RP: Taking It Back [Phase III] Bunting From Boats

[Lamb]

"Good morning everybody! I made breakfast! Come and geeeeet it~"

It was uncertain how Minerva had managed to get a hold of the PA system so early in the morning, although the helmsman scratching the back of his head with a nervous smirk was a pretty good hint. Nonetheless, her shrill voice echoed through the rooms that belonged to Alex's team, and by accident a few others' as well. It wasn't the least sudden wake-up call on a submarine, but the ones that ranked above it included 'boarding party' and 'torpedo impact'.

After a few seconds of pause, the distant phrase, "Uh, Mister Sims, how do you turn this thing off?" echoed in the chambers of the ship, followed by some shuffling and a rather loud pop. The commotion that followed in the halls made it obvious that the morning had in fact begun and there was no more sleep to be had.

-----

Outside, Alex stood atop the cone with a rather large-scope propped on the handrail in front of him. He tossed his cigarette into the morning breeze and peered through the scope. Magnified by three-hundred, the distant speck that was their target became a blur in his vision in the shape of an island.

"Hmm... Not close enough to make not of any emplacements just yet, but it's obvious there's no standing navy to speak of." He mused to himself.

On the dock below, a black sedan was pulling up to the ship.

 

[ShotJon]

Chrysanthe opened her eyes. Did she just heard what she though she heard? Was Minnie using the ship comm system? Boy that girl was really something. So bubbly one could die from diabetes just by spending few minutes with her. But that was good, after all those dark and gloomy types, it was good to have Minerva on ship.

Chrys turned her head and looked at Lucas snoozing next to her. "Darling," she said, her hand moving and landing on his manly chest. She shook him a little. "Wake up. Minnie made breakfast. Let's go, I am hungry after yesterday." Yesterday evening was indeed tiring, but also very satisfying.

 

[Jimmy]

Archie peered lazily down at the car from his morose pose leaning on the handrail with a cigarette in the side of his mouth, looking slightly green above now that he could see the water. He eyed the car and twitched his lower lip, the cigarette waggling in the air.

"Looks like company, Foster. Perhaps someone we know?" he said grumpily. Thinking back to some of his employers more shady correspondents they'd met the first night.

 

[chops]

Nika walked through the corridors of the submarine with a brisk stride. As she made her way to the submarine's exit her stride skipped a step and she tripped, "Chyort voz'mi!", she swore as she fell flat on her face when the shrill sound came in over the P.A. system. "RHEEEEEE!BREAKFAST!EEEEEEE!", was what she heard. Nika picked herself up from the floor and put her hand to her face. To her dismay the thatch pattern of the floor's metal grating made it's home temporarily in her forehead and blood ran from her nose. Nika sighed as she wiped her nose on her sleeve; the nosebleed paid little attention to her attempts at cleaning up and blood ran anew from her face. Nika grabbed a napkin that was in her pocket and pressed it to her nose as she changed her destination to the mess hall muttering to herself, "Maybe breakfast not such bad idea.". As she walked around dripping blood onto the floor, she realized she did not know where she was going, so she turned her back to the wall and sunk into it. She dubiously peered down the adjacent corridors for a moment then lit a cigarette... suddenly the pain in her face was not so bad.

After finishing her tobacco undisturbed and her nosebleed finally drying up, Nika got up and meandered briefly about the sub until she found the mess hall. "This mess hall is being empty... where is breakfast?" she grumbled as she surveyed the area.

 

[Gallant]

Alexis Kimball-Styrling, massed into a fetal ball with her pillows and blankets curled around with her, in her otherwise cold, slate-gray rack in her room on the submarine, reached up and, after feeling around for a bit, shut the 1MC off.

She lay, half-awake and half-asleep, in the bleery dawn haze, staring at the arm that lay on the bedstand, where she had placed it last night. Strictly speaking she didn't have to take it off, but running her fingers over the plate and connections that had been installed against what remained of her shoulder reminded her why she did. It was cold, only surface warm from her body heat. A whole metal arm, tucked against her skin, especially as she slept, would be unbearable.

But she didn't reach out for it. She just looked through a mess of tousled hair at it, wondering just how it was that she'd come to think of it as her's.

She'd gotten a tattoo, once, during college. It was a little butterfly on the back of her shoulder, just one of those things that the young got because they could. And she'd thought then, too, that she was going to somehow... change, or something, or at least be more aware of it. But after the initial pain, it had just been a part of her.

Like this arm was a part of her.

And that bothered her, somehow, for some reason that she couldn't particularly place. That it had become a part of her, a regular thing that was normal, so quickly, somehow did disservice to her real arm which had been hacked off before it killed her from blood poisoning.

Maybe she really had wanted to change?

Alexis lifted her head, and managed to roll herself over so that she could curl against the side of the bulkhead her mattress was pressed against, and went back to sleep.

 

[Lamb]

"Ah, yes." Alex replied, putting down his scope, "That will be Adele. She will be joining us on the battlefield today, along with one other new arrival. It is as a social club, this ship, new faces always appearing?"

Alex mounted the narrow ladder and slid down to the deck, where a gangway arched over to the dock.

