Z
Zack
ON> Queen's Slave,
The ship had certainly seen better days. After the run in at the freehold, the Queen's Slave had been scorched along much of the surface. Nuclear-hot fire having warped and melted some of the more important exterior components, requiring the Junker Drones to replace much of what was there.
Overseeing these drones as they scrambled about the exterior of the ship was Vier, or at least one of her. She was dressed in a thick compression shirt with a shemagas wrapped around her neck. The woman quietly going about her work, keeping an eye on the junkers and on the datapad she was holding.
A Star Army cargo truck painted Nepleslian green pulled up to the star port with Corgan in the passenger seat and Ragna-dog between him and the driver. It was full of empty fuel containers of various types and sizes. The driver was a beautiful female Ragnarok soldier with blonde hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. Corgan stepped down out of the vehicle and walked up to the Queen's Slave. Ragna-dog came running after him with his tail wagging. "Vier isn't it? How are the repairs going?" He called out to the strange woman with multiple bodies. The possibilities of such a woman in the bedroom kept him up at night sometimes.
"About 80%" Vier replied, without taking her eyes off the datapad, "External electronics have been replaced, the Junkers just need to finish re-attaching the new armor plates. The Queen's Slave should be able to join us for the defense of the I'ee home-system." The response was perhaps, dissapointingly clinical for someone who otherwise had such potential in areas other than starship repair. Her tight fitting clothing leaving little to Corgan's powerful imagination.
Though the drones made up the bulk of movement going on in the starport, the woman was far from alone in it. Given the sparseness of the planet current fleet, the modified M5 Knight w that its pilot had taken to calling Seraphim was about to be moved into the Freighter alongside the other origin frames once the some last bits of cargo had been removed.
A young man sporting a T-shirt advertising one of Aethersperm's older albums had been watching the work, but his attention was soon stolen by truck entering from which a man who looked like he was built by a ID-SOL had emerged. “Gotta love the F designs, can take almost anything and still be salvagable. Old as fuck if you count all the refits, but they really knew how to build some rugged shit back then.”
Corgan didn't notice Jason approaching. His eyes were definitely not focused on the ship's damage. Today he was wearing the same thing as usual. Brown duster, camo combat pants, and a red shirt. One would assume he didn't actually own anything else. He turned and looked down to see who the somewhat familiar voice was. The answer was surprising. "Alex? Did you actually say fuck? I have never heard you talk like that. Anyway I don't know much about ships. I was admiring a different design."
Jason raised one of his eyebrows, affixing the other man with a look that mixed confusion and annoyance. "Never heard me say FUCK before? Have we even met, son?" He replied to a man clearly quite a few years his senior. Despite the hostility in his tone, at his final comment he couldn't help but follow the soldiers gaze, and his expression gave way to a smirk. "Oh yeah, definitely more than one well built model in here."
While Vier was looking at the Queen's Slave, another Vier would come up behind Jason, placing one hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Uso insisted that we install Rodeo handles on your mecha after the events at Freehold. I expect the modifications will take a little under an hour to complete. May we begin now?" She asked.
It was Jason's turn to be startled this time, clearing not having noticed Vier's prescence until she was right behind him. He knew he was missing a bit of context for what she was telling him, having no idea what had went down in Freehold, but Uso was the boss and his conditioning meant he generally erred on the side of not questioning orders. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, let's go ahead and get it over with. Whatever Uso says goes."
Vier, or at least one of her, would promptly leave the group, moving to go continue with the install.
"I could help cross-train you on starship engineering and basic starship tactics." The remaining Vier offered, her words seemingly not focused exclusively on Corgan.
"Well if you're offering, I'm always up for expanding my skillset. The initiative trained me a little on the engineering end to make me better at busting them up, but I could definitely stand to learn more. You up for it...?" He left the last word hanging in the air, waiting for the other man to answer.
The person before him was obviously not Alex. He either had a twin or Uso cloned him to have a new toy. Corgan didn't really care that he called him son. There were worse things he could have said. "I'm not your son, unless you screwed my mom from the test tube or whatever you came from. I'm up for anything if Vier's involved. Maybe I can teach her a few things.You don't act like Alex though.. That kid has no spine. I think I like you more than him already. If you want to pretend to be him I'll back you up. Could be fun. Are you his twin brother or something?"
Vier would turn her attention away from the datapad for a moment to better listen to their exchange.
