RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 2] - Choke

[miss_story]

Phoenix lingered further back from the security check point. His mouth was dry and his feet felt heavy. He disliked people poking around in his personal space, he wasn't terribly fond of strangers and on top of that he was worried about whether or not his false ID would raise any unwanted questions. Best case scenario he would be denied access to the empire. Reeves didn't want to put his finger on what the worst case scenario would be if he was discovered.

Phoenix tapped his toes against the ground as his turn neared. Each time the privacy screen came down he felt a little more faint. They weren't going to strip search everyone would they? As Tani passed through unscathed he felt a weight lift off his chest. mustering an expression that didn't look half as concerned as he really was he approached the checkpoint. "Here you are miss." He murmured. His fingers fumbled with the his Identification before passing it over. "I er don't carry any weapons... Oh wait. He pulled out his multipurpose tool and passed it over all folded up. "This is okay right? I use it for work" He squeaked.

The woman merely nodded before patting down the young technician. Satisfied that he wasn't hiding anything she inspected the tool before handing it back to its owner along with his ID. Smiling nervously he hurried forward to catch up with the others who had already gone through the check.

 

[Moogle]

Seiren was next in line for the impending mandatory security check. He placed his bags on the conveyor, watching as it slowly ran through the machine. The attendant raised an eyebrow to the one containing the Little Killer.

"You know that you can't own a gun in Yamatai if you're under legal age, right?" the bored looking security guard asked.

"I'm twenty-five!" the inventor retorted, stepping through the scanner. It let out an uncertain beep the moment he went through, normally reserved for questionable individuals.

"Where are you from?" The guard asked."You're not a Lorath, are you?"

"Do I look like I have wings?"

The guard leant over whispering something to her companion who in turn tittered quietly and gave a nod of approval.

"Got a weird reading. . . could you step aside for a minute, ma'am?" "Sir."

"Er, right. Sir. We're going to have to search you."

Seiren looked dumbfounded. "Wait, what? Did I leave a screwdriver on me?" he asked, searching his person. He found nothing.

The neko gestured to a nearby half-curtained area as she pulled a rubber glove on. "Over here." She didn't wait for him to respond, and instead pulled him aside forcefully, with her non-gloved hand tightly gripping his arm.

"O-ow, too tight!" He grumbled, glaring at the guard.

"Is there a problem?" a stern voice rumbled from behind Seiren. Its owner stood with her darkly painted lips fixed into a frown. Rebeka was not pleased.

"We got a questionable reading. We're going to have to search him," the other guard said to Rebeka. "Fully."

"He's a minor" Rebeka began with a raspiness in her voice riding her rather emphasized Lorath accent. "That's illegal."

"Wait, what? I'm not a minor! Just scan me again! It's probably just broken or something." He complained, glaring at the neko with the brisk grip.

Rebeka cleared her throat, giving Seiren an especially hard stare before her voice became decidedly more aloof.

"Regardless of what he states his age to be, I am his carer and guardian. Legally, it would be my job to do the inspection."

"I don't get paid enough for legal battles. . ." the guard sighed, letting go of Seiren. "Through the gate and to this side area, please. We still have to scan you before letting you check him."

Rebeka cave a slow but careful nod, ruby eyes giving the scanner an especially incredulous look as she advanced - ducking some to pass under the arch of the scanner. The device began to spark, giving away the scent of burning plastic as smoke began puffing out of the cracks. The screen attached went frizzy by way of a hacked computer from an action movie.

"Uh, maybe this thing was broken. . ." the guard at the monitor mumbled, sheepishly staring at the screen.

Rebeka continued to watch with that same flat addled stare, not really understanding what was happening around her. Her gaze floated to the Nekovalkyjra on the right, the guard - and to the left to the inspector who was pulling panels off the machine and making calls.

"Is something wrong?"

"Looks like the machine was on the fritz after all. Just, uh. . . move over to the next row. We'll scan you in one of the working machines," the standing one said, directing Seiren to the front of the other line. This time, he passed through without so much as a blip.

He stuck his tongue out at the one that wanted to frisk him.

The guard sighed, then asked, "Ma'am, could you step through this one, please?"

Rebeka did as she was told, once again ducking beneath he arch as she passed through it.

This time, the scanner did not decide to explode. Instead, it began beeping incessantly.

The guard raised an eyebrow. "Ma'am, we're going to have to give you an inspection."

"An inspection?" she echoed through her thick accent giving a careful shrug of her shoulders.

