Day 2
New Bernese Slums
Shotgun's Bells
2141
There were a lot of wet little dives in the city's Slums. The Marines were advised to keep to the lower areas, as it was already cleared for threats. Most of the locals seemed to have a positive, if not cold, reception of the Marines. During their liberty, they'd have run of the place, and some of them would take full advantage of the time.
The unit's XO was doing just that. Acclimating to a new position and a position of comissioned authority was proving to be a draining transition for him. There was a lot more expected of an Officer than that of a Master Sergeant, and it was hard to get the regular Marines to interact with him without broaching a professional subject. Any time he'd catch anyone, they were more concerned with the red and silver bars on shoulders than what he had to say. He didn't blame them, officers, even junior officers, could be intimidating to green soldiers.
Still, it proved to be a bit lonely. They didn't tell him about that part when he comissioned.
So, he sat at the bar his combination cover upside down to preserve its flat shape, a smoky trail hazing over it from a cigar tucked between his lips. He had decided to go drinking away from the regular establishment to cut the enlisted a break from his presence. That was a common practice, anyway, as most of the time Officers would seek different establishments so that the two sides wouldn't need to force interaction or decorum. Sure, it was different in the Marines, and even more different in Nepleslia than most other militaries in the universe, but the rank and file soldiers and officers knew ettiquette.
The bartender was a war-veteran or war-survivor judging by how most of her cybernetics leaned on her left side. Her stony gaze was enough to keep patrons in line, a single blue eye and another bright blue lens-eye scanned the crowd as a sentry would. She arched a brow at Chiaki as he stared down at some old pictures on his DataJockey.
"Need another drink?" she asked, a little sympathetic. The officer's mouth flattened as his blue eyes looked up at her, and then at his empty glass.
"Looks like I do," He put a few more DA on the table to pay for something else, "Red Moon... little bit of lime?"
A small smile spread at the man's odd tastes, but went about to prepare his drink as he went back to staring at old memories.
"You look so lonely there, 2nd Liutenant," Autumn's voice was sympathtic as she quietly walked up behind him. The sound of her boots should have been more audible but she had practice sneaking up on Chiaki. She peered over his shoulder, "You can't still be working?"
The officer had been looking at a picture of himself with a young woman with red hair. Both of them had been smiling, or at least that's what she could glean before Chiaki hastily locked the screen and spun around.
"Wilde!" jumped Kokuten, leaning back over the table, as if to hide something from her. He took a moment to breath, before throwing an accusatory finger at the cheeky Private. "God damn it, you always do that."
Autumn leaned forward and smiled brightly. "You're pink. I think you would've gotten used to it by now. The organics are easier to keep quiet though, not as heavy. Let me buy you a drink to make it up to you?" She closed the short distance between them and patted him on the shoulder. "Loosen up, sir. You just got here."
The officer let out a long, restrained sigh as Autumn comforted him. His eyes clacked, blinking out the telling color of his emotion, brow-beating it back into a green color. He furrowed a brow and gave her an accusing finger, "You know, I'll take you up on that," came a surrendering remark, as he turned and pat the stool next to him. "I'll get the next round."
She beamed and hopped onto the stool next to him. Autumn was still in uniform, but she was wearing the crew jacket instead of the regular pullover. "What's got you? The paperwork can't be that depressing? I'm supposed to be helping you with it... you just have to give it to me." Her deep green eyes sympathetic as she leaned slightly towards him, propping herself up on an elbow.
"Aw, it's not that. I'm just getting a drink," lied Chiaki, his eyes turning an amber color to signify his trouble at lying, and that he was, lying. "Most of the work that comes down I can hash out pretty quick, small stuff, I wouldn't want to bother you with that kind of thing. You know. Said the Lieutenant to the Private." He chuckled. Awkwardly. Then, more seriously, he carried on the subject, "What are you up to? I don't see any of the others with you."
"I go off on my own every now and then. They know each other better than they know me, so they need some alone time, sometimes," she shrugged. "Only so many times I can inventory my kit and clean my weapons. The life of a demolitionist is pretty empty when I don't get to blow something up. At least as an armorer on the Alliance I had more paperwork," her voice was almost wistful. "But no, you wouldn't bother me. It would keep me busy, unless you want me idle?" Autumn winked at him.
"Right right, idle hands are the Neko's playthings," Kokuten leaned to one side a bit as he set the DataJockey into his cover with his wallet. His hand spun a full 360, ending with a point at Autumn, "If I get some boring paperwork, you'll be the first to know. I'll make sure to throw in some tedious triplicate and a routing sheet to make interesting."
"As long as each line item of inventory is properly initaled, dated, with your name and rank and in the proper folder," Autumn retorted. "It is invalid otherwise, they don't like carbon copies on that sort of paperwork or stamps, I guess admin thinks it's cheating but if you make them route hard paper, they get testy," she mused as she eyed the DataJockey. "Was that the crazy lady?"
Kokuten looked over his shoulder at the bartender, who was still preparing their drinks. He thumbed a black digit her way, "You know, you really shouldn't talk about the barkeep like that, she's just doing her job."
Autumn made a small noise, "No, that red head you were sighing at?" She pointed at the DataJockey. "The one you were telling me about on Prime at the bar?" Her deep green eyes stared at the officer's eye lights appraisingly as she leaned forward on her hands. "Hmm?"
She got the show she was looking for as Chiaki leaned back, his eyes flickering between an amber and orange color. He rose a hand to say something, and then stopped. Then he did so again, his face showing a transition to a different subject, and then stopped. At last, he shook his finger, before throwing his head back.
"Okay, you got me," he leaned onto the bar as the drinks were settled down in front of them. The cigar that hung from his mouth, was plucked up and set into the ashtray, venting a dragonsbreath of smoke. "Yeah, that was her, Cassefin. The crazy red-head."
She settled a hand on the one that was actually on the table. "So, what happened with Cassefin? You didn't talk about her too much last time... and you're here now. How did it turn out?" Autumn's eyes flicked up to the waitress with a polite smile as she lifted the glass up to Chiaki in a appreciative toast before she took a good drink of the mystery alcohol.
Clink! Kokuten joined her in a drink as they toasted, he took a good swig before setting it down and tapping his metal finger on the glass. He spoke, putting a fist to his mouth to resist the backdraft on the beer, "That's a Hauser, right?"
"Yep." chimed the Bartender.
"Ha ha, still got it," Chiaki tapped his temple triumphantly, before realizing he had left Autumn hanging on her last question. He reached for his cigar, "So, yeah. It didn't work out. Ah, well. It did work out. Then it didn't." The tip of the blunt brightened as he took a couple draws, "We spent a couple years figuring out we were different people."
"I'm sorry that I didn't work out," she gentled. "What about after that? You seem like you have these shiny bars weighing you down." Autumn reached out and tapped the red and gold bars on his shoulders. "Do you miss it, being one of us?"
"I went from absolute respect as a Master Sergeant, to zero respect as a Second Lieutenant. As a Sergeant, I had pick-of-the-litter for just about anything. Hell, they were asking if I wanted to spend a year at Reikan park. Put on 2LT, and they said, 'You're going to this little hellholl on the aft end of galaxy.'" He seemed to be considering the effect that had on him, as he rolled his shoulders, making the bars dance up and down, testing their weight. As he pondered, he took another sip of his drink, his glowing eyes finding Autumn over the edge of the cup. "Yeah, I might miss it a little bit."
"Well, I respect you," Autumn kept his gaze, "Is it weird that I chose to come out here?" She tilted her head to one side to look at him as she sipped the bitter alcohol. "Not that a place named Freemud isn't a hoot."
"I'm not going to say I'm surprised," mused Kokuten, his odd black eyes searching hers. "You were going to Rok'Veru last I heard, and now I find you here of all places. I just chalked it up to that you like these sorts of places." He shrugged, tugging his cigar out to smile, "Who am I to judge? You look like you haven't stopped kicking ass since Kennewes."
Autumn chuckled, there was a touch of loneliness in her eyes, "I was on Rok'Veru... I actually got stuck on my own in my Raider for almost a month." She looked down at her glass, swishing the dark liquid around before she finished it in a gulp. She set it back down. "It was... bad. I got lucky, I was able to catch up to General Vanderhuge and Admiral Violetta's group and get extracted. I figured the trainer route would set me on more firm ground, give me a little more direction.. to be honest, after a month in my power armor, I wanted a break. She here I am.. training locals." She gestured to no one in particular.
