Jack Baker

@@Hazard Time,@@Driz, Raze looked at Bronze for a second, then sighed. He walked past her, putting a hand on her shoulder as he did. "Remember what I told you..." he said to her, then proceeded to follow Trinket towards the living quarters. "So," he said as he arrived. "Mind telling me what this place you had in mind is?"

@@Hazard Time,@@Driz, Raze looked at Trinket suspiciously. Her laugh told him she might be hiding something... but he shrugged it off. "Sure, I'm curious to see what place you had in mind," he said to her. "I mean, I really don't care, as long as I get to put something in my stomach." He slowly stood up.

@Driz Raze sat up and looked at the dumplings that Trinket had with her, slowly taking one from the package and eating it. He took a deep breath and exhaled in relief as he tasted the food. To him, it was like a five-star meal. "Thanks," he said to her with a smile. "And to answer your question... mostly."

@Hazard Time Raze looked at her. "It has nothing to do with that. It's your temper, your attitude. The fact that almost anything is enough to irritate you, or that you seem to just act without thinking. It's gonna get you killed. The way you stormed off of the bridge after I told you how to fix your problems, the way you reacted after I told everyone what your secret..." he paused for a short time. "...I shouldn't have said that either. It wasn't necessary, and... I'm sorry. But you see what I'm trying to get at? And going back on what you told me... if you had stopped for a minute and observed that the gun you brought with you wasn't your personal pick, or how much ammo you brought with you, or whatever... you wouldn't need to tell me you think you brought them team because it probably wouldn't have happened. It even affects the way you fight too. You're not gonna live much longer in this profession if that's way you act... we might be third-rate bounty hunters... but we still have to play it smart."

@Hazard Time Raze was... confused for a second. Slowly removing his foot off of her chest, he looked at her with a raised brow. "...What? That's it?" he said. "You're just gonna... give up like that?" He scratched the back of his head. Then sighed. "Greeeaaat... this was a big waste of time..." He sat down next to her on the floor and sighed. "I'm not even sure you learned anything, either, eh?" He then laid down on the floor with her, putting his hands behind his head. "Look... I'm not out to... humiliate you or whatever... I wanted to change something about you; make you better than what you are now. I'm pretty sure you already know what that is."

@@Hazard Time, Raze observed her silently as she struggled. Her anger was way out of line, and at this point he honestly wasn't sure what to do. He pressed his foot deeper despite her struggling around. "What did I just go on telling you..." he said to her calmly. "You'll never beat me like that. You really don't see the point I'm trying to get across? Your anger and stubborn attitude ain't gonna help you here. You need to stop being so tense. Relax. Be like water... it flows effortlessly one moment and comes crashing down the next..." He was hoping that would get through her head; if it didn't... then he had no need to hold back.

@@Hazard Time, Raze prepared himself for the upcoming blow, and rolled to the left side, swinging his legs in the process, using them to deflect the blow that Bronze was trying to deliver to his head. After rolling, he managed to regain his footing and stand up again, running up to her and attempting to pin his foot onto her stomach. He didn't want to hurt her; merely incapacitate her.

@@Hazard Time, Raze felt himself go down hard as he brought down to the ground, but swung his leg hard in the other direction in order to quickly release the grip Bronze had on his leg. He rolled backwards away from her, but winced in pain. Some of the damage went to his injured arm. Nevertheless he sat up, observing her.

@@Hazard Time, Raze sighed, and casually stepped out of the way again of Bronze's grab. He loomed over her. "Look at you..." he said to her. "So desperate to win... yet you haven't even landed a single hit yet, much less even try to take my card." He put his foot on her back. "And that's where your problem lies... your combat style: it's sloppy. It's all about you trying to brute force your way through like a bull rampaging through a city street. You use excessive force... and I can easily use that force against you. You tried grabbing my leg just now... and I just stepped to the side. Before that, you tried charging at me with all your strength, assuming I was vulnerable... and I threw you to the ground. You see what I'm getting at?" He pointed at his head. "You don't think. You don't watch. You only do. And if only do... you will die." He pressed his foot slightly harder on her back.

@@Hazard Time, Raze jumped back slightly, readying himself, putting his right foot in front of his left, and quickly stepped to his left side. He attempted to grab her arm and trip one of her legs, using her own momentum against her to flip her over and onto the ground with a hard slam.

@@Hazard Time, ((Jazzy fight music! )) Raze casually dodged Bronze's assault by quickly stepping back, smiling to himself, and putting his hands in his pockets. "Woo... almost got me," he teased, before stepping forward and delivering a roundhouse kick with his left leg, using his momentum and following up with a spinning back kick with the right. He retracted his right leg and kept it bent and dangling in front of him, waiting to see what would happen next.

