• If you were supposed to get an email from the forum but didn't (e.g. to verify your account for registration), email Wes at [email protected] or talk to me on Discord for help. Sometimes the server hits our limit of emails we can send per hour.
  • Get in our Discord chat! Discord.gg/stararmy
  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP [Bounty Hunters]Mission Zero

Status
Not open for further replies.
While the blister drones where a fun and interesting investment on Shasta's part, She never intended to use one. Let alone within proximity to herself. Her hyper sensitive eyes and ears where overwhelmed by the concussion and the flash, And only her prior shout in preparation seemed to keep her own eardrums from being destroyed.

After a short fit of rolling around screaming and clutching her head with one hand, And trying to somehow swat the painful ringing away from her with the other Shasta finally managed to get to her feet with the help of her two remaining drones. Pulling herself up by grabbing their gimbles, Their motors and fans whining in protest to the sudden shift in weight and force, Pulling her up just enough to stand on her own before she released them to hover protectively at her shoulders.

A new stranger that seemed to be on her side seemed to have the situation under control. But for insurance she sent Shani to her, Who quickly circled the woman to record and identify her before taking up a position just above, Its dual Little Killers training from target to target waiting for sudden movements or aggressive actions before it fired at them.

The other, Stayed with Shasta in case she needed something to hold on to. With her arms covered in shallow gashes and defensive wounds, Her formerly nice white dress covered on one side down to her leg in crimson, Her eyes bloodshot and her face red from smoke and heat. She truly looked like a prom date from hell. And each of those injuries was slowly starting to catch up with her as she staggered and fought away the urge to black out.

With an uncommon lack of one liners or anything snarky to say, Shasta hobbled over towards her previous human shield, Nudging him softly with her boot to make sure he was still alive. She wasn't sure she could help him to his feet, Or help him at all if he was inured, But anything to mitigate the death count or at least confirm someone else was alive until the NPF arrived would lessen the fall on her if she even had a job in the morning.
 
The shock and awe of the flash grenade had died down with what remained of the resistance. Kira adeptly took a hostage and her demands rang out clear through their section of the great hall. She would realize that the man smelled much like one who did not bathe regularly which certainly conflicted with the caterer uniform. The woman in the back had fumbled her retreat directly in to the waiting clutches of the Freespacer and was an easy surrender in that regards, she dropped her carbine at her feet. The third man brought up his rifle in response but seeing his odds found himself with no appetite for resistance. He tossed the gun to the side and raised his arms in surrender.

Duncan, bleeding heavily along the left side of his face, groaned on the ground and half rolled at the prodding from Shasta. A pained smirk graced his face as he mumbled, "I'm good. Just a little blood is all." He seemed to try and move to get up but it seemed he was still a bit disoriented and laid back on an elbow.

The quiet seemed out of place now that it seemed all was finished. One might even say it was too quiet, or that they had a bad feeling about this. In fact, they would be right. A small scuffle and audible clicks drew the small teams attention quickly to three men with rifles, surprisingly close, pointed right at them. He lead man, a mess of thick black unruly hair and a wild mountain man beard spoke up, his tone clearly uncultured, "That's enough of that. Why don't you drop your weapons." Now that it was indeed quiet the hunters realized that the frequent shooting from the main doorway had stopped and these were obviously the culprits. It seemed like a stand off had occurred in a fraction of a moment.

That is until rapid movement from the skylight and from the various other doors of the building came the armored and armed police force of the city. For the current situation it seemed, comically so. overkill. The great hall was suddenly filled with Officers all pointing guns at the groups and yelling to put their weapons down and surrender. While the terrorists were clearly zealots they did know when they were beat and summarily laid down their arms and were quickly taken in to custody. The room was a flurry of activity as the police went through grabbing all the terrorists that were or may still be alive, including the restrained man and woman from Halcyone and Kira.

Medical staff cam running in to make it even more of a scene as they searched for wounded, which included the Hunters. They were ushered, albeit warily by the police, to an area outside the hall and away from the oppressing smell of fire and dead, their wounds lightly treated for the time being. As they stood or leaned together Duncan looked around at them, "Hey, I want to say thanks for having my back in there. You guys really stepped up, I'm Duncan by the way."
 
