MISSION PROLOGUE - START!!
Luca was still in Kyoto at this point in a drunken stupor and hauling his suitcase about. He was searching for a Shuttle Terminal to give him transport to Ralt, his home town. Unbeknownst to him, he was being shadowed.
Eventually, he found the Shuttle Terminal, a large building with a collection of hangars nearby. He staggered inside and to the ticket booth, which was being attended to by a lone Neko, who was probably retired from the Army business.
The inside of the ticket booth was plainly decorated, a row of chairs against one wall, a counter where the Neko sat with a fair bit of paperwork, an artificial pot plant, a few posters of where to travel and a chart on which shuttle left at what terminal to go where. A large window took up the remaining wall, which gave view to shuttles coming in for landing and departing. Most of them were KE-T1 shuttles, the really cheap ones which are sold as military surplus.
"Hello sir, may I help you?" She said as she examined Luca in his drunken state, "Need quick transport somewhere?"
"Yesh you may," Luca replied as he teetered about, "I need a shuttle to Ralt,"
"Ralt, lovely place," The neko commented as she wrote down Luca's choice "That's the little place on the way to the Temple of the Stars."
Luca had no clue about the Temple of the Stars, he only cared about home sweet home at this point. He simply nodded.
"The next shuttle to Ralt will dock in Hangar 3A in..." She looked behind her and looked at the time charts for departures and arrivals of shuttles, "half an hour. You've got some time to kill," She then took notice of Luca's drunken state, "I'd also get something to sober up, you look a mess..."
Then she took notice of Luca's gun hanging by his side and frowned, "Also, you must put that gun into your suitcase as hold luggage. We don't permit firearms as cabin luggage."
Luca just nodded, opened up his suitcase, took the offending gun from his left holster, turned on the safety and placed it into the suitcase, which was now brimming with various clothes.
"It’s good to see that you're still able to understand me although you're in such a mess," The clerk told Luca, folding her arms and giving a wry smile, "You're not like the other undesirables who come through here, you've got a certain... charm."
Luca simply smiled at the Neko's comments as he sat down in the waiting area with his suitcase by his side.
Luca didn't seem to notice his extra shadow in his drunken state. The black-cloaked figure silently stalked her way into the terminal right behind Luca. She then stood within the shadows against a wall. Neither Luca nor the neko attendant seemed to notice her arrival…
Luca looked at a clock on the wall... 10:34 PM... His shuttle left at 11:00 PM. Luca was beginning to feel a little bit more sober, but not much more.
"Excuse me, miss..." Luca asked the attendant while he sat back, "I've a favour to ask."
She looked as though she was filling out paperwork, but she was just bored, "Yes, what is it?" The neko replied as she tapped a pen against her desk.
"Could you mind my suitcase?" Luca requested as he hauled the huge thing off the ground and moved it towards her desk, "I'm going to nip out for a moment."
"Yes, I'll keep an eye on it," She said as she got up and dragged the suitcase behind her desk, "What are you going to do?"
"Hmm..." Luca thought for a moment, "Maybe I'll buy myself a communicator... and something to sober up."
With that, Luca made his way out of the shuttle terminals to a nearby electronics store, which sold just what he was looking for, and it set him back 200 KS.
A basic communicator, coloured a deep blue with a lovely emerald green trim. It had some basic features, such as a camera, video and text messaging, a simple text translator and music and games. He flipped it open and began to personalise it, changing the background, putting his name down and a few other things.
Then he began to make his way back to the shuttle terminal. Then he forgot about something to sober up, but he decided to ignore that.
Luca's extra shadow had continued to follow him. After he had bought his communicator and on his way back to the terminal, the cloaked figure stepped in front of the still slightly drunk Luca. Her voice was almost like a bird singing as she said, "You are the one known as Luca, are you not?" Her violet eyes shown a brightly from underneath the hood of her cloak.
Luca was too busy playing around with his new communicator that he didn't quite notice the "Shadow" pounce in front of him. He walked into it by accident.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Luca responded obliviously upon bumping into the shadow whilst hurriedly putting his communicator in a pocket inside his jacket. Only then he heard the question given to him, "Uh, that's me. How'd you guess?"
The strange shadow of a person stepped back as Luca bumped into her. Her hood had fallen back to reveal her face. She flicked a strand of black hair out of her face as she answered, "I have been watching you for some time now, Mr. Luca. I have come to offer you my services." She slowly smoothed down the naturally red-highlighted black hair that she was so proud of. Her violet eyes never left Luca, however, and seemed to search into his very soul.
Luca flickered for a moment at the claim that she was watching him, then attempted to draw his pistol and fire. However, he drew nothing, and fired air into air. His reflex got the better of him.
"Why oh why did I leave my pistol in the suitcase?" Luca reflected as he gave a sheepish frown, "Erm... err... sorry 'bout that, I'm a bit drunk, and a bit strung."
At this point, they were getting closer to the Shuttle Terminal. A nearby clock read 10:41
Hitori had raised a serrated dagger clear of her cloak, as he had done this. The small blade was easy to balance and simple to throw. Luckily for Luca, she had noticed that he had no weapon in his hand. "Hmph... Even when drunk, that wasn't a very pleasant thing to do to a potential employee..." She sheathed her dagger into its place, strapped to her lower back. She smiled inquisitively as she pierced into him with a glare.
"For one," Luca said whilst folding his arms, "I just don't like people popping in uninvited, however, I'll let this one slide."
This lady is quite a mysterious one... Luca pondered, I hope she's not with SAINT or Black Spiral or anything else... I put the army behind me. And bloody hell she has nice eyes.
Now, a bit more sober and stricken by common sense, Luca inquired, "Anyway, what sort of work do you do? By the looks of things, I'd take it that you're a... spy, of sorts?"
"Spy is such a... strong word," she replied, smiling slightly. "I prefer the term Intelligence Gatherer. It sounds a little more profession, don't you think?" She put her hands on her hips, waiting for him to respond.
"If you insist," Luca said while giving a smug grin and putting his hands through his messy hair, "Intelligence Gatherer... haven't heard that one before. So what sorts of Information do you gather, Miss..." Luca hesitated for a moment, "Hmm... I never quite caught your name. Hell, we haven't even been properly introduced!"
Luca took a step back with a slight teeter and bowed with a flourish of the arm, "I, am Luca S. Pavone," He started, "Ex-soldier of the 3rd Fleet of the Star Army of Yamatai, discharged with honours," He paused and looked up at the shadow which was following him, "Or, you may simply call me the Wolf. Who might you be?"
Luca kept his mid-bow position, awaiting response.
Hitori smiled pleasantly at his nickname. He seemed charming enough, even if he was still a bit drunk. She pretended to curtsy, using her cloak as if it was a dress. She replied, "My name is Hitori Sasorix, Professional Intelligence Gatherer, Acquisition Expert, and Locksmith Extraordinaire! I have also been called the Lunar Raven." She smirked at him as she ended her curtsy.
"Lunar Raven... very nice," Luca said as he stretched up and made his way to the Ticket Booths of the Shuttle Terminals.
He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, it read 10:54. The excitement of getting a communicator plus his new discovery of a girl named Hitori had made the time pass.
"Excuse me, sir," The neko from across the counter gestured as she got up, "Your shuttle will arrive soon, no tickets will be needed, but you will need to get there. Oh, and don't forget your suitcase. Just head to Hangar 3A."
"Thankyou!" Luca said as he rushed behind the counter and picked up his huge suitcase with a single arm, he then turned to Hitori, "Hey Hitori, would you like to go places?"
Hitori raised an eyebrow before answering; "I have nothing better to do. Plus, you never did answer the offer of my services." She smirked in his direction as she headed toward Hangar 3A. She walked slowly so he could catch up.
"Oh, about your services," Said Luca as he was dashing down the airstrip, "I might need them, we'll see what happens."
Luca quickly found Hangar 3A after a short dash, and found just what he was looking for, a KE-T1 shuttle which was heading to Ralt.
"All right Hitori, just makes sure you don't pull that knife out on this ship, or else we could be arrested," He cautioned as he put his luggage in a small storage compartment.
The inside of the shuttle was small, cramped, could hold about 4 people, a few more in a desperate situation. It had been modified to provide a small storage space. It bore the trappings of a military past.
Jimothi Trakk streached. He was now free of the mandatory term of service that the Star Army of Yamatai required and now had the military training that he wanted in order to pursue a life of adventure. The thing was that he had little to no idea where to start! So he decided to go on what little he did know, which was the Temple of the Stars. He knew that the Temple of the Stars sounded like it could be a lot of fun so he thought he might as well start there. Jimothi, his mind made up, headed for the spaceport to get on the first shuttle headed in that direction.
After buying the tickets and boarding the shuttle, he started imagining what twists and turns his life would be taking now that he was independent from the Star Army. Lost in thought, he didn't notice two figures entering the shuttle. One was male who had an aura of leadership around him while the other was female with striking eyes. The male did not seem to notice him when the two entered, but the female fixed him with an inquisitive look that bore into him.
Jimothi extended his hand in introduction, "Jimothi Trakk, what are you two doing going to Ralt?"
Luca just managed to notice the brown haired person when he called out, he immediately took notice of him as he sat down.
"Well, I'm Luca Pavone, and my friend here is Hitori Sasorix," Luca introduced, "I live in Ralt, and I'm just going home. Then I'm going to do something with my life! Something adventurous, bold and daring!"
Jimothi was dumbstruck. Someone else who was searching for adventure! What luck!! "Well," he said, "I am also searching for adventure and as the saying goes, the more the merrier. May I join you in your endeavor? I'm fresh out of my stint in the military so I have all of the necessary skills."
"I'm fresh out of the Military too, discharged with Honours," Luca told Jimmy as he he pointed to his old Rank Pin, which was stuck to the left breast of his jacket, "You're more than welcome to tag along, but first, may I inquire what you're good at doing?"
Hitori did watch this Jimothi carefully. She wasn't sure about him, but at least he seems a bit more honest then she is... Plus, he could be a good distraction for Luca so he wouldn't bother her all of the time. "I'd say that he should join us. We will need as much muscle as we can get, I think," she advised Luca.
Jim remembered back to a few days before when he was still in the military in the 5th fleet. He enjoyed it, but it got stale after the first year. There seemed to be no glory for him as an individual. Instead, when the ship won a victory, they were all praised. He sill enjoyed doing what he was trained to do however.
"I'm a combat medic, I can rough it up then patch it up afterwards. I am also an accomplished chemist and can make a medicine as easily as I can make a bomb. So, am I in?"
Hitori smirked again as she continued to advise Luca, "A medic, let alone a bomb-maker, could be a quite useful tool." She waited for Luca's decision.
Luca listened intently to Jimmy, then thought for a moment...
Lets see, there's me, the team leader... Luca considered when he looked at Jimmy, Hitori, the brains of the group and finally, Jimmy, who is a medic and bomb maker... I think we have a match.
Then Luca gave Jimmy an enthusiastic thumbs up and shook Jimmy's hand vigorously, "Consider yourself in, Jimmy!"
Suddenly, the shuttle began to start up. The engines were warming up as the pilot's voice resounded over the communicators, "All right folks, this shuttle is heading to Ralt," The pilot's voice sounded female and weary, "The trip should take around 4 hours... this shuttle goes at about 150 MPH... So sit back, enjoy the ride, do something amongst yourselves..."
Then the shuttle took flight with a few bumps, but nothing too serious.
Then arose the question in Luca's energetic mind, "...what are we going to do for 4 hours?"
Jim smiled and shook Luca's hand, glad to be a part of their adventure, whatever it may turn out to be. The two seemed like they were interesting people, to say the least.
