before John had even finished talking he sprang forward smashing his elbow into Mark's exposed throat causing his to raise his hands to try and help him breath instinctivly. This gave John all the opening he needed to grab a hold of Mark's handgun, twist it out of his grip and shoot him twice in the chest right where his heart lay.

The other men with John reacted almost as fast, only a step behind, and they quickly dealt with the thugs killing each one with either a shot to the heart or the head. Pocketing the handgun John turned around to face Captain Samantha ,who had been watching the whole short fight, with a smile and held out his hand to her for her to grasp and shake in welcome.

"My name is John Shepard,I heard you are looking for some crew".

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"I guess this stuff happens normally." Samantha blinked as the fight was finished nearly as quick as it had started. "They also seem like they don't mind to kill a few people really quick either. That could be a bad or a good thing." Still sitting at the table, Shepard walked up to the table and looked down at Samantha and extended his hand.

"My name is John Shepard,I heard you are looking for some crew".

"Yes Mr. Shepard, I am indeed." She said taking his hand in her's and smiling as she stood up. "It would appear that you already have a good deal of experience handling other people." Her face glanced down at the dead man still laying on the ground before a group of men had come to clean up the mess. "I have to say I'm quite impressed and this is exactly the kind of people that I'm looking for actually, someone that can handle themselves for this line of work and that kind of stuff. I can promise you and your men that the greater the raids, the greater the pay for all of you and at the moment things are looking extremely bright for our entire operation. So its the perfect time to join a budding terror organization as mine. Much, much freer than the Principality around her, I can assure you of that." She winked, but as she did that, Samantha's hand moved down and met her own pistol uncovering it from her holster. "However." Her face slowly turned much more stern as she tilted her head to the side and rested the gun on the table pointed at Shepard's head. "Just to get things clear from the start, there's only one person in command of this ship and if you do attempt to pull anything funny that would make me distrust you or even the slight chance of a mutiny, I can assure you that it will be the last thing you ever do. I've survived a lot of !@#$ in my life and I can tell you that you won't kill me, so I'll tell you right now, be smart and know your place and if you and your men do well enough and our fleet expands I'm sure your status in this fleet will expand with it."

Resting the pistol on the table she once again smiled at Shepard. "So what'll it be? You think you can handle being driven by a lady and a life on the sea?"

[Kevin Kingswell]

"So what'll it be? You think you can handle being driven by a lady and a life on the sea?"

"Ma'am I was an ex-marine before I was deemed a waste of resources so I know about loyalty, command and duty. So let me tell you now if I am to serve you I want to know that I have your trust understood. I will not shoot you in the back or try to take over all I am after is a chance to get back on the open sea and to maybe get some revenge on those Council !@#$%^&*"

"Now some of these men behind me are ex-marines just like myself whilst others are from various other backgrounds. I can tell you that there is at least two engineers and a retired army medic. If you want us then we will serve under your command without question or complaint but don't ever threaten me again with good reason understood".

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Samantha chuckled and holstered her pistol. "The first meeting is always a reason to show that they mean business. If I have your loyalty and your honor then I won't need to threaten you openly again Mr. Shepard. You see how this works, you get what you want, I get what I want and since we're both proving our worth here it makes us ever the more powerful." Sticking out her hand again she took his grip firmly. "I think we'll make good friends, very good friends in the coming months and as for the rest of your command, there is no better news than that what you have just said. The ship is in the harbor at the moment, if you would like, head on over there and get your stuff together. The minute I finish up here we'll be sailing out into the Indian Ocean for our first raids. I'll see you on the ship Mr. Shepard."

[Kevin Kingswell]

"Understood see you at the ship Captain" John replied standing up and stepping back a pace before snapping Samantha a salute and then leaving the building with his men in tow. Once they had left the building they made their ways through the murky streets and onto the docks, after explaining who they now worked for and why they were there the Principality guards allowed them access to the ship.

Once onboard they ignored the stares from the other crew members and made their way to the lower decks to where the crew quarters would be located. After finding empty unoccupied bunks they stowed their personal belongings before heading back up onto the deck of the corvette where John had them assemble in formation so that Samantha could inspect them once she returned.

