RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 10] - Lock Up The Wolves

[Luca]

Someone, somewhere once said that time was relative to the viewer.

People could testify that waiting and doing nothing for an entire minute would last forever, whereas if you preoccupied yourselves, the hours just went missing without explanation - doubly so if the activity was engrossing. Luca could testify that staring down the barrels of a hundred guns never got old as the seconds felt like hours and his heart hammered in his chest, threatening to shake him apart as he'd dodged the lead rain time and time again.

'Engrossing' was an entirely subjective exercise too: Somehow, the prospect of lying down on a bed for a few hours while the effects of the counter-counter-counter-cocktail to bring Luca back to complete reality simply wasn't going to cut it - he needed to do something to preoccupy himself. He lied back and waited for Jimmy to leave the room.

After about a half our or so, Jimmy eventually left the room without fanfare, probably to use the bathroom or fetch a snack. Once the door was closed behind him, Luca waited for another tense moment before hoisting himself up and putting his feet down on the ground. Unwisely, he put his weight on his right arm and felt pain shoot up. He learned not to do so while it was still raw from Payday's final cocktail.

The captain still had a fluid grip on reality at best, and and decided that his first port of call would be his quarters. Peering his head down both ways of the hallway and finding that it was clear was a reassuring thing. He started making a controlled jog down to maintain both a good speed and some modicum of stealth.
Then something strange happened when he passed by the elevator. The door to the Captain's suite was a little further away than he thought and he almost made a turn into a wall. Pausing and reassessing, he found the door and double checked if anyone could see him. Satisfied, he closed the door behind him quietly and locked it.

His room was dark an he'd forgotten to the lights on this morning. What a morning it'd been: Between learning of his Brother's ultimate fate and Payday, it just kept on coming one thing after the other and he'd been rolling with it as best as he could. He wasn't going to treat himself like other men and deal with it calmly and rationally.

Luca was toeing the line between being just another man with a gun, and being something entirely different.

"Now's not the time," He flipped his closet open and saw his jacket and stone-thread undershirt and quilted singlet hanging up, and armaments off to the side on the racks and walls, simply waiting - nay, begging to be used. He discarded his blood stained tracksuit pants in favour of his familiar jeans and knee-high boots. He doubly bandaged his right arm before putting the undershirts on, and the Grapple Stunner over it.

"Course has been set for Delsauria by Sebastian." Chimed Echelon, "Any objections?"
Luca paused and checked his tracksuit pants, his phone was still there and he put it in the breast pocket in his jacket. He grinned, realising that Sebastian had some 'correspondence' with Yuki while his phone was left unattended in the lounge. Next time...

"Nah," Luca growled to the camera in reply, voice laden with bitterness, "Just get us all there quickly. I want this over with as much as all of you do."

"Yeah, all of you. I don't know why you all follow me any more. It isn't just about the thrill, the righteousness or the money any more, is it?" He asked the crew over the communications lines. It seemed to echo all through the ship, causing previously unattended and uncared for people to come out of the woodwork, "I feel sorry that some of you have had to participate in the blockbuster that's becoming my life."

"Wot is he talking about?" Melissa replied over the Comms. She had been spending the better part of her time in the cargo bay, but didn't pay much heed to Enzo's singing.
"I don't know, I heard something upstairs - what was it?" Allison replied through the same medium as she was doing routine maintenance to some of the ship's Engines.
Echelon was quick to chime in: "Captain Pavone Fleshbag has snapped again. Or pieced himself back together. I don't know any more. He is as mercury."

"You're right. I don't know what I'm fighting for anymore, and I don't care - but you've been a wonderful audience. Now let's get the fuck to Delsauria and end this drama, pull the curtains down and resume living."

 

[Blackbird Lore]

Uriel had been in the midst of trying to track down the Captain when his voice seemed to come at him from the ceiling. Ship communications, then. He must not be in the med bay any more. Finding no one in the kitchen but the chef and not a soul in the commons, his best guess was the Captain was doing something stupid in his quarters. Time to intervene.

The Archangel strode briskly down the halls to Luca Pavone's room, hoping to catch him before he waltzed off to do something insanely moronic. He rapped on the door harshly. "Captain, we need to talk. But first, I owe an apology for the scene I made in the commons. I lashed out at you for your order like a child. For that I apologize. And to respond to your inquiry: what sort of damned fool are you!? You've been drugged and are supposed to be recovering!" His voice grew with each sentence, became more incensed with emotions the Elysian didn't manage well- things like worry and indignation.

 

[ShotJon]

Zeta looked at Enzo with inspecting gaze. She then had a sip of brandy and said. "You know... if you care so much about Naoko, then you should stay with us." She said and continued to explain why it was so. "You see, if Naoko moved away you have literally no chance of finding her right? But she might show up here again in future. To say hello to Luca or bother Smith. So your best chance of seeing her again is staying here. Not to mention you are making a lot of money with us." She explained her theory.

Luca then came on life and started rambling. Is he still drugged? Zeta thought, she also noticed Mellisa for the first time. "Oh hey Mell, why don't you join us? ENzo has brandy and there is also a bottle of whiskey in the work-bench when we done with that." She said, smiled and raised her glass.

 

[Lamb]

"Yeah, yeah!" Enzo called along with Zeta. "C'mon over hears, we ain't gonna bites yous."

Enzo was glad for a change of subject. He really didn't want to argue with Zeta over why he should stay. The fact of the matter was that Luca was getting tired and easily angered. Enzo's main source of income was the gray areas the Captain often tolerated him going into. This tolerance, was, as always subject to change. Enzo felt that it wouldn't be long before the Captain called him out on his activities. He'd already come close to being caught once.

 

[CadetNewb]

The gentle hum of the engines did little to assuage Smith's ire. He had wandered into the deep depths of the ship in hopes that nobody would disturb him as he stewed. Absolute fury had more or less subsided into resignation and defeat for the man as he was back to getting what he desperately needed one piece at a time. "The Mishhu are dangerous, but they're seriously overrated," he sighed, sitting down at a safe little spot before loosening his tie.

Pouring a bit of scotch into the crystal tumbler he brought with him, Smith regarded the smoky smooth contents with a wary eye. "There's worse things out there than them." The ramblings of the Captain started up, cutting Smith's own short. "I wonder what he saw when it stung him," the Ori-Rep briefly mused, recalling his own sights and sounds. "To Delsauria."

