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RP: ISC Phoenix [Quick Interlude 2] - The Tools of the Trade.

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Hitori retrieved the hinges for Vincent. They were a little heavy, but she managed. The hinges made a slight clang as she set them down next to him. "There you go," she said with a slight smile.
 
"Thanks..." Vincent raised a questioning finger in the air as he lowered his welding mask.

"Didn't catch your name."
 
Hitori shrugged as she replied, "Nor did I catch yours. Mine is Hitori Sasorix. I'm Luca's official and unofficial information gatherer." Her saying was not an oxymoron. She did both legitimate and illegitimate business for Luca and the group.
 
"Vincent O'malley." Vincent put a contemplative finger to his chin and thought on what his job should be. "I weld stuff and blow sh*t up." Then he lowered the welding goggles and held one of the hinges in place while he torched it into place methodically and slowly.
 
Jim was still working with Crane and a few of the maid workers. They laboriously lifted the granite counter-top into place while one of them sealed it. Next, they lifted the sink into place and connected the pipes underneath. Jim turned on the faucet and cold water splashed out which, fortunately, was not filled with rust; the pipes had apparently stood up to the years without a single look-over. They started on the appliances next, a task that was as easy as pushing a cow through t supermarket in a cart. None of the appliances fit like they were supposed to. Grumbling, Jim asked, "Does anyone have a saw or something so we can make this stuff fit?"
 
One of the Maid-Builders near Jim quickly ran outside to the truck, opened the back, rummaged through it and eventually came back with a saw in her hands and began to make the counter even by cutting down the less essential parts, and having a few friends modify the piping accordingly.

Luca, John and Mel were in the armoury, assembling the lockers.
"I dibs this one." Luca said as he put his newly assembled locker against the wall.
"Fine, this one's mine." John retorted as he put his up.
"Already saying who's is who's, eh?" Mel questioned as she was assembling another.
Luca and John looked at eachother and shrugged, "It's a friendly rivalry." Luca answered in a smarmy tone of voice.

Back at the gates, Vincent, Hitori and the builders did manage to get the gates put up, and open-able. The builders cautioned Vincent and Hitori to let the concrete cure before using them intensely, which would be about 2 days. So, they kept them open for the time being.

The hangar was still being plotted out and the builders were making the preparations to create the new hangar that connected into the Armoury, gathering wood and metal and tools. One of the builders was in the armoury, preparing to make a hole in the wall and create a door out.
 
Vincent, feeling satisfied with himself, took off the welding mask and hung it on one of the fence posts, and clipped the plasma torch to the apparatus on his back, which he had dubbed 'The Backpack'. He moved over to the builder who was preparing to make a wall and stood nearby.

"You need some help?"
 
As the kitchen moved towards completion and cabinets were put into place, Cranebeinn began assorting his ingredients and placing them around where he wanted them. He seemed quite pleased and even popped off one of his small pyrotechnics just for fun.
 
Jim sauntered into the armory and selected a newly assembled locker. Quickly scanning it for dents and scratches, of which he found none, he promptly made some of his own. He scratched his name into the front of the locker, opened it, and stashed his guns inside. "So, what's next?" Jim asked, leaning against his new locker.
 
Luca looked at Jim, "Not sure. Let me check out what's going on." He took the shotguns and flamethrower off his shoulder and placed them in a locker. He then pulled out a marker and labelled the locker: "Luca - Wolf" and drew a happy face on for kicks.
Then the proceeded outside to see what was going on, he replied: "Maybe since the more intense stuff is out of the way, we should get assembling the furniture." He pulled out his little sheet of paper and marking down which piece should be where, "Everything should be in the right place."

Luca's Sheet of Paper said:
- #2178 - Standing Gun Locker, Metal, 8 of them. - Armoury
- #3295 - Chairs, Wooden, 12 of them - Kitchen, Study
- #1790 - Bunk Bed frames, 2 Beds, Wooden, 8 of Them - Bunkroom
- #1356 - Single Doonas/Duvets + Covers + Pillows, 20 sets of them. - Bunkroom
- #2180 - Table, Wooden, 4 legs, Kitchen
- #4134 - Locker, Metal, 6 Feet tall, 2 feet wide. 12 of them, Bedroom
- #4721 - Standalone Shelving Units, 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide, 1 foot deep, Wooden, 3 of them. - Anywhere you see fit.
- #4257 - Wall Shelving Unit, Metal, 5 of them. - Anywhere you see fit.
- #5124 - Kitchen Sink with Taps, Ceramic - Already installed
- #5791 - Kitchen Counter Suite, Green Tiled - Already installed

- #5341 - Cutlery Set - Kitchen
He then realised that he'd bought two types of lockers. The ones to go in the Armoury were actually designed to be gun lockers for all firearms large and small. Fortunately, they were put in the right place. The other set of lockers was upstairs in the rooms, ready for assembly.

The builder Vincent asked had a few strips of something in his hand. Blasting Strips. He put them against the wall in a good door shaped configuration, according to measurements of the new door he would put in. He then pulled some wires out of his bag and connected them to the strips, and to a little device with a big red button on it.
"Block your ears and get out of the room," The builder said as he put on a pair of ear defenders, "This is going to be loud."
 
