RP: NSS Acadia [Prelude] Fortune, Neon and Sand

[Exhack]

The NSS Nerkat emerged into realspace, after completing a rather lengthy hyperspace fold. Below it was the deceptive blue mammoth orb of Fortuna, its welcoming view from space concealing arid deserts and dense, lush jungles. The ship descended into the atmosphere, lower portions of hull taking on a slight glow as temperatures skyrocketed from the effects of planetary reentry. The ship was guided along by the invisible hand of electronic guidance systems on both the ship and global positioning emplacements working in tandem.

The ship settled down in the middle of a small military starport, a few of the surrounding runways occupied by ships of the local SMODIN garrisons. A message was broadcasted throughout the ship by the ship's Drei, at the request of the station.

Dear Crew of the NSS Nerkat,

Welcome to Leon City, Fortuna! I hope that you'll enjoy your stay at either districts of our newly built city, in either the local barracks or a reasonably priced hotel. Looking for something more extravagant? The Money Town district is home to high class facilities that rival those of Yamatai and any Yamataian vacation world. We cater to every vice, niche and craving, as long as it's legal, including gambling, fighting, races and everything you'd expect of a true Nepleslian city.

Leon City, the gambler mecca welcomes you! If you have any inquiries, feel free to reach our automated service at rootLCAWS.678trl0.992//node.fortuna.

-LCAWS

 

[SUBLIMEinal]

Adrian stepped out of the medbay. A new arm hung by his side. He had opted for cybernetics this time, although it was only one of the one-size-fits-all models used as a stop-gap by the medical staff until he could get a new one fitted.

The medic frowned as the message from Fortuna's government was broadcast throughout the ship. "Dreadfully tacky bullshit, that," he mumbled to no one in particular. However, the marine was certainly looking forward to a break, especially one without all the ridiculousness the previous one had brought forward.

"Now how the hell do I get off this fucking thing..." Adrian mumbled again before beginning to jog down the hall towards what he thought was the front of the ship, and hopefully a way out.

 

[TeslaTornado]

Next came Harrison, who was changed into his civilian clothing- a black t-shirt, jeans and his duster- and headed for the door. He was thinking about what he was going to do on a gambling planet, and decided not to worry about it until he got planetside.

So, he just walked towards the main exit of the ship (after calling up a guide from Kat) and looked for a place to get something to eat. Preferably a diner or something where he could find some good food that wasn't hellishly expensive.

 

[Kim]

Autumn yawned lazily as the ship-wide announcement roused the Armorer from her post stimulant crash-nap. She stretched her arms up and over her head before she stood up, stretching her neck with light cracking sounds from her stiff and cramped muscles. She felt oddly light as she smoothed down the bottom of her black pleated skirt and revealed at the notion that she could see her own knees again peeking up from beneath the folds of her skirt.

She grinned as she straightened her emerald green halter top over her torso and headed towards the exit of the transport, lining up behind the other Marines eager for shore leave. She was comforted by the familiarity of the rush of warm bodies and the slightly stale recirculated air within the cabin as it mingled with the slightly fresher air of the space port.

It isn't the most pleasant smell in the world but... at least everyone here is alive. Everyone is warm and has a heartbeat, cybernetically aided or otherwise. We're alive, that's all that matters.

Her eyes scanned the crowd for familiar faces and spotted Harrision, who she was only vaguely familiar with and Adrian. "Hey Adrian, where you getting into trouble out this leave?"

 

[Kai]

Trey found himself feeling quite a bit better than he had before, the poison fully gone, real food in his stomach, freshly showered and napped, the works. He grabbed his stuff and sauntered towards the exit of the Nerkat.

Upon reaching said exit, the Penton noticed a small congregation of other soldiers here, and said aloud "Ready for a little vacation?" to no one in particular, stretching the last vestiges of sleep out of his system.

 

[SUBLIMEinal]

"Oi, Wilde!" Adrian grinned as he turned to face the armorer. "Back to the land of the living! Didja enjoy the ride? Charming scenery, no?"

