RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 3] Sunny Day on Prilisa Four

Looking around the barracks for about the fourth time, Deacon watched and listened to all those around him. Silently, he began to decide who he would trust, who he would truly follow, and who he would enjoy free time with. Smiling to himself the Kohanian focused on Drew. For the time he had been on the station, she was his favorite. Turning his head and with a flicker of his ears, the hyena watched the long haired marine. Now here was a mystery. Deacon wasn't sure how he felt about this male. He seemed to be all the best things needed for a soldier, but there was something about Lorcan that did not sit right about how he dealt with the others. And finally, there was the skittish female who seemed so uncomfortable around him. There was something about her....

She had no scent. What sort of being has no scent? He asked himself. The only creatures he had ever been taught about that had no scent were the Mokoi, or Shadow Beasts. But surely this station wouldn't employ the Dark Ones, would they?

Deacon looked around for Tweak, but when he wasn't able to find her, he rubbed his chin in thought. Canting his head to the side, thinking back to when he first saw her. She had many smells ON her, but she didn't have a scent in her. She smelled of oil, metal, cloth of course, there were many smells that she wore on her like perfume, but the one thing she did not smell of, was LIFE! Narrowing his eyes, the Kohanian made his decision and turned and headed out the door of the barracks to follow her scent towards the shuttle bay. His mind was made up, if she was a Dark One, she would need to be found, and eradicated, and that meant first he would have to keep his eye on her.

Oh yes, it was time for the hunter to go on the prowl....

"No Dream," Kess said, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to wear the suit. I mean, it's only issued to you to protect you from the hazards, which would be especially helpful on, say..." her voice trailed off for a second, her annoyed expression swiftly replaced with a sly grin. "...on the planet we're currently over. It's a heavily forested biome. Lots and lots of sedimentary rock and soil, which contains trillions upon trillions of unknown viruses and sicknesses that could turn your skin into...mud, and hair. So no, you don't have to wear your enclosed, protective security suit onto the dirt-covered planet. You can go nude, if you want."

"Kess!" Mimi whispered harshly, attempting to calm her fellow Savtech before readopting her casual smile and turning to Tweak and Himiko. "No, there isn't anything else we can do now...just wait for Miss Cassefin. She has just sent me and Kess a notice; she will be arriving in a few minutes to give us our assignment. How exciting...a mission straight from Miss Cassefin herself! Good luck everyone!"

When the hurried Savtech failed to answer his question, Levi assumed that he was correct. At the end of the corridor, a woman outfitted in light, fitted armor greeted him with a nod and a smile before questioning Mimi. Looking into the ruby-colored eyes, Levi returned the gesture with a brief smile and a nod. The corridor ended in a small barracks outfitted with bunks and an eclectic assortment of people moving all about the room. His eyes arbitrarily scanned the room as Mimi answered the woman. Making an informal head count in his mind, he noted a Kohanian, a freespacer, and several Nepleslians.

Having worked in a navy dock for some time, the cadet had seen many different species come and go. This allowed him to keep an even keel about the outfit before him. Adjusting the duffel bag on his shoulder, he focused his attention on Mimi as she announced that Cassefin herself was going to debrief the squad. Levi didn't know much about his new post, but in some propaganda magazine he found on his shuttle seat, he read a small article on some of the more notable personalities aboard Cirrus Station. “This 'mission' must be of some importance then...”, he concluded in his thoughts.

After the Savtech finished her announcement, Levi stood at the doorway idly. Not sure what bunk to take, he waited there for a moment. While he stood there, he noted that several of the other members were outfitted in the same light armor as the woman that greeted him. Concluding that he would most likely need to be outfitted in such armor as well, he looked to the back of the room in search of an armor depot.

Dream swallowed dryly.

One thing was sure: she was very easy to manipulate.
"I-I think I'll put the suit on. Just in case, you know." She said, jumping down from Lorcan's shoulders and approaching the delivery tube.

She punched the code in (literally: she didn't press the buttons, she REALLY PUNCHED THEM, one after another) uneasily, and retired her suit.