When the pilot told them it would br four whole hours until they reached Ralt and there was apparently nothing to do, Jimothi started shuffling through his carry-on bag. After a fair bit of searching, he produced a deck of playing cards, obviously well played– the edges were bent from use. "So," Jim asked, "what game are we up for?"
"Cards eh?" Luca said as he examined the deck of cards, "Hmm... how about Texas Hold 'em? Or Indian Head Poker?" Then he leant over to Hitori, "Hey Hitori, you interested?"
Hitori shrugged silently. She wasn't much of a card player, but she didn't like the idea of having nothing to do for four hours.
Jim shuffled the cards with some skill and dealt the cards. Then he asked, "You two any good? I'm not all that good, but I can hold my own."
"I'm a blunder when it comes to cards," Luca simply confessed, "but I do like to play if there's nothing at stake."
Jim laughed at this and said, "I never bet anything either, a favor once or twice, but that's about the extent of it. How about you, Hitori?
Hitori smirked and replied, "Sometimes, playing cards is an excellent way to... 'learn' things. I expect no trouble at all." She had a confident look in her face as she watched both men carefully.
"All right then Jimmy," Luca commanded, "Deal the cards."
So Luca, Jimmy and Hitori played around 20 hands of Poker, Jimmy won a fair bit, Hitori managed to sneak a few victories, and Luca had his lucky breaks every now and again.
About an hour and a bit had passed before they decided to stop playing. Luca took a look at his communicator and flipped it open to see the time. It read 12:06 AM YST.
Then he decided to see if there was anything interesting on the Communicator, so he began to search through it, and found some pre-installed games on it, such as Mishhu Invaders, Galaxy Adventure and Neko no Oden.
"Hey guys, look at this," Luca said as he gestured towards his communicator, "There are games on this thing."
Jim looked over at it and burst out laughing at the absurdity of the game: Mishhu invaders. "I can't believe that they included the laugh!" He imitated, "Heu heu heu heu!!"
"You have to let me have a go at it after you." Jim said.
"Yeah yeah, hold on!" Said Luca as he kept on playing the game.
On screen was a Neko armed with what appeared to be an SMG which never seemed to run out of ammo. She bore striking resemblance to Ketsurui Hanako. Around her was a somewhat apocalyptic landscape, which looked as though it had just been sent to hell and pulled back out. Enemies on screen were mainly Mishhu in power armour and by themselves. It was also possible to rescue hostages dotted around the landscape.
And Luca was having a ball playing this game, until his little Neko character ran out of health. A game over screen came up with "Game Over! The Mishhu have won" and the sounds of "HEU HEU HEU HEU!"
"Okay, your turn," Luca told Jimmy as he passed over the handheld game, "Use this button to jump, this one to shoot and this one to throw a grenade."
Hitori smirked as the two "men" played with their toys. She busied herself searching for any secret compartments within the shuttle. She doubted that she'd find anything, but at least it kept her occupied.
Jim was engrossed in the game, occasionally breaking out into a smile when the evil laugh of the Mishhu floated out of the communicator. He pushed the buttons and completed level after level, but soon his health bar was reduced to zero just as Luca's was. Jim handed the communicator back to Luca and thanked him.
Luca was happy to see that Jim was enjoying himself. He then closed the game and opened up the application named "Galaxy Adventure", it appeared to be a role-playing-game of some sort, which you could make your own character and make it is way through the Universe as a hero.
So Luca created a character who looked similar to its maker. He wielded a large sword, along with a shotgun.
"Hmm, this game uses that RPG system that's used for that popular game on the market..." Luca pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure it out. He turned to his companion, "Jimmy, what's that game called? I can't remember it."
As Luca was looking at Jimmy, he noticed Hitori searching about the shuttle, "Hey Hitori, whatchya looking for?"
Hitori shrugged, replying, "I'm trying to find any secret compartments... you know, like smugglers prefer to use to hide their goods." She gave up her search and sat next to Luca.
Jim responded to Luca's question, "I think its called 'One Last Adventure'. I Think it is on its 12th game by now?" He shrugged. Jim had played one of the series, but since he had joined the military, he had had no spare time to go back to gaming. However, he had heard that this game was coming out somewhere along the way.
"May I create a character?" Jim said after about 45 minutes.
"Heh, well we aren't going to use this clunker of a shuttle any day soon!" Luca told Hitori as he put a hand on her back.
"Hey! I heard that!" The pilot's voice yelled from his cabin, "Don't blame me! Blame the Military! They sold us these things!"
Luca quirked for a moment before responding. Maybe the pilot was right about one thing, but she was a bit wrong for saying it. To which, Luca simply said: "...Right..."
Luca then turned to Jimmy, "Sure, let me save my game first." Luca's little character was busy running about doing good deeds for the universe, such as fighting Mishhu, saving planets from semi-certain destruction as well as having some fun, coin and sweeping girls off their feet along the way. Then his character was taking a rest in a pub on a planet somewhere. That's when Luca was able to save his game. "Okay, your turn," Luca said as he passed it over to Jimmy.
The Clock on the communicator read "12:53" YST. About two hours left till the trip finished.
Jimothi took his turn saving the universe, killing Mishhu, and making a name for himself among the heroes of the land. He also had his share of damsels in distress and saved every one. He was in the middle of a particularly hard dungeon when the game paused itself and a message came up showing that the user had a message. The sender was identified as Galar Vanatosk.
Jim without opening the message said to Luca, "You seem to have a message from someone named Galar." He then handed the communicator back to Luca.
Well I'll be buggered sideways! Luca thought to himself, I haven't seen him since the Goban!
"Pass it over. I'll take a look," Luca said as he minimised the game and opened up his message bank.
"That's..." Luca said as he wiped a tear of joy from his eye, "...awesome!"
How does he know where I live? Luca questioned, but then he brushed the question aside with a shrug and a goofy grimace and his circumstances. He closed the message, maximised the game and gave it back to Jimmy.
Luca leant back in his chair on the shuttle, watching things go by as his friends around them preoccupied themselves. He was wondering how Ralt would be when he gets back. Would his parents reward him for trying or scorn him for fleeing?
It’s been an eventful few hours... Luca reflected, I think it is destiny or something that's calling me to do something... but what?
Hitori popped her neck in boredom. She did not know who had sent Luca the message, but it seemed like good news. This is a long four hours... she thought to herself.
"I wonder if there's anything to eat on this thing?" Luca questioned as his stomach grumbled. He hadn't had anything to eat while he was at the pub, only a liquid dinner of beer, "There's gotta be something..."
The pilot's voice piped up, "Well... there's a food dispenser in my cabin, I guess I can give you a bowl of something. Come in, kid."
Jim had finished the level that he was on in the game that he was playing on the communicator, but he was bored now. Luckily, there wasn't too much time until they were to arrive. When Jim heard Luca mention food, his stomach reminded him that he was hungry as well. He followed Luca into the cabin.
Hitori blushed slightly as her own stomach grumbled in reply to the two men’s. She said, "I suppose that I'll have to eat as well."
"Hey Luca," Jim said as he approached him, "What was that message all about?"
"Well..." Luca said, "That was an old friend of mine from the Army. A funny guy he was, always had his head in a book. He's also a canny inventor, he created something and he's sent it to my house. Oh, I’ll have that back thanks." Luca motioned to the communicator
"Interesting, I would like to see it." Jim responded as he saved his game and closed the communicator, giving it to Luca.
Luca opened up the Cabin door to the Pilot's room. A small space with two seats and a wall that was taken up by a screen with all of the navigational mumbo-jumbo which Luca couldn't fathom. The pilot occupied one of the chairs. The Pilot was a Neko, probably a retired soldier. She pointed to a hollow in the wall. "Just get a bowl, put it on the green space, press the red button and you'll have some soup."
Hitori waited patiently behind Luca to get some soup. She was hungry, and soup sounded good. She managed to grab a bowl, but Luca was hogging the dispenser.
Luca picked up a nearby bowl, placed it on the green spot under the dispenser and pressed the button. A stream of a hot, steaming chicken broth filled his bowl. Luca gave a good sniff of the soup, and he liked the smell.
"Whew! This looks like hearty stuff!"
"Yup. Certainly is," The pilot replied as she got up and stood behind Hitori, in wait for the soup, "It keeps you warm on those cold flights."
Luca took his filled bowl and sat down on the Pilot's bunk and enjoyed his soup, with a large spoon, "I'll say!"
Hitori quickly filled her bowl with the piping hot broth. She carefully took it back into the passenger cabin to eat it. It smelled, and tasted, very good.
Jimothi took his bowl after Hitori filled hers, waiting somewhat impatiently for the soup to pour fully into his bowl. As the bowl filled, Jim sould smell the slightly tomato-y aroma that wafted off the hot soup and was instantly stricken with hunger. He couldn't wait any longer for the soup to finish pouring, and luckily, he didn't have to wait long. It was only a matter of seconds of which he had to stand and endure the smell that taunted him. As soon as the bowl was full, he snatched a spoon up and dug into the soup. It took him a good five minutes, but Jim finally finished and said, "Ahhhhhh, that really hit the spot. Thank you very much." He paused abruptly and said, "Where should I put the bowl now that I'm finished?"
The pilot had just finished drinking her soup and pointed to the same spot on the wall where he'd gotten the soup.
"Put your dish on that blue thing panel there, it'll go into a washing machine thingy," She said as she walked towards it, she heaved a light sigh, "I'm not sure how it works, but it just does."
She put her empty dish and spoon on the blue panel, then a section in the wall opened up and the panel with the dish on it tilted towards the hole, the dish slid inside the hole, the hole closed and the dish was gone. A few seconds later, a hole opened up near the cutlery hollow and the dish and spoon slid out, landing on top of another dish, sparkling white and clean.
Luca blinked incredulously at the technology, then came to the unanimous conclusion: "Hey, that's cool!" He had finished his soup at this point in time, "Let me try!"
He placed his empty bowl and spoon on the blue panel, then it did what it did, cleaning his bowl and spoon.
Jim acknowledged the pilot's explanation that she wasn't sure how the dish washing machine worked, it just did. Perhaps that was the best way of thinking about these things, Jim thought, some things just didn't need an explanation. He, however, was nearly as excited as Luca about trying the thing out. He nearly crowded Hitori as he got in line to use the dish washing machine.
Hitori followed suit and stood behind Jim. She'd rather have him in front of her anyway. Men are so predictable sometimes. She rolled her eyes mentally as she waited for her turn.
Luca decided to sit back down after witnessing what he processed to be a miracle, thanks to his somewhat drunk state.
"Ah, the wonders of technology..." Luca said as he walked over to the Pilot's bunk and sat on it, sprawling his arms out, "Tis a golden age we live in."
"Not really," The pilot responded, "This is only the low-end stuff. Wait till you see the stuff they have on those bigger cruisers."
"A miracle ne'er the less!" Luca chuckled, "Oh, speaking of cruisers, when are we landing in Ralt?"
The pilot turned around and looked at her navigational charts, then frowned, "About another hour from now we'll land."
-
When Jim heard this, he groaned audibly, he had been cooped up for far too long and he really wanted to be out in the fresh air; his last venture out into the sun had been relatively short, and he longed for more. He decided, therefore, to go to sleep. Jim walked over to the seat, sat down, and promptly closed his eyes. Before falling completely asleep, he said to the others, "Wake me up when we get there."
Luca wasn't too thrilled about the waiting times either. Jimmy had sat down next to him, on the Pilot's bunk.
"Ms. Pilot, you'll need to wake me up too..." Luca said lazily as he rest his weary head against Jimmy's, "I haven't slept in days."