 

[Kim]

Autumn laughed despite herself. "What a ride it was. I could do without the booze less hang over. I kinda almost miss the weight of the 'netics, I was starting to get used to them, but I guess that powers that be are interested in second chances and all that crap. Did you actually try to replace your own eye last time around?" She asked Adrian curiously with an amused expression on her face, "That's rather ballsy if a little messy, but I guess you can't have one without the other?"

 

[SUBLIMEinal]

Adrian cocked an eyebrow. "Shit, 'tried'? I succeeded, thank you." He pointed to his cybernetic eye. "Of course, Kokuten gave me a spot of help." He thought for a moment.

"Hey, up to getting some new cybernetics? I've got to replacement for this clunker," He pounded the flesh-shaded metal of his replaced arm, "and get some tats brushed up for this shiny new body, you know?"

 

[Kim]

"I see, sure, I'd be willing to help you 'netics shop. I plan on keeping all my pieces fleshy right now though. What sort of tat you wanting to get?" Autumn replied with a grin. The Geshrin womanrocked on her heels as she stood behind Adrian as they talked.

"I'd be willing to get some ink with ya, I kinda miss my scars in an odd way. They were mine, ya know? I built up that collection over many many years of 'hard work', it's a shame to lose them over a frag out without something to show for it."

 

[Koenig808]

Ran had stepped out of the Acadia, with a field of smoke choking the numerous passer-byers behind him. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air and cancer smoke, the Chief let two twin streams of it flow out his nostrils, taking in the sights. "Sights", being defined as a neon sign displaying "-QUOR", with the predictable beginning of it being hidden by numerous other signs.

Pulling out his Data Pad, Ran attempted to look up the closest, and cheapest, hotel in the area. "Y'all going to go gambling? I'm going to rent a motel room and get fucked up. Anyone wanna come with?" Ran had already opened a "notepad" function of the Data Pad and had entered in a shopping list of liquor, making sure to not go over the 300 DA limit he had allowed himself. "Not like I'll be gambling, anyway..." He muttered to himself, anticipating the blur that he'll be swimming through tonight.

"Ready for a little vacation?"

That stopped him cold. Turning to meet the offender, Ran simply walked his way over, flicking his used cigarette to the side and lighting another one. Stopping a foot away from Trey, the Chief gave him a once over, and blew some smoke away from him. "Vacation? A fucking all expense paid trip to an Orgy Planet would be a fucking vacation. Get all that vacation bullshit out of your head." He took this time to inhale more smoke deeply. "We're like fucking guard dogs. They beat us and set us loose on fuckers, then they walk us around a bit in the yard so we don't fuck them up."

By now, Ran had just been fucking with the Marine. "Just remember this, kiddo: We can be called back any fucking time they want us back. I won't be surprised if we're back on the ship in a couple of hours or so." With that, Ran simply walked off toward the liquor store. "I'm getting me some fucking whiskey....hopefully the whores here know how to treat whiskey dick..."

 

[Fian]

Fian Vel Steyr stopped by a slot machine. He had been on leave for a good two weeks now and had taken the oppurtunity to travel the colonial expanse. His last stop was at Fortune for obvious reasons, one of these was not gambling but however this specific machine caught his attention among the numerous others in this grocery store.

Instead of indicating levels of payout by the normal 'Jackpot', '1st', '2nd' and ecetra, the rank bars of the SMODIN were listen together with the amounts won. The last person playing it ended up a P2C(Loss of 50%!) and by the looks of the actual rank bars on the soldier, was infact one. Chuckling, Fian took out some chump change from his favorute jacket and pulled the lever, hoping to gain at least 50% (WO2!).

A hot looking NAM employee in uniform walked through the aisle. The black haired Nepleslian was momentarily distracted, but was quickly forced to look back at the machine due to its sudden and incessant ringing and blinking of lights. Instead of seeing a shower of DA vouchers however, Fian was greeted with a large volumetric image saying that he 'Bought the Farm' (0%!).

