RP: NSS Acadia [Post Mission 1]: Shore Leave

The bolt was pulled back, the spent casing ringing as it fled from the chamber. Phaedra saw the large forms of two gang members escaping from the back of the bar. They were rapidly approaching a turn in the alley. Phaedra had a precious few seconds before they rounded the corner and were out of sight; timing was of the essence. She slammed the bolt home with a grunt and brought the rifle up to her shoulder.

In the space of a few seconds, her cybernetic eye lens zoomed, selected the further of the two ID-SOLs, and calibrated the optimal target point. The instant her target was acquired she pulled the trigger, the Longbolt rifle booming and slamming against her shoulder again.

Harrison grunted as the recoil of the dual guns snapped his wrists back, causing a snaking sensation of pain to curl up his forearms. Crouching back down into the "bunker", he holstered one of the guns and picked the remaining HHG into both hands.

"Alright!" Harrison said as he looked over at the newly arrived bartender, having barely noticed the guy right up until the double-barrel arrived in his hands. "Nice gun, bartender. Where'd you get it?"

Lilly was about ready to do a flying roundhouse kick on the fleeing man, but skidded to a halt as a cracking report rang out, a high-caliber bullet whizzed past her, and the ID-SOL's leg was halfway vaporized. Blood, flesh, and bone spewed all along the alleyway, painting a sickening image on the wall - curling arcs of deep, dribbling red flecked with discolored shards of white, with vomitous chunks sliding down its face. It looked like one of those putrid nouveau paintings; Lilly wasn't quite sure which one sickened her more.

Her eyes wandered briefly down to the unconscious body, catching a glimpse of the mess of flesh that used to be a leg. She quickly turned away, doubling over as her mouth watered heavily, and released the contents of her stomach. She took a long moment to ease the gagging and relax her stomach. She slumped against the alley wall, her head spinning.

As she stood there, she caught sight of the apple she'd thrown, laying on the ground a few feet away. The force of its impact had smashed it apart, and it lay in a pool of its own juices, chunks of its skin and flesh littering the ground around it. She lost her composure, crumpling to the ground, tears sputtering down her cheeks as she sobbed in silent spasms.

Lilly had never seen anyone get shot before. The experience was wholly chilling. Her mind shut down, blanking. She couldn't even begin to fathom the new understanding of what violence truly was.

Harrison kept both hands on his HHG, sweeping his aim around the bar as the armistice continued, albiet shakily. He heard everything from in there. Feet shifting, someone coughing, the crunch of glass on the bar floor, the...

'Is that a girl crying?' Harrison thought. Peeking his head out of the bunker, he looked around out the window and attempted to pinpoint the sound of the crying. Although it was a bar fight, yes, and a lot of people had been hurt there, yes, the sound definitely wasn't coming from inside the bar. Going outside the bar quickly and holstering his gun, Harrison looked about and traced the sound of the crying to its source.

The alcohol seemed to have slowed Viktor's response time considerably. Under normal circumstances, he would have been ready and firing with William Harrison to make sure no one considered advancing on their position or firing a shot. Instead, he had hunkered down with the Captain and waited it out. As fortune would have it, that wasn't a bad idea, but at the same time Private Kingston still felt a twinge of regret for leaving himself in such a state. He took a deep breath and scrabbled for a pack of cigarettes. He had a lit cigarette hanging from his lips when he stood up a few seconds later. "Hm, alright then. What do we say, guys? Let's call it even."

Phaedra's shot went right through the center mass of her target, causing him to fall over just inches away from turning the corner. His partner nearly fell over from the shock, but merely let out a loud yelp as he disappeared from sight, leaving his 'friend' behind to an uncertain fate.

"You boys got caught between a gangfight and a buncha drunks." The Bartender slurred, resting the shotgun over his shoulders. "I suggest ya'll clear off before the cops arrive."

Phaedra scowled as she watched the other ID-SOL bypass his fallen teammate and disappear around the corner. She pulled on the rifle's bolt to eject the spent round and then pushed it closed again. She scanned the perimeter intently, looking for more potential escapees.

Seeing none, Phaedra slung her rifle over her shoulder and made her way to the right side of the roof where she had made her first shot. She scanned with her eye implant to discover the status of the gang member whose leg she had obliterated; if he was still alive then they had an important source of information. While Phaedra glanced over towards the fallen ID-SOL, she noticed the woman with the pink hair again, but this time she was crumpled up against the wall. She scanned both of them, but she was unable to determine their status from this range.

