Ace of The Duck Pond The Good Doctor.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Get on aboard Liam.  If we show up with a respectable amount of crew the client will have a bit more confidence in us."  Jace had learned most of her business skills from the circus and so had a bit more flash than normal. 

In the high tower a well built blond man moved easily through the crowd but kept an eye behind him. And as he spotted a man and a woman moving in a way that was not quite normal he was glad of this vigilance   All he had to do was make it to lock down and wait for the crew he had hired to get him out safety.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Wilfred strode towards the hanger door sucking on another beer, he heard the growl of and engine and the silhouette of a vehicle passed by the open door blocking the view of the sea. He emptied the bottle added it to the pile. Looking back at the reassembled weapon on his bench then over to the office he sighed, "Well, better get on with it, it is a job after all." As he turned back to his office he realised that the boy was in the car. He groaned grabbed his jacket from the wing of the spitfire then drawing the hanger doors closed, set off down the front of the hangers in the destination of the car.

[MWBailey]

Al pulled his peaked cap down tighter on his head as teh wind of their passage picked up. He drew his .45 gov't model and checked it over, then half-cocked it, put it back in the shoulder holster, then checked to make sure the Khukri was ready in its sheath, and the switchblade jacknife in his right sock. He had a sudden itch along his neckline in back, and turned around in his seat, sticking his head out to peer around the base of the turret "Hey, Jacie? We left Mr. Spitfire back there; Seems he closed and locked the hangar for us. If you're lookin' fer a crowd to reassure th' fare, then..."

[Stella Gaslight]

Donna looked at the street ahead and groaned loudly.  "Fangs will get there before us at this rate.  Looks like the amazing Aarons have caused another traffic trap."

"Oof do I even want to know how they managed to crash that thing in to the street without setting it on fire." The wreckage looked a little like a duck but the wings were on upside down.  "You would think the tower would stop giving them clearance to test those monstrosities over the station after a while. Helooo Fangs come on in plenty of space." Jace hooted out the window seeing the pilot stareing at the same wreck.  They were in the black for once and she was in a holiday mood.

The cat and mouse games where heating up at the tower as a third person was added to the mix.  But he still had the upper hand.  The security office as only steps away.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Wilfred stood there looking at the wreck of an aeroplane in the middle of the street preventing the car from proceeding.
"Helooo Fangs come on in plenty of space." Called out the driver.
"Are you referring to me flyboy?" Wilfred shouted turning his attention away from the mess of iron wood and canvas spread about.
Wilfred strode towards the car and pulled out a pouch, "Liam is it, are you planning on giving all your time and expertise away for nothing all your life. That will not earn you enough to retire." Wilfred dumped the pouch in Liam's hand and watched him depositing it into a pocket blushing brighter then Rictofens red triplane.

[MWBailey]

"Thatthing looks like somebody took one o' Blue Duck's cousins and mated it with a Gooney Bird," Al said, wondering hpow teh brothers had gotten it into the air in the first place. "Maybe they launched it out of a cannon..."

He hgeard Wilfred's remarks and, intrigued, he said, "Fixed his 'plane, did you?" and then asked speculatively, "I've been wondering just what's up with that thing, you find anything outta the ordinary, kid?"

[Ranger Reid]

Liam looked furtively around.   "Just hard used.  Worn out.  I found him a fuel pump and swapped them.  Seemed to fix it for now.  He likely needs a full rebuild soon, but the motor itself is solid.   It had bullet holes too."

Liam looked at the sack of coins in his lap.   This was unexpected.  He hadn't struck a deal before working on the plane.  When he saw the damage and recognized the source, he just dove in to repairing it before anyone got hurt.   

The young man looked at his benefactor and nodded his thanks.

[MWBailey]

"Well, bullet holes are no surprise in a merc's line o' business," Al said. "Duck's had her share and more. tangle with the japs or a pirate like Ivan Matrichincko, and you get dogfights to beat the band. Found that out in Manchuria a few years ago; Ivan almost downed Duck and me."

[Stella Gaslight]

"As bad as that was I think shanghai was worse," Jace said and regretted it when she saw the look of pain flash across Donna's features.  It had been a few years but that wound had not healed and she felt bad for brining it up. "We may get out of here in time yet. Ma Scarabs boys are here." Jace turned to Liam.  "Those are the most aggressive scrappers you will ever hope to see. Carcasses picked clean in no time but I will admit their matching black suits and how quiet they work is a little creepy."  Soon the traffic surged forward with a wave of happy honking.

Gerhard let out a sigh. He had made it to safety but only just and he knew the sharks were circling. He hope the bodyguards he hired got here soon because this was getting more tricky by the moment. 

[Ranger Reid]

Liam looked thoughtful and asked   "Ummm ma'am,  Since all the vehicles have bullet holes, and you said we have a new job....  do you think there will be shooting today?"

[Stella Gaslight]

"Maybe but most of the time the high tower is a bit more calm because a lot of the ships that dock there tend to explode if shot full of holes and that is more of a deterrent than you would think.  Have you been on station long?"  Jace was wondering if she shouldn't keep a bit of an eye on him.  There were some parts of the station that were risky and others that you did not enter without prior invitation if you wanted to come out alive.

[Ranger Reid]

Liam calmly began removing pieces from his messenger pouch.  He quickly assembled a mauser red nine broomhandle.   

In almost robotic detachment, he looked at Jace and said "I just didn't know whether to rig this for distance or close range?"