"I have a name, it is Rika Yukiro," The pilot replied as she sat back at her controls, "You won't need to sleep long anyway."
"Thankyou, ms. Yukiro..." Luca said with a smile as he fell into slumber land.
Shortly after Luca had fallen to sleep, he had a dream, and he hadn't even settled into sleep!
There he is as the Minister for Trade for the Universe with a collection of politicians!
There he is as a dread pirate, out for money with a crew of undesireables!
There he is as the just hero, saviour of the galaxy with his adventuring friends!
There he is as the Left hand of the Army, ready to fight alongside his soldiers!
Visions of Grandeur, Money and Fame filled his mind, with his companions by his side, all the way through. Streaks of color flew through his mind as he kept on dreaming vividly.
After putting her own dish away, Hitori decided to go to sleep as well. She was soon asleep, though Luca's snores didn't help much. She dreamed of her brother. They hadn't spoken to each other in many years. She missed those times... A silent tear rolled down her cheek as her dreams walked down memory lane.
An hour passed uninterrupted as the three slept and the Pilot flew to Ralt. Suddenly, the sounds of the landing gears crunching against firm ground could be heard along the hatch opening with a loud clunk.
"Good evening folks, this is your pilot speaking," She said in a professional tone through a speaker, even though Luca, Hitori and Jimmy were the only people on shuttle, and they were right next to the Pilot, "We have landed in Ralt. Thank you for flying Public-Shuttle Express, we hope to see more business from you."
Luca was still asleep when the shuttle hit the ground, he was a heavy sleeper, and beer had turned him into a sixteen-ton weight of sleepiness if there ever was one.
Hitori, unlike Luca, had always been a light sleeper. The landing gears hitting the ground were just enough to wake her up. She drowsily stood up and stretched. She said loudly, "Come on, boys. It is time to get up." She yawned slightly as she continued to stretch her sore muscles.
Jim wasn't a light sleeper, nor a heavy one for that matter; only when Hitori said something did he wake up. He unintentionally mimicked Hitori as she stretched, got up, groaned, and said, "We've arrived. Excellent."
Jim looked over at Luca, who still hadn't woken up yet. He grinned. Jim kicked him slightly, turning him over onto his side. "C'mon, let's go, we're here."
"Huh-wha-UHH?! ... oh," Luca mumbled incoherently, "We're here?"
He picked himself up and motioned towards the exit, "Well, let's get going, shall we?"
Luca got to his feet and jumped out of the shuttle door with his bulky suitcase by his side, into the cold. He looked around, small flecks of white dotted his vision here and there, the ground was a crunching white carpet. His feet sank a few inches into the snow.
"Hmm, it must have snowed while I was gone, Fuck it’s freezing." Luca commented as he wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. He looked for a few buildings in the area, most were made of brick and had tall, steep roofs, to prevent snow from collecting.
Luca knew where his house was, it wasn't around this part of Ralt though, it was further out. He pointed somewhere to the northeast, down a street into a residential area. "Home's that way. It'll be a short walk."
Jim was astounded; he had never seen snow before. Luca was right! it was cold! He sure hadn't brought anything that would keep him warm in the snow of all things. Blast! He thought.
The snow made nice crunching noises as he trudged in the direction and despite the cold; Jim liked the feeling and especially scenery. It was as if the world had been blanketed in a coating of white purity. Everything seemed to be so peaceful.
Hitori rapped her cloak around herself. It was bitterly cold. She let out a sigh, which created a cloud of warm air. It seemed to hover for a second and then dissapate into oblivion. She was glad that her boots were long enough that that snow couldn't get into them. She looked at Luca and asked, "Which way are we going?"
"We're going to my house," Luca said as he trudged through the cold, "Its a small, cozy place, very warm in the winter. I figure we can sleep the night there and get prepared for tomorrow."
Fortunately, for Luca and his friends, it wasn't too windy, or else that'd make things colder. They walked past several shops and a few houses in the night so dark, when Luca stopped in front of a two-storey house. This particular house was made with red bricks and adorned with and a snow-covered roof. Snow-covered bushes and hedges dotted the area around the house. A driveway and the path leading to the front of the house had been recently shovelled out, as a thinner layer of snow covered it.
"Home sweet home," Luca commented as he brushed some snow off his shoulder and out of his hair, "Hasn't changed a bit..." He turned to his friends and began describing how the house looked, a bit of history, and it is layout, as well as another way in. Eventually, the description ended up painting a picture like this into Hitori and Jimmy's minds:
"Now, the front door is locked, so we can't go in through there," Luca explained, "The only other way in is through the kitchen back door, mum always leaves it unlocked. Oh, and try and keep a low profile, last time I tried to sneak in and screwed up, I almost had my head flattened by a frying pan. Who's up for it?"
Jim smiled at the reference to Luca's mother hitting them with a frying pan. However humorous it was, Jim sobered up to the fact that it could be true. As Jimmy thought about this, he remembered his own mother, who was still at home, caring for his father. He smiled as he remembered this, but the memory brought up the fact that he had had nothing to drink for about five hours! He decided to ask Luca later. After they had gotten comfortable.
Luca and company had snuck around the back of the house through the snow and opened the kitchen door slowly. The inside of the kitchen was dark, the counter had a marble finish which shined upon the intrusion of the light behind the door. It was considerably warmer indoors.
"Coast's clear here..." Luca whispered as he let Hitori and Jimmy through the door and closed it quietly, "Mum and dad would be asleep now, so we need to sneak upstairs. My room has a fold-out couch bed where you two can sleep... if you can stand each other."
Luca then motioned to a darkened sink in the counter, "The sink's over there, Jimmy," He walked over to a pantry, opened it and groped about for a glass. Eventually he found one and gave it to Jimmy, "Have a drink."
Jim took the glass and drank with gusto, setting down the glass with a slight clink on the counter-top after he finished. "A folding couch you say? That'll have to do."
However, he was wary about sleeping next to the now silent Hitori–she was obviously not one to be trifled with. Most likely she was even more touchy about anything sexual. Not that Jimmy was even considering anything in the first place.
Jim turned to Hitori and said, "If you can stand it, I can. I'm really too tired to argue about sleeping arrangements."
Hitori shrugged at Jim's comment, "It matters not to me, either way. I am still a bit refreshed from the shuttle ride." Making sure not to make a sound, she leaned against a nearby wall. She wondered if Luca's parents were anything like their son. She shivered slightly at the thought.
Jim turned and looked at the couch-bed which was still in couch form. It looked worn with the indentations of many years of people sitting on it. It had a slight smell, one that was not unwelcome– it was the smell of home. Jim started to quietly fiddle with the mechanism in an attempt to transform the couch into the desired form of a bed, but was having little luck. After about a minute of trying, the couch made a loud TWANG and flipped open to reveal the bed. Jim flinched at the loud noise, hoping it would not wake the matron of the house and bring her dreaded weapon down on their heads.
Shortly after the arrangements were set, Luca had lead his friends and hauled his suitcase up the stairs, being careful not to make a creak, tiptoed down the hallway and opened the door to his room.
It was large room with a sturdy looking double bed at the back wall, with blue pillows and covers. A large wooden desk filled with junk, paperwork, drawings, a computer and a cabinet with a TV took up the left wall. A multitude of shelves and drawers took up the rightmost wall, filled with books and mirthful miscellany of sorts. In front of the bookshelves and the rest was his couch. The folding couch was facing his desk, a T.V remote sat on it. Luca picked it up and put it on the T.V Cabinet before Jimmy got to work with it..
Luca put his suitcase down next to his bed and opened it up. He took his pistol out and set it next to his bedside table. He then glanced to Jimmy unfolding the bed, and heard the TWANG. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he stared at Jimmy, then waited... and waited...
But no Matriarchal doom befell Luca or his companions. Luca took his shirt, jacket and boots off and got into the bed, pulling the blue covers over himself. He then gestured "Bye bye" before falling asleep.
-
Hitori sat in a little corner away from the two men. She settled down and found out that she was a bit more tired then she had at first realized. She slowly drifted off to the realm of dreams and imagination.
-
Jim slept fitfully and long, for he was quite tired. Plus he thought before drifting off into the oblivion of sleep, I'll need my energy for tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have a lot of excitement and I'll need my rest.
Jim immediately fell into a dreamless sleep, or at least he would think so when he next woke, for he would not remember what went on behind his closed eyes.
-
Once again, Hitori dreamt of her brother. She had forgotten how much that she had missed him over the years. A silent tear, similar to the last one, rolled down her face and was absorbed by her sleeve.
Her dream was of their childhood. They had been playing in a field of grass. Everything was merry as can be, but then suddenly, Hitori couldn't find her brother Valen. She searched everywhere and anywhere for him. Nothing... she found nothing. Hitori felt so lonely, so afraid... She had never felt like this before.
She woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. What was that? she mentally asked herself as she stood up. She found a mirror to see her face ridden with tears. She quickly retreived something to wipe her face and eyes. After a good face washing, Hitori looked like her normally cool self.
-
Luca had slept like a rock in his bed. It was heavenly to be back home after the space of a rush over a few days.
That morning when he'd woken up, his arms stretched up, he yawned long and mightily then settled back down into the bed. Rays of light from the morning had peered through the blinds, several had gone right into Luca's eyes.
He glanced over to Jimmy and Hitori, Looks like they didn't mind sharing bed, Luca thought to himself as he chuckled. However, he noticed Hitori was missing, Hmm, seems like we've got an early wakeup.
Luca looked at his clock: 7:40 AM, YST. He got out of bed, his scarred body refreshed and illuminated clearly. He got his boots back on, put on a singlet, his shirt, his jacket, belt and handgun. There was comfort in knowing that you had a loaded 10x25 by your left side. He opened the blinds, lighting the entire room up and looking outside.
Beautiful. Luca thought as he looked out upon the snowfield behind his house, better known as his back-yard.
He heard the sound of water rush through the pipes in the house and Luca came to the oblivious conclusion that: Hitori's using my shower! "Hey Hitori, you didn't ask if you could use my shower."
Then came a knock on the front door and the sounds of something bulky being handled, "The deliveryman's here!" Luca cried with glee. He quickly flung his bedroom door open, trampled down the stairs, through the hallway, passed the kitchen with a pair of highly confused parents eating breakfast.
"What was that?" A rusty, bearded male voice spoke up as he held a hot cup of coffee in his hand.
"I told you this place was haunted," A female voice replied while she was cutting into a bowl of rice.
Luca then opened up the front door, a Deliveryman from Luca's old Post Office stood with a fairly bulky package by his side with a clipboard in his hands. He stood with messy brown hair and a goatee, and a pair of sunglasses along with a piece of candy on a stick hanging out of his mouth. His eyes widened through the sunglasses as he recognised Luca. The two parental figures were also staring incredulously at the man who'd just charged through their house.
"...Luca?!"
"...John!?"
The Parental figures stared blankly at each other and said: "LUCA?!"
And Luca and John said in tandem: "Well, damn..."
John was having an incredible time considering that Luca had been hauled off in a van only a couple of days ago, appearing now. Luca's parents had no clue what'd happened to him, just disappearing off the face of Yamatai for no known reason.
And they all asked: "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?"
-
Hitori walked out from using the shower. She was wearing only a towel as she entered the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. She wasn't sure if anyone saw her, since the deliveryman was the only one actually facing her direction. She quietly swiped some of the food from the table and sneaked back to the bathroom to change back into her normal clothes.
-
Luca was flustered. He was caught between 3 people. Two were his parents, one was his best friend.
"Uh," Luca stared, "I... was... well... lemme put it this wa--"
While staring at Luca, John noticed an almost naked lady pass through the kitchen and steal a bowl of rice, "Hey Luca, who's the broad with the hair?"
