Sons of Pluto

[Flarecobra]

Aya turned and shot a cold glare at Trent, though in pertilular was the cigarette, as he was near her with it. If it were out in the open, then she wouldn't mind too much, but since they were in a shuttle, the enclosed space made the pollutents in the smoke all the more apperent.

[SaigoKusunoki]

Kais eyed Trent wearily. Though somewhat of a drinker, Kais never found smoking a useful habit, as high stress combat situations put a strain on his lungs. He was nonconfrontational, however, and damn near dead tired, so no objection was raised. He did, however, hold out his bottle of whiskey to Trent, the first social gesture he had made so far.

"Major shithole this is, eh? I cant believe I got stuck with this job...how'd you end up in the Sons?"

Kais figured he might as well be friendly with the people he would be working with. Friends are more useful than enemies in situations like this. It didnt change his views of distrust, however.

"It's too professional and clean to be pirates or mercenaries." What the hell did that mean?

[TheBlindMime]

Trent had tried alcoholism before, but when the meetings didn't work out to his liking he decided to just keep drinking, now it was just one of the many little habits he picked up after being shot. He shrugged just slightly as if to motion in a silent language to his soon to be drinking buddy that while he hadn't considered alcohol, he wasn't completely adverse to the idea. Before any motion could be made to remove the bottle from view however he took it and took a swig of the bitter whiskey.

Trent never understood why the price of whiskey directly represented the amount of pain you would go through to drink the stuff. It was some sort of masochistic enterprise built on the principle of more pain means more money and Kais was obviously a masochist of the highest caliber. Trent wheezed just slightly before taking a drag on his cigarette to calm his breathing, soon after the saving grace of nicotine he handed back the bottle and began a slow methodical breath out to really spread the smoke above him. He had completely avoided any cold glares from others in the shuttle, especially those closest to him because he absolutely loved the feel of smoke in his face, especially when he was drinking. And no one was taking that away from him.

"Shithole is an excellent word." Trent finally replied as he rubbed his eyebrow for no other reason then to not look Kais directly in the face, "I think that like most of us here, I was born into the sons. The son of a son if you catch the meaning." Trent was sure he did, taking another slow drag just to insure he was right before continuing.

"But my father was a voice, not an eye like me. Or as he would have said, 'I am not a voice like him'. Ha ha ha.." The laugh was invasive in his speech, like a misplaced noun or a mispronounced syllable. It was forced, in the end it sounded like it pained him to speak about his father at all. To further prove this he changed the subject. "But I can tell just by the way you move, you're a hand. One of the elite killers, right?"

Trent leaned in now to become more personable to his newfound source of spirits. "Tell me, for you, was the first kill the hardest... or the easiest?"

[musicmage4114]

Garret boarded the shuttle after changing his clothing and gathering the necessary effects to appear as he should.

His fine Ambassador's clothing had been replaced with less expensive garments. All a rich navy blue, Garret was dressed in simple pants and a form-fitting top, covered partially by an investigator's jacket. An Earth-and-Moon insignia, a symbol of the Terran Alliance, was emblazoned on the breast of both the jacket and the shirt.

Being a Voice, he was not known for his combat abilities. However, he had his knives, one of diamond and one of obsidian, hidden in his shoes.

He sat away from the rest of the group, a electronic infopad in his hands, reviewing the particulars of the strange case.

[Astral Harmony]

Dominique entered and took the nearest seat. She buckled herself in, rested her arms and hands on her legs, and willed herself to try and sleep.

[Tyrazial]

Aidan was the last to arrive, stopping by the Sons of Pluto's quartermaster to ensure all the necessary equipment had been arranged and transferred onto their vessel. He nodded quickly to what would for now be his team, and moved to the forward cabin of the vessel.

While not as skilled a pilot as a Hand, Aidan was good enough to fly a shuttle. He also was the only one in the group that knew the ins and outs of their access points, keeping their travel routes well out of the way of prying eyes. The travel time would be much longer than might normally be necessary, taking three times the normal time, but such caution would be required.