Restaurant Floor

Kira maintained her death grip on the terrorist's wrist, keeping the muzzle of her pistol pressed hard into the back of his head, reasserting herself with increased force each time the man tried to struggle away until his protests died back into a dull whimper. She kept her profile hidden behind him the best she could, and when she didn't hear the clatter of dropping weapons within a few seconds, she stiffened. She didn't like the direction this standoff seemed to be heading at all. If this lowlife's compatriots decided his life wasn't worth trading whatever twisted goal they'd hoped to accomplish here...

She was about to shout her demands once again when she heard the unmistakable sound of rifles being chambered off to her right, and in her peripheral vision she saw their source. Her stomach tied itself into a knot as she felt the last vestiges of control over this situation slip from her grasp, and her racing mind was having an increasingly difficult time outrunning the panic that was closing in on her from all sides. She didn't release her captive, however, only turned herself to just enough of an angle to provide as much cover for herself, now otherwise completely in the open, as was possible from the now dishearteningly-wide arc of armed bad guys before them.

Her jaw worked fruitlessly in search of a response to the new threat. Time seemed to freeze around her, encapsulated in the same icy grip that was twisting her insides now, even though in the back of her mind she knew it had to have only been a few seconds before more movement caught her eye.

To say she was relieved would have been a gross understatement. She immediately recognized the standard breach-and-entry formations of the NPF tactical ops division, and all at once she felt as if every bone in her body at once turned to jelly. She nearly collapsed as her taut muscles slackened, releasing her blubbering captive as she laid her weapon on the floor and dropped to her knees, placing her hands atop her head with her fingers interlaced, smiling in spite of herself.


Outside - Aftermath

She sat on the rear bumper of one of the parked ambulances, a thick blanket draped around her bare shoulders which she pulled tightly around herself. Though she didn't believe she was suffering from shock, Kira was more than familiar enough with police protocol to graciously accept the offered blanket if for no reason other than to protect her modesty. The evening gown she had so carefully selected for this event, into which she had spent weeks planning her insertion and had cost her very nearly all of her remaining cash, was now a tattered ruin that left very little to the imagination.

Still, however, though she didnt feel as though a doctor would diagnose her accordingly, she still couldn't keep the thousand-yard stare out of her cold, steel-colored eyes. She didn't understand what had been worth so much pointless death to those men. Even knowing that this wasn't the first grisly scene of such macabre proportions she'd witnessed in her life didn't make it any easier to stomach. None of those people in attendance, haughty and pretentious as some of them were, deserved to die in such a horrible way. Her heart ached for their families and loved ones. Badly.

Before she could slip too far down that slippery slope of malaise, Duncan approached her and the other brave interlopers huddled nearby. She shook off the glassy look and offered the gigantic man a smile in return. She'd meant it to be congenial; this man had selflessly (albeit, perhaps foolishly) risked his life for complete strangers in an instant, and that was something Kira greatly respected. And it was the tall, lithe woman with the oddly canine features who, with her quick thinking and gadgets, had brought the slaughter to a grinding, screeching halt. But in her physical and emotional exhaustion she could only offer a wan upward curl of the corners of her lips.

Regardless, she resolved to set aside her pity and palaver with the two true heroes of the day, whose courage had done what the NPF would no doubt claim the credit for before the day's end, if she knew them at all. She rose to her feet, hiding the tremble in her knees beneath the long blanket which she held tightly closed with her left fist. Her right hand she extended to him in greeting, then offered it to Shasta. "Kira Denere," she said as pleasantly as she was able. Most of the former commanding boom to her voice had left it, and while it still retained a resonant, melodious timbre, it now sounded tired and withdrawn.
 
Last edited:
Aftermath

Her drones all recovered with the exception of her sacrificed blister drone packed up and in need of a good charging. A new, Undamaged Lachesis; Oyasumi Hovered closely over Shasta's shoulder, A clear bag issued by the first responders; Its contents unknown to her tied around its gimble, Attached to her wrist through a transparent rubber tube and a thin winged needle pressed into the vein.

