RP: ISC Phoenix [Interlude 5] - The Making Of

Robert the grandpa chuckled as he watched the scene unfold. It was like one of the more amusing Yamatai kids cartoons. He kept a hand on his knife in case things got too out of hand though.

Daxle and a group of other restaurant/bar goers were (and possibly anyone of the crew, were near "Mr. & Mrs. Yamada", Daxle halfway through his second bottle of the Ice Vodka he recently bought (he kept 3 bottles on him and the crate went back to the ship). They were a group in high spirits singing a humorous (or tragic, depending on your view) Nepleslian song about a colorblind soldier;
And it fell to the rocks
And he sighed in dismay
For earth or grenade
They were all the same shade

The whole group roared with laughter, including several of those nearby, including the staff. Daxle looked blearily around, all a smiles and laughing, when he vaguely saw someone take a swipe at Mr. Yamada.
"Eh now what's that" he said

Back at the Crimson Kestrel...

Vincent was perched - there was no other word for his posture; clamped firmly at the edge of his chair, toes pointed at the ground, ready to pounce at any moment - on a chair in the armory, going over the Fatboys with a practiced hand. He was familiarizing himself with the Origin technology; although it was fairly ubiquitous to any Nepleslian who'd been out and about for the last few years, and the Marine Corps no doubt received training in their operation and maintenance nowadays, Vincent was from an old batch of ID-Sols, cloned before the advent of the Fatboy, and therefore the weapon wasn't in his stable of known equipment.

So there he was, taking apart a Fatboy at the workbench, then putting it back together piece by piece, again and again, ad nausaem. At some point Vincent placed the reassembled Fatboy down on the table and relaxed a bit, sliding back into his seat. Technically, Vincent was on vacation - he should be relaxing, doing vacation-y things. Like, for example, playing harmless pranks on his crewmates. Formerly he viewed such things as infantile, but he had realized recently that playing these small tricks on his crewmates helped to sharpen his nerves, increase his perception and observation capabilities and improve his general ability to set up traps and ambushes.

So. Pranking, then.

Lifting his portable comms transmitter/reciever to his lips, Vincent accessed the ship's interpersonal communications module and opened up a private, secure link to Echelon's mainframe. "Ech," the mercenary rumbled, "I need you to do me a favor. I left a low-powered sottering laser at my workstation on the bridge; nothing incredibly revolutionary, but enough to light paper. I've linked it to charge on your mainframe via a transfer cable, you should be able to operate it. Oh, and it's pointed at the pilot's chair."

The mercenary cleared his throat. "If you would be so kind as to trigger the laser and... What would the captain say... 'Heat things up' for John on the bridge, I would greatly appreciate it." Vincent smiled a little on his end. "In return, maybe I will purchase you some sort of hardware upgrade here on Prime. Is there anything you would like?"

Casinos, blackjack and hookers. Underground fighting rings, illegal human trafficking. There was a lot of things to do on Nepleslia Prime, and not all of them were savory. For Mr. Smith, he had work to do. He had to check with his contacts, make sure they were still operating. Do a tentative background check on his new 'team' that he has ended up on. And a lot of other things. Of course, he eventually just said something that, though quite proper and polite, could be translated to 'F*ck it.'

By this time of the day, Smith was reclining on a seat in his hotel room, leisurely reading a book he had bought. And soon enough, he just fell flat asleep with the book still on his face.

And he didn't snore.

Time passed.

Eventually, the Nekovalkyrja nudged Smith with her foot. The hows and whys of Naoko's sudden existance - where once she had not, by the conventional means of perception at least, existed - were generally rendered immaterial by the fact of her current presence. She had got into his room. That was all that mattered.

Well, not everything; there were other things.

Leaning forward over the recliner, Naoko put a hand on the groggy blue-collar's shoulder.

"It's time," the Nekovalkyrja stated, "Grab your gun and we'll go. Right now."

Echelon, the weird spider-motherly Freespacer Automata with a jealous envy of all things fleshy that had occupied the Crimson Kestrel's AI Core decided, "This would be mutually beneficial," She decided to agree after some thought (that is, for an advanced artificial intelligence running on overclocked software, all but a moment), "John will have to ... 'deal with it' if I go through with this - which I will."

If she could grinned wickedly at what she was about to do, she would've. As John was thumbing through a back issue of his with a distinct leer. After a moment's pause, he could smell something burning. He looked up, put his magazine down and sniffed the air, "What the...?" He inquired as he inspected the instruments on the console in front of him before suddenly jumping out of his chair, clutching his backside, "YOW!"