"Hoo-ah!" Vincent backed to a safe distance, opened his mouth, covered his ears and watched the construction worker do his job. He'd been explosion deprived since he'd passed by a small skirmish in deep space, and was hungry for another big boom.
 
Crane, who was putting the finishing touches in the kitchen, dropped his extra hat he was about to put away. Quickly shoving the hat into a drawer, he walked into the armoury. "What's going on down here?"

The builder didn't hear Crane's question on account of his ear protection.
 
The builder was making circles with his finger over the big red button on his detonator. He took a few steps back with a grin and announced: "On the count of 3 -" He gave everyone a moment to step back. John had left the room and peeked his head through the door. Luca quickly informed Cranebeinn: "He's blowing a hole in the door - cover your ears!" Luca clapped his hands to his ears as did Cranebeinn and Mel.

"3!"
Instead of the usual BANG!! noise and a loud flash, There was an extremely low and bass-filled THUND!! noise and a small flash as the explosive strips set off, leaving Luca and anyone who didn't have adequate ear protection a bit deaf for a few minutes. The base also shook a little bit and the windows rattled and puffs of dust came down from the ceiling.

Upon looking at the place where the blast had taken place, it looked like nothing had happened. Then the builder approached the wall and put his hand against it, and it toppled over neatly, awaiting a door to be put in.
"Perfectamundo!" The builder cheered as he swept the remaining bricks out the newly formed passage and into the proposed hangar area.

Unfortunately, Luca couldn't comment on anything because he was a bit deaf in spite of the perks of a Yamataian body. He just nodded and gave a thumbs up as he clambered to the second floor and tried to get the bunks assembled.
 
Vincent was smirking and laughed evilly. He loved watching explosions, and now there was no reason for a delay in the work for the door to be put in and his Junker to be stowed safely in the base.

"Alright, let's finish this sucker!"
 
Hitori watched blankly as they worked. She had to cover her ears when the thund-sound hit them because her eardrums felt like they were about to explode. Dizziness and ringing in her ears affected her for a few moments, so she sat down to recover.
 
Jim must have jumped three feet into the air. The explosion was very loud and had come with no warning whatsoever. A small form jumped in his coat pocket as well; Peter had stowed away without Jim even knowing it. "There you are, you little rascal! I have been wondering where you had run off to." Jim then ran upstairs to see what all the racket was. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw that dust coated the floor and that there was a crowd surrounding the door in the hallway. Except there had been no doorway there when he had last been here. Jim was confused for a couple second, then let his fist fall onto the palm of his other hand; they had blown a new doorway into the base. "Way to warn me guys, next time do so... or do we like being deaf?!"
 
Although he couldn't hear Jim's question due to his proximity to the blast, Cranebeinn eyed Peter and said, "Oh, good, Jim's brought dinner."
 
Luca was upstairs, opening up the box for one of the bunks and laying the various metal pieces and parts down on the ground. He also found an instruction manual on how to assemble the thing and get a good night's sleep.
Niiice Luca thought as he tried to comprehend how to build the damned thing. His eardrums were still deafened by the blast at this point.

Mich was still somewhat on edge given his understable misunderstanding that the explosion meant that the base was under attack. He resented that this, and the shock, had made him forget he was drunk (which meant he had wasted a good deal of alcohol) and that he was probably going to get that peculiar inner ear pain he so often got after being nearly blown up. However he finished he set task of carrying some boxes and wondered when they would be getting to sleep - he of course only needed an area of a floor. Beds were for the the weak, or for those who could be bothered to set up a bed while tired.

Luca didn't seem to notice the footsteps of the other builders coming up the ladders to try and assemble everything else around him as he tried to fiddle with bed and figure where Part A slid into Part B.

Mich began to walk around the establishment leisurely looking to see if there was anything he could do to help. Otherwise they might begin to think that the ID-Sol could actually replace him, and that would never do.

Some of the builders decided to try and get the table for the study fixed up by giving it a 'leg up' and assembling the bookshelves. Downstairs in the kitchen, things seemed to be going smoothly with Crane keeping everything under control. The builders outside in the yard had finished making plans for the new hangar, and tried to get someone to move both of the shuttles so they could pour concrete down.

Mitch supposed that that at least would be something for him to do, so climbing inside the shuttle he put it through its pre-flight procedures and took off from the ground. However having not thought the procedure through he didn't have an alternative place to put it, and as such he deicded to go for a little fly to clear the head, and perhaps the ears. The silence of an efficient shuttle was a boon to the inner drums.

John stumbled out of the armoury trying to clean his ears out from the blast, and attempted to converse with one of the builders on the Hangar.
"Can - Understand - Me?" John said deafly, his voice was odd now that he couldn't hear himself.
The builder nodded and made an 'O' with his thumb and index finger. He made motions for John to move his shuttle.
He walked onto the porch of the base and and looked around - then saw his shuttle just about to take off.
"OI!!" He yelled out as he tried to get to his shuttle, which was floating away in Mich's hands.