“Shit man, I was getting tail since the day I came out of the vats, so I probably did if she wasn't as ugly as your ass. But thanks, think I like you already too.” At the mention of Alex, his face lit up completely.“Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah...Are you telling me you have the original model around here? Holy shit, I never I'd see the day I'd meet his ass again. Not unless we were about to kill eachother or something BS like that. What are the odds...But naw, the guys who trained him figured they wanted a few models just like the original. Honestly I think the second run was a big improvement, if I can say so myself.”
If Corgan didn't like him, he probably would have punched him at that point. He wanted to hear more about Alex anyway. The revelation that Alex had clones running around was interesting. Maybe the kid wasn't completely useless after all. "He's around. Doesn't remember anything from what I hear. We haven't talked much, but he was trying to flirt with a noblewoman. She called him a peasant and he walked away looking like a sad puppy."
"Damn. You'd think that a guy walking around with my face would have a little better game, honestly." The young man shook his head, clearly dissapointed with the reputation that his forebear seems to have already cultivated. "Guess I should hit him up when I don't have much shit to do. Finally meet the dude face to face."
The Nepleslian laughed at that statement. "Yeah, I thought he would have done better. I had to pretend he and Ace were my servants to get information on a crime. Ace actually ended up getting pissed and storming off too, now that I think about it. Maybe it was kind of a dick move, but it worked. They can get over the humiliation or whatever." He shrugged.
"Dick move? Humiliation? Someone fill me in!" Akemi cried with a big smile having silently hovered up behind them after flying around for a while taking in the sights and looking for some fun.
Corgan turned to see Akemi coming up. "Are you following me or something? I keep seeing your face everywhere. It's a little creepy."
"Ey man, I wouldn't sweat it too much. You got shit done, and they decided to act like bitches. Can't help it when people are jealous you're better then them, trust me." He too was taken a bit aback by the arrival of the newcomer. "Man, this place is really starting to get crowded. But yeah man, tell us a little more about how it went down." A shark toothed grin embedded itself on his face. "You have better luck then Alex?"
The little Neko chuckled quietly. "Are you at least able to escape me in your dreams or do I haunt you there too?" If someone was going to call him creepy they were just asking for him to unleash the creeper. "Try thinking of it as romantic."
The idea of Akemi appearing in his dreams must have terrified Corgan by the look on his face. A mix of disgust and confusion. "Uh, not exactly. Some of the dreams involve Arccos murdering clones of you with various weapons though."
Akemi didn't mind such dreams in the slightest. "Well that's to be expected. I only hope she has them too. So what were you guys talking about?" The raven-haired man looked to Jason for a moment. "Fill me in on what I missed with your Mindware if it isn't anything private."
"How the hell did you know I...fuck it, guess it doesn't matter." A signal beamed from his mind to the Neko's digitized one, only taking a moment to bring them up to speed. "I don't think him one-upping my progenitor and some other dude is too private. Who's this Ace dude, anyway?"
"I didn't introduce myself. I'm Corgan Garret, from the PMC Ragnarok. We were hired by Uso to take this planet and serve as her military. Ace is one of us. He's got some AI chick in his head. Makes his eyes glow." Corgan remembered that the Alex clone asked him a question before Akemi destroyed his ability to sleep. "I didn't want to have luck with her, but I probably could have married her if I wanted to. She was annoying and heartless. Her sister was interesting though. Akemi can back me up on the sister, he showed up after Alex and Ace walked off.
"Oh man, I'd destroy 'em both any day," Akemi said emphatically. "Annoying and heartless is heaven to my ears. The one he liked had an eyepatch and some scars and looked pretty cool. She carried herself well like you'd expect a noble to. If I had my way I'd marry both."
"I see, so I guess I'll be you guys' support on missions 'n' vice versa. I'll have to hit up your base one of these days, see if we can coordinate and do a little training together to make sure we're up to snuff before any major operations." The young man seemed rather interested in the banter going on between the two. "Well, if you both agree, gotta make sure I meet her one of these days. So what was the backstory on you guys meeting her, anyway? Said something about a crime and getting information?"