[Silhouette]

Kyi watched the exchange from a dimly lit booth in the corner. A petite Burmese native, she had travelled to New Cymru when Burma had been under their authority. However, with the various regime changes in the hectic years that followed her emigration, the society seemed to have lost intrest in it's foreign citizens. It hadn't taken long for her to get on the wrong side of the law. When she had first been arrested for assault & battery, Steffan had been in the cell opposite. When his old navy buddies posted his bail, a few words was all it took for Kyi to be back on the street. They packed what few belongings they had, and ran. For the last five years they had been running, eventually returning to Kyi's native home of Yangon, having fought tooth and nail for petty cash, or their lives, time and time again.

Without warning, she stood, and marched across the room towards Aran, Steffan towering behind her. The crowd parted in front of them like the Red Sea. Only halting when she was close enough to smell the pirate's breath, Kyi looked down at the group, and, at an even five feet, that didn't take much. She held out her hand in greeting, along with a single exclamation. "Kyi." On first glance, Kyi appeared to be blessed, with a gorgeous, delicate complexion on a lithe frame. But closer inspection would reveal fading scars, half-heartedly hidden, from viscious street fights long past. Over her left shoulder, at an impressive six-three, Steffan stood out like a sore thumb amongst the locals. He had taken to wearing deep-hooded jackets, the better to hide his jagged, pale features. While Kyi kept her eyes locked on Samantha's, Steffan was watching the hands of the rest of them, just in case...

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Samantha had just finished explaining to another man who had come up to her about the details of their operation, only to have him laugh in her face and herself resist the urge to leap over the table and throw him against the wall. Sitting back down she took a long swig of whiskey and wiped her lips, the smell of the alcohol still strong on her breath when Kyi and Steffan approached. Samantha was taller than the girl, but still had to look up at Steffan, however the way they had walked through the gambling hall had been what held her attention, he was large, but so was Byron and when the crew of the Banshee had entered, they had not received such respect. Before responding to Kyi's gesture, Samantha looked her over quickly, small, but with a spunky attitude about her that Samantha could respect and anyone who could boss the large man behind her just made the similarities between them more obvious. Smiling, she took Kyi's hand and sat her down in a chair then looked up at Steffan and chuckled. "Don't worry big guy, we're not going to hurt the future crew that we desperately need right now."

Sitting down across from Kyi, Samantha took another swig from the whiskey bottle and offered it to the Burmese girl looking at her. "So Kyi, I'm guessing you came over here to talk about joining up with out little operation. I'll be straight forward, its a risky business and survival for pirates these days isn't that great, however the payoffs that I am predicting are going to be quite high. So far we'll be sticking to raiding the Eastern Indian Ocean before sailing south, but our main base of operations will be here in Yangon. What I need to know is do you and your friend here have any specialties that I should know about, good with weapons, good with people, navigation, ship handling, whatever. I just need to know that I'm investing my time in to someone who I can depend on to sail on my ship. Also..." Samantha cleared her throat. "A warning that I give everyone, loyalty should not come into question and I have no problems in dispatching a disloyal crew right over the side of the ship, so while ambition is healthy for the future. Unchecked ambition, I assure you will not end well." However her sternness quickly faded back to a smile. "But if that's not going to be a problem and you have some skills that we need. I'd say you're more than welcome aboard the Banshee."

[Comrade]

Ivan Rosenkov, an Irish Born Molakian, takes a seat silently next to Samantha Aran. He lights a cigarette and waits for her to notice his preasence.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Ivan Rosenkov, an Irish Born Molakian, takes a seat silently next to Samantha Aran. He lights a cigarette and waits for her to notice his preasence.

As she was waiting for Kyi to respond to her questioning, the sounds of a moving chair caught her attention from the side as a man fiery red hair and a mustache just as bright turned a wooden chair on its legs and looked deep into her own eyes. Samantha blinked for a moment and then cleared her throat and smiled at the man. "I assume you heard the idea of enlisting in a Lady Pirate's Fleet." She stuck out her hand. "Captain Samantha Aran, its a pleasure, so tell me, what makes you think that I should grace my ship with your presence Mr.?" Her eyes narrowed. "What do you have to offer me? Or are you just out looking for adventure and to shoot a few people? Cause I should let you know that I have order on my ship and loyalty most of all. Think you can handle that?"