Military vessels from all sides were out in force, as the universe seemed to be unwinding itself with rapidity. Aidan was doubly hesitant with using Garrett's role as a commander in the Alliance military to smuggle them to earth. A military vessel of that size could quickly be called to the frontlines, and could jeapordize their mission should he refuse to comply and be found out as a spy.

Aidan sighed as he slipped into the pilot seat, his hands gracefully gliding over the ship's consoles. His eyes moved from one set of displays to the next, tracking a variety of information as the ship began to lift off and depart. He arched his neck to one side than another, stretching out sore muscles.

After a few minutes had passed lights on all the consoles indicated the autopilot had kicked in. He nodded silently to himself, than moved back to the crew portion of the cabin. Everyone had settled in for the journey, he smiled at them as he joined them.

"Autopilot shows we'll be at Earth in about 15 hours. There's small bunk beds down below and up above. Nothing overtly comfortable, but than we aren't pampered school kids. Before we get there I have raised your clearance level high enough to access any information I have in regards to this investigation. Some areas might still be inaccessible, but don't worry about those for now.

If you need to ask me any questions, I'll be in the upper bunk. Since we're going to be working together for awhile, I'd suggest you at least get to know one another. If you have no other need for me, I'll see you all later."

He waited for a minute to give anyone time to ask questions of him.

[SaigoKusunoki]

Kais laughed cooly. He took a deep swig of his liver-murdering spirit, capped it, and slipped it back into his jacket.

"I cant even remember my first kill, so I cant really say. I do know that my first kill was outside of the service of the Sons. Unlike most, I wasnt born into this...sort of stumbled into it, due to my own stupidity."

Kais gave a gruff sort of snicker, and stood up to gaze out the window of the shuttle. Staring at space was the only form of relaxation Kais enjoyed. It reminded him of the day he was inducted into the Sons, particularly the shuttle flight before his induction. He gazed into the stars and asked himself if he knew what he was doing was right for him. He found he asked himself that question a lot. The answer his conscience always told him was simple; what is right for the Sons, is right for him.

"I will tell you the hardest kill I ever made, though. A boy, no older than my age when I was sent to prison, was caught doing what I was caught doing, so many years ago. The information he hacked gave him insight into who we were...he had to be eliminated. What made it hard was not five years before I was in the same situation and mercy was shown to me. He was to receive none, orders from the Will."

[TheBlindMime]

Trent had let the cigarette fester in his lips during Kais story, then blew a cloud of smoke out that he'd held in for just long enough to really warm his lungs. "Something tells me that with the way the Will works, it was less about whether or not he deserved mercy and more about whether you would follow the orders. Excuse me."

Trent stubbed out his cigarette on the chairs handle then got up to leave, "No questions here boss, just gonna get some rest." Trent stepped into the upper bunk of one of the many options and sealed the privacy door behind him. He quickly flipped out his datapad and began accessing the personnel files of everyone on the mission, that is, if he could.

[Flarecobra]

Aya coughed some, and then sent a message asking to put that out. With a barely audable sigh, she got up and got into one of the cots, aiming the comfert fan to blow away any smoke that got near her.

[Astral Harmony]

Dominique gave up on sleep. She'd only been awake for a few hours at the most. So she decided to run a quick check on the devices used in investigating.

She didn't know why they were bringing this stuff. The victim was the president of the CWA. This equipment had to have been used already...repeatedly. Dominique began with the all-purpose scanners, aiming them at the air (particularly areas that contained cigarette smoke), her cybernetic arm, and Trent.

Aiming at the air gave her information on the present substances. Aiming at her arm provided composition and even a list of weapons. Scanning Trent produced various statistics, like name, age, dimensions...but it didn't indicate him as a member of the SoP. That's what Dominique was really testing. The scanners weren't supposed to point out Sons.

The APS could also scan documents and DNA and translate written things. It also provided lights that could bring up evidence, such as black lights. It was an extremely useful device in forensics.