RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 5.5] - Stormin' the Castle

Vincent sighed, turning away from the microphone. Well, that didn't work.. He turned back towards Valo and looked over the wires.

"Valo, reactivate and transfer AI to the ship's systems. Do not disturb subject Arin Berelai."

"Already done" Came a voice over the com above Vincent. Valo's arms suddenly lifted, the fingers twitched as an assortment of small instruments. "I will repair what I can from here. If you require any assistance, simply say my name and I will reply from whichever com system is closest to your location."

Robert walked over next to Vincent. "Well, this has been interesting." He observed to no one in particular.

"Right." Vincent said, accessing the intercom and hailing the bridge.

"John, you can handle bringing the ship down, right? I'm going to knock off and catch a little sleep."

Robert clapped Vincent on his back. "I'mma go up to the cockpit, and watch John land this hunk of junk." He said as he walked towards the door.

"Okay, two minutes till we reach Nepleslia," John announced over the intercoms, keeping at least one hand on the controls at all times, "I'll try and take it in nice and slow... I hope everyone has strapped in safely, just in case..."

Meanwhile, in the showers, Luca and Hitori had decided to have a little snuggle. One thing lead to another and... Use your imagination, damnit!

Nepleslia was in sight. John got a radio call from a control tower. He activated his headset, "Hello?" He answered.
"BZ5-019, zis is the IPG," Nostrovia's distinctly Slavic voice was on the other end of the line, she paused for a moment, "Luca?"
"Sorry, Luca's not here at the moment," John filled in the blanks for the agent, "This is his pilot, John. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. John, land at your base, and ve'll debrief you quickly. Ve have a medical crew on hand, and... as requested," She sighed, "A crew is on standby to repaint your ship. Zey seem to know you."
John half-smiled, "That wouldn't happen to be Nina, would it?"
"Da."

"Small world..." He mumbled to himself, steering the ship into atmosphere and beginning descent, "I'll be down in a sec. Over and out."
The ship rattled somewhat as it begun to fall further into atmosphere, burning up. Everyone was (hopefully) strapped in to ensure maximum comfort.

Burning up more as it came in, further, further and further. The base was in sight. The ship begun to slowdown as the ground, and the small base got closer and closer. The big ship would barely fit in the yard, possibly spilling onto the fence. But, with careful manoeuvres, and Valo's help, some time taken...

And the decision to land outside the yard... Touchdown!

"Did you feel that?" Hitori asked Luca. The lovebirds were having bit of recovery after their intensely prolonged snuggle, getting their clothes back on.
"Yeah!" Luca replied, red-faced and getting his pants and singlet back on, "I think we're home!"

With time, John was able to open up the back ramp of the ship, allowing everyone to disembark. He locked up and moved outside. Mel, Mitch and Sebastian had followed suit, with Hitori appearing after them.

Jim, Crane, Anna, Laeliel, Nostrovia, Nina and her builder-maids, and a ship repair crew and painters were there to greet them.

"You're okay!" Anna leaped into Sebastian's arms, "Please, don't do that again!"
"Great timing, I was just about to cook up a feast!" Crane doffed his chef's hat to Vincent.
"You're here!!" Jim exclaimed, but noticed a lack of sideburns amongst the crew, "Where's Luca?"
"Da, vere is your captain?" Nostrovia agreed, asking the same question.

"Beats me, I've been napping." Vincent said, then looked over at Crane. "A feast, you say? Well, a feast entails a menu at the least. What's on our table tonight, Master Chef?"

"Food?!" Robert asked hopefully. "Good, I'm starving. We never eat enough on those missions. Do we, Vinny?" He said as he nudged Vincent's ribs.

"Agreed, I think I'm wasting away to nothing." Vincent mused, also elbowing Robert. Despite his weak attempt at elbowing, however, the jab was quite enough to level poor Robert and leave him with a nice bruise on the ribs.

"Sorry."

Robert kipped back up and shrugged. "I've hurt worse before. I wonder where Luca is...We did remember to bring him home didn't we? Cause I'm not answering to his mother if we didn't."

