RP: Taking It Back [Phase II-A] Arming the Pack

Alexis spat. All of this left a peculiar taste in her mouth, or at least what parts of it she could feel. Now that she was sitting up on her own she felt more than a little awkward with herself. Shakey.

It had sure been nice of him to hold her hair. When Alexis looked up, the man's proximity struck her in the face, and she suddenly felt very small and girlish and embarassed and uncomfortable about it. Oddly, this was not offset by the fact Alex was covered in blood both hers and his own. Over the tinny smell of blood she could smell him. Well, actually, she just smelled more blood and some antiseptic and knew that the idea she could smell anything other than hospital right now was pure bullshit, but he was close, and he was touching her gently.

"I don't want any more drugs," she stated, though her voice was more subdued. "I'll be fine. Like damn, I'm sick. Can I have some real clothing? If you like, want to give me a gun so bad, I'll look, but not in this."

"Mm?" There was a moment where Alex had this look in his eye. He was confused, and trying to go along with it, "Some... what?"

There was a pause. Alex kept his stare dead on Alexis, but his hands wandered down to the labcoat on her shoulders. That's when the eureka moment hit him.

"Ah! You are concerned about your dignity!" Alex chimed. He nodded along with the words like they had more meaning now that they were coming out of his mouth. A single index finger stuck its way up into the air as Alex made for a cabinet on the side of the room. A moment later, and a modest pile of scrubs and labcoats were dumped out onto the nearest bed. After a bit of rumaging, Alex had selected the set closest to Alexis' size and tossed them casually over to her before drawing a privacy curtain and returning to the cabinet to reload it.

The orderlies made themselves scarce.

The doctor was nowhere to be seen.

Alex said offhandedly from the other side of the curtain, "If you are interested in a brassiere, I can try to find one for you. Although, I would say the scrubs are hardly flattering enough for you to need one. You may want the clean labcoat as well, as it is very cold outside of this room."

If Alexis was listening well, she would hear Alex on the other side of the curtain changing his own clothes. The shuffle of fabrics, the crinkle of the medical being exchanged for the practical. A small reference to the pain as an eye patch came down over a worthless, bloody socket.

When he was finished, Alex took a patient seat on the unused bed outside of the privacy curtain and started his usual toying with a nearby object. This time, it was the holster for his HHG.

"I'll live."

She changed.

Two words to describe the whole process; it was appropriate. Alexis didn't give a whole lot of thought to it. About the only thing she knew would do her any justice was the doctor's coat, which had buttons, and was built to be washed. The rest of the garments, which were disposable, felt wafer-thin and made her wish she'd been more specific when referencing what she considered to be 'clothing'.

Nevertheless she was out in a few minutes, and on her own two feet, which was enough motor mastery to make her hopeful. It was not exactly pleasant, though. Alexis had forced herself to be up and about on her feet when her arm had been oblitherated; that had been local anesthetic. Now, she felt like the world was shifting slowly, back and forth, in colors that weren't specifically defined. It might actually have been moving - this was a submarine, wasn't it? Were they on the surface or submerged? Or tied up?

When she pushed the curtain aside she was fully dressed, though unshod, and she had mental'd herself up for whatever came next, which would probably involve a lot of hand-eye co-ordination and loud noises, and possibly more unnaturally cold, unintended intimacy with a man she barely knew and was, she had to admit, partially creeped out by.

It required, among other things, a deep breath.

"'Kay. Now, what is this you want me to see so very very bad, hu?"

Chrys was awaiting insertion and cuffs were starting ot be really annoying. She was looking around with scowl on her face playing a prisoner when loud bang could be heard. She could hear ding as large projectile hit the truck. First shot was closely followed by second and she heard Lucas's yell. "Bloody hell," she said and raised on her seat. She climbed into Buggy's canopy to look outside only to see Lucas hold his hand. "One of you guys get Lucas, and get read to get inside. I will open the gate for us!" She yelled at others in the back of the buggy.

She then activated turred and aimed it at the gate. She hoped other will handle the Id-sol in the guardhouse. It will take some time to shoot the gate down. She aimed at the center mass of the gate and fired. And kept firing.

The more bullets that filled the thin metal plates on the gate, the more Chrys could see of what was going on inside. It was hardly pretty. The perfectly organized rescue operation had fallen apart before it had even begun, namely because the prisoners had no idea they were coming. Even as the hinges were thrown asunder by the spray of molten lead and the gates fell to the ground, the prisoners inside rioted.