"I am beginning to understand what you fleshbags call 'humour'," Echelon radioed back to Vincent, "It involves putting the other person in harm without their knowledge and laughing at their misfortune."
Which was way off of the mark - she was describing schadenfreude.

Eventually John went over to the offending sottering laser and unplugged it in a harrumph. He then pondered what to do with the new hole that was burnt into his pants. He wandered towards his quarters for a new pair.

-

Meanwhile, away from the Crimson Kestrel and at the bar Luca and company were staying at, Mr. Big had gotten an entirely new set of sensations after unwisely dismissing Mrs. Yamada that could make a man sing falsetto for a fleeting moment. Mrs. Yamada had not only given him an atomic wedgie, but pulled so hard that the fabric tore. (amongst other things)

"You sing C sharp!" Mr. Yamada commented as he adjusted his glasses back to where they are, "I not interested in your woman any more. My waifu has better sense of humour."
Mr. Big was clutching his groin and walking with a distinct hobble towards the men's room as other people in the bar started to laugh at his expense, even his alleged girlfriend had joined in on the laughs.

Mr. Yamada then flexed his hands and said, "Never a dull moment in Nepleslia, just the way I like it!" He then took a deep drink of beer to punctuate his statement.
Some of the others in the bar raised their glasses in agreement.

Mr. Yamada looked over to Daxle and then to Robert and gave them both a wink and a smile.

"AAA...ah." Smith started to start to scream, believing himself in some sort of horrible, horrible nightmare where he was about to be set upon by a group of ravenous and hungry Nekovalkyrja. Their disgusting, four fingered, nailless, tacky fingers clawing at his clothes. They stuck onto him and refused to come loose, their lecherous expressions confirming their intent! The young man's expression was of absolute terror, frozen in time. But as each second ticked by and the reality of the situation settled in, his face relaxed and contorted into a thin frown, ending with him finally giving off a two lettered word of understanding. The young man collected himself and spoke again, properly this time. "Of course." Smith's hand reached up and closed the book tight before setting it off to the side and rising off of the recliner.

He didn't so much as glance at the small Neko again as he reached into a nearby suitcase on his bed and opened it. "I do hope you'll brief me sooner rather than later Miss Aihara." Smith calmly spoke, strapping on the leather gun holsters and knife holders he favored before slipping on his pinstriped jacket.

As he moved to leave the hotel room, his hand reached out and scooped up his pinstriped fedora to place it firmly on his head.

[Meanwhile, still over the Prime ocean...]

"Dra'Gil Kahn doesn't like being toyed with. 20,000 DA is too much to ask for this information."

A brown bear-like Kohanian was on Enzo's screen, speaking in a gravely tone. A lizard-type Kohanian sat behind him in the background of the transmission, prodding a console from underneath a sun-lamp. Enzo frowned hard at the screen in front of him, sweat beading on his eyebrows. Without looking away from the screen, he pressed a few buttons to activate the cooling system.

"Look here, Drajill." Enzo replied, "I ain't gots the times to quibble wits ya, or I'd be charging a lot more. You knows this information's good. I gots pictures ofs me with Luca Pavone broatcast all over the triple-N. The bounty's up to 50,000 yammie-bucks on this guy. Alls I'm asking for is 20,000 Neppie bucks for the info. That's one-fifth yous bounty."

The bear on the other side of the transmission seemed to look off to the side, considering Enzo's statement. There was an uncomfortable pause on both ships. Finally, after a firm sigh, Dra'Gil Kahn spoke.

"Dra'Gil Kahn will accept your smooth-skinned offer. We will meet with the money in cash at a location of your choice. Then, you will tell us where the Luca Pavone is hiding."

Enzo smiled back at him, crooked teeth showing between jagged scars. "Lookin' forwards to doin' business with you, Kahn."

Zeta sighed and made a motion as if she were dusting off her hands. "Now, now darling. You always get in trouble, I just turn away for a moment and you anger some gorrila into a brawl. I just wished for a calm evening in the bar." She said. She gave a moment of thinking to the idea that she might be getting into role of Luca's wife too much.

She sat next to her hubby and ordered a gin-tonic. It should be able to calm her down. "So Darling what would you like to do to tomorrow. I can sit around and talk only for some time. We should go have some fun too." She said with playful voice.

Unlike your average Nepleslian, however, Uriel did not simply sigh pitifully for the poor soul in the alley. He veered from his course, disturbing the flow of traffic on the sidewalk, and strode determinedly toward the miserable oaf.