At that, he downed that shot, and stopping himself from pouring another, decided it was simply best to bring the bottle to his lips.

 

[Luca]

"I'm the only damned fool brave enough to live life on MY terms!" Luca retorted venomously to the Elysian, "Besides," He could hear a television being turned on, "I'm not going to lie back and count the scratches in the ceiling. I'm going to recover on my own terms! Daytime television becomes so much better when you've got a lucid grip on reality!"

I wonder what your dad's up to? I bet one of his skeletons has come out of the closet again - just like last time. I wonder what skeletons you'll leave?
You've done a better job of cleaning loose ends than your father ever did, if it makes you feel better...
Way to comfort a man over the edge. Really, you two clowns are providing me endless amounts of fun. Seriously, piss off.
We're your mind.
We can't 'piss off'.

He sighed as he watched reality slowly regain its original structures, and the alien geometries slowly and steadily reconform to known measures and familiar settings.

"Go bug my dad. As a matter of fact, did it occur to you that I'm not the only Pavone with issues here, not counting my Brother -yet-? Think, Uriel." He addressed the Elysian, "My dad might've made the order to go to Delsauria, but why? We never got the rest of the briefing from Yuki, let alone where to go exactly. He knows something and this isn't the first time he's left me in the dark on his past - and it damn near got the crew killed because of it. I'd try and find out why myself, but as you said, I need to rest and recover for Delsauria."

The moment of clarity would seem surprisingly uncanny to the Elysian, given that Luca was allegedly off the planet - though for him it was an improvement, "Plus, Yami NekoNeko is on, and they're doing a lovely shout out to me." He could be heard chuckling at the children's cartoons, in particular at the antics of Ryuji, the alley cat, "Oh Ryuji, you so cool."

-

At this point in time, Sebastian was in his own room in the crew quarters, and had locked the door behind him. He had put his jacket on and felt a familiar bump on the inside breast pocket. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes that he hadn't touched for the last thirty years. The cigarettes themselves were dogended and frayed beyond recognition or use, but there was something tucked inside the package that had withstood the test of time.

He took it out and contemplated it. It was a photo that'd been laminated to withstand the test of time of a younger more spirited Sebastian Pavone in his prime with both arms intact. Standing with him was an Elysian with a Geshrin medical assistant, a female engineer to his right with a cheeky grin, and a Nepleslian man with thick framed eyeglasses almost akin to jam jars. Standing behind the five was an ID-SOL chomping a cigar with a large smile, a Lorath Fyuunen woman in a beret carrying a gaint machine gun with the ID-SOL and a blonde Nekovalkyrja carrying a ray gun.
On the opposite side of the photo were signatures: "S.Pavone + A.C Cain~ NINA CMorris... M.a.X <3's --Sascha-- ~Yamada Yukihana~"

After looking at the photo for a few minutes, he put it back where he'd found it, concealing it inside his jacket. He opened his .44 revolver and gave it a thorough cleaning for the punishment it might go through once he got planetside. He holstered it under his coat and looked at the other armaments that he'd collected, but never bought along. A wonderfully old and well preserved GP-1 Rifle, and a GP-12b, two longarms, one firing slugs and the other firing energy - both deadly in their own rights.

He put them both over his back, allowing the stocks to change his silhouette, appearing as a one winged bird thanks to the GP-12b's carbine design making the other wing look skeletonised.
"One hell of a reunion," he mumbled under his breath.

-

John had punched the course in and set it to autopilot, he'd gotten off of his chair and started wandering around the ship in search of another activity other than making sure the ship was still working. "Ech, you there?" He asked.

"Of course," Echelon replied flatly in her emulated bandsaw voice, "Bored of yourself?"
"Not quite. Something's been bugging me recently."
"What hasn't? This has to have been one of the more eventful mornings where I watch over you man and womanchildren try to make sense of everything through destroying that which subtracts anyway." She wondered as neutrally as her bandsaw voice would allow, "You're like guppies ganging up and killing sharks and angler fish, disrupting natural order and getting away with it."

"That's apt, but I think we've gone beyond sharks since we started. We've been punching holes in ships and organisations who believe themselves to be bulletproof - well, Luca has anyway."
"That's another thing. Why do you follow him? That wonderful divorcee from reality and freak of luck?"
John sighed as he walked through the maintenance corridors, "We go back a long time in college, but his family and mine have always been close friends. Our dads got along like two peas in a pod, we practically lived next to each other through thick and thin."

"Such as the time when you and the milking machine-"
"You know about it too?" John was flustered.
Echelon sneered. To wit, it sounded like two belt sanders being placed against each other and turned to full tilt, "Everyone knows about the milking machine, and its my job to know all of the things. That aside, I was looking at Luca's records of his YSS Goban service."

"What of them? He kicked an officer masquerading as a mishhu in the face in a fit of terrified determination, what else is there?" John shrugged.
"His digital mind is immune to fear because of a glitch on the way out. See, the Yamataian brain as I understand is sensitive to biological input shortly after being hardwired otherwise. The report alledges that a program named 'Fear' was implanted into him by the then-SMX." She paused and the sound of hard disks could be heard rotating for a moment as she thought, "After the Army removed it on the way out of his honourable discharge, Luca got drunk and stated to do so prior to the operation against their wishes. I have the feeling that not only was this program removed but thanks to Luca's binge, the definition of 'Fear' to him got a little blurry."

"Oh, I know." John agreed without paying much heed to the details, "He never came back right after that and refused to talk about it. He's practically-"
"Fearless, for better or worse."
"But nobody here would have him any other way."

"Exactly, why do you think I like him?"
John shrugged before dismissing the artificial intelligence and continuing his pondering, eventually finding himself in the Cargo Bay and amidst Enzo and Zeta, "Zets, Enzo, scraps for the poor?" He held out his hand for a drink, "I've got shit to contemplate."

Following his footsteps, Echelon posessing a robotic humanoid body could be seen, and sat down too, "Can't drink. Jealous of you fleshbags." She stated before sitting down and giving a single eye to Enzo.
"You don't 'ave to worry about liver damage," Melissa retorted to the AI, whose 'eyebrows' flustered in response, "Count yerself lucky, iron tits."
Echelon's drives wirred for a moment before loading a mock-Delsaurian accent onto her bandsaw voice "-Start- Nob. Off. You. Yobbo! -Stop-."