It was a three way battle on the other side of the threshold. The police officers were on once side, blasting their way through both sides of the yard to the precinct building beyond. They hadn't even approached the armory.

The criminals were still in the yard, tearing down everything in site with everything in side. Boards, crowbars, weights, rebar; if it was blunt, it was being blunted upon things. They seemed to be completely unconcerned with the officers or the armory.

The final forced of destruction was the ID-Sols. All of them were decked out in NMX full dress uniform, and they were getting it dirty taking cover everywhere. Behind blown out vehicles, behind torn down walls. Returning fire was having little effect, aside from exposing them to the police officers' superior marksmanship.

The culmination of all of this chaos was a tiny box of destruction. The prison yard was ruined. Bulletholes peppered every wall, and and the paved surface of the grounds were converted into piles of rubbles. There was the smell of fire. Something was burning, though no one could see it from the threshold of the gate.

-----

[Storefront]

As Rennik's steps settled, leaving Archibald alone in the abandoned office, the speakers on the wall crackled some more, extolling effeminate giggling through the dusty room. An empty pack of cigarettes willed its way across a desk and into a tiny wastebasket next to it.

The voice came back, this time with words, this time out in the open, from all directions, "Aren't you a little old to be playing with toys, Mister Tiger?"

The cutesy giggling continued, drawing closer until a hand emerged from empty air and snatched the knife at Archie's waist. The light stopped refracting from the hand, from the arm. Soon, a Neko had decloaked before him with a childish grin on her face. A black tail flicked and curled around tender-looking pale flesh. Black hair fell in waves over perfect musculature and deep blue eyes. She looked back Archie with those deep blue eyes and winked.

-----

[Medbay]

Alex squirmed into his jacket and lead the way out the door and into the halls. As he walked, he spoke to Alexis with a sideways stare.

"It is a full bay of weapons, unlike any I have seen since I stopped smuggling them years ago." He said, "And there are some very nice ones there. I am aware of your fondness for them, and I believe it will aid in your recovery process if I allow you to have first choice of them while the 'cats are out to play' as the parable goes."

They entered an elevator at the end of the narrow passage and soon found themselves going down. The ship whined around them and the chilled air warmed up. They were nearing one of the engines. Soon, the air chilled again, and the elevator doors slid open to reveal another corridor. It was dark, and only the running lights on the floor guided their path. As Alex stepped into the hall, the lights brightened and flickered to new life. With each step, a new section of the floor was visible. He kept walking for nearly three meters before stopping at a wide door. Volumetric displays formed next to the door, which Alex manipulated briefly before the door slowly slid open, belching the odor of gunpowder into the dry air around them. Beyond the door sat darkness, stretching on into the edge of conceivable vastness. Alex flipped a plastic switch next to the doorway and the lights trembled on. Nearly everything that could be bought in Nepleslian stores was stockpiled from wall to wall, filling shelves upon shelves in between. Alex showed an expectant look of smug satisfaction to Ally.

"It would seem the previous owners were planning a revolution of their own."

//start//

Archie turned in surprise at the sudden voice, he was even more surprised as his knife seem to fly from his waist and the naked neko appeared before him.

Rather than stare lustfully or run away screaming like other men might in this situation, Archie just stared piercingly into her eyes. His eyes completely focused on those blue orbs, his own giving away no emotion, anger or fear. His eyebrows pointed in concentration. It was almost like he was used to staring down dangerous animals.

There was another giggle rumbling in her chest, the Neko stepping forward holding Archie's knife close to her chest with both hands. "Why you're looking at me as if I were some sort of animal, Old Man." She chided. Her tail wove its way around towards his face slowly. The arc of it was a soft curve ending precisely below his left eye.

"So I could reach for my gun." Archie replied dead pan, while he'd been staring his hand had slowly inched towards his small shotgun The Neko's deep blue eyes widened, her pupils dialating quickly in the dim light of the abandoned office. Archie flicked his shotgun up and fired through the holester into her stomach, two barrels going off at close range.

"Why, you... dirty little- ugh!" The neko's insult was abruptly interrupted by the glass shattering behind her, letting a harsh light enter the dusty room. She teetered there for a moment, rocking back on the edge of the window raising Archie's knife high above her head.

Archie didn't waste time, except to say "Also, madam, my name's the Gray Wolf." before booting her on her way out.

