RP: NSS Nerkat Long Night in Los Apagos

Autumn chuckled hearing Ran's less than subtle come on to the newcomer. "Very smooth, Ran.. very smooth. Why do you run away from the hookers, you just not want to pay them when you wake up or are you scared a having to chew your arm off?"

She watched the new girl curiously before looked back to Gyles, "Here's hoping, Sug. I'm not one to get that wasted though. I like being able to remember every crazy little thing I did. My trick is to never do anything drunk that I wouldn't do sober. It saves on the regret in the morning when the hangover passes, ya know? Last thing anyone wants to to wake up like the Chief has stated- in some random place."

"Well... I can't say I've ever gotten that smashed, Chief, but I've had a few pleasant surprises here and there. Maybe it's just a bit of dumb luck. It's been going around a bit lately." Gyles chuckled, his own sequestered laugh having a bit of a muffled grunt to it. The thought that Ran had resorted to hooker sex actually amused the tech sentry a bit. In his time as a racer, he'd never been entirely wanting, so the concept was a little foreign to him.

"Hmm... so how much says she doesn't take too kindly to him Autumn?" Gyles asked the armorer slightly sarcastically.

Harrison poked around the gun store for a while when he heard a familiar voice from over the counter.

"Lookin' for something?" The man said. Sure enough, it was the same person who had been around with Harrison the last time he had hoofed it in LA.

"Just browsing." Harrison said, then decided to ask the gun shop owner a question. "You know any bars around this area?"

"It's Nepleslia, man. We're all bars."

"Well have you seen some marines looking around in Apogee Square lately?"

"Like..."

Harrison thought hard for a sec. "One of them was probably chain smoking."

"Ahh... Mostly been wandering around. Best bet is to do the same, kid."

"Thanks, man!" Harrison walked out into the square and looked around for his squad leader.

David Lyric stalked through the dark alley, half trying not to giggle, and half trying not to growl out loud like an escaped ID-SOL defect. Moving with a purposeful swaggering hunch, he looked intimidating in his mind, but in actuality just looked mortally wounded. He had imagined that it would make things so much easier if he was just some crazy murdering animal, and the thought had stuck after that last bottle of whisky.

In English, he was angry and smashed out of his face.

Lumbering back into the streetlight, the stocky bloke found himself inbetween two groups- some rather rough looking gang members and some off-duty Green soldiers. Wait, how did I know they are Greens soldiers? The thought sprung to mind, but any answers that bounced back just slipped out of his mind before he could grasp them.

"...I.. KNEWW IT!" Dave slurred and pointed at the mixed-gender group, then fumbling to roll up his black sweater sleeves. By the time his sleeves were in place for a fight, he had already forgot what he knew anyway.

Adrian had been busy admiring the newly-arrived Dream's choice of clothing when another man arrived on the scene. Upon David's outburst, the medic quickly had his hand around his handguns grip. He eyed the newcomer, fully ready to pull his piece should he do anything too outrageous.

Autumn grinned. "Sucker's bet but stranger things have happened. But it looks like we've got trouble headed our way," she mused brightly. She loved fights, she didn't even mind so much when she was in them and not on the sidelines. "I mean the man, not the chick, Sug. But I think we can handle a drunk toss or two."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other impatiently, she speculated that Rico was probably somewhere still getting himself "pretty" for this social gathering or was going for a more dramatic entrance.

"Damn, am I that easy to read?" Gyles asked, grimacing at the notion. Then again, he supposed it isn't all that hard to see where a man's eyes are going when there are new assets in a crowd. He sighed at his realization and glanced over. "I picked him up on my sonics a full minute ago. I don't think even a man that drunk would pick a fight with off-duty marines. But hey, who knows? Maybe he's the type to do it for the lulz."

"Or cake points," Autumn replied brightly. "Don't worry about it, Sug, you're not the only one of the boys that noticed her. It should be fun if she's here to party with us, just be mindful of blocking from the other boys." She teased in a extremely warm tone of voice as she lightly patted Gyles on his arm.

The visored marine was too tall for her to reach his shoulder and she figured that patting him on the ass would be too contrary for what she was suggesting. She smiled brightly as she started cracking the knuckles on her right hand.