Allison sat between Melissa and Echelon and chuckled, "Oooh, big scary robot! Gonna rampage through Kyoto and cause salarymen and nekos to drop everything and go:" She pointed and made an exaggerated screaming face, "ECHEROOOOOOOOON."
"Gonna eat us, om nom nom," John chuckled and wiggled his fingers before breaking out laughing. It proved infectious enough to make Melissa and Allison, and eventually Echelon started too.

Once everyone caught their breath (so to speak for Echelon), Echelon pointed at Allison, "Om nom indeed," Echelon 'smiled' as best as her robotic body would allow her, "Let's you and I get holograms and do that when we're planetside in Kyoto when this Delsauria shit is over."
"Deal!" Allison replied before giving the robot a high five.

John stopped smiling and looked over to the others, "I'd hate to be a downer on the fun, but am I the only who thinks something's not right about all this?"

 

[Lamb]

"Probably not." Enzo mused with a cigarette worming its way to his mouth, "I thinks everyone here knows there's somethin's wrong wit' all of dis. But I ain't exactly innerested in thinkin' abouts it, see? Maybe no ones else is eithers..." Enzo took a pause to lean past Zeta and press the brandy into John's hand before sticking his hand out to Melissa, "Pass the whiskey, cutie-pie. If yous sittin' here next to me, dis stuff must be makin' me real charmin', yeah?"

 

[Blackbird Lore]

"I think I'll do just that," Uriel replied and marched off for the elder Pavone's private quarters. While possessing a curiosity for the reasons behind this latest turn of events, the Elysian actually cared little about them. He just wanted to know what he was getting into- he never flew blind if it could be helped.

He rapped on the door. "Mister Pavone, I'd like a word."

 

[ShotJon]

"No, John." Zeta replied, sipping from her brandy 'glass' and looked in the sunglasses of the pilot. "THis is exactly right. We are rushing of to new mission. New chance to be great and all that. For Luca and for us that is right. I mean I enjoy just sitting around as much as any of you, but I feel restless after few days. Maybe being with Luca made me adrenaline junkie or something." She said and shrugged.

 

[Luca]

"I guess I'm feeling a little tetchy too," John said before taking a swig of the whiskey and passing it to Allison. He sighed before continuing, "This might sound completely insane, but I'm dumping my magazine collection, you know the one."

"Bullshit," Melissa snarked, but upon looking at John's stare from behind his glasses, she frowned, "You aren't bullshitting, are you?" John shook his head.

"I thought Nepleslians required Pornography, or Sex to live, just as I need Radiation and Electricity," Echelon chimed in, "I've seen enough of your extra-curricular activities to know, John."

"I'm going cold turkey for the porn. After watching Luca walk home on crutches from Dawn Station and seeing the smile on his face, I realised that I had to go out there and get some. Something I haven't been able to do since College." To drive the point home, he held up one of his favourite magazines and put it in a cargo container, which contained all of his other magazines. "Who knows? I might end up having a more hectic night than he did."

"I'm unsure of whether to pin a medal to your chest for going out to pursue basic human functions, or to slap you." Allison frowned at John.
"Both will do."
And she did just that. She gave John a firm slap in the face that left a red, hand shaped mark, and pinned a heart-shaped medal with a smiley face made of melted-down brass shells to his chest.

Melissa and Echelon cracked up laughing, "I wos wondering when you'd use that!"

As time went on, the drinkers eventually split up after telling their stories in public and in private. John spaced his collection into a box with a beacon that had the simple message: "I don't need this anymore. To whoever finds it, enjoy it. Ignore the stuck-together pages."

It was floating between Delsauria and Yamatai in a straight-ish line, for those interested.

-

Start Mini-JP

With Smith gone Zeta just sipped from the vodka bottle for the last time and got up. After returning the drink back into the fridge she went and took quick shower. Mainly she brushed her teeth. Ten minutes later she was already walking the hall to the Captain's room in tiny shorts and a tank-top, her sleeping uniform. She reached the doors and it slid open with silent hiss. Zeta walked in quietly and moved towards the bed. Luca was there resting, she stood there still for few seconds looking at him. This was probably only moment when the man had some peace.

"You still awake?" She asked and sit on the other side of the bed, looking at him with raised eyebrows. The television was turned on, Luca was lying on the bed awake and still dressed for war - watching something, just some Nepleslian reruns of classic shows. His bandaged arm appeared to be completely healed by now, and it seemed he'd stopped hallucinating.
"Yeah, what's up?"

"Not much," she answered with smile. Her eyes watched the telly for few seconds, before tracing back to Luca. "Drank too much with Enzo, Mel and Allison. Not to mention the shenanigans John did." She said and chuckled. "But then I met Smitty just a while ago and got to chat with him a little. Mate, we did bring another interesting person to the crew. We could work on his cooperation though. He thinks he can handle everything by himself, poor bastard." She explained what she was up to. "Are you all right?" She than asked, with care in her voice.

Luca raised an eyebrow, "Well if he's interesting, he hasn't shown it - but that's the least of my worries." He flexed his right arm and moved his fingers, "Pay Day's cocktail is out of my system, and my arm has recovered - All I need to do now is wait for Delsauria, and I have one question. Something that's been weighing on me."

"Ask away," Zeta said and her eyes narrowed. What was on Luca's mind now? Did he stop trusting some of his crew? In Smith's case, it would be obvious. Were there more? Maybe Enzo or Uriel? Zeta just hoped he had no problems with her. Maybe he started thinking she became too attached. Zeta would hate to get in his way really.

He sighed, "I'm starting to wonder if anyone trusts me anymore, after what I did. I did the right damn thing and I'm content with that," He frowned, "I don't know what the fuck Smith was thinking by trying to sell a mishhu - and where would that lead? What else would he sell to do whatever the fuck he's doing, which he never tells anyone about?" He grunted and folded his arms.

"Hopefully I talked him out of any similar shit." Zeta said and shrugged. "That bloke has a pretty troubled past and he thinks he needs the money, more then he needs friends. That I agree is troublesome. He wants the money for his family though. I could tell you the story, but I think that would be wrong. He did put emphasis on the fact that he is on the same ship with us and you can trust him in the missions.

