Group A:
The walls of The Inferno Wind were haphazard patches of sandstone, stucco, and brick and covered in carpets. The floor was made of dusty triangular white tile and the ceiling was decorated with souvenirs from the various wars, including Qel'noran, SMX, NMX, and old Star Army of Yamatai gear. It had a lot of columns and odd nooks and crannies. The dimly-lit bar was surrounded by a ring of softly glowing lights on its exterior and had a hanging bank of view-screens above it that show a variety of video programming such as news and the fights on Darso's coliseum. The scents of dust, chili spice, and strong alcohol filled the air while chillout music softly played.
Thad walked up and beside Zanven and indicated he wanted a drink also. "Something that will put hair on your chest." He said with a grin as he looked towards the barkeep.
Zanven looked at Thad as he walked up but chose to keep his mouth shut for the time being as he was still unsure about what he would find out here. Still though the drink brought to him was at least in a "clean" glass.
"Sure," the barkeeper said, serving Thad a tumbler of smokey aged Nepleslian whiskey.
Yayoi didn't react visibly when she'd received Koyama's message about the developments and the group. Copy That Ma'am" She replied telepathically as she made her way to where she could return to the group she was supposed to join.
Koyama followed suit after Thad and Zanven, granted the last time she'd entered a bar she had come out a royal. And as such felt a flutter of paranoia at the possibilities this go around. Her enhanced eyes drank in the details and filed them away. Though the smells of the place made her wish she could wrinkle her nose instead of maintaining the placid expression.
Joy, both of them already going for the drink. Instead of ordering something herself, Koyama just stayed near Thad, quiet, and continued her observations.
Yayoi blinked, when she noticed that the building she came up to was a bar. whats the bet it was the guys idea to enter here? She smirked before she entered the bar after and came up to Koyama.
Koyama spotted Yayoi, and as if reading the Ranger's mind, seemed to try and convey, 'Not my idea'. to her.
Thad grabbed the drink that was brought to him and took a sip of it. "This isn't too bad a place. Little rough around the edges but least you don't feel like your about to get jumped." Thad comment as his eyes scanned the room. He was looking to see who was shifting around in their seat. A sign they might have something to hide.
"I heard about a freighter that went out and never came back," the barkeeper told Zanven. "The crew stopped here two weeks ago and was talking about some big find and how they were all going to spend their money this week. Ship just fell out of the universe instead."
"That's quite the interesting piece of news, but other than just stragglers looking for a quick loot fix...nothing." He shrugged as he watched Thad and continued to scan the room.
~' Did you find anything interesting while scouting ahead?'~ Koyama sent to Yayoi while the men took up their drinks. The atmosphere of the place spoke Nepleslian, rural, a bit western of the old volumetric show variety. Looking to the carpets she wondered when the last time they had been cleaned considering it was a desert world.
In the meantime, she listened to the bartender speak to the boys and recorded all of it. Granted drinking on the job grated on her, against regulation, but it suited their purposes at the very least. For the moment.
Two sweaty dudes walked into the bar. "Those nekos are great," the first one said. "They did most of the work for us." The second one nodded. "There's enough stuff in that shipment to set up our own shipyard. Hard to believe it's actually going to happen finally. And the ROBOTS! Bro!"
"The robots!"
"And the guns!"
The two guys went to the bar and ordered energy drinks. When they saw the Star Army soldiers milling around in the bar they gave handshakes. "It's nice you guys still care about Valaad after all this time," one said.
Thad took the hand of one of the guys and gave it a firm shake. "Our pleasure, just helping out the little guy as the saying goes." He said with a grin across his face. He leaned back to size of the person. Seemed like someone who could put up a good fight. Something he was glad to see. "Robots and guns, what more could a person ask for right!" He let his comment hang for a moment before he answered. "Well, a nice dame wouldn't be too bad either."
"I, uh, didn't say anything about that," the local worker said with a frown, taking his energy drink. He and his buddy wandered out of the bar and left.
Koyama stared at the hand for a fraction of a second before taking the rough, calloused hand in her own smaller one. Giving a firm shake in turn. Truth be told, she wasn't used to handshakes. They seemed a purely, or almost so Nepleslian thing to her. And therefore it was rather an odd concept. But let the SOL-hybrid do the talking while she listened.