[Stella Gaslight]

"Close for now. we fall back here if we need long range.  I may have taken the big guns out of this but the dragon wagon still has some tricks up her sleeve."  She wished that it still had the big gun but blowing holes out of the station was a way to wrack up some truly scary repair fees.

[Ranger Reid]

Liam nodded and put the larger rifle stock back in his bag.   He then casually placed the full rigged pistol into the pouch on his belt on his left hip. 

[Stella Gaslight]

It was hard to miss the high tower. The only thing taller than it on the station was the master radio tower.  It bristled with mooring stations and more lighting rods than most people saw in a life time. The need for hight was obvious when you saw the triple stacked Zeppelins currently docked.  "All right folks lets get in there before any waboose can wander off with our client. Have your weapons ready if things go pear shaped but don't go banding them about in case of wharf rats looking for a fight." Jace quickly checked the cylinder of her pistol and was ready to go.

[MWBailey]

Al checked the left thigh pocket of his flight suit. He had stuck one of the aero grenades in there, just in case. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary (they were high-yield, about as powerful as a small cockpit bomb such as pilots had thrown out of cockpits as they flew over the trenches back during the war. One would be more than sufficient to blow a sizable hole in the outer skin of the tower, and probably wreck a terminal or pillbox). "I got a surprise if they get chancy," he said.

[Stella Gaslight]

"You always do."  Donna said with a smile and opened the hatch.  She adjusted her boot knife and stepped in to the flow of people like a fish in a school. This was navigation she was truly good at.  Donna could flow through a crowd with the same skill that lit up the dance floor under her feet.

"Stay close.  The pickpockets have been getting extra bold lately."  Normally they knew not to mess with anything that was hers but in the last few weeks more and more new people had been showing up and Jace had not yet had the pleasure of introducing them to her fists.

Donna was back from scouting the approach.  "Capitan security looks like someone poked a jaguar with a short stick.  I think our client makes them nervous."

[MWBailey]

Whaddaya mean, you don't have the manpower to search for the murderer?" the Captain of teh zeppelin in which three crew were found dead in a crate drained of blood was caterwauling at the security head.

"First off, it happened on board your ship, while she was in transit," the security head informed the zeppelin's captain. "that makes it a matter for your company's security, and thier insurance company, not our police force. Second, our people are concerned with keeping order on the ground, we just flat don't have the manpower to search the whole station for one murderer whose description nobody's managed to get clear. 'A pretty japanese girl with black hair?' HA! would you like to guess how many japanese are on this float alone? and what color hair they ALL have? And believe me, all the young ones are so pretty they'd make your eyes fall out. Do yourself and us a favor, and write it up as "death by misadventure." Believe me, your insurance company will thank you."

The Captain stormed out, followed by his ship's First officer and Bosun, nearly running over Jacie's party. "Watch out, these jackanapes have no concept of police work," he snarled at Jacie as he stalked out the door.

[CPT_J_Percell]

Wilfred patted his jacket where his service revolver wast holstered, he had been carrying it for a long time and new it was always loaded. He set off after the others, his eyes watching everyone around.

[Stella Gaslight]

She laughed at the out burst then turned to the guard at the door.  "Don't I know it. Nothing here runs quite like the mainland. G'day Charlie I was told your boss is holding a very special package for me."

Charlie was built like a refrigerator and even his resting face was angry but he cracked a lopsided smile.  "He is in the back. You new hire take the lady on back and be quick about it."

The new hire was the exact opposite of his boss he was thin and wiry with a blank look that set off alarms in Donna's head. "I am not so sure about this." She said quietly. 

[Ranger Reid]

Liam usually didn't understand a lot of jokes and interactions between people in social situations, but he did notice expressions and body language well.
When Jace tensed at the site of the new guard, Liam knew she didn't like him.

At first the boy thought it might have been an old lover, but then he thought better of it.  His new boss was pretty and loud.  No way she would have been with ferret man.   So that meant her stress was something else.   He casually slipped his hand to his belt pouch.

[Stella Gaslight]

They walked through a set of double doors marked employees only and turned down a gray corridor.  They got about half way down when Jace stopped suddenly and cocked her pistol pointing it firmly at the man's back.  "What game do you think you are playing.  I am not some tourist you can jive the five cent tour."

He turned suddenly a sickening smile on his face.  "For the Fatherland!"  He screeched and was at her throat faster than anything human had a right to be.

[Ranger Reid]

As Jace spoke, Liam stepped to the side and drew his pistol.   Even as the man touched Jace, the mechanic put one round into his left eye.   The margin was so narrow that the captain could feel the bullet zip past her ear.

Liam lowered his firearm but did not holster it.   The whole time, his expression never changed.

[MWBailey]

Al holstered his own pistol; he'd been a half second behind the kid. "Nice work there...Liam, is it?" he drew the khukri from it's sheat and use dit to slice off teh buttons of teh man's uniform jacket. and poked about, slickcing through teh tie and yankingoutthe remainder, and a medallion fell out ofteh shirt's collar area* "Huh. Lookit that. Funny thing for a station guard to wear." A noise up the corridor, and he whipped out teh gov't model again, cocked teh hammer, and straightened up, khukri in ye other hand, and called back, "COVER!" and flattened himself against a stack of boxer shorts boxes someone had left there, pistol pointed in the direction of the noise. "CLANCY, JACES ACES! FRIEND OR FOE?"

[Ranger Reid]

Liam knelt pistol in his left hand, with his right he picked up and pocketed a small needle the attacker had dropped.  He squinted down the corridor.  "Shall I fire ma'am?   i can probably hit his gun hand but thats all."