[Comrade]

As she was waiting for Kyi to respond to her questioning, the sounds of a moving chair caught her attention from the side as a man fiery red hair and a mustache just as bright turned a wooden chair on its legs and looked deep into her own eyes. Samantha blinked for a moment and then cleared her throat and smiled at the man. "I assume you heard the idea of enlisting in a Lady Pirate's Fleet." She stuck out her hand. "Captain Samantha Aran, its a pleasure, so tell me, what makes you think that I should grace my ship with your presence Mr.?" Her eyes narrowed. "What do you have to offer me? Or are you just out looking for adventure and to shoot a few people? Cause I should let you know that I have order on my ship and loyalty most of all. Think you can handle that?"

"Aye, My name be Ivan Rosenkov, formerly of Molakia." He replies, extending his hand.

"I feel I am more than qualified for your crew dear. I served on the Molakian Corvette Romanov as a Marine, so taking orders from lovely women (Which comprises of 40-60% of Molakian Officers) is no problem. I can offer you a good shot and someone who knows a little about Naval Tactics and Tech. I also would hope to someday...advise you, on certain plans. But those plans are in the future. For Now, I bring just my mind, my rifle and my good looks!" He says, slamming a shot down. He offers one to the Capt with a smile.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Aye, My name be Ivan Rosenkov, formerly of Molakia." He replies, extending his hand.

"I feel I am more than qualified for your crew dear. I served on the Molakian Corvette Romanov as a Marine, so taking orders from lovely women (Which comprises of 40-60% of Molakian Officers) is no problem. I can offer you a good shot and someone who knows a little about Naval Tactics and Tech. I also would hope to someday...advise you, on certain plans. But those plans are in the future. For Now, I bring just my mind, my rifle and my good looks!" He says, slamming a shot down. He offers one to the Capt with a smile.

Samantha could already feel that she liked Ivan as she took his hand, he was a genuine soul and what more, someone tried in the professional art of war, something that Samantha couldn't get enough ingrained in enough of her crew. Taking the shot of whiskey from his hands, she downed it just as fast and stretched her shoulders back. "Well that's by far enough credentials for me Ivan and complementing a lady on her looks always goes a long way, welcome aboard the Banshee, as soon as I wrap things up here, we'll be sailing out into the Eastern Indian Ocean to begin raiding a few of the Council ships belonging to the Terrans and start our little rebellion of the seas. The corvette is docked in the harbor so I would start over there now and get your stuff together." Snapping back from her yawn, Samantha's eyes brightened. "You you will have to tell me these plans, I dislike being kept in the dark from news that my crew has, so I'll be keeping an eye out. But honestly, I like you Ivan, so I'll be looking forward to seeing you on the ship. Now get your $@! over to the docks." She said with another swig of whiskey and turned back to listen to Kyi.

[Comrade]

"Oh but why spoil the fun? Ill see you on the ship Capt!" Ivan says, grabbing a bag containing a few bottles of booze and a Molakian AK101 Rifle.

[Silhouette]

Samantha had just finished explaining to another man who had come up to her about the details of their operation, only to have him laugh in her face and herself resist the urge to leap over the table and throw him against the wall. Sitting back down she took a long swig of whiskey and wiped her lips, the smell of the alcohol still strong on her breath when Kyi and Steffan approached. Samantha was taller than the girl, but still had to look up at Steffan, however the way they had walked through the gambling hall had been what held her attention, he was large, but so was Byron and when the crew of the Banshee had entered, they had not received such respect. Before responding to Kyi's gesture, Samantha looked her over quickly, small, but with a spunky attitude about her that Samantha could respect and anyone who could boss the large man behind her just made the similarities between them more obvious. Smiling, she took Kyi's hand and sat her down in a chair then looked up at Steffan and chuckled. "Don't worry big guy, we're not going to hurt the future crew that we desperately need right now."

