Sigma
Inactive Member
Nepleslia Prime, 6 PM
A group of seven Marines wearing dress uniform waited backstage. They were at a concert in their honor. Admiral Valken had kindly informed them after the Tange mission that the Sky Marshal had organized a charity concert to raise funds for all those displaced UOC refugees and this particular band had demanded that the 4th Fleet Marines be their guests of honor.
Phaedra stood at ease in her newly pressed dress uniform. Her hair was pulled up into a precise braid, and a peaked cap was set on her head. She stood silently and observed the proceedings.
"Alright, alright, answer me this. We were just the grunts on the ground, or in my case, the air. Why are WE the guests of honor here?" Jan Kancre, Private 3rd Class asked, still a tad bit confused, although his uniform and beret were apparently the pictures of perfection. "You four all look stunning by the way, Sergeant, Rita, Naomi, Laura, and it’s great to be honored like this, but wouldn't it be much better for, say, Admirals Valken or Wazu or Premier Westwood to be here?"
Phaedra blushes at Jan's comment, but says nothing.
Laura replied, "Well, these Aethersperm guys did pretty much say they were only going to perform if we got on stage. And I don't think Admiral Valken is the type of old man who listens to Aethersperm..."
Naomi looked up from her freshly lit cigar, blinking at Kancre's comment. "I guess they like us," she said, puffing out a thin cloud of smoke. "Either way, free booze. I'm not going to say no. Are you?"
"If I didn't want to be here, Naomi, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Got a Light?" Jan replied, smiling.
Naomi smiled now, still puffing happily on the smoke. "Do you piss standing up? Here," She held out the silver-colored lighter, speaking as she did so. "I've known more than one man went somewhere he didn't care for, to impress the ladies or some such crap."
Jan took the lighter, pulling a fairly hefty Cigar after his pocket, chomping down on it and lighting it. "Thanks, Naomi. And ain't none of the women in this squad are easy enough to let me in their pants just by showing up here dressed all fancylike. 'Cept maybe Laura, but she's Laura. And Doc Bernie over there-" Jan motioned to Bernard with his cigar, "Would probably ask Suku the Terrible-" Jan cringed at the mention of The Green Demon- " for advice on how to torture me if I DID sleep with Laura."
Phaedra cringed at the mention of "Suku the Terrible."
"Considering she has the mental maturity of a seven year old, you're basically having sex with a kid," Bernhard replied evenly. Laura slapped the back of his head, knocking his beret off. Bernhard caught it as it fell off.
Sawyer stood off to the side looking at everyone "I gotta agree with flyboy there, you ladies look fantastic. Who would be dumb enough to say no to free booze? Certainly not me and I don't think anyone else here would." He said as he nodded to all of them.
Rita stood boredly with a furrowed brow and a frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for everyone to stop talking. "Now that you're all done sucking each other’s proverbial dicks, will somebody please tell me where this 'free booze' is?" She asked, letting out an angry humph.
Naomi grimaced as she took back the lighter, depositing it in a pocket. "Sawyer, if anybody here said no to free drinks, I'd kill them personally. That's just stupid." She looked around at her surroundings with seeming casual disinterest, and that's probably what it was. "Booze is booze, even if you don't like where you gotta go to get it."
"I gotta say exactly to everyone here 'cept for Rita. Free Booze IS free booze, and Laura does have the mentality of a seven year old girl with the body of a teenager. That makes it completely wrong and far too much like sleeping with a cat for my tastes." Jan inhaled after the sentence, and smiled at the cyborg. "C'mon, Rita. Relax. If you're bored, go start a fight in the crowd."
Naomi snorted at Jan's comment to Rita. "Rita, let me know if you want to do that. I'll come behind you. I'm bored already, and I could really use a chance to get drunk. I'm just strung out, you know?"
"Haha, don't worry, love! That's after the concert when we've got all the time in the world to get drunk!" a new voice said. As the Marines turned around, they saw the four band members of the famous Aethersperm. Leading them was Jon-Jon Rocketass, who had replied to Naomi's question. He was followed by Dizzy Dinkaid, MOE 17 and Rodney Smitz AKA "Shitz".