Fortunately, his parents didn't notice Hitori steal the bowl of rice, they were too busy wondering what the hell happened to Luca.
Hitori! Luca thought to himself as a sweat ran down his face, What the hell is she doing here? "Uh, someone I met in the army?" He gave a sheepish grin.
Luca then began to talk about all of the events that'd happened to him in the past few days to his Parents and John. Including the Goban, The Custodian, stolen ships, the Adauchi, the Mishhu, and being captured. As well getting out in once piece and making it home with a girl in hand.
"...so that's what happened, is that okay?"
Everyone around Luca was agape. It was almost too incredulous to consider. Could someone have done all that and still be alive?
"...yes." John said flatly, "...very interesting. Here's your package."
Luca took the package from John and quickly signed the clipboard.
"That explains a lot," Luca's dad said. His mother nodded, "Welcome home anyway."
He turned around to see Hitori sneak away with the bowl of rice, he just let it slide with a grin.
"Thanks dad, I'll be in my room." He made his way upstairs with the package. But before he got back into his room, John had followed him upstairs in curiosity.
"I'm beginning to wonder about you, Luca." He told Luca while rubbing his chin-puff.
"So has everyone else, it happens a lot."
He opened the door and put the package on his bed, and began to open it. John noticed the sleeping Jimmy on his couch.
"A friend of yours?"
"Yup," Luca was still tearing into his package.
The T1-Dragonsbreath which Galar promised was there, prototype and all. He hefted it over his shoulders... then he noticed that Jimmy was still sleeping on Luca's couch, "Hmm, Jimmy's still asleep... heh heh heh."
"No Luca... don't."
He pointed the gun out of the window, into the sky outside his room and fired. Causing a huge racket and an even bigger line of flame, streaking through the morning sky.
"That was awesome," quoth Luca.
"You're completely crazy," John said while burying his face in his palm.
-
Hearing the racket that the gun made, Hitori rushed out of bathroom with one of her daggers already drawn. Unfortunately, she had only time to get her navy blue blouse and black thong on. After she entered Luca's room, she realized that Luca had just fired a test shot. She blushed madly as she hurried back to the bathroom to get the rest of her clothes on. Hitori knew that Luca probably had gotten an eye-full, so she probably won't be hearing the end of this anytime soon.
-
Luca didn't quite notice Hitori burst in, he was too busy watching the fire crack the sky. John on the other hand, was a bit more canny and saw most of her physique burst in, and he was mildly pleased.
"So, you said that you met her in the army?" he asked Luca just after she got back into the bathroom.
"Oh, her?" Luca responded hesitantly, "Uh... yeah, I did."
"You're lying, I can read ya like a map,"
"Oh okay, I met her on the shuttle on the way to Ralt!"
"Good. Now put your toy down and let's get your story straight."
Luca did so reluctantly. He sat down on the bed next to John.
"So you were discharged from the army, with honours?"
"Yes."
"And now you're out on your ass now?"
"Yeah, but let's discuss that once everyone's here, save the parents."
-
Jim leaped out of bed, still fully clothed from the previous night. The loud whoosh of flame had caused Jim to wake up in full battle mode. He quickly sprinted to the door, pistol in hand and quickly chambered a round, not sure what was going to be on the other side of the door. He thrust himself squarely into the doorway, gun pointed into the room, ready to shoot any and all aggressors. His gun fell to his side when he saw that is was only Luca and apparently a friend of his, test firing the mysterious package Luca had been talking about on the way there. As he saw this, he sighed, smiled a sardonic smile and leaned against the door-frame. He said, "What the hell are you doing Luca, trying to kill me? I just about had a heart attack!" He paused. Then he said, "Could you please do that again?"
-
"It worked," Luca said with a smile as he saw Jimmy leap out of the couch-bed in full combat mode, "That Galar fellow sent me this baby... Oh, and Jimmy, this is John. John, Jimmy."
"Good morning," John said while he raised a stern arm in greeting, "No doubt you've seen just how... strange my companion is." He adjusted his sunglasses.
"Now, let's try it again, shall we?" Luca picked up his Dragonsbreath again, aimed it out of the window into the sky and fired again, sending another streak into the morning firmament. Luca was just bedazzled at the beauty of the flame. John was a little more reserved and folded his arms.
Luca was impressed at the gift Galar had sent him. He's really done well for himself to design this thing He thought to himself while examining the weapon and turning it off, then slinging it over his shoulder.
"Hey Hitori, could you hurry up in there? I want to get a meeting going between us 4."
"4?" John inquired blankly.
"Yes, you too," Luca replied with a nod.
-
Jim was amazed at the weapon, it didn't seem to ever run out of ammunition, or have any at all! That must have taken some work to make, he realized. Now he couldn't wait to see it in action, it would certainly be powerful. "Does it do anything else?" he asked as he waited for Hitori to arrive. He saw the manual that was still inside the box and looked it over; it seemed to be handwritten.
Jim scanned the document, then handed it to Luca.
-
Hitori called back to Luca, "Fine, I'll hurry!" She quickly finished getting dressed and joined them in Luca's room. She quietly leaned against the wall as she waited for Luca to start the meeting.
-
Luca quickly eyed the written letter from Galar. It explained the weapon's capabilities, how it works, and what it is able to do. First and most obvious was a roughly 30 metre long line of flame. Second was a 'tool' mode, which uses a concentrated flame and last was an obscuring mode, which provides great cover. Luca folded the note and put it into his top pocket.
"Alright then..." Luca started, "I think we're united here for a reason. I'm not sure for what or why, but I think Chiharu's got a finger on me."
John interjected, "Chiharu... you mean your fate is controlled by a deity?"
"Probably." Luca replied with a nod.
"Anyway, I've always wanted to see this universe, not have someone else show it to me, like the Army. What the Army showed me was death, despair and deception. I want to see the good things in life, I want to see it all, do it all, and make a name for myself in this world, no matter how large or challenging it is!!" He slammed his left hand into his right palm, "And I plan on starting RIGHT now!"
"...how?" John asked curiously while frowning, considering Luca's far-fetched plan, "You have no ship, no plan, no clue and no brains."
-
Hitori listened to this and smirked slightly. She nodded in agreement with everything that John had been saying... especially the last part. She began to toy with a red-streaked strand of her hair.
-
Luca didn't take lightly to John's critique.
"I do have a brain, it's underdeveloped. We are making a plan now, A clue is something I can't fathom and a ship..." Luca paused and pointed to John, "Tell me Mr. Morris, how did you get to Yamatai from Nepleslia?"
"Well..." John retaliated as he frowned, "I flew here with my family."
"What with? You keep saying that your family is too cheap to afford proper transport--"
"I've always been poor!" John bawled.
"--So you bought a shuttle to fly here, a Deix Personal Shuttle if I remember correctly," Luca folded his arms and smiled at the accused, "You're good at picking lies out, but you're not good at lying yourself."
"...damn you. Okay, I guess we can use it as long as you don't plan on blowing it up in a fireball of glory."
Luca turned back to his companions, "Okay, we do have a ship..." He paused, "Erm... shuttle, it's just a bit cramped and low end, but it'll do for the moment."
-
Hitori sighed at the word "cramped". This was going to be a long journey...
-
"Another shuttle ride?" Jim groaned, then sighed, "I'm going to have to find something to do this time other than cards. By the way, I would like to purchase some things such as supplies and weaponry. Do you know somewhere where I can do that?"
-
"Hold your horses you two," Luca said while waggling his finger, "We don't even know where we're going or what we're doing yet!"
John interrupted, "There is someone other than Sakamoto in this town who can provide a well paying job," He fished through one his jacket and pulled out a ratty sheet of paper, "Ever heard of 'The Anonymous Man', Luca?"
"... who?" Luca inquired, "Never heard of him."
John unravelled the sheet of paper and pointed to some printed contact details, "He's an employer for just about anything you can think of, he can hook you up with anybody you want or need. He managed to get my Family off Nepleslia. Nobody knows him personally, maybe that's why he's so good at what he does."
"And... I simply ask him for something to do?"
"Yes. You do the job, and you get paid when you finish it."
"Simple!" Luca said as he rubbed his hands together and smiled, "Let's see if we can get in touch with him."
-
Jim was intrigued at this, he had never heard of this "anonymous man" before. Whats more: the jobs sounded like they could be interesting.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm in. However, since we can't be sure of his identity or trustworthiness, I say we take precautions or at the very least, be on our guard."
-
"Well," Luca said, as he looked to John, "He did manage to get John here in one piece, so I guess we could trust him."
John simply nodded.
Hitori stayed quiet, quirking an eyebrow at the mention of an "Anonymous" employer, "Sounds interesting." She simply said with a grin.
"Now, what were his contact details?" Luca asked John while looking at the sheet of paper in his hands, he began to type it into his Communicator.
He pressed the call button, and the phone began ringing...
"Shh... gather 'round guys," Luca said as he motioned with his arm.
Hitori sat next to Luca, eyeing the the communicator's screen.
Jimmy followed suit, putting his head between Luca's and John's.
Then the screen flashed white for a moment, then faded. Then the image of a man in a navy business suit, with most of his face obscured from view by darkness. Around him was a pure shade of black, and his desk with two pencils and a sheet of paper. He almost blended into the darkness.
"Good morning, you have reached the Anonymous Man," The suited figure spoke in a deep, elegant voice, "How may I be of assistance?"
"..." Luca went silent for a moment, then looked at John, who nodded, "Erm, Mr Anonymous I would... uh..."
"Spit it out, boy," He commanded.
"I would like a Job to do!"
Anonymous appeared to smirk before continuing, "A Job, eh? What sort of a job?"
Luca paused for a moment, then thought. He looked to his friends for a clue.
"Ah, there's more than one person?" Anonymous interrupted, he was able to see Jimmy, Hitori and John, "Well the more the merrier... I guess I could allocate a 'Delivery' of sorts for you to do. Are you interested?"
He awaited a response.
"Yeah, why not the hell not? I've got a shuttle to make the delivery," John said while nodding and smiling.
-
Jim was of the opinion that the delivery would not be so normal as the name implied. He smiled; this was indeed going to be interesting.
-
Hitori waited calmly as the Anonymous Man gave them a job. Even she didn't have any solid information on this guy. He was a complete mystery. This job sounds easy and harmless... though she doubts that he'd give them one without a twist of some sort.
-
Luca looked to his friends, they seemed interested. So did he.
"We'll take it!" Luca said with a thumbs up, a smile and a wink.
Anonymous clapped and rubbed his hands together, "Very nice, young man... here's what I want you to do..." He paused for a moment, the screen on Luca's communicator changed to a map of the space around Yamatai. The planets Tami and Kohana were highlighted green.
"First, leave Yamatai and fly to Tami, and dock in Hangar 754-BR," Anonymous' voice sounded as a green path traced from Yamatai to Tami, "Then ask for a package to be delivered to Kohana under the name 'Dobson' to Novacorp. Once you get that package," The line traced itself to Kohana, "I want you to fly to Kohana Cloud and send it to Novacorp's Deliveries Hangar. It's a very simple job." The map faded, and saved itself into Luca's communicator memory, Anonymous showed up on screen again, "If you can pull this off, I'll pay you the sum of 6000 KS, and your Friends shall receive 3000 KS, as well as any of your share if you see fit for their efforts."
The thought of big money made Luca smile, John was also interested too, "Sounds easy enough," Luca said, "When do we start?"
"When you feel you're ready. Get strapped before you leave. Goodbye, Luca."
MISSION PROLOGUE - COMPLETE!!