"Maybe you will like her." He added, changing his tone sligthly to match Archie's, "Quite professional, wot?"

He never made it clear whether he was attempting humor or derision.

-----

"Shoe grow a head." Lucas moaned into the pillow. "I gotta do stomshing before I can breakfast..."

The massive ID-Sol flopped over on his side and threw an arm around Chrys to pull her close. His other hand emerged from between them to brush aside her bangs and stroke her face. He leaned in close, and eyes sparkling, whispered in passionate, dulcet tones, "Save me some bacon, please."

-----

In the mess hall with Nika, two older men were playing a quiet game of checkers at one of the empty tables. They regarded her question as an interruption to their game, but forgave it when they laid eyes on her.

"Unless you hang out with Alex, you gotta fend for yourself for breakfast." The one behind the red peices said, "His team gets breakfast in the officer's lounge every morning. We just cook from the main kitchen down here when we feel like it."

"I'll cook you some breakfast, honey, come down and sit over here with me-- give these black tokens some luck!" Quipped Black.

"Meiji, you're such an idiot." Red cut in, "What's a pretty young lady gonna do with an ancient engineer?"

"Hey, that's Chief Engineer to you, Mister," Black shot back, "Besides, I'm Geshrin, and we're renowned for our incredible youthfulness!"

"You sound like a fuckin' pamphlet."

"You sound like a putz!"

"At least I'm not hittin' on someone younger than my daughter!"

"Maybe you should be! They'd at least think on your level, you old fool."

"Why, you dirty coot!"

"You shamus!"

"You pervert!"

 

[Frost]

Rennik never actually woke up when the call came, so when he got up, he was still half asleep as he entered the lounge.
"merblebmbal" he mumbled in greeting to nobody in particular as he slid into a chair and started dozing

 

[Deathevn]

Adele stepped out of the Sedan and into the light. She reached into her breast pocket, pulling out a set of tinted aviators and opening them with a flick of her wrist before placing them over her eyes, a moment later her hat was placed on her head and she started to take in her surroundings. Watching what appeared to be last minute preparations being put together .” Never in one place very long I guess..” She muttered to herself.

She spotted Alex slide down the ladder and turned back to the Sedan, pulling out her tightly packed duffel bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She waited for him to get a bit closer before she did the one thing she could think to do to make this a bit more interesting for her. She smiled to him brightly, and waved, her trench coat flapping in the morning air.

 

[Lamb]

"You seem cheery." Alex observed, closing the gap with an easy stride. He kept walking a few steps past Adele and poked his head into the driver's window. His hand wandered to his pocket and back with a small brown package and metal flask. Adele could just make out the soft patter of his voice echoing from inside the sedan.

"... contains my instructions over the next few weeks. I will be out of touch for a while. If there is any trouble with these orders, contact Lucas Jackson. His information is among these things. The flask and its contents are for Miss Skelton's friend, Mister Dell. He will understand. The money is for Miss Skelton, and of course, for you as well. Good luck, and drive safe."

Alex removed his head from the sedan with little ceremony and began the walk back to the submarine.

He squinted out of his organic eye up to Archie to ensure he was out of hearing before muttering to Adele, "You said you wanted to be informed of any surprises ahead of time; so I will tell you something interesting. Today, I am going to be captured by the NMX."

-----

"Merble-mahble to you too, Rennie!"

Minerva had managed to sneak up on Rennik (Not an impressive feat considering his mental state.) and was now up against his back with a plate held above his head. She even made a little song-like humming fanfare as she lowered his breakfast in front of him and produced a set of tableware from one of the pockets in an apron she wore.

"Tah-daa~ Breakfast!" She cheered, "I was gonna spell your name with the sausages, but I wasn't sure if you were Rennik or if that's just what the guy said to shut me up! Anyway, eat up!"

 

[Jimmy]

Archie grunted in reply as Alex disappeared down the hatch, he remained where he was as his employer spoke with the woman that emerged from the car. Taking in her figure with an admiring eye, while at the same time his hand slowly drifted down to gently take a hold of his rifle. Having it at hand should anything drastic occur.

 

[ShotJon]

Not too much later Chrysanthe slowly walked into the rec-room where Minerva was serving the breakfast. She only had one of Lucas's old and long t-shirt and pair of un-tied military boots she dragged on the floor. She still looked sleepy and who knew if she even wore underwear. Slowly she made her way to main table and sat down.

"Morning Minnie," she said and yawned, putting a hand in front of her mouth politely. "You need any help? Squish juice from oranges or something? Oh and Lucas asked you to put some bacon on the side for him. He has some work to do before he can come."

 

[Deathevn]

Adele watched Alex walk past , not rising to his comment, the smile never left her lips. She politely looked away during his exchange despite being able to hear it all. She slowly steps in line with Alex as he starts making his way back, her dufflebag over her shoulder .