"Yes, an inspection. If you could just step through to the curtained area. . ."

~~~~Some time later~~~~

"Uh, Rebeka?" Seiren asked, his bags in hand. "What was all of the. . . y'know, crazed deathbed screaming and cursing about? She had burns and... And... Did you bite her?"

Carefully, Rebeka set herself down on one knee and placed both of her large gloved hands upon Seiren's small shoulders.

"Seiren." she began, staring him down. "You shouldn't bring this up with the others."

"Why?"
"It would be bad."

 

[Ira]

Sura was already by the new Gartagen. The small female was sniffing about and looking up at the taller, older male. "Another Pygrin?" She said looking at her da.

He smelled of venom, and metal, but she was reminded of home.

Sura held out her left hand. "Sura A'soongao." She said politely.

Bronzi's hand glided over his the catch of his staff's pouch as he watched the courtesy take place. Sura was sweet enough for the both of them.

 

[Sham]

Soruk turned his head towards the source of his name, and found a young female Gartagen, a Pygrin like him. Did not expect to find any kin out here, so far from home.

"Sheshren Aisaras Soruk." He replied, little emotion in his voice. She may have been his kin, but his kin had tried to kill him just as well as anyone else. He then turned his attention to her outstretched hand, a handshake had been offered. She looks relatively harmless, looks can be deceiving. He glanced at the other Gartagen behind Sura. Another one of my kin, he is a fighter, protective of her. Which means she is probably not a fighter.

He cautiously took her hand to shake it, "Greetings Sura."

 

[Ira]

Sura actually did not shake, but rather touched her smaller claws to his own. It was a gentle move, but one common to their particular region of Gartaga. "I am honored to know your house, clan and name Sal Soruk."

Sura was suddenly pulled back, and Soruk found a very Large Gartagen male looming over him. Sure's heart shaped face and almond shaped eyes were replace by Bronzi. His rough full face gave him a resting scowl, and his size was by Gartagen standards quite massive. Bronzi growled lowly. 'What is a clanner doin out hea in pinkskin space." He said gruffly.

"Da!" Sura said in her high pitch voice. Bronzi turned and snapped at her loudly. "Back yer shit up!" which caused his child to jump in obedience. Bronzi was larger, and had taken down much more serious threats. But Soruk had likely spent his life on the Gartagen home world, and realized that if Bronzi was looking for a fight, there would likely be far less talking.

 

[Sham]

"I am honored to know your house and name."

Soruk had stayed motionless through the proceedings, from Sura's greeting, to Bronzi's sudden appearance. The only thing that displeased him was he had to look up a little to actually look at this Gartagen. It didn't help that he was pretty big for a Gartagen.

"My business is my own." was his simple reply, voice still indifferent. He nodded at Sura, "I take that she is your daughter?" I wonder how this came about.

 

[Phe0n1x]

Makari had dawdled a bit, taking in a new landscape was one thing but an entire new culture? There was something awe-inspiring about it. Just about the time the rest of the crew had finished their security check, he was preparing for a pat down. Makari removed his hat as he approached the desk.

"Any weapons on your person, please put them here," drawled the bored looking security guard.

Makari preceded to calmly place his Peashooter with gyroget shells loaded (but on safety of course) into the container.

"My my, aren't we a light packer compared to the folks over there. You with them?" asked the security guard, feigning politeness.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not done yet. But yeah, I'm with them. Now, if you'll stop distracting me I've got more weapons and armor to 'shed'," smirked Makari Aeron as he unstrapped two short blades from inside his duster. he reached down and took two throwing knives out of each boot and a couple gyrojet magazines. "Don't worry," Makari continued, "I know all about your silly weapon laws. All I have are gyrojets for this Peashooter...and knives. Though not as many as that big guy over there. I suppose you want the armor off, too?" He removed his belt containing another dozen gyroget magazines and two small pig-stickers.

"Yes, yes. Would you mind hurrying it up? I've almost late for my break," yawned the security guard.

"Now that would be totally inconsiderate of me to stop you from taking a break and slowing down this entire process," Makari chuckled as he removed his ballistic plating beneath the duster as well as half a dozen more throwing knives. "You know, if you folks didn't have such strict gun laws, we'd be done by now, right? I usually carry this Peashooter, an HHG, a Styrling Auto 12, a Standard General Assault Rifle, and a SiZi model 30 for good measure. But thanks to your security, I found that I can conceal far more blades than I thought. I guess thanks for that."

"Sir, with talk like that I'm going to have to put you through some scanners. Thanks for making me late for break, ass," snarled the security guard.