Corgan shrugged. "I don't plan on marrying either one, so you can go ahead. I would only consider marrying Arccos and I don't think Spacers practice monogamy or marriage." He said seriously. "Akemi missed the beginning. We were playing volleyball with a smoking hot Iromakuanhe, Ace, and myself on one team. The other team was Uso, a huge mushroom robot thing named Truffleclub, and Alex I think. Anyway, a woman screamed and I went to check it out. My mother would have beaten my ass if I didn't help a woman in need. When I found her, Ace was talking to her. Her dress was torn and she was holding a glass rose. Turned out it was probably nothing. Some sort of way for women to sleep around and make it socially acceptable. They say this Glass Rose guy assaulted them."
Akemi simply had to try to irk Corgan some more and up his lewdness. "I love the glass rose thing. I even got that treatment myself. Man, I wonder if we could get Ace to take some Kaserine and go to sleep so we could fuck his AI through him or get it its own tangible body so we can sully his mind through her."
"Eh, at least by the sound of it, it wasn't a total waste. Hope you catch the guy if you haven't already." Akemi suggesting to switch the genders of the other dudes involved and raping them in their sleep merely elicited a raised eyebrow. "I'm not even going to ask context for that."
"I don't understand kaserine. Doesn't that shit hurt? It can't be worth all that pain. I like my junk the way it is. I would look ugly as fuck as a woman anyway." Corgan commented.
The elf eared imp mechanically turned to Jason, gave him a poker face and spoke with a deadpan delivery. "Do you have a cute AI chick in your head by any chance?"
"Can't say that I do, really, they usually don't download those things directly into your mind. If I do I suppose she's quiet enough for it not to bother me much, I guess."
Yet another thing had to be said by Akemi. There was no way he'd leave Corgan thinking the drug couldn't be enjoyable for him, not when he could soil his thoughts further still and every instance of visible discomfort only made him want to bed the Nepleslian more. "Kaserine doesn't hurt unless you're trying to revert changes too quickly or you've got a bad batch. I bet I'd totally do a girl you buddy. Nothing wrong with muscular women. You can customize it to ensure big people with a lean figure like you look good. You'd get the curves and everything, not just a change in equipment."
Corgan looked at Akemi seriously. "Even if I had girl parts, I would only be attracted to women, so you'd have to take it too." He started to say something else, but the blonde soldier tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. She looked at Akemi and Jason before leaning in to whisper in Corgan's ear. He had to bend down to accommodate her. "He wants to talk to me now? Damn it.. Fine." He turned to Akemi and Jason. "Be right back. One of my engineers has some questions about the custom vehicle he's working on."
As he walked off towards his truck, he called back to the sexy blonde soldier. "Come on, Lieutenant. I won't leave you with Akemi unsupervised." She followed him looking somewhat disappointed.
"While Uso appreciates the meat delivery," Vier said, quickly adding, "For the Vekimen." in an attempt to stop some lewdity from spewing forth from Akemi's mouth, "You may want to consider not using up all that good will trying to drug components of my war machine."
“Well, you have my word that I'll be clean whenever you need someone to core a starship or crack a continent.” He promised Vier, unsuprised she had decided to speak up again by this point. “What is this War Machine planning to get up to in the near future, anyway?”
"We will be removing the NMX fleet from the I'ee home system. You specifically will be tasked with extracting cargo from the NMX's outer-element carrier." Vier replied, "I will not be expecting you to core a starship or crack a continent at the moment and I have yet to determine how effective our fighter, mecha, and power armor assets will be in this operation. The last engagement was, Sub-Optimal."
"Trying to throw off a Mishhu occupation of a whole system? You guys really are playing in the big leagues. Any idea what we're we talking about here? A Gigimishhu or one of the old Ooghlrashithagg? Maybe something they salvaged together? I know a lot of these 'NMX' fleets are settling with whatever they can keep together after the invasion got beaten back. Any clues you might have about it's compliment would be appreciated too. Done a lot of sims against Ravagers, almost up there with a M5." He wasn't particularly enthused with her doubt over his effectiveness based of the bad performances of his predeccesors, but he wasn't about to let it get to him. Only real way to prove yourself as a combatant was on the battlefield. Still, it was in his nature to want to know as much about a future batlle, including the force he'd be fighting beside, as possible, at the risk of barraging her with questions. "If you've got the time, love'd to hear what you thought went wrong in the last battle."
"3 Carriers, 23 light cruisers, and assorted small craft." Vier replied. "If you want my assessment, the problem with the last battle is that I was not there to handle the entire operation. However, Uso is not going to go for a strictly-drone approach to the combat. " She would pause, and turn her attentiont o the group. It was clear, even to her, that she was not exactly being useful with her dry assessment of what happened in the last battle with the NMX.