After the two left, she looked at Thad, a look of suspicion on her face.
"So," the barkeep asked, "Is this some sort of preparation to re-invite Valaad back into Yamatai? You know The Kuvexian War was the only war we weren't heavily involved in...because of being independent."
A few outfits that would look cute on Sanda, and a few of the others on the ship, and Yayoi replied to Koyama telepathically and added a few of her observations and things she’d noticed. Including how there were Yamatai and Nepleslian architecture. The ranger finally finished with her last words I am assuming based on your look, that it was the guy’s idea to enter the bar? She blinked at giving handshakes, and then blinked when they left, seemingly after Thad said something. She sighed with thoughts of What have you done now Thad?
Thad lifted his drink and took another sip before looking back towards Koyama. "Don't worry, was just speaking with the locals. I promise to behave." He reached up and made a cross sign across his chest.
"The Kuvexian War mostly bypassed Valaad?" Koyama asked the bartender, her first verbal question since entering the place. "If it had, I'm glad it did so, this world has seen its fair share of violence and doesn't deserve more. But, I saw a lot of heavily armed security at the starport, has there been trouble recently?"
~'Yes, it was Brax-hei's.'~ she responded having watched the two workers leave. A shadowed look crossed her face then. She replayed what the locals had said over in her head. ~' What do you think about what those two said?'~ she asked Yayoi over their little telepathic link. The XO let the mention of outfits for Sanda slip aside for the time being.
Zanven picked up his drink and turned around to look at the rest of the patrons of the bar...seeing as though the populace here was beginning to act lively he just took a few moments to "people watch" and to try to hear anything that sounded good. Overall though...it was panning out to be just another den for locals to spend their time in.
Yayoi felt she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been Thad’s but the other newcomer was new so it was surprising to her, but he was a man so she didn’t think she should be surprised. From what I heard they seemed to be a fan, of robots, and guns, and they seemed to like Nekos which is a great feeling. Though his comment about Yamatai still caring about them caught my attention, though it didn’t feel hostile per se.
"If your curious, we could tail those two who were just in here. May lead us to something fun." Thad took another drink, this time putting all of it down the hatch.
A half-Kuvexian entered the bar, which caused a number of people to cast glances at the bllue woman. She fast-walked to a back table where a frog-like alien was waiting over a pile of fried chicken and toasted beetles. "I hear you got a fast ship..." she began. "Are you familiar with Sood Zadra?"
Thad lowered his voice as his eyes locked onto the new guest who just entered the bar. "Looks like fun just walked into the door. Think we should go introduce ourselves?" His gaze shifted from the blue woman and towards the XO.
Koyama nodded to herself, and the words and 'words' of both Yayoi and Thad. She hadn't received a response to her questions however polite. Those two men had caught her attention and levering herself up from partly sitting on a bar stool she watched with a neutral expression as a Kuvexian-hybrid strode by. That had also caught her attention, but she wasn't there for a half-breed. But she did file away the fact she had seen someone of that disposition in Gate City.
Sood Zadra?
"Finish up and let's go," she told Thad, paying for the drink of her own accord. Even throwing in a tip for the man's being attentive. The first officer sent a brief request to the Resurgence's MEGAMI asking if it had any information on the aforementioned Sood Zadra as she went.
MEGAMI answered that SOod Zadra was a Kuvexian-built neutral starport in the UX-3 II star system. Star Army Intelligence said it was the colony of a Kuvexian megacorporation called Quallox Vaibal which had built starships and weapons for the Kuvexian military during the war.
The Kuvexian Hybrid caught the attention of Yayoi immediately, and she subtly observed her, like Koyama she wasn’t as familiar with Sood Zadra, it sounded like a person rather than a ship.
Group B:
"I would say Gate City is probably fairly safe as long as you keep your head on a swivel," the cybernetics shop keeper said. "The desert out there will kill you faster than the city," he told Frank.