"I think I believe him. Though I also think to start moving him up from just a crew member to one us. Otherwise he will get himself in trouble and maybe some of us too. Though I just can't kick him off the ship now, though if that would be your decision I would go by it. I just do not think it would be right thing to do." She said in a lengthy way.

"I'd be happy to bail him out, but he never accepts it. Hell, he wouldn't even accept help from Aerin, and she's practically swimming in money."

"That's because he is a stubborn bastard." Zeta chipped in.
"Well, he and I have something in common then," He chuckled, then sighed before concluding that everyone on the ship probably had outstanding issues great and small, "That aside, I think my dad's up to something."

Zeta finally lied down, moving close to Luca and setting her head on his chest. He was warm and relaxing. She needed that to relax. Though there was still important things to discuss. "Luca," she started. "Are you okay? I mean this with you brother suddenly showing up again." He shook his head in reply and groaned, unable to put what he was feeling into words.
Zeta raised on her elbow and looked him in the face. Right in the eyes. Her hand moved up and brushed along his cheeks. "Whatever will happen, whatever your father is planning, I've got your back!" She said and smiled at him.

He smiled back, it was reassuring to know that someone on the crew would always stand by him, "I sent Uriel to talk to my dad about it a few hours back. Hopefully he's got something by now, if not - I guess I'll find out."

"Uriel is a good man. He gives me the creeps, but he is probably the most just righteous bastard I have ever met." Zeta said, apparently she was now giving Luca her opinions on the rest of the crew.

"Maybe, but hey, he's an effective fighter, and a different perspective. Quite literally an angel sitting on my shoulder." He sighed, "He believes in things we can't get our heads around, and we do too, somehow..." He then scratched his hed his head, "Wait, that last sentence went nowhere."

"You know what I believe in?" Zeta asked him, still looking at his face. Gentle smile still on her face. "I believe in myself, I believe in you and I believe in the things we do. Those are things that actual, thing that happen. I do not need any spiritual being that is supposed to guide. I need just my sense of what is right and to keep fighting the good fight."

He smiled and remembered the younger days of the ISC Phoenix, so much less to worry about and hold you accountable - back then it was all furniture delivery, bounty hunting, solving mysteries and killing superviruses. Now with all the world watching it felt difficult to breathe, and nothing would let Luca have a break.

The bounty hunters that assailed him every other day for that 200,000 KS price tag had become so common that Luca took it as a day-to-day occurrence. Guy shows up with gun and makes noise, Luca kicks their arse on autopilot, hands them to authorities, gets their bounty, doesn't give a crap. That's how it'd go day in and day out - it was only now that he was in Yamataian space under protection and surveillance that he was able to catch a break with the rest of his crew.

"Enzo might leave," Zeta said out of the blue. "Naoko disappeared and Enzo does not feel welcomed here anymore. He seemed to care for Naoko a lot. I am not sure we want to loose that back into the universe. What do you think?" Zeta asked, still not sure if she convinced the conman to stay.

"I don't blame him. After today's events, I'd be surprised if anyone wanted to stay. I don't care what anyone thinks, I was born and trained to destroy these damn things, and I was never going to tolerate furthering their interests. One parasite could become many, and I don't want to be responsible for it."

"I agree," Zeta sighed with a little sad expression in her face. "That thing would only grew into stinking pile of problems. We both know that, they should know that too. Oh bloody hell, we sure get the ungrateful jobs don't we?" She ended with bitter chuckle.

"Someone has to do them." He sighed, "The Yamataians are busy fighting the Mishhu, the Nepleslians are trying to keep Yamatai's problem as theirs alone and got dragged into this against their will, and SAINT is crippled from within by all of its moles. And fucked if anyone else would raise a finger, trying to hide under a rock until it blows over or profit from the misery and take advantage of others."

"You listen to Calgary Jones?" Zeta asked, but did not wait for his answer as she continued. "He was down to Funky City. Apparently there is group of individuals which are kicking NMX into their ugly tentacles right there. Just some people. Not army, nor soldiers. Only fed up blokes and girls who decided to do something good and shoot some squids. At least we know we are not the only ones who thinks clear and have courage and balls to do something."
Luca smiled knowing that his ilk wasn't alone, "More power to 'em, then."

Zeta then returned to cheerful smile. "Enough talk about the serious matter. I am not sleepy and it seem you are not either. I think I know the exact right thing to get the mind off all that." She said and moved closer, locking her lips with is. Her hands tracing his body down and ander the blanket.

"Cheeky, cheeky..." Luca mumbled. However, it stood to reason that he'd dressed himself for war, and was suited up as such. This was either going to get interesting, or very uncomfortable. Possibly both.

"Mmmm," Zeta cooed, before kissing him once again. Her hand exploring his jeans. "Hmm, is this a gun in your pocket or are- Wait! It is a gun!" She said with surprised tone. Her hand emerged from under the blanket holding an ODM 10mm pistol. She looked at Luca and giggled tossing the gun away.

"I'm always ready," The grin on Luca's face was equal parts cheeky and equal parts satisfaction that he managed to pull that joke off. He was keeping that thing there for the direst of emergencies after all, "Maybe a little later, hmm?"

"We can talk about that in the morning when you'll be poking me in the back again," Zeta joked and lied on the bed next to him again. "If there will even be time for talking then," She added and chuckled. She was a little surprised, he turned her away just now. He really must have a lot of things on his mind.

And he fell asleep with his jacket, jeans and guns on. All unloaded, all with the safeties on just in case the guns suddenly decided to grow bullets - it wouldn't even be difficult for him to draw the ammo in a hurry anyway.

End Mini-JP

TIME PASSED...

"Ech, we're not far, are we?" Allison asked the Artificial intelligence as she'd finished doing her engine work for the day, letting John do the other shift and teaching him engineering skills with all the spare time that'd come up for him after dumping his collection, "Seriously I've been over this engine so often I can count the scratches in the bulkhead."

It'd been a couple of days since they left, and Luca had taken the time to double check his armaments and get some information out of his angelic informant. He was well and truly ready, and he had enough ammo to face what he needed. Storing it became something of a secondary concern.

"Alright guys we're going to take the Vampire down and leave the Crimson Kestrel up in Orbit. If things truly go to hell we can call the Kestrel down to lay some truly devastating pain down," Luca ordered over the communications as he walked towards the hangar. He had his usual loadout: Concealed ODM 10mm, HHG, M'Cel, Shotgun, and a curious new addition: A new-style GP-1 - not like the blue, funny-looking, skeletonised old one, "Hopefully whatever's got my brother pinned won't require that sort of oomph, but its there if we need it."