Luca was still in Kyoto at this point in a drunken stupor and hauling his suitcase about. He was searching for a Shuttle Terminal to give him transport to Ralt, his home town. Unbeknownst to him, he was being shadowed.
Eventually, he found the Shuttle Terminal, a large building with a collection of hangars nearby. He staggered inside and to the ticket booth, which was being attended to by a lone Neko, who was probably retired from the Army business.
The inside of the ticket booth was plainly decorated, a row of chairs against one wall, a counter where the Neko sat with a fair bit of paperwork, an artificial pot plant, a few posters of where to travel and a chart on which shuttle left at what terminal to go where. A large window took up the remaining wall, which gave view to shuttles coming in for landing and departing. Most of them were KE-T1 shuttles, the really cheap ones which are sold as military surplus.
"Hello sir, may I help you?" She said as she examined Luca in his drunken state, "Need quick transport somewhere?"
"Yesh you may," Luca replied as he teetered about, "I need a shuttle to Ralt,"
"Ralt, lovely place," The neko commented as she wrote down Luca's choice "That's the little place on the way to the Temple of the Stars."
Luca had no clue about the Temple of the Stars, he only cared about home sweet home at this point. He simply nodded.
"The next shuttle to Ralt will dock in Hangar 3A in..." She looked behind her and looked at the time charts for departures and arrivals of shuttles, "half an hour. You've got some time to kill," She then took notice of Luca's drunken state, "I'd also get something to sober up, you look a mess..."
Then she took notice of Luca's gun hanging by his side and frowned, "Also, you must put that gun into your suitcase as hold luggage. We don't permit firearms as cabin luggage."
Luca just nodded, opened up his suitcase, took the offending gun from his left holster, turned on the safety and placed it into the suitcase, which was now brimming with various clothes.
"It’s good to see that you're still able to understand me although you're in such a mess," The clerk told Luca, folding her arms and giving a wry smile, "You're not like the other undesirables who come through here, you've got a certain... charm."
Luca simply smiled at the Neko's comments as he sat down in the waiting area with his suitcase by his side.
Luca didn't seem to notice his extra shadow in his drunken state. The black-cloaked figure silently stalked her way into the terminal right behind Luca. She then stood within the shadows against a wall. Neither Luca nor the neko attendant seemed to notice her arrival…
Luca looked at a clock on the wall... 10:34 PM... His shuttle left at 11:00 PM. Luca was beginning to feel a little bit more sober, but not much more.
"Excuse me, miss..." Luca asked the attendant while he sat back, "I've a favour to ask."
She looked as though she was filling out paperwork, but she was just bored, "Yes, what is it?" The neko replied as she tapped a pen against her desk.
"Could you mind my suitcase?" Luca requested as he hauled the huge thing off the ground and moved it towards her desk, "I'm going to nip out for a moment."
"Yes, I'll keep an eye on it," She said as she got up and dragged the suitcase behind her desk, "What are you going to do?"
"Hmm..." Luca thought for a moment, "Maybe I'll buy myself a communicator... and something to sober up."
With that, Luca made his way out of the shuttle terminals to a nearby electronics store, which sold just what he was looking for, and it set him back 200 KS.
A basic communicator, coloured a deep blue with a lovely emerald green trim. It had some basic features, such as a camera, video and text messaging, a simple text translator and music and games. He flipped it open and began to personalise it, changing the background, putting his name down and a few other things.
Then he began to make his way back to the shuttle terminal. Then he forgot about something to sober up, but he decided to ignore that.
Luca's extra shadow had continued to follow him. After he had bought his communicator and on his way back to the terminal, the cloaked figure stepped in front of the still slightly drunk Luca. Her voice was almost like a bird singing as she said, "You are the one known as Luca, are you not?" Her violet eyes shown a brightly from underneath the hood of her cloak.
Luca was too busy playing around with his new communicator that he didn't quite notice the "Shadow" pounce in front of him. He walked into it by accident.
"Huh? Oh, sorry," Luca responded obliviously upon bumping into the shadow whilst hurriedly putting his communicator in a pocket inside his jacket. Only then he heard the question given to him, "Uh, that's me. How'd you guess?"
The strange shadow of a person stepped back as Luca bumped into her. Her hood had fallen back to reveal her face. She flicked a strand of black hair out of her face as she answered, "I have been watching you for some time now, Mr. Luca. I have come to offer you my services." She slowly smoothed down the naturally red-highlighted black hair that she was so proud of. Her violet eyes never left Luca, however, and seemed to search into his very soul.
Luca flickered for a moment at the claim that she was watching him, then attempted to draw his pistol and fire. However, he drew nothing, and fired air into air. His reflex got the better of him.
"Why oh why did I leave my pistol in the suitcase?" Luca reflected as he gave a sheepish frown, "Erm... err... sorry 'bout that, I'm a bit drunk, and a bit strung."
At this point, they were getting closer to the Shuttle Terminal. A nearby clock read 10:41
Hitori had raised a serrated dagger clear of her cloak, as he had done this. The small blade was easy to balance and simple to throw. Luckily for Luca, she had noticed that he had no weapon in his hand. "Hmph... Even when drunk, that wasn't a very pleasant thing to do to a potential employee..." She sheathed her dagger into its place, strapped to her lower back. She smiled inquisitively as she pierced into him with a glare.
"For one," Luca said whilst folding his arms, "I just don't like people popping in uninvited, however, I'll let this one slide."
This lady is quite a mysterious one... Luca pondered, I hope she's not with SAINT or Black Spiral or anything else... I put the army behind me. And bloody hell she has nice eyes.
Now, a bit more sober and stricken by common sense, Luca inquired, "Anyway, what sort of work do you do? By the looks of things, I'd take it that you're a... spy, of sorts?"
"Spy is such a... strong word," she replied, smiling slightly. "I prefer the term Intelligence Gatherer. It sounds a little more profession, don't you think?" She put her hands on her hips, waiting for him to respond.
"If you insist," Luca said while giving a smug grin and putting his hands through his messy hair, "Intelligence Gatherer... haven't heard that one before. So what sorts of Information do you gather, Miss..." Luca hesitated for a moment, "Hmm... I never quite caught your name. Hell, we haven't even been properly introduced!"
Luca took a step back with a slight teeter and bowed with a flourish of the arm, "I, am Luca S. Pavone," He started, "Ex-soldier of the 3rd Fleet of the Star Army of Yamatai, discharged with honours," He paused and looked up at the shadow which was following him, "Or, you may simply call me the Wolf. Who might you be?"
Luca kept his mid-bow position, awaiting response.
Hitori smiled pleasantly at his nickname. He seemed charming enough, even if he was still a bit drunk. She pretended to curtsy, using her cloak as if it was a dress. She replied, "My name is Hitori Sasorix, Professional Intelligence Gatherer, Acquisition Expert, and Locksmith Extraordinaire! I have also been called the Lunar Raven." She smirked at him as she ended her curtsy.
"Lunar Raven... very nice," Luca said as he stretched up and made his way to the Ticket Booths of the Shuttle Terminals.
He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, it read 10:54. The excitement of getting a communicator plus his new discovery of a girl named Hitori had made the time pass.
"Excuse me, sir," The neko from across the counter gestured as she got up, "Your shuttle will arrive soon, no tickets will be needed, but you will need to get there. Oh, and don't forget your suitcase. Just head to Hangar 3A."
"Thankyou!" Luca said as he rushed behind the counter and picked up his huge suitcase with a single arm, he then turned to Hitori, "Hey Hitori, would you like to go places?"
Hitori raised an eyebrow before answering; "I have nothing better to do. Plus, you never did answer the offer of my services." She smirked in his direction as she headed toward Hangar 3A. She walked slowly so he could catch up.
"Oh, about your services," Said Luca as he was dashing down the airstrip, "I might need them, we'll see what happens."
Luca quickly found Hangar 3A after a short dash, and found just what he was looking for, a KE-T1 shuttle which was heading to Ralt.
"All right Hitori, just makes sure you don't pull that knife out on this ship, or else we could be arrested," He cautioned as he put his luggage in a small storage compartment.
The inside of the shuttle was small, cramped, could hold about 4 people, a few more in a desperate situation. It had been modified to provide a small storage space. It bore the trappings of a military past.
Jimothi Trakk streached. He was now free of the mandatory term of service that the Star Army of Yamatai required and now had the military training that he wanted in order to pursue a life of adventure. The thing was that he had little to no idea where to start! So he decided to go on what little he did know, which was the Temple of the Stars. He knew that the Temple of the Stars sounded like it could be a lot of fun so he thought he might as well start there. Jimothi, his mind made up, headed for the spaceport to get on the first shuttle headed in that direction.
After buying the tickets and boarding the shuttle, he started imagining what twists and turns his life would be taking now that he was independent from the Star Army. Lost in thought, he didn't notice two figures entering the shuttle. One was male who had an aura of leadership around him while the other was female with striking eyes. The male did not seem to notice him when the two entered, but the female fixed him with an inquisitive look that bore into him.
Jimothi extended his hand in introduction, "Jimothi Trakk, what are you two doing going to Ralt?"
Luca just managed to notice the brown haired person when he called out, he immediately took notice of him as he sat down.
"Well, I'm Luca Pavone, and my friend here is Hitori Sasorix," Luca introduced, "I live in Ralt, and I'm just going home. Then I'm going to do something with my life! Something adventurous, bold and daring!"
Jimothi was dumbstruck. Someone else who was searching for adventure! What luck!! "Well," he said, "I am also searching for adventure and as the saying goes, the more the merrier. May I join you in your endeavor? I'm fresh out of my stint in the military so I have all of the necessary skills."
"I'm fresh out of the Military too, discharged with Honours," Luca told Jimmy as he he pointed to his old Rank Pin, which was stuck to the left breast of his jacket, "You're more than welcome to tag along, but first, may I inquire what you're good at doing?"
Hitori did watch this Jimothi carefully. She wasn't sure about him, but at least he seems a bit more honest then she is... Plus, he could be a good distraction for Luca so he wouldn't bother her all of the time. "I'd say that he should join us. We will need as much muscle as we can get, I think," she advised Luca.
Jim remembered back to a few days before when he was still in the military in the 5th fleet. He enjoyed it, but it got stale after the first year. There seemed to be no glory for him as an individual. Instead, when the ship won a victory, they were all praised. He sill enjoyed doing what he was trained to do however.
"I'm a combat medic, I can rough it up then patch it up afterwards. I am also an accomplished chemist and can make a medicine as easily as I can make a bomb. So, am I in?"
Hitori smirked again as she continued to advise Luca, "A medic, let alone a bomb-maker, could be a quite useful tool." She waited for Luca's decision.
Luca listened intently to Jimmy, then thought for a moment...
Lets see, there's me, the team leader... Luca considered when he looked at Jimmy, Hitori, the brains of the group and finally, Jimmy, who is a medic and bomb maker... I think we have a match.
Then Luca gave Jimmy an enthusiastic thumbs up and shook Jimmy's hand vigorously, "Consider yourself in, Jimmy!"
Suddenly, the shuttle began to start up. The engines were warming up as the pilot's voice resounded over the communicators, "All right folks, this shuttle is heading to Ralt," The pilot's voice sounded female and weary, "The trip should take around 4 hours... this shuttle goes at about 150 MPH... So sit back, enjoy the ride, do something amongst yourselves..."
Then the shuttle took flight with a few bumps, but nothing too serious.
Then arose the question in Luca's energetic mind, "...what are we going to do for 4 hours?"
Jim smiled and shook Luca's hand, glad to be a part of their adventure, whatever it may turn out to be. The two seemed like they were interesting people, to say the least.