Delmira flicked her ears and swayed her tail. She was comfortable with the heat in fact the neko was enjoying it for the most part though her very light outfit helped with that. She kept look out while she overheard Sanda and the vendors conversation. Delmira looked around switching vision modes as she looked for a place to buy guns from. She didn't have a family save for those in the military she served with.
Sanda left the food vendor and stood out in the open, foot traffic flowing around her. She was still in shock. Her parents were alive and somewhere on this planet.
The short neko moved beside Sanda and looked at her before looking around. "You OK?" Delmira asked the ranger looking up at her. "If you need a minute I'm sure me and Frank can stay on mission. Wish i had my drone still."
Sanda snapped her head around and quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm fine." She said almost without thinking. Then she took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, I think I'm good. I still haven't had a chance to process the whole thing. But we've got a mission to do and this is my chance to show what I can do when given a chance to command. I don't want to waist it. Even with this new knowledge."
"Understood, I cant fathom what you are going through I don't have a family. But if we get the chance I would like to visit a weapons shop if we have free time." Delmira said and shrugged. "But mission first we can do other stuff after words."
After chatting for a bit Frank moved to rejoin Sanda. "So boss, should we stop by the bar to make sure Thad is behaving himself?"
Sanda nodded her thanks to Del then turned to Frank and shook her head. "I want nothing to do with Maximus. The XO is more than capable of dealing with his stupidity. We have our own job to do."
"So I wanted to ask you Sanda what is your home life like, your folks and reasoning for joining the infantry?" Frank asked.
Sanda eyed Frank a moment, slightly annoyed with the very personal questions. "That's a rather personal question." She looked back towards the vendor stall where her world had just been rocked and said, "After what I just learned I'm really not feeling like sharing that right now. Perhaps after this mission is over and I've had some time to process what just happened."
"I wouldn't." But Delmira was to late to speak and just sighed. "Lets get back on mission."
"I agree." Sanda said nodding to Del. To Frank she asked, "So did you learn anything at the Cybernetic booth?"
"Other than the vendor was selling old military grade Cybernetics from a defuncked corp from my past not so much." Frank said in a mildly bored tone. "Honestly Boss you need to smile more. being all doom and gloom is going to age you quicker than the stress Maximus puts you through. Laugh a little enjoy yourself maybe get the stick to come out of your ass a few feet." Frank stated with his hands behind his head.
"There's a lot of cyborgs and mutants here," Poppy noted to Delmira as she looked around. "Not a lot of synthetic species like Nekovalkyrja and Minkan. That's got to be a rough life living in those bodies. They're way more susceptible to infections," she pointed out. "Life expectancy could easily be under 100."
Sanda glared at Frank, keeping her anger just in check. First the very personal questions and now this? "Sterling-Hei, we do not know each other well enough for comments like that. While we are on this mission you and I have been given command of this team you will treat me with the respect of command. Am I clear?"
"Sounds bad." Delmira said and looked at Poppy. "Hopefully with whatever we are delivering helps the situation here."
Frank nodded his Head. "yes ma'am sorry ma'am." he added as he turned around. "the shopkeeper also pointed out that the desert would kill us faster than the city and that the city is somewhat hostile if you dont watch your ass."
Sanda continued to glare at Frank a moment then snorted. "I bet it is." She said looking up at the sun with a shaded hand. "But that's what they pay us the big money for I guess."
Frank snorted. "I mean if the same people who pay us the big ones sign Thad's checks. I'm still slightly worried for everyone's sake...not my own."
"I like this heat truth be told." Delmira said her tail swaying behind her
"Really?" Asked Sanda again looking towards the sun. "What's so great about it?"
"Just the warmth. I must have DNA strains of some desert cat." Delmira said, half-joking.
Sanda laughed at that.
"We sell body parts, too," said the shopkeeper. "You want to build somebody out of scraps?"
"Is there a weapons shop around here?" Delmira said and turned to face the shop keeper.
Frank thought for a moment before responding. "sure got any empty shells compatible with a mind transfer if they die? like maybe a love doll or something? I think it would be a fitting punishment for Maximus if he were to bite it." Frank asked the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper just laughed.
