RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 5] - Right By Me

[Luca]

I don't know why she's ridin' so high,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye,
She ought to think twice,
She ought to do right by me
The Beatles - Ticket to Ride (Covered by the Bootleg Beatles)
(before any of you complain that they're mangling the song, they're supposed to be bootleg, fool!)


Nepleslian Space, Little Star System
After a deal struck with the Nepleslian government, the Phoenix Service Group was cleared to help police the new Nepleslian colonial expansion in the further galactic north-west. They were assigned to watch over the system of Little Star. With the dissolution of DATASS, the town of Remo, on the planet of Little Rock. Remo had found itself in a bit of a pickle with an economic downturn spurring more and more ambitious crimes, as well as a recession in population, moving back to the core worlds to greener pastures.

With very few profitable resource exports, and an already flooded market for adult entertainment and their edge lost thanks to Nekovalkyrja and some Lorath expatriates forced to be deported, the large prairie planet (marbled with the occasional deep-running river towards either of the poles) was facing trouble. The relative isolation of the system meant that without a thriving entertainment industry to keep people coming and going for what was once unique produce which got everyone involved, it was a prime target for pirate attacks.

Usually, for a colonial reinforcement and defence, the efforts of the Phoenix Service Group would be all that were needed to maintain order in troubling times, but something required the skills of the ISC Phoenix, and they were en route in the Crimson Kestrel. Luca was quick to begin directing his men and women as the Crimson Kestrel came out of FTL in the Little Rock system.

There was already a place for the team to land designated in the capital of Remo. At the very least, it let his team hit the ground running, but there was still some time to prepare himself and his team.


Crimson Kestrel, Hangar
"Everybody, listen up!" Luca got the attention of his team, clapping his hands. "The only train which leaves Remo has been missing stops." Luca outlined, bringing up a map of Remo. Population, roughly 275,000 people, most of whom Nepleslian. "It usually does a supply run on the edge of town before going for a scenic tour of the planet and acting as an adult film set on wheels, but the owner-operator lost contact with Remo three days ago, and the train hasn't been found, like it was lifted off the tracks and spirited away somewhere."

An investigation to track down something this big was beyond PSG's paygrade. "Sources on the ground suspect it was the work of pirates who've been making runs between Little Rock and the planet Labyrinth." He said, grabbing a rifle on the way to the hangar. "We've been called in to figure out where the train is, how it got there, and bring it back. PSG will be holding Remo and coordinating local police forces as usual - it's our job to go out, and be the big damn heroes today."

Among the likes of colourful characters like Tamamo, Soruk, Enzo, Zeta, Seiren, and Reeves, there were two new faces aboard the Crimson Kestrel. The most recognisable was the Iromakuanhe alien Kuzman Nadav with VANDR Duk'nukam present in the hangar and ready to meld, alongside the cyborg warrior Calico Monoceros, the latter having being brought along by Echelon on a whim.

"I reckon our first call to action will be to follow the train tracks, so this means going for a drive through the plains." He traced a line through the perimeter of the train which went around Remo, pointing out the bridges. "Zeta, you have choice of vehicles for this one, and will be leading our motor pool. I'll be taking the motorcycle."

He looked over, and down to the fox-like, blue woman in the room. "Tamamo, I doubt there'll be much in the way of enemy air judging by engagement reports between Remo and pirates," combat data he displayed showed primarily ground based infantry, and vehicles, including jeeps with machine guns, and improvised armoured vehicles with explosives, "but if you want to bring Moonsong on this sortie, go ahead and fly low."

Next, Seiren: "Kid, I haven't heard much regarding the LEAF - how is it? I'd appreciate having some big legs on the ground in case we encounter resistance..."

He was formulating plans and trying to find the best ways to leverage the skills of the other members, especially the two new faces. He didn't know what they were capable of - especially not the Iromakuanhe. There was still around half an hour to consolidate and form a battle plan with his team, and Luca was open to suggestions or eager shows of enthusiasm.

He'd see what they were made of when the bullets begun to fly.