It was dark, small and looked quite form-fitting, and, if the measures were correct, it hinted at Dream having a far more shapely body than her loud, large, baggy clothes suggested.
For some reason, it also hinted at her having three breasts.

"Wow, they thought of everything." She remarked with a hint of admiration in her voice. "This thing looks also quite radiation-resistant."

She searched and rummaged around in her sleeves for a moment, and then pulled out a syringe and a small glass vial full of a glossy brownish liquid.
With deft, experienced movements, she sucked the liquid into the syringe and then injected it into her own carotid artery (apparently finding it reflexively). Then, glanced at Himiko, and proceeded to pull out of the ridiculously large sleeve a half-used blister pack of red-white pills, offering it to her.

"Did they already give to you new guys anti-rads? I'm sorry, but, even with radiation-blocking clothes, I'm still giving off fifteen, maybe twenty millisieverts per hour." She said, sounding sincerely sorry for being radioactive.

MoonMan said:

"Kess!" Mimi whispered harshly, attempting to calm her fellow Savtech before readopting her casual smile and turning to Tweak and Himiko. "No, there isn't anything else we can do now...just wait for Miss Cassefin. She has just sent me and Kess a notice; she will be arriving in a few minutes to give us our assignment. How exciting...a mission straight from Miss Cassefin herself! Good luck everyone!"

Click to expand...

((OOC: Going to assume that Mimi's in two places at once. Tweak's in the hall and Himiko is next to Dream, not near each other.))

Though she looked nervous, Tweak slowly nodded. Her eyes -- which were a dark red, like oxygen-starved blood -- flicked back to Levi as he and Mimi continued toward and entered the barracks. Tweak paused, not wanting to go back, but finally flicked her visor back down and followed them. On their way back, the trio passed Deacon. Tweak went by him as if not noticing he was there, trying to not let his attention bother her. Once in the barracks, she stayed near Mimi.

Upon entering the barracks he moved in an uneasy fashion to the Pnumatic Delivery System to pick up his equipment and uniform. After doing so he aimed to try to find a bunk nearby the damned machine so that he wouldn't have to travel too far just to get his equipment every damn day. Finding one 3 beds away from the PDS, and it was a second story bunk as well! He claimed it in the name of the Felroy's by placing his bag on it, then headed to the showers to dress.

After dressed and equipped, he moved back to his bunk to find a person laying on it, and his bag was promoted one level higher. Not really in a mood to contest the man, he simply moved himself on the middle bunk just to be safe.

Then upon declaring ownership of his bunk, he began to consider his options for now, Aye, don't got much to do right now, but the trip didn't really tire me out either, was Fitz's thoughts. He then elected to try to leave the room, with bag still on bunk and DA card in pocket.

Cyril snapped the last piece of armor onto it's requite knobben and clipped his rifle to the magnetic patch on his backpack. He was still a little unsure about the thing, though it might be more useful on the ground and in hte open then he felt it was in an enclosed space like the station. Whether or not it was useful on the ground, he was still considering trying to requisition an ESG as a 'sidearm' one of these days.

He looked around at the collection of people milling about in what might be that vaunted, military issue, 'organized' confusion. Or it could just be the regular kind. Cyril didn't have the experience yet to tell the difference. Still, he might as well give a shot at helping out some of the new(ist) recruits.

A quick glance around the room showed that Dream and Lorcan had one of them in hand, for better or for worse, and most of the others had managed to figure things out for themselves. But there was a bookish sort of fellow, and a fellow navy boy to boot, standing near the door and looking around for something.

Cyril stood up and crossed to room to him, extending a hand up to him. The man had nearly a foot on him, big surprise there. "You look lost. Need some help?"

The cadet watched the freespacer and another recruit both acquire a CSS suit from the equipment delivery system toward the back of the barracks. Starting slowly, he began to carefully walk to the depot. Levi's movement ceased and his eyes fell on what would seem to be a more seasoned recruit as he spoke. A nervous smile crossed Levi's thin lips before nodding to the fellow squad member. He could feel a slight dampness forming on the back of his neck as he extended his own hand to meet the hand of the other man. Looking up to the man's eyes, he cleared his throat and prepared to speak.

