RP: ISC Phoenix [Mission 9] Enzo's Lady of the Night

"Anybody's what gots re-supplyin' to do, better does it quick." said Enzo, mentally tallying his own stock, "I wants to kills the anticipations and finds out who done this to me."

"Yea, not a problem" Daxle replied, Putting away his utili-tool and looking for a place to dump oil.

The Origin representative strode away from the weapon batteries at a slightly faster than normal clip; he was a little pale with his hair tousled slightly, but was otherwise wearing the same expression (or lack thereof) on his face. Making sure nobody was around, he leaned against a bulkhead and caught his breath. "What. The hell was that?" he asked nobody in particular. It didn't make sense at all. Flickering lights? An apparition? How could this even happen? He reasoned to himself that it was just all in his head, and that there was nothing to worry about. He just needed to ignore it, that was all. 'It had to be just me; the lights on an Origin ship aren't unreliable like that!'

"I'll just ignore it the next time it happens." Smith spoke to himself. He then collected himself and went to the ship's lounge to relax and check over the weapons he had; it was best to be prepared for the worst after all.

"Then its settled," Luca announced with a smile, "We'll proceed as we planned. Everyone, get ready for what needs to be done. John, let Echelon take the reins, and get ready to fly the Big Bird. I'll meet you on the way down."
"I'm on it," John nodded as he walked past the AI room and gave it a pat, "You're up, Echelon."

The sound of mechanical stirring could be heard inside, "Yes, you perverted, hairy meatbag. I will handle this personally."
"You're too kind," John smiled as he walked towards the elevator and made his way down.

"It'll be an interesting mission, captain," John said as the elevator made its way down, "We don't know what we're going to get ourselves into."
Luca smiled, "Well, there's one way to find out, isn't there?"
"I know, but it could be anything. My gut is telling me that Enzo's contacts are more sinister than he lets on," John fidgeted with his prized burgundy sweater and then adjusted his glasses, "The NMX could have their tentacles in this pie."

"Good, I've always liked squid pie," Luca grinned. John's jaw dropped.

Luca made his way to the Big Bird inside his Crimson Kestrel, and John got the ramp down so they could walk in. "Do you know how to fly the shuttle?" He asked.
"It should be pretty simple," Luca replied, "I've watched you do it, doesn't look that hard once the AI kicks in."
John shrugged, "More or less. You should be fine. Still, I'm worried about the others."
"I trust they'll be okay."

Luca then made another announcement as he headed back and got his weapons from the cargo bay. There was no dedicated weaponry and armour storage in the ship's construction, but a section of the cargo bay seemed to do the job. Luca got suited up in an outfit suited for dealing with clearing out a ship. He got suited up in a WIND Power Armour with a GUST attachment, figuring that everyone else would be using the Origin Impulses.

Weapon wise, he suited up with the usual. Styrling Shotgun, HHG, Origin 10mm Pistol, and decided to stay away from the grenade launcher. However, he did pick up an Origin Fatboy that had been lent to the crew and included with the ship, courtesy of Aerin.

He watched as his comrades in the mission would be coming down to suit up with him, "I'm going to advise that we put on power armour of some sort, or at the very least, a breathing mask," He scratched his chin in his helmet, "Otherwise, we're going to have to find a way to deal with the bends in case we head out to open space."

"You could pressurise in the shuttle to match Space's atmosphere before you exit," John shrugged, "I dunno if it'll work, but its a suggestion."

Enzo arrived on the scene in the armory already raring to go. His coat had every energy weapon he could muster hidden within its depths, both the NSP and EMP-10 were sitting on his hips, cowboy style. Hidden in his suit coat was the Tiger's Tears Revolver, along with the SEP. For once he wasn't smoking. Instead, the filthy vagabond had managed to acquire a breathing mask like Luca had mentioned, and was currently trying to fit it on his head. Finally, he managed to snap it down over his scalp, a slight fog coming over the faceplate as he took his first breaths of fake air. He wound the hose down into his coat, where it was assumed he had some sort of air-tank.


A muffled, tinny voice came from a small speaker on the front of the mask, "I'm as ready as I'm gonna be. Power Armors jus' slows me downs."