"They look every part the heroes of the Imperium," Rocketass said to his fellows. "Handsome men, hot women, maybe we should do a tour of gigs at the military bases," Dizzy Dinkaid smiled.
"You've gotta be shitting me." Rita said, stepping towards Jan and placing her hand underneath his armpit. She gripped him relatively lightly, and then lifted his entire body into the air with one hand. "Unless there's an ID-SOL in this crowd, I don't think there's anyone I could fight." Rita said, dropping Jan back down onto his feet. She looked over to Rocketass and grimaced, as if she considered him and everything he stood for disgusting. "Killing your enemy isn't heroism. Saving someone's life is heroism, but I'm not here to save lives. I'm here to kill people, and squids, and whatever the fuck else pisses off the Greens."
"I don't know, Rita," Naomi said. "There could be. Considering we're at war, and there's so many military personnel, and clones, and so on out there? As to us being heroes?" She looked to the band. "Thanks. We're just professionals, you know? Still, it's appreciated. We happen to like what we do, but it's nice to be 'saluted' back once in a while."
Jan resisted the urge to headbutt Rita in the nose when she picked him up, partly because he knew he couldn't take her and partly because he didn't want to make a scene. Jan sighed at Rita. "We aren't the greens anymore, Rita. The Democratic Imperium is the government for all Nepleslians, regardless of if they're red, green, black, or blue."
Rita looked over to Jan and muttered out a few choice words, "The Greens still own the IPG," and then left it at that.
Phaedra frowned at the mention of the IPG. Those three letters always brought up bad memories.
"And you say I'm the one who acts like a seven year old?" Laura asked Bernhard, who shrugged. "A pleasure and an honour," Bernhard said to the Aethersperm members, shaking their hands.
"Holy hell people, can we all just calm the hell down here? No need to get into fights with one another since we are on the same team and we're on libo. Do we really want to have this privilege cancelled and get recalled to go do some bullshit up on the ship? I for one don't so why don't we just settle down, watch the show and then have some fun drinking and bullshitting with these people who seem to like us so much." Sawyer said with a shrug and a look of what the hell on his face.
"Listen to Sawyer." Jan said, seemingly yawning in boredom. "Can't wait for the concert to start, Mr. Rocketass."
"Psh, whatever." Rita said, looking away and waving her hand. "I'm gonna go get drunk as hell." She said, looking around for the booze. She was taller than everyone else, so chances were she wouldn't have a hard time finding it by peering out over the crowd.
Sebastien had once again found it beneficial to sit back and not say anything as needless tension apparently rose within his group. The usual suspects at its center it seemed. Ignoring it however he'd shift focus towards the band once more. "I'm sure everyone would like it if you guys toured the bases. I know I'm happy to hear personally. Thank you again for having us. Though maybe some booze might help.", he'd explain, hoping for some himself to calm his nerves as he relaly didn’t like the idea of being here. He was always rather critical of himself and felt undeserving. That and he never did like concerts.
"What a good example of fine Nepleslian Marines we are showing to our esteemed hosts" thought Phaedra sarcastically.
All three human members of the band laughed. "Half of them are trying to be nice and the other half want to kill each other!" Rocketass guffawed, "That's the NSMC I know!"
"Listen up, here's the plan," Shitz said, "We'll go out there, thank everyone, remind them why they're here. And then we'll announce you. Come onto the stage, do a pose or something and wait until one of us leads you off stage. Simple, yes?"
"Understood," said Phaedra with a nod.
"Makes sense to me" Sawyer drawled.
"Good enough for me." Jan said.
"Oh..." Rita said, a pained expression coming across her face. He had just spotted where all the whiskey was, too. "Guess I'll just drink afterward."
Sebastien would simply nod as a reply and quietly follow the lead of the others as had been his usual up to this point. Not like this was complicated or as if there was anything to say. He was just glad that this was one of those dress uniform occasions. He felt more at home in the dress then the standard for whatever reason.