The color drained from the officer's eyes a bit, leaving a white light. He set his cigar down on the ashtray, he leaned over onto his knees to level with Autumn eye-to-eye, perilously close for the man's comfort. "Yeah, here you are, in my unit. One of my soldiers. Of which, honestly, I'm pretty elated to have," He smiled, gripping her shoulder as if to snap her out of her doldrums, "And listen to, if said soldier was feeling troubled, or was in need of another drink."
Autumn leaned in and kissed Chiaki on the cheek, "Thank you, for caring Kokuten, I'm glad to have you back in my unit." She offered him an almost shy smile as she leaned back away from him.
Those eyes of his were pink as she drew back, even in her shyer moments, Autumn had a way of catching the man flat-footed. He raised a finger to say something, and realized he was red in the eyes as well as the face. "I...
He leaned back, whipping his finger, "...bet! Seriously, he's good with his hands. What are the others in the squad suppose to think about that kinda comment?"
"You're a Doctor," she raised an eyebrow, "That's sort of a requirement for field surgery."
"Ha ha," jumped Chiaki, pointing, "I've never performed field surgery on you."
"My arm. That was you. On the Alliance after the engagement on Kennewes," Autumn tapped her left arm. "You got mad because I was late to medical. I believe you installed my CC as well."
The officer jabbed a finger up again, but found he had nothing substantial against that, before wrapping his fingers around his mouth. With a bit of muttering, he spoke, "Well... I don't consider that field surgery... it was... in a medbay."
"You have surgical experience. You treated all of us. I wasn't the only surgery you performed in the civil war. That's more than the little one here in the squad. She.. needs a mentor. She hasn't lost anyone yet and that is something hard to teach or really explain. How you are supposed to feel or do when it's your friend on the table. But yes, you are damn good at your job. You are great with your hands," Autumn went back to toying with her empty glass, looking up at his eyes. "Unless you want me to say you're a shitty medic for some reason?"
That earned a stare under a furrowed brow, with little to be said against that. He turned back onto the bar, and tapped it with his metal knuckle, throwing back the rest of his drink. "You got whiskey?"
"Yeah," answered the barkeep, bent over into a box.
"I'll take a bottle," requested Kokuten, to which the bartender was quick to provide, setting down a tall container of New Bernese Whiskey. A local variety that was easy to obtain and not normally watered down if you got it out of a bottle. The barkeep poured the first shots.
The former medic picked up his glass, and waggled the container, "This, is how I dealt with patching up you clumsy fuckers on the Alliance. If our medic is as green as you say, I'll try not to pass on the habit." He stared at the liquid in the glass, "Unless she's already got a habit, then I've got a few pointers on how to manage it."
Her expression brightened at the bottle and she chuckled a bit, despite the heaviness she had brought to the conversation, "Fang might try to perform some sort of mechanical god ritual to cure her of the alliment. Scare the evil spirits out of her or something. They are good kids, sorry, that's not fair... they are good Marines. They've cut their teeth a bit and I pray to whatever gods there are, that they never have to deal with the Mishhu." She raised her glass in a toast. "To never running out of bullets or booze!"
Clink!
The two Marines threw the swill back, and found the flavor to be about as smooth as the battered walls of Fort Puckett. Despite that, it was about the best quality stuff they had managed thus far. Kokuten let loose an eased sigh as he set his glass back down and reached for his cigar.
"So we've got a green-ass medic, a demolitionist who believes in ghosts, and... what else?" asked Chiaki curiously, grabbing the bottle to make sure the fussy Marine's glass didn't stay empty.
Autumn finished her glass and set it down. "The driver is obsessed with this... doll. I haven't really gotten a look at it, I just know it exists. I don't know too much about the other two inside the tank. I don't know the other Lieutenant that well. I only spoke to him briefly with the governor when I did my interview to join the unit. Then there are the locals from the militia, they are a lively bunch. They seem to like passing around a dick magnet, and wrestling topless."
"So that's what that's what that little dick magnet was all about. I wasn't sure what that thing on her chest armor was all about," Chiaki began to puff at the last vestiges of his rather fragrant cigar. When there was little space left, he squashed the blunt into the ashtray, snuffing it out. "All things considered, they sound pretty harmless compared to what I'm used to. At least, compared to the marines I'm used to. Honestly, the one with the doll might be the most dangerous one in the unit, sounds like it."
Autumn chuckled, "Perhaps." She clinked her glass against Chiaki's as they did another shot of the rot gut whiskey. Setting the glass back down gently. "I don't see a Rico or Adrian among them. It's strange actually, to be in a unit with so many women. It's certainly a change. Rico would have a heart attack," she laughed lightly at the thought. "I miss those guys. I haven't felt like I've really belonged since the Alliance.. I've missed you too, my friend." She smiled as she leaned forward on her hand. "Maybe I should've let Ran talk me into a unit tattoo in Los Apagos."
Chiaki smiled, too, and poured the next round.
"Letting Ran talk you into anything was probably a bad idea," clarified the Officer, cutting that off at the head. "You remember Matsobuki? Ran led that panty-raid that cleaned out her drawers, and thought she wouldn't find out. She spent the next five days picking them off, one-by-one. Trust me, Ran was a lot of things, but risk-evaluation and consequences weren't his strong suits."
The man's eyes slowly shifted to a more blueish color, currently sitting on a cyan. His fingers played at the glass he held, "Though, the tattoo was probably one of his better suggestions. I think you'd look good with one."
She laughed at the mental image of Suku strategically eliminating the men of the squad. "She'd make a good Marine with that sort of precision." The mirth had reached Autumn's eyes again as she rolled the glass in her hands and looked back up at Chiaki, waiting his eyelights. "Oh really? You of all people suggesting one is interesting. If we ever get off this rock, would you want to help me do a RAC sheet of a place that won't give me something if I decided to get some ink?"
The tablet was tugged out of the cover, and the Marine waggled it around, "I've already got one. Part of my training at candidacy school was developing safety policy. Being a medic, I had a pretty good handle on the dumb shit our Marines typically did to end up in my med-bay. One of those, is dirty tattoo parlors. Did a lot of research on it."
He rolled his eyes innocently, feeling her eyes, the cyan color fading to a slight pink, "I might have gained a bit of appreciation for the art in the process. Is that too strange?"
Autumn chuckled again as she settled on her hand. "Not at all. What do you have? And how paranoid were you on the chair?" Her eyes drifted down to the tablet. "And did you run to medical for antibotics afterwards?"
"Well, I don't have any myself, I don't have any arms for the ink process. I didn't see anything I was too happy to have on my chest or my back. So..." The Officer took another dose of rotgut, before pulling off his jacket, and setting it on the chair behind him. Then, rather unexpectedly, he began to tug off his turtleneck, a show the bartender began to appreciate.
In but a tank top now, his arms were exposed to reveal an ornate, and knightly design that ran up and down the length of the cybernetic limbs. His shoulders were most decorated and impractical, none the less showed free movement as he showed off a bit, "I worked with what I got."
Autumn traced the design of his left shoulder appreciatively as she trailed her finger along the length of it down his arm. "Very impressive, Kokuten. I guess I went a little too practical on my old 'netics. I sometimes miss the weight of them." She unbuttoned her own crew jacketand set it on her chair behind her. Her lean, muscular arms were bare beneath the white tanktop. Her olive skin was smooth, and had seen a little bit of sun. Aside from a few small scars, she looked intact.
"I couldn't imagine living without mine, I've had them all my life," commented Chiaki, appreciating how intact his friend was despite the harrowing conversation they had earlier. He pressed a cold finger on her bicep, and then began to pour his next shot, "You've got a good body for it, though. Tattoos, that is. Or... You know, you could upgrade, too, but your arms would look good with a little ink, I'd say. As good as your tan looks, make sure you put on some sunscreen, the sun makes them fade."
She smiled softly. "What sort of design should I try to get? The only tattoos I saw growing up were for the bigger gangs than mine, so I'm uncertain of what I would get. You seem like you have an interesting sense of style," Autumn gently tapped the back of his hand with her forefinger, running the tip across the cold metal. "My back was too messed up before to consider anything and my legs were 'netics. I never really entertained the idea of it."