Between the IV, Some orange juice, And some of the strange salty fish she stuffed into her bag earlier in the night from the restaurant. Shasta was back to 110%, At least on the outside. While she slowly recovered, Shasta got to work. Using her datajockey and the backdoor she already set up within the restaurants servers to draw from their processing power to brute force her way into any device connected to its network, Whether their owners where alive or dead, Trying to pinpoint the data slates or communication devices of their attackers or their masterminds, And searching for keywords sent through messages within the past couple of hours.

The probing would take some time so she left the probing active and slipped her datajockey back into her bag just in time as her former shield friend approached and dished out well deserved praise.

"Shasta!" She quirked her introduction to the man, Her sharpened canines punctuating her grin and her tail swishing back and forth in excitement as she turned towards the now animated Nee-san beside her, Offering the same sunny disposition her way "Shasta Archeletta!"
 
Duncan shook Kira's offered hand gently as he leaned against the bumper of the ambulance, obviously favoring his shot leg. He held a thick piece of gauze to his temple, stemming the previous flow of blood. All in all his wounded appearance seemed to conflict with the carefree attitude he gave off. He was tired however and hungry but he all things in time, he reminded himself.

A small group of Police Officers headed out of the building and stood off to the side talking about the situation inside, "That was a shit hole, can't even believe people made it out of there alive." "You're telling me, apparently these yahoos were a bunch of crazed homeless bumbs who apparently felt the sea life had a right to fight back. They chose themselves as their 'Avengers'."

Duncan scoffed as the group overheard, "So, we got shot at because some bums were fighting for sea life, awesome. Listen Shasta, Kira I meant it, things could have been a lot worse in there. It's been a while since I had someone covering my behind. I gotta ask though, why were you packing heat tonight? Did you know this was going to go down?"
 
Halcyone stepped outside, slower to make her exit from the trashed building than the others had been. She looked about, spotting the ship she was supposed to reposes and shrugged her armored shoulders. It was now an even worse time to try and recover the ship, with all the police and other emergency services people around, not to mention all of the civilian onlookers, breaking into and hot wiring a ship, even though she had appropriate documentation, it would call a lot of attention. She would have to wait, and at least she knew it was not going anywhere, without the parts she had taken from the craft's drive system.

She would wait.

The big, armored freespacer instead walked over to the others who had been inside the restaurant firefight.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked, her voice sounded artificial, electronic, coming from the speaker on her encounter suit's helmet.


OOC: Yo sorry for the slow reply, the notification system did a wonderful job of informing of posts. . . and food coma, from Thanksgiving. Yes, food coma was a big factor. mmhmm.
 
Kira couldn't help a quietly astonished giggle at Shasta's bouncy, bubbly demeanor, and looked at the lupine woman with raised eyebrows and a smile in spite of herself as Duncan released her handshake. She eyed the automaton levitating at her side with curious interest, her head tilted slightly to one side as she drew her extended arm back inside the blanket around her shoulders, pulling it tighter around her. "Glad to meet the both of you," she said, her expression and voice beginning to warm from its previously haunted look. Her eyes lingered on the head wound that Duncan was nursing, and her forehead knitted in a sympathetic frown. At first it seemed that she was about to ask if he was all right, but those gunmetal-colored eyes of hers seemed to wander over the rest of his massive build of their own accord, and nothing further came. Within only a second or two she seemed to catch herself, and forced her gaze back onto his face.

That was when the group overheard the police talking about the terrorists' agenda, and her attention sprang to them as if it were a disorganized cloud of metal filings flying towards the field of a powerful nearby magnet, arranging itself from disarray to perfect order in an instant. A spark of anger flashed in her eyes, turning them to piercing ice again as she listened. She almost marveled at the sheer stupidity of their actions, but mostly just felt a little sick that she had been there in the employ of a group whose interest aligned startlingly well with these so-called "Avengers'" interests, if one ignored the stark difference in legality and morality. Here dozens of innocent men and women lie dead, dying, or maimed, all because these idiots were too dense to understand the irony of murder in the name of peaceful environmentalism.