- - - -
OOC: JP by Wes, Ajax, Charaa, Cowboy, Miko, Ethereal, ShadowWalker,Zanven
The walls of The Inferno Wind were haphazard patches of sandstone, stucco, and brick and covered in carpets. The floor was made of dusty triangular white tile and the ceiling was decorated with souvenirs from the various wars, including Qel'noran, SMX, NMX, and old Star Army of Yamatai gear. It had a lot of columns and odd nooks and crannies. The dimly-lit bar was surrounded by a ring of softly glowing lights on its exterior and had a hanging bank of view-screens above it that show a variety of video programming such as news and the fights on Darso's coliseum. The scents of dust, chili spice, and strong alcohol filled the air while chillout music softly played.
Thad walked up and beside Zanven and indicated he wanted a drink also. "Something that will put hair on your chest." He said with a grin as he looked towards the barkeep.
Zanven looked at Thad as he walked up but chose to keep his mouth shut for the time being as he was still unsure about what he would find out here. Still though the drink brought to him was at least in a "clean" glass.
"Sure," the barkeeper said, serving Thad a tumbler of smokey aged Nepleslian whiskey.
Yayoi didn't react visibly when she'd received Koyama's message about the developments and the group. Copy That Ma'am" She replied telepathically as she made her way to where she could return to the group she was supposed to join.
Koyama followed suit after Thad and Zanven, granted the last time she'd entered a bar she had come out a royal. And as such felt a flutter of paranoia at the possibilities this go around. Her enhanced eyes drank in the details and filed them away. Though the smells of the place made her wish she could wrinkle her nose instead of maintaining the placid expression.
Joy, both of them already going for the drink. Instead of ordering something herself, Koyama just stayed near Thad, quiet, and continued her observations.
Yayoi blinked, when she noticed that the building she came up to was a bar. whats the bet it was the guys idea to enter here? She smirked before she entered the bar after and came up to Koyama.
Koyama spotted Yayoi, and as if reading the Ranger's mind, seemed to try and convey, 'Not my idea'. to her.
Thad grabbed the drink that was brought to him and took a sip of it. "This isn't too bad a place. Little rough around the edges but least you don't feel like your about to get jumped." Thad comment as his eyes scanned the room. He was looking to see who was shifting around in their seat. A sign they might have something to hide.
"I heard about a freighter that went out and never came back," the barkeeper told Zanven. "The crew stopped here two weeks ago and was talking about some big find and how they were all going to spend their money this week. Ship just fell out of the universe instead."
"That's quite the interesting piece of news, but other than just stragglers looking for a quick loot fix...nothing." He shrugged as he watched Thad and continued to scan the room.
~' Did you find anything interesting while scouting ahead?'~ Koyama sent to Yayoi while the men took up their drinks. The atmosphere of the place spoke Nepleslian, rural, a bit western of the old volumetric show variety. Looking to the carpets she wondered when the last time they had been cleaned considering it was a desert world.
In the meantime, she listened to the bartender speak to the boys and recorded all of it. Granted drinking on the job grated on her, against regulation, but it suited their purposes at the very least. For the moment.
Two sweaty dudes walked into the bar. "Those nekos are great," the first one said. "They did most of the work for us." The second one nodded. "There's enough stuff in that shipment to set up our own shipyard. Hard to believe it's actually going to happen finally. And the ROBOTS! Bro!"
"The robots!"
"And the guns!"
The two guys went to the bar and ordered energy drinks. When they saw the Star Army soldiers milling around in the bar they gave handshakes. "It's nice you guys still care about Valaad after all this time," one said.
Thad took the hand of one of the guys and gave it a firm shake. "Our pleasure, just helping out the little guy as the saying goes." He said with a grin across his face. He leaned back to size of the person. Seemed like someone who could put up a good fight. Something he was glad to see. "Robots and guns, what more could a person ask for right!" He let his comment hang for a moment before he answered. "Well, a nice dame wouldn't be too bad either."
"I, uh, didn't say anything about that," the local worker said with a frown, taking his energy drink. He and his buddy wandered out of the bar and left.
Koyama stared at the hand for a fraction of a second before taking the rough, calloused hand in her own smaller one. Giving a firm shake in turn. Truth be told, she wasn't used to handshakes. They seemed a purely, or almost so Nepleslian thing to her. And therefore it was rather an odd concept. But let the SOL-hybrid do the talking while she listened.