"I love old stories about knights and swords, I felt like that was what my life was like. Just roaming around on the backs of big metal horses, swinging our swords and fighting wars." Kokuten seemed a bit wispy at that, until the PFC touched his arm. As lifeless and cold as it was, the arm reacted as if it could feel it through the metal. The robotic limp peeled back in reverse, and grabbed her hand. Chiaki's arms seemed to move in any way it suited him, and the limp spun in place to make it look a bit more natural.
As he admired the arm, he offered, "I think a unit tattoo would be a good start, we both carry those memories with us. A lot of Nepleslians use the art to cope with those kind of memories in a form of expression. You don't need to commit to anything big, you could start with something small."
A metal finger tapped the outer part of her arm, "Here," and then tapped along, "And then go from there, until you've got a little sleeve."
"Sounds like you've got a plan," A light blush appeared across her face for once as Chiaki manipulated her arm. "You'll come with me to do this?" Autumn's eyes were on his again, thoughtful, expectant for a moment. "I'd rather not have to go by myself."
"Of course!" Chiaki cheerily agreed, not a lick of doubt in his mind. He leaned over on his knees, holding up his still all-too-undrunk shot glass. "You don't need to go it alone anymore, Autumn. You just give me a ring when you're ready, and I'll kick it out with you."
She beamed as she raised her own glass and clinked it. "It's a date then, Kokuten." She took back the shot and shifted her chair so that she was sitting next to him instead of him having to crawl across the table to reach her. "There, this should be easier. Where would you get yours at?" She brushed against his side for a moment before she settled herself in her seat.
He was too busy throwing back the rot-gut to respond to the date comment. Instead, he threw his eyes off to the side, cursing the color pink itself. When he felt her ease into the chair next to him, he threw his head back her way. His gaze amber, and mildly suspicious of this perfectly innocuous demowoman.
"Mine? Where would I put a tattoo?" he blinked, perhaps not realizing he had agreed to also get a mark as well.
Autumn looked up to the bartender,"Do you happen to have another bottle of whiskey?" She pulled her wallet from her pocket and set it on the table, "I believe it's my turn to buy," she flashed the woman a friendly smile as she rose to her feet. She moved easily towards the bartender as she grabbed her wallet. "I'll take another bottle if you have it."
"Another bottle?" The barkeep blinked her only blue eye before going for another bottle of rotgut. These stripping Marines were turning out to be a profitable venture, any more and she'd need to start advertising! She tugged out another bottle and set it on the bar, opening it up for them. "Sure, here you go, I've got a few more if you guys end up being that thirsty."
The Geshrin armorer handed the bartender more than enough money to cover the cost of the bottle and gave her a decent tip."Keep the change, thank you," she smiled and grabbed the bottle. Autumn returned to the table and refilled their glasses before she setled back down beside Chiaki again. "How many more do you think we can take down tonight? Do you have a RAC for that already too?"
"Huh, let me check," Kokuten took a look at the black screen of his DataJockey, "says here that we can drink as much as we want as long as we chare with the Medical Officer." He gave her a not-as-innocent smile, swirling his own glass around. "Weirdly specific, that."
"Amazing how thoughtful paperwork can be sometimes," Autumn grinned as she lifted her glass again. "I don't need a liver, they'll just issue me a better one anyway, right?" She waited for the clink of his glass against hers before she threw back another shot of rotgut. It burned all the way down, but she enjoyed the warmth from the liquor. "It's been a while since I've had someone to drink like this with."
"All these greenhorns don't look like they could hold their liquor," Chiaki threw back another glass before tacking it back down with a satisfied sigh. Now that he thought about it, he felt the same way, as the Cirrus and most of his posts afterwards had no such opportunities. He leaned back with a sigh, and threw an arm over Autumn's chairback. "It's an awful shame, honestly, some of the best fights I've been in I was drinking with friends not moments before. These kids--... er..."
He caught himself, remembering, somewhat hazily that Autumn had already afforded them proper respect, "These Marines don't know that kind of life, I think."
Autumn smiled, settling a little closer to Chiaki. "It's definitely a new generation of Marine than we're used to. But they are also tankers, so the culture might have always been this different and we just missed it." She shrugged. "Oh, once we finish a few more bottles, I want to show you what the sky looks like here. I found the roof access, and it's a good view but still sheltered."
"You get into all sorts," commented Chiaki, sighing as he leaned into a familiar warmth. "How'd you get around to finding where that was? I'm pretty sure Rickett told us to stick to the slums." Autumn would find the man's glass sadly waggling empty, as if thirsty itself.
"Well," Autumn thoughtfully refilled Chiaki's glass ebfore her own and set the bottle down again. "They still have roofs in the slums. I've developed the habit of figuring out how to get to higher ground." She offered an easily smile as she tapped her glass against Chiaki's and they downed another shot. "If you are trying, it's easy to get up."
"I'll need to take you up on it then, not that I don't enjoy dark, foggy bars," agreed Chiaki, rolling his jaw with that last drink. His eyes blinked, and flashed a rainbow of colors before settling on purple, and then edging back towards green. "but I wouldn't mind seeing something lovely this evening. At least before they march us out on the battlefield again."
"Well, tell you what," Autumn smiled at the dazzling display of colors in his eyes. "Let's finish this bottle and I'll show you." She refilled the glasses again, and continued their now established routine of shots. "Should be a clear view tonight too. Didn't hear the METOC guys say anything about cloud cover." Her free hand had idly settled on top of his for a moment.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how well established the METOC is on this planet," warned Chiaki as he settled into his chair a bit. The hand she rested hers on curled up, the fingers spindling defensively. Even in such a close moment, Kokuten was guarded. He traced a line with his eyes from her hand up her arm, up to her eyes. "You know, why don't we just take the bottle with us?"
"I can go along with that COA," Autumn slowly rose to her feet her hand lingered for a moment before she pulled her crewjacket from the chair and slid it back on over her shoulders. Her alcohol tolerance had gone up since Prime, she wasn't at the clumsy stage of drunk yet but she was definitely buzzed.
Chiaki, however, wobbled as he made his way out of his chair. His measured tolerance was not quite as high as he seemed to think. There was a measure of control as he stood up straight, holding his hands out. A cautious look went about the room, as if scanning for threats, before he scooped up his own turtleneck, tugged it on, the jacket pulling over that. At the very least, he seemed to hide it well, as long as you didn't look to closely. He scooped up his cover as well as the bottle and presented himself, steadily.
"I'm doing pretty good for not hitting hard for a few years," He seemd content with that resolution, encouraging the PFC to lead the way.
Autumn led Chiaki out of the bar and tugged on her cap once the cool air touched her skin. She waited for the officer to catch up to her before she led him back to the bar that their company was renting out for rooms. She pointing up to the roof. "It's up there." She stopped behind the building in front of a lare dumpster. She half jumped, half climbed on top of the closed recipticle. "So there's a ladder up here, old fire escape. It's sound," she commented as she offered her hand to Chiaki to help him climb up.
"I'm a little heavier than you, you know," Kokuten stuffed the bottle in his pocket and analyzed the the height and integrity of the emergency route. He seemed a bit wary, but fortunately he trusted Autumn enough to brave it. The Officer leaped up, snatching the Demowoman's hand and throwing his weight up to the top with her. Coming up he started to wobble, and just about went tumbling into the wall.
Autumn grabbed his hand and settled her weight before she pulled him the rest of the way. Her time in training had definitely made her stronger. "Whoah there," her other hand steadied the officer as he made it to the top of the metal bin with her. "The next part requires less jumping, I promise." She grinned a bit. She pointed up to the ladder which was only about 3 feet above the top of the dumpster.
"Not sure if I'm going to need more or less whiskey for this part," said Chiaki as he took the lead this time, grabbing onto the ladder. He pulled himself up first, instead of trying to toy with the idea of throwing his legs up. Instead, his feet found the rungs easily as Kokuten's ample upper body strength did all the work. "You know, this reminds me of a time I did something like this at a water purification plant with my brother."
He chuckled as he climbed, "Which should be fine, as long as you don't intend to push me off."
Autumn watched a few moments and climbed up after him. "Nah, too much paperwork for a safety stand down and SITREP. It just doesn't do to push JOs off roofs." She replied with a chuckle. "This goes all the way up to the roof."