Phaedra heard sirens in the distance. If they were to capture the wounded ID-SOL alive, they had to act quickly. Phaedra hefted the rifle on her back and made for the trapdoor; sliding down the ladder to the floor below.

Anselm saw Harrison exit the bar and approach him "Harrison, that newbie went down the street after one of the others..." the albino informed his team mate with a somewhat concerned tone, still holding his prisoner at gunpoint "and I might need some help with this one."

A beep sounded from all the Datapads of the Marines, signalling an incoming message.

From: LJG Fian Vel Steyr
To: NSS Acadia Marines Usergroup
Title: Attention!

Is that sirens I'm hearing? Busting any of you out of jail is going to take all day and there is still unfinished business from Golding Station. Drop whatever you're doing and get back to the shuttle site ASAP. The clock is ticking.

Click to expand...

Fian capped his stylus and put away his Datapad. On the seat next to him was a casefull of medals courtesy from the SMoDIN and an unmarked paper folder from the IPG. While he loathe to have to cut the shore leave of the marines short, it seemed that they have already overstayed their welcome in the city.

Anselm pulled out his datapad and read the message. He shrugged and clubbed the ID-SOL across the back of the head and looked down the alley "Harrison, we gotta go!"

"In a second." Came Harrison's tentative reply. He edged over towards Lilly, the edges of his duster trailing behind him as they dragged on the pavement. "Lilly?" He closed in a bit, looking at the half-breed with concern etched on his face. "Lilly, time to go."

Phaedra had nearly traversed the stairwell when her datapad buzzed. She slowed her pace slightly to open the datapad and view the message she had recieved from the Master Chief.

Upon viewing the message she frowned slightly, disappointed at the prospect of leaving the job unfinished. She entered what was left of the bar and retrieved her duffle and rifle case from the collection of splintered tables and bullet-ridden booths. Phaedra slammed the case down onto one of the few remaining undamaged tables, snapped it open, set the Longbolt into place, and then closed the case securely.

"I will clean it properly when the time next presents itself," she thought.

She turned to move away from the table, but then stopped short. She noticed a small flash of green from inside the mess of furniture and she reached for it with her left hand. Phaedra dusted off her recovered beret and then confidently placed it upon her head. With that she headed for the door, the duffle slung over her right shoulder and the rifle case balanced on the other.

When she exited the bar, Phaedra noticed Harrison standing by the woman with the strange pink hair. While slightly curious, she was more intent on discovering the status of the wounded ID-SOL. While such an inury to a human could be fatal, ID-SOLs were usually able shrug off such mortal injuries through sheer toughness. Phaedra spared a quick glance at Harrison and the woman as she passed; paying little attention to the pool of blood and gore staining her boots. She stooped next to the ID-SOL and felt his neck for a pulse, her face displaying the stern expression she wore frequently.

Despite the commotion caused by the shootout, public and private transportation is not affected, people have either developed a complete apathy or a bulletproof chassis. There are both trains and buses going to the shuttlepads at a nearby bus stop.

Unless someone was equally no-life and hanging around in the area near the shuttles, Fian did not expect anyone to show up anytime soon. He leaned back on his seat, closed his eyes and thought about his choices in the previous mission over the current one. 'Mmm, helping out Captain Vera and the Emden might have averted the need for this second mission, but the key word here is might. Leaving on the NSS Acadia would have gotten us into a bigger mess with the IPG... Regaining control of the Tower is the best, at least we know where the NSS Emden jumped to.'

“Well fine, jeez, don’t believe me,” Rico said in an agitated voice…agitated mostly by the fact that his little white lie didn’t exactly catch. “Look, regar’less, me and shortstack-“ Rico looked up and away at Suku for a moment, as though suddenly remembering something important. The sergeant turned over to Carina and called out, “Hey shortcakes, you still hungry?! Quit flirtin’ around and let’s hustle!” Rico barked before turning back to Suku, a coy smirk across his face. “Me an’ shortbread were gonna get a burger, ‘cause she’s hungry. How’s that for carin’ bones, sweetheart?”

"You got me a dinner, and look what happened." Suku said disapprovingly, her arms crossed. She looked over at Carina for a moment then back at Rico. "Besides, who would trust you with their kid? You'd probably leave her in a ball pit, chasing after your next score." The woman spoke bitterly.

