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

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Uriel was still struggling with the concept that he had some say in the implementation of this operation, and so said nothing on the matter. What he did do- after fighting an urge to verbally castrate the unconscious doctor Daxle- was nod solemnly to Captain Pavone and fetch his things. Having far fewer tools of war, and seeing as how he carried most of them on his person at almost all times, the Elysian was ready by the time Luca made it to his room. He returned, standing just outside Luca's door.

Unlike some, Hisshana respected another person's privacy and said nothing until Luca emerged. "I'm ready whenever you are, Captain." One hand rested on the butt of his Tiger's Tears, the other on the hilt of his Hippeis Xiphos. Both were now very dear to him; the sword had always carried an extra weight of sentimentality, but the revolver had recently acquired its own personal givings. They had long since stopped being tools, and were extensions of himself, like his arms or wings.

"You know, Captain, I joined you so that I might have a chance to learn more of other cultures and races, but it seems God may have a very different plan in mind for me."
 
Eventually, Luca emerged with his HHG concealed under his coat as well as he could, his trusty Styrling Shot-Twelve over his back, his M'Cel grenade launcher under the other side of his coat, and an ODM 10mm pistol just in case, and a very strange device running up his right arm. It'd been hiding in his weapon rack, left by Seiren with a note to: 'Give it a test run'.

"Uriel, I think this has become both a bonding exercise, a shakedown and a beta test for this new piece of equipment," He shrugged happily, "Plus, you're learning about other cultures through 'practical' means," He then looked over to Zeta before realizing that he'd forgotten about her question in the commotion of Daxle's self-inflicted poisoning, "Zeta, I think that'd be a poor idea. One of them might recognise me and attempt to cap me there and then. We can work through nobodies and intermediaries to get it done though."

He then made a correction, "See if you can get Beta and Company to help you out on that, we can go now if you want."

He headed down to the Cargo bay and spotted Vincent and Echelon, "Hey Vince how're you - Oh," He spotted Echelon in her new body, "Heya Ech, looking good."
"Thank you, Pavone-Fleshbag," Echelon dryly commented as she made some rudimentary movements, satisfied with the arc of motion she could achieve.

"Vincent, have you got some spare time on your hands? Uriel and I are going to break some knees and I'd be troubled if you didn't come along," He had a wide smile on his face, genuinely pleased that he could talk to Vincent again, "You've been out of it for too long."

-

He then tapped the side of his head and made a ship-wide announcement, "Change of plans team, we're going to make this plan one very fell and sudden swoop. We're going to start and end this in an evening in the interest of moving the plot along."

"What plot?" John replied over the same announcement channel, "We're not a bunch of characters played by people who sit in front of their computers all day daydreaming of what they could be!"

Luca just remained silent for a moment and replied with a hint of unseen wisdom somewhere in his voice, "Maybe we are, maybe we're not, but at least we're doing something with ourselves - that's the important part."

"Besides," Luca checked that he had his guns intact alongside his prototype Grapple Stunner, and his fists, "Its going to look awesome on the channel four news, or to whoever's reading. Everyone grab your biggest guns, and prepare to make some fireworks."
John couldn't help but grumble about his employer's train of thought carrying weird materials.

"Remain in radio contact, and don't be afraid to speak your mind, or bust some heads."
 
After closing the Lady of the Night's cargo-bay door and sealing the small ship's fourth wall, Enzo made his way into the lounge, armed to the teeth. Not that anyone would be able to tell; the weapons were all hidden under his coat or in his boot, or in a cargo pocket, or tucked into his back-- the list goes on. The small arsenal of handguns that Enzo always kept in his belongings was scattered over his person. One weapon sat in open sight: the previously battered revolver.

Enzo had spent the last several minutes after he and Robert had entered his ship blasting away at the bent barrel with a plasma torch and filing it smooth around the edges. The result was an ugly snub-nosed monstrosity with an obvious 'point-blank' intent. The new weapon sat holstered over Enzo's coat in its old holster, now also cut up to meet the new size. Enzo crossed his arms and smoked at Luca.

"Where do yous wanna meet up fer this? Shoulds I takes the Lady out again?" He asked.
 
Vincent was settling into a combat stance considerably less flashy than Echelon's; it had been a while since he'd fought and he was a little stiff, but flash-learned and instinctively bred training wasn't something that went away with a few scars and a few days' bed rest. He settled his weight evenly onto his slightly bent legs, held his arms square to his chest in a defensive stance and was about to show down -

When Luca casually strolled in and pointed out Echelon's new frame. Vincent relaxed, turning towards the captain - having to suppress an urge to come to attention when spoken to by a superior - and dropping his stance. "I was just about to test Echelon's new frame, Captain, but this seems like it would be a more proper test of its damage threshold and combat capability." He angled his chin towards Echelon as if pointing. "She seems a bit anxious about it."