"Not to mention they'd probably make me do the safety brief," comment the man drying as his metal fingers clanged at each rung. Making his way up the side of the building with relative ease. "What with being the ranking person in this situation. I can hear it now, 'Shouldn't have been drinkin and climbing ladders, ya dumb ass! Now you get to tell everybody why.'", he simulated a salty Master Sergeant, which was rather easy considering he used to be one.
Autumn chuckled again. "It's a fire ladder, it's meant to be climbed." The top of the roof quickly came into sight above Chiaki as the metal runged ladder curved over the edge of the building's lip. The roof beyond was flat aside from the large heating and air conditioning units that sat on top. There were large metal boxes that would provide cover if someone needed to lay down supressing fire from the roof.
Kokuten took his inebriation to one of the ducts that ran along the top of the roof and sat down. He tugged the bottle out of his jacket pocket and set it down on the floor of the roof. "Feels a bit like Funky City up here." He closed his eyes, feeling the wind against his face, "A few less gunshots going off, believe it or not."
Her boots settled on the roof and she sat down beside him, leaning a little bit back. "I used to think about home, staring up at the stars on every planet I've been on. I see the lights up there and I wondered which I considered more home, the Alliance or Hanya," she smiled as her eyes moved from his face up to the mostly clear night sky.
Clack. Those cybernetic eyes blinked with her as he looked up as well. The smog and clouds were practically absent from the sky as the stars stared down at them. A sight the two normally got only while they were aboard ships. "The Alliance? I'll admit I missed it quite a bit, but didn't you grow up in Hanya?"
"I did. I mostly got into trouble. When I went to my parents' house, I usually had hell to pay. I just sort of.. lived there, you know? I wasn't close to my actual family. I didn't feel that sort of belonging until the Alliance. Sure, I was in a gang, but they were shitty human beings. I wouldn't have needed the 'netics if I had been smarter and had friends that were.. you know.. friends," Autumn shrugged, her voice was wistful. "I just figured that if I died on Prime, no one would really care. But when I died on Kennewes... I had people waiting for me, happy that I was back.' She smiled and looked over to Chiaki. "I've been looking for that again since, but I think I've been too focused on the mission."
"Autumn Wilde too engrossed in work to have fun?" Kokuten closed his eyes, trying to imagine a sad Autumn, and it didn't quite process. He remembered that time she got tugged out of the cloning chamber, and she seemed as cheery as ever despite it all. "Somehow, I just can't see it. You were always the life of the party back on the Alliance, I always figured you'd just be the life of the party anywhere." Those eyes finally glowed on her again, "You were just one of those personalities, magnetic and charming."
His face flattened a little bit, remembering most of their interactions, "A bit teasing and taunting, sure, but you were actually one of the more stable-headed people on that boat."
Autumn chuckled a bit, "I had a lot of time to think on Rok'Veru and since then. I want to figure out a future for myself. There's a lot of good in life to dwell on the bad parts. I see people as little fires burning and I want to help them burn brighter. I like seeing people happy, but I don't know sometimes if I'm just another fire or a moth." She laid back on the pipe and stared up at the stars. "I haven't felt like myself for months, but I am ready to move forward again. I don't want my fire to burn out."
"I think you started in the right spot," Sliding down, he took to the floor next to her, and picked up the bottle next to himself. "What you're dealing with something I felt a lot of on the Cirrus, a case of finding that race you want to lead in in life. Being here with these green Marines, you can do a lot of good for them, and I can tell you already care about them quite a bit. They seem to like you just as much judging by how starry eyed they get around you."
He waggled his shoulder bars, as he leaned into her, offering her the bottle in his hand. "You could always give leadership a shot. You like paperwork, might as well take a job that's nothing but, right?" He laughed.
She accepted the bottle and sat up just enough to not drown in rotgut and a took a deep pull before offering the bottle back. Autumn looked down at Chiaki smiling again. "You think they like me?" Her eyes moved down from his face to those red and gold bars. "Think I would be able to be get the recommendation for school? But wouldn't I have to transfer,or is there some sort of OJT program I haven't heard of?"
"You'd have to transfer, that's for sure. You wouldn't be able to earn your bars out here without taking them from someone else. If this were the old days, maybe, but we've got a more stellar officer corps now with stricter standards." He took the bottle down and took a swing from it as well, letting the flavor freshen his tongue. "We can work on your selection and make sure you've got what you need to look like a stunning candidate."
He leaned his head back to look up at her, "You could go Master Sergeant, too. MS's get to go whereever they want once they've earned the rank. You could even represent Nepleslia at Blaze's Spot. You're oo-rah, tough, and you've survived two of the nations most historic campaigns. I don't think it'd be too hard, not for you, at least."
She laughed a bit as she considered it, laying back down on the pipe again. "Now that I think about, the Corps is pretty stingy about advancement, hasn't it? I'm still only a Private First Class. I got to help save Admiral Violetta and General Vanderhuge on Rok'veru.... blow up a tunnel and stop and advance... and here I am, volunteering to train militia on Freemud. I guess it looks like I pissed someone in Personnel off, doesn't it? Or that I'm afraid of something?" Autumn turned on her side to face Chiaki. "I'll consider it, up is a good way to go. But.. I'm a new transfer to this unit, so I haven't proven myself to him like I have the Governess."
"Give it time, Lieutenant Rickett will see the kind of soldier you are," he reassured, shaking the bottle up at her, "And not because you're friends with the XO, either. It's either that or work your term out, look for jobs elsewhere. You'd probably do pretty good in the police, they're always looking for new people, and they always priortize Marines coming out of service."
The bottle went up to her again, "If you could ever see yourself not being a Marine."
She accepted the bottle again and took another thoughtful pull, "I never thought about it actually. My main concern was getting away from the gangs and I ended up here." Autumn passed the bottle back and looked over at Chiaki's eye lights again. "I never thought much about my future, it's always been about seeing tomorrow. I guess now I should start thinking about life beyond this, I guess this is what getting older does? Or maybe what dying did? What would life be like without waiting for the next drop, the next battlefield?" She turned her attention back upwards again. "A life after the Nepleslian Marine Corps... is there such a thing?"
"Wouldn't we be the first to find out? We were the first Marines. We all answered the initial call to war, joined the Nepleslian Star Army, and fought the first war of our 'nation'." Chiaki looked up at the sky as well, shaking around the remainder in the bottom of the whiskey bottle. "Nepleslia has known violence for thousands of years, so I can't say we'd truly be the first, but we'd be the first Marines. Rico seems to make it work. Adrian joined the IPG. Vel Steyr got out, but then rejoined the Corps. Still. We're some of the few that have made it a career and are still living."
A gunmetal-colored hand rose up to the stars, opening and closing with a mechanically fluid motion, "I joined to the see the stars and saw some of the ugliest things you could imagine, but for some reason, I can't imagine myself being anywhere else."
"Then we don't have to go anywhere else," Autumn decided as she moved closer to Kokuten on the pipe. "Maybe the stars are where our souls long to be? This planet isn't my favorite but I like what I am doing. I didn't mind training the militia but I missed getting to, you know, actually be a Marine. We never know where we'll end up or if we'll get through the next mission but.. we're more honest than people realize. We can't bullshit. We will live or die based on our ability and the ability of the people around us.. and.. our friendships are deeper than any family I have ever known." She stared into his eyelight again and smiled brightly, the light of the moon made her eyes almost sparkle as she spoke. "Blood spilled together runs deeper than the blood in our veins."
His mouth widened into a smile at those words. Those LED-lights danced back and forth, looking between her eyes, and a little sigh seemed to give his gaze some clarity. "And people say I have a way with words, you ought to write a book. Almost had me jumping up to my feet there."
The man's voice sounded a bit tired, before he took a look at the meager amount of alcohol left in the bottle. He looked at it, and then looked at her, keeping it just out of her reach, "Would you like the last of this?"
"You're getting me all worked up," Autumn laughed, "How about we split it?" She had manuevered herself much closer now. She was barely a foot away as placed her hand on his arm again.
At that, he turned the bottle back, emptying it. When he brought it back down, he was close-mouthed, setting the empty container down next to himself. With his mouth full, he arched his brow at her, resisting a little smile.
Taking a bit of the hint, Autumn closed the distance and pressed her mouth against his. The two buzzed Marines shared a whiskey-washed kiss in the clear moon-light of the urban jungle.