"After the concert, that's when we all get drunk" Dizzy Dinkaid added with one of her infectious smiles.
"Work for me," Naomi said. She was fiddling with something on her uniform tunic, perhaps imaginary specks of dust. Unlike her larger squad mate, she knew that waiting to get drunk in time such as this could be worth it. Then she smiled suddenly. "Just so long as you don't ask me to sing. Not a good idea." Her words were followed by yet one more of her seemingly unending spews of thick tobacco smoke.
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Thirty minutes later, on stage
"And now, our guests of honour, your heroes, Nepleslia... 4th Fleet's premier squad, the ones who defended the NSS Destiny herself, Volkov's Cavaliers!" Dizzy Dinkaid shouted to the audience. "Led by Sergeant Phaedra Volkov, they're responsible for rescuing a great number of the unfortunate UOC refugees on Tange, give it up for them, folks!" The female Geshrin looked back, signaling they should walk out now.
"Volkov's Cavaliers, Sergeant? Who came up with such a corny name, ma'am?" Jan asked Phaedra in a whisper.
"Do you always question your Sergeant, Jan?" Naomi asked, though her tone only sounded mildly upset, and her eyes betrayed her real feelings. "I don't think it makes sense, but then, I'm not the one they asked. It sounds alright, just the same."
Phaedra glanced at both of them with an icy stare and shook her head slightly, which meant "Quiet. Now is not the time." With that, Phaedra took a deep breath and walked out onto the stage.
Rita smirked and closed her eyes for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Sounds good to me." She said, lifting a cigar to her mouth and lighting it as she stepped out onto the stage. Smoke billowed from her artificial nostrils, and she undoubtedly made an impression when she stepped out from backstage. A six and a half foot tall woman built like a warrior with a cigar pressed between her lips was certainly the spitting image of a Nepleslian marine.
Sawyer just looked baffled at the consistent arguing by the others. "Hayl, may as well get this over with." He muttered in his drawling voice and walked out on stage right after Phaedra and Rita.
"Let's go!" Laura hissed, pushing her way forward. "Lead the charge, Sergeant," Bernhard added, following close behind and ready to yank Laura back if she did something stupid.
"What she said, Sergeant~" Jan said, giving Phaedra a nudge and following her out on stage.
Naomi shrugged casually, puffed out some more smoke, and then walked out on stage behind her Sergeant. She didn't see what the fuss was. Just walk out there, look cool and impress the crap out of the audience. Seemed easy enough, really.
Sebastien was, at this point, indifferent to the constant bickering. After all, it was constant and you don’t even notice the drama after awhile. Besides, it wasn't his job to care. His job was to shut up and do as told which in this case was look good for the crowd. So, in whatever formation the squad would seem to fall into, Sebastien would march out on stage with the others. Then, when it seemed appropriate and acceptable, wave to the crowd.
Laura and Bernhard stood to the left of Phaedra, the male medic refusing to leave his partner alone in case she embarrassed them all. The others may switch between being childish and mature but Laura seemed stuck on being a kid. They waved to the crowd, Laura more hesitantly than Bernhard.
The audience responded with cheers and whistles as the squad came on. Many catcalls were heard, directed at the women. One particular shout caught all of their attention, "Phaedra's damn HOT!"
Once they all made it out onto the stage, Phaedra signaled the squad to turn and face the audience. Phaedra turned and faced the crowd, seeing the massive amount of people before them. And then someone from the crowd called out at her. Taken aback by this and unsure how to respond, Phaedra blushed and stared blankly out into the crowd.
"Hey! Phaedra may be hot, but she's my sergeant! You better take that back before I come down there and kick your ass!" Jan yelled back at whoever had said the offending comments.
Sawyer waved to the crowd seeing that everyone else seemed to be doing much the same thing. Hearing the call of "Phaedra's Damn HOT" he glanced at her and looked into the crowd trying to see who had said it. Not being able to tell he simply shrugged after hearing Jan shouting into in the crowd.
