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

"Nice of ya to spruce up the place a bit." Robert quipped as he tossed himself on the couch. "Comfy....."

Vincent took a seat somewhere in the vicinity of the Brown Couch, taking advantage of the fact that the plushy recliner was the only seat large enough to accomodate his bulk. He settled into the chair with a plate of steak and a few cobs of corn, then trained his eyes on the television and ate slowly, savoring the taste of his first bite of food in 24 hours.

Arin disappeared for a moment, and then came down the stairs in a fresh set of clothes smelling like new, cleaned of all the grease, dirt, blood and weariness from the last adventure. She sat a little further away from the main group because God forbid, she sat next to someone who hasn't showered in days. She sandwiched the steak between two pieces of bread for the ultimate convenience in eating, requiring no plate nor cutlery.

"I'm going out later to sell some junk and buy some clothes, NAM says I can't use their uniform anymore." She said, between mouthfulls.

"Hm?" Luca said, upon hearing about NAM not allowing Arin to use her uniform, "No - I actually think it suits you," He finished his steak, veggies and cornmeal, "Tell 'em that the distances you went showed how eager you were to sell your products and get your message across - and demonstrate it," He winked, "In fact, I'll buy myself a box of HHG bullets. White ones."

"But Luca, we need to debrief everyone, remember?" Nostrovia said, raising a waggling finger.

"Oh - okay, everyone get comfy. I have the feeling that this'll take a while."

The debrief could be broken down as follows.

• Luca was rewarded 20,000 KS for his deeds. Vincent, Robert, Hitori and Arin received 15,000 KS each. John, Mel, Mitch and Sebastian earned 10,000 KS each. 5,000 was given to Anna, Crane, Jimmy and Lae.
  Overall more would've been earned, but the requests made on Luca's behalf are part of the costs.
• Arin's college fees can now be considered entirely paid for.
• The Vampire Class that was stolen is now part of Luca's legal possessions. Deeds and all. It has also received a cursory maintenance, been painted White/Orange with a fiery red Trim, on request. (Valo was largely ignored in the process. Nostrovia didn't find out about him.)
• The crew has received medical treatment for all of their injuries. Most notably, a kilo of long-embedded shrapnel was taken from Luca, a .22 calibre bullet in Vincent's gluteus maximus (butt), and cybernetic maintenance on Sebastian's right arm. All procedures took about two hours, total.
• N-357 is too remote to consider destroying. The fortress will wither by itself.
• A vaccine has been prepared for both Nepleslia and Yamatai in case Cain's virus breaks out.
• You can talk about it as you like - since the knowledge is already public. Do what you will with the publicity.
• This debrief took just over 3 hours to complete. Snacks were served, courtesy of Crane.

"Vif zat in mind," Nostrovia concluded with a bow. Nina her maid-builder company had left, and so had the doctors and nurses, "Good day, Pavone Junior and Pavone Seniors, and crew."

"Thanks, g'night miss." Luca waved goodbye, watching her move away in a black, shiny car before turning around to his crew, "Now... I'm not sure about you guys, but I could sure go for a movie." He sat down in front of the television, wearing a comfy pair of tracksuit pants, slippers and his singlet, waggling a remote control to the crew, "Who wants to watch what? Toss me some names, and get comfy!"

Vincent crowed out his request first. "I say Fringe Worlders 4: The Struggle for the Behemoth!" He had always been a fan of the "Fringe Worlders" series, and the newest installment seemed like the best choice.

"Pppppfffht, Didn't take you to be a Fringe Worlder nerd, Vinny." Robert said around a piece of cornmeal. "How about Pre-teen Mutant Samurai Lizards: The Mystery of the Goo"

Arin was too happy to say anything over her share of the rewards. 30,000 DA? College fees entirely paid for? Saleable parts and fabricator still in her possession? This was truly the Nepleslian 'FUCK YEAH' dream she grew up dreaming about. Still grinning from ear to ear and thinking of all the accessories she would buy, she leaned over the back of the couch. "Oh boys... Don't you wanna turn on the news first?"

Vincent looked dumbfounded for a second in Arin's general direction before finally realizing that they would probably be on the news.

"Oh, right!" Vincent smiled slightly as he retrieved the television remote and flicked the tube on. He quickly switched over to Channel 3 to see what the casters had to say.

Luca blinked for a moment, "Yeah!" He realised, "That's right!" He put up the remote, turned on the TV and flicked over to Channel 3.

The news report was one aired shortly after it was announced that Luca had indeed saved the world. There appeared to be a mostly positive reception by citizens from Nepleslia, Yamatai and the Colonies for Luca and his crew's bravery.
However, some criticism came in for starting the whole mess in the first place, but it was silenced when he appeared to take responsibility for his actions and face the problem head on.

"Not bad at all," Luca told himself, "Looks like we're in the limelight... I wonder how many people will try and interview us?"

He got a mental picture in his head of a line of reporters out the front of his door. The image faded quickly as he looked for the Pre-Teen Mutant Samurai Lizards movie Robert mentioned. He eventually found it and put it on.

The movie was a D-Grade bomb, but it was utterly hilarious because of all of the technical flaws. In one scene, John pointed out a stage hand staggering about in the background, before realising that he was in the wrong place and running away.
Other notable screw ups were the fact that an important character was introduced at the last minute, a boom microphone visible in one shot, and the fact that one person's costume slipped in the middle of a speech, and had to re-adjust it - while keeping the speech going. Running commentary was kept by John, Sebastian and Mel.

A barrel of unintentional laughs was to be had.

"We could be terrible movie reviewers if the merc business falls through," John suggested.
"Nah, I think it's been done before," Luca replied, "Ominous Technology Stage 6000, remember, we watched it all the time at university?"
"Oh, right."

It was somewhere in the evening now, and Mel had decided to have a shower and hit the bunks early. There was also time for a quick snack before bed if anyone wanted.

"Ha, that was great. Man, I'm still hungry though." Robert said as he got up and headed for the kitchen. "Anyone want anything? Other than that cornmeal I mean, cause if there's any left, it's mine."

"I suppose I could do with some leftovers before bed," Luca replied to Robert, getting a spoonful of cold mash potato and eating it with gusto, then sitting back down and going channel-surfing, "I'll be upstairs in a moment."
"Okay, just don't fall asleep on the couch." John said, moving upstairs groggily with Mel.

"I'll sit back." Sebastian said, "I'm no stranger to sleeping on the couch."
Luca nodded in agreement, focusing for a few seconds on one channel, then moving on.

Then something caught his eye on the Yamataian channels. A news report direct from SANDRA.

Luca's eyes widened, and he gasped, realising in horror: They were back. The Mishhu had returned. However, his horror turned to a smile. His next mission had just handed itself to him.

"Luca...?" Sebastian asked curiously, looking at his son's expression.
"I've fought these things before - it made me feel so alive. Kicked one in the face." He stood up, walked to the armoury and looked at all of his battle gear suspended on a mannequin. Jacket, suspenders, belt, singlet, holsters - and all of the guns. He wondered how he'd apply each one to this new threat.

Sebastian went pale for a moment, "You can't - it's so soon after your last mission!"
"Hell no, I ain't gonna compromise in the face of these bastards." Luca turned around with his 10mm pistol in hand, "The crew and I can sleep for tonight, but tomorrow-" He loaded a fresh magazine into the pistol,

"We've got some serious shit to do."

MISSION 5 - COMPLETE!!