"Oh my pleasure, why do you think I said that? Plus, one can't be too safe with your crazy cat weapons walking around," chuckled Makari only half joking.

After purposely making the security check as painful as possible for the ass of a security guard, Makari donned his hat and rejoined the group. "Ah!" Makari said loudly trying to diffuse the stand off taking place. He gave a tip of his hat to the newcomer and continued, "It seems we've encountered another badass looking Gartagen. Nice to meet you, I am Makari Aeron, ex-bounty hunter. I see you've met our resident badass Gartagen and his adorable kid who makes the BEST coffee." Makari smiled widely, hoping some of his improvised cheer would ensure no fighting went down right after customs. He didn't expect it would go well for either of them if push came to shove.

 

[ShotJon]

"It would be nice, if the odour of resident badass Gartagen would not be on much higher levels then his badassitude." Zeta could not help and jump into conversation. Luca still looked at her with raised eyebrow. "Some manners would be nice too. He should learn from his daughter I think."

 

[Ira]

Indeed, it was true Bronzi's normally dominating and masculine musk was quite literally a miasma hetro-sexual male pheromones. Bronzi's posture however was not on that suggested he was going to hurt Soruk. But he was stating him self clearly. "This is a polite conversation!" Bronzi said to Zeta.

"Ya, yer story is yer own. But we ain't in tha bidness of group therepeh. We are mercs, dat means trust. So ya, if yer fixin on workin fer lewks, then ya should be wondering about us, askin questions that away ya can figger who is worth trustin and who ain't."

Sura was now peeking out from behind Zeta. "Can't we just give people the benefit of the doubt? It isn't like one of Mr. :uca's crew members blew up a city block or anything........"

Sura huffed. "I did make a good cup of coffee Da!"

Bronzi scowled. "Yea, but dat don't mean you need to go runnin up to strange garts and sayin hi."

 

[Sham]

Soruk raised a brow, "Work for 'Lewks'? I don't plan on working for anyone. I agreed to hear what he has to say, and that is all. I have no reason to trust any of you, and you have no reason to trust me. It's simple."

He nodded at Luca, "I'll hear what he has to say, and work from there. Until then, no more."

 

[Ira]

Soruk would hear the soft whine of magnetic coils being charged, and then he would see a gauss revolver in his face. "I was bein' polite. Now I am gettin pissed." Bronzi rumbled. It was true Soruk could probably try something, but Bronzi could squeeze the trigger a lot faster then most.

"Not all of us are here because were honest. Some of us fled Gartaga."

"You smell forge and poison...dat is what an operative smells like. Operatives like to drag little girls off to be butchered and crammed into ships and machines..."

Bronzi stood with his knees bent, and his elbow held stiffly at his right side, the large revolver was inches from Soruk's face. His eyes were slits but locked firmly on to Soruk's own. "So, sorreh if I ain't willin' to take yer word for it. But last time I saw anotha Gartagen, he tried haulin my child off world. If you don't start explanin' why you are so far from da fuggin' home world, then I'm fixin' on smokin' yer blue arse." Bronzi rumbled.

 

[Yoshi]

Tani had been watching the interaction between the two Gartagains. It was slightly amusing to see the the blunt rudeness displayed by Bronzi, up to a point. Once the pistol was dragged out, not meters from the security check point She had to step in.

With a quick movement She step between the two Gart, and sweeping her left hand up she push the pistol around and down. "I think if you two are going to do this, Maybe do it off planet... Or at least not in front of Security, Who will bring a world of hurt down on here if this got started." She was facing Bronzi making sure the blunt of her angry words came down on him.

 

[Ira]

Bronzi was making it a point not to be too loud about this. But if he discharged his weapon here, he would be at a severe disadvantage to say the least. Bronzi holstered his weapon. "I advise ya keep an eye on yer new friend..." Bronzi said in all seriousness.

Bronzi then let our a rumbling growl and turned away.

Sura stood looking at Soruk and mouthed "Sorry." and then a "Thank you" to Tani.

She looked up at Zeta. "Um, can I hang out with you for a bit? Give my da a chance to cool down maybe?"

 

[ShotJon]

"Your father sure is a hothead," Zeta grumbled as she watched the scene. As soon as the gun was drawn, her own hand was on handle of her Hand Cannon. She then moved in a way that Bronzi would be as little visible as possible from the station, where custom officers were. "He might want to be more careful. We are not in Nepleslia anymore, if he shoots something yammies will come swarming. Half of the planet is under surveilance of Megami units. If it hears a gun discharge, your dad is in trouble. He is not worried about yam-cops, but he better should be."

 

[Sham]

When Bronzi drew the gun, Soruk's wristed twitched, the blades beneath eager to meet the air, and the flesh of another. He resisted the urge to introduce them to Bronzi's chest. Another time, another time.