Rita had a stoic expression on her face, although smoking the cigar certainly made her more relaxed. She smiled a little bit in a defeated way, then took the cigar out of her mouth with her right hand, blowing the smoke out at the audience.
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After the concert, backstage.
"Booze!" Laura cried in happiness, seeing the countless bottles in the backstage lounge. "Not for you," Bernhard said, grabbing her by the collar of her uniform. "If you're not gonna be drinking, we got tons of fresh Neppys burgers," Shitz offered, handing two each to Bernhard and Laura. They took the food, Laura less happily and still eyeing the alcohol. "No booze, Romero. You know how badly it always ends," Bernhard chided, before biting into a hot burger.
Sebastien was happy to be off the stage and to see the booze. Concerts were never really his thing and neither was being the centre of attention in any sort of real capacity. So having the chance to be away from the public eye and get some hard alcohol in him was a welcome chance. Beyond that however he'd remain quiet for the most part unless otherwise engaged by someone else or actually found something worth speaking on. Until then he'd have just enough booze to loosen him up but that was it, he did not like drinking until it was debilitating.
Phaedra, at the insistence of their hosts, allowed herself a bottle of beer that she casually sipped. She was more concerned about the alcohol consumption of her squad, however. It would be disastrous if one of the squad found their drunken way into the media spotlight.
Rita could be found with a second bottle of whiskey in her left hand and a third cigar in her right, drinking and smoking the night away. She was in a much better mood now that she was a little fucked up, but she needed to drink more. Her artificial organs were so much more efficient at cleansing toxins than natural human organs, that it required her to drink four or five times as much as a normal person to acquire the same effect.
Sawyer grabbed himself some burgers and an energy drink, he waited to see if Bernhard would move his attention away from Laura for a second so he could slip her a bottle of alcohol just for the hell of it and since he knew she'd appreciate the gesture. Until then he'd sit there and feed his appetite and drink some heavy doses of caffeine.
Jan, compared to most Nepleslians, didn't drink beer or whiskey. Instead, he was apparent- Oh dear, where HAD Jan gotten moonshine from? It didn't matter now where he got it from, just that he had downed a couple of shots of it so far and seemed to be no worse for wear. "Sergeant, Sorry about almost getting into a fight out there."
Seeing his chance when Bernhard got distracted by something random, Sawyer walked over to Laura and handed her a glass of energy drink that he'd put a rather large amount of alcohol into. "Here you go awesomely pretty medic lady, this should cheer you up some" he said with a grin and a drawl in his voice.
Bernhard looked back to see a glass of energy drink in Laura's hand. He was suspicious but said nothing. Laura drank happily, unknowingly becoming intoxicated.
"Fights start whenever someone says they love Dizzy most, Jan. The show just has to go on! Everyone enjoyed the concert?" Jon-Jon Rocketass said to Jan and then the whole squad.
"Ah had plenty of fun Sah" Sawyer drawled out looking at the band member.
Sebastien, not wanting to be impolite, would offer a head nod and a simple "Yes. Thank you."
Rita nodded and took another swing of whiskey in between puffs of her cigar. At this point she was literally just waiting for the alcohol to hit her, because events like this just bored her out of her mind. She'd actually done a lot more than just drink and smoke when she was a pirate, and if she'd had the choice she'd rather have taken a shitton of painkillers instead. Alas, she didn't have that choice, so she had to settle for booze, which was probably not too bad for her anyway. C'est la vie.
"Would Admiral Valken look good as a woman?" Laura asked randomly between munches on her burger. Bernhard looked at her with a puzzled look, attempting to destroy the mental image she had sown. It really was a random question... which normally wouldn't happen if she were sober. "Sawyer..."
"Wut" Sawyer asked with an innocently baffled look on his face. "Ah din't do anythin'."
Bernhard stood to knock some sense into Sawyer when Laura jumped up and tackled him down. "Play time!" she cried happily as he groaned loudly. "This is your fault, farm boy!"