With a bad taste in his mouth, Fian picked up his hoverbasket of shopping and headed to the cashiers.

 

[Sleepy Hollow]

Private Third Class Sanchez, Nick

You are hereby assigned to the NSS Acadia under the command of Commander Esther Belmonte. You are instructed to go to Starbase Fortunato in the Fortuna System and meet up your CO and crew, who will to be there on shoreleave after they are debriefed.

A free shuttle ride will be provided.

SMODIN 1ST ASSAULT FLEET
MARINE DIVISION

He didn’t quite know where they misconstrued his last name as Sanchez, when it was Cobalt. Or maybe the Marines had learned of his flagrant debauchery and run-ins with Aethersperm. But then they fixed the problem.

Private 3rd Class Cobalt, Nick

You are hereby transferred to the NSS Nerkat under the command of Captain Tamara Novikov.

SMODIN 1ST ASSAULT FLEET
MARINE DIVISION

Only now they were reassigning him? He wasn’t sure. He couldn’t think straight. The shuttle from Culture Town to Leon City would take a bit longer than he expected and he couldn't help being a bit anxious. And bored.

Private 3rd Class Cobalt, Nick

Your assignment to the NSS Acadia still stands. A free shuttle voucher will be sent to you shortly. Use it at any station.

SMODIN 1ST ASSAULT FLEET
MARINE DIVISION

He flipped the free shuttle voucher for a couple rounds through his fingers, and then shoved it in the pocket of his jeans.

“Goddammit, I’m bored!” he groaned, leaning back in his seat and prodding the back of the drivers seat. “More speed please.”

 

[SUBLIMEinal]

"I want to get my old one," Adrian replied, "big-ass Omega sign." He turned and pointed to the center of his back, where he intended to have it put. Turning around once more, he continued speaking. "Lost it thanks to that fuckin' bastard of a Red. The one with the claw things. You know, like 'Rawwwwr'."

Adrian did his best to reenact the "claw things" by making his hands into vaguely claw-like shapes and waving them around a little bit while making a face. "You get the pictur- HOLY SHIT! RAN!" Adrian yelled over Autumn's head before jumping up and down and waving for the Chief's attention. "COME HERE! NOW!"

 

[TeslaTornado]

Harrison slipped through the crowd easily, managing to find a small, off-to-the-side diner with a neon sign over it that said "Lou's". Beneath that sign was a banner that said "Best fried food on Fortuna!". Harrison was on it immediately, walking through the front doors.

The waiter at the main table was a large man with a big belly, a grease-stained apron covering an off-white t-shirt and jeans, and a bald head and goatee. The ex-merc sat down at one of the barstools in front of the serving table and looked over one of the menus.

 

[Exhack]

Gyles stepped out of the ship along with the others and checked his datapad for estimated time of arrival on his newly rented airbike. Dressed in what were basically his best casual clothes, comprised of a light blue and white striped dress shirt, slightly worn dark blue jeans and a new brown leather jacket (as his last one was ruined by gunfire). "Well... it'd be kinda boring to cruise around alone. I wonder what Rose is up to..." He said to himself quietly, not particularly in the mood to be riding solo.

The tech sentry hardly knew the girl, yet she'd manage to hold his attention so far and was alright company. On the other hand, he was never really sure if that moniker she'd given him was done as a joke or to actually mock him, and the last time they'd spent any time together was done trying to prevent a rape.

Figures I've shitty luck when it comes to women. On the bright side, that puts me one above the average guy, who's got no luck. Hah! He thought to himself as he typed out a quick message to the green-haired medic. Hopefully, she'd get it.

Hey Rose,

I'm going to drive out into the countryside and take in the air a bit. I hear it's actually... clean and kinda nice. Doesn't smell like cancer and city, yannow? Do you want to come with? I'll cover food and drinks later.

-Gyles

 

[Koenig808]

Ran had not gotten more than 10 feet away before he heard Adrian. Stopping immediately, the Chief turned around, blew some smoke out his nostrils and simply asked, "What?"