“I'm, obviously, a new recruit; name's Levi McDonald. And yes, I could use some direction. Am I to choose any bunk? And I imagine that I'm to grab one of those suits too...”, Levi's hand waved idly at the other man's armor; his other hand was absently clinching his duffel bag strap. Introductions had never really been his forte, and this was quite obvious to any bystander.

Sitting in the shuttle bay, Deacon sighed to himself and sat down on the floor. He didn't understand this, he had followed Tweak's scent to right here, and yet, she was nowhere to be seen. There was no signs of her returning from the bay, yet she did not stand before him.

Taking a deep breath, the Kohanian shifted slightly so that he sat cross legged by the base of the door. After taking a few deep breaths, he began to try to center his mind. Entering a sort of trance, Deacon began to sense things outside of the normal range. Smells became more pronounced, sounds on the other side of the station would seem to be right at his side. His breathing remained steady as he tried to use this method to find the odd woman.

Finding her at the Barracks again made Deacon wrinkle his nose. How had she gotten past him? He had followed her scent down a main hallway, with no signs that she had turned and backtracked with one of the side halls, yet she stood with the rest of the team? Oh, she was good. She was very good.

Returning to his conscious mind slowly, so as to not overstimulate his mind, the hyena got to his feet and ran at full speed back down the halls. This time, he would not leave his team to go wander off after a single member. He was not living on Kohana anymore, where a single warrior would be able to lead it's prey into a trap. This was a new set of rules he had to follow, where a gun could wipe him out of existance in a moment. When he got to the end of the hall, and stood staring at the door, he took another deep breath and stepped through the door.

He smiled as best he could to his team mates, and then moved to his bunk, leaping up to it from the floor, and just sat with his digitigrade feet dangling in the air, watching the new recruits getting their gear, the veterans milling around in pre assignment jitters. Though it would be tough, these people were his new pack, and packmates relied on each other, and looked after one another...and that was just what Deacon planned to do.

By this time, Himiko had put on her gear, trying not to show the discomfort of wearing such close-hugging material.. especially in the chest region. The Yamataian made a mental note to make a request to have to broadened a bit. As she waited for further orders, the pale, green-haired armorer shifted her feet awkwardly.

Once everybody was geared up, the wait seemed only momentary before Kess jumped to attention, her image fading and reappearing quickly in front of the room. "Shit, here she comes! Everyone get ready," Kess whispered hastily.

A few seconds after Kess' warning, the Head Administrator Cassefin Montreal appeared in the doorway to the barracks. She was dressed in her own special Cirrus labcoat over a dull brown vest, slate thin slacks and shoes, which was her usual style of dress when working. Her hair, still as fire-red as ever, was pulled into a tight pony-tail, and her glasses were (for a change of pace), not present on her face. Cassefin glanced haughtily around the sparse barracks, taking note of each individual and sizing them up accordingly with her ruby irises.

She wasn't that impressed.

"Well, it seems you are all ready to leave. That's good. As you all may have noticed already, there has been an increase in port security; most of your fellow security teams have been assigned to survey the transportations between the planet we are over, Prilisa Four, and the Cirrus herself. HOWEVER!" Cassefin exclaimed, raising a finger to draw attention. "There is an important shipment of cargo coming from Prilisa Four that I myself will be checking first-hand before allowing it on my beautiful research station, and I will be requiring an escort to ensure the safety of the products."

The Head Administrator then let out a long sigh, as if disappointed. She quickly glanced at the small watch on the underside of her wrist and began speaking again. "I would have preferred to have Guard Captain Abeck Winston and his CSS Elite be my escort, but I had to assign them to the much more important task of overseeing the port security. Abeck, out of the goodness of his heart and pity for you all, no doubt, suggested that I take Squad 35 instead. I will admit, you performed an...acceptable task with that Muck Shambler specimen a week back, so this should be an incredibly simple task for you all. You all are good at simple things, after all."