- Fin
A group of seven Marines wearing dress uniform waited backstage. They were at a concert in their honor. Admiral Valken had kindly informed them after the Tange mission that the Sky Marshal had organized a charity concert to raise funds for all those displaced UOC refugees and this particular band had demanded that the 4th Fleet Marines be their guests of honor.
Phaedra stood at ease in her newly pressed dress uniform. Her hair was pulled up into a precise braid, and a peaked cap was set on her head. She stood silently and observed the proceedings.
"Alright, alright, answer me this. We were just the grunts on the ground, or in my case, the air. Why are WE the guests of honor here?" Jan Kancre, Private 3rd Class asked, still a tad bit confused, although his uniform and beret were apparently the pictures of perfection. "You four all look stunning by the way, Sergeant, Rita, Naomi, Laura, and it’s great to be honored like this, but wouldn't it be much better for, say, Admirals Valken or Wazu or Premier Westwood to be here?"
Phaedra blushes at Jan's comment, but says nothing.
Laura replied, "Well, these Aethersperm guys did pretty much say they were only going to perform if we got on stage. And I don't think Admiral Valken is the type of old man who listens to Aethersperm..."
Naomi looked up from her freshly lit cigar, blinking at Kancre's comment. "I guess they like us," she said, puffing out a thin cloud of smoke. "Either way, free booze. I'm not going to say no. Are you?"
"If I didn't want to be here, Naomi, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Got a Light?" Jan replied, smiling.
Naomi smiled now, still puffing happily on the smoke. "Do you piss standing up? Here," She held out the silver-colored lighter, speaking as she did so. "I've known more than one man went somewhere he didn't care for, to impress the ladies or some such crap."
Jan took the lighter, pulling a fairly hefty Cigar after his pocket, chomping down on it and lighting it. "Thanks, Naomi. And ain't none of the women in this squad are easy enough to let me in their pants just by showing up here dressed all fancylike. 'Cept maybe Laura, but she's Laura. And Doc Bernie over there-" Jan motioned to Bernard with his cigar, "Would probably ask Suku the Terrible-" Jan cringed at the mention of The Green Demon- " for advice on how to torture me if I DID sleep with Laura."
Phaedra cringed at the mention of "Suku the Terrible."
"Considering she has the mental maturity of a seven year old, you're basically having sex with a kid," Bernhard replied evenly. Laura slapped the back of his head, knocking his beret off. Bernhard caught it as it fell off.
Sawyer stood off to the side looking at everyone "I gotta agree with flyboy there, you ladies look fantastic. Who would be dumb enough to say no to free booze? Certainly not me and I don't think anyone else here would." He said as he nodded to all of them.
Rita stood boredly with a furrowed brow and a frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for everyone to stop talking. "Now that you're all done sucking each other’s proverbial dicks, will somebody please tell me where this 'free booze' is?" She asked, letting out an angry humph.
Naomi grimaced as she took back the lighter, depositing it in a pocket. "Sawyer, if anybody here said no to free drinks, I'd kill them personally. That's just stupid." She looked around at her surroundings with seeming casual disinterest, and that's probably what it was. "Booze is booze, even if you don't like where you gotta go to get it."
"I gotta say exactly to everyone here 'cept for Rita. Free Booze IS free booze, and Laura does have the mentality of a seven year old girl with the body of a teenager. That makes it completely wrong and far too much like sleeping with a cat for my tastes." Jan inhaled after the sentence, and smiled at the cyborg. "C'mon, Rita. Relax. If you're bored, go start a fight in the crowd."
Naomi snorted at Jan's comment to Rita. "Rita, let me know if you want to do that. I'll come behind you. I'm bored already, and I could really use a chance to get drunk. I'm just strung out, you know?"
"Haha, don't worry, love! That's after the concert when we've got all the time in the world to get drunk!" a new voice said. As the Marines turned around, they saw the four band members of the famous Aethersperm. Leading them was Jon-Jon Rocketass, who had replied to Naomi's question. He was followed by Dizzy Dinkaid, MOE 17 and Rodney Smitz AKA "Shitz".