"Rather...." Vier started again, her tone changing to be a bit warmer, just to emphasise this information over the last, "Do not deviate from the plan." She paused again, letting that line sink in. "This is not Yamatai or Nepleslia. We do not have a large number of ships to call upon to win the engagement and the margin for error is slim. The Captain of the Necromancer deviated from our planned order of battle during the initial skirmish, resulting in heavy damage to the Necromancer and loss of some of the flight wing. Though I can provide some instruction on void combat strategy, no one can expect that any of you will be profecient before our next engagement. Our initial plan will take that into account, so as long as you follow instructions you have a high chance of survival."
Akemi raised two hands to chest level and held out vertical, open palms. "Hey now buddy, I was only kidding and meant to imply it'd be entirely consensual. I just wanted to weird them out. If I was going to try to drug someone it'd be you, not a piece of your war machine. You look stunning. I love your colours."
“So at least three CSG's, a bunch of extra escorts, and who knows how many mecha, Pas, and battlepods? Yeah, from what i've seen of what we're working with, it does seem like it'll be a fairly tough fight.” For the first time since he entered the young man seemed to have a tone and look of grim seriousness rather then the cocky, self-assured attitude that he usually bore. Vier's own change in tone and concern due to the damage suffered from forces ignoring orders seemed to have mollified any percieved offense he took from her earlier statements.
“I get it, I'm untested, you've had problems with your people going all cowboy and getting their shit kicked in because of it, plus this is a pretty delicate operation. Don't have to worry about falling out of line. If it helps set you at ease, i'd be up for learning what you have to teach about Void Combat.”c
Akemi was a bit surprised his reply went ignored but he figured he'd make the best of what he'd been given. "I'd sincerely like to work with you in all ways besides the first one that probably comes to mind when I say that. I'd like to learn more about you and now that I've learned I've got some goodwill saved up I'd like to spend it on you. I don't mind taking orders even though I bet people think I'm poor at following them."
"You were asked to help provide more modern food for this city, and you have delivered. Your ability to be a functioning part of the team has not gone unnoticed." Vier replied, directly address Akemi for the moment. "Uso seems to think your talk is harmless, despite your attempts to prove otherwise."
She would then turn her attention to Jason. "Teaching you how to fight in space would require months of technical classes before we can start discussing strategy. Though I have been considering a condensed version to help people like yourself and our other new hires to get up to speed. I am certain you have had long-range weapon training, and know that it is generally impossible to hit a target more than three light-seconds out with unguided weapons. Appropriate evasive manuvers give you three seconds to move away from where the weapon is targeted at that distance, so it is less a matter of targeting and more a matter of your opponents ability to move out of the way of a perfectly aimed shot.
With the exception of special scenarios, the goal will be to bring as much of our fleet's firepower as possible to the enemy fleet, while keeping as much of the enemy fleet as possible out of engagement range. At least for short range combat.
There will also be a guided-weapon exchange during this operation. Our goal will be to saturate the enemy's defensive firepower and destroy as many of their ships as possible while protecting our fleet against their own saturation attack. But perhaps how to deal with that is a topic for another day.
During the operation I will highlight the targets I expect you to be able to destroy, and position you accordingly. So long as you are where you need to be when we need you there, you will not need to have an understanding of the larger concerns of the fight." Vier said.
"What'd you mean about me?" the Neko asked with a little worry in his voice and expression. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I just want to have fun and be liked and goof around. I really am harmless, especially around someone that looks like you."
"You would prefer a reaction stronger than the one you are getting." Vier clarified, "However your behavior does not require correction at this time."
"See this is what I mean." Akemi crossed his arms and continued to speak in an uncertain tone. "I'm fine with whatever reaction I'm getting now, but everyone knows I'm a sucker for chicks and I'm scared you'll just boss me around because of it and think I'm a loser. You're the real danger here. I'm more harmful to myself than you or Uso. You guys hold all the cards."
“I'm not entirely sure throwing a tantrum is front of her is helping you look like less of a loser, but I kind of want to see where you're going with this.” Jason added to the exchange going on in front of him. As for Vier's summary, he was atleast happy she thought enough of him to assume he knew the basics, like the maximum effect range in space given modern technology.