 

[Kai]

At Ran's seeming explosion, Trey laughed inwardly, invisibly, a good, hearty laugh. What a riot crazy guys were. Outwardly, he just placidly stood there taking it, the smallest hint of a smile on the corners of his mouth. Shaking his head, The marine walked out into the city, looking for a general store of some kind, as he had forgotten his 'civillian' clothes on the Alliance. He needed a few shirts and some regular pants, and maybe something to eat. Trail mix sounded good.

"Now, If only I could find the right neon sign" Trey said to himself, just loud enough to be heard but just quiet enough to not really attract attention. He continued his mini-trek out into the city, glancing at signs as he went, hoping something more normal (to him) than a liquor store or casino would show up. And, with luck, one did, a grocery store, fairly unassuming, though, like probably every building here, it had a few slot machines.

He ventured into the store, looking one way, and accidentally bumped a black haired man pushing a cart. "Oh, Sorry sir" He said, turning around to see the man and apologize better, and suddenly recognized him from the Alliance. It was Fian Vel Steyr.

 

[Miyako]

Twitch.

Rose rolled right off her bed when the message alarm came in, landing with one hand to the deck, she brought the other down and slowly brought herself back onto the bed when she realized it wasn't a klaxon or other attack alert. Grabbing her pillow to clutch in one hand, the other went on a quest for her com unit with eventual success while the rest of the Marine's body caught up with the fact she was very much awake again. Playing with her tongue stud while reading over the message twice didn't make it any more clear. "Yeah..well. Shit where are my boots." It seemed like a good bet if they were going to the country she should wear them, even if they were urban.

Stripping quickly out of her uniform, the medic was thankful for her earlier shower and soon had pulled on a crimson red skirt with black lacing on the front just for looks. It had a hole in it here and there, but she wore it with a nice black belt loose around her hips, since it was a battle to look more dressed than you really were with something that didn't reach the knee. What her boots didn't take up to her knees her dark stockings did, though she ditched the standard issue panties before putting those on. She had a set like her other shirt, littered with expletives and soon had it on under a black and crimson checkered top that was a bit of a nightmare, but pulled everything else about what she wore together, and set off her hair and eyes. At least it showed off her wings from the back with more detail than what she had worn the first night meeting everyone, even if there were holes placed in it to open at her belly button, and run up the center of her spine opening and closing. Clipping the left side of her hair behind an ear Rose picked up her unit and hit Gyles back, pretty sure what he was up to but not in the mood to care. She was hungry, and he probably wouldn't take her to a *total* shithole like most Marines would.

Clinging to her things under one arm Rose tucked her knife in the back of a boot and went looking for Gyles.

I guess I'm all yours maypole. Where am I meeting you?

--Rose

 

[SUBLIMEinal]

Adrian waved frantically again, even though he had the chief's attention. "COME HERE! NOW!" Instead of waiting for Ran to actually come to him, Adrian charged straight to him, narrowly avoiding smashing Autumn to the ground in his rush. Once he had closed the distance, he locked eyes with Ran and spoke in a somewhat loud whisper.

"IT IS TOP SECRET. BUT I NEED TO TELL YOU."

 

[Exhack]

Gyles smiled a little when Rose replied, but decided against reveling in the development at the risk of catching Ran's attention. Still, he figured that it would probably be a good way to get away from the mess of the past few days. More than that, the interest he had in Rose from that night in Los Apagos hadn't gone away. Events had simply required that he put it aside until it it was safe.

Just outside the ship, with a few of the others.

-Gyles

"Huh?" Gyles' datapad blinked again, as notice from the company was sent to him.

Your rental airbike has been parked at the exist of the starport.

-FAR Automated Call Service

"Well, looks like everything's in order. It's just a matter of that lady in question showing up, isn't it?" The tech sentry remarked to himself quietly, glancing at his datapad. He had begun to grow a little impatient, if not nervous and started fiddling with his visor, changing settings in minor ways and reviewing files he had stored on both it and his other devices. I'm not losing my cool over this, am I?