"Hey, thanks. I needed that, Wilde child." Gyles chuckled, if anything, laughing at the corniness of his own words. It was always nice to get a bit of reassurance now and then, and Autumn was proving herself to be the type of person that he'd be able to deal with easily. Then again, he'd had the good fortune to not yet meet a marine he didn't get along with. Even Rico, who had been a bit of a dick at armor drills when Gyles had wanted to show off his skills, wasn't all that bad.

"Lessee, I don't look sleezy, I don't smell like crap and I'm not Ran. Which puts me ahead in the game. Awesome." Gyles said fairly brightly, a mellow grin crossing his features.

A few days prior, in a small business district in Los Apagos…

Rico Sanroma tread proudly amongst the city-dwellers as he ducked and dodged between them, his companion close behind as they weaved their way towards Rico’s destination. It had been an eventful day so far…Autumn had seemed very anxious to get off of the Alliance and into the city to get herself a new arm to replace her prosthetic, and Rico, being the gentleman he was, was all too eager to oblige. Entertaining the opposite sex was his favorite pass-time, after all.

Soon, the two came to a stop outside of two buildings, set firmly in the cavalcade of other stores along the bustling walkway. Rico turned a grinned broadly at his vivacious counterpart, extending a gesture at the two buildings as he did so.

“Well now…we can either start with yer new arm…” Rico hand wavered over to the store on the left, affectionately titled ‘Jay’s Chop Shop’ (new saw-blade finger implants available!). “…or, if ya want, new duds,” the hand moved over to the building on the right, the subtly-named ‘Toxic Wear’ (Haz-Mat suits on sale, today only!).

“Your call, sugar.”

Autumn grinned at the name of the cybernetic store. "I think I want to rearm myself first, babe." She watched Rico curiously with a bright smile as she pushed her hair back behind her ear. "I think once I get that settled, you can help to get me out of these clothes." She said teasingly with a light laugh in her voice and a wink.

“Alright then. Common’, let’s see what Jay’s cookin’ up,” Rico said as he entered the cybernetics boutique.

The inside of Jay’s was would could be called akin to a tattoo parlor merged with a toolshop. Display cases on the walls and under the counter portray assortments of shiny appendages and doo-dads for all sorts of cybernetic needs. A few of the more menacing pieces of equipment were on display behind the counter behind perhaps the thickest panes of bulletproof glass ever conceived…a wise decision, seeing as most of the limbs behind the casing were either highly-dangerous or were (supposedly) made of precious and semi-precious metals. Jay himself, a wiry gent, slightly balding and sporting a pair of tantalizingly intricate cybernetic arms himself. Upon entering, Jay flipped Rico a shiny metal bird…Rico merely laughed and returned in kind, both of them smiling at the exchange.

“How’s it hanging Rico? It’s been years, man. Still got some great taste in the ladies I see,” Jay said as Rico went up to slap a quick low-five with his old buddy.

“Play yer cards right, baby, an’ you might get lucky today too…Autumn here needs some help with a new arm.”

“Autumn, eh,” Jay leaned over the counter to get a better look at the Armorer. His eyes suddenly began to buzz and whir, small metal juts extending outwards from the pupils…cybernetic implants, of course. “Got anything specific in mind miss?”

Autumn chuckled and smiled brightly at both Rico and Jay. "Old friend, babe?" She nodded to Jay. "I haven't gotten a new 'netic since I replaced my voice box so I'm at a loss as to what I want to do for my new arm since a Crooked Demon killed it. Any suggestions?"

Jay retracted his eyes and ducked behind the counter for a moment, before popping back up, a lithe lusterless cybernetic arm in his clutches. The arm was articulated in the muscle areas, ribbed along most of the exterior with little extra fluff. Jay patted the equipment softly as he set it down on the table. “Well, we got some new shit from AwesomeCorp’s Cybernetics division. Sturdy stuff if you aren’t looking for one with weapons in them…I think this brand is newer than Rico’s though.”

Rico flexed his arms at Jay’s mention of him, cybernetic arms covered in synthetic flesh. “AC 121’s. Good as any a’ the shit behind yer desk.”