"Your assignment is easy enough to understand; you will all accompany me to my personal shuttle to Prilisa Four's spaceport, where you will keep watch over me and the shuttle while I inspect the controversial products and sign a few shipment manifests and documents. Then we come back, and you all can get back to...bashing rocks or lifting weights, whatever you do in your spare time," Cassefin remarked, making a 'shooing' gesture and rolling her eyes in displeasure. Apparently, she wasn't very excited to be in their company. When she had finished her speech, she turned around and snapped her fingers, waving towards the hallway.

"Well, don't just stand there gawking. Follow me. We're heading to the main spaceport immediately."

Mimi and Kess didn't walk with them this time. Kess looked slightly worried, arms crossed, and said nothing to her squad. Mimi looked both absolutely devastated and exponentially proud, as if she were watching her own children enter adulthood from infancy. "Good luck everyone! Be safe!" Mimi said to them, bowing gracefully as they left.

One of Tweak's ears tried to twitch underneath her hat and helmet when the door opened to let Deacon back in, but she didn't turn to look at him, thinking him to be another team member until she saw him leap to his bunk out of the corner of her eye. Even then, though, she didn't turn toward him, instead just staying near Mimi and watching the room from behind her polarized helmet visor.

Then Cassifin arrived.

There wasn't much written in Tweak's journal about the Head Administrator. But she had a page devoted to Miss Montreal all the same, mostly a list of things not to do around her or things to do to avoid drawing Cassifin's attention, mostly suggested (strongly) by Kess. There was also a sense of tension, from either annoyance or fear, whenever Cassifin's name came up in conversation, so Tweak knew that there were few who admired or even liked the strong-willed woman. So when she arrived, Tweak didn't move.

Guard duty, was it? Montreal had mentioned "controversial goods", but what were the goods? Who were the Squad protecting those goods and the Administrator from? This and a dozen other questions started listing themselves as Tweak listened to the briefing.

Then Cassifin turned to leave, offhandedly asking the team to follow. Tweak looked back at Mimi and Kess, noticing Kess' worried look with a bit of worry herself. Mimi's hope lessened the sense of impending doom, but only a little. Tweak turned to look for Dream, spotting the Freespacer near the Pneumatic Delivery System with one of the newcomers, the green-haired girl -- green-haired girl? The neko did a mental double-take...but her TOS halted the short bit of hope that sparked at the thought that there was another like Tweak here. The green-haired girl had normal human ears, like a Nepleslian, and the TOS was reporting that her internal workings, while similar to Tweak's, were not the same. Still, she could be related, thought Tweak.

But that investigation would have to be saved for a later time, everyone was leaving. Tweak double-checked to make sure her rifle was firmly attached to her back and waited until everyone in the front of the room had started toward the door, following them while lingering near the back, half-hoping that Dream would be near. She ended up near Levi, and she smiled as she noticed his rather lost look.

"I can show you how to retrieve your suit. You need to hurry up, we're on our way out," she said with a small smile from behind the visor, her voice coming quietly, but clearly, from the external speakers of the suit.

It was only a few moments after the cadet had made an attempt at introducing himself to a fellow squad member before Cassefin walked into the barracks. Silence fell on the room, snuffing any hope of him getting assistance from the man. He shrugged dejectedly before looking behind him and finding an empty bed on the first level of bunks. He sat his bag behind him on the foot of the bed and leaned against the bedpost. His eyes focused on the head administrator of the station, the sweat on the back of his neck still warm from his previous attempt at a conversation.