Mitch was pleasantly oblivious to the commotion underneath him, being in the glorious silence which he so craved. He plotted a complex figure of eight formation around the building before bringing it into a few sharp turns that if it wasn't for inertial dampners might well have killed him.

Luca was still trying to comprehend how the bunk bed was supposed fit together, still oblivious to the other construction around him. He just shrugged and stood up, leaving it unassembled. A maid-builder person came along and began fiddling with it and yielding more reliable results.
Luca decided to clear his mind by walking outside and onto the porch, sitting down next to Mum, Dad and Nina. He noticed they had ear protection when the blast came on.
"Ah - Luca!" Nina said, "Your dad just told me about you!"
Luca didn't get any of this and just tapped his ears.

Mich eventually got bored of his shenanigans and hovering the craft twenty feet above the site (not being able to find a good place to park it) took a cable dispenser from his belt, clipped it to the inside of the shuttle and slowly lowered himself down with a beatific smile, landing softly before releasing the locking mechanism and triggering the withdraw procedure. A useful device. He sent to look for something else to do.

John marched to Mich with a scowl on his face. "That - is my shuttle!" He told Mitch while pointing to the shuttle, now floating about. "Ask me before you touch it, because it's a backbone of this organisation! If it blows up, we'll be out of business!"
Luca watched the shuttle float about and grabbed some imaginary popcorn to watch the ensuing argument.

"Can't hear you lad." Mich replied, pointing at his ears, "Sorry about the inconvenience, it had to be moved - you weren't there and I used some iniative." He misjudged the volume of his voice due to his deafness and as such went from quiet to near shouting several times.

Luca watched Mich 'yell' at John, he still couldn't tell what they were on about, but it certainly was entertaining.
"Well!" John said folding his arms and looking at the floating shuttle, raising his voice a bit, "Did you have to leave it there? There's plenty of perfectly good ground for this to land on."
Mich showed no sign of being able to understand him (although this was quite possibly because he found it funny), shrugged and said in a particularly loud voice, "Whatever it is we'll talk about it later."

About this point, Luca's hearing was beginning to clear up a little. He managed to hear "We'll talk about this later." from Mitch. He then stopped smiling, because he thought that they'd actually met peaceful ends instead of a full blown war.
He decided to get up off the porch and see where Hitori was. He strode inside the base and called out: "Hey Hitori. You anywhere? I can hear things now! I've got something I want to talk about with you!"

Hitori's head finally cleared up for her to move around again. As she slowly stood up, she heard Luca call to her.
"Over here," she called back. She wondered what he wanted to talk about.

Luca heard her voice in the Kitchen. So he walked in and found that the kitchen was quite functional. Crane had managed to get everything working. The prospect of dinner seemed pretty good.
Luca sat down at the new table and motioned for Hitori to sit with him.
Hitori sat at the table and asked, "What did you need, Luca?" A slight buzzing noise was in the back of her head, but she tried to ignore it.
"Just want to ask you something," Luca said calmly. He looked away a little to admire the scenery of the new kitchen, but came came back to the conversation. "Who did you work with before you came here?"

Hitori froze for a second. She wondered if she should tell the truth or not. In the end, she did decid to tell the truth. She took a breath before replying, "My most recent ex-employer was a man of... many talents. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Oh, just what you used to generally do." Luca replied. He was beginning to remember what he did before gathering these people together, "I used to be on a cargo ship. I thought I'd just go there to do some simple labours and go out. That never quite happened. I was almost killed - three times." He chuckled on the good times and began to stray off subject, "But, I did make quite a few friends, and got these." He flashed the inside of his jacket open to reveal 7 Star Army of Yamatai medals. "I can explain what each one means later. What did your employer used to make you do?"

Hitori smiled as she remembered a few past events herself. "I never received any medals," the Geshrin continued, "but I did do a little bit of what I am doing now. I gathered information for my client, and he... he took care of me." She smiled a little more as she fiddled with the hem of her cloak.

Luca smiled at this little employee-employer relationship she used to have, he considered himself to be doing something similiar. "Where people were and such?" Luca smirked, "Sounds pretty simple. How come you left him or her and went after me anyway?" He remembered that time when she first ran into him and almost tried to shoot her by accident.

Hitori smirked back as she replied softly, "Something like that..." Right after Luca's question, her voice became cold and sad, "He died." She quickly recovered and continued, "Well, it was part of the business, you see? Sometimes you get them... and sometimes they get you." She sighed as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Died?" He frowned a little and leant over to her to offer some comfort, "You poor thing..."
 
Hitori was grateful for the comfort, "Thanks, Luca. I appreciate it." He wasn't so bad... for a Yamataian. One of her hands brushed through her hair absentmindedly.
 
Jim started at Crane's remark about Peter, "He is not dinner! He is actually our mascot of sorts. We found him on another planet and decided to take him with us. I'm his caretaker, so you will not be frying him up any time soon. Speaking of dinner," Jim said with a smile, "What are we having?"
 
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