Sitting down across from Kyi, Samantha took another swig from the whiskey bottle and offered it to the Burmese girl looking at her. "So Kyi, I'm guessing you came over here to talk about joining up with out little operation. I'll be straight forward, its a risky business and survival for pirates these days isn't that great, however the payoffs that I am predicting are going to be quite high. So far we'll be sticking to raiding the Eastern Indian Ocean before sailing south, but our main base of operations will be here in Yangon. What I need to know is do you and your friend here have any specialties that I should know about, good with weapons, good with people, navigation, ship handling, whatever. I just need to know that I'm investing my time in to someone who I can depend on to sail on my ship. Also..." Samantha cleared her throat. "A warning that I give everyone, loyalty should not come into question and I have no problems in dispatching a disloyal crew right over the side of the ship, so while ambition is healthy for the future. Unchecked ambition, I assure you will not end well." However her sternness quickly faded back to a smile. "But if that's not going to be a problem and you have some skills that we need. I'd say you're more than welcome aboard the Banshee."

In way of response Kyi flicked a short blade from it's place on her thigh, and before anyone could so much as bat an eye, the edge was hovering near Samantha's throat, far enough away that it shouldn't be construed as a threat. Then she made a small gesture with her eyes in the direction of the dartboard twenty feet to her left, and after another lightning fast movement, the blade was quivering in the outer bull. "Damn!" Kyi cursed, "I missed." There was a sly twinkle in her eye as she said it, and the blade eventually found it's own way back to her through the crowd. "And Steffan here," Kyi began again with a quick shrug in his direction, "used to be in the NSWN. He can work the engine crew if needs be, and he's a hell of a shot." On cue, Steffan opened his jacket to reveal an old, but well maintained carbine rifle. He spoke for the first time. "If I can see it, it's dead at 150 yards, no problem. More if I get a long gun."

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Samantha sat back and took another drink nodding as she did and a small smirk crossing her face at the demonstration of Kyi's skill with a knife and then Steffan's carbine buried inside his coat, both of them seemed like a formidable force to be reckoned with. "Well I can't argue with what I see in front of me and we definitely have room for another raider and especially someone that can work in the engine rooms, that is something that I seem to always be short on technicians, mechanics, and the like, so your service in maintenance of the ship will be extremely appreciated Steffan and I'll see what I can do to get you another carbine, a bit longer for your taste. Though right now even I'm having trouble getting munitions for the crew, so it might be awhile. However, you both seem like you understand what I told you and I'd be happy to take you aboard the Banshee." Twisting her body around, Samantha looked up at Erik. "How many do we have on the list right now?"

"We got twenty from here. So that puts us up to about forty men. Not bad if I say so myself. That doubles our numbers."

Her face contorted into a small frown. "We'll just have to keep an eye on all of them, make sure nothing happens that could be a danger."

"Well its not like we aren't attracting troublemakers Samantha, everyone is pretty much either a criminal, a deserter, or something of the like."

"So just like you." Said Al smiling. "Just like all of us. We'll grow into a nice family of degenerates."

Samantha chuckled and got up from her chair and let go of Kyi's hand. "Well something to look forward too then, do the impossible, unite a bunch of criminals and cutthroats against the world. Sounds like a challenge and I love challenges. So Kyi, Steffan, since we're pretty much done here if you'd like to come back with me to the ship. We're going to be shipping off early tomorrow, as soon as the Terrans have my supplies loaded, then its all a matter of finding that lonely cargo ship somewhere out on the Indian Ocean. So c'mon, we'll go back to the corvette together." As they packed up their belongings, Samantha turned back to the Hall one last time, the noise and chaos still persistent on both floors, the cussing and the moaning of whores, she smiled and shook her head. "Well, I guess you get used to everything over time."

Walking back out onto the streets of Yangon, the officers with Kyi and Steffan in tow made their way back towards the harbor near the first peninsula sticking out of the river that led into the Gulf of Martaban. Along side the Banshee the Terran guards working for the Principality were doing an enormous amount of work aided by the crew of the ship, both those who had been aboard and those who were just beginning to arrive. Everything was being loaded, food, water, medical equipment, and what munitions the Terrans could put together for the pirates, all placed into large wooden crates that were lugged by two or three at a time towards the storage cabins below deck. According to the reports that the quartermaster and commissary had given her, the ship had been stocked to full supplies, the cabins to the point of bursting with food and drinking water. The Banshee had a range of about four thousand miles fully stocked and the crew placed on half rations, however for simple raiding attacks the maximum range was not needed and Samantha doubted that they would need to journey anymore than one thousand miles away from Yangon, knowing full well that they would need to hijack the cargo ship and steer it into Yangon if they were going to take any large amount of loot back. Raids would be simple, some Anton had given to Samantha that would be paramount in the future were two small motor rafts that could be deployed right off of the Corvette for surprise attacks. She didn't want to use the corvette as a boarding vessel, only as her flagship, if worse came to worse she had no problem steering it into the enemy. However, if that could be avoided, she preferred that it was.