MISSION 5 - START!!

Starring:
ISC Phoenix
Phoenix Service Group
The City of Remo, Little Rock

Introducing:
Kuzman Nadav
Calico Monoceros

 

[ShotJon]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar

Zeta was listening to Luca. She was a bit messy, a smodge of black on her cheek and hands. She was still wearing a jumpsuit, though it was un-buttoned and sleeves tied around her belt, her white tank-top showing. She had a welding goggles on top of her head. On the way here and well before they headed out, she was working hard in the cargo bay on one of the GP-ORVs, making a simple truck into something like an assault vehicle. It was the one she used to run over a mutated neko all those years ago.

Not much was known as to what it would be so far, apart from Echelon who sometimes helped Zeta with some of the stuff, emerging from the cargo bay with maniacal giggle. The blonde nepleslian did not let anyone else in to see how it went.

"How the fuck can you loose a whole train?" Zeta said, shaking her head. She than looked back at Luca. "So yeah, this is perfect really. I got the car ready for field-test. Yo Tama, if you won't fly I could use a rider with me. Or a gunner rather."

 

[Moogle]

"Gather round folks, I got better goodies than before now."

Seiren pulled his cart from the side of the hangar and pressed a button. The cart expanded and folded out into a full display of armaments for the crew to pick, all lit by a blue hue for added effect.

"This time, we have two shotgun grenade launchers - named BEWM for you newcomers. Yes, that is with a 'W', not two 'O's. More importantly, we have the first working model of the Phoenix Energy launcher - that one's electric grenades only, so it should absolutely destroy shields and warp metal."

Seiren gestured to the angular launcher with the octagonal prism grenades lightly. He then grabbed a pizza-slice shaped hunk of metal from one of the ends of the display and mounted it to his arm.

"Speaking of shields, I upgraded my last design - no more durandium, this stuff is Endurium. Thanks, Luca, by the way for getting me a discount. It'll absorb force better and work like an actual shield so you won't be taking all the force. And you can just hammer it back into place if it gets all jacked up." He said, pressing a button and causing the pizza slice to spin out into a full disc. The disk itself had a notch in the end next to the hand. "So you can shoot and guard at the same time with two hands!" he added with a flourish.

Seiren then stooped to the bottom, gesturing to a bunch of perfectly polished red spheres. "And I've made my cinnabombs better. Since we're expecting mostly infantry targets, I expect these to really put people near where these explode out of commission for a while. Just uh, don't stand downwind, this is really fine particulate matter."

"Also, Luca. . . The LEAF is toast. I've got it sitting in my office as a novelty art piece. I got an AMX 102 not that long ago that I made better. I can call it in for a drop if necessary. And speaking of calling in. . ."

He tossed a device that looked like a hand-scanner/laser pointer hybrid to Luca. "For emergencies. And by emergencies, I mean 'Do not Fire unless you want everything withing a hundred yard radius very very dead.'"

 

[Primitive Polygon]

"A frontier ghost train?... Wasn't there a movie about that in, like, the 20s?..." Calico spoke with a certain chipper enthusiasm, perched on a supply crate with her hands beneath her knees, weird bird-legs bouncing around childishly. "How quaint..."

A slew of spare magazines, blades and saddle bags were already attached to her gawky upgraded frame. She'd been looking forward to a little field trip ever since Echelon had invited her along, even if her job role was still technically just a glorified security guard position at the moment. It was a very rare feeling to like your boss these days, and the intriguingly complex Freespacer had done a lot for her recently. No doubt some of the others might see her as a snot-nosed rookie, encroaching on their tried and tested team dynamic, but there was time to change that.

Not much to say about the fey girly scientist, as they hadn't actually talked with Seiren before, but their animated presentation and keen good looks did capture a certain part of the cyborg's imagination. Perhaps it was worth visiting the R&D section later, despite how much tech-savy types normally put them off.

"What's the recoil like? Does it rise or drop?" A very slow, deliberate motion was made as she picked one of the 'BEWM' weapons off the rack, holding it more like a pet cat than a loaded firearm. Now was not a good time to expose themselves as a massive klutz. Her fingers could still fit inside the trigger guard, at least. "...It's... It's super light..."