"That's a new addition," John joined him and motioned to the assault rifle on his back, next to the shotgun, "You turning over a leaf too?"
"Sorta, but I'm gaining something, not losing something," Luca nodded, "By the way, how's your impromptu engineering class going?"

"Really good. I'm starting with the basics, and Allison and Echelon are keeping an eye on me."
"That's good news!" Luca smiled. He liked seeing his team grow. Speaking of which, he had to do a headcount: "Sound off, everyone heading down!" He announced through the ship wide communication.

"Here." John said, giving him a pat on the back.
"I got ya." Melissa replied.
"I'm coming too!" Allison chipped in.
"I'll be watching." Echelon decided to come along using a robot body, and if that got destroyed, she had a backup to work with.

"I'm here for you, son," Sebastian replied. Luca raised an eyebrow, but at least he wasn't staying back, which would've been much more suspicious. Luca bit his tongue and let him continue.
"Jimmy and I'll be staying back," Anna announced, "Good luck, we'll prep the surgery room for the worst."

 

[Lamb]

"Vincienzo Bortelli, here."

A voice crackled over the airwaves. It was coming from the Lady of The Night in the hangar. In the cockpit of the tiny freighter, Enzo was flipping important looking switches and pressing all the conspicuous buttons.

"I'm headed down to the surface ahead of yous guys." He said purposefully with his hand flicking away at things and the hum of the engines coming from the corridor behind him. "I'm gonna does a couple-o' flybys of my old stompin' grounds around heres at the trader post an' looks out fer information about new arrivals in the area and suspicious activities."

Enzo spied the Red Faction beret he'd scalped on his first encounter with the crew and eyed his reflection with it in the cockpit for a second before siding with a panama hat and sunglasses. He hemmed and hawed a bit with his jaw before switching to a video feed, directly to Luca's quarters.

"Hyow 'bout it Cyap'n?" Enzo's voice shifted seamlessly to the Nepleslian Prime dialect, "I look lack a trader frawm Prahm to yew?"

 

[CadetNewb]

"Matthew Smith here," the Ori-Rep spoke up.

Soft, nearly silent footfalls heralded the man's approach. As always, he was dressed in a black business suit, but minus the hat this time. Smith reached a hand up to adjust his glasses, the other hand remaining by his side as it continued to hold onto a matching black leather suitcase. It seemed to be neither light or heavy, but judging by the handcuff, was perhaps something valuable. As though nothing had happened before, he gave the rest of the crew a polite nod.

 

[ShotJon]

Zeta soon emerged too. She was not wearing Power Armour, Wesley was staying on ship for this round. She was wearing her leather jacked, cargo pants and high boots. Of course her modified Everyday armour was under her clothing, protecting her chest and legs from most small-arm's fire.

On her belt were two pistols. Easy submachinegun, Hand Cannon and ammo for both. There was also her customary combat knife, sheathed, but ready to slice throats when needed. Over her shoulder on the sling was Origin Fatboy, ammunition for it stored in pockets of her jacked. And finally on her thigh was a Peashooter, ready to be drawn and shoot.

Her right fist hit her palm with satisfaction. She opened metalic fist and closed it again smiling at Allyson. She went to the girl earlier and asked her to finally do maintenance on her arm. Girl mechanic had to change hydraulics too. Too many punches at too high speed. Zeta's arm was almost as new one now. Artificial muscles were fine and hydraulics were completely changed. She could not ask for anything better.

Finally behind her belt at her back was a fire-axe she nicked here on the ship. From her previous experience with Luca around, combat always ended in the closes possible quarter. Knife was nice, but Zeta wanted to use her cyberarm to it's fullest.

"Hokay skipper!" Zeta said and walked to Luca. She was not in lover-mode now, now she was in bodyguard-mode again. "I am ready to make the lives the bloody hell of anybody you want. Also I am holding on to your butt this time!" She said, making sure Luca knew she wanted to stay on him this mission.

 

[Jimmy]

Ernie, the little robot, trotted in after Zeta but did not announce itself. The droid had been unusually quiet the last few days, sulking in random corners in suitcase form or appearing at doors and staring in for a few seconds before moving on. Enzo had yet to claim the two chocolate bars from its compartment.

It was wearing a ballistic vest about three sizes too big for it with Zen 10mm submachinegun hanging by a strap to the front of its chest. The bottom hem of the vest bumped against the robots thighs as it walked, the straps on the side sticking out as they tried to fit around the impossibly skinny torso of the robot.

Its sensor cluster surveyed the others passively, then turned away in its habitual nervous motion. It hadn't really been on board long enough to qualify for the exclusive buddies club with the rest of the crew.

 

[Luca]

You CAN count on Matthew, you know-
To ball up and cry!
Shush. Zeta's put a good word in for him, and that should be enough.
Pshaw. If something crawls up his leg he might try and sell it!
Pack it in you two!
I wonder what 'Dear Old Dad' has in store anyway? Dropships? Powered Armour? Full scale war?
We at least have some idea of what we're up against, if Uriel is correct - and he always is.
Oh yeah? Well birdback would... uh... hum, that's true actually.
See? You two are agreeing on stuff. This is good for your development.

Luca was happy to walk alongside the crew towards the battered Big Bird, that old clunker of a Vampire-Class Cruiser (which was so old that it doesn't have wiki information!). It was always reassuring to see Zeta's face, and judging by her good words he was also relieved to see Matthew "Mr." Smith too. Enzo would always follow him as long as there was a paycheck involved. "Enzo, you sound like hell, y'know?" Luca wasn't savvy with accents.

Even the Ernie droid was coming along.

"You're a little darling, y'know?" Luca murmured as he stroked the top cabinet of the Ernie and gave it a smile as the ramp lowered before him, and John took the lead, heading towards the pilot's cabin.
What felt like the brush of fingertips made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Luca froze for a moment but continued on. He was in one of those mindsets.

Of course he is. Isn't he cute?
Wha?
I mean the droid, of course. It's a 'he'. Not an 'it'.
Y'don't say. I don't see any dangly bits, so its a bit difficult for me to judge.
Gender isn't about what sort of body you're in. It's in the way you think you are. The robot thinks male. You think male. If the muscle-woman thinks male, does it make you gay?
Oi. Rack off.
Wait-
You know, if you liked muscles, you could have said something.
You have a fair point. You are as you do, but I'm sure we're currently content for muscular structure.
Great. Now there's -three- of them. Ugh.