Duncan's voice called her attention back to the pair in front of her, and she looked back at the big man's dirty, bloodstained face. "For the sea life too, I'm almost ashamed to admit," she said with a resigned sigh as she looked around at the crowds of medics and officials tending to the onlookers and victims alike, but the mild irritation in her voice was there just below the surface. She turned her eyes back to Duncan again. "But hardly for the same reason as all this," she added, gesturing with her palm in a wide arc around them. In doing so, the blanket slipped off of one shoulder, and although it hardly fell far enough to reveal anything more than her collarbone, she protectively snatched it back up in a hurry. Her cheeks flushed in a light pink blush, either from the near-failure of her tattered (and now partly makeshift) wardrobe or from the apparent parallel between the terrorist agenda and her own, and she offered them another apologetic smile. "A local game warden," she explained with a bit more rapidity in her voice than was probably necessary. "He hired me to track down an illegal fishing cell and help shut it down." She scoffed a little as her eyes wandered back out to the organized chaos around them. "And I'm pretty sure that this bit of excitement just ruined my chances of finishing that job..."

She looked over at the large Freespacer approaching them, and gave it a pleasant smile and grateful nod in response. "Yes, thank you," she answered.
 
Last edited:
Used to normally being the physically imposing person in most groups Duncan was a bit put off by the fairly big Freespacer. While certainly not his first time meeting one, he was just not used to such an armored female identifying specimen such as this. In response to her question he replied, "Yeah, we are all good I think. Nothing a little techie medical magic won't fix up for us. I'm Duncan in case you missed it and this is Kira and Shasta." He gestured to the blanket covered woman and IV'ed dog eared lady beside him.

"As for jobs, don't worry, I feel your pain. I was just playing armed man candy for one of the guests but she...well she didn't make it." He looked back at the restaurant thoughtfully for a moment. "I think we will be ok though, Not that I am used to this kind of situation but my last boss gave me some really great parting advice. No matter what, never leave a job without claiming the bounties on the bad guys.

"It seemed like wierd advice at the time but I see what he means, even if they didn't have bounties on them before the Police would rather pay you to not say you did their job than the opposite. So, um, I hope you all don't mind but I kind of told the cops we were together. Figured we could all benefit."
 
Aftermath

"Oh. I carry everything i own with me, I'm houseless!"
She declared at Duncan's question about her armaments, Bringing her satchel onto her lap and patting it. "I've got a couple more bags inside, Mostly clothes and stuff."

She had a home, Far away it might be. But a nearby residence at least didn't exist for someone like her who was struck by frequent bouts of wanderlust and a desire to keep travelling from place to place.

"Yeah i think i might be out of the job too." She admitted, Nodding to the new friend with the cool armored suit in response to her question. "I think..." She mumbled, "I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to let this happen. I was kinda... Hired to..." She droned on, getting progressively quieter as she mumbled about security measures and Hard-Stops before perking up again.

"But yeah! A few "Davies" in the pocket might help a little bit! Unless i can maybe hitch a ride with one of you if you have a ship... Maybe?"
 
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am glad no one was seriously injured." The Freespacer replied to their introduction. As she spoke, the smooth, tinted faceplate of her armored helmet slid up, opening to reveal a very pale young womens face with brilliant glowing neon pink eyes.

"I am Gearhead Halcyone Three Seven Four Two Five Two Nine Six Five Three, starship engineer" she introduced herself, her natural voice coming through now rather than the electronic synthesization that came from her encounter suit's speaker.
 
The night had turned almost calm for the the four of them, though the tired eyes and dried blood easily alluded to the previous situation. Duncan was glad to have survived yet again and knew that he woud move on from here, in fact, "So, uh, listen. While this gig went kind of fubar for all of us, it did open a window so to speak." He subtly scratched at his head in an odd show of awkward and nervousness for the outwardl confident man.

