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RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 8] Dawning Concerns

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Panther had silently redressed into his hoody outfit, though this one was dark blue with a small Neko symbol over the breast pocket trademarked of a Yamatain clothing company. He also wore his gray pants he had worn before on the last station they had visited. The assassin always seem to keep a low profile to himself staying behind the others while looking around at Dawn Station. It certainly was a little easier on the eyes, but not as beautiful as his home world.
 
Zeta climbed ramp two steps behind Luca eyeing for anythign dangerous. This was origin space station, but she wanted to be careful. Whenever they landed there was always someone trying to kill Luca for whatever reason and she was ready this time.

Once again she wore her traditional clothing. Black boots, gray trousers, white tank-top and black jacket. And of course her Styrling Everyday. Jacket was important for it covered lorath hand cannon hosltered in her underarm. She gave herself a mind-note to get more ammo for that. Well she still had combat knife on her belt, so she was ready.

Small woman bowing in front of Luca looked pretty important. She will probably have her own security detail which means, that this place si a little more secure now. Well mr. Galar had his own bodyguard too when he greeted Luca and even with that he got shot in the arm when those assassins attacked. Well this time Zeta won't be surprised.
 
Enzo was still nursing the wound on his head when he spoke again, "Government, government, government..." he moaned, "Always screwing arounds with my shit."

There wasn't much need for him to talk to anyone, but Enzo was feeling mouthy; so he continued. "I don't think it matters much where yous are. Drugs are for sale, and business is always good. People likes to feel good without doin' nothins, and drugs does it for yous." He looked down at Naoko in her clothes and smiled.

"You just looks so pretty in your little outfit. Hey, whadaya say to you an' me hitting up the place an' lookin for yous a tiny man?"
 
The small nekovalkyrja drew a slow, deep breath, and then let it out again just as slowly. Almost immediately she became the very effigy of serinity, all trace of frustration gone with the last lungful of air.

"Thank you," she answered Enzo afterwards, fussing slightly with the hem against her left thigh and smiling, "I really appreciate it."

The real focus of her attention, however, was the Yamataian woman in front of Luca Pavone. Naoko was watching the CEO out of the corner of her eye, and in the back of her mind, Naoko was wondering just how closely tied Origin was to the 'Government'.

Which government it was tied to was beyond questioning, of course. What other government was there?
 
Once across the walkway, Uriel gave the scenery a precursory glance; none of it really interested him, and none of it could compare to the graces and elegance of home. The woman, however, was of interest. She was important, she was easy on the eyes, and she was Yamataian- and apparently had favorable connections with the government.

He masked his stares with the cold glare one would give an enemy, but he held no malice in his heart. His prior talks with the knee-high Neko seemed to still be tugging at him, though.
 
The Captain accepted the handshake, smiling and nodding, "Pleasure to meet ya," He smiled in the woman's direction, "Anything I should know before stepping out with the rest of my crew?"
Most of his crew had assembled behind him, in view of the CEO, including an Elysian, a Kohanian and an NH-12 Nekovalkyrja, amongst Geshrin, Yamataians and Nepleslians.

The woman thought for a moment, before remembering something. "Oh, Yes, I forgot to Introduce myself. I am Aerin Tatst, CEO of Origin industries, at your service." the Yamataian bowed again, briefly, before going into a list of rules. "The ground rules of this station are as follows:

"No more than one gun on your person outside of a private ship or residence, and all carried weapons must be registered with security, but may be concealed. No buying or selling of ILLEGAL narcotics, but legal drugs are fine. Do not drive the station's vehicles while under the influence, and, please, kill any mishhu if you see them." Aerin smiled at the last bit, as it was a bit of a joke, the previous Parasite problem had by now been practically eradicated.