Then he turned fully towards Echelon. "What do you say, do you think you are ready to test the new frame or do you want to wait a little longer and continue your calibration tests?"
 
Zeta was fiddling with her communicator. She was in luck and her contact was online. With the she should be able to get hold of Bet a quite soon. Luca left to talk with Vincent. She finally got a contact address to her brother. Grin appeared on her face as she typed a message to him.

Code: 
Hello Big brother. It's me Zeta. My boss and I (+friends) are planning to topple the zeroes. Sound like fun eh? Wanna join in?

She then hit send and her grin went wider. She has not seen Bet for years. And she might see him again soon, that should be interesting. Loudpeaker then went online and she could hear Luca change the plan.

She whistled loud and went to where Luca was. "If someone made me and play me, then he must be someone who is not right in the head," Zeta said as she waslked to Captain Pavone. She remembere all her insecurities and shivered. "So Skipper, you wanne go heavy duty on their assess cause I have gamma ray vulcan in the hold that have not get any love yet." She said and grin was still on her face,.
 
Uriel took only a passive glance at the Grappler. It didn't interest him in the slightest, though he was slightly intrigued as to how it would work- he hadn't been present for the design discussion or blueprints.

"This is not learning another culture, this is just God washing away more grime," he retorted with some simmering passion. "But like I said: it seems this may be my true direction in life- the real reason we crossed paths."

Then Uriel glanced toward Enzo, and his passionate demeanor became blank. This was how he suppressed his disdain at the thought working with the villain of the crew. Vincenzo Bortelli quite frankly unsettled the Elysian. Sure, they were both good at what they were about to do, but for very different reasons: Uriel had trained himself to be stronger than any evil he encountered; Enzo just lived a lifestyle that forced him to handle conflict well or die. The fact that he enjoyed it all only made Hisshana's distaste greater, because believe it or not the Archangel took no joy in destroying the filth. He took pride in it. It was like a job: there were other things he'd rather be doing, but there was always a sense of satisfaction when he did well.
 
Enzo returned Uriel's emblankened gaze with a cocked eyebrow. He had his suspicions as to the nature of the glance, as well as Uriel's opinions of him. He didn't really mind. Enzo was used to this sort of thing, from people all over the galaxy. Still, Enzo was an asshole, so he pressed the issue.

"You gotta problem, Birdback?" He asked, through wisps of smoke. "That lil' changes o' faces yous just did there... Looks kindsa funny, see?"
 
Robert stepped off the Lady half a heartbeat behind Enzo. He followed up and stood passively off to the side of the Uriel and Enzo conflict. He had seen this coming, it was just bound to happen eventually. He walked over beside Zeta. "So we get to meet this brother of yours?"
 
Oh, that was easy to deflect. "Yes: your lack of respect. I don't call you 'short-stuff' or 'space urchin.' I would appreciate it if you paid the favor in kind." The anger was evident enough, but lacking all the passion he had expressed toward the mafia men. This was just another exchange between two men who rubbed each other the wrong way.
 
"I got called 'pointy face' at college," Luca backchatted to Enzo and Uriel, "That aside Enzo you're welcome to fly the Lady. I'm fairly confident the Zeroes won't pack anti-air guns, and they'd only have a few power armours to spare for their heavy hitters. The rest of them will probably be using smallarms - but that's no reason to underestimate them."

That's when something dawned on Luca, "Which reminds me, where the hell is Mr. Smith when you need him?" He whipped out the communicator and located the Origin Representative's number and gave it a ring, "Smith, its Luca. Where the hell are you? Head back to the Crimson Kestrel and freshen up - we're going to punch the Zeroes gang in the nose and kneecap them - so to speak."

That aside, another thing had dawned on the Captain, he'd forgotten to suit up in power armour, but it was too late now, and to suit up in armour would take too long. He mumbled for a moment and mused that his best defences would be fast movement and unpredictability. He was itching to give the Grapple Stunner a go.

"Huh, wonder if this'll work." He mused before pointing his right arm upwards and pressing the button between his thumb and wrist. The cable shot out with an open piton that latched to a pipe a few metres up on the ceiling and closed around it. It then proceeded to reel Luca up to the pipe, where he unlatched it and made himself comfortable.

He then had an ear to ear grin as he awaited an unfortunate target to come up the gangway, watching with the intensity of a kitty cat after a mouse.
 
The faint sound of shoes against concrete could be heard as someone neared.

A woman had approached the crew of the Phoenix. She looked oddly reminiscent of someone they knew - she had a familiar set of glasses, a familiar shade of brown to her hair, and an all to familiar pinstriped suit that looked a little too large for her, though, one of the legs from the knee down was apparently burned off for some reason. Even this woman's shoes seemed to flipflop a little as she walked as well, if anyone cared to notice.