When the pilot told them it would br four whole hours until they reached Ralt and there was apparently nothing to do, Jimothi started shuffling through his carry-on bag. After a fair bit of searching, he produced a deck of playing cards, obviously well played– the edges were bent from use. "So," Jim asked, "what game are we up for?"
"Cards eh?" Luca said as he examined the deck of cards, "Hmm... how about Texas Hold 'em? Or Indian Head Poker?" Then he leant over to Hitori, "Hey Hitori, you interested?"
Hitori shrugged silently. She wasn't much of a card player, but she didn't like the idea of having nothing to do for four hours.
Jim shuffled the cards with some skill and dealt the cards. Then he asked, "You two any good? I'm not all that good, but I can hold my own."
"I'm a blunder when it comes to cards," Luca simply confessed, "but I do like to play if there's nothing at stake."
Jim laughed at this and said, "I never bet anything either, a favor once or twice, but that's about the extent of it. How about you, Hitori?
Hitori smirked and replied, "Sometimes, playing cards is an excellent way to... 'learn' things. I expect no trouble at all." She had a confident look in her face as she watched both men carefully.
"All right then Jimmy," Luca commanded, "Deal the cards."
So Luca, Jimmy and Hitori played around 20 hands of Poker, Jimmy won a fair bit, Hitori managed to sneak a few victories, and Luca had his lucky breaks every now and again.
About an hour and a bit had passed before they decided to stop playing. Luca took a look at his communicator and flipped it open to see the time. It read 12:06 AM YST.
Then he decided to see if there was anything interesting on the Communicator, so he began to search through it, and found some pre-installed games on it, such as Mishhu Invaders, Galaxy Adventure and Neko no Oden.
"Hey guys, look at this," Luca said as he gestured towards his communicator, "There are games on this thing."
Jim looked over at it and burst out laughing at the absurdity of the game: Mishhu invaders. "I can't believe that they included the laugh!" He imitated, "Heu heu heu heu!!"
"You have to let me have a go at it after you." Jim said.
"Yeah yeah, hold on!" Said Luca as he kept on playing the game.
On screen was a Neko armed with what appeared to be an SMG which never seemed to run out of ammo. She bore striking resemblance to Ketsurui Hanako. Around her was a somewhat apocalyptic landscape, which looked as though it had just been sent to hell and pulled back out. Enemies on screen were mainly Mishhu in power armour and by themselves. It was also possible to rescue hostages dotted around the landscape.
And Luca was having a ball playing this game, until his little Neko character ran out of health. A game over screen came up with "Game Over! The Mishhu have won" and the sounds of "HEU HEU HEU HEU!"
"Okay, your turn," Luca told Jimmy as he passed over the handheld game, "Use this button to jump, this one to shoot and this one to throw a grenade."
Hitori smirked as the two "men" played with their toys. She busied herself searching for any secret compartments within the shuttle. She doubted that she'd find anything, but at least it kept her occupied.
Jim was engrossed in the game, occasionally breaking out into a smile when the evil laugh of the Mishhu floated out of the communicator. He pushed the buttons and completed level after level, but soon his health bar was reduced to zero just as Luca's was. Jim handed the communicator back to Luca and thanked him.
Luca was happy to see that Jim was enjoying himself. He then closed the game and opened up the application named "Galaxy Adventure", it appeared to be a role-playing-game of some sort, which you could make your own character and make it is way through the Universe as a hero.
So Luca created a character who looked similar to its maker. He wielded a large sword, along with a shotgun.
"Hmm, this game uses that RPG system that's used for that popular game on the market..." Luca pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure it out. He turned to his companion, "Jimmy, what's that game called? I can't remember it."
As Luca was looking at Jimmy, he noticed Hitori searching about the shuttle, "Hey Hitori, whatchya looking for?"
Hitori shrugged, replying, "I'm trying to find any secret compartments... you know, like smugglers prefer to use to hide their goods." She gave up her search and sat next to Luca.
Jim responded to Luca's question, "I think its called 'One Last Adventure'. I Think it is on its 12th game by now?" He shrugged. Jim had played one of the series, but since he had joined the military, he had had no spare time to go back to gaming. However, he had heard that this game was coming out somewhere along the way.
"May I create a character?" Jim said after about 45 minutes.
"Heh, well we aren't going to use this clunker of a shuttle any day soon!" Luca told Hitori as he put a hand on her back.
"Hey! I heard that!" The pilot's voice yelled from his cabin, "Don't blame me! Blame the Military! They sold us these things!"
Luca quirked for a moment before responding. Maybe the pilot was right about one thing, but she was a bit wrong for saying it. To which, Luca simply said: "...Right..."
Luca then turned to Jimmy, "Sure, let me save my game first." Luca's little character was busy running about doing good deeds for the universe, such as fighting Mishhu, saving planets from semi-certain destruction as well as having some fun, coin and sweeping girls off their feet along the way. Then his character was taking a rest in a pub on a planet somewhere. That's when Luca was able to save his game. "Okay, your turn," Luca said as he passed it over to Jimmy.
The Clock on the communicator read "12:53" YST. About two hours left till the trip finished.
Jimothi took his turn saving the universe, killing Mishhu, and making a name for himself among the heroes of the land. He also had his share of damsels in distress and saved every one. He was in the middle of a particularly hard dungeon when the game paused itself and a message came up showing that the user had a message. The sender was identified as Galar Vanatosk.
Jim without opening the message said to Luca, "You seem to have a message from someone named Galar." He then handed the communicator back to Luca.
Well I'll be buggered sideways! Luca thought to himself, I haven't seen him since the Goban!
"Pass it over. I'll take a look," Luca said as he minimised the game and opened up his message bank.
Galar Vanatosk said:
"That's..." Luca said as he wiped a tear of joy from his eye, "...awesome!"
How does he know where I live? Luca questioned, but then he brushed the question aside with a shrug and a goofy grimace and his circumstances. He closed the message, maximised the game and gave it back to Jimmy.
Luca leant back in his chair on the shuttle, watching things go by as his friends around them preoccupied themselves. He was wondering how Ralt would be when he gets back. Would his parents reward him for trying or scorn him for fleeing?
It’s been an eventful few hours... Luca reflected, I think it is destiny or something that's calling me to do something... but what?
Hitori popped her neck in boredom. She did not know who had sent Luca the message, but it seemed like good news. This is a long four hours... she thought to herself.
"I wonder if there's anything to eat on this thing?" Luca questioned as his stomach grumbled. He hadn't had anything to eat while he was at the pub, only a liquid dinner of beer, "There's gotta be something..."
The pilot's voice piped up, "Well... there's a food dispenser in my cabin, I guess I can give you a bowl of something. Come in, kid."
Jim had finished the level that he was on in the game that he was playing on the communicator, but he was bored now. Luckily, there wasn't too much time until they were to arrive. When Jim heard Luca mention food, his stomach reminded him that he was hungry as well. He followed Luca into the cabin.
Hitori blushed slightly as her own stomach grumbled in reply to the two men’s. She said, "I suppose that I'll have to eat as well."
"Hey Luca," Jim said as he approached him, "What was that message all about?"
"Well..." Luca said, "That was an old friend of mine from the Army. A funny guy he was, always had his head in a book. He's also a canny inventor, he created something and he's sent it to my house. Oh, I’ll have that back thanks." Luca motioned to the communicator
"Interesting, I would like to see it." Jim responded as he saved his game and closed the communicator, giving it to Luca.
Luca opened up the Cabin door to the Pilot's room. A small space with two seats and a wall that was taken up by a screen with all of the navigational mumbo-jumbo which Luca couldn't fathom. The pilot occupied one of the chairs. The Pilot was a Neko, probably a retired soldier. She pointed to a hollow in the wall. "Just get a bowl, put it on the green space, press the red button and you'll have some soup."
Hitori waited patiently behind Luca to get some soup. She was hungry, and soup sounded good. She managed to grab a bowl, but Luca was hogging the dispenser.
Luca picked up a nearby bowl, placed it on the green spot under the dispenser and pressed the button. A stream of a hot, steaming chicken broth filled his bowl. Luca gave a good sniff of the soup, and he liked the smell.
"Whew! This looks like hearty stuff!"
"Yup. Certainly is," The pilot replied as she got up and stood behind Hitori, in wait for the soup, "It keeps you warm on those cold flights."
Luca took his filled bowl and sat down on the Pilot's bunk and enjoyed his soup, with a large spoon, "I'll say!"
Hitori quickly filled her bowl with the piping hot broth. She carefully took it back into the passenger cabin to eat it. It smelled, and tasted, very good.
Jimothi took his bowl after Hitori filled hers, waiting somewhat impatiently for the soup to pour fully into his bowl. As the bowl filled, Jim sould smell the slightly tomato-y aroma that wafted off the hot soup and was instantly stricken with hunger. He couldn't wait any longer for the soup to finish pouring, and luckily, he didn't have to wait long. It was only a matter of seconds of which he had to stand and endure the smell that taunted him. As soon as the bowl was full, he snatched a spoon up and dug into the soup. It took him a good five minutes, but Jim finally finished and said, "Ahhhhhh, that really hit the spot. Thank you very much." He paused abruptly and said, "Where should I put the bowl now that I'm finished?"
The pilot had just finished drinking her soup and pointed to the same spot on the wall where he'd gotten the soup.
"Put your dish on that blue thing panel there, it'll go into a washing machine thingy," She said as she walked towards it, she heaved a light sigh, "I'm not sure how it works, but it just does."
She put her empty dish and spoon on the blue panel, then a section in the wall opened up and the panel with the dish on it tilted towards the hole, the dish slid inside the hole, the hole closed and the dish was gone. A few seconds later, a hole opened up near the cutlery hollow and the dish and spoon slid out, landing on top of another dish, sparkling white and clean.
Luca blinked incredulously at the technology, then came to the unanimous conclusion: "Hey, that's cool!" He had finished his soup at this point in time, "Let me try!"
He placed his empty bowl and spoon on the blue panel, then it did what it did, cleaning his bowl and spoon.
Jim acknowledged the pilot's explanation that she wasn't sure how the dish washing machine worked, it just did. Perhaps that was the best way of thinking about these things, Jim thought, some things just didn't need an explanation. He, however, was nearly as excited as Luca about trying the thing out. He nearly crowded Hitori as he got in line to use the dish washing machine.
Hitori followed suit and stood behind Jim. She'd rather have him in front of her anyway. Men are so predictable sometimes. She rolled her eyes mentally as she waited for her turn.
Luca decided to sit back down after witnessing what he processed to be a miracle, thanks to his somewhat drunk state.
"Ah, the wonders of technology..." Luca said as he walked over to the Pilot's bunk and sat on it, sprawling his arms out, "Tis a golden age we live in."
"Not really," The pilot responded, "This is only the low-end stuff. Wait till you see the stuff they have on those bigger cruisers."
"A miracle ne'er the less!" Luca chuckled, "Oh, speaking of cruisers, when are we landing in Ralt?"
The pilot turned around and looked at her navigational charts, then frowned, "About another hour from now we'll land."
-
When Jim heard this, he groaned audibly, he had been cooped up for far too long and he really wanted to be out in the fresh air; his last venture out into the sun had been relatively short, and he longed for more. He decided, therefore, to go to sleep. Jim walked over to the seat, sat down, and promptly closed his eyes. Before falling completely asleep, he said to the others, "Wake me up when we get there."
Luca wasn't too thrilled about the waiting times either. Jimmy had sat down next to him, on the Pilot's bunk.
"Ms. Pilot, you'll need to wake me up too..." Luca said lazily as he rest his weary head against Jimmy's, "I haven't slept in days."