“I saved your lovely ass from hard time, then bought you a dress, and then took you out to a steak dinner,” Rico corrected Suku in a more matter-of-fact tone, rather than a bitter or sarcastic one. His voice made it obvious he was reminiscing fairly hard on the subject. “Thiiiiiiiis is a lil’ different. Bit too young and a bit too…related. Not among some a’ my favorite combo’s for ladyfriends.”

"Still sounds like it's gunna' end in disappointment." Suku rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion. "Besides, shouldn't you be off saving the world while her mom actually takes care of her?" The nurse said, continuing her cold barrage.

As the two continued their argument, the green haired Suku, staring down the slick haired and slick witted Sergeant, a yelp came from off to the side, a child's yelp, and one of pain. If either one had bothered to look, the little girl was more or less standing in front of a now kneeling boy clutching at his more private of places a series of sobbing moans racking him. In the end she pushed him backwards on to his back, and leapt atop him, soundly pummeling him with clenched fists, his hands already pinned under her.

"Hey, aren’t you going to break that up?" Suku said to Rico, her brow arched at him in an interrogative fashion.

“Huh?” Rico said almost enthusiastically, glad to have any sort of distraction come up between the intense scrutinies he was getting from the green-haired Geshrin. When he turned around to Carina, though, he wasn’t exactly sure that this was what he wanted. “HEY HEY HEY-“ Rico said harshly, dashing over to pluck the little slugger off of her reeling victim. “What the fuck are ya thinkin’ Sprout, jumpin’ on some kid?!” he scolded, carrying the little girl in one hand between his arm and his hip back towards the street side and awaiting Medical Officer.

Carina more or less grunted and struggled, her legs kicking, and her arms flailing. Truth be told, the 'victim' had made fun of her, and the uniformed Rico when all she wanted to do was play with the other kids while the grownups talked. She was however rather huffy, her cheeks dark, hair a little damp, and she wore a rather deep scowl as the other kids ran over to their fallen comrade, and began to do the same for him, getting him the hell out of sight to lick his wounds.

"Nice job, kid." Suku smiled, leaning down to the little girl for a second. "You've got some mean fists, y'know? Kinda' reminds me of myself when I was a little girl." She laughed a little, ignoring Rico's good parenting for the moment.

Rico kept silent until he was sure that the boy Carina had winded was able to walk away…he didn’t particularly feel like dealing with an angry parent possibly wielding a mean little firearm around the corner. When he was sure, however, the Nepleslian put Carina down and crossed his arms proudly. “Hell yeah, must take after her folks,” Rico praised. “Now, you done horsin’ aroun’, ‘cause I’m still pretty damn hungry.”
"Pfft, as if, she fights better than you." Suku said shortly.

Carina simply huffed again, and looked up at her father, wearing the scowl still, but could feel it ebbing inch by inch. "He made fun of me an’ called you names. I don' like that, Papi, it makes me mad." She mumbled and wished she could hug the man.

"The hell you talkin' about?!" Rico said suddenly, apparently a little offended at Suku's insult. "I'm a great fighter, I used to roll the assholes around here like five times a day!"

Suku arched a brow at Rico, and the smiled deviously for a second. She bent down to Carina and looked at her warmly. "Tell me, sweetheart, have you seen 'papi' ever fight before?"

Carina nodded. "Yeah, when he was on tha' big space station... I watched him through the cameras thanks to Ms.Elsae." The little girl patted her pocket that held the SAVtech. "The black haired loud guy scared me, an' I hit my head, an' then he put me in an escape pod with her. We got out an' I was all alone. Since everyone went to go fight the bad guys."

Suku arched a brow, trying to place someone she knew that had black hair, and was also loud. Though, one that caught her attention was the mention of an escape pod. "Wait... what? Escape pod? Alone?" Suku looked at Rico spitefully for a second, "You're telling me you were on a combat ship, and no one was around to watch you?" She shifted her eyes to Rico, but still spoke to Carina, "Or make sure you're alright?"

Carina shook her head. "Nah...they all went on that big metal station we docked at. So, I was all alone'n watchin' through the floating pictures miss Elsae put up for me." The little girl piped up as she looked between the two now.

Rico stood quietly and inwardly mortified, unable to really get interrupt the conversation as it were, his body tense and ready to turn and make for the nearest bus stop at a moment's notice.