@Hazard Time Raze was leaning against the side of his fighter, and he sighed at the sight of Bronze preparing herself. He slowly approached her, holding out his card. There was a big circular space in the middle of the hangar that made for a decent impromptu ring. He stopped in the middle of the ring. "Here's the deal. I'll make a wager with you," he said to her. "All you gotta do... is take this card out of my hands. That's it, plain and simple. Do whatever you need to. Do that, and I double your cut. But if I win... and overpower you before you can do so... the only thing you're getting from me is a very painful defeat. Oh, and a meal in your stomach. I'm not that cruel." He smirked. "Them's the rules and what's at stake." He took a deep breath. "Alright, whenever you're ready." He kept his arms at his side, barely moving an inch, waiting for her next move.

@Hazard Time Raze suddenly felt himself feel a bit guilty now at what he did. He didn't mean to bring her to the verge of tears. But... he couldn't stop now. He needed to keep at it. "Oh, what's this? Getting all riled up, are we?" he said to her, not backing down. "What're you gonna do about it, then, eh?" He looked towards the others. "Stay outside for a minute... oh, and here." He took each of their cards and brought out a small machine made for transferring money between them. Inserting his card into one slot, he put every other member's cards in the other slot-- save for Bronze-- and transferred a total of 1.5 million woolongs to Trinket and Skyhop. Since Clockwork's cut was deducted, he received only 950,000. He handed them their cards back. "In case you want to go out and start spending... though this probably won't take long." He turned back to Bronze. "As for you... you want payback? Meet me in the hangar bay of the ship." He turned to head back inside and wait for her in the hangar, if she accepted.

@Hazard Time Raze glanced over at Bronze with an annoyed look on his face noting her impatient and irritated behavior. The least you could do is try to feign appreciation... he thought to himself. That settled it: he needed to do something about her pride... and put her stubborn attitude in place. He smirked mischievously to himself. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention... Sweet Bronzie over here told me she feels responsible for us being injured on today's mission, since she forgot to bring her most cherished rifle with her to the field," he said out loud to everyone else. "Since that happens to be the case... maybe she won't feel so bad if I take away her cut out of the kindness of her own heart?" He glanced over at her without moving his head a, clever smirk on his face.

@Driz Raze rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Don't get your hopes up," he said to her, returning the punch. "I'm still the same old captain that I always am. Besides, I like the fact that I don't have to do all the commanding on the ship. That's one less thing I have to worry about." He laughed slightly to himself at his own comment.

Raze sighed as he heard Bronze left the room. She couldn't even bring herself to verbally admit she was wrong. That pride of hers might get her killed one of these days... he thought. Geez, wonder how the ISSP put up with her on a daily basis... must have been rough. Ah, well... she'll lighten up eventually. As last, Raze brought the ship into Mars, carefully making his way towards the planet's surface. He looked around. Only so much of the planet could have been terraformed; most of it would have been blown away by the harsh solar winds of the red planet, caused by the lack of a magentosphere. As such, majority of the planet was left unchanged; the only parts of Mars that had been adjusted to fit ponykind were various large craters in the planet's surface, in which city colonies had been built inside. Every city had a metal barrier surrounding it, which had machines that produced an artificial atmosphere. From the perspective of one living in a Mars colony, it was almost akin to living a life back on Equestria, before the warp-gate accident, that is. Raze carefully flew the ship into one of the crater cities, passing the metal barrier surrounding it. Once inside the artificial atmosphere, the red sky changed to a bright blue, and he flew the ship near a landing bay, carefully setting it down. He turned off the ship's engines and stood up,gently rubbing his wounded arm. "Alright..." he said to himself. "Let's get some grub..." He leaned over the pilot's seat and into a microphone connected to the ship's intercom. "Hey guys, we're here," he said. "Meet me outside the ship and give you all your cut to do whatever you please with it. Just... please don't spend it on anything extravagant; we need to make this last until the next bounty, got it? Geez, I sound like a nagging poor mother talking to her kids..." He turned off the intercom and proceeded to make his way outside.