In her last moments above ground, the Neko made a mighty swing with the knife; slashing with full force at Archie's chest before tumbling down, bouncing off of a fire escape, and finally finding a resting place on the street below buried deep within the asphalt.

Archie gasped in pain as the knife slashed into the flesh of his chest and shoulder, it wasn't a deep cut, but it was long. He clutched it in pain as he peered over to look down out of the window into the street below.

"I've got to get that knife back too." he muttered angrily. He'd have to use greater care if he'd let someone like that sneak up on him so easily. He sniffed in distaste, moustache twitching.

//pause//

Alexis walked forward.

She didn't just walk; she glided, one foot in front of the other, turning slightly as she went to take in everything. There was a lot to take in. There were so many weapons here it was astounding - not just the major manufacturers, but the minor civilian ones as well. The gang modifications. The syndicates. The industrial modifications that she recognized as belonging to the major protection corporations. Paragon was absent, but there were others - the Reds, the old staples of the Greens. Energy weapons from Yamatai. Every thing that had been used to kill men and create widows since what seemed like the dawn of intergalactic civilization.

Eventually she stopped, her left hand shoved into her lab coat to ward against the cold. Alexis turned to Alex.

She smiled.

It was not the smile of a cold, hardened killer. Nor was it the peculiar grin of an archeologist who had just discovered an ancient tomb. It was an almost childish grin of a girl who had just been given a present. Probably it was what Alex wanted.

"They tell of peace eternal," Alexis recited in a sing-song voice.

"And we would wish them well,
But who can say what lurks to spring?
And how are we to tell?

The answers blaze on history's page,
Ever the writing runs;
Steel your hearts, shy not from war,
And build efficient guns."

Dimitri had been going along for the ride in all of this, of course. Nothing to gain from going out into the battlefield like a madman and getting yourself killed. He had gotten outside the truck like everyone else and had ducked under it. The ongoing battle was something that had definitely caught them offguard. They didn't have any weapons on them so going in to fight anyone at the moment was suicide. When he saw Chrys getting up and headed to the gate to open it, Dimitri was somewhat impressed at the woman's bravery, but also scoffed at her ignorance.

"She's gonna get shot. Don't you think you should go help her, IPG Princess? A good partner would take the shot for her." The bounty hunter mocked Chandler.

[Prison Gate]

"I don't see you sprouting wings an' flyin' off to her aid, tough guy." Lucas spouted. He'd since wrapped his hand in a rag from the back of the buggy and pryed open the side compartment. Without any regalia to the act, the ID-Sol began pulling weapons from the compartment and tossing them to the waiting allies underneath the truck.

The guard in the gate house finally took notice of the truck full of rebels and his supposed ally handing them weapons, and decided to kick open the door to face them with his weapon drawn. He was greeted by a round from Lucas' Gyro 500 straight between the eyes.

"Everybody shut up, grab your guns and let's get inside." Lucas snapped. He started to break into a jog and shouted once more, "Chrys! Cover our advance on the armory! We need to arm those cops while they can still hold their ground!"

-----

[Submarine, Below Decks]


"Indeed." Alex stepped further into the room until he was alongside Ally. He glanced over to her and stretched his arm out to the closest shelf to pluck a grenade from its contents. He found another grenade on a lower shelf, and another next to it. Within seconds, he was juggling them, still watching Ally with that bored look he kept on his face.

"Does this event you feel more happy in any way?" He asked, adding a hastened, "Aside from the juggling."

"You read my mind mate." Chrys shouted back to be heard good. SHe will join others later, now she pushed the buttong and closed the buggy behind them. She would not like to be flanked later and she can leaveb uggy through the canopy when needed. She then aimed her auto-cannon at the ID-Sols that were in her field of vision. She then just smirked and opened fire. Short bursts since she did not want to waste ammo. Anti-armour bullets flying at high speeds did not care much for enemy cover anyway.

Archie peered down at the prone form of his enemy, who had left a spread eagle pattern pile-driven into the tarmac. Not one to take chances he shakily grabbed his rifle, slotted a HE round with his good arm and took slightly unsteady aim at the hole below.

“Damn unsporting.” He muttered, almost regretfully before pulling the trigger. He wasn't sure it that would be enough to kill her, but right now he had other worries and that should certainly have put her out of action for a while. He didn't look too closely at the mess, pulling back inside and looking out the window again.

It was too late to change position, he'd just have to make do. He gingerly set the rifle back up on a convenient table back, away from the window so he was key-holed on the prison complex. A white mesh curtain ripped from the window went over him to help him blend with the back wall and he peered at the scene below.