"How long were you alone?" Suku asked, her tone seeming to edge. She appeared to be restraining herself, heavily.

Carina rubbed at one of her cheeks as she thought, rather unsure. "It was a little while...I kinda don' remember. I just watched'em from where I was."

"So when did 'papi' come pick you up?" Suku asked, teetering by the sound of her voice.

"Tha' child people took me to him after." Carina answered, clinging to one of the man's legs. "I miss'd him a lot, an' was scared when he was fighting... I didn' wanna lose my Papi, like my Mama." She shook her head fiercely at that thought, not wanting to think on it, and deny the possibility of it ever happening again.

"Mama...?" Suku spoke with a shrill clarity, she looked up at Rico. For the moment, she seemed dumbstruck, unable to speak.

Rico ran a hand down across his face as Carina pretty much blew his oh-so-convincing cover with her sob story. "Hey, baby, would ya mind if we kinda cooled it with the twenty-questions shit?" Rico pleaded nervously, trying to salvage what was left of his previous identity as Carina's uncle. "This is pretty touchy stuff."

"Mama was murdered back on Fortuna. The cops came an' took me when I got home. An' then they put me in that places with all the other kids, sayin' if they couldn' find my Papi, I'd live there, an' maybe live with strangers." Carina visibly shivered at her rather lackluster explanation of an orphanage and the prospect of being adopted.

Suku frowned, and what seemed to be hints of pity appeared in her face. She almost appeared to be on the brink of tears at one point. Her gaze rose to meet Ricos, "Uncle, huh?" She sounded hurt.

Rico smiled weakly, acknowledging that he had indeed lost this battle. The sergeant couldn’t bring himself to look either of them in the face, but was able to smile weakly and rub at the back of his head as he gave a reply, unaware of Suku’s emotional status. “Well…in spirit, I guess.”

"In spirit?" Suku said incredulously, "Is your brain broken or something!?" She stood up and took a step closer to him, closing in on his face. "You're all she's got and you want nothing to do with her?"

Rico stood his ground as the Nurse began harrowing him. "Hey, don't go puttin' words in my mouth. If I wanted to ditch the girl, I had plenty a' chances before this," Rico argued hotly. "So back off a' my business, ya hear?"

Carina looked up at the two, sniffling a little. "Papi was gonna leave me?"

Suku only looked down at Carina for a moment and the glared at Rico.
Rico had to admit to himself that the thought crossed his mind. Several times a day. Rico sighed, taking in a deep breath to calm himself before looking down at Carina again. “No, I wasn’t gonna leave ya alone shortcakes,” Rico said, squatting down as he finished his sentence. “We came here so Gramma could take care a’ ya. Uncl…Pap…Rico does a lot a’ that fightin’ that he did back up on the space station, an’ he can’t watch ya all the time.”

"But...But...I wanna be with you, Papi...'cause Mama is gone, an' that leaves you!" Carina was holding her hands in front of her, looking down at the ground, a little pout on her lips. "An' I know, Papi'll win all tha' fightin' an' come home alright. Since I think, Papi won't let a buncha bullies beat him."

This answered surprised Suku, but she knew the man just enough to tell when he was being serious. His explanation seemed serious enough, which arose an idea within the frosty mind of the Geshrin doctor. "I--..." Suku started and shook her head, thinking she was going a little fast, "You on the same ship as Fian, still?"

Rico stood back up with a sigh at Carina’s misplaced enthusiasm. “I…what?” Rico said as Suku interrupted him. It took him a moment to recall what his next assignment was, having read it earlier before he and Carina went on their little excursion to his hometown. “uh, yeah, as far as I know.”

"Well, you're lookin' at your new Medical Officer. I was just recently assigned to the NSS Acadia." Suku said, seeming to beam with a little bit of pride.

"Uh...good job?" Rico said, a little lost at Suku's sudden turn in the topic at hand.

Suku stared Rico down for a moment, a tad disappointed at his lack of enthusiasm. "So..." She began a little hesitantly, looking away for a second, and then back at Rico. "Perhaps she would be safer if she stayed in the Medical Bay, wouldn't you think?"

It took a moment for Rico to ponder the thought over. If Suku was implying that she would take care of Carina…well, that would most certainly solve everything. Rico wouldn’t have to spend the next few days hunting for a reliable godparent, he wouldn’t have to constantly put up her and have her tag along with him…there certainly seemed to be no downsides. Rico smiled when he came to this conclusion. “I dunno, you think you can handle it?”