It was true it wasn't exactly his job to draw up fleet actions, and the knowledge that he was effectively going to be micromanaged by her didn't weigh to heavily on him. About what he expected from a professional outfit. “Go where you to tell me, shoot at the targets you mark. I think I can handle it, somehow.” He responded with a light hearted chuck.
“Can't help but ask, though feel free to tell me I don't need to know or that it's above my 'paygrade'” He put a strange emphasis on the last word, as if telling a joke only he was in on. “What's so special about this cargo you want us to extract from the carrier?”
"It's not a temper tantrum," Akemi said in a little, huffy, baby voice followed by an uncontrollable, creeping smile.
"It is equipment that we can sell. We have people willing to pay a premium for NMX equipment. I am not certain on how to frame the moral aspect of this." VIer replied, her attention now on Akemi. The woman waiting an odd amount of time before deciding to pat him on the head.
The little kitten immediately started purring and leaning into the touch. "Awww. This doesn't exactly assuage my fears but it sure is nice. I'd love to get some Mishhu stuff. I wanna be able to grow tentacles and talk in a deep spooky voice and shoot icky stuff at people that bully me. And I wanna sick Nightmare body with tiny tentacles as fur and clothes."
"Moral Aspect? I mean we're their to kill them, we might as well sell off whatever's valuble we can get from them.” He said, reacting to the purring with a hint of amusement. "Unless your using the word equipment loosely, which with NMX is a possibility.."
"Oh yeah! And I wanna be able to telepathically shout YOU ARE GAY and make people deeply question their sexuality," Akemi quickly added while turning to look at Corgan for a moment.
Vier would stop petting Akemi at this point, satisfied that she had resolved the tantrum. "The cargo extraction itself will require that we render the Carrier safe to approach as we will have other assets in the area that its weapon systems can harm. Once that is complete, I can leave it to our mecha group to enter the hanger and pull anything that looks like cargo out into space."
“Sounds like a plan. Speaking of the mecha group, met at least one of them just the other day. Call himself Ronin, pilots one of the first M models Origin put out back in the early thirties.” For not the first time, he wondered about the andryogynous Neko's gender. Not that it mattered to much to him... “What's your take on him? He dependable on a sortie? Good pilot, follows orders?”
"I feel it would be in your best interest to develop your own opinion regarding Ronin." Vier stated. "But yes, his performance was satisfactory during the last engagement."
"Fair enough. Guy hasn't managed to piss me off yet, so I have no problems with him." Jason crossed his arms. "And...Alex? How's he been doing? I trust as his clone he's been doing me proud while serving with you."
"That remains to be seen. Alex still seems to be getting used to his role here." Vier stated.
Corgan walked back up to the group shaking his head. "Sometimes I think that guy is an idiot, other times he's a genius. Anyway, what did I miss?"
Turning his attention to Corgan, Jason was a bit ashamed at this point he didn't even notice the guy had left. Really off of his game today. "Well, Akemi had to be soothed by Vier, we talked over space combat basics and what my mission would be when we take on the NMX, and I think Akemi said he wanted to use some of their tech to make you question your sexuality."
"If he does that I will find a way to kill him that he can't come back from." He said calmly. "Regarding the space combat basics, I need to practice those. Right now I get a little freaked out in space, especially if I'm not in a ship. While we're on that subject, if we're fighting Mishu I need better Power Armor and armor-scale weapons. My basic Impulse won't be too effective."
"Well, I do have some suggestions for you if you want." The topic of power armor had elicted a grin from Jason, his usual demeanor when talking about military hardware. "NAM sells some pretty good shit that PMC's can legally buy. You aren't going to get one of their current gen models unmodified, but they sell a Docile which is basically a Hostile with the weapons taken off. They also sell the old element series they mothballed which should still come with the armanent, which should be compatible with the thing for us to cannabalize."
Not taking kindly to the threat of a final death and loving to try to be witty and vulgar Akemi decided to unload a big, fat, deluge on Corgan. "You try to permanently kill me and I swear I will kill your heterosexuality first. You'll crave the cock so bad you'll be feasting on my still warm corpse to satiate your ravenous, insatiable hunger."
Corgan rolled his eyes in response to Akemi. "I don't plan on actually trying to kill you, as long as you stay out of my brain. It's not polite to mess with people's brains, you know? Anyway, that sounds like a good idea. I didn't realize they were selling that shit now. Need to ask Uso or Cyrus to get some of those for us before we actually go fight squids."