After the two left, she looked at Thad, a look of suspicion on her face.
"So," the barkeep asked, "Is this some sort of preparation to re-invite Valaad back into Yamatai? You know The Kuvexian War was the only war we weren't heavily involved in...because of being independent."
A few outfits that would look cute on Sanda, and a few of the others on the ship, and Yayoi replied to Koyama telepathically and added a few of her observations and things she’d noticed. Including how there were Yamatai and Nepleslian architecture. The ranger finally finished with her last words I am assuming based on your look, that it was the guy’s idea to enter the bar? She blinked at giving handshakes, and then blinked when they left, seemingly after Thad said something. She sighed with thoughts of What have you done now Thad?
Thad lifted his drink and took another sip before looking back towards Koyama. "Don't worry, was just speaking with the locals. I promise to behave." He reached up and made a cross sign across his chest.
"The Kuvexian War mostly bypassed Valaad?" Koyama asked the bartender, her first verbal question since entering the place. "If it had, I'm glad it did so, this world has seen its fair share of violence and doesn't deserve more. But, I saw a lot of heavily armed security at the starport, has there been trouble recently?"
~'Yes, it was Brax-hei's.'~ she responded having watched the two workers leave. A shadowed look crossed her face then. She replayed what the locals had said over in her head. ~' What do you think about what those two said?'~ she asked Yayoi over their little telepathic link. The XO let the mention of outfits for Sanda slip aside for the time being.
Zanven picked up his drink and turned around to look at the rest of the patrons of the bar...seeing as though the populace here was beginning to act lively he just took a few moments to "people watch" and to try to hear anything that sounded good. Overall though...it was panning out to be just another den for locals to spend their time in.
Yayoi felt she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been Thad’s but the other newcomer was new so it was surprising to her, but he was a man so she didn’t think she should be surprised. From what I heard they seemed to be a fan, of robots, and guns, and they seemed to like Nekos which is a great feeling. Though his comment about Yamatai still caring about them caught my attention, though it didn’t feel hostile per se.
"If your curious, we could tail those two who were just in here. May lead us to something fun." Thad took another drink, this time putting all of it down the hatch.
A half-Kuvexian entered the bar, which caused a number of people to cast glances at the bllue woman. She fast-walked to a back table where a frog-like alien was waiting over a pile of fried chicken and toasted beetles. "I hear you got a fast ship..." she began. "Are you familiar with Sood Zadra?"
Thad lowered his voice as his eyes locked onto the new guest who just entered the bar. "Looks like fun just walked into the door. Think we should go introduce ourselves?" His gaze shifted from the blue woman and towards the XO.
Koyama nodded to herself, and the words and 'words' of both Yayoi and Thad. She hadn't received a response to her questions however polite. Those two men had caught her attention and levering herself up from partly sitting on a bar stool she watched with a neutral expression as a Kuvexian-hybrid strode by. That had also caught her attention, but she wasn't there for a half-breed. But she did file away the fact she had seen someone of that disposition in Gate City.
Sood Zadra?
"Finish up and let's go," she told Thad, paying for the drink of her own accord. Even throwing in a tip for the man's being attentive. The first officer sent a brief request to the Resurgence's MEGAMI asking if it had any information on the aforementioned Sood Zadra as she went.
MEGAMI answered that SOod Zadra was a Kuvexian-built neutral starport in the UX-3 II star system. Star Army Intelligence said it was the colony of a Kuvexian megacorporation called Quallox Vaibal which had built starships and weapons for the Kuvexian military during the war.
The Kuvexian Hybrid caught the attention of Yayoi immediately, and she subtly observed her, like Koyama she wasn’t as familiar with Sood Zadra, it sounded like a person rather than a ship.
Group B:
"I would say Gate City is probably fairly safe as long as you keep your head on a swivel," the cybernetics shop keeper said. "The desert out there will kill you faster than the city," he told Frank.
Delmira flicked her ears and swayed her tail. She was comfortable with the heat in fact the neko was enjoying it for the most part though her very light outfit helped with that. She kept look out while she overheard Sanda and the vendors conversation. Delmira looked around switching vision modes as she looked for a place to buy guns from. She didn't have a family save for those in the military she served with.