Robert popped up beside Enzo. He was spinning his trusty knife in his hand. "I got my Fatboy sitting next to my Impulse armor. Which I ran a full check up on. I'm ready and waiting to do this, Boss." he neatly flicked his knife straight up and caught it on a fingertip. Blade down, but not a drop of blood spilled as he continued to balance the knife, while he started to move it in slow and strange patterns. He winked at Enzo during this display of dexterity. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

When briefing ended Zeta just stood up and walked away for Big Bird. That is where her stuff was left. She change into something more proper. Which were white tank-top and khaki cargo pants. She really needed to buy more clothing but that can wait for someday later.

She then picked up SEP and Fat Boy and returned to Kestrel's cargo-bay and found her pile of thing ordered by Origins. She opened largest box to found the Impulse unit she used before. It's right hand was repaired. She was not even sure if it was the same suit. It will need some paintjob though. Opening another box showed Gamma Ray vulcan. Too big for this action, plus it still needed some tinkering so it can be powered from her Impulse.

Small box at the side revealed Peashooter. Zeta smiled upon founding that. Next smaller box revealed some Fatboy accessories, a package of batteries and some ammo for Gauss rifle. Few magazines and some bullets. Last but now least there was the plasma rifle she used in Origin factory. She got that in case they would stumble upon something really really armoured. In these day you can find Ripper behind any corner.

After checking all that she hopped into her new Power Armour. She was quickly greeted by her AI system in the suit. So far it called itself Pawn and welcomed her in her suit. It then asked her to attach power-pack. She did not linger and reached for Assault pack she bought along the PA.

AI than asked her for user data which she was happy to insert, followed by few other things. It looked like it was formatted since her last use of the suit, if it wasn't completely new suit though. "You are nice little happy AI aren't ya? I will call you Wesley," she then said while she tinkered with suit radio.

She then went to arm herself. She put SEP on her right thigh in its holster with extra battery. Peashooter at her side in a black holster, letting it hang on ammo belt she bough for FatBoy. She took two magazines of normal ammo for Peashooter and one full of Sabot rounds which she happily slid inside the gun. She then put knife on her chest army style with handle facing down. And then she put another three charged batteries on her belt. Batteries for Fatboy and SEP were compatible anyway. She took peashooter just cause it looked good.

She then returned to other of the boarding party with her helmet under her arm. While she walked by Robert she snatched the knife he was balancing. "Careful we wouldn't like to have someone injured before we board the vessel." She said with smile. "And if we do it right, there will none after it too." She caught knife by the blade and handed it back to Robert. "You should get ready too mate."

She then walked to Luca with her every step doing proper DING fro metal meeting metal. She really liked her new suit. Luca used one of the WIND Armour. Those were nice but Zeta wanted to try this one. "I am ready skipper," she said, holding her helmet she spread her arms as if she was presenting herself. "How do I look?" She said with her voice full of kid. "As soon as we get rid of that ugly green colour and do some proper paint-job on it it might be nice, intimidating armour what do say?"

Robert grinned a big toothy grin as he received his knife from Zeta. He pointed and clicked his tounge. "You got it Boss lady." he walked off towards his suit spinning his knife across his fingers. He walked by Seiren, who seemed to be still hard at work. He quickly suited up and similarly interfaced with his A.I. But he didn't name his A.I. Yet.

By now, Smith had somewhat calmed down. The Ori-Rep sat, disassembling his newest weapon, the Peashooter, with delicate care. Even though he knew it was made to go through hell and back, he didn't care; all the attention lavished on the now shoved the thoughts of the then away. The Nepleslian went on, going over the plan again. The KESTREL and BIG BIRD were going to come into close range of Enzo's MULE, setting up a patrol. Next a boarding party would - Smith bolted onto his feet. "Boarding party?" He asked the recycled air of the ship.

*****

As he made his way to find Luca, Matthew was thinking and thinking about what was about to happen. A boarding party. That meant they'd need heavy firepower, and armor. All Smith had was plain firepower, and his wits. And he'd rather not use a power armor or risk going into vacuum, having avoided doing both for his entire life so far.

The Mindy's purple helmet smoothly swiveled to look at him, cocking slightly to the side, grinning. It had to be grinning.