She looked over the submarine , spotting Archie from his perch giving him a dedicated smile, before saying in a voice that suggested a lot less cheer “I am not sure if I should take my hat off for the confidence in your voice, or shake my head at the statement. I am going to assume you have a reason they will not just shoot, or breed with you.” She adjusted the duffel on her shoulder, one of the hard bits in it was digging into her back “ I am going to assume this is the quickest way you could think of to learn some piece of information or another. Perhaps motive, and I am going to assume you trust all of these people not to fall apart, or do something stupid while your gone. Is there any other assumptions I should make? And during your absence who has the time table for this motley little crew?”

 

[Lamb]

"Orders are orders. And I've intercepted quite a few of their orders." Alex provided, mounting the ladder to the submarine's cone. "They're supposed to capture the leader and leave. I think they know something about the installation that makes it worthless. I hope to discover the nature of that today."

Alex scrambled up the ladder and slid out of the way for Adele to swing up behind him, nodding to Archie to make himself presentable to the new face; as if that sort of thing mattered to Alex.

-----

Minerva clapped her hands when Chrys emerged and disentangled herself from Rennik to hurry back to the kitchen and return shortly with two more plates, one of which had a full selection for Chrys and another which simply had a pile of pan-fried porkchops.

"Are you sure he will still want bacon when he gets a load of these!?" She bubbled. They way she pushed the plates forward made it vague whether she was referring to the pork-chops or her excessive bust, which fought for space among her arms pressing even closer together. Not that she would've noticed how Chrys was (probably definitely) staring.

 

[Jimmy]

Archie quickly stood, brushed back his long graying hair over his head and then quickly gave his mustache a straightening with a finger. His other hand meanwhile placed the rifle gently against the wall behind him as he stood up.

He nodded to Adele and offered a hand gentlemanly to her as she climbed up. "And who might you be, young miss?" he said, grinning cheerfully.

 

[Deathevn]

Adele made her way up the ladder. Her head peeked out just as she noticed Archie put the rifle aside. It caused her a brief moments pause, before Archie offered his hand, she took it and accepted the help. When she was standing on her own, she adjusted her hat a bit and a few errant strands of her bangs that had fallen out from under it.

“ My name's Adele” She says, taking in Archie's appearance in. “ I dont believe I caught yours?” She tried to meet Archie's eyes with a smile

 

[Jimmy]

"Archival De Florres!" The man replied heartily before his face snapped into a suave expression and his voice lowered to a deep bass. "Hunter second, gentleman first. At your service."

He gave a small flourish of the hand over his self-made ghilly suit. For someone wearing such working garb his manners were almost aristocratic, if overly flirtatious.

 

[Deathevn]

Adele's smile wavered for the briefest of moments at the flourish, before returning as if nothing had changed

She went on to say "A hunter you say? I cannot say I have met two many of your profession around Funky city. I can take a guess at what you hunt now, I mean it seems like I signed up for it as well, but what sort of things did you see down your sight before?”

 

[ShotJon]

Chrys blinked several times and then sat down with a shrug. "It's too early to think about anything." She replied and set the plates on the table. She put the one for the Lucas on the side and then took her fork and started eating from her own.

"By the way Minerva," she said looking at the busty baloon of sugarly love. "I will heading to shower after breakfast." Maybe it will be shower-buddies time.

 

[Jimmy]

Archie leaned back casually, his elbows going onto of the lip of the conning tower. "Oh, various types of...sport." He looked her right in the eye with his own twinkling set as he said the last work, his voice dropping markedly.

Then he looked away, feigning innocence.

 

[Lamb]

Alex watched with little interest the conversation between Archival and Adele for a moment, head tilting between the two of them. After Archie struck his pose and made careful use of the word 'sport', Alex ultimately became bored of the exchange.

"Right... If you two will excuse me, I have two more things to see to before I can enjoy breakfast." Alex whirled around the tower and peeled up a hatch beneath their feet as he spoke, first to both of them, second to Archie, "Archival? If you will show Adele to the Officer's Lounge, I am made to believe Minerva Ipps has prepared breakfast for everyone. It should be nice."

And then, just like that; with a few clanks of boot-on-ladder, he was gone.

-----

"Yay! Shower-buddy time~" Minnie cheered back to Chrys and came up from behind her with a massive hug, "We can shower in Alex's room. He said he'd 'rather me not' but I think that's just the way this new Alex says 'I can't stop you.' Hee-hee~"

Minerva giggled a little and took up a post between Rennik and Chrys at the table, with her head supported on her elbows.

"It's funny, how much he's changed." She mused to nobody in particular, "He used to be so funny and nice, cracking jokes and laughing and buying presents for me every day. But I think the new Alex is still kind and caring, just in his own way."

"Kind and caring are two words I've never heard anyone attribute to Alex Foster." A puff of cigar smoke said, wafting into the room ahead of Lucas Jackson, "He's the kinda guy who calculates fifteen-percent of his purchase for gratuity. He treats children like adults. He..."

Lucas emerged from the corridor with a nervous look about him. Nervous, because he was decked out in the full uniform of the Red Faction Navy, a captain by way of rank-pins.

"He does a lot of weird stuff and has us all do strange things, too." Lucas said finally, sliding into a seat next to Chrys.

"I guess he's always gotta good reason for it, or something."