“Right, right,” Jay rolled his eyes slightly. “Or, if you want something with doodads in ‘em, you could try some Zen Arms models. Or even some Claymere Cybernetics pieces…pretty reliable there, but they don’t carry guns in ‘em. What’s your preference?”

Autumn seemed to contemplate the question for a few moments, pursing her lips together before she responded. "With the gun models, is it possible to detach them from the arm to clean them? I'm kinda funny about my guns. And how's the recoil from the heavier calibers? But would be my options with the AwesomeCorp stuff?" She watched Jay's face intently as she placed her left arm behind her back, holding the back of her organic right arm.

“Depends on the gun,” Jay said. “Laser or Xaser don’t have kicks, but they drain battery pretty fast. Solid ammo tends to get a pretty small kick, but there’s limited storage space for the stuff without hampering the movement of the arm. That’s the thing about weaponized cybernetics…they’re a lot more fragile than solid stuff. Easier to break or malfunction, since you’re fitting something that don’t belong there in it. Rico here took ACC “Steelclutch” models because he’s a fucking lunkhead and went through three good Zen Arms Xaser-20’s when he used to gangbang around here.”

"Gangbang, really?" Autumn sounded amused as she grinned at Rico for a moment before looking back at Jay. "I was afraid of that. Let me see what you got on the regular non-weaponized models then, if you would please. I don't mind hard bangs but.. I would rather not have to blow out my shoulder if I don't have to."

“He means gangbang, like with my boys,” Rico added in suddenly in a huff. “I mean…with my gang. WAIT, shit, I went around with my old gang and banged…FUCK, no, wait. I just have a gang. We do gang shit. That’s all.”

Autumn grinned. "Babe, we all do weird shit in gangs. It's a common initiation thing in some areas. Nothing to be ashamed of."

“No! No, you got it wrong, dammit. There’s a chick in there too. And…” Rico slouched a bit as he realized his babbling fit wasn’t as becoming as he would’ve liked. Instead, he turned to Jay, who was stifling a fit of giggles behind his counter. “…and will ya get the damn ‘netics already Jay? Sheesh, we got other things to do, baby.”

Autumn beamed at Rico and rocked on her heels and gestured at him. "If you say so, babe. What did ya call yourselves?"

“The Devilfish,” Jay interrupted modestly, producing another arm, heavier than the other and placing it on the counter besides the more lithe, less-shiny one.

"Devilfish," Autumn replied curiously, tilting her head to one side to appraise the salesman's face for a moment before looking at the arms he had to offer. "What are the specs on the non-shooty arm?" She gently placed her hands on the counter in front of her, tracing the outline of one of the arms with one of her fingers on her right hand.

“’bout 2,000 DA for the pair, so I’ll cut the deal at 1,000 DA if you just need one. This model here,” Jay tapped the smoother, shinier arm with a few clinking sounds of metal upon metal. “is an AwesomeCorp Cybernetics “Steelclutch”, 3rd generation model. Mixtures of aluminum and durandium composites mostly, with some good ol’ steel components making up most of the skeletal structures. Reliable design, no weapons means it runs of either biologically-produced energy or battery, depending on what you want. Rico uses the older versions of this fella…although, the difference ain’t that big. Maybe some better stability and a slimmer fit.”

"What's the maintenance cycle look like on a bio energy one? The less things I have to change batteries on the better. And.. what other models do you have for me?" Autumn inquired appraisingly as she lifted up the other arm carefully to judge its weight. "I do, only need one at the moment. I don't intend on another matched set for a long while if I can help it." She smiled softly despite herself as she ran her right hand gently over the surface of the metal like she was petting a small furry animal.

“Biological power runs off of natural emissions…blood flow, electricity. Doesn’t take much to power the arm…and you usually have to give it a good cleaning once a month, depending on what kind of work you’re doing. Grimy job means grimy cybernetics,” Jay explained expertly as he thumbed the display on the wall behind him. “…yeah, I have a few other models in back. Gimme a sec.”