Smith shook his own head back and forward to clear the memory away. Whatever Luca wanted Smith to do, he would do it; and if that meant climbing into one of those, or getting spaced, so be it. The compensation sent back would more than make up for it. He hoped. Matt's last few steps took him around the corner, and up to Luca Pavone, suited in what he took to be Lorath in design, visibly eying the suit and what the others present had before addressing the man.

"Mr. Pavone. What equipment I have is squared away, and I'm ready to assist you in whatever capacity necessary." he spoke. He hoped Luca wasn't going to ask too much of him. Knowing the man, Smith wasn't counting on that.

Luca made a quick head count. Enzo, Robert, Zeta and Mr. Smith appeared to be ready for this mission. A five man band would be able to sweep the tiny ship with ease.

"Don't worry, Smith," Luca gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I'm sure we'll be fine," He then looked at the others, "Alright guys, we're going to leave soon, so everyone on the boarding party get into the shuttle on the Big Bird, and we can continue arming ourselves."

As he made his way towards the shuttle with a helmet under his arm, he made one last note: "Anyone who wants in on the boarding party, this is the last chance before we seal the shuttle," He then put the helmet on and clicked it into place, allowing a sealed environment to form, making himself safe for spacing.

Zeta's AI gave the cybernetic-armed bodyguard a reply, "If you insist, Miss. From what I gather at Origin's Customer Department, your employer is labelled as incredibly dangerous," Wesley was talking in a matter-of-fact-ly way, "Do reconsider employment before its too late."

John then requested whoever else wanted to follow along to come along on the Big Bird in case they were boarded or needed someone to handle the weapons.
Melissa, Sebastian and, surprisingly, Michio volunteered for it.

"Well look 'oo's dragged 'imself out!" Melissa commented wryly.
"Hmm," Sebastian pondered why the morose mercenary would be up and ready to do something. He then snapped his fingers, and asked if Daxle wanted to come along on the Big Bird, "We might need a doctor for afterwards," He said, "Don't worry, we'll reimburse you."

So the team arrangement appeared to be this: Luca, Zeta, Enzo, Robert, Mr. Smith and possibly Panther on the boarding party (he was nowhere to be seen, or just very good at hiding).
John had to fly the Big Bird, with Melissa, Sebastian and Michio holding the fort, so to speak. Daxle might be on hand for the aftermath too.

The Big Bird launched out of the Kestrel towards the point of Enzo's Mule with its cargo in tow, and the Crimson Kestrel flying steadily behind it, piloted by the Freespacer.

Meanwhile, inside the shuttle, preparations were still being made as Luca double-checked his weapons, and addressed his crew, "I've got Enzo's floorplan, I'll just send it over to your HUD's so we can see what's what," With a few thoughts and some concentration, the floorplan was sent to the other armoured people, "If you aren't wearing an armour, you can just stick to someone who is."

Robert grinned as he moved around it the Impulse. He kept his helmet in one hand while looking at the other arm's close combat Kaiser blades. They were fully extended and looking nice and sharp. "I'm ready to go Boss. I'd love to take my new suit on a real mission against something that doesn't look like a pile of goop." he tapped his chest with his fist, careful not to cut himself with the blades.

"Uhh, sure, yea ok" Daxle replied, grabbing his back and a box of stuff from the medbay before heading down to the Big Bird. HE climbed aboard and quickly found the Medical center, which was surprisingly a little larger than the Kestral's. He located a storage locker and got out both emergency cots, and then set them up inside the bay.
"Err, captain. I suppose you should ask anyone that if they need something in a medical sense, they should come see me now" he said, unsure if he would be able to do anything sophisticated.

"I see you came up with a good plan after all, Aniki."

Naoko slipped out of the shuttle's cockpit into the armor bay, not even having to duck to navigate the diminutive portal.

The NH was dressed out in what looked like light body armor as opposed to power armor, gray with black paneling, form fitting and rather sleek in design. Probably something ordered from the Nepleslian surface - a helmetless Murr armor to the market-savvy. It fit pretty well, and had obviously been created with the size of the recipient in mind. Coupled with a pair of SEP II's hanging from holsters attached to her lower back, and the SMaR cradled in her lazy grip, the outfit gave off a rather ominous impression, as if some sort of nightmare assassin had stepped out of the gloom with a serene smile and long, braided, doll-like hair.