Levi listened closely to the woman and watched her body language. She sounded rather displeased to have this squad as her escort, and she didn't seem care if everyone knew this fact. Levi had very little experience in security detail, therefore, he planned to stay behind those who knew what they were doing. If his skills were required, only then, would he speak up. After Cassefin's debriefing, many members began filing in behind the administrator and walking toward the corridor. Quite positive that he was poorly dressed for such an occasion, Levi began to look around him quite lost. He was looking for the same man that offered help earlier, but Levi couldn't spot him. Just as he gave up hope on catching up to the other member, the girl with the deep scarlet eyes that he had met briefly in the hall approached him. Her facial features were fairly indistinct due to the visor from her helmet. After she offered her assistance, Levi immediately agreed in a hushed tone.

“G-h, Yes, that would be wonderful. I'll make sure to hurry once I have one in hand.”

A rather awkward smile crossed his lips after he finished speaking, waiting for her to take the lead.

There goes my chance to explore the station eh? thought Fitz somewhat disappointingly. He double checked his equipment, and made a double take in the general direction of the female PC he had saw earlier. He sort of stood out of the way of the crowd while waiting a chance to walk along side Himiko, the only person other than the long haired guy that he knew on the station so far.

Tweak smiled at Levi and motioned toward the pneumatic delivery system. "Follow me," she said, and headed toward them. "What's your name?" Tweak asked, then realized she knew the answer to her own question, but let him answer anyway. She had overheard him introducing himself to Cyril earlier while watching the room...it was still strange to realize that she could remember things she wasn't actively paying attention to sometimes.

Levi followed the woman for a few steps before she asked for his name. He then quickened his pace until he was on her right side. Looking to his left, he introduced himself.

“Cadet Levi McDonald, Miss. Thank you once again for your help, b-by the way. Wh-what's your name?”

Although his speech was a bit shaky, he was much more comfortable than before. He had hoped not to seem too much like a social degenerate.

Typing in Levi's name to the terminal next to the tube, Tweak sent a request for the newcomer's uniform and weapon. The equipment appeared with a whoosh in a tube capsule.

"I'm Tweak Three Seven, it's nice to meet you," she said with another smile before handing the armor and rifle to Levi and nodding toward the mens' locker room/restroom. "But you need to hurry. I'll try waiting for you, but if I'm not here when you're done ask Kess or Mimi for directions."

Dusty finally emerged from the shower rooms snapping the last of his armor on. He sighed and quitely said," who knew it was so damn hard to play connect the dots?" The ID-SOL then quickly hefted his helmet up and shifted it around till he felt it click. He flipped his vizor down and walked over to an unoccupied corner of the room. He reached up behind him and pulled the varible weapon off his backpack, and began looking the thing over to make sure there was nothing wrong with it. He continued his insepection while he thought over what Cassefin had said. Dusty was uneasy that the assignment seemed so straight forward, he also silently wandered why it would take a squad of marines to watch her while she signed for cargo. "Best not to think about it and just follow the orders." he quitely said to himself.

"Controversial products"?

Keziah had heard that before. It always meant drugs or guns, explosives or heavy restricted machinery. Other things, too, but those four always seemed to crop up more often than anything else. Rising from her bunk, she fell into step towards the door, clapping Cyril on the shoulder as she passed him.

Cassefin just wanted there to be an accident, didn't she? Looking down with contempt on her bodyguards wasn't the best way to ensure protection. Or obedience. Why didn't she take a small detachment from the Elites team, instead? If she didn't, it had to be because the cargo was just that big, or just so important that a lot of bodies were needed to watch over it. Obedient bodies, with watchful eyes--why hello Squad 35.

Keziah shrugged to herself. If it came down to it, she would follow orders. As distasteful as Cassefin was, she was still the person incharge.

Levi nodded quickly and took his equipment from the woman now known as Tweak Three Seven. His eyes widened when he took the rifle into his hands; he was surprised how light it was. He quickly thanked Tweak before running in the locker room.

"Thanks, Tweak Three Seven! I'll try to hurry, but I understand if you need to move on."

Upon entering the locker room, he stripped as quick as he could. Hearing the room grow quieter and quieter as people left the barracks, Levi began to clip the armor together in any way it would fit. Sprinting out of the bathroom with half-fastened armor and the rifle around his shoulder, he threw his uniform on his bed and headed toward the corridor.