"I have a name, it is Rika Yukiro," The pilot replied as she sat back at her controls, "You won't need to sleep long anyway."
"Thankyou, ms. Yukiro..." Luca said with a smile as he fell into slumber land.
Shortly after Luca had fallen to sleep, he had a dream, and he hadn't even settled into sleep!
There he is as the Minister for Trade for the Universe with a collection of politicians!
There he is as a dread pirate, out for money with a crew of undesireables!
There he is as the just hero, saviour of the galaxy with his adventuring friends!
There he is as the Left hand of the Army, ready to fight alongside his soldiers!
Visions of Grandeur, Money and Fame filled his mind, with his companions by his side, all the way through. Streaks of color flew through his mind as he kept on dreaming vividly.
After putting her own dish away, Hitori decided to go to sleep as well. She was soon asleep, though Luca's snores didn't help much. She dreamed of her brother. They hadn't spoken to each other in many years. She missed those times... A silent tear rolled down her cheek as her dreams walked down memory lane.
An hour passed uninterrupted as the three slept and the Pilot flew to Ralt. Suddenly, the sounds of the landing gears crunching against firm ground could be heard along the hatch opening with a loud clunk.
"Good evening folks, this is your pilot speaking," She said in a professional tone through a speaker, even though Luca, Hitori and Jimmy were the only people on shuttle, and they were right next to the Pilot, "We have landed in Ralt. Thank you for flying Public-Shuttle Express, we hope to see more business from you."
Luca was still asleep when the shuttle hit the ground, he was a heavy sleeper, and beer had turned him into a sixteen-ton weight of sleepiness if there ever was one.
Hitori, unlike Luca, had always been a light sleeper. The landing gears hitting the ground were just enough to wake her up. She drowsily stood up and stretched. She said loudly, "Come on, boys. It is time to get up." She yawned slightly as she continued to stretch her sore muscles.
Jim wasn't a light sleeper, nor a heavy one for that matter; only when Hitori said something did he wake up. He unintentionally mimicked Hitori as she stretched, got up, groaned, and said, "We've arrived. Excellent."
Jim looked over at Luca, who still hadn't woken up yet. He grinned. Jim kicked him slightly, turning him over onto his side. "C'mon, let's go, we're here."
"Huh-wha-UHH?! ... oh," Luca mumbled incoherently, "We're here?"
He picked himself up and motioned towards the exit, "Well, let's get going, shall we?"
Luca got to his feet and jumped out of the shuttle door with his bulky suitcase by his side, into the cold. He looked around, small flecks of white dotted his vision here and there, the ground was a crunching white carpet. His feet sank a few inches into the snow.
"Hmm, it must have snowed while I was gone, Fuck it’s freezing." Luca commented as he wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. He looked for a few buildings in the area, most were made of brick and had tall, steep roofs, to prevent snow from collecting.
Luca knew where his house was, it wasn't around this part of Ralt though, it was further out. He pointed somewhere to the northeast, down a street into a residential area. "Home's that way. It'll be a short walk."
Jim was astounded; he had never seen snow before. Luca was right! it was cold! He sure hadn't brought anything that would keep him warm in the snow of all things. Blast! He thought.
The snow made nice crunching noises as he trudged in the direction and despite the cold; Jim liked the feeling and especially scenery. It was as if the world had been blanketed in a coating of white purity. Everything seemed to be so peaceful.
Hitori rapped her cloak around herself. It was bitterly cold. She let out a sigh, which created a cloud of warm air. It seemed to hover for a second and then dissapate into oblivion. She was glad that her boots were long enough that that snow couldn't get into them. She looked at Luca and asked, "Which way are we going?"
"We're going to my house," Luca said as he trudged through the cold, "Its a small, cozy place, very warm in the winter. I figure we can sleep the night there and get prepared for tomorrow."
Fortunately, for Luca and his friends, it wasn't too windy, or else that'd make things colder. They walked past several shops and a few houses in the night so dark, when Luca stopped in front of a two-storey house. This particular house was made with red bricks and adorned with and a snow-covered roof. Snow-covered bushes and hedges dotted the area around the house. A driveway and the path leading to the front of the house had been recently shovelled out, as a thinner layer of snow covered it.
"Home sweet home," Luca commented as he brushed some snow off his shoulder and out of his hair, "Hasn't changed a bit..." He turned to his friends and began describing how the house looked, a bit of history, and it is layout, as well as another way in. Eventually, the description ended up painting a picture like this into Hitori and Jimmy's minds:
"Now, the front door is locked, so we can't go in through there," Luca explained, "The only other way in is through the kitchen back door, mum always leaves it unlocked. Oh, and try and keep a low profile, last time I tried to sneak in and screwed up, I almost had my head flattened by a frying pan. Who's up for it?"
Jim smiled at the reference to Luca's mother hitting them with a frying pan. However humorous it was, Jim sobered up to the fact that it could be true. As Jimmy thought about this, he remembered his own mother, who was still at home, caring for his father. He smiled as he remembered this, but the memory brought up the fact that he had had nothing to drink for about five hours! He decided to ask Luca later. After they had gotten comfortable.
Luca and company had snuck around the back of the house through the snow and opened the kitchen door slowly. The inside of the kitchen was dark, the counter had a marble finish which shined upon the intrusion of the light behind the door. It was considerably warmer indoors.
"Coast's clear here..." Luca whispered as he let Hitori and Jimmy through the door and closed it quietly, "Mum and dad would be asleep now, so we need to sneak upstairs. My room has a fold-out couch bed where you two can sleep... if you can stand each other."
Luca then motioned to a darkened sink in the counter, "The sink's over there, Jimmy," He walked over to a pantry, opened it and groped about for a glass. Eventually he found one and gave it to Jimmy, "Have a drink."
Jim took the glass and drank with gusto, setting down the glass with a slight clink on the counter-top after he finished. "A folding couch you say? That'll have to do."
However, he was wary about sleeping next to the now silent Hitori–she was obviously not one to be trifled with. Most likely she was even more touchy about anything sexual. Not that Jimmy was even considering anything in the first place.
Jim turned to Hitori and said, "If you can stand it, I can. I'm really too tired to argue about sleeping arrangements."
Hitori shrugged at Jim's comment, "It matters not to me, either way. I am still a bit refreshed from the shuttle ride." Making sure not to make a sound, she leaned against a nearby wall. She wondered if Luca's parents were anything like their son. She shivered slightly at the thought.
Jim turned and looked at the couch-bed which was still in couch form. It looked worn with the indentations of many years of people sitting on it. It had a slight smell, one that was not unwelcome– it was the smell of home. Jim started to quietly fiddle with the mechanism in an attempt to transform the couch into the desired form of a bed, but was having little luck. After about a minute of trying, the couch made a loud TWANG and flipped open to reveal the bed. Jim flinched at the loud noise, hoping it would not wake the matron of the house and bring her dreaded weapon down on their heads.
Shortly after the arrangements were set, Luca had lead his friends and hauled his suitcase up the stairs, being careful not to make a creak, tiptoed down the hallway and opened the door to his room.
It was large room with a sturdy looking double bed at the back wall, with blue pillows and covers. A large wooden desk filled with junk, paperwork, drawings, a computer and a cabinet with a TV took up the left wall. A multitude of shelves and drawers took up the rightmost wall, filled with books and mirthful miscellany of sorts. In front of the bookshelves and the rest was his couch. The folding couch was facing his desk, a T.V remote sat on it. Luca picked it up and put it on the T.V Cabinet before Jimmy got to work with it..
Luca put his suitcase down next to his bed and opened it up. He took his pistol out and set it next to his bedside table. He then glanced to Jimmy unfolding the bed, and heard the TWANG. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he stared at Jimmy, then waited... and waited...
But no Matriarchal doom befell Luca or his companions. Luca took his shirt, jacket and boots off and got into the bed, pulling the blue covers over himself. He then gestured "Bye bye" before falling asleep.
-
Hitori sat in a little corner away from the two men. She settled down and found out that she was a bit more tired then she had at first realized. She slowly drifted off to the realm of dreams and imagination.
-
Jim slept fitfully and long, for he was quite tired. Plus he thought before drifting off into the oblivion of sleep, I'll need my energy for tomorrow, I'm sure we'll have a lot of excitement and I'll need my rest.
Jim immediately fell into a dreamless sleep, or at least he would think so when he next woke, for he would not remember what went on behind his closed eyes.
-
Once again, Hitori dreamt of her brother. She had forgotten how much that she had missed him over the years. A silent tear, similar to the last one, rolled down her face and was absorbed by her sleeve.
Her dream was of their childhood. They had been playing in a field of grass. Everything was merry as can be, but then suddenly, Hitori couldn't find her brother Valen. She searched everywhere and anywhere for him. Nothing... she found nothing. Hitori felt so lonely, so afraid... She had never felt like this before.
She woke up the next morning in a cold sweat. What was that? she mentally asked herself as she stood up. She found a mirror to see her face ridden with tears. She quickly retreived something to wipe her face and eyes. After a good face washing, Hitori looked like her normally cool self.
-
Luca had slept like a rock in his bed. It was heavenly to be back home after the space of a rush over a few days.
That morning when he'd woken up, his arms stretched up, he yawned long and mightily then settled back down into the bed. Rays of light from the morning had peered through the blinds, several had gone right into Luca's eyes.
He glanced over to Jimmy and Hitori, Looks like they didn't mind sharing bed, Luca thought to himself as he chuckled. However, he noticed Hitori was missing, Hmm, seems like we've got an early wakeup.
Luca looked at his clock: 7:40 AM, YST. He got out of bed, his scarred body refreshed and illuminated clearly. He got his boots back on, put on a singlet, his shirt, his jacket, belt and handgun. There was comfort in knowing that you had a loaded 10x25 by your left side. He opened the blinds, lighting the entire room up and looking outside.
Beautiful. Luca thought as he looked out upon the snowfield behind his house, better known as his back-yard.
He heard the sound of water rush through the pipes in the house and Luca came to the oblivious conclusion that: Hitori's using my shower! "Hey Hitori, you didn't ask if you could use my shower."
Then came a knock on the front door and the sounds of something bulky being handled, "The deliveryman's here!" Luca cried with glee. He quickly flung his bedroom door open, trampled down the stairs, through the hallway, passed the kitchen with a pair of highly confused parents eating breakfast.
"What was that?" A rusty, bearded male voice spoke up as he held a hot cup of coffee in his hand.
"I told you this place was haunted," A female voice replied while she was cutting into a bowl of rice.
Luca then opened up the front door, a Deliveryman from Luca's old Post Office stood with a fairly bulky package by his side with a clipboard in his hands. He stood with messy brown hair and a goatee, and a pair of sunglasses along with a piece of candy on a stick hanging out of his mouth. His eyes widened through the sunglasses as he recognised Luca. The two parental figures were also staring incredulously at the man who'd just charged through their house.
"...Luca?!"
"...John!?"
The Parental figures stared blankly at each other and said: "LUCA?!"
And Luca and John said in tandem: "Well, damn..."
John was having an incredible time considering that Luca had been hauled off in a van only a couple of days ago, appearing now. Luca's parents had no clue what'd happened to him, just disappearing off the face of Yamatai for no known reason.
And they all asked: "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?"
-
Hitori walked out from using the shower. She was wearing only a towel as she entered the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. She wasn't sure if anyone saw her, since the deliveryman was the only one actually facing her direction. She quietly swiped some of the food from the table and sneaked back to the bathroom to change back into her normal clothes.
-
Luca was flustered. He was caught between 3 people. Two were his parents, one was his best friend.
"Uh," Luca stared, "I... was... well... lemme put it this wa--"
While staring at Luca, John noticed an almost naked lady pass through the kitchen and steal a bowl of rice, "Hey Luca, who's the broad with the hair?"