"Yeah, don't really see a lot of PMC's using them. I blame the price and them being new on the market..." The image of Corgan giving a blow job to Akemi's corpse that flashed through his mind from the exchange was probably a thought he should swat away. "If they come in, feel free to ask and I can help customize them for you. Like I said before, I have some engineeing chops, and thats includes know how to work on PAs."
"I'd totally make my own Aggressor out of a FIRE and a EARTH and call it the Girth," Akemi said to keep himself involved. "Girth as in Greater Earth of course."
"I'll do that. Maybe you can teach me something. I can maintain my Impulse but that's about the extent." Corgan replied. The dog that had come with him was rolling around on the ground in front of Akemi, looking up at the catboy curiously. "That's a good name Akemi. I approve."
"I could teach you plenty," Akemi said. Noticing the dog he bent down and tried to cautiously rub its exposed belly and whatever areas seemed safest to start with. "I've got loads of info on power armor in my noggin. Since I was space infantry I decided to spend my years with Yamatai learning about all kinds, not just theirs."
"On the other hand if you took his offer up you'd probably have to put up with his attempts to get you to go down on him longer then neccesary." The pilot looked down at the dog, seemingly eager to see how this meeting of natural enemies would go. "You serve anywhere before you ended up here, Corgan or did you learn all everything working with Ragnarock?"
"I learned everything I know about combat from gang wars. This guy named 14k taught me how to shoot. Never really had a desire to serve Nepleslia for barely any pay. Getting into Ragnarok seemed like it would be much more lucrative." Corgan watched Akemi petting Ragna-dog with mild amusement. The dog seemed oblivious to the fact that Akemi was cat-like. Or maybe he had never seen a cat. Either way, Akemi's petting was appreciated. The dog's leg was twitching even.
"So you're chasing after the money, then? Smart choice." By the point Jason had sauntered over to Ragnadog himself and decided to try his luck, scratching between the pet's ears. "How lucrative is working for a private army occupying a whole planet?"
"Awww! I made another friend! He's so cute!" Akemi gushed. "You're just a little baby. You're such a little sweetie. You're my baby buddy now." The Neko began to rub the canine more confidently. "If only I could do this to Arccos or Uso or Vier. Maybe two at once."
Corgan looked at Vier to see if she would respond. "Hey Vier, can we rub you like that?" He asked with a big grin.
"What would Arccos think, seeing you rubbing someone else?" Vier responded.
Akemi continued to stroke the dog while looking up at Vier with a serious stare. "I know you might use this against me in the future but however she felt wouldn't be enough to dissuade me. I bet you've got a great belly. I'd just lavish her with affection afterwards to compensate."
"I haven't met the woman, so I'm not exactly worried how she might percieve it." Jason said while failing to take his attention off of ragna-dog. "Who a good boy? Is it you? Is it you?"
"He's the best boy," Akemi answered. "He'd win the girl or be a harem protagonist in a Yamataian cartoon."
The response seemed to surprise Corgan. He didn't think Vier actually paid attention to things like people's personal relationships. "Wel, maybe I should ask her on our date how she would feel about it. Would you mind if she said it was okay?" He was having visions of threesomes with Arccos and Vier, or maybe even two Viers.
The Nepleslian Shepherd was loving all the attention. It looked like he was about to fall asleep right there on the concrete. "I found him in Osman city. The poor guy was starving. I took him in. Closest thing to a kid I ever want." Corgan said, referring to the dog. "Everyone calls him Ragna-dog. I thought I might get him uplifted so he can talk."
"She might find it offputting that you're trying to build a harem before you have wooed her." Vier replied, pausing a bit before adding, "... Not like I would know."
"What, you haven't been a part of many harems Vier?" Jason teased, standing up straight once more.
"I have received a few offers, but I have yet to take anyone up on that." She replied.
"Fair, enough, fair enough." He turned to his newfound friend. "Think you might be out of luck here, Corgan."
"Have you ever thought of starting your own harem? I wouldn't mind being one of many as long as you told me I was special," Akemi said with a gleeful smile.
"I do not need to start a Harem to tell you that you are special." Vier replied.
"All right, even I think that's kind of sweet." Jason responded. "What's your story, anyway? You apart of ragnarok like corgan or did Uso scout you herself? You have to be pretty high up either way if you're deciding strategy for the whole fleet."