A glance was made towards Zeta, subtle plans of action forming in her head. It was unlikely she would fit in the passenger seat of one of the trucks, but hitching a ride on the back, and just jumping out at the first sign of trouble, would be good enough. The odd boring jog around Sargasso wasn't really accomplishing much in the way of exercise anyway, so she was looking forward to pushing her limits a little.

 

[Eistheid]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar

Given all that had been happening both in her life and local space at large, Tamamo had been a little surprised to learn that not only was she visiting another Nepleslian world. She had been trying to keep out of sight, and in general avoid drawing attention to the fact that she was one of the 'cats' that had recently caused an upset on the political stage. To this end the Tamamo that was sitting on a crate a little ways away from the group as she listened to the Captain's briefing was not the usual blue skinned fox woman, but instead the image of a short, red-haired Nepleslian woman, complete with life-like Nepleslian looking ears courtesy of Enzo and even cute freckles scattered over her pale skin. For a while now she'd been calling herself Cayllyn.

What gave away her identity was the Spotter Rifle slung behind her back, and a Lorath made Deshe'vo plasma rifle resting on her lap. Perhaps fittingly for their destination on a frontier world she had on what appeared to be a dusty-brown poncho over a sandy coloured long coat. From beneath the poncho emerged a limb shrouded in worn sandy cloth almost hiding the armour beneath, that was at present tapping away quietly upon the glowing screen of a cheap communicator. Looking up Tamamo (or perhaps Cayllyn) replied calmly, "I think I'll take Zeta up on her offer of a ride. I haven't had a chance to replace Moonsong's weapons since Kennewes anyway."

She made note that Seiren had upgraded from his trusty LEAF to a piece of Lorath equipment, not an all-together unexpected choice given the popularity of Lorath hardware among the Phoenix, though his cart of weapons would do well among the group as well. Ever since Kennewes it seemed that the team had started to take things a little more seriously, and between Seiren's workshop and the PSG they'd had an abundance of useful kit.

New faces as well... The Iroma and the Nep cyborg had been scooped up for this mission as well, something that hadn't been unexpected, but even so it would be interesting to see how the new faces fit in with the crowd. Perhaps there would be a good deal of learning in the next little bit. Perhaps not.

Either way she was looking forward to getting underway with a new mission again.

 

[Luca]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar
"You'd be surprised, Zed!" Luca gave Zeta a playful punch in the shoulder, chuckling a bit. "Things go missing every day. With any luck, our trucks should be able to keep up with this train if we find it." He grabbed a folding shield from Seiren, stowing it on a bracket on the small of his back, under the rifle and shotgun. The news that the LEAF was out of commission didn't surprise him - it looked pretty wrecked. Luca shot the small inventor a thumbs up, "Diligent, good work kid. I bet you'll have no trouble chasing the train."

Turning over towards Calico, Luca sucked on his teeth for a moment, uneasily. "Could say that, we're chasing a ghost train, but here in Nepleslia," he answered, folding his arms and heaving a sigh, "a lot of ghosts tend to be guys wearing bedsheets, who aren't really ghosts at all. Bit disappointing really ..." Luca hadn't seen a ghost before nor did he have any pressing desire to see one face to face, but he had seen phantoms in his subconscious.

Finally, he was glad that Tamamo - er, Cayllyn - had adopted a fake identity in order to blend in with a potentially Yamatai-averse environment given all the political fallout, but he knew that eventually the mask would have to be torn off. Giving a glance towards the others assembled who hadn't spoken up yet, he slapped his hands together and cast his eye over again. "So, any further queries before we drop down?"

A message came up over the radio, interrupting a chance to answer. "Hang on," he opened his right hand and used the Grapple Stunner as a radio, connected to the IH-NoN on his belt, "hello?" a hologram sprung from the palm of his hand. "I'm in the middle of a briefing, you're on speaker."