Fortunately, his parents didn't notice Hitori steal the bowl of rice, they were too busy wondering what the hell happened to Luca.
Hitori! Luca thought to himself as a sweat ran down his face, What the hell is she doing here? "Uh, someone I met in the army?" He gave a sheepish grin.
Luca then began to talk about all of the events that'd happened to him in the past few days to his Parents and John. Including the Goban, The Custodian, stolen ships, the Adauchi, the Mishhu, and being captured. As well getting out in once piece and making it home with a girl in hand.
"...so that's what happened, is that okay?"
Everyone around Luca was agape. It was almost too incredulous to consider. Could someone have done all that and still be alive?
"...yes." John said flatly, "...very interesting. Here's your package."
Luca took the package from John and quickly signed the clipboard.
"That explains a lot," Luca's dad said. His mother nodded, "Welcome home anyway."
He turned around to see Hitori sneak away with the bowl of rice, he just let it slide with a grin.
"Thanks dad, I'll be in my room." He made his way upstairs with the package. But before he got back into his room, John had followed him upstairs in curiosity.
"I'm beginning to wonder about you, Luca." He told Luca while rubbing his chin-puff.
"So has everyone else, it happens a lot."
He opened the door and put the package on his bed, and began to open it. John noticed the sleeping Jimmy on his couch.
"A friend of yours?"
"Yup," Luca was still tearing into his package.
The T1-Dragonsbreath which Galar promised was there, prototype and all. He hefted it over his shoulders... then he noticed that Jimmy was still sleeping on Luca's couch, "Hmm, Jimmy's still asleep... heh heh heh."
"No Luca... don't."
He pointed the gun out of the window, into the sky outside his room and fired. Causing a huge racket and an even bigger line of flame, streaking through the morning sky.
"That was awesome," quoth Luca.
"You're completely crazy," John said while burying his face in his palm.
-
Hearing the racket that the gun made, Hitori rushed out of bathroom with one of her daggers already drawn. Unfortunately, she had only time to get her navy blue blouse and black thong on. After she entered Luca's room, she realized that Luca had just fired a test shot. She blushed madly as she hurried back to the bathroom to get the rest of her clothes on. Hitori knew that Luca probably had gotten an eye-full, so she probably won't be hearing the end of this anytime soon.
-
Luca didn't quite notice Hitori burst in, he was too busy watching the fire crack the sky. John on the other hand, was a bit more canny and saw most of her physique burst in, and he was mildly pleased.
"So, you said that you met her in the army?" he asked Luca just after she got back into the bathroom.
"Oh, her?" Luca responded hesitantly, "Uh... yeah, I did."
"You're lying, I can read ya like a map,"
"Oh okay, I met her on the shuttle on the way to Ralt!"
"Good. Now put your toy down and let's get your story straight."
Luca did so reluctantly. He sat down on the bed next to John.
"So you were discharged from the army, with honours?"
"Yes."
"And now you're out on your ass now?"
"Yeah, but let's discuss that once everyone's here, save the parents."
-
Jim leaped out of bed, still fully clothed from the previous night. The loud whoosh of flame had caused Jim to wake up in full battle mode. He quickly sprinted to the door, pistol in hand and quickly chambered a round, not sure what was going to be on the other side of the door. He thrust himself squarely into the doorway, gun pointed into the room, ready to shoot any and all aggressors. His gun fell to his side when he saw that is was only Luca and apparently a friend of his, test firing the mysterious package Luca had been talking about on the way there. As he saw this, he sighed, smiled a sardonic smile and leaned against the door-frame. He said, "What the hell are you doing Luca, trying to kill me? I just about had a heart attack!" He paused. Then he said, "Could you please do that again?"
-
"It worked," Luca said with a smile as he saw Jimmy leap out of the couch-bed in full combat mode, "That Galar fellow sent me this baby... Oh, and Jimmy, this is John. John, Jimmy."
"Good morning," John said while he raised a stern arm in greeting, "No doubt you've seen just how... strange my companion is." He adjusted his sunglasses.
"Now, let's try it again, shall we?" Luca picked up his Dragonsbreath again, aimed it out of the window into the sky and fired again, sending another streak into the morning firmament. Luca was just bedazzled at the beauty of the flame. John was a little more reserved and folded his arms.
Luca was impressed at the gift Galar had sent him. He's really done well for himself to design this thing He thought to himself while examining the weapon and turning it off, then slinging it over his shoulder.
"Hey Hitori, could you hurry up in there? I want to get a meeting going between us 4."
"4?" John inquired blankly.
"Yes, you too," Luca replied with a nod.
-
Jim was amazed at the weapon, it didn't seem to ever run out of ammunition, or have any at all! That must have taken some work to make, he realized. Now he couldn't wait to see it in action, it would certainly be powerful. "Does it do anything else?" he asked as he waited for Hitori to arrive. He saw the manual that was still inside the box and looked it over; it seemed to be handwritten.
Jim scanned the document, then handed it to Luca.
-
Hitori called back to Luca, "Fine, I'll hurry!" She quickly finished getting dressed and joined them in Luca's room. She quietly leaned against the wall as she waited for Luca to start the meeting.
-
Luca quickly eyed the written letter from Galar. It explained the weapon's capabilities, how it works, and what it is able to do. First and most obvious was a roughly 30 metre long line of flame. Second was a 'tool' mode, which uses a concentrated flame and last was an obscuring mode, which provides great cover. Luca folded the note and put it into his top pocket.
"Alright then..." Luca started, "I think we're united here for a reason. I'm not sure for what or why, but I think Chiharu's got a finger on me."
John interjected, "Chiharu... you mean your fate is controlled by a deity?"
"Probably." Luca replied with a nod.
"Anyway, I've always wanted to see this universe, not have someone else show it to me, like the Army. What the Army showed me was death, despair and deception. I want to see the good things in life, I want to see it all, do it all, and make a name for myself in this world, no matter how large or challenging it is!!" He slammed his left hand into his right palm, "And I plan on starting RIGHT now!"
"...how?" John asked curiously while frowning, considering Luca's far-fetched plan, "You have no ship, no plan, no clue and no brains."
-
Hitori listened to this and smirked slightly. She nodded in agreement with everything that John had been saying... especially the last part. She began to toy with a red-streaked strand of her hair.
-
Luca didn't take lightly to John's critique.
"I do have a brain, it's underdeveloped. We are making a plan now, A clue is something I can't fathom and a ship..." Luca paused and pointed to John, "Tell me Mr. Morris, how did you get to Yamatai from Nepleslia?"
"Well..." John retaliated as he frowned, "I flew here with my family."
"What with? You keep saying that your family is too cheap to afford proper transport--"
"I've always been poor!" John bawled.
"--So you bought a shuttle to fly here, a Deix Personal Shuttle if I remember correctly," Luca folded his arms and smiled at the accused, "You're good at picking lies out, but you're not good at lying yourself."
"...damn you. Okay, I guess we can use it as long as you don't plan on blowing it up in a fireball of glory."
Luca turned back to his companions, "Okay, we do have a ship..." He paused, "Erm... shuttle, it's just a bit cramped and low end, but it'll do for the moment."
-
Hitori sighed at the word "cramped". This was going to be a long journey...
-
"Another shuttle ride?" Jim groaned, then sighed, "I'm going to have to find something to do this time other than cards. By the way, I would like to purchase some things such as supplies and weaponry. Do you know somewhere where I can do that?"
-
"Hold your horses you two," Luca said while waggling his finger, "We don't even know where we're going or what we're doing yet!"
John interrupted, "There is someone other than Sakamoto in this town who can provide a well paying job," He fished through one his jacket and pulled out a ratty sheet of paper, "Ever heard of 'The Anonymous Man', Luca?"
"... who?" Luca inquired, "Never heard of him."
John unravelled the sheet of paper and pointed to some printed contact details, "He's an employer for just about anything you can think of, he can hook you up with anybody you want or need. He managed to get my Family off Nepleslia. Nobody knows him personally, maybe that's why he's so good at what he does."
"And... I simply ask him for something to do?"
"Yes. You do the job, and you get paid when you finish it."
"Simple!" Luca said as he rubbed his hands together and smiled, "Let's see if we can get in touch with him."
-
Jim was intrigued at this, he had never heard of this "anonymous man" before. Whats more: the jobs sounded like they could be interesting.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm in. However, since we can't be sure of his identity or trustworthiness, I say we take precautions or at the very least, be on our guard."
-
"Well," Luca said, as he looked to John, "He did manage to get John here in one piece, so I guess we could trust him."
John simply nodded.
Hitori stayed quiet, quirking an eyebrow at the mention of an "Anonymous" employer, "Sounds interesting." She simply said with a grin.
"Now, what were his contact details?" Luca asked John while looking at the sheet of paper in his hands, he began to type it into his Communicator.
He pressed the call button, and the phone began ringing...
"Shh... gather 'round guys," Luca said as he motioned with his arm.
Hitori sat next to Luca, eyeing the the communicator's screen.
Jimmy followed suit, putting his head between Luca's and John's.
Then the screen flashed white for a moment, then faded. Then the image of a man in a navy business suit, with most of his face obscured from view by darkness. Around him was a pure shade of black, and his desk with two pencils and a sheet of paper. He almost blended into the darkness.
"Good morning, you have reached the Anonymous Man," The suited figure spoke in a deep, elegant voice, "How may I be of assistance?"
"..." Luca went silent for a moment, then looked at John, who nodded, "Erm, Mr Anonymous I would... uh..."
"Spit it out, boy," He commanded.
"I would like a Job to do!"
Anonymous appeared to smirk before continuing, "A Job, eh? What sort of a job?"
Luca paused for a moment, then thought. He looked to his friends for a clue.
"Ah, there's more than one person?" Anonymous interrupted, he was able to see Jimmy, Hitori and John, "Well the more the merrier... I guess I could allocate a 'Delivery' of sorts for you to do. Are you interested?"
He awaited a response.
"Yeah, why not the hell not? I've got a shuttle to make the delivery," John said while nodding and smiling.
-
Jim was of the opinion that the delivery would not be so normal as the name implied. He smiled; this was indeed going to be interesting.
-
Hitori waited calmly as the Anonymous Man gave them a job. Even she didn't have any solid information on this guy. He was a complete mystery. This job sounds easy and harmless... though she doubts that he'd give them one without a twist of some sort.
-
Luca looked to his friends, they seemed interested. So did he.
"We'll take it!" Luca said with a thumbs up, a smile and a wink.
Anonymous clapped and rubbed his hands together, "Very nice, young man... here's what I want you to do..." He paused for a moment, the screen on Luca's communicator changed to a map of the space around Yamatai. The planets Tami and Kohana were highlighted green.
"First, leave Yamatai and fly to Tami, and dock in Hangar 754-BR," Anonymous' voice sounded as a green path traced from Yamatai to Tami, "Then ask for a package to be delivered to Kohana under the name 'Dobson' to Novacorp. Once you get that package," The line traced itself to Kohana, "I want you to fly to Kohana Cloud and send it to Novacorp's Deliveries Hangar. It's a very simple job." The map faded, and saved itself into Luca's communicator memory, Anonymous showed up on screen again, "If you can pull this off, I'll pay you the sum of 6000 KS, and your Friends shall receive 3000 KS, as well as any of your share if you see fit for their efforts."
The thought of big money made Luca smile, John was also interested too, "Sounds easy enough," Luca said, "When do we start?"
"When you feel you're ready. Get strapped before you leave. Goodbye, Luca."
MISSION PROLOGUE - COMPLETE!!