"You would be wise to sheathe your arms, and settle this another time." His eyes were narrowed, ignoring the gun, and looking at Bronzi.

He was relieved, though he did not show it, when the gun was directed somewhere that was not his head. He still would have liked to spar with the brute, but you don't always get what you want. "I am not here to take your daughter. To quell your concerns, I am here to search for my lost family."

It wasn't ideal to share his personal business, but it wasn't ideal to have a bullet in his head either. The bullet was probably the worst of the two. He remained in his chair, still casting a watchful eye on the large Gartagen.

 

[Luca]

Between considering the ramifications of what exactly had happened to his partner at the checkpoint, the sounds of screaming from the checkpoint when Rebeka came along and the increasing tensions between the two Gartagens, Luca's bottom lip was slowly dropping lower and lower as his lower row of teeth started to show prominently in a defensive display. The memory of Sura's near kidnapping was still fresh in his mind as he watched the two gartagens - they both took place in an airport after all, but something told Luca it was too circumstantial for there to be any wrongness afoot.

An operative wouldn't have had to bother with going through airport security, and judging from the sounds Luca heard of, say, all of those blades being moved around - Soruk wasn't getting any love from the airport security, so that, to Luca ruled out suspicions of any other governments being in on this - but what if they weren't? A paranoid idea was in the back of his mind, and Zeta could see the looks in his eyes as he was mentally marking the airport security, the well-armed airport security, and especially the ones that use cloaked power armours. "Luca, you alright...?" Allison asked as she leaned in, afraid of putting a hand close to him.

What if they were closing in on him for what Rebeka did? What if they had detected the gauss revolver powering up and were coming to nip it in the bud? What if they were right. Behind. Him? Another electric whine and crackle could be heard as the grapple stunner started to power up involuntarily, misreading Luca's biometrics and thinking he was in danger. His toes curled in his boots and he was burning circles into the table with his fingertips. Zeta could see his right eye starting to go orange. He was stressed.

And then Tani told them both to stop, and the Gartagens did. Luca could be seen throwing his head back and breathing a very loud sigh before burying both of his palms in his face. "Okay, one more tea," he grabbed Echelon's cup of tea, grabbed a crumpled handful of sugars, tore the tops off of them and deposited their contents into the cup, "and we're going to get a taxi and get a hotel." He started stirring it with his pinkie finger and then downed the concoction in one go.

Echelon then gave a dirty look to Luca, bought another cup of tea, and the way she was holding it and looking at the Captain's receding hairline suggested that she was wondering what it'd look like with some hot tea splashed on it. Luca gave her a few banknotes and coins in return, and Echelon swiped them rightfully. "How do you even keep your H34RTB34T steady, Cap'n?" She was getting a reading of about a hundred and twenty beats a minute, far away from the healthy baseline of 72 beats per minute. Luca shook his head in reply.

"Zeta unless she invited you to an orgy later on you should probably take that up with HR," he said as he got up and started walking outside into the spaceport's arrival carbay. Taxis of both the wheeled (a couple of flights of stairs down) and hovering variety were visible. The sights, as Echelon would observe, were aesthetically pleasing. She took her first steps out into that air, that air that, despite the city she could see before her, she couldn't smell its runoff, its after effects, its waste. Her shoulders slooped visibly. She noticed Luca looking past the city and towards the mountains.

His heartrate was slowing down just like the smile on his face was getting wider. He gave a contented sigh before moving on and flagging a flying taxi van down. "Hello, yes, excuse me," he asked the Nekovalkyrja at the wheel. She didn't seem to mind that there was a man capable of tearing a battleship apart with his bare hands (at least according to the posters for the cartoons) standing right in front of her, if he needed to go somewhere, just say where.

"A hotel, a good one, surprise me," Luca told the cabbie. She rubbed her chin and then toyed with the blue locks of her hair, concealed by a white flatcap with buttons and badgets emblazoned on it.

"The Ishimura Heights. It's not far from Imperial Palace," the cabbie replied, "top reviews, good restaurant below, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a massage place too."

Echelon leaned in past Luca and pointed at the cabbie's hat. "Hey, that badge," she pointed to one with the devilish, grinning zero logo for SUP3R 34RBR1CK3RS UN1T3!, a Freespacer techno band that was popular in the Nepleslias, and even animated a film portraying coexistence in its positive and negative lights while trying to remain politically neutral, "Earbrickers? Which's your favourite?" The cabbie grinned, black painted lips parting to show a toothy smile before she turned the cab's sound system up.