Luca rubbed his chin as he looked behind himself and gave a cheeky glance to Vincent, "Sorry big guy, a bit 'o your armoury stays behind," He anticipated that the reaction would be negative, "As for Mishhu, I'm sure we can manage," He grinned a little before feeling his stomach rumble, "So, where's the nearest eatery and hotel? We need to rest."

Sebastian nodded, as he held up his trusty .44 revolver and readied it for inspection, "No offence to the chef, but we do need some fineries in life," He groaned as he heaved a sigh of tiredness, "Having just fought a lot of the tentacled bastards..."

The small woman thought for a bit, accessing the station's computer telepathically and granting herself a map. "Well, There's Gamma's diner, our best eatery, about two kilometres centerward from here. We can get you some station cars to take you directly there. Across the street is a good hotel that has plenty of room for your crew, as well, Mister Pavone." Aerin responded, Smiling, proud of herself for being so helpful.

It was still rather amazing, being able to speak with Luca Pavone, of all people. The pirate-turned businesswoman could barely contain herself. She wanted a piece of that man, but knew that she needed to be professional for now.

"Thanks, Ms. Tatst," Luca said as he gave the diminutive CEO a firm handshake, "We'll be on our way now, you have a company to run."
"Don't worry about it." Aerin chided Luca. "The company can run itself for a few minutes, I know I pay enough people to make it work that way. Would you mind if I tagged along? It could make things go a bit more smoothly for you and yours."

Luca was in mid step, heading towards the security booth when he heard the offer. An alarm bell rung in his head. Do what now? He asked himself as he made a one-hundred and eighty degree turn, "Don't see why not."

Sebastian tilted his head, and looked over to Anna, whispering quietly, "How does he do that?"
Anna shrugged, whispering in reply, "Two DA says we can put our son to an iron ceiling, and he'd stick."

"Allrighty then." Aerin responded, pulling a key fob out of a pocket and clicking it twice, after which her hovercar started itself and flew away, off to some unknown distance. A few moments later, it was replaced by two Floating SUV's, which kindly stopped themselves... on the other side of the security checkpoint.

Aerin simply walked on through said checkpoint, and smiled, waiting patiently on the other side. "I can bend some rules, but security is a big concern, so pardon my men."

Luca tilted his head, nodding as he watched the two SUV's touch down. Cripes, she's resourceful, He thought to himself. It was starting to dawn on him that there was more to this - but the possibilities of why were nebulous at best in the Captain's mind, Sponsorship deal? Job? Dinner for two, maybe?

He then walked over to the checkpoint, putting his HHG down on the desk, putting the moon clips of WHITE ammo down too, and then taking his armoured Jacket off and putting it down. By doing this, he was unintentionally showing off his singlet, bandages, and bare, hairy arms.

Sebastian followed suit, but didn't take off his jacket. He just put his revolver down, and rolled up his sleeve to reveal his metal arm, "Hopefully it isn't one or the other..." He groaned.
Melissa paused for a moment, and put down an old Zen-Arms .45, "Methinks that arm ain't detachable," Melissa quipped.

The Security guards looked over the weapons quickly, taking snapshots of them, and reading off serial numbers, putting them down into the station's system, as well as who they belonged to.

Once the check was complete, each person was handed a card which gave them unrestricted access to the civilian sectors of the station, as well as having their arms returned, and a friendly 'thank you' was added by the security guards. Obviously, with Aerin nearby, the guards were inclined to act as polite as possible.

Aerin, herself, had gotten somewhat busy, taking her time to go over to the SUV's and open all their doors, even so far as to climb into the back and flip up the third row of seats for them. after a few moments in one BigCat, she went to the other and did the same, and then, stood outside the two vehicles, waiting on the group.
 
Zeta walked just behind Mell. She took out her big revolver and put it on the desk along with extra clip. Her only extra clip. She then added her knife and showed them her metal hand. She then showed armour under her tank-top.

With that, she walked through and took her gun and knife back on other side. She holstered both and walked to first of the SUVs. She didn't hesitate for a second as she sat behind the wheel.

