ataraxion | captain's log

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captain's log | video

[the video clicks on to Kirk standing in the armory, communicator held level with his face. his expression, though not hostile, certainly holds something unyielding in it. right now, Jim is every bit a starship captain, ready to go to bat for his ship. even if this ship wasn't theirs, as the pirates have been so quick to declare, it was the place they were forced to call home. they have enough trouble as it is without these guys coming in and thinking they can take whatever the want, and to Kirk- the people on this ship might as well be his own. they haven't heard from Ward or Resnik, last they'd heard they were missing. The pirates have said otherwise, but considering their line of work Jim isn't inclined to believe much of what they say.]

Captain Laurens, my name is Jim Kirk.

I'm sure you've noticed the people of this ship don't take being boarded and threatened lightly. We know why you're here, but we can't allow you to clear out our stores when we need them ourselves. I think we both want to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. I'm inviting you to come forward for negotiations.

[he's aware it's a long shot, that these guys aren't going to want to negotiate, but half of this is for Kirk to find out first hand out how they'll respond and where their movements might take them. They need to take back the ship and to do that, they need to find out where those pirates are. The pings he sends out don't ask for a response, but their meaning is clear: report in, we're going to move out.]

PING :: ENTERPRISE ENCRYPTION :: ALERT

PING :: GUNNERY ENCRYPTION :: ALERT

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Gunnery and Enterprise, huh? You seem like a busy guy, Jim Kirk.

But you should listen to your friends-- we talked to your captain and he already tried telling us all the right lies, so now we can get back to business.

You and yours stay away from me and mine, or we will protect ourselves.

I like to keep track of my people, just like you do.

[because he already knew you were going to peek in on that little alert]

You've already failed to stay away from ours, that isn't on the table. What lies did the captain tell you? That we didn have what you wanted?

Then I'm glad we understand each other.

...no, see, that's just not true. We know this isn't your ship and so far, we haven't had to do much but get out of your way when you come at us with weapons. The way I see it, you're the ones pushing this places I hate to go.

Your friend up there said it, Petrelli did his speech. And we heard the ghost stories so maybe skip those, too.

I'm not here to tell you ghost stories about this place or to discuss who the ship belongs to. The fact is we made claim to it before you got here, and for that reason what's on this ship is ours.

[he can't help noticing you sidestepped his question there, laurens]

You want tech and supplies, we can give you that, but you have to call your people off and leave without argument.

If we didn't make deals with Petrelli, why would we make them with you?

[ fields thinks you guys are the worst pirates ever

he might be misreading the situation ]

That's a matter between captains.

[not really, but he sure makes it sound convincing]

Yeeeeeeah. You're not the captain-- I told you, we talked to Petrelli.

I'm a captain. Which one did you talk to? You sure it was the right one?

[cause right now he's getting the impression you think it's Nathan....]

...what kind of crew-- how many captains do you got running around?

[ he's totally thinks it's nathan. ]

Enough to suit our needs.

Yeah, I can see how well it's suiting you. You got people threatening to cut off our hands and eat us, but you wanna talk negotiating. Seems to me like whatever needs you're suiting aren't ones I like much.

Negotiation would prevent them from doing any of that to you.

You sure about that? Because it looks to me like you can't guarantee us anything, and I'm not about to get my people killed on a maybe.

Who knows how long they've been here. You can close the stable door after the horse has bolted, but you're not gonna tempt it back in from fresh grass with a few handfulls of old hay.

They're taking what they want, why should they bargain for it?

Edited 2013-04-22 20:50 (UTC)

Because they don't know what they're in for, and I'm not talking about what this ship does to people.

They've been warned time and again.

This is all just a bit late, Kirk.

Edited (lmao what is that icon) 2013-04-22 21:38 (UTC)

Is it?

[his voice jumps, like: really? Are you sure? because he can't discuss it, not here, but this has less to do with a real negotiation, and more to do with drawing them out.]

Goddamn late. They're already on board, Edgeworth and Tyke are clearing the way, and they're gonna be upon us sooner rather than later.

[ He hates not having locked comms. It feels like everyone on this ship is scattered to the four winds. ]

Trust me, I know.

[and an edge of irritation creeps into his tone, because there was no reason they should have missed that ship's approach. they'd been operating with long range and short range scanners.

but that was a matter for after this was over, and he pushes it aside.]

But they want supplies, not to fight.

[still, if they were all that they claimed they were, why hadn't they just swarmed them when they arrived, like pirates were wont to do?]

[ Well blame that on the age of the ship, apparently. You have cloaks in your universe use your imagination. ]

They don't want supplies so they can survive and make a little cash.
This ship is big enough you'd think they could have filled theirs up and disappeared again without disturbing us. But no. They're carrion birds. They want it all.

[it's true, they're far too interested in everything on the ship. this wasn't just about pirating, surviving, it was about picking this place down to it's bones.

more interesting was why they wanted this place, if it was so out of date. it would be like taking apart an engine from pre-jump engine and trying to get it to work with FTL tech.]

Which we aren't going to let happen.

No, we aren't. More importantly, Kirk, I can almost guarantee they'll kill us.

I'd kill us, if I thought I could.

[ And then nobody else has any claim to the ship; nobody left to fight for it, and they can drag the hulk to a scrapyard and melt it down. If it's as valuable as they say, they won't want to leave what's left for anyone else. ]

Not turning into a pessimist on me, are you Petrelli?

[because of course they would, but why give them the option of survival if they could just run them down?

Kirk thinks there's more at play here than at first it seems. he's an expert at bravado, he knows it when he sees it.]

voice

cargojet - 2013-04-23 13:54 (UTC) - Expand

voice

goldshirt - 2013-04-23 15:18 (UTC) - Expand

voice

cargojet - 2013-04-23 16:38 (UTC) - Expand

We really don't.

Prove it then. Leave, with what you already have. I know you have food, tech, scrap metal. You're near to encroaching on our space.

Now would be the time to retreat, before blood is spilled.

[ He wants that ship, but he'll settle for that. ]