'Where did she get that?' was probably a good question to ask; 'How did she get in here?' was a better one. From the looks of it, she wasn't about to answer either; the apparition glanced at Smith briefly, showing that its eyes were once more a regular shade of brown, ringed with white, and smiled, revealing a perfectly normal - if slightly pointed - set of teeth.

"I think the Styrling company has you beat," she commented, "This armor actually fits, yo."

Robert looked at the short Neko as she spoke. "Where did you get that armor anyway? I dont remember you ever wearing that before." he asked, before sheathing his Kaiser Blades.

"I sent ahead for it," explained Naoko as she took a seat right beside the soon-to-be-distressed Origin Representative, bracing the SMaR's butt on her knee casually, "When I knew we were going to be in Nepleslia, I had it carried up with the regular supplies."

When she bowed forward to Luca, Naoko felt very smooth. Perhaps it was just her good mood; as refined and quiet as she usually was, she couldn't help but be a little theatric. Naoko blamed it on the well executed psycological terror-bringing. It did bring out her good side. The little NH smiled, radiating genuine ease and contentment.

"I used your personal terminal to arrange it, along with several other small things that I have been needing and did not purchase from Origin. Gomen ne. Speaking of; what is your favorite color? Red, ne?"

Robert, not catching on to the fact she wasn't talking to him, scratched his head "Personal terminal...? And I like Blue. Thus my newer eye color." he pointed to his cybernetic eye. "I always liked it, personally. Why do ya wanna know?"

"Ah."

For a moment, Naoko actually looked a little awkward. She twitched her ears down, examining Robert for a long moment, as if considering just how to recover the situation. Naoko leaned forward slightly, squinting a bit at him, staring him straight in the eyes. An equally long moment passed, where she looked from one eye to the other, comparing them.

"Well," she stated, "I think it's a nice blue, but shouldn't they match?"

Zeta was in good mood. She felt her adrenaline level rising from upcoming boarding of Lady of the Night. She heard what her AI told her and giggled a little. "I know Wesley, but let's just say I am helping him through those dangerous situations," she whispered to her her helmet, which she held in both arm in front of herself. It looked little like she was talking to armour itself.

She then looked at Luca and the others. "Well let's get this show on the run. It would be better if we stay together on that ship. Maybe it is no exactly large but who knows. Also Rob, us armoured folks should stay near less armoured people. I will be with captain and Smithie and you should help cover Nao and Enzo. With some luck, we won't meet any heavy stuff. Like captain said we need to stick together because of the floorplan anyway. Except for Enzo who knows his ship." She said to all of them. Her voice was not bossy. It was more like she was giving advice.

She then turned to Luca. "I don't think I am especially happy that we lack technical support here. But with some luck we can do without it, in worst case I can establish video feed to Arin or Allison. I hope we won't need them though." She explained her worries.

"Also Wesley," she talked to her helmet again. "Boost up your firewalls mate." Too much to think of. Why did she always remembered the most important stuff when it was too late.

This time, there was no ignoring it. As it appeared from the portal, Smith's eyes locked to Naoko's as he forced every nerve and fiber ramrod stiff to prevent any unsightly reactions. His jaw clenched shut to the point he could feel pressure at his temples and ringing in his ears. Matt did not care how it got there first, or where its new equipment came from; that was to be expected of something completely unnatural masquerading as a pristine looking woman. A polite bow, movement without so much as a hitch. He stopped looking at her as soon as she moved though.

Smith's initial silence was finally broken when she sat by him, to his dismay. By now the chatter of the other crewmembers was taken into his mind, processed into things he needed to do, which helped to temper his deep rooted fears. "I do admit." He began slowly. "They do have us beaten when it comes to that." One side of his mouth quirked upwards ever so slightly. "I'm glad to see you found something comfortable."

Personally, even he was unsure if the question of color was directed at him; it was in a very, very good mood. Though, one thing was certain for Smith. Not red. Not in a hundred years. Not even if some god somewhere that wrote down all of existence demanded it of him.

Robert blinked at Naoko's question. "Well, Ohhh. I suppose they could be. I never really thought about it. I just liked the color blue so I used that instead." he tapped his chin thoughtfully. Absently nodding to acknowledge Zeta, while continuing to ponder this strange new idea of having two eyes that were the same color, once again. He opened his mouth a few times, but didn't say anything. "Hrmmm." was all that came out.