Standing over the self-abuser, the Elysian stared with a resolute expression and asked softly, "What can I do for you?" Not, "Can I help you?" because that implied there was a chance he could not which was obviously a lie.

"Why don't we gather the others and watch movie?" Mr. Yamada replied to Mrs. Yamada while nodding at her previous statement about him getting into trouble too often, "Movies are good, clean fun. Lots of booms and bosoms too!"

He then looked over to Old Man Robert and Daxle and gave them a wink whilst sending them a telepathic message, "Want in on the movie too? I'll pay for tickets."

It was about eight o'clock in the evening, so the team assembled at the bar could opt to go to the cinema now, or do it some time tomorrow afternoon.

-

Meanwhile, somewhere far away from the glitz and glamour of the Tourist's area of Nepleslia Prime was the broken man lying before Uriel, who took a few moments to gather his thoughts and look up. His eyes were bloodshot, weary and tired, his face broken out in an unkempt beard.

He started to mumble, his leather lungs heaving and straining to get the words out:
"Th... they took everything... my wife... and... my children... and I did nothing..." He then paused to consider who he was talking to, "What... would someone like you... know of this feeling?"

Uriel formed a wry smile. "Not that it's anything to brag about, but I lost my home and family simply because I asked a question. What's worse, it was my brother who cast me out, and there's nothing I could do to change it, even if I had wanted to."

Then he offered a hand and a change of topic. "Who are these people who took everything and why did they do so?"

Daxle drained the last of his last bottle.
"Ohhokay bosh!" he said a little loudly, though few paid him any mind. He began to go towards the theater.

Zeta smiled and sipped her drink. "Movie, well wouldn't that be lovely? And what is there to see darling?" She asked with smile on her face. It was what she though would looked like wife in love. What she did not know that she did not have to act at all.

Several minutes after his initial contact with Dra'Gil Kahn, Enzo found himself and The Lady of the Night hovering over a different area of the expansive Nepleslian Prime ocean, and docked with the Dying Star. The Star was a Merula-class shuttle belonging to Dra'Gil Kanh, the slightly renowned Kohanian bounty-hunter whom Enzo was currently selling information to.

Onboard the Star, Enzo sat in a simple wooden chair at a simple wooden table behind an open briefcase filled with money. He was counting the last of it, twenty-thousand DA in mixed denominations.

"Nineteen an' six-hundreds, nineteen an' seven-hundreds, nineteen an' eight-hundreds, nineteen an' nines-hundreds, twenny. It's all here, Drajil. Good man... bears, uh... person." Enzo was smiling broadly between his words until he got to the awkward finishing part.

The until this point silent brown bear-type Kohanian grunted at him in response. His reptillian partner leant over the table with a knife clutched tightly in one claw.

"Sssso, now it'sss time," The creature hissed, "For the Enssso Bortelli to reveal the lossssation of the Luca to Dra'Gil Kahn."

Dra'Gil Kahn grunted again for added effect. Enzo smiled, pushing the knife away with one finger and a datapad across the table with his free hand. "You're gonna love this, guys, He's stayin' at this fancy hotels in disguise as a Yammie tourist, named Yamada. Yous gotta be careful, cuz' he's got two pals wit 'em, but I didn't see anyones else follow him when they all lefts the ship. Everyones went they's seperate ways at the hotel 'cept for those two."

Finally, Dra'Gil Kahn spoke. "This is acceptable information. Dra'Gil Kahn is pleased. You may leave. Dra'Gil Kahn is finished with you."

Enzo smiled again, standing slowly and bringing down the lid of the briefcase. "That's good to hear Drajil. I'm gonna hits yous guys bathroom first, though. I gotta piss somethin' wicked."

Dra'Gil Kahn nodded, "Very well. Deposit your wicked urination and leave, Enzo Bortelli."

Vincent smiled with satisfaction at the results of his handiwork, and thumbed the reciever to his comm unit. "Good work, Ech," the merc rumbled with tones of smug satisfaction in his voice, "now name what kind of equipment you need and I'll hustle out and get it. Money is no object."

He stood up and put a mobile COMM unit into his ear, thumbing the link over to his and Echelon's secure channel. "Money is no object, you name it and I'll procure it. Bonus points if you cycle the door locks on his quarters, then activate the fire suppression system in his room once he changes his trousers." He put the repaired Fatboy down on the counter again and stood from the chair, heading for the door and pulling on his light overshirt.