Sanda left the food vendor and stood out in the open, foot traffic flowing around her. She was still in shock. Her parents were alive and somewhere on this planet.
The short neko moved beside Sanda and looked at her before looking around. "You OK?" Delmira asked the ranger looking up at her. "If you need a minute I'm sure me and Frank can stay on mission. Wish i had my drone still."
Sanda snapped her head around and quickly wiped her eyes. "I'm fine." She said almost without thinking. Then she took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, I think I'm good. I still haven't had a chance to process the whole thing. But we've got a mission to do and this is my chance to show what I can do when given a chance to command. I don't want to waist it. Even with this new knowledge."
"Understood, I cant fathom what you are going through I don't have a family. But if we get the chance I would like to visit a weapons shop if we have free time." Delmira said and shrugged. "But mission first we can do other stuff after words."
After chatting for a bit Frank moved to rejoin Sanda. "So boss, should we stop by the bar to make sure Thad is behaving himself?"
Sanda nodded her thanks to Del then turned to Frank and shook her head. "I want nothing to do with Maximus. The XO is more than capable of dealing with his stupidity. We have our own job to do."
"So I wanted to ask you Sanda what is your home life like, your folks and reasoning for joining the infantry?" Frank asked.
Sanda eyed Frank a moment, slightly annoyed with the very personal questions. "That's a rather personal question." She looked back towards the vendor stall where her world had just been rocked and said, "After what I just learned I'm really not feeling like sharing that right now. Perhaps after this mission is over and I've had some time to process what just happened."
"I wouldn't." But Delmira was to late to speak and just sighed. "Lets get back on mission."
"I agree." Sanda said nodding to Del. To Frank she asked, "So did you learn anything at the Cybernetic booth?"
"Other than the vendor was selling old military grade Cybernetics from a defuncked corp from my past not so much." Frank said in a mildly bored tone. "Honestly Boss you need to smile more. being all doom and gloom is going to age you quicker than the stress Maximus puts you through. Laugh a little enjoy yourself maybe get the stick to come out of your ass a few feet." Frank stated with his hands behind his head.
"There's a lot of cyborgs and mutants here," Poppy noted to Delmira as she looked around. "Not a lot of synthetic species like Nekovalkyrja and Minkan. That's got to be a rough life living in those bodies. They're way more susceptible to infections," she pointed out. "Life expectancy could easily be under 100."
Sanda glared at Frank, keeping her anger just in check. First the very personal questions and now this? "Sterling-Hei, we do not know each other well enough for comments like that. While we are on this mission you and I have been given command of this team you will treat me with the respect of command. Am I clear?"
"Sounds bad." Delmira said and looked at Poppy. "Hopefully with whatever we are delivering helps the situation here."
Frank nodded his Head. "yes ma'am sorry ma'am." he added as he turned around. "the shopkeeper also pointed out that the desert would kill us faster than the city and that the city is somewhat hostile if you dont watch your ass."
Sanda continued to glare at Frank a moment then snorted. "I bet it is." She said looking up at the sun with a shaded hand. "But that's what they pay us the big money for I guess."
Frank snorted. "I mean if the same people who pay us the big ones sign Thad's checks. I'm still slightly worried for everyone's sake...not my own."
"I like this heat truth be told." Delmira said her tail swaying behind her
"Really?" Asked Sanda again looking towards the sun. "What's so great about it?"
"Just the warmth. I must have DNA strains of some desert cat." Delmira said, half-joking.
Sanda laughed at that.
"We sell body parts, too," said the shopkeeper. "You want to build somebody out of scraps?"
"Is there a weapons shop around here?" Delmira said and turned to face the shop keeper.
Frank thought for a moment before responding. "sure got any empty shells compatible with a mind transfer if they die? like maybe a love doll or something? I think it would be a fitting punishment for Maximus if he were to bite it." Frank asked the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper just laughed.
- - - -
OOC: JP by Wes, Ajax, Charaa, Cowboy, Miko, Ethereal, ShadowWalker,Zanven