"Captain, PSG Detachment Leader Andrea Carver on Remo here," the woman introduced herself, a Nepleslian woman of buff appearance, auburn hair, brown eyes, and a round face. "The train just went by Reno, full speed, full of cargo."

Well, this was news to Luca! "Which way was it going?" He asked, looking around at the others assembled and holding his hand forward so they could clearly get the message. The train could only go two ways out of Remo: East, and West. With any luck, PSG might've solved this themselves. "Were you able to hit the brakes on it or redirect it into a trainyard or something?"

"It ... er, how do I explain this," Carver's hologram scratched its nose, shaking its head, "it went over the city, then landed on the magrail on the other side, sir," Carver replied, dejected, "we couldn't catch it." Luca's initial hope that this could've resolved itself faded.

Luca mumbled something indistinct as he scratched the bridge of his nose with his other hand, frowning as he lowered his hand and looked to the others. He wasn't surprised, he was impressed with whoever had built this train, or whatever the hell the bandits who stole it had done to it. "Please tell me you have security footage or something ...?" If nothing else, it'd be worth watching for the action value.

"We'll try and gather some from the locals and the train station before you land." Carver replied, hologram crossing her arms, "Phoenix ETA?"

"We should be over in ten. I'll talk to you later, keep watch, and thanks for the update." Luca replied before hanging up by clenching his fist. When he lowered his arm, he gave a puzzled glance to those assembled. He had nothing witty to say about this.

 

[Phe0n1x]

Kuzman and Reeves had worked and tinkered for an untold number of hours on an automatic translator. It needed a few more words, mainly military jargon used by the Phoenix Group, and a text-to-speech device. Unfortunately for Nuk'Dukam, his computing processes combined with the Solanii Datarod were the temporarily solution until the industrious members of the Phoenix Group could aid in making Nuk'Dukam into a "bad ass super death suit of kickass-ness", Nuk'Dukam's words, not Kuzman's. Luckily for the team, the watch had been equiped with a "translation only" mode, much to Nuk'Dukam's dismay. This would be highly useful in social situations where a wrist computer screaming "I'm here to kill people and drink whiskey and I'm all out of whiskey" isn't exactly appropriate.

In addition, he had managed to jury rig a converter for his weapons' charging pad. So in addition to a nifty wrist watch, he had his trusty Solanii Laiz Pistol and Solanii Laiz Faelraig. Kuzman had donned a hooded brown cloak and fashioned a facemask with rebreather from his mostly fried flight suit as well as a HUD for more discreet translations. Not only would this help mask his exceptionally alien appearance, but would also provide a much more tactical approach in sub-par situations. Like a gun fight.

While Kuzman was more of an assault-type person rather than a stealth-type person, he did prefer hand to hand combat and agility over the brute force of guns. But that's why he had two blade symbiotes embedded in his arms and a large blade slung over his back. While he did own a Solanii Laiz Carbine and Solanii Laiz Rifle and they had miraculously survived the crash, he was holding them back for a rainy day. Though he supposed he should probably bring the Carbine in case they get into a serious gun fight. Something told him (might have been the talk about the destroyed LEAF) that he should have extra firepower just in case.

Kuzman was quite in awe at Seiren's designs. While he wasn't quite sure what to make of the little guy, Kuzman knew he was probably the guy to replicate the Polymorphic Greandes of which he had minimal left. And with that BEWM launcher, that could be some seriously wicked hybrid-technology. Also, it could be a good foothold into a symbiotic relationship with the little inventor for learning how each other's tech works.

He hadn't quite learned the language yet, so he set Nuk'Dukam's temporary "body" to translation mode and strolled over to Seiren. He typed out a few sentences and then pressed the verbal translate button. Nuk'Dukam's speech protocols begrudgingly repeated verbatim to Seiren and those near him: "Hello! I've got three of my Iromakuanhe grenades. One non-lethal anti-organic and anti-electronic, one flashbang, and one high explosive. I was wondering if you'd like them to study and replicate or integrate into your collective species's tech. They are called Polymorphic Grenades."