What wasn't familiar about her at all though, was her moderate bust, curved yet athletic frame and a red tint to the cheeks coupled with a slightly angry, indignant look on her face. This slightly soggy, slightly dirty, slightly blood smeared business woman walked right up to Luca Pavone, suitcase in hand. She was a familiar two inches shorter as well.

"You called Mr. Pavone?" Smith asked in what could only be described as a 'cute' yet cold, businesslike voice. The Origin Representative adjusted her tie.

'She' hated it and whatever moron invented Kaserine.
 
Luca blinked upon looking at the uncannily familiar woman walk in, and he hesitated to pounce on her since he'd been waiting for Mr. Smith. However, 'she' seemed to know Luca by name, and that business suit seemed familiar enough (even with the damage) along with the voice, however feminised it might've been.

"Banzai," Luca said as he jumped down from the pipe and grabbed Ms. Smith in a headlock and used her as a human shield, "What the hell happened to you, 'Ms.' Smith?" He released his grip after deducing that the technique he used to grab 'her' was satisfactory and looked at 'her' up and down, chucking, "Did you get plastic surgery or a body transfer with a side order of violence while I was out?"

He then looked about, "And where is Naoko? She's usually not too far from you."
 
"An unfortunate incident in regards to contraband kaserine." the genderswapped person replied. 'Ms. Smith' promptly put down the suitcase in order to straighten out her dirtied, damaged suit. "As in regards to Miss Aihara, she is most likely taking what time she sees as appropriate in arriving here. We were in contact not too long ago." Smith explained. She looked Luca over.

"What are you up to Mr. Pavone? It appears some things have happened while I was away." the Ori-Rep asked in a clipped voice, glasses glinting.

"And that device. What is it?"
 
Robert left Zeta's side and went to grab his own power armor. He unfortunately missed "Ms." Smith's entrance and was very confused when he did come back from suiting up holding his helmet under one arm. "Ummm who is that?" he whispered to Zeta.
 
"It's Smithy!" Enzo guffawed, taking a quick look up and down the new form of his coworker, "'Cept he's a lady. An' not a bad one, either, eh? Takes a look at 'em, all prettied ups like 'at. 'Ey Smithy," Enzo seemed to have forgotten the conversation with Uriel, "Yous wanna makes some money before that stuff wears off?"
 
Zeta was fiddling with her communicator and was about to leave when some lady walked in. First thin Zeta did was reaching for her gun. But then she noticed the suit, the glassess. Either there was something very strange going on or Smith gave her all her clothes. And it was actually the first thing.

Oh kaserine what a magical and yet to some dreadfull thing. It makes women more womanly. Well it also makes men more womanly. Zeta smiled, she was trying to be kind now. Man did not look happy about his change. "Well Mist- Miss Smith. I am sorry this happened. THough getting some hands on kaserine to get you back into your own form will probably take some time. Captain how about I take Miss Smith with me to make some fast shopping. She cannot go into action like this. She needs fitting clothes and at least a sport-bra." Zeta said to Luca and others.

THen her communicator beeped. Message on it contained only one word.
Code: 
When?

Zeta raised her head from communicator grinning. "Well looks like we will really get to meet that brother of mine Rob!" She said with excitement in her voice.
 
Though Smith only gave Enzo an invidious stare in reply.

Zeta though, she got the Ori-Rep's full attention. "You mean I have to take more of the medication?!" her voice rose uncharacteristically. 'Damnit! That's not like me...relax, relax, it's just the damn Kaserine and the damned pheromones, hormones or whatever in my head... ' The others could watch Smith visibly force herself to calm down as she stood there, in the spotlight for the moment. They were never going to let her live this down...

"Can't I just borrow your clothes Zeta?" She asked. "Someone, please tell me what mess the rest of the Phoenix is about to get into." Smith went on, temper incongruously flaring again.

"And again, what the hell is that thing Luca is using?!"
 
It was at this point where Vincent joined the gathering throng, wearing his characteristic weapons harness, carrying his baseball bat and his Finagle. The ID-Sol scowled a little bit, trying to discern the identity of the newcomer, before remembering the suit.

"Mister Smith," he grunted, voice low, "We're in the process of arming ourselves and preparing an assault on a gang holdout. And to answer your other question, that's a prototype piece of equipment called the Grapple Stunner, I assume it does exactly what it sounds like it does."
 
Zeta looked back at Miss Smith. "No waht I meant you will need another type of kaserine to becoma male. I mean unless you get used to this state." She added the last part as a joke. Though she knew few people who did swapped their genders in past. Also one who was swapping them according to his mood and who he/she wanted to sex up.

"Oh well yeah you can borrow soem of my stuff. Though my bra won't fit you and I do not have second pair fo boots. You will definitely need new boots. Oh and believe a girl. You will want a bra soon too." SHe said to person who was man in past.
 
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