"I used to babysit two five years olds when I was back in High School." Suku said cooly, she shrugged and grin. "What's the difference?"

”Sheesh, those poor kids,” Rico muttered under his breath, squatting down again the better explain the situation to Carina. “Well small fry,” he said, ruffling the child’s hair slightly. “Looks like pretty lady here will be takin’ care a’ ya for a lil’ while. Just stay outta trouble an’…uh…try not pickin’ fights with her, Rico added in a small voice outside of Suku’s earshot.

Lilly had a bad case of the shivers, and a cold sweat slicked her face. She stared into space for a long moment before looking in the general direction of Harrison. "Huh? Oh. Yeah...." she half-mumbled as she slowly stood. She took a couple steps forward, then stopped. She looked down at the apple for a moment, clearing the tears from her eyes, then continued out of the alley, folding her arms across her chest as her teeth chattered, despite the temperature.

Harrison looked over at Lilly. She looked like she was freezing to death and was sweating buckets. He briefly stepped away from the Tarkarian and removed his longcoat, wrapping it around her shoulders as he guided the woman back towards the shuttle station.

A man ran up the street, he breathed heavily, sucking in large amounts of air to fill his lungs. He carried a rucksack over his shoulder that contained everything he owned, that he wasn't wearing. His jacket stuck to his skin, weighing him down, he should have taken it off earlier, but he wanted his first impression to be a good one. Ahead of him a light flickered distance and a car braked, the screech resounding off the buildings.

He continued to run for another five minutes till he reached the shuttle site, two guards stood outside the entrance beckoning him forward.

“Name and Rank?” one of them asked.

“Norvan Wallace, Private 3rd Class.” he replied, trying to give the very image of soldiering perfection that his instructors at the training centre taught him.

“Orders?”

“Awaiting assignment on the NSS Acadia.” The guards spoke into their com links before speaking to him again.

“Go on through to the lobby area, you'll receive your orders there.” One of the guards turned around and started typing in the password to open the door. The other lent forward towards Norvan.

“Good luck kid.” The door opened and Norvan walked through, confused by what the guard had meant. He thought about this as he waited in the lobby for the other to arrive.

"He's dead," thought Phaedra grimly, pulling her right hand back from the ID-SOL's throat. She had intended to incapacitate at least one of the ID-SOL gang members in order to extract information, but it was too late now; he had bled out much sooner than anticipated.

She glanced to her left to see Harrison escorting the woman with the pink hair out of the alley. The woman, who was apparently named Lilly, shivered profusely as Harrison draped his trenchcoat around her. Phaedra glanced back at the ID-SOL, only for familiar faces to flicker before her eyes. She shook her head and the faces were gone.

Phaedra exhaled a sigh as she rose to her feet. Her eyes beheld the broken form of the ID-SOL for a moment; his blood had pooled around him like a wreath, wrapping him in the vermillion embrace of death.

She grabbed her duffle, hefted the rifle case on her shoulder and followed after Harrison and Lilly, keeping herself a respectful distance behind them.

"What the fuck." Was all Ran could muster after seeing a very frightened man hauling ass in the opposite direction of the bar he was just at. The Chief had spent his time as an unwelcome guest on some poor person's stoop. "Fucking bullshit. It's never a peaceful shore leave, is it?" Ran threw one of many beer bottles into the street and placed his DataPad in his pocket, the message from the Master Chief still displayed on the screen.

"It's either some fucker's eyes getting shut down at a concert or some fucking shit with dogs and crap." Groaning, he got up and made his way down the street, inhaling the exhaust fumes of several passing cars. The shittyness of the situation forced him to light a cigarette, lending another choking smell to the city air, like peeing in an ocean full of piss.

Anselm glanced at Lilly and Harrison as they walked past, then down at the unconscious ID-SOL at his feet.

I'm not going to be able to carry this... "Miss Volkov, right?" he asked, seeing Phaedra a few paces behind the others "This guy's a little heavy, mind giving me an assist?"

Not waiting for an answer he grabbed the tank under his shoulders and hefted the ID-SOL's bulk up to waist-height "You take his legs, I'll carry the rest" Anselm ordered with a hint of half-disguised strain in his voice.