He headed for the Kestrel's exit ramp, a smile still painted on his face. Vincent didn't understand humor - in fact, his definition was similar to that of Echelon's - but he comprehended enough of it to let loose a low, rumbling guffaw as he exited the vessel and hit the streets of Nep Prime.

"All I need," Echelon told Vincent via a synthesized voice that sounded a bit like a bandsaw, "Are some motor servos, a one-terrabyte HDD, at least two metres of electric cable, and a rudimentary humanoid-sized skeleton robot or construction kit. Cheapest one you can find will do."

She then made a pause to think about the person who'd basically given her the new lease on life, "Furthermore, despite Pavone-Fleshbag's lack of sanity, his grappling hook design with Seiren-Fleshbag might work. I will pay you back - somehow."

Echelon sat and stayed where she was. She didn't like this. She wanted to be more mobile, to move, to act, to experience. She wanted to LIVE. To be unable to move or feel was almost a death sentence. Fortunately for her, fleshbag-Vincent seemed to be playing into her gripping implements as planned.

She had an excellent poker face too.

-

After paying for drinks and exiting the Bar with Robert, Daxle and Mrs. Yamada in tow, Mr. Yamada looked for an entertainment venue with a video projection, popcorn, drinks and a wide selection of movies available, ranging from drama, action, comedy and horror. The following movies were showing that evening:

Ferrous Cinema said:

1 - Beneath The Stars of Uxtgutu (Horror)
2 - Dave the Marine VI - The Final Fight of Dave (Action)
3 - Look at this Shit and Laugh (Comedy)
4 - The Bloodening Part 9: The Bloody and Explosive War (War)
5 - The Delsaurian Eggs Fiasco (Crime)
6 - It Wasn't There Anymore (Drama)

Click to expand...

With an interesting smattering of movies, buttery salty popcorn, sugary fizzy drinks and a half-asleep desk clerk ready to take the team's orders, all the team had to do was decide which movie to pick.

"All of them seem interesting," Mr. Yamada said, scratching his chin and frowning as he found that he couldn't make his mind up, "What do you guys think?"

-

The homeless man shook his head upon hearing Uriel's story, "They were the Mob. Not the this gang or that team or other gang, but The Mob. Pure and simple. They control most of the crime in the city, ranging from racketeering, protection money, laundering... guess what stung me?"

He chuckled with a half-defiant, half-heartbroken tone of voice before sighing, pausing to gather his thoughts and continue, "Used to own a shop, had a bad few months, nobody was buying ... Couldn't pay the money, they torched the place, took wife and kids, made me watch ... you know the rest."

Upon reflection, he thought of something that'd hit him like a train when he DID realise it. It just took him a while for his brain's other functions to wake up as intelligent conversation had gotten his cognition into gear, "Wait. You aren't seriously considering taking on the mob by yourself, are you?"

Zeta looked at the movies that cinema was showing. She put her hand on her chin and was in deep though. THere was lot to choose from. The comedy could be fun, be she decided. "Bloody hell, new Dave the Marine! Hell I doubt it will be the last one. I saw all five movies before. It's quite fun. Dave the Marine I Escape from Kenewwes , Dave the Marine II Knee-Deep in Mishhu, Dave the Marine III The End of Freedom and other two. This gonna be great, I want to see it!" Zeta spurted in enthusiasm.

Vincent cringed at the sound of Echelon's tinny, distance-distorted voice briefly. Then, once he'd gotten past the initial stunning burst of static, he took down the list of things that Ech had relayed to him, saved them to his datapad and hit the streets.

He didn't really know what kind of shops would be able to provide what he was looking for in its entirety. To be honest, he didn't know half of what the AI was talking about. He recognized the electric cable and the human robot frame. Those would be easy enough to procure. He didn't know what an HDD drive was; though, and motor servos were something he only comprehended in passing.

He suspected, though, that everything he needed could be obtained at a robotics distributor, and therefore looked around for the nearest bot shop. Upon locating one - all clean surfaces and white halogens - he went inside, found the nearest clerk and promptly jammed the list of equipment into his or her face. "I need these," he grunted, with all of the politeness of a police interrogator.

"Awww look, "It Wasn't There Anymore has Actress Aleena Gujklacktomanpa" Daxle said with a longing sigh "I don't like the Bloodening; they keep having a main character die a heroic death only to revive him and have him do it again. I guess I'm down for Dave, though I wasn't a fan of Dave V: The Bottle of Mustard. Way too many sex scenes in it" he said, throwing his opinion in.