"They look every part the heroes of the Imperium," Rocketass said to his fellows. "Handsome men, hot women, maybe we should do a tour of gigs at the military bases," Dizzy Dinkaid smiled.
"You've gotta be shitting me." Rita said, stepping towards Jan and placing her hand underneath his armpit. She gripped him relatively lightly, and then lifted his entire body into the air with one hand. "Unless there's an ID-SOL in this crowd, I don't think there's anyone I could fight." Rita said, dropping Jan back down onto his feet. She looked over to Rocketass and grimaced, as if she considered him and everything he stood for disgusting. "Killing your enemy isn't heroism. Saving someone's life is heroism, but I'm not here to save lives. I'm here to kill people, and squids, and whatever the fuck else pisses off the Greens."
"I don't know, Rita," Naomi said. "There could be. Considering we're at war, and there's so many military personnel, and clones, and so on out there? As to us being heroes?" She looked to the band. "Thanks. We're just professionals, you know? Still, it's appreciated. We happen to like what we do, but it's nice to be 'saluted' back once in a while."
Jan resisted the urge to headbutt Rita in the nose when she picked him up, partly because he knew he couldn't take her and partly because he didn't want to make a scene. Jan sighed at Rita. "We aren't the greens anymore, Rita. The Democratic Imperium is the government for all Nepleslians, regardless of if they're red, green, black, or blue."
Rita looked over to Jan and muttered out a few choice words, "The Greens still own the IPG," and then left it at that.
Phaedra frowned at the mention of the IPG. Those three letters always brought up bad memories.
"And you say I'm the one who acts like a seven year old?" Laura asked Bernhard, who shrugged. "A pleasure and an honour," Bernhard said to the Aethersperm members, shaking their hands.
"Holy hell people, can we all just calm the hell down here? No need to get into fights with one another since we are on the same team and we're on libo. Do we really want to have this privilege cancelled and get recalled to go do some bullshit up on the ship? I for one don't so why don't we just settle down, watch the show and then have some fun drinking and bullshitting with these people who seem to like us so much." Sawyer said with a shrug and a look of what the hell on his face.
"Listen to Sawyer." Jan said, seemingly yawning in boredom. "Can't wait for the concert to start, Mr. Rocketass."
"Psh, whatever." Rita said, looking away and waving her hand. "I'm gonna go get drunk as hell." She said, looking around for the booze. She was taller than everyone else, so chances were she wouldn't have a hard time finding it by peering out over the crowd.
Sebastien had once again found it beneficial to sit back and not say anything as needless tension apparently rose within his group. The usual suspects at its center it seemed. Ignoring it however he'd shift focus towards the band once more. "I'm sure everyone would like it if you guys toured the bases. I know I'm happy to hear personally. Thank you again for having us. Though maybe some booze might help.", he'd explain, hoping for some himself to calm his nerves as he relaly didn’t like the idea of being here. He was always rather critical of himself and felt undeserving. That and he never did like concerts.
"What a good example of fine Nepleslian Marines we are showing to our esteemed hosts" thought Phaedra sarcastically.
All three human members of the band laughed. "Half of them are trying to be nice and the other half want to kill each other!" Rocketass guffawed, "That's the NSMC I know!"
"Listen up, here's the plan," Shitz said, "We'll go out there, thank everyone, remind them why they're here. And then we'll announce you. Come onto the stage, do a pose or something and wait until one of us leads you off stage. Simple, yes?"
"Understood," said Phaedra with a nod.
"Makes sense to me" Sawyer drawled.
"Good enough for me." Jan said.
"Oh..." Rita said, a pained expression coming across her face. He had just spotted where all the whiskey was, too. "Guess I'll just drink afterward."
Sebastien would simply nod as a reply and quietly follow the lead of the others as had been his usual up to this point. Not like this was complicated or as if there was anything to say. He was just glad that this was one of those dress uniform occasions. He felt more at home in the dress then the standard for whatever reason.