New Bernese Slums
Shotgun's Bells
2141
There were a lot of wet little dives in the city's Slums. The Marines were advised to keep to the lower areas, as it was already cleared for threats. Most of the locals seemed to have a positive, if not cold, reception of the Marines. During their liberty, they'd have run of the place, and some of them would take full advantage of the time.
The unit's XO was doing just that. Acclimating to a new position and a position of comissioned authority was proving to be a draining transition for him. There was a lot more expected of an Officer than that of a Master Sergeant, and it was hard to get the regular Marines to interact with him without broaching a professional subject. Any time he'd catch anyone, they were more concerned with the red and silver bars on shoulders than what he had to say. He didn't blame them, officers, even junior officers, could be intimidating to green soldiers.
Still, it proved to be a bit lonely. They didn't tell him about that part when he comissioned.
So, he sat at the bar his combination cover upside down to preserve its flat shape, a smoky trail hazing over it from a cigar tucked between his lips. He had decided to go drinking away from the regular establishment to cut the enlisted a break from his presence. That was a common practice, anyway, as most of the time Officers would seek different establishments so that the two sides wouldn't need to force interaction or decorum. Sure, it was different in the Marines, and even more different in Nepleslia than most other militaries in the universe, but the rank and file soldiers and officers knew ettiquette.
The bartender was a war-veteran or war-survivor judging by how most of her cybernetics leaned on her left side. Her stony gaze was enough to keep patrons in line, a single blue eye and another bright blue lens-eye scanned the crowd as a sentry would. She arched a brow at Chiaki as he stared down at some old pictures on his DataJockey.
"Need another drink?" she asked, a little sympathetic. The officer's mouth flattened as his blue eyes looked up at her, and then at his empty glass.
"Looks like I do," He put a few more DA on the table to pay for something else, "Red Moon... little bit of lime?"
A small smile spread at the man's odd tastes, but went about to prepare his drink as he went back to staring at old memories.
"You look so lonely there, 2nd Liutenant," Autumn's voice was sympathtic as she quietly walked up behind him. The sound of her boots should have been more audible but she had practice sneaking up on Chiaki. She peered over his shoulder, "You can't still be working?"
The officer had been looking at a picture of himself with a young woman with red hair. Both of them had been smiling, or at least that's what she could glean before Chiaki hastily locked the screen and spun around.
"Wilde!" jumped Kokuten, leaning back over the table, as if to hide something from her. He took a moment to breath, before throwing an accusatory finger at the cheeky Private. "God damn it, you always do that."
Autumn leaned forward and smiled brightly. "You're pink. I think you would've gotten used to it by now. The organics are easier to keep quiet though, not as heavy. Let me buy you a drink to make it up to you?" She closed the short distance between them and patted him on the shoulder. "Loosen up, sir. You just got here."
The officer let out a long, restrained sigh as Autumn comforted him. His eyes clacked, blinking out the telling color of his emotion, brow-beating it back into a green color. He furrowed a brow and gave her an accusing finger, "You know, I'll take you up on that," came a surrendering remark, as he turned and pat the stool next to him. "I'll get the next round."
She beamed and hopped onto the stool next to him. Autumn was still in uniform, but she was wearing the crew jacket instead of the regular pullover. "What's got you? The paperwork can't be that depressing? I'm supposed to be helping you with it... you just have to give it to me." Her deep green eyes sympathetic as she leaned slightly towards him, propping herself up on an elbow.
"Aw, it's not that. I'm just getting a drink," lied Chiaki, his eyes turning an amber color to signify his trouble at lying, and that he was, lying. "Most of the work that comes down I can hash out pretty quick, small stuff, I wouldn't want to bother you with that kind of thing. You know. Said the Lieutenant to the Private." He chuckled. Awkwardly. Then, more seriously, he carried on the subject, "What are you up to? I don't see any of the others with you."
"I go off on my own every now and then. They know each other better than they know me, so they need some alone time, sometimes," she shrugged. "Only so many times I can inventory my kit and clean my weapons. The life of a demolitionist is pretty empty when I don't get to blow something up. At least as an armorer on the Alliance I had more paperwork," her voice was almost wistful. "But no, you wouldn't bother me. It would keep me busy, unless you want me idle?" Autumn winked at him.
"Right right, idle hands are the Neko's playthings," Kokuten leaned to one side a bit as he set the DataJockey into his cover with his wallet. His hand spun a full 360, ending with a point at Autumn, "If I get some boring paperwork, you'll be the first to know. I'll make sure to throw in some tedious triplicate and a routing sheet to make interesting."
"As long as each line item of inventory is properly initaled, dated, with your name and rank and in the proper folder," Autumn retorted. "It is invalid otherwise, they don't like carbon copies on that sort of paperwork or stamps, I guess admin thinks it's cheating but if you make them route hard paper, they get testy," she mused as she eyed the DataJockey. "Was that the crazy lady?"
Kokuten looked over his shoulder at the bartender, who was still preparing their drinks. He thumbed a black digit her way, "You know, you really shouldn't talk about the barkeep like that, she's just doing her job."
Autumn made a small noise, "No, that red head you were sighing at?" She pointed at the DataJockey. "The one you were telling me about on Prime at the bar?" Her deep green eyes stared at the officer's eye lights appraisingly as she leaned forward on her hands. "Hmm?"
She got the show she was looking for as Chiaki leaned back, his eyes flickering between an amber and orange color. He rose a hand to say something, and then stopped. Then he did so again, his face showing a transition to a different subject, and then stopped. At last, he shook his finger, before throwing his head back.
"Okay, you got me," he leaned onto the bar as the drinks were settled down in front of them. The cigar that hung from his mouth, was plucked up and set into the ashtray, venting a dragonsbreath of smoke. "Yeah, that was her, Cassefin. The crazy red-head."
She settled a hand on the one that was actually on the table. "So, what happened with Cassefin? You didn't talk about her too much last time... and you're here now. How did it turn out?" Autumn's eyes flicked up to the waitress with a polite smile as she lifted the glass up to Chiaki in a appreciative toast before she took a good drink of the mystery alcohol.
Clink! Kokuten joined her in a drink as they toasted, he took a good swig before setting it down and tapping his metal finger on the glass. He spoke, putting a fist to his mouth to resist the backdraft on the beer, "That's a Hauser, right?"
"Yep." chimed the Bartender.
"Ha ha, still got it," Chiaki tapped his temple triumphantly, before realizing he had left Autumn hanging on her last question. He reached for his cigar, "So, yeah. It didn't work out. Ah, well. It did work out. Then it didn't." The tip of the blunt brightened as he took a couple draws, "We spent a couple years figuring out we were different people."
"I'm sorry that I didn't work out," she gentled. "What about after that? You seem like you have these shiny bars weighing you down." Autumn reached out and tapped the red and gold bars on his shoulders. "Do you miss it, being one of us?"
"I went from absolute respect as a Master Sergeant, to zero respect as a Second Lieutenant. As a Sergeant, I had pick-of-the-litter for just about anything. Hell, they were asking if I wanted to spend a year at Reikan park. Put on 2LT, and they said, 'You're going to this little hellholl on the aft end of galaxy.'" He seemed to be considering the effect that had on him, as he rolled his shoulders, making the bars dance up and down, testing their weight. As he pondered, he took another sip of his drink, his glowing eyes finding Autumn over the edge of the cup. "Yeah, I might miss it a little bit."
"Well, I respect you," Autumn kept his gaze, "Is it weird that I chose to come out here?" She tilted her head to one side to look at him as she sipped the bitter alcohol. "Not that a place named Freemud isn't a hoot."
"I'm not going to say I'm surprised," mused Kokuten, his odd black eyes searching hers. "You were going to Rok'Veru last I heard, and now I find you here of all places. I just chalked it up to that you like these sorts of places." He shrugged, tugging his cigar out to smile, "Who am I to judge? You look like you haven't stopped kicking ass since Kennewes."
Autumn chuckled, there was a touch of loneliness in her eyes, "I was on Rok'Veru... I actually got stuck on my own in my Raider for almost a month." She looked down at her glass, swishing the dark liquid around before she finished it in a gulp. She set it back down. "It was... bad. I got lucky, I was able to catch up to General Vanderhuge and Admiral Violetta's group and get extracted. I figured the trainer route would set me on more firm ground, give me a little more direction.. to be honest, after a month in my power armor, I wanted a break. She here I am.. training locals." She gestured to no one in particular.