"I am not with Ragnarok or Uso." Vier responded. "I am here as part of an agreement Uso made. In exchange for my help and certain concessions she will be helping develop large-scale scientific projects. My involvement after competion of the agreement has not been determined."
"Well if things don't work out with Arccos, I will keep you in mind, Vier. I've never been with someone like you before." Corgan said with a wink. "Anyway, tell us more about you, Vier. You are an AI, aren't you? How does your... consciousness occupy a human body? Can you leave a body, and if you do, what happens to it?" He was genuinely curious about how she functioned. It wasn't something he advertised, but Corgan had an interest in Psychology. He had more free time now to actually study, and Vier seemed like an interesting subject due to her unique perspective as a multiple bodied person who was also possibly an AI.
Akemi didn't have confidence in the idea that Vier meant what she said in a positive way. "Am I special? If so, am I good special or bad special?"
Jason of course had his own intrest in whatever answers the strategist might give, considering his own curiosity when it comes to novel applications of anything in war. ""Wait, Vier, your a legit AI? Not a lot militaries have them calling the shots these days. Was that other body...you?" He looked back in the directiont that she had gone. "I just thought you had a clone or something."
"It may be easier for you to think of me as a system. Each node has its own consciousness of varying capacity. Memories and experiences are constantly being synched between each node. This body is more like a cyborg than a computer, and I have three more just like it. There are also other software and hardware nodes in deployment." She explained. "My consciousness does not leave this body, though new nodes can be added."
"Interesting. Do you ever sleep?" Corgan asked curiously.
"Yes." Vier replied.
"Neat set-up. Sounds pretty efficent. All they stuck me with out of the vats were some neural implants, reflex enhancers, some minor muscle augs..." He cast a glance towards the giant slab of muscle before them. "What about you buddy? All natural, or like the rest of us?"
"My eyes are cybernetic, and my right hand. Got it cut off by this gang on Nepleslia for stealing from them. As for the eyes.." He gestured to burn scars around his eyes. "They did that too. My gang boss gave me the upgrades. A couple years later I found out he was selling slaves and I killed him with this hand." Corgan flexed his right hand to demonstrate. "I hope to get more upgrades, probably mindware too. Not from injury if I have a say though."
.
"Shit man...sorry to hear that. Hope you got the gang who did it to you back what they dished out." The clone shook his head. "Still, 'least the burn scars are pretty badass. And yeah, gotta say, out of all the stuff they stuck in me, mindware was probably the most useful thing. Can't recommend it enough."
Ace walked over looking for Alex. Upon seeing Jason he ran up to him and slapped him on the back. "Hey kid been looking for you. Got some stuff I need to tell you."
"Eh?" The kid in question in turned back to the mercenary, wondering what he was in for. "Uso send you down here? What's up?"
"Hey Ace, how's it going? Sorry about the thing with that horrible woman on the beach." Corgan said. "Akemi here wants to marry her, can you believe that?"
"Of course I do!" Akemi exclaimed. "I love her type. She's great. I'd decimate that any day."
"No problem Corgan. I'm pretty much over it now." Pointing at Akemi he said. "I think we need to get his brain checked."
"Alex no Uso didn't send me. This is about what we talked about earlier. You know about the company."
"Oh, so you were the Ace guy he was talking about earlier. Anyway..." He gave the the man standing in front of him a rather annoyed look. "Your not the first person to make that mistake, but it's Jason not Alex. And I don't believe we've met."
Ace stroked his chin a bit. "Nope we haven't but I'll assume you're from Psychopomp."
Corgan's driver honked the horn and when Corgan looked she gestured towards the sky. The lieutenant looked pretty pissed off. He motioned for her to bite him. "The lieutenant says I'm taking too long. Guess I had better get going before she comes over here. Akemi, see you at the Dantratten residence. Jason, good luck here. See you around. Ace, see you later back at Ragnarok headquarters." He waved as he walked into the Queen's Slave and came back out with a big crate of supplies over his shoulder. Then he walked back to his vehicle, loaded the crate, and hopped in the truck. As the truck pulled out the others could hear Aethersperm playing on the radio cranked up as high as it would go.
"That would be a safe assumption, yeah." The young man replied as he waved off Corgan. "See you later man, have a good one."
"Cya around Corgan."