As the cybernetics dealer traveled to the small doorway behind the counter, Rico leaned up on the counter and stared idly at the merchandise. “Not much for ‘netics, eh?” Rico commented on Autumns last statement.

"It's not that. It's just that I'd rather not replace things that I don't have to," Autumn commented softly for a moment, pausing to fully work out a response. "I know most people have this spiritual connection to 'netics but... when I feel the cool metal against my skin I just feel like I'm slowly losing parts of myself I can never fully get back. It might just be that I'm still not quite used to my legs. I guess the option of not using anything could be a better choice but I don't want to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life or a mute witness to the world... the cybernetics remind me of the mistakes of my youth and.. sometimes I think the weight is greater than I let on." She smiled suddenly and shook her head, "But never mind that. No use dwelling on the things I can't... change. I'll learn the connection eventually, or feel more at home with the warmth of live 'netics against my skin."

“…oh.” Rico’s eyes trailed off to the side for a moment, obviously not expecting an answer like that. “Hrm. Well shit…I ain’t got a ‘connection’ with my ‘netics. I preferred my ol’ arms, now that I think about it…but, hey, like you said, better than runnin’ around swingin’ stubs. Lost my arm when I was young, too, didn’t know any better then either. They ain’t all that bad…you get used to ‘em after a bit, ya know? ‘course, it don’t hurt to have a good set a’ strong ‘netics when somethin’s on the line…and when I cover these babies up, the ladies can’t tell the difference. Makes it way too easy, hehe,” Rico chuckled jokingly, not wanting to sound too deep in thought about the issue.

Autumn smiled as she set the arm down on the counter again. "I'm sure you would've had nice buff arms without the 'netics. Unless you weren't one that did much heavy lifting with the Devilfish." She turned her face towards him and watched his face for a moment as some hair fell forward onto her face. "I don't think about them on other people, I usually don't care if the arms wrapped around me are metal or flesh, so long as they are holding me for a little while," she almost had a soft, shy tone to her voice for a moment as she made that last comment, with a warm smile on her face.

Catching tones of the female gender just happened to be on of Rico’s many fortes. Rico drew up from the countertop and turned his torso towards the armorer, crossing his arms and giving Autumn a sly little smile amidst an expression of piqued, curious interest. “Is that a fact, sweet cheeks? Oooor, an offer?”

Autumn batted her eyelashes at her Sergeant, pursing her lips together. "Could be a little of both, you never know what might happen," she replied cooly. "We have two weeks of shore leave so anything is a possibility. I'll have to pay you back for helping me out somehow, I'll just have to let you decide on what that might be."

Rico’s grin just grew broader. “I think I can come up with somethin’ or two.”

Rose stopped abruptly at Ran approached, her hands opening and closing from fists as if she were loosing whatever it was she was holding on to. Making her body move a bit with the force of the halt. Her face didn't change though, she only blinked at the Marine.

"Why should I tell you, cat scratch?" She shot back, that was generous considering what he'd called her. Folding her arms under her chest, she tried to keep herself locked down. Holding to them a little tight, it wasn't the same as finding something better, something else because arms were there to be filled, right? Yes of course. Something, when you can't stop from anything else.

The Geshrin armorer grinned at Gyles with a nod, "Of course, Sug! You just got to talk to her and not her breasts, you're not short enough to get away with it." Autumn watched her reflection in Gyles's visor for a moment before she glanced back over to ran and Rose.

"Yeah, that definately was a sucker's bet. Ya gonna talk to her or just watch Ran continue to get burned?" She actually didn't think that Ran was completely hopeless, he was just very direct about what he wanted. "He'll find a gal his methods work on eventually, some girls like you to be that direct with 'em, you just gotta find out which way works."

"Man this is boring." Kagura sighed and found a bench nearby to settle into and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. Stretching back, she crossed her hands and clasped them behind her head as she waited. "That loser is late." she muttered and glanced to the gang nearby and just monitored them. "So why're you boys sulking over there like that/"

Fay approached Ran and Rose, trying to cool off the situation. "Forgive my... comrade. He can be rather blunt at times. My name is P3C Fay Saelus." he said calmly with a friendly smile. Hopefully, his appealing manner would calm her down.