"I might have mentioned it already but I do a lot of contract work. It just so happens that I know of a pretty big job, to big for me solo anyway. So, you know, I don't know any of you but uh, you ladies want job?" Duncan smiled sheepishly and half spread his arms to encompass them in his request.
 
Kira examined the Freespacer's unorthodox features with a mixture of curious interest and slight surprise. It wasn't hard to tell that this was the first of her kind that she'd seen unmasked, but she didn't seem repulsed or disgusted. Instead, she flashed her another polite smile. "Pleasure to meet you," she replied.

Despite the somber grey cloud over Kira's expression, she couldn't stop the growing smile at Shasta's ramblings. By the time she finished, and Duncan made his hesitant invitation, the smile gave rise to a laugh. It was a soft, melodious sound, pleasantly disarming and gentle. Her stern, piercing eyes brightened visibly as the now-bright smile lit up her face, breaking apart the air of melancholy and muted anger that the aftermath of the senseless violence had elicited from her.

She tugged the blanket tighter around her shoulders, still grinning and shaking her head. "You two certainly have a cheery disposition," she remarked, not unkindly. Her eyes wandered out over the, by contrast, macabre scene around them which, in her mind's eye, she saw through a black-and-white filter that gave the whole thing the look of an old film noir she'd seen years ago, a classic film with an admittedly hokey plot about detectives unravelling an overly elaborate murder scheme, complete with the sharp chiaroscuro contrast between the cones of street lights and the dark, misty night air. She grinned again, grimly amused (if slightly put off) by the way a few bumbling sentences from these strangers had seemed to lift a bit of the metaphorical weight from her shoulders.

Looking back at Duncan, she gave him a conclusive nod. "I'll need to make some calls first," she stated matter-of-factly, but the ghost of her smile never fully dissipated. "Even though I'm practically positive that I'm going to have to simply write this job off, I don't like to leave work unfinished." She looked down at the blanket wrapped around her with a slightly embarrassed flush before glancing back up at him. "That, and I'll need time to at least get re-dressed, of course." A twinge of regret seeped into her next sentence. "It's just a shame that I'll probably have to write off this pretty dress, too..."
 
"It is a pleasure to meet you, as well" Halcyone replied to Kira and smiled back.

"I have a job of my own to finish up shortly, before I could be available for any other employment." she said in reply to Duncan, raising one of her blue eyebrows. "But I am curious as to why you are asking strangers to come help you in your work?"
 
Nodding enthusiastically at everything Kira seeming to be saying, And agreeing whole heatedly on the tragedy of ruined dresses. She fought off the urge to ramble and play when the offer of a new job as soon as she lost her old one by playing with her hands and twiddling her thumbs in seemingly obvious discomfort. Despite her skill set, Finding work was hard for someone like Shasta, And she found it hard to convey the right words and emotions for the situation knowing she couldn't just scream and wrap her arms around injured people.

Her answer to Duncan's question was another nod and a short and simple "Yeah, Ok!"

Mobile posting for a bit, Please forgive the quality of this post.
 
Time was a funny thing, what was once a late night posh dinner party, turned in to a deadly tragedy was now budding in to a soft lightening of the sky. Without any fanfare or warning the group of four found themselves quieted by the dawning of a new day.

Duncan seemed to forget what he was saying as he looked up at the fine point of light out across the vast ocean before them. His face, though still blood caked and bruised, looked calm and peaceful. His blue eyes caught the light in an almost movie like twinkle. The oddity of the situation would not be lost on most, a tall muscular man who easily portrayed the innocence of a child.

Just as the sun crested he moved his focus back, "Well I mean, we don't have to leave for the contract now, but soon would help us lock it down. As to why invite a bunch of strangers, heck why wouldn't I? It should be good money, we just survived a shitstorm together and who wouldn't want to spend more time with this?" He finished by gesturing his arms slowly up and down his body as if revealing a spectacular grand prize.

"I mean if you are not interested it's cool but if you are, send me a message. I really think we could kick some ass."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
RPG-D RPGfix
Back
Top