"After the concert, that's when we all get drunk" Dizzy Dinkaid added with one of her infectious smiles.
"Work for me," Naomi said. She was fiddling with something on her uniform tunic, perhaps imaginary specks of dust. Unlike her larger squad mate, she knew that waiting to get drunk in time such as this could be worth it. Then she smiled suddenly. "Just so long as you don't ask me to sing. Not a good idea." Her words were followed by yet one more of her seemingly unending spews of thick tobacco smoke.
-------------------------
Thirty minutes later, on stage
"And now, our guests of honour, your heroes, Nepleslia... 4th Fleet's premier squad, the ones who defended the NSS Destiny herself, Volkov's Cavaliers!" Dizzy Dinkaid shouted to the audience. "Led by Sergeant Phaedra Volkov, they're responsible for rescuing a great number of the unfortunate UOC refugees on Tange, give it up for them, folks!" The female Geshrin looked back, signaling they should walk out now.
"Volkov's Cavaliers, Sergeant? Who came up with such a corny name, ma'am?" Jan asked Phaedra in a whisper.
"Do you always question your Sergeant, Jan?" Naomi asked, though her tone only sounded mildly upset, and her eyes betrayed her real feelings. "I don't think it makes sense, but then, I'm not the one they asked. It sounds alright, just the same."
Phaedra glanced at both of them with an icy stare and shook her head slightly, which meant "Quiet. Now is not the time." With that, Phaedra took a deep breath and walked out onto the stage.
Rita smirked and closed her eyes for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Sounds good to me." She said, lifting a cigar to her mouth and lighting it as she stepped out onto the stage. Smoke billowed from her artificial nostrils, and she undoubtedly made an impression when she stepped out from backstage. A six and a half foot tall woman built like a warrior with a cigar pressed between her lips was certainly the spitting image of a Nepleslian marine.
Sawyer just looked baffled at the consistent arguing by the others. "Hayl, may as well get this over with." He muttered in his drawling voice and walked out on stage right after Phaedra and Rita.
"Let's go!" Laura hissed, pushing her way forward. "Lead the charge, Sergeant," Bernhard added, following close behind and ready to yank Laura back if she did something stupid.
"What she said, Sergeant~" Jan said, giving Phaedra a nudge and following her out on stage.
Naomi shrugged casually, puffed out some more smoke, and then walked out on stage behind her Sergeant. She didn't see what the fuss was. Just walk out there, look cool and impress the crap out of the audience. Seemed easy enough, really.
Sebastien was, at this point, indifferent to the constant bickering. After all, it was constant and you don’t even notice the drama after awhile. Besides, it wasn't his job to care. His job was to shut up and do as told which in this case was look good for the crowd. So, in whatever formation the squad would seem to fall into, Sebastien would march out on stage with the others. Then, when it seemed appropriate and acceptable, wave to the crowd.
Laura and Bernhard stood to the left of Phaedra, the male medic refusing to leave his partner alone in case she embarrassed them all. The others may switch between being childish and mature but Laura seemed stuck on being a kid. They waved to the crowd, Laura more hesitantly than Bernhard.
The audience responded with cheers and whistles as the squad came on. Many catcalls were heard, directed at the women. One particular shout caught all of their attention, "Phaedra's damn HOT!"
Once they all made it out onto the stage, Phaedra signaled the squad to turn and face the audience. Phaedra turned and faced the crowd, seeing the massive amount of people before them. And then someone from the crowd called out at her. Taken aback by this and unsure how to respond, Phaedra blushed and stared blankly out into the crowd.
"Hey! Phaedra may be hot, but she's my sergeant! You better take that back before I come down there and kick your ass!" Jan yelled back at whoever had said the offending comments.
Sawyer waved to the crowd seeing that everyone else seemed to be doing much the same thing. Hearing the call of "Phaedra's Damn HOT" he glanced at her and looked into the crowd trying to see who had said it. Not being able to tell he simply shrugged after hearing Jan shouting into in the crowd.