 

[Eistheid]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar

Tying back her red hair, Tamamo tucked the tail into the neckline of her suit before slipping to her feet as she gathered up her Deshe'vo and Spotter Rifle, double checking that they didn't interact on their respective strap and harness. Looking to Luca, the short red haired woman inquired, "Once we find the train are we supposed to take control of it? Also how much collateral damage is allowed? Do we want this train sparkling like the day it was laid on the mag-rail? In technically one piece? Or several?" She supposed they were questions that were relevant to the mission and hopefully they wouldn't trouble the Captain too much.

Knowing that she was connected to the comm net through her own IH-NoN, there was no issue with 'Cayllyn' walking over to the GP-ORV and settling herself into the passenger's seat where upon she made herself comfortable with her plasma and laser rifles ready for the trip planetside. The curious task of trying to catch a ghost train was not one that she had anticipated in her brief career as a mercenary, though she supposed that all things considered it wasn't the worst circumstances they had been through and the sight seeing might make it all rather enjoyable despite the backwater world.

Only time would tell.

 

[Moogle]

"I'm glad you asked, new lady! It does neither. It uses a simple gravitic pulse to guide the grenades in a straight line, and then dies out at a certain distance so they start spreading. So point, shoot, watch the boom," Seiren replied, motioning his arms in a 'point and shoot' gesture.

At the announcement of the train, Seiren sighed and thumped his cart. An additional drawer slid out, revealing some haphazardly kept sets of gloves. "I still have some mag-gloves left over from a couple of Yules ago. If any of you don't have them, I'd suggest picking at least one glove up. I get the feeling this'll be like those Nep crime dramas they show at terrible times of day."

Finally, to the strangest newcomer, Seiren said one thing. "Gimme."

And without waiting, he reached over to Kuzman and pulled the grenades out of his pocket, then brought them over to his magical miracle machine at his hangar workshop and dropped them in. "By the time we arrive, I should have a couple more of these made for you."

 

[Phe0n1x]

Kuzman waited a moment for his auto-translator to finish and replied "Thank you. Enjoy," in his own voice. He definitely had the niceties down pat, but the grammar was still eluding him. Also, these races seemed to have integrated each others' languages, normally slang, into their dialects. This made it a bit harder to learn as he had to reference multiple languages when looking up a word.

 

[miss_story]

Reeves hung near the back of the hangar adjusting his body armour as Luca went over their mission. He hadn't had a real chance to wear the styrling armour that Allison had gifted him a couple years back, so the weight of its plates were difficult to get used to. He was glad to have it though. It made him feel safer to have that extra layer of safety strapped over top of his coveralls.

He tied his hair up in a bun and stepped closer to the rest of the group when Seiren was showing off his new tech. The sheild was of preticular interest to him, because he wasn't sure if he could handle the kick on the other weapons. The little inventor never failed to impress him with his newest projects. "How exactly does one lift a train off its tracks? They aren't terribly light. I wonder where it went?" He said softly to himself. "I'll try to help out as best I can." He spoke up a little louder, still unsure about how helpful he would be.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar

Calico couldn't help but flash Luca a toothy smile, thinking of all the bombastic stories she had heard about the man. Of course, he didn't really come across like she expected in real life. Without the magic of cinema or creative prose, it was a little bit like encountering a person in a costume of that famous caricature; Yet all of the serious hardware and armed personnel swarming about gave the situation power in a completely different way than a mere celebrity encounter...

Rubbing her darkened eyes against a plasteel shoulder to regain a little mental cohesion, the cumbersome thing's brain flashed back to reality with the announcement of the strange news... and then immediately slumped back into daydream land the second she realized somebody had just kickflipped a train.

~"Metal wyrm. The demon train that comes only to those who have missed the last service of the night..."~ Hushed drawling. She wasn't making eye contact anymore, and the smile mutated into something unwholesome... ~"You had best have your fare, boy, or a soul is the only keepsake it will respect."~

Oh! Her hand still had a gun in it. Probably best not to space out like that.