An aural torrent of noise and wubs nearly knocked Luca twenty paces back and nearly out of his boots. Only Allison and Echelon were able to withstand it. "4WW Y34H! TH1S'S MY S0NG!" Echelon let her native tongue slip out. Allison smiled and started bobbing along too. They eventually both got onto the cab and sat together with wide smiles, bipping and bopping along to soundwaves, riding them like aural surfers and never wiping out. This trip to Yamatai was shaping up to be grand for them so far.

"okaywe'llgotherethen," Luca said quietly as his eyes were rolling around in his skull, straightening himself and his hair, which had been slicked back by the first blast of wub. "Zeta, get on the phone, book us some rooms en route, and book me a body transfer session tomorrow morning too." He nodded at her, face serious as he entered the cab and sat near the front. At least now his right eye looked better, he'd calmed down.

 

[Lamb]

"Another glass of whiskey, Mister Stapleton?"

"No, just leave the bottle. And another, I'm expecting guests."

"Of course, sir."

Glenn Stapleton was a fake advertising executive from a fake company from a real city in the Kovac System. As it was, he appeared to be a tall man with smooth skin and vivid blonde hair pasted against the back of his head with whatever awful hair-gel it is that executives always seem to be issued. Beneath the layers of make-up and business suit and spray-on hair dye, a wicked soul resided. Enzo smiled to himself watching the bellhop leave, and shoved his lowballer full of scotch to one side in favor of just drinking straight from the bottle now that there was no one to preform for. There in the 'Imperial Garden Suite' at Ishimura Heights; Enzo propped his feet up on one of several metal footlockers he'd brought up from the Lady of The Night.

With the whiskey bottle in one hand, his revolver disassembled on the table next to his spot on the big comfy couch, Enzo thumbed away at his communicator-- sending a message that availed him to Luca and made his location known.

 

[Moogle]

Seiren knew that getting the inordinately large Rebeka to share a cab with half the crew was a bad idea, so he flagged one down for the two of them to share, with the added "follow that car" order once he got in. He gestured for Rebeka to do as he did, once all of their luggage was stored in the trunk and he was sliding across the seats to the far end.

Without warning she pulled the small boy into her lap - her long legs either side of his own, knees level with his shoulders as she planted her chin atop his head. Up close, her breathing was surprisingly loud -- not heavy but he could hear the parts of her inside expanding and contracting as she drummed her gloved hands on his thighs.

"U-um. . . You really like putting me in your lap, huh?" Seiren mumbled, looking up to see her nose just barely portruding into his vision. His hands knit themselves together in his lap, not sure how he felt about this sort of constant contact.

"Sana likes laps. You remind me of her" was all Rebeka had to say, keeping it to quite a minimum.

"Who's Sana?" he asked in kind, his eyes drifting over to the cabbie's meter.

Rebeka thought on the word for a while, seriously considering herself.
"Probably noone."

Seiren blinked, then giggled.
"You're funny, you know that?"

"Funny..." she trailed to herself. "Funny's good. Funny's nice. That's good, isn't it?" she muttered, her gaze settling onto the bundle of energy in her lap.

An overly cheer Seiren replied,"Yep!"

 

[Ira]

Bronzi decided to walk to the hotel rather then take a cab. Mostly this was for defensive reasons as it would enable him to memorize the city in the event all hell broke loose(as things did with Luca) and he needed to escape. He had few words to say after his outburst, but proceded quickly enough.

Sura looked around at the cabs and the others in the crew. "Er....anybody else want to walk?" She said opting to trail her father, rather then ride with some people she hardly knew.

 

[Sham]

Soruk was mildly annoyed with Luca, as the man hadn't actually discussed what he wanted from the gartagen. Instead, he had arranged to leave, in the loudest possible fashion. Soruk hated noise, and the cab was possibly the loudest thing for a long ways around, so he wouldn't be getting inside it anytime... ever.

He expects me to follow him, without a clue on what he wants. Wasting my time with this, but... Soruk thought about how well-known the man was. ... he might be able to get me places I can't get to. Maybe some information, but that's being hopeful. So he just nodded and had to bear with it, as much as he didn't like it.

He caught the name of the hotel, and started to walk. Apparently others had the same idea, unfortunately the brute did too. I could probably end him on the walk... no one else would be around but the girl... though, killing one of Luca's comrades would not be the best way to start off. The Brute lives another day.

"I am walking, whether you join me or not is up to you."