@Hazard Time Raze stared back at Bronze with a confused look on his face, trying to process what she had just said. "Hold on, hold on... first off, I am the captain of this ship, I just don't act like a hardass captain. And second, you're telling me I got shot in the arm--and here's the thing I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around--because you got all bothered that you didn't bring your preferred weapon of choice?" He squinted his eyes. "You know how dumb that sounds?" He stood up, unholstering his Berreta, showing it to her. "A gun... is a gun. You pull the trigger and the bullet comes out the barrel. All guns do that! So why should you give a damn about what type of weapon you're pointing at your target? Might as well worry about if the bullets you're using are your favorite too, at that point." He holstered the gun. "We're Cowboys. Bounty hunters living paycheck to paycheck; we don't have time to worry about the weapons we're using to capture our target. Adapt to whatever's around you and on you. If you can't do that... you shouldn't be in this line of work in the first place." He turned around and sat back down in the pilot's chair, facing the view outside as they were nearing Mars.

@Driz Raze stared at Trinket with a raised brow, then shrugged, getting off the couch. He left the lounge and made his way towards the bridge, getting in the pilot's seat. The autopilot had taken them all the way to the front of the warp gate, where Raze deactivated it and switched to manual control. Taking hold of the throttle, he slowly eased the ship towards the gate, and soon they were in hyperspace. From there they would end up in Mars gate within five minutes, as he had said. Raze sat back on the chair and sighed. Everyone's getting impatient... he thought. Though I can definitely say the same thing for myself... I need to hurry this up; before it starts to get out of hand. Eventually, they exited hyperspace and made it to Mars. Raze carefully navigated the ship out of the gate, where there was a metal tunnel-like structure floating a short ways away: a toll booth. From the ship's console, there was a slot where Raze inserted his card into. The booth scanned the ship and deducted 7500 woolongs from the card. Raze ejected the card and kept the ship moving towards Mars.

@Driz @Hazard Time Raze looked at the both of them. "Well, we should be approaching the warp gate now," he said to them, standing up. "As soon as we enter hyperspace, it's pretty much a five minute trip to Mars. I mean, we could stop by Tijuana, that asteroid colony near the Mars gate... food there's pretty good, I heard. What do you guys think?" ((Sorry for the delay, I was on the road for a good 14 hours, so I had no connection)).

@Driz Raze silently stared directly ahead of him while listening to Trinket's story, a serious look on his face. He exhaled through his nose. "I understand you're only trying to do the right thing," he said to her. "But you can't just keep avoiding your family and living a facade your entire life. You've gotta own up to this lifestyle you've chosen, and you need to get your family to acknowledge this is something you've decided for yourself and there's nothing that they can do to stop you. Cuz when the time comes..." He stood up and got in front of Trinket, squatting down so he was at eye level with her. He got close to her face. "When the time comes... you're gonna have to face them and you won't be able to run away from it anymore. When that happens... What are you gonna do about it?" He looked at her carefully, then gently put a hand to her face. He smiled. "...The melancholy look doesn't suit you very well," he said to her. "Never has. That's not the Trinket I know... alright then." He got back up and sat next to her, putting one arm around her and getting close. "C'mon, lighten up!" he said with a grin. "We hit the big one, 9.5 million. We can get some well deserved R & R cuz of this. What more could you ask for?"

@Driz Raze nodded at Trinket in response, then continued towards the bridge. Making his way to the pilot seat, he powered up the engines and navigation systems, which he made his way toward to next. He then set the ship's autopilot on a direct course to Jupiter's warp gate, and confirmed the route. He walked away from the bridge as he felt the ship slowly rise and move. He made his way towards the lounge, deciding to join Trinket, sitting next to her a few inches apart. He noticed she was periodically checking her leg, and sighed. "You know, checking it like that isn't gonna magically make it better," he said to her with a smile. "Just relax, the doc patched you up just fine. He took the bullet out and everything. Wasn't in that deep, either. It'll get better in time, trust me; be glad it was your leg and not that pretty face of yours. Besides... with the bounty we just scored, you'll have all the time you need to recover." He propped his bandaged arm on the back of the couch.

@@Driz,@@Commander Tangent, @@Orange Sparks, @@Hazard Time, Raze had an ISSP car take him back to the bridge where, to his chargrin, the Templar was still sitting there, blocking traffic. Many car horns were honking at the ship, a few drivers cursing that it hadn't been moved yet. Raze got out of the car, thanked the officer, and quickly made his way over to the ship. He climbed into the cockpit and started up the engines, slowly taking off and making his way back to the Vega. Looking down, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw traffic beginning to flow smoothly again. Focusing on the flight ahead, he heard his stomach grumble. "Damn, am I hungry..." he said. "Well, at least we'll actually be able to buy something now... can't wait." After a few minutes of flying he saw the Vega coming into view. Slowing his approach, he took out the tablet device from his pocket, pressing a few digital buttons on the screen. The ship's hangar door opened in response, and Raze carefully aligned his ship with the hangar entrance, landing it inside slowly. Turning off the craft, he exited the cockpit and took a deep breath. "Well, better get the ship primed for Mars," he said to himself quietly as he made his way to the bridge. "Hope the others get back soon... I really wanna eat."