The color drained from the officer's eyes a bit, leaving a white light. He set his cigar down on the ashtray, he leaned over onto his knees to level with Autumn eye-to-eye, perilously close for the man's comfort. "Yeah, here you are, in my unit. One of my soldiers. Of which, honestly, I'm pretty elated to have," He smiled, gripping her shoulder as if to snap her out of her doldrums, "And listen to, if said soldier was feeling troubled, or was in need of another drink."
Autumn leaned in and kissed Chiaki on the cheek, "Thank you, for caring Kokuten, I'm glad to have you back in my unit." She offered him an almost shy smile as she leaned back away from him.
Those eyes of his were pink as she drew back, even in her shyer moments, Autumn had a way of catching the man flat-footed. He raised a finger to say something, and realized he was red in the eyes as well as the face. "I...
He leaned back, whipping his finger, "...bet! Seriously, he's good with his hands. What are the others in the squad suppose to think about that kinda comment?"
"You're a Doctor," she raised an eyebrow, "That's sort of a requirement for field surgery."
"Ha ha," jumped Chiaki, pointing, "I've never performed field surgery on you."
"My arm. That was you. On the Alliance after the engagement on Kennewes," Autumn tapped her left arm. "You got mad because I was late to medical. I believe you installed my CC as well."
The officer jabbed a finger up again, but found he had nothing substantial against that, before wrapping his fingers around his mouth. With a bit of muttering, he spoke, "Well... I don't consider that field surgery... it was... in a medbay."
"You have surgical experience. You treated all of us. I wasn't the only surgery you performed in the civil war. That's more than the little one here in the squad. She.. needs a mentor. She hasn't lost anyone yet and that is something hard to teach or really explain. How you are supposed to feel or do when it's your friend on the table. But yes, you are damn good at your job. You are great with your hands," Autumn went back to toying with her empty glass, looking up at his eyes. "Unless you want me to say you're a shitty medic for some reason?"
That earned a stare under a furrowed brow, with little to be said against that. He turned back onto the bar, and tapped it with his metal knuckle, throwing back the rest of his drink. "You got whiskey?"
"Yeah," answered the barkeep, bent over into a box.
"I'll take a bottle," requested Kokuten, to which the bartender was quick to provide, setting down a tall container of New Bernese Whiskey. A local variety that was easy to obtain and not normally watered down if you got it out of a bottle. The barkeep poured the first shots.
The former medic picked up his glass, and waggled the container, "This, is how I dealt with patching up you clumsy fuckers on the Alliance. If our medic is as green as you say, I'll try not to pass on the habit." He stared at the liquid in the glass, "Unless she's already got a habit, then I've got a few pointers on how to manage it."
Her expression brightened at the bottle and she chuckled a bit, despite the heaviness she had brought to the conversation, "Fang might try to perform some sort of mechanical god ritual to cure her of the alliment. Scare the evil spirits out of her or something. They are good kids, sorry, that's not fair... they are good Marines. They've cut their teeth a bit and I pray to whatever gods there are, that they never have to deal with the Mishhu." She raised her glass in a toast. "To never running out of bullets or booze!"
Clink!
The two Marines threw the swill back, and found the flavor to be about as smooth as the battered walls of Fort Puckett. Despite that, it was about the best quality stuff they had managed thus far. Kokuten let loose an eased sigh as he set his glass back down and reached for his cigar.
"So we've got a green-ass medic, a demolitionist who believes in ghosts, and... what else?" asked Chiaki curiously, grabbing the bottle to make sure the fussy Marine's glass didn't stay empty.
Autumn finished her glass and set it down. "The driver is obsessed with this... doll. I haven't really gotten a look at it, I just know it exists. I don't know too much about the other two inside the tank. I don't know the other Lieutenant that well. I only spoke to him briefly with the governor when I did my interview to join the unit. Then there are the locals from the militia, they are a lively bunch. They seem to like passing around a dick magnet, and wrestling topless."
"So that's what that's what that little dick magnet was all about. I wasn't sure what that thing on her chest armor was all about," Chiaki began to puff at the last vestiges of his rather fragrant cigar. When there was little space left, he squashed the blunt into the ashtray, snuffing it out. "All things considered, they sound pretty harmless compared to what I'm used to. At least, compared to the marines I'm used to. Honestly, the one with the doll might be the most dangerous one in the unit, sounds like it."
Autumn chuckled, "Perhaps." She clinked her glass against Chiaki's as they did another shot of the rot gut whiskey. Setting the glass back down gently. "I don't see a Rico or Adrian among them. It's strange actually, to be in a unit with so many women. It's certainly a change. Rico would have a heart attack," she laughed lightly at the thought. "I miss those guys. I haven't felt like I've really belonged since the Alliance.. I've missed you too, my friend." She smiled as she leaned forward on her hand. "Maybe I should've let Ran talk me into a unit tattoo in Los Apagos."
Chiaki smiled, too, and poured the next round.
"Letting Ran talk you into anything was probably a bad idea," clarified the Officer, cutting that off at the head. "You remember Matsobuki? Ran led that panty-raid that cleaned out her drawers, and thought she wouldn't find out. She spent the next five days picking them off, one-by-one. Trust me, Ran was a lot of things, but risk-evaluation and consequences weren't his strong suits."
The man's eyes slowly shifted to a more blueish color, currently sitting on a cyan. His fingers played at the glass he held, "Though, the tattoo was probably one of his better suggestions. I think you'd look good with one."
She laughed at the mental image of Suku strategically eliminating the men of the squad. "She'd make a good Marine with that sort of precision." The mirth had reached Autumn's eyes again as she rolled the glass in her hands and looked back up at Chiaki, waiting his eyelights. "Oh really? You of all people suggesting one is interesting. If we ever get off this rock, would you want to help me do a RAC sheet of a place that won't give me something if I decided to get some ink?"
The tablet was tugged out of the cover, and the Marine waggled it around, "I've already got one. Part of my training at candidacy school was developing safety policy. Being a medic, I had a pretty good handle on the dumb shit our Marines typically did to end up in my med-bay. One of those, is dirty tattoo parlors. Did a lot of research on it."
He rolled his eyes innocently, feeling her eyes, the cyan color fading to a slight pink, "I might have gained a bit of appreciation for the art in the process. Is that too strange?"
Autumn chuckled again as she settled on her hand. "Not at all. What do you have? And how paranoid were you on the chair?" Her eyes drifted down to the tablet. "And did you run to medical for antibotics afterwards?"
"Well, I don't have any myself, I don't have any arms for the ink process. I didn't see anything I was too happy to have on my chest or my back. So..." The Officer took another dose of rotgut, before pulling off his jacket, and setting it on the chair behind him. Then, rather unexpectedly, he began to tug off his turtleneck, a show the bartender began to appreciate.
In but a tank top now, his arms were exposed to reveal an ornate, and knightly design that ran up and down the length of the cybernetic limbs. His shoulders were most decorated and impractical, none the less showed free movement as he showed off a bit, "I worked with what I got."
Autumn traced the design of his left shoulder appreciatively as she trailed her finger along the length of it down his arm. "Very impressive, Kokuten. I guess I went a little too practical on my old 'netics. I sometimes miss the weight of them." She unbuttoned her own crew jacketand set it on her chair behind her. Her lean, muscular arms were bare beneath the white tanktop. Her olive skin was smooth, and had seen a little bit of sun. Aside from a few small scars, she looked intact.
"I couldn't imagine living without mine, I've had them all my life," commented Chiaki, appreciating how intact his friend was despite the harrowing conversation they had earlier. He pressed a cold finger on her bicep, and then began to pour his next shot, "You've got a good body for it, though. Tattoos, that is. Or... You know, you could upgrade, too, but your arms would look good with a little ink, I'd say. As good as your tan looks, make sure you put on some sunscreen, the sun makes them fade."
She smiled softly. "What sort of design should I try to get? The only tattoos I saw growing up were for the bigger gangs than mine, so I'm uncertain of what I would get. You seem like you have an interesting sense of style," Autumn gently tapped the back of his hand with her forefinger, running the tip across the cold metal. "My back was too messed up before to consider anything and my legs were 'netics. I never really entertained the idea of it."