"Okay then, where to captain?" She said to Luca.
 
Thankfully, he had left his plasma pistol back on the ship, so Seiren only had to show his Little Killer. The guard raised an eyebrow when in slid out of his sleeve and then he detached it from the track on his arm. One quick check later and it as safely reunited with said track. And so, he headed into the back seat of one of the floating SUVs.
 
Robert sighed as he followed Luca's example and took off his jacket, showed of his knife and Cybernetic Arm. Unintentionally showing off many of the scars that criss-crossed his entire body. After the guards finished checking everything out, he quickly and self-conciously replaced his jacket. He hurried up and jumped into the same SUV as Zeta. He gave her a quick grin as he sat down.
 
"I'm only carrying one gun, captain," Vincent grunted as he followed the rest of the group to the security checkpoint. As he moved towards it, the mercenary could be seen visibly sizing the security team up. They looked competent, as most corporate security teams did, but nowhere near as capable as an actual military unit. In the event of an attack, they would be useful, but not extremely so.

The mercenary pulled the Hand Cannon free of its holster and placed it on the desk, the five-pound, half-meter long gun dwarfing even the captain's High Hybrid Gun. Instead of the team taking pictures, however, Vincent listed off the weapon's statistics as if reading them, verbatim, from a sales brochure: "Hand Cannon, Lorath make. Model name 'Ryht Lyhhuh'. Fifty caliber, five round capacity, chemical propellant. Serial number 0597189-2477B." He allowed the security team to take their picture and note everything down, and then returned it to the speed holster on his back. When he was waved through, he slipped behind the driver's seat of the second SUV, and took a second to get himself acquainted with the controls.

Like most standard vehicles, it was a simple design - steering wheel, pedals to control acceleration/deceleration, dials to show speed, fuel consumption, et cetera. Once he was ready, Vincent reclined behind the wheel and waited for the rest of the team.
 
Panther amused himself with finding a way around the checkpoint, though at this point it would prove fruitless. Besides, he was also had something he wanted to do here and rather not be pestered by security teams during what should be a friendly visit.

Upon walking to the checkpoint, he first took his Zen Armaments 10mm from his right holster and displayed it before placing it in the pan followed by a clip of ammo. Then he pulled his two large knives from his sides before doing the same with them. It took a little longer to retrieve the butterfly knives however, each of the knives were strung up in the hoody jacket by wire in a specific way and had to be taken out using a specific motion. One by one the knives fell into the pan as the Kohanian had to unzip the jacket revealing his dark blue shirt while he shook about oddly like he was trying to find some loose change.

The walking cat then gave a look of approval, but one of the guards pointed to the pan thinking he had more. With a bit of a growl that could also been a sigh Panther rolled up his pants to reveal his last two butterfly knives, he also stomped his left foot and a smoke grenade fell out, though he angled his leg to let it roll out rather than set it off.

The Kohanian was finally disarmed save his natural abilities.

Panther looked back up at the guards and asked, "What was I allowed to bring with me again?"
 
The Patrician proffered his revolver and blade for inspection- the latter begrudgingly so. He quickly sheathed both of them upon return and approached the vehicles; all the while he kept an ear turned toward the CEO of Origin Industries. Her interest in Luca was intense, and he was curious whether it was personal intrigue, business ambitions, or a mixture of the two.

Damn these blessed marks of mine, he thought upon seeing the seats and being reminded of his injured wing.

"If it's alright, I'd like to take the front." He shrugged to wordlessly explain his reasoning then clambered in next to Vincent. Uriel also made sure to slide and tilt the seat backward. Even then, his wings still made it uncomfortable for him. For a second he considered asking to sit on top, but that was foolish.
 
Naoko approached the checkpoint and, without removing or giving up any article of firearm or weapon, passed on through wordlessly. She carried nothing; instead, a few paces past the checkpoint, she was stopped by a brave guard with a camera and a nervous smile.