"Pretty sure we did..." Vincent grumbled softly under his breath, going over his eidetic recollection of the past twenty-four hours. Part of his "genetic tinkering" had involved the process of gifting Vincent with a photographic memory, allowing him to 'record' the ongoings of anywhere between five minutes and five days in his mind with perfect clarity. Right now, he was just going for 'getting on board the ship'.

After about half a minute, Vincent answered: "Yeah, Luca was on the bridge with me while we were tractoring Valo in. Then I went down to the hangar deck and he just kind of... Dissappeared."

"Audio Sensors detect his last location was in the showers." Came Valo's voice from the com next to the exit ramp. "It's rather strange. I was picking up audio which sounded similar to wrestling, yet I do not detect a hostile presence within the vessel."

Vincent's face, at this point, went to a shade reminiscent of a sheet of rice paper. 'Captain Pavone wouldn't, he honestly wouldn't... Would he?' He turned back to the nearest intercom and, after fumbling with the buttons, raised Valo again.

"Unit Valo, delete audio-visual logs for that time-frame... I don't believe our captain would respond in a dignified manner were anyone to catch wind of that. I'll explain later..."

"Audio logs deleted. No visual logs present. It appears the showers does not have video surveillance. Also, who might be this group outside the ship? They appear to know you."

Robert raised his eyebrows at Valo's report. "Well, as long as he's here. That's all that counts. C'mon Vinny, let's go eat." Robert pulled on Vincent's arm towards the base. "Let the bosses have their boss talk."

"Valo, these are the auxiliary units of the crew of this ship; Anna, Laeliel, Jim and Crane. Add them to your list of allied targets and await further inquiry." Vincent then followed Robert off to the base to go get what he'd been waiting for for a long time: a change of clothes (namely pants and shirt) and some warm food, even if it was more of that godforsaken cornmeal!

Laeliel appeared much as she was before the intrepid adventurers had left on their galactic gallivanting, though now her clothing was slightly less wrinkled and worn-in looking, and a little cleaner. She looked up at the ship with a mix of dubiousness and light scorn, as though she were not quite sure how to regard its appearance along with Luca's band of self-proclaimed heroes.



Luckily, falling back on a few sharp words was always a safe bet.

"I see he up-sized his ship to better house his ever-expanding ego," Laeliel observed dryly.

Robert laughed as he walked by Laeliel. "Don't worry, we try to keep him in check. But you know how the boss is."

Luca had finished getting all of his combat gear back on, putting everything into place, and grooming himself carefully, trying to remove evidence of his erotic tussle. He rather was knowledgeable in the subject, thanks to many High-School romances and late nights out at the movies.

He walked ran down the ramp and out of the ship, "Sorry guys," He said, stopping suddenly, "Hi Mum, hi Jim, Crane, Lae, Nina, Doctors," He paused, looking to Nostrovia, "And Good Afternoon, Miss."
All of this was delivered with a dead-straight face.
Anna glared at her son, knowing that he'd tried this trick many times before, but Luca still kept his face straight.

"Mr. Pavone. Ve have much to discuss," Nostrovia stated, before walking towards the front door and pushing it open, "You and your crew must be tired. Shall we move indoors?"
"Good idea, I'm sure we're all a bit hungry and tired," Luca addressed the crew, "Right, guys?"

"Yeah, lemme lock up the shuttle," John held up a pair of keys, pressed one of the buttons on it and the ramp rose up, closing it before moving inside, "Cornmeal - right?"

"Yeah, but I've also got some steaks and veggies to go with it," Crane said, sheepishly, "So it's all good, I've been trying to expand the repertoire recently."

"Smells good," Jim said, sniffing the air and moving in.

The table was set for everyone with knives, forks, napkins, plates and ample booze, and there was even a big chair had been put in to accommodate Vincent's massive frame.
There was also a rug, and a stand to put the Televisor 12000, its Movie-Disk player, and all of the movie disks in. Side tables now flanked the Brown Couch, too.

"Oh, forgot to mention," Anna said offhandedly, "We went after some furniture while you were out."

"Dinner theater." Vincent said, deadpan, before his face broke into a massive smirk as he seated himself at the only chair large enough to house his bulk. "Nice."