"I love old stories about knights and swords, I felt like that was what my life was like. Just roaming around on the backs of big metal horses, swinging our swords and fighting wars." Kokuten seemed a bit wispy at that, until the PFC touched his arm. As lifeless and cold as it was, the arm reacted as if it could feel it through the metal. The robotic limp peeled back in reverse, and grabbed her hand. Chiaki's arms seemed to move in any way it suited him, and the limp spun in place to make it look a bit more natural.
As he admired the arm, he offered, "I think a unit tattoo would be a good start, we both carry those memories with us. A lot of Nepleslians use the art to cope with those kind of memories in a form of expression. You don't need to commit to anything big, you could start with something small."
A metal finger tapped the outer part of her arm, "Here," and then tapped along, "And then go from there, until you've got a little sleeve."
"Sounds like you've got a plan," A light blush appeared across her face for once as Chiaki manipulated her arm. "You'll come with me to do this?" Autumn's eyes were on his again, thoughtful, expectant for a moment. "I'd rather not have to go by myself."
"Of course!" Chiaki cheerily agreed, not a lick of doubt in his mind. He leaned over on his knees, holding up his still all-too-undrunk shot glass. "You don't need to go it alone anymore, Autumn. You just give me a ring when you're ready, and I'll kick it out with you."
She beamed as she raised her own glass and clinked it. "It's a date then, Kokuten." She took back the shot and shifted her chair so that she was sitting next to him instead of him having to crawl across the table to reach her. "There, this should be easier. Where would you get yours at?" She brushed against his side for a moment before she settled herself in her seat.
He was too busy throwing back the rot-gut to respond to the date comment. Instead, he threw his eyes off to the side, cursing the color pink itself. When he felt her ease into the chair next to him, he threw his head back her way. His gaze amber, and mildly suspicious of this perfectly innocuous demowoman.
"Mine? Where would I put a tattoo?" he blinked, perhaps not realizing he had agreed to also get a mark as well.
Autumn looked up to the bartender,"Do you happen to have another bottle of whiskey?" She pulled her wallet from her pocket and set it on the table, "I believe it's my turn to buy," she flashed the woman a friendly smile as she rose to her feet. She moved easily towards the bartender as she grabbed her wallet. "I'll take another bottle if you have it."
"Another bottle?" The barkeep blinked her only blue eye before going for another bottle of rotgut. These stripping Marines were turning out to be a profitable venture, any more and she'd need to start advertising! She tugged out another bottle and set it on the bar, opening it up for them. "Sure, here you go, I've got a few more if you guys end up being that thirsty."
The Geshrin armorer handed the bartender more than enough money to cover the cost of the bottle and gave her a decent tip."Keep the change, thank you," she smiled and grabbed the bottle. Autumn returned to the table and refilled their glasses before she setled back down beside Chiaki again. "How many more do you think we can take down tonight? Do you have a RAC for that already too?"
"Huh, let me check," Kokuten took a look at the black screen of his DataJockey, "says here that we can drink as much as we want as long as we chare with the Medical Officer." He gave her a not-as-innocent smile, swirling his own glass around. "Weirdly specific, that."
"Amazing how thoughtful paperwork can be sometimes," Autumn grinned as she lifted her glass again. "I don't need a liver, they'll just issue me a better one anyway, right?" She waited for the clink of his glass against hers before she threw back another shot of rotgut. It burned all the way down, but she enjoyed the warmth from the liquor. "It's been a while since I've had someone to drink like this with."
"All these greenhorns don't look like they could hold their liquor," Chiaki threw back another glass before tacking it back down with a satisfied sigh. Now that he thought about it, he felt the same way, as the Cirrus and most of his posts afterwards had no such opportunities. He leaned back with a sigh, and threw an arm over Autumn's chairback. "It's an awful shame, honestly, some of the best fights I've been in I was drinking with friends not moments before. These kids--... er..."
He caught himself, remembering, somewhat hazily that Autumn had already afforded them proper respect, "These Marines don't know that kind of life, I think."
Autumn smiled, settling a little closer to Chiaki. "It's definitely a new generation of Marine than we're used to. But they are also tankers, so the culture might have always been this different and we just missed it." She shrugged. "Oh, once we finish a few more bottles, I want to show you what the sky looks like here. I found the roof access, and it's a good view but still sheltered."
"You get into all sorts," commented Chiaki, sighing as he leaned into a familiar warmth. "How'd you get around to finding where that was? I'm pretty sure Rickett told us to stick to the slums." Autumn would find the man's glass sadly waggling empty, as if thirsty itself.
"Well," Autumn thoughtfully refilled Chiaki's glass ebfore her own and set the bottle down again. "They still have roofs in the slums. I've developed the habit of figuring out how to get to higher ground." She offered an easily smile as she tapped her glass against Chiaki's and they downed another shot. "If you are trying, it's easy to get up."
"I'll need to take you up on it then, not that I don't enjoy dark, foggy bars," agreed Chiaki, rolling his jaw with that last drink. His eyes blinked, and flashed a rainbow of colors before settling on purple, and then edging back towards green. "but I wouldn't mind seeing something lovely this evening. At least before they march us out on the battlefield again."
"Well, tell you what," Autumn smiled at the dazzling display of colors in his eyes. "Let's finish this bottle and I'll show you." She refilled the glasses again, and continued their now established routine of shots. "Should be a clear view tonight too. Didn't hear the METOC guys say anything about cloud cover." Her free hand had idly settled on top of his for a moment.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how well established the METOC is on this planet," warned Chiaki as he settled into his chair a bit. The hand she rested hers on curled up, the fingers spindling defensively. Even in such a close moment, Kokuten was guarded. He traced a line with his eyes from her hand up her arm, up to her eyes. "You know, why don't we just take the bottle with us?"
"I can go along with that COA," Autumn slowly rose to her feet her hand lingered for a moment before she pulled her crewjacket from the chair and slid it back on over her shoulders. Her alcohol tolerance had gone up since Prime, she wasn't at the clumsy stage of drunk yet but she was definitely buzzed.
Chiaki, however, wobbled as he made his way out of his chair. His measured tolerance was not quite as high as he seemed to think. There was a measure of control as he stood up straight, holding his hands out. A cautious look went about the room, as if scanning for threats, before he scooped up his own turtleneck, tugged it on, the jacket pulling over that. At the very least, he seemed to hide it well, as long as you didn't look to closely. He scooped up his cover as well as the bottle and presented himself, steadily.
"I'm doing pretty good for not hitting hard for a few years," He seemd content with that resolution, encouraging the PFC to lead the way.
Autumn led Chiaki out of the bar and tugged on her cap once the cool air touched her skin. She waited for the officer to catch up to her before she led him back to the bar that their company was renting out for rooms. She pointing up to the roof. "It's up there." She stopped behind the building in front of a lare dumpster. She half jumped, half climbed on top of the closed recipticle. "So there's a ladder up here, old fire escape. It's sound," she commented as she offered her hand to Chiaki to help him climb up.
"I'm a little heavier than you, you know," Kokuten stuffed the bottle in his pocket and analyzed the the height and integrity of the emergency route. He seemed a bit wary, but fortunately he trusted Autumn enough to brave it. The Officer leaped up, snatching the Demowoman's hand and throwing his weight up to the top with her. Coming up he started to wobble, and just about went tumbling into the wall.
Autumn grabbed his hand and settled her weight before she pulled him the rest of the way. Her time in training had definitely made her stronger. "Whoah there," her other hand steadied the officer as he made it to the top of the metal bin with her. "The next part requires less jumping, I promise." She grinned a bit. She pointed up to the ladder which was only about 3 feet above the top of the dumpster.
"Not sure if I'm going to need more or less whiskey for this part," said Chiaki as he took the lead this time, grabbing onto the ladder. He pulled himself up first, instead of trying to toy with the idea of throwing his legs up. Instead, his feet found the rungs easily as Kokuten's ample upper body strength did all the work. "You know, this reminds me of a time I did something like this at a water purification plant with my brother."
He chuckled as he climbed, "Which should be fine, as long as you don't intend to push me off."
Autumn watched a few moments and climbed up after him. "Nah, too much paperwork for a safety stand down and SITREP. It just doesn't do to push JOs off roofs." She replied with a chuckle. "This goes all the way up to the roof."