It took a couple of seconds, but the result was a rather flattering profile of the little Nekovalkyrja flashing a peace sign and smiling perfunctorily. It went into the system, and Naoko boarded the van with the card over her shoulder, obviously not precisely sure what to do with it. In the end, when she sat down near the Patrician, she clamped it between her legs and rested her arms and chin on top of the edge.

"So, food?" she offered, hopefully.
 
Enzo passed through the checkpoint with his revolver. He continued using his to clean his fingernails idly throughout the entire process. When he was done with his procedures, he made his way to the farthest back seat of the second SUV and sat silently.

The revolver stayed in his hand and he opened it up for cleaning and fiddling before returning it to its holster. It wasn't long before he was engrossed in the very activity of disassembling it on his lap.
 
The Guards looked over the knives and the smoke grenade, as well as the cheap gun the Kohanian had, and registered them quickly. "You can carry the knives and smoke grenade along with the gun, since those don't count as firearms." they answered him quickly, returning the items and giving the panther his ID card.

-

"Everybody ready?" Luca asked as he looked to his crew members, who'd gotten comfortable inside the SUV's. He'd taken a seat in the first SUV, and Panther had also gotten into the second SUV before they took off, not leaving the Kohanian behind.
"Yep," Sebastian nodded as he noticed some fineries inside one of the SUV's, including a tray in the middle of the SUV with an ample supply of sweets, "Hmm, candy," He said as he took a bite out of a sugar rock, blinking in surprise at the flavour. The other car had a similar finery available.
"Candy?" Luca asked as he leaned over and took a small handful to replenish his pocket supply, "Sweet!"

Aerin piled her way into the same car as Luca, wondering whose idea it was to put candy in the cars, but shrugged the thought away, as the last of the Phoenix's crew sat down. somehow, there were seats for all of them. "These will take us right to the diner, no driving needed." the CEO pointed out, and like magic, the cars began to move themselves. an Autopilot system connected to the Station's computers made for a very easy public transport system.

"Ooh!" Sebastian said as he peered out the windows, "We're being transported about in a dignified fashion!" He observed witlessly.
"Indeed!" Luca said as he tossed a rock candy into the air and caught it between his teeth in a fluke, "For once we might be able to relax a little!"

The Dawn station passed by the windows like a scene from an old movie; at first, as they progressed away from the station, the scenery was lush with parks and works of art along with respectable, glass-faced industrial office buildings and residential areas. Soon, though, the vista changed to a more familiar urban scene, with thick - if organised - traffic, and pedestrians going from one place to another with no distinguishing, overwhelming theme apparent.

There were small Yamataian-type eateries with mon-blazoned hanging banners, and louder more gaily decorated Nepleslian establishments with neon signs and boisterous, inviting pictures of food and certain other 'readily available' consumables. It seemed more of a bustling city than an organised, regulated station; it was difficult to believe it could all work.

"Quite a sight, eh?" Melissa observed readily, pointing to a passing bakery with an advertisement for some rather suggestive doughnuts.

"Ah, Capitalism." Aerin cooed, watching the scenery unfold as they went along. To think that what started as three people investing 30,000 KS into a small manufacturing plant on Tami could turn out into something on such a grandiose scale, it made the Yamataian woman very happy to see. "To imagine, three years ago I was an unsuccessful pirate with nothing to my name but a gun and some clothes."

"That's interestin', three years ago I was getting blown up in the Yamataian military before going my on own with honours, and getting this lovely crew," Luca leaned back and put his feet up, recalling some of the better moments of his military stint.

"Seems the universe has come quite a long ways," offered the small nekovalkyrja that had, somehow, manoeuvred into the space between Luca and the base's CEO. Naoko's bland, but polite and innocent method of delivery made it difficult to tell whether or not she was being sincere.