@,@@Unicorncob, @@J.R., The earth pony stared blankly at them, and sighed. "...Suit yourselves. I've no time to waste convincing street urchins," he said, as he saw someone approaching him. His target, dressed in the classic Royal Guard gold armor. If these two wanted to be witness to an assassination, let them. For now, the target was of the utmost importance. He'd come back for the other two later. The target was minding his own business, whistling a tune, when he saw the earth pony standing near the two kids. He squinted his eyes, stopping a good distance away. "Hey you," he said. "Step away from the children. This place might be a lawless hellhole, but we don't go so low as to allow child abuse to just happen." The earth pony just stood there, staring him down. Slowly, he walked forward towards him. "Yeah, that's right creep, step away from them." He looked towards the kids. "Don't worry about a thing you two, we'll handle it from here. Now sir, I'll just have to ask you to come with m--" Before he could finish his sentence the pony began to focus. Drawing his sword, he mysteriously blinked toward him, disappearing from his original spot in a flash of light and reappearing right in front of him. When he reappeared, the guard found the sword stuck in his chest. Blood began to flow from the wound. "...Huh?" he asked confused, before the pony yanked it out. Holding it backhanded, he delivered a couple slashes at the guard, one to the throat, slitting it, and one to the face, then another one to his left hoof, almost cutting it off. At this point, the guard was kneeling on the ground, losing blood fast and choking on whatever he had left. The earth pony left him there, letting him suffer, before walking away. He turned to the two kids. "And now you have witnessed an assassination before you," he said to them. "I hope it was worth it... what will you do, I wonder?" He then blinked away towards a rooftop, making his way away from the scene as quick as possible.

A lone earth pony was walking along the streets of Bangcolt, carefully observing the area around him. His hair was white, and he had a bit of a greying beard about him as well, obscured by a dark blue half mask he was wearing. He was also sporting a black long coat that held a small sword at his right side. On his left, a peculiar pistol was holstered, along with a pouch filled with 20 bullets. The pistol itself almost resembled that of a flintlock, but was modified so that it didn't reload as slowly as a real flintlock. While most only came here for the thrill of fighting in the famous arena, he was here on a mission. He had a target: a Royal Guard sergeant stationed around this area. Someone really wanted this pony dead; the pouch of 3000 bits he was handed during the meeting with the client said that much. He said to "leave a message". He could do that, and more. He had what many other earth ponies didn't have, after all: access to a greater power. As he walked, he had passed two children, both of which were talking in somewhat loud, obnoxious voices. They were carrying sports equipment. Why kids would be in a place like this, he didn't know. All he knew is, they would interfere with his mission. He took out a pocket watch in his coat and checked the time. The target was scheduled to come out here on his rounds any minute now, and he needed no witnesses. "You two," he said in a gruff voice. "Beat it. This is no place for kids like yourselves." @@J.R.,@@Unicorncob,

@@Driz,@@Commander Tangent, @@Orange Sparks, @@Hazard Time, Raze looked at his now bandaged arm. He was thankful that the ISSP had a medic on the ship; it saved them a lot of time trying to get to the hospital. Hearing Trinket's question, Raze looked over to her. "Mars," Raze responded to Trinket. "You can buy anything there; seriously, it's the solar system's number one trading hub. And the food there is pretty decent too, I heard, the markets have a pretty wide selection there." After a few minutes, the ISSP ship landed near the station. Raze exited the ship, and turned to the others. "Alright, just wait out here; I'll go take care of the bounty," he said to them, and went inside the station. Inside the lobby was a terminal built into the wall like the officer said, just outside the entrance. First though, Raze went over to the front desk, filling out paperwork that stated that he and his team were responsible for capturing the target. Once that was finished, the officer running the desk said he was now clear to claim it. Raze went over to the terminal and inserted his Smart-Card into a small slot, then began typing. "Alright, let's see here... bounty hunter ID number... target name Black... Gambit... hit submit, annnnd, there we go!" Across the screen the amount of 9,500,000 woolongs was displayed across the screen, along with the words "Thank you for your capture, see you next time." Raze smirked. "No, thank you," he said. He walked out to meet the others. "I got it, let's head back to the Veg--" he stopped for one second, then remembered: the Templar was still parked near the bridge. "Ah shit, my ship!!" he said, running back inside. "You guys go back, I need to get the Templar back first."