Rita had a stoic expression on her face, although smoking the cigar certainly made her more relaxed. She smiled a little bit in a defeated way, then took the cigar out of her mouth with her right hand, blowing the smoke out at the audience.
----------------------
After the concert, backstage.
"Booze!" Laura cried in happiness, seeing the countless bottles in the backstage lounge. "Not for you," Bernhard said, grabbing her by the collar of her uniform. "If you're not gonna be drinking, we got tons of fresh Neppys burgers," Shitz offered, handing two each to Bernhard and Laura. They took the food, Laura less happily and still eyeing the alcohol. "No booze, Romero. You know how badly it always ends," Bernhard chided, before biting into a hot burger.
Sebastien was happy to be off the stage and to see the booze. Concerts were never really his thing and neither was being the centre of attention in any sort of real capacity. So having the chance to be away from the public eye and get some hard alcohol in him was a welcome chance. Beyond that however he'd remain quiet for the most part unless otherwise engaged by someone else or actually found something worth speaking on. Until then he'd have just enough booze to loosen him up but that was it, he did not like drinking until it was debilitating.
Phaedra, at the insistence of their hosts, allowed herself a bottle of beer that she casually sipped. She was more concerned about the alcohol consumption of her squad, however. It would be disastrous if one of the squad found their drunken way into the media spotlight.
Rita could be found with a second bottle of whiskey in her left hand and a third cigar in her right, drinking and smoking the night away. She was in a much better mood now that she was a little fucked up, but she needed to drink more. Her artificial organs were so much more efficient at cleansing toxins than natural human organs, that it required her to drink four or five times as much as a normal person to acquire the same effect.
Sawyer grabbed himself some burgers and an energy drink, he waited to see if Bernhard would move his attention away from Laura for a second so he could slip her a bottle of alcohol just for the hell of it and since he knew she'd appreciate the gesture. Until then he'd sit there and feed his appetite and drink some heavy doses of caffeine.
Jan, compared to most Nepleslians, didn't drink beer or whiskey. Instead, he was apparent- Oh dear, where HAD Jan gotten moonshine from? It didn't matter now where he got it from, just that he had downed a couple of shots of it so far and seemed to be no worse for wear. "Sergeant, Sorry about almost getting into a fight out there."
Seeing his chance when Bernhard got distracted by something random, Sawyer walked over to Laura and handed her a glass of energy drink that he'd put a rather large amount of alcohol into. "Here you go awesomely pretty medic lady, this should cheer you up some" he said with a grin and a drawl in his voice.
Bernhard looked back to see a glass of energy drink in Laura's hand. He was suspicious but said nothing. Laura drank happily, unknowingly becoming intoxicated.
"Fights start whenever someone says they love Dizzy most, Jan. The show just has to go on! Everyone enjoyed the concert?" Jon-Jon Rocketass said to Jan and then the whole squad.
"Ah had plenty of fun Sah" Sawyer drawled out looking at the band member.
Sebastien, not wanting to be impolite, would offer a head nod and a simple "Yes. Thank you."
Rita nodded and took another swing of whiskey in between puffs of her cigar. At this point she was literally just waiting for the alcohol to hit her, because events like this just bored her out of her mind. She'd actually done a lot more than just drink and smoke when she was a pirate, and if she'd had the choice she'd rather have taken a shitton of painkillers instead. Alas, she didn't have that choice, so she had to settle for booze, which was probably not too bad for her anyway. C'est la vie.
"Would Admiral Valken look good as a woman?" Laura asked randomly between munches on her burger. Bernhard looked at her with a puzzled look, attempting to destroy the mental image she had sown. It really was a random question... which normally wouldn't happen if she were sober. "Sawyer..."
"Wut" Sawyer asked with an innocently baffled look on his face. "Ah din't do anythin'."
Bernhard stood to knock some sense into Sawyer when Laura jumped up and tackled him down. "Play time!" she cried happily as he groaned loudly. "This is your fault, farm boy!"
- Fin