His wound was troubling, but it'd be a shame if some of his teammates brought the farm this day. He'd see to it later, his employer must be informed about the neko. His good hand aimed the rifle, finger on trigger, the other trying to staunch the bleeding.

Rennik squeezed the trigger to his rifle, and an unfortunate NMX atop the Precinct building met his fate. He stopped Lucas with a hand on his shoulder.
"There is still a sniper out there. When you move, move quickly. I will deal with our unseen friend" he said, giving a steeled look to both Lucas and Dmitri.
He readied up his rifle, setting his scope to maximum vision.

Dimitri sighed and duck-walked (walking while ducking, whatever it's called) under the truck until he was able to stand-- albeit with his legs still bent and crouching a bit so that he wouldn't be noticed so much. He made a quick dash and took his trusty sidearm, the shotgun, the submachinegun and the combat knife, and tucked them away in proper order. Shotgun slung onto his back, subby at the waist, sidearm in its thigh holster and combat knife next to his left ankle.

"I'll one-up you for that, Sollie! I'll be the distraction, how'bout that!?"

He then switched and ran under the truck and then over to the driver's seat. If they were going into the battlefield, they would need a distraction to prevent them from getting targeted by anything and everything in that lot. The truck would surely call the attention, all the way from the gate to opposite side of the prison yard. He'd just hide under the dashboard, floor the pedal and hope for the best.

"Get that gate open! I'm gonna ram through the prison on this thing! Let's see who's the bigger target!" Plam! Truck door closed.

He was juggling grenades. Alexis wasn't exactly sure whether she was comfortable about that, or not, but she let it slide with the reasoning that the alternative - confronting him, mothering him, telling him he's being insane - would be redundant and useless.

"Yeap," she stated, avoiding the conflict altogether, "It does."

In some effort to take her mind off of the clownish image of Alex, Ally took a look around the room again. Eventually she picked up a matte-black Zen Arms 10mm, smoothly drawing the slide back. It was empty, with no clip, so she snagged a pre-loaded one up from the shelf and slid it in. The sound it made when she thumbed the slide release was pretty clean, though the force nearly jerked it out of her new hand. Somewhat embarassed, she tightened her grip, flexing her fingers around it, then unloaded the weapon and put it back.

She folded her hands together behind her head, elbows-up, looking the shelves over, slowly pacing back and forth as her eyes wandered.

"I might be a while," she apologized, "I'm like, I don't know. Y'know? There's a lot of stuff, here."

Although Dimitri's heart was in the right place, the rear axle of the buggy was not. The engine roared and hissed as the mangled vehicle struggled against its former wounds. The shattered axle, after a few moments of struggle, shot out from behind the truck and flew haphazardly into the street beyond, tires and all. The resulting ruckus left the buggy leaning back at an awkward angle. Now, Chrys wouldn't be able to aim the cannon at the enemy ID-Sols. Lucas stopped short and turned on his heel to come back to the cover of the truck.

"What on earth are you doing?!" He shouted over the din of the struggling engine, "How are we supposed to get cover now?!"

An unfortunate side-effect of the commotion was the new attention brought to the smoldering junk heap now lying in direct view at the main gate. Lucas dragged the team back behind the truck to protect them from a peppering of bullets from both the ID-Sols' return fire, and the police officers shooting at Lucas in the confusing enemy garb. "I'm not one of them, you morons!" Lucas bellowed uselessly.

Another surprise in the deck coalesced in the form of a bullet grazing the cartilage of Rennik's ear. The assailant above was the ID-Sol he'd just fired at in the heat of the moment. There was an obvious bullet hole in the ID-Sol's chest, but no blood to speak of. It appeared that Rennik would have to start aiming for the head.

-----

[Submarine]

"Oh, do not worry." Alex reassured Ally. "Take your time. I am sure Lucas and the others are still organizing the liberated officers at this very moment, so there will be plenty of time for you to choose. I may even make a selection myself. Although, it is hard to let go of these familiar weapons of mine. Nonetheless, choosing a new weapon now would be beneficial considering my optical situation."

There was a swift movement around Alex's arms before the grenades found themselves in an orderly cluster under one of his arms. As he returned them to their home on the shelf, he continued the conversation.

"Perhaps we should both choose more than one."