"Thanks mister!" With a flick of the hair, the beaming chipper visage had turned back on again, like the flip of a light switch. Seiren had already moved on at this point, but it didn't stop her making a little wave towards his back. "I can't wait to try it out!"

"...Perhaps they did something to amp up the magnets that pushed it right off the track?..." Despite not being in any way shape or form an engineer, the sheer derangement of the situation was motivating Calico to try and construct a version of events that sounded just a little more practical. They didn't need to do the maths, it just had to sound reasonable. That's how writing a murder mystery worked, at least. Arms crossed, her attention now seemed to be directed towards Reeves, alrough it was a bit difficult to tell given the size difference between the two of them. "...Then they just had to... You know, turn it, to twist the flight in a given direction... Like a gravboard move..."

 

[Luca]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar
Zeta was dumbstruck by the idea of a leaping train, looking at her vehicle of choice. "Do we need Power Armour, perhaps?" She proposed, shooting a glance over to Kuzman's armaments, and the strange arrangements for the miniaturised VANDR. Well, at least the rest of the crew wouldn't need to guess what his sizes and measurements were.

Luca considered it, but figured he could get back to that while the others raised queries. First was Tamamo's, regarding how they should go about the train. "I've been told that it needs to be largely intact, and either back in control, or stopped somewhere on the line for retrieval." He pointed out, raising some data that PSG had scrounged up on the whiteboard behind him, including a print brochure of the 'Remo Country Express', and some photos of the train station, on the edge of a mixed Commercial/Residential part of town.

Crashing would've been a no-go within Remo's city limits, but there was . "Some civvy cargo, and passengers are transported out to country areas, taking small detours on less busy runs and keeping things interesting for sightseers." Luca scratched his head, wondering if on a less busy day he could take the crew there after. "We do have a map of the area, and where the train line goes though."

The map came from public records, and displayed.



Luca turned around. "Looks like the chase will be about ..." he tried to eyeball the length of the track, noting the scale, "about eighty kilometres of magnetic levitation track to keep an eye on. PSG has its eyes open and its quickest response in the areas barred orange. The train itself is only 500 metres long according to what we know..." the Captain didn't fancy himself a trainspotter, but this was mission critical. He turned around and pointed over to the the little village in the north-east of the map.

"I say we set up shop there, see if we can catch the train, in either direction we have a good set of straight, flat land to stop the train," he strategised, putting his plan ahead on the table, "so even if we do crash it, there's little collateral, but we do need to be mindful of the three bridges on the track, over the river and valleys here, here, and here."

He then spotted the two tunnels into the southern mountain towards the south-east settlement. "And if the train changes tracks and diverts there..." he pointed to the little speck of green property nestled in the hills, frowning, "we're not going to be able to take it off at all. Too mountainous, too risky, and we can't really dig the train out if it smashes in a tunnel."

Zeta raised her hand, and Luca heard her out, "Boss, what about roads? We'll still need some way of getting across on land."

Luca had an answer for that from the map. "There's a highway running parallel to most of it, sometimes diverting where convenient, but it is public property, so we'll need to watch or other cars." The possibility of further collateral or traffic didn't seem appealing. "I think Air support is looking handier by the minute, so Seiren's new Frame acts as our eyes while being Kuzman, Reeves, and I chase it."

He paused to catch his breath as the rest of his plan came together. "Zeta meanwhile will spearhead a flanking attack from the highway with Calico and Tamamo. If they start shooting at Seiren or us, you have arms free."

The intercom buzzed as the sound of the engines begun to change, indicating that they were warming up and getting into a slower than light propulsion for landing planetside. "Luca, you about done down there?" John asked, the sound of the console in the background, "I've just gotten the okay from Remo to land us and our materials down. Where to?"

"Town northeast of New Remo, drop us off at the train station." He answered before looking at the others. "I hope you bought your tickets, passes, and concession cards!"