An explosion could be heard in the distance, coming from a residential/commercial area that was below the tall skyline, Luca's head swivelled immediately, "Ohh, what's that?" He asked as he saw a plume of smoke rise from what appeared to be a bath house.
"That appears t' be a 'splosion," Sebastian grunted, "I thought you knew about these things already!"
"It caught me off guard!" The captain made an excuse, shrugging concomitantly.

Aerin was quick on it, checking her datapad and accessing some security systems, looking somewhat concerned before her face became calm again and she turned back to the mercenary captain. "Ah, that was, nothing of great importance. We had a slight security breach within the last few hours, and some clean up is taking longer than expected." was all the explanation they would get from her.

Luca tilted his head, smiling a little, but secretly dreading the fact that interesting things were about, "How exciting," He smiled wryly, realising that this may not be the holiday he was looking for.
Why can't we ever have a moment to ourselves?! Luca contemplated, whilst mumbling, "yareyaredaze..." under his breath.

"What was that?" Aerin asked at Luca's mumble, not quite fluent in Yamataian, despite her heritage, simultaneously looking down at the small neko for a moment before shaking her head and speaking again. "Anyway, if you want excitement, I'm sure we can arrange activities. perhaps a tour of one of our test facilities. Trust me, it's more fun than it sounds." the CEO grinned, as the cars continued their journey. The autopilot screen showed that they had less than a full Kilometre before they arrived at their destination, though they were forced to slow down to navigate the many turns they had to take around and in between buildings.

"Maybe once we get some food into us," Sebastian said, nodding as his mind focused on a thick, juicy medium-rare steak with vegetables and a side of chips. Luca was getting a similar mental image.
"But yeah, sounds interestin'" Melissa said, nodding as she folded her arms, before taking a swipe of candy, then realising that she took some liquorice as her face contorted into a gurn of disgust, "Blargh!" She retorted.

Gamma's Diner was getting closer, now, with the extensive dining selection in sight on a billboard as a proudly flashy neon sign punctuated its appearance further, making it stand out amongst the more plainly decorated buildings. Frequently, someone and their friends could be seen coming in, then coming out with a full stomach, satisfied with their meal, their extensive range of drinks and getting more than their money's worth.

"Forego the liquorice!" Sebastian commanded as he put his right finger to the window, accidentally making it bend a little, "There's steak!"
"Where?" Luca's head swivelled.
 
Uriel had been listening patiently and silently until the mentioning of food. He was admittedly quite hungry, but he had one question first:

"What's liqourice?"
 
Zeta was ready to roll when suddenly she heard about the SUV being automated.
"Ah, fuck," was her first reaction. "And I was looking for some driving. Bloody automatics!"

She folded her arms and made an annoyed face. At least she hoped for some good food. She would also have to buy some fags. She ran out before they got to Drift.
 
"Hmh. Autopilot." Vincent crossed his arms carefully over his chest, remembering that quite a few of his ribs still hurt. Although he had to admit that the seat on the SUV was comfortable and not having to navigate manually was a nice touch, the mercenary didn't place full trust in the program that now let them hurtle through the air towards lunch. In the (unlikely) event that the vehicle were to be damaged while airborne, the mercenary didn't think that a civilian vehicle's AI would be capable of keeping it safe for long enough to get it to the ground.

So he merely shrugged with slight relief when Gamma's began drawing up in the distance.
 
Robert patted Zeta's shoulder in sympathy. "Maybe next time, Zeta. At least ya can sit back and relax." he smiled a little as he leaned his seat back a little.
 
As the second SUV came towards the Gamma's Diner parking lot, Enzo broke the silence which had pervaded the journey since Vincent's short note of the auto-pilot.

"Wonder what that explosions was back there..." his voice was almost a mutter as he finished cleaning his gun. The scent of food wafting into his nose piqued his attention and curiosity.

"Do ya thinks the pretty lady's gonna buy us dinners too?"
 
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