"Not to mention they'd probably make me do the safety brief," comment the man drying as his metal fingers clanged at each rung. Making his way up the side of the building with relative ease. "What with being the ranking person in this situation. I can hear it now, 'Shouldn't have been drinkin and climbing ladders, ya dumb ass! Now you get to tell everybody why.'", he simulated a salty Master Sergeant, which was rather easy considering he used to be one.
Autumn chuckled again. "It's a fire ladder, it's meant to be climbed." The top of the roof quickly came into sight above Chiaki as the metal runged ladder curved over the edge of the building's lip. The roof beyond was flat aside from the large heating and air conditioning units that sat on top. There were large metal boxes that would provide cover if someone needed to lay down supressing fire from the roof.
Kokuten took his inebriation to one of the ducts that ran along the top of the roof and sat down. He tugged the bottle out of his jacket pocket and set it down on the floor of the roof. "Feels a bit like Funky City up here." He closed his eyes, feeling the wind against his face, "A few less gunshots going off, believe it or not."
Her boots settled on the roof and she sat down beside him, leaning a little bit back. "I used to think about home, staring up at the stars on every planet I've been on. I see the lights up there and I wondered which I considered more home, the Alliance or Hanya," she smiled as her eyes moved from his face up to the mostly clear night sky.
Clack. Those cybernetic eyes blinked with her as he looked up as well. The smog and clouds were practically absent from the sky as the stars stared down at them. A sight the two normally got only while they were aboard ships. "The Alliance? I'll admit I missed it quite a bit, but didn't you grow up in Hanya?"
"I did. I mostly got into trouble. When I went to my parents' house, I usually had hell to pay. I just sort of.. lived there, you know? I wasn't close to my actual family. I didn't feel that sort of belonging until the Alliance. Sure, I was in a gang, but they were shitty human beings. I wouldn't have needed the 'netics if I had been smarter and had friends that were.. you know.. friends," Autumn shrugged, her voice was wistful. "I just figured that if I died on Prime, no one would really care. But when I died on Kennewes... I had people waiting for me, happy that I was back.' She smiled and looked over to Chiaki. "I've been looking for that again since, but I think I've been too focused on the mission."
"Autumn Wilde too engrossed in work to have fun?" Kokuten closed his eyes, trying to imagine a sad Autumn, and it didn't quite process. He remembered that time she got tugged out of the cloning chamber, and she seemed as cheery as ever despite it all. "Somehow, I just can't see it. You were always the life of the party back on the Alliance, I always figured you'd just be the life of the party anywhere." Those eyes finally glowed on her again, "You were just one of those personalities, magnetic and charming."
His face flattened a little bit, remembering most of their interactions, "A bit teasing and taunting, sure, but you were actually one of the more stable-headed people on that boat."
Autumn chuckled a bit, "I had a lot of time to think on Rok'Veru and since then. I want to figure out a future for myself. There's a lot of good in life to dwell on the bad parts. I see people as little fires burning and I want to help them burn brighter. I like seeing people happy, but I don't know sometimes if I'm just another fire or a moth." She laid back on the pipe and stared up at the stars. "I haven't felt like myself for months, but I am ready to move forward again. I don't want my fire to burn out."
"I think you started in the right spot," Sliding down, he took to the floor next to her, and picked up the bottle next to himself. "What you're dealing with something I felt a lot of on the Cirrus, a case of finding that race you want to lead in in life. Being here with these green Marines, you can do a lot of good for them, and I can tell you already care about them quite a bit. They seem to like you just as much judging by how starry eyed they get around you."
He waggled his shoulder bars, as he leaned into her, offering her the bottle in his hand. "You could always give leadership a shot. You like paperwork, might as well take a job that's nothing but, right?" He laughed.
She accepted the bottle and sat up just enough to not drown in rotgut and a took a deep pull before offering the bottle back. Autumn looked down at Chiaki smiling again. "You think they like me?" Her eyes moved down from his face to those red and gold bars. "Think I would be able to be get the recommendation for school? But wouldn't I have to transfer,or is there some sort of OJT program I haven't heard of?"
"You'd have to transfer, that's for sure. You wouldn't be able to earn your bars out here without taking them from someone else. If this were the old days, maybe, but we've got a more stellar officer corps now with stricter standards." He took the bottle down and took a swing from it as well, letting the flavor freshen his tongue. "We can work on your selection and make sure you've got what you need to look like a stunning candidate."
He leaned his head back to look up at her, "You could go Master Sergeant, too. MS's get to go whereever they want once they've earned the rank. You could even represent Nepleslia at Blaze's Spot. You're oo-rah, tough, and you've survived two of the nations most historic campaigns. I don't think it'd be too hard, not for you, at least."
She laughed a bit as she considered it, laying back down on the pipe again. "Now that I think about, the Corps is pretty stingy about advancement, hasn't it? I'm still only a Private First Class. I got to help save Admiral Violetta and General Vanderhuge on Rok'veru.... blow up a tunnel and stop and advance... and here I am, volunteering to train militia on Freemud. I guess it looks like I pissed someone in Personnel off, doesn't it? Or that I'm afraid of something?" Autumn turned on her side to face Chiaki. "I'll consider it, up is a good way to go. But.. I'm a new transfer to this unit, so I haven't proven myself to him like I have the Governess."
"Give it time, Lieutenant Rickett will see the kind of soldier you are," he reassured, shaking the bottle up at her, "And not because you're friends with the XO, either. It's either that or work your term out, look for jobs elsewhere. You'd probably do pretty good in the police, they're always looking for new people, and they always priortize Marines coming out of service."
The bottle went up to her again, "If you could ever see yourself not being a Marine."
She accepted the bottle again and took another thoughtful pull, "I never thought about it actually. My main concern was getting away from the gangs and I ended up here." Autumn passed the bottle back and looked over at Chiaki's eye lights again. "I never thought much about my future, it's always been about seeing tomorrow. I guess now I should start thinking about life beyond this, I guess this is what getting older does? Or maybe what dying did? What would life be like without waiting for the next drop, the next battlefield?" She turned her attention back upwards again. "A life after the Nepleslian Marine Corps... is there such a thing?"
"Wouldn't we be the first to find out? We were the first Marines. We all answered the initial call to war, joined the Nepleslian Star Army, and fought the first war of our 'nation'." Chiaki looked up at the sky as well, shaking around the remainder in the bottom of the whiskey bottle. "Nepleslia has known violence for thousands of years, so I can't say we'd truly be the first, but we'd be the first Marines. Rico seems to make it work. Adrian joined the IPG. Vel Steyr got out, but then rejoined the Corps. Still. We're some of the few that have made it a career and are still living."
A gunmetal-colored hand rose up to the stars, opening and closing with a mechanically fluid motion, "I joined to the see the stars and saw some of the ugliest things you could imagine, but for some reason, I can't imagine myself being anywhere else."
"Then we don't have to go anywhere else," Autumn decided as she moved closer to Kokuten on the pipe. "Maybe the stars are where our souls long to be? This planet isn't my favorite but I like what I am doing. I didn't mind training the militia but I missed getting to, you know, actually be a Marine. We never know where we'll end up or if we'll get through the next mission but.. we're more honest than people realize. We can't bullshit. We will live or die based on our ability and the ability of the people around us.. and.. our friendships are deeper than any family I have ever known." She stared into his eyelight again and smiled brightly, the light of the moon made her eyes almost sparkle as she spoke. "Blood spilled together runs deeper than the blood in our veins."
His mouth widened into a smile at those words. Those LED-lights danced back and forth, looking between her eyes, and a little sigh seemed to give his gaze some clarity. "And people say I have a way with words, you ought to write a book. Almost had me jumping up to my feet there."
The man's voice sounded a bit tired, before he took a look at the meager amount of alcohol left in the bottle. He looked at it, and then looked at her, keeping it just out of her reach, "Would you like the last of this?"
"You're getting me all worked up," Autumn laughed, "How about we split it?" She had manuevered herself much closer now. She was barely a foot away as placed her hand on his arm again.
At that, he turned the bottle back, emptying it. When he brought it back down, he was close-mouthed, setting the empty container down next to himself. With his mouth full, he arched his brow at her, resisting a little smile.
Taking a bit of the hint, Autumn closed the distance and pressed her mouth against his. The two buzzed Marines shared a whiskey-washed kiss in the clear moon-light of the urban jungle.