New Remo, Bartley Town
Bartley Town, on first glance, looked like a sleepy place meant for old folks who were either capable enough to take care of themselves, or rich enough to hire people to care for them in through retirement. Tucked away in a lightly forested, alpine area with green meadows seemed Arcadian enough. In actuality, the residents living here were the upper bracket of directors who had studios in New Remo, living in relative comfort and using the area as a lover's nest and a tourist destination.

So, the arrival of a large Crimson-coloured Courier 2A was a surprise for most residents and shop owners, except for the two squads of PSG people attached to Bartley Town and helping the local police force with getting leads on this missing train. The ship came down at the crossroads just north of the train station.

"Let's go! It's Showtime!" Luca yelled, revving the motorcycle and rolling off the loading ramp, as Zeta's custom-made Assault GP-ORV followed, greeting the road. Her vehicle was mounted with Gauss Rifle for power armour on a tripod. As a drum-fed monster with spares to go around and proper bracing to deal with the recoil, it packed punch.

The rest of the crew had to follow in whatever they could muster, either riding along with Zeta, on Luca's back, with means of their own, or walking alongside before hopping aboard. With PSG waiting at the train station down south, they could ride along with them if necessary.

 

[Eistheid]

New Remo, Bartley Town

Being seated in the passenger's seat of a vehicle was a unique experience for Tamamo, she wasn't quite sure what one was supposed to do while occupying such an idle position. To this end the presently red-haired woman's head was on a metaphorical swivel, swinging back and forth as she endeavoured to take in the entirety of the town that they were passing through. Petting the Deshe'vo on her lap as well as the Spotter Rifle resting along her legs, Tamamo wondered what would draw criminals to a place like this. Perhaps it was the promise of relatively undefended riches? Or maybe they saw this as a potential to combine a vacation worthy locale with a job? She did not know.

What she did know, however was that she was in for a rather leisurely drive down the length of a train loop surrounded by familiar faces as they all went for a bit of trainspotting. Once they had found their mag-lev vehicle, they would begin the charming process of requisitioning it from it's present owners and once again the Phoenix would resume doing what it did best.

What was right.

 

[Moogle]

Seiren's Winter kicked off from the bay gently and began skirting around above the team. It swirled higher and higher in the sky until "Bird's Eye View" became an applicable term.

"Can't see anything yet, but I'm warming up my guns just in case. Disable train by wheels first? Or hit the main engine?" Seiren asked, doing a quick diagnostic on the Winter's array of goods.

 

[Phe0n1x]

Kuzman nodded at Luca and Reeves. This military outfit was definitely more loose with their rules and regulations to what Kuzman and Nuk'Dukam were accustomed. Honestly, he kinda liked it that way. He hopped in the odd looking vehicle and awaited their mission.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Crimson Kestrel, Hangar

"Tamamo?..." A general image of blueness sparked in Calico's memory, but there was nobody on the deck that fitted those vibes. She didn't want to say anything. If the person in her mental image didn't exist, it might sound really crazy... Best just to stick with Zeta, as ordered, instead. Some other red-haired woman was in the passenger's seat anyway...

Clambering on board the back of the GP-ORV, probably the only place they would fit, Calico just spent time familiarizing themselves with the over sized PA rifle now mounted robustly on the back. You couldn't say these Phoenix types were ill-equipped.

New Remo, Bartley Town

A lifetime resident of Funky City, the swift, clear air blowing against the large cyborg's face rather took her by surprise. She always kind of assumed the countryside smelled like those cheap tree-shaped car air-fresheners, or the droppings of a large wild animal... Instead it kind of reminded her more of the typical first level to a platformer video game. She could get used to it, through. Speeding along the road was pretty fun.

Kind of hard to know what to feel about the mission as a whole. An old-fashioned train was too quaint an idea, in her mind, to really get pumped up about fighting. But it would be nice not to let the others down. Her game face was on.

 

[miss_story]

New Remo, Bartley Town

It was comforting knowing that Seiren would be up above them supporting from the air. If everyone stuck together and supported each other perhaps they could solve the mystery of the disappearing train without anyone being hurt. They needed a run of good luck to get the team back on its feet.