Gran sighed as the entire group completely ignored the group of hoodlums that had approached them. They all obviously had guns. Gran thought it would be best not to piss them off. After all, the faster they found out what they wanted the sooner they would leave them alone.

Gran sighed slightly, he definitely didn't want to be the person to do it. Regardless, Gran stepped around the gaggle of marines towards the city-dwellers. He didn't walk far from the marines, only about a yard form the closest person. He stared across the distance to the trio of others. He thought for a second of what to say. He glanced at Kagura as she seemed to try to communicate too.

He looked back to the gang and crossed his arms roughly.
"Can I help you guys?"
Damn... If they ain't friendly I'm really gonna get my ass kicked.

By chance, Harrison spotted Gran moving towards a group of armed thugs. He fingered the clasps on his gun holsters and stood up slowly, making sure his jacket concealed most of the holster.

"Ah, shit." Harrison ran off towards Gran and provided back up. The flat out run brought Will to the tech in a matter of seconds. He skidded to a halt a safe distance away and observed.

By now, David was just standing with his hands forward like he still had the intention to fight, but somewhere along the way had forgot how to move his feet.

Something disturbed his angry intentions, some memory at the back of his head. “…They are… Greens… those fuckers…” he muttered, thinking out loud so it would be harder to forget this time. “…and yet I know their faces…”

The armed gang was moving closer now, and David felt his legs nearly give out as he turned around to face them. Unable to move out of the way fast enough or even prepare for a fight, some butch bald guy with no eyebrows punched him in the face, clean off his feet.

Rolling backwards, David brung his brain about remarkably quickly, but didn’t stand up just yet- the gang ignored him now and continued moving towards the group of soldiers anyway.

“Who the hell are they?” He muttered out loud to himself again, sleeving away the blood from his busted nose. Suddenly, the memory hit him harder that the punch did. The soldiers were members of his new squadron, the ones he was searching for earlier.

"I’m never drinking again."

"Oh... I don't know, either one seems kinda fun. But... I think I'd rather succeed myself than watch another man fail." Gyles told Autumn, rubbing his chin. He found himself agreeing with her, as at a full 6'6'', the Tech Sentry would be hard pressed to get away with staring at a much shorter woman's bust, though his visor might very well conceal the movements of his eyes. "Wish me luck."

"Sorry Chief, the trick didn't work out for ya this time. But hey, you might find someone tonight that doesn't charge, if you're a bit luckier. Who knows?" The grayish-blond haired Nepleslian told Ran, stepping up to the small crowd now building up around Rose.

"P2C Gyles Newman. And no, don't worry, I don't bite." He said rather sardonically, his eyes concealed behind the nearly opaque lens of his visor. Though, it was clear from the thin shadowy contours of his pupils that he was neatly focused on Rose's amber orbs. "Unless you're into that sort of thing. Then, I can only oblige you."

The young woman's eyes drifted between Fay, Ran, and the tall Gyles as he introduced himself. "Yeah..yeah like that." She said, not really saying who she was talking to. It could have been Fay's greeting, or Gyles "A little private party either 'a you deck swabbers know the NSS Nerkat?" Without thinking, the sudden stress the trio or arrivals brought had her toying with the tongue stud, which slid between her lips on that still otherwise serene face. Her eyes were a different story, but it was like she had no idea, darting them from what she could make out of the visor, and the other two.

Rose's left hand was still flexing open and closed, she had to find something quick before things got really ugly. Without thinking, she reached out and grabbed the tallest man's arm, just below the shoulder, clinging to it."Doct-.." Just in time. "PC2 Dream." She pretended there was no contact between any of them, or really believed there was nothing unusual about what she had done. Slowly, the anxiety in her eyes became more clouded and sedate.

Fay smiled a bit, unsure of what to make of her. "Nice to meet you," he said politely, "It seems that you have come to the right place. We're all going aboard the Nerkat eventually. Would you care to join us to celebrate the start of shore leave?" He wasn't sure why she was clinging to Gyles, but after a short study of her, the medic figured that it might have been some sort of impulse based on her fidgety attitude right before she grabbed his arm.