He felt the weight - what little there was - alight on his shoulders, curl around his waist, nestle an unseen head against his, barely a heat ripple in the flickering shadows of the bay area. Luca was trying to sit down and strap himself in, and froze up just so he could concentrate on what was going on. He had no idea on how to anticipate whereabouts it'd be, but after focusing, it all became clear. She was clutched to him, piggy-back.

It's just your guardian angel. Miss me?
Oh, snap.
Hum. Didn't see that one coming.
Cheeky. Where've you been over the past couple of days? Thought you got spaced when John packed up his porn and tossed it out the airlock - but I knew that wouldn't stop you.
Who keeps a gun in their pants, anyway?
I do!
Both of us do. Y'know, just in case. You would've seen the look on Zeta's face too right?
PRICELESS!
Sigh.
Naturally. I thought it was kind of funny, but I didn't feel like laughing. That would have been creepy, right? Anyway, if it matters, I still trust you, An-chan.
Thanks. By the way, hoping these two clowns aren't being a hassle.
Oi!
Are you fond of them? You know, if you wanted... I might be able to make them go away?
We're halves of you fragmented by the doubt in your mind.
Er, what he said. That said, they're good company.
If you really want them, why not? So I wanted to ask you just now, whether or not you were going to commit suicide.
That would be a hostage situation!
If he dies, we die too; Ergo, vested interest in keeping him alive.
Not fucking likely. By the way, you aren't going to tell anyone I really like Yami NekoNeko, are you?
Do you really want your precious muscle-girl to know I'm with you, all the time, even when you're asleep? Or in the shower? Or poking her in the back, with your 'gun', in the morning? I don't think so.
...
I believe the word here is 'Zing'.
Kick her out, one night or another. I get bored.

"Luca?" Sebastian asked, causing Luca to blink as his mental concentration was torn away.

He looked over and replied: "Yes?"

"Mind if I do the briefing?" He offered as he stood up, "You look like hell this morning."

Luca blinked and extended a hand to say 'go right ahead'. After he did that, he rubbed the grit out of his eyes, and tried to rub his hair, but bumped into something and sighed, rolling his eyes.

It teethed gently on his ear. He just tried to ignore it as best as he could, having to concentrate to maintain a straight face since he was ticklish.

"Alright team, I managed to re-establish a connection with Yuki after that little escapade a couple of days ago, and I've gotten a better idea of what we can expect to face." He cleared his throat before continuing, spitting out a glob of phlegm on the floor. The byproduct of cigars, "What Joseph is up against is strong, but it will avoid direct confrontation. As such, Joseph is up against a variety of mercenaries, probably conscripted from Ex-Paragon forces and pirates looking for a quick buck," He looked over to Luca, "Or, for the promise of a half-million KS bounty."

Luca groaned. That bounty was starting to become a nuisance.

Remember that one time some mook tried to ambush me in a toilet?
He forgot that there are lots of hard surfaces.
Sounds like fun. Want me to let them take pot-shots? See what I did there? Pot-shots? Funny, ne?
HAH!
Three cheers for the gynoid.
Seriously, over the last couple of years this has become such a common occurrence that its just day-to-day activity. Wake up, eat breakfast, use dunny, hand someone's ass to them while they charge at you with what amounts to a lubricated butterknife while you've got the main gun of a Plumeria...
Less, now. The last one had a fifty-caliber.
Bah. I saw the scope glint. They aren't a normal fixture in Yamatai, unlike Nepleslia.

He felt her tongue along the very nape of his neck, just above his collar. Luca produced a sound that was somewhere between arousal and shock. Sebastian paused before continuing the briefing.

But did you hear the screams?
Yep. She won't be using that eye to snipe again.
Give me real battle, why don't you?
Not always his choice. Bounty Hunters of all calibres gravitate. This time we got a whelp. However, big fish are more fun to fry, I agree.
When they come you know, I'll be around. Gotch'r back, Aniki.
Let's school some 'o these fuckers. Remember the last Paragon woman who masqueraded as a masseuse?
She almost got me - but didn't expect to pull out a gun from my underwear. See Nao?
Kakuii.

"The compound we're going to be heading towards is located amongst industrial storage district on the outskirts of the Maharombi Duneway. As such, there's plenty to play with in terms of cover and concealment. Entire buildings could be lurking with hired hands."

He held up a photograph of one of Delsauria's volcanic moons (Morasett) getting close to the planet, "Also, there's a Glass Hailstorm rolling in about six hours after we touch down, if we're on schedule. Anyone caught outside will be torn to pieces and it'll continue for at least two days. Here's hoping we fight in the shade."

Luca raised his hand, "So you're telling me we're going to be underground, or overground for this mission?"

"I'm hoping most of this remains indoors, but I suspect the worst. Finally, I have a concern about Joseph. If Yuki knows about Joseph and has had enough contact to photograph him, could Yuki have brainwashed him?"

Luca blinked to consider this statement.

I don't want to imagine that.
Like it or not, it is a possibility we have to consider.
He's my fratello, my brother, for crying out loud.
I am in your brain eating your thoughts. You know, she can probably do the same thing.

"Neeeh-" Luca groaned in distaste, but it seemed in character, so the briefing continued.

I think I should bring the Psionic Scrambler with me from that WIND armour...
Smart move.
So long as I can touch you, we'll be like this, so it hardly matters.

Luca got up and went looking for that WIND armour with GUST attachments, and it wasn't too far away from the Big Bird. He rushed down the loading ramp and found it hanging up in the a closet in the Hangar. He shrugged off the invisible weight around his shoulders, took off his jacket and suited up in the whole thing, omitting the helmet. He then put the jacket back on over the armour, as one extra layer of protection. He then motioned for the weight to come back on as the armour's systems powered up.

And he felt...

The weight...

It took him a moment to realise she was sitting on his shoulders, instead of clinging to his back, now, thighs snug against his head, and her elbow just on top. A heel tapped his chest, idly, but made so little sound he would have been imagining it, if it hadn't been for the fact he could feel it.