Archie saw what was left of the truck and the group cowering behind it. "Lucas, get that uniform off you stupid bugger." he muttered to himself as he sighted around, both eyes still open even though he was looking down a scope. He spotted Renniks failed attempt at downing an ID-Sol and sighed.

Time to show the hot shot what's what. Archie sighted quickly, adjusted for full suppression (he had to account for the slower sub-sonic bullet and its ballistics), and fired.

"YOU BLOODY IDIOT!" CHrys shouted and grunted as ther aim shifted away. Her whole firing angle went to hell. She gave Dimitri a look that would made small puppy piss itslef and ran to weapon compartment. Lucas was talking about weapons from Zen Arms. This was military vehicle before they snatched it too. There might be smoke grenade for them to use. After all the armory won't wait for them.

She could also hear Lucas again. "Get your shirt off Captain Loud. Let me see your manly chest. At least you won't get shot at!" She shouted at him.

"RARGH!" roared Rennik as he fell over, clapping his ear. In absolute rage, he wheeled out from behind the truck cover and emptied the remaining rounds in his rifle at the ID-Sol on the roof. He dropped his empty magazine and and put in a new one, realizing only too late that he had exposed himself to the hidden sniper.
He flung himself sideways, rolling into the street just as a high impact bullet grazed his shoulder. He kept himself rolling and scrambling, hearing the occasional bullet enter the pavement, until he was opposite the buggy on the street, hiding behind behind a stoop.
"Freakin' dammit all" he cursed, catching his breath only after frantically searching the few viewpoints from which he could be targeted. He detached the scope from his rifle and set the rifle aside, then inched slowly towards the edge of the stoop. He slowly put scope around the edge, just barely so, and peered into his scope, hoping to find some sign of the enemy hunter...

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...!"

Dimitri felt the vehicle buckle and then suddenly stop just before it had begun as he was placing a metal rod against the pedal to keep the engine reeving while he threw himself out of the vehicle, as he had originally planned. He grunted and secured the rod in place against the pedal when he felt and heard the whole thing brake in half. "Damnit! Don't throw this gamble out on me!" Grabbing hold of his submachinegun in both his hands, he kicked open the truck door and stepped outside, cursing under his breath as the engine started to send tufts of smoke into the air.

As he stepped outside he heard gunshots, which caused him to duck, dash away and send a spray of bullets towards the jail yard at the same time. When he finally got behind a piece of debris from the remaining pieces of the back of the truck he looked over at Chrys. The truth of the fact was that he had been careless. How the hell would the buggy move if it had been blown up earlier? To hell with this... I don't even know why I'm he-- His thoughts were interrupted by a whizzing sound coming from a bullet that had almost hit his head. "Squidshit!"

His arm peeked out from the side of the debris holding the submachinegun and his index finger squeezed the trigger, letting out another spray of bullets fly towards his assailants. As he shot, the engine of the truck would continue to struggle in vain, causing white smoke to come out from the truck's hood in a large cloud.

Well, at least he had somewhat covered up for his fuck-up. "I'll shit on myself for this later."

Rennik's sights would show him Archie's triumph. The HE round fired at the ID-Sol on the roof destroyed his head spectacularly, like something out of a Nepleslian Action flick. Where there wasn't bloody giblets, there were shoulders and torso stumbling off the ledge and toppling to the ground below. If Rennik followed the corpse to the ground, he would see something approaching from the distance. Something big, with a mustard yellow figure mounted atop in the universal symbol of 'guy holding binoculars'.

Lucas wasn't faring as well, behind the truck. His hand wavered as he tied bits of his sleeve around the wound from before. A few combat candies later and he could articulate it again without wincing. Except for, of course, when asked to remove his shirt.

"Alright Chrys, you asked for it. But I expect the same outta you later, Missy." Lucas quipped his final pan and tore the uniform top from his torso. The dull white fabric gave way to bare skin, and oddly enough, a shaved chest. Lucas didn't bother to explain himself over machinegunfire. Instead, he slid his arm up into the ruins of the truck and pulled a Styrling Longbow from the mess almost magically.

"Cover me if you want, ladies and gents, I'm goin' for that armory." Lucas left them with his instructions and dashed around the truck and into the fray.

With Lucas' rash actions below, and the approaching mass in the distance, Archie would be left alone again. This time, with something a little less human. He would only be able to smell it coming at first, if his honed instincts could overwhelm the pain of his cut. Soon, the smell would be shadowed by the rapid clicking noises that came in its wake.