Reeves climbed into the box of the truck and breathed in the country air of New Remo. His Fatboy rested in his lap, bumping against the body armour on his legs, whenever he shifted his position. He also kept his tools looped into various pockets of his coveralls, just in case they needed him to patch up a machine or override a locking mechanism.

"You ready to go find that missing train, Kuzman?" He asked softly as the engine of the truck roared to life. He could only imagine what the Iroma must be thinking right now. Hopefully he wasn't regretting teaming up with the rest of the crew for this mission.

 

[Phe0n1x]

New Remo, Bartley Town

"I guess?" he replied to Reeves, "Still confused how the vehicles are taken from their metal things." He referenced his dictionary quickly. "Tracks. Train tracks." He had settled into a seat and was awaiting whatever Luca had planned. He had a (good) feeling that things here were more on the fly than anything else.

 

[Luca]

New Remo, Bartley Town
No sooner were the Phoenix crew touching down than the PSG trying to fill them in on the situation, giving their IH-NoN devices all the information they needed on top of the map. Luca was confident that the intel they'd been given previously was still alright, but what had him on edge was the curveball he saw in the security footage. Getting a quick update from them and a better look at the footage didn't give him any comfort.

Nothing stood still for long, though. "The train's been spotted!" Everyone's IH-NoN devices chirped, with various indicators turning their attention south of Bartley Town. Luca saw a triangle superimposed over his vision, pointing the train. It was moving counterclockwise around the track quickly, with a distance counter ticking the metres down from about three and a half kilometres out. Each second, about sixty or seventy metres was shaved off of the distance between Bartley Town and the train.



Luca's gut instinct was to set an ambush. It'd have to go on a set path, which could preyed on easily. "Stay still!" He ordered before anyone could make a move. "We need to ambush it - we don't want it ... jumping like it did back at New Remo." His unexplained thought was it'd continue through the town without jumping if whatever was operating the train didn't sense any danger. However, the Kestrel coming down was a more than obvious clue that the Phoenix were around.

Zeta was going to have none of that, if the train jumped, it meant that regardless of when it landed again, they had to be chasing it rather than waiting. "No! We still can get ourselves in position for the chase and hit it running!" She called out, pointing to the highway which ran parallel to the. She fiddled with her IH-NoN, and a marker for the onramp to the highway was marked on everyone's maps. "They already know we're here," she offered, turning her tyres towards the onramp.

Luca looked over his shoulder to the bright red Crimson Kestrel sitting on the hillside near the train station. It was a less than subtle entrance. Subtle was for suckers, anyway. "Hm. Didn't think of that." Luca raised his hand and twirled his finger around in the air, then pointed towards the onramp. "Seiren, get us a closer eye on it, but try not to spook it. Zeta, Carver, you and I are going chasing." He looked at the contours of the hill and found Seiren's position to be a bit exposed, eyes turning towards the buildings.

Seiren could hide amidst the residential and commercial and peep over the roofs to spot the train before launching himself into the fray - the closest building was an affluent residential villa with a lush garden in the front, and a swimming pool looking into the valley at the train tracks at the back. Luca drove his bike over to the onramp, and looked down at the train tracks which split the highway in half, watching the train getting closer - it was now two kilometres away.

What Seiren could spot from his position after watching the train was a lack of a driver at the controls of the train - or they were not present. Something was controlling it, and according to the briefing it was all manual. No artificial intelligence was known to be controlling it according to the document update everyone had received. Then he saw someone pop up from under the console, a humanoid figure moving too quickly with the train to make out clearly, but there. Was he modifying something?

Zeta looked over her shoulder and whispered to Calico and Tamamo to buckle up, flashing them a smile before grabbing the wheel and giving the engine a few mean revs. Meanwhile, Reeves and Kuzman were being driven by a PSG member identified as 'Carver'. The Nepleslian woman looked at the two and gave them a nod. "Just say when." She requested of the white haired mechanic.

The train was a kilometre away. It'd been gaining speed. He just had to hold on - 800 metres, 600 metres -

"NOW!" Luca ordered, leading the charge down the onramp!