"C'mon guys, I think we should suit up for this properly. Sounds pretty severe if there's going to be a freaking glass storm." He announced before glancing up and mumbling, "Really..." The strength assistance of the suit allowed him to carry the weight of not only his guns, but her too. He walked back into the shuttle and sat back down.

"Good thinking." Sebastian nodded.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind naked legs around my head, but...
This is ridiculous.
Usually the other way around, right? I accept the invitation. Now, just shake your adoring fangirl, and life will be perfect.
Aww yeah~.
Being second in line wasn't enough? It took a while to get used to my legbones bending the other way for a few days.
Your fault for resisting. I can be more gentle, if you're more obedient.
Look on the bright side. She ain't NMX, and NMX don't ask before making a few new orifices, just like you said.
Yeah, yeah, safe and consensual maybe, sane is a slightly different issue. Not that it mattered.
You got off too. I don't think it was so bad.
Glad I could satisfy. I was worried I was losing my touch.
You're going to make me start murdering people aren't you?
You know it.

 

[ShotJon]

All out war? No one really mentioned it to Zeta before. It might have been the utter lack of briefing. She sighed, set her weaponry on the ground in Big Bird and left a ship along with Luca. If Luca was going to take Wind armour, she should take some extra armour too. She did remember there were extra Winds and felt it will be better suited for this mission then clanky Impulse. She did like Wesley, but this time was not his time.

She returned back in the Wind suit, only unlike Luca she did wear a helmet. Because unlike Luca, she did not share his large amounts of luck. She put on her Jacket on and began strapping all her weaponry on herself again.

"Okay I am ready boss," she said and looked at the group. "By the way if you want my Plasma rifle is up for grabs. You can find it in my pile near the GPORVs." SHe said finally putting the fireaxe back behind the belt where was its place.

 

[Jimmy]

Ernie watched Luca move around the room after receiving its pats. As soon as the mans back was turned it quietly stepped around to put Zeta between Luca and itself. It hadn't quite reconciled the violent end of the last thing everyone had thought cute.

 

[Lamb]

Enzo's trip down to the surface was as planned, his arrival quick and his entrance into the dusty pilot's lounge at the spaceport with little ceremony. He spent a few minutes probing the bartender over a beer. This didn't arouse much suspicion; as it was a common occurence for traders to show up and ask if any of their friends or rivals were in the area.

"So yer shore you ain't seen her?" Enzo asked again in that slackjawed Prime accent he loved to fake so much. The bartender poured his second beer with a sideways look on her face, but Enzo provided the description again for good measure. "A lil' short thang? Carrin' a pair o' big guns, awl mean-lookin' and stuhff. A big ole' axe? Maybe a 'smore'?"

The Delsaurian bartender shook her head again. "Sorry, shug. Oi hadn't seen hide or tail of her; or that crazy lookin' Power Armor Ninjer you was askin' about. Or a big gang of thugs follerin' a catgirl. Maybe try the 'otel there, shug?"

Enzo frowned into his beer. His little straw panama hat tilted over to one side a bit, and as he straightened it, Enzo rejected the urge to scratch at the makeup covering his scars.

"Well, shoot. Ah reckon this here spazeport's where I'd heyer about it if they was hurr. " He provided. "I ain't much sure they's the hotel stayin' tahp."

Enzo finished his beer in one fell gulp and replaced it on the counter with a wad of DA bills before standing and moving towards the door.

 

[CadetNewb]

The black business suit standing by nodded to the others before listening carefully to the briefing - it seemed to be what was best called a 'family matter', and Luca appeared a little worse for it by the looks of things. The Ori-Rep noticed him pausing oddly at times, even...mewling. It wasn't exactly every day one discovered their long lost brother was gunning for them, so he cut his current employer some slack in that regard. Now that he thought of it, it was as though Luca were carrying a great weight on his shoulders even.

I don't envy him in the slightest.

Zeta's mention of the plasma rifle didn't particularly interest Luca's Agent, but Enzo's laments in regards to a certain absent crew member did. In all honesty, he was both glad she wasn't paying attention to him at the moment, and also a little sad - he wasn't just scared of that one. It also opened up his little hurt box and made him look inside at the things stuffed inside of it. Being near or under that one's scrutiny was like going down memory lane for Smith, something that was both painful and...nostalgic. Luca was perhaps going through right now.

"Mister Pavone, I'm under the impression that Mister Isbala is unlikely to accompany us this time - if that's the case, may I attempt to...make use of some of his equipment?" Smith asked, referring to Seiren. "We may be going underground, but I might be able to bring some extra firepower with us if I manage to get things right in time."

 

[Luca]

"Can't think of a reason not to," Luca nodded to the suited Smith - nodding as best as he could with a 'weight' on his shoulders, "I mean, I've seldom seen Seiren - he might be too used to tinkering, and not to field testing - so to speak." He grinned a wolfish grin to the suited man, "Go right ahead. Let's see if all that tinkering has paid off."

Luca gave Uriel a nod and a warm smile when the Elysian spoke of what else to expect. None of the prospects were all that optimistic - Luca had suspected Yuki of being up to no good and the doubts that he had about his brother's mental state were confirmed for the worst, making him sigh with regret.

However, the most surprising thing was the praise. Luca wasn't expecting anything like that in a time like this, when he'd inadvertently pissed in everyone's coffee by doing the right thing over the smart thing. He momentarily wondered if Uriel caught wind of the Payday incident, but shrugged.