Arriving at the ship, Samantha and her officers boarded and immediately headed up to the bridge to get a better grip on what they were facing. Once there and the crew was busying carrying supplies onto the ship, she took out the documents that Snake had given her from their meeting. The outline of Terran trade routes jumped out at her, all stemming from the Sittoung River. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

"The Gulf is probably only about thirty miles across, we could essentially blockade the Terrans inside their own harbor and just loot from there. It would make transporting their !@#$ back to Yangon easily enough." Said Erik looking down at the map.

"Makes me feel like we're already just working for those !@#$%^&* though." Said Byron with a scowl. "We're independent, we don't need to just sit in a lake and do what petty robbers do."

"No, but we are technically under contract for a lot of people at the moment. Anton for one, and Snake is offering us a pretty penny for this cargo. So at the moment, I don't want just tearing up the Indian Ocean for cargo vessels until we learn how this new crew can act in battle, and that we need to take care of getting a bit more funding first before we establish a network. However..." Samantha said with a smirk. "I do have big plans ahead for us, picture this guys, a network of bases that we would control across the Indian Ocean, well supplied, well fortified, the whole nine yards and ahead of that, a pirate fleet of our very own."

"A fleet? As it more than one ship?" Said Erik, his eyes wide.

"Exactly."

"But we haven't even left Yangon."

"Where's your head if you don't have any ambition behind your moves." Samantha walked away from the table they were sitting around and towards the window. "There's a whole world out there guys. An entire world is out there, a world ripe for the taking, unsuspecting of us. The Council is only one marker in a greater design." She clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. "My ocean, our ocean, to traverse the waves until we see fit. It will be a beautiful sight, I assure you of that."

Byron smiled. "The girl who thought she was a captain, the captain who thought she was a commodore. It'll be one for the history books."

"Then lets begin our little rebellion shall we?" Samantha threw open the door of the bridge and jumped on the railing overlooking the main deck and the crew that had just finished loading the last of the cargo into the holds. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all to the Banshee, I am your Captain, Samantha Aran and tonight we sat sail into the Andaman Sea to begin pillaging the ships of the Nova Sol Terran Council. The Principality has given us the opportunity to help out in their war effort and for our services, high pay for any Council ship we bring back into Yangon, the pay and the loot will be high and everyone in this crew will get their fair share of pay. To all of you, I am honored to have you aboard with me and to know that we serve each other loyally from this time on." She smiled. "As I said to each of you, dissent and noncooperation will not be tolerated. You are a family now, we are a family when one of us dies, we all die, and when one of us celebrates, we all celebrate. You are here because the world has wronged you in some way, you've turned to crime, you've runaway, you've been lost and never found. But there's no time to search, we're going to change what the world thinks of all degenerates from now on and what happens when we come together. We're a terrible force to be reckoned with." Reaching down into her holster, Samantha took out her pistol and fired a shot up into the air. "When you came aboard, some of my officers issued you jobs of how this ship is to be run, engine crews report to your positions, mooring crews the same, and all hands on deck!"

She jumped down from the railing and began to walk down the stairs towards the deck, where a chaotic crew was running back and forth to their positions as the ship sprang to life. "Set course to the south, the Sea of Andaman, there's a Terran Cargo ship with our name on it." Samantha took her stance on the bow of the ship as the motors roared and the waves began to spray, the Banshee slowly pushed away from the dock and twisted around in the river, until they faced the south and pushed towards the open sea. At six in the morning, the sun was just beginning to brake over the eastern jungles and forests and the illumination of Yangon gave way to the brightness of the sun. Samantha lifted her head to sky and opened her arms like a Sea Goddess jumping out of the waves and ready to unleash her wrath against the unprotected merchant navies of the world. She smiled at the horizon, red, blood would be split by night's end.