Stop the presses. Did Uriel just say that God was watching us? Hot damn.
God? Well, it's comforting to know that a bed time story is in our favour.
Yes but its -his- bedtime story, and he can believe what he wants. Naoko, do average Nekos have a bed time story too?
No. I've never had any problems falling asleep at night.
Naw. I mean what's the usual BS they're told when they're 'doing their part' for the Empress?
The propaganda, basically.
The emperor. Or Yui-sama, maybe. I think there's a princess now, but I don't really think anyone worships any of those people, they're just really important.
Yeah, but coming from a Nepleslian background, I never really understood why. I mean, gangs might have charismatic leaders who lead through their actions and through intimidation, but I never got Yui's deal. The whole motherly thing doesn't gel well with that thing she did in YE12. Tough love?
We're all going to live forever, but she has the most PANTHEON access. It responds to her like my body responds to me, only on a much broader scale. In a way all of us are connected to the person with that access, though I have been outside of PANTHEON for a long time, now. When I was born, I would never have thought of leaving it on my own. So I suppose, she's a god, of a sort. If that is your qualification - a maker, or a person who watches you.
The last guy I met who claimed he was a God went down like a mortal in the end. I can't say I've got a direct line to PANTHEON, well, maybe aside from using it to get InterNEP access to play console games, but that's about it... wait, does this mean I'm indirectly 'worshipping' her by using that service?
Empress forbid we start paying for it, then we're doing worse.
Don't think of it like that. If you want to put it in terms that most Nepleslians can understand, think of the PANTHEON as a network, and Yui-sama as the admin. She's not always aware of everything that goes on within it, but everything that goes on within it she could be aware of. She has access to our innermost selves, though there is courtesy in respecting them as such. We are all there, backed up regularly if we are in the service, and so is she. We are all immortal, but out of all of us, you would have to scour every corner of PANTHEON to remove any trace of Yui-sama. So if that's your definition of God, you should pray to Yui-sama. The rest of it is just Elysian lies and nonsense, like how Yamatai was their home planet, supposedly, even though they have only been there for a couple of decades.
Fancy, but if that's what makes you sleep better at night, I'll respect it.
I told you I don't need anyone to sing me to sleep, An-chan. I sleep just fine by closing my eyes.

"I'll ensure that doesn't happen." Luca replied to Uriel's last remark. It was comforting to know that the Elysian had some snark in him - to Luca it was the sign of a well-rounded personality, or at least someone who was able to use humour as a coping mechanism, just like he'd been doing for a long, long time.

Luca then looked down at the collar of his armour to activate the communications systems and made a direct line to Enzo, "Enzo, what're you getting?" He inquried, seeing if the Rogue's forward scouting had made any ground. He waited for a response from the rogue.

John, meanwhile, seemed to be looking at Luca from behind those corrective sunglasses of his. He blinked a few times got his attention with a: "Hey."

Luca looked up immediately and gave him a nod, "Yeah?"
"You've been acting funny," He stood up and walked over to him, before planting his backside on the empty chair beside him. John stared ahead for a moment while Luca was looking at him through an ever-so-slight fuzz of invisibility, as Naoko's hand was apparently draped, lazily, over his vision. The accuracy with which she replicated her surroundings was remarkable, but slightly flawed from this side - after all, she wasn't worried much about Luca seeing her, probably; she already knew he knew. John rubbed his face and wiped his nose using the inside of his thumb before starting.

"I have no clue what's going on in your head, and maybe nobody wants to know since its what makes you so ... special - but I know something's been prodding you recently," John looked into Luca's brown eyes and watched the reaction. Luca was staring back at him, and his gaze was penetrating John's sunglasses and looking into those malformed irises of his, "I can't possibly imagine how much you miss your brother and how you want it to work out and be happy at the moment, but-"

He tried to put a hand on his face, but something wasn't quite right. He felt something that wasn't supposed to be there and his hand recoiled instinctively. He gasped and looked at Luca's head, then looked up and down. It took Luca a moment to process what'd happened and he bared his teeth for a moment before regaining his composure and stating: "Oh come on this is nowhere near as bad as the milking machine incident."

John blinked in reply as he hyperventilated, somewhat dispelled by Luca's nonchalance, his breathing slowed down. He took a stern look at Luca and imagined what could've been on his head, or in his head and frowned. He didn't say a word before standing back up and heading back towards the cockpit with looks of concern and disgust crossing his features. Echelon looked curious and started following him into the cockpit, her body whirring and articulating as she made her steps.

Milking machine incident?
There are some things that are better left in College.
Yyyeah, I have to agree with my Experience. That's one of the few things John and I are never going to live down.
I can only think of one thing to do with a milking machine. Did you really?
Well, I'd had a few to drink, we were walking home from a house party and we both thought it'd be a -wonderful- idea to experiment since we'd gotten blue balls that night.
Young. Dumb. Nepleslian. I think you can guess the rest.
Still totally worth it though.
And here I thought you weren't into kinky stuff.
Oh no, nope nope not at all no no no yes yes actually - excellent deduction Meihaku-Taisa.

"Okay, I'm going to give you guys another few minutes to get it together, then we'll sound off and go." He ordered as he buckled himself in. He was mostly waiting for Smith to wrest Seiren's LEAF from the minute inventor. With any luck, that wouldn't be too long, as waiting inside the Big Bird was wasting precious time.

"Here's hoping things turn out better than I think they are..."

-

"They're closer than you think." John had finished explaining, "I mean, she could've practically been in his damned shadow for the last two weeks. What could she be planting into his mind?" John drummed his fingers on the console of the Big Bird's flight controls. He was getting ready to get going as soon as the team was confirmed suited up for the occasion, "I felt something like, like a leg. I think she's piggybacking him. Why would she be doing that?"

Echelon rubbed her robotic chin, in some form of mimicry to show off her limited understanding of human interaction, "Consider this, John:" She looked for a pen and paper, and with an unusually jittery hand, started drawing a flame. The flame itself was surprisingly well rendered for the jitteriness of the robotic hand wielding the pen, with constant fluctuations in pen pressure and symmetrical strokes in spite of what appeared to be a constantly shaking robotic hand - slowly starting from the side of the page and rendering the image bit by bit as she went from left to right. John inspected it and looked up at Echelon, expecting an explanation.

Looking at John's pained expression, she tapped the pen against the page and continued drawing. She drew wings and a bird's head onto the flame seamlessly. John tilted his head and sucked on his teeth in approval. It was an excellent looking picture of a Phoenix, the ISC Phoenix's namesake, but he still wasn't sure where she was going with this.

She finally started drawing little pictures. Moths, and bugs and mites circling around the flaming bird lazily, drawn to the light. Some of them were even getting burnt but continuing to fly regardless. However, some were burnt and dead by the Phoenix's talons. "Artistic." John commented once he looked at the finished product, "But what's it supposed to mean?"

"Why do you follow the Captain, if not for the profits and byproducts of his actions? Why does she stalk his shadow, anticipating next big bloodbath? Why does so much trouble follow him too, and consequently us?" She put the pen down and let it roll off the console, clattering against the floor, "Why indeed." She walked away.

John contemplated the picture for a few moments before leaving it on the console, and simply waited for the order from Luca to go. Well, he was hoping it'd be Luca's order, and not hers.