The ship had certainly seen better days. After the run in at the freehold, the Queen's Slave had been scorched along much of the surface. Nuclear-hot fire having warped and melted some of the more important exterior components, requiring the Junker Drones to replace much of what was there.
Overseeing these drones as they scrambled about the exterior of the ship was Vier, or at least one of her. She was dressed in a thick compression shirt with a shemagas wrapped around her neck. The woman quietly going about her work, keeping an eye on the junkers and on the datapad she was holding.
A Star Army cargo truck painted Nepleslian green pulled up to the star port with Corgan in the passenger seat and Ragna-dog between him and the driver. It was full of empty fuel containers of various types and sizes. The driver was a beautiful female Ragnarok soldier with blonde hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. Corgan stepped down out of the vehicle and walked up to the Queen's Slave. Ragna-dog came running after him with his tail wagging. "Vier isn't it? How are the repairs going?" He called out to the strange woman with multiple bodies. The possibilities of such a woman in the bedroom kept him up at night sometimes.
"About 80%" Vier replied, without taking her eyes off the datapad, "External electronics have been replaced, the Junkers just need to finish re-attaching the new armor plates. The Queen's Slave should be able to join us for the defense of the I'ee home-system." The response was perhaps, dissapointingly clinical for someone who otherwise had such potential in areas other than starship repair. Her tight fitting clothing leaving little to Corgan's powerful imagination.
Though the drones made up the bulk of movement going on in the starport, the woman was far from alone in it. Given the sparseness of the planet current fleet, the modified M5 Knight w that its pilot had taken to calling Seraphim was about to be moved into the Freighter alongside the other origin frames once the some last bits of cargo had been removed.
A young man sporting a T-shirt advertising one of Aethersperm's older albums had been watching the work, but his attention was soon stolen by truck entering from which a man who looked like he was built by a ID-SOL had emerged. “Gotta love the F designs, can take almost anything and still be salvagable. Old as fuck if you count all the refits, but they really knew how to build some rugged shit back then.”
Corgan didn't notice Jason approaching. His eyes were definitely not focused on the ship's damage. Today he was wearing the same thing as usual. Brown duster, camo combat pants, and a red shirt. One would assume he didn't actually own anything else. He turned and looked down to see who the somewhat familiar voice was. The answer was surprising. "Alex? Did you actually say fuck? I have never heard you talk like that. Anyway I don't know much about ships. I was admiring a different design."
Jason raised one of his eyebrows, affixing the other man with a look that mixed confusion and annoyance. "Never heard me say FUCK before? Have we even met, son?" He replied to a man clearly quite a few years his senior. Despite the hostility in his tone, at his final comment he couldn't help but follow the soldiers gaze, and his expression gave way to a smirk. "Oh yeah, definitely more than one well built model in here."
While Vier was looking at the Queen's Slave, another Vier would come up behind Jason, placing one hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Uso insisted that we install Rodeo handles on your mecha after the events at Freehold. I expect the modifications will take a little under an hour to complete. May we begin now?" She asked.
It was Jason's turn to be startled this time, clearing not having noticed Vier's prescence until she was right behind him. He knew he was missing a bit of context for what she was telling him, having no idea what had went down in Freehold, but Uso was the boss and his conditioning meant he generally erred on the side of not questioning orders. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, let's go ahead and get it over with. Whatever Uso says goes."
Vier, or at least one of her, would promptly leave the group, moving to go continue with the install.
"I could help cross-train you on starship engineering and basic starship tactics." The remaining Vier offered, her words seemingly not focused exclusively on Corgan.
"Well if you're offering, I'm always up for expanding my skillset. The initiative trained me a little on the engineering end to make me better at busting them up, but I could definitely stand to learn more. You up for it...?" He left the last word hanging in the air, waiting for the other man to answer.
The person before him was obviously not Alex. He either had a twin or Uso cloned him to have a new toy. Corgan didn't really care that he called him son. There were worse things he could have said. "I'm not your son, unless you screwed my mom from the test tube or whatever you came from. I'm up for anything if Vier's involved. Maybe I can teach her a few things.You don't act like Alex though.. That kid has no spine. I think I like you more than him already. If you want to pretend to be him I'll back you up. Could be fun. Are you his twin brother or something?"
Vier would turn her attention away from the datapad for a moment to better listen to their exchange.
“Shit man, I was getting tail since the day I came out of the vats, so I probably did if she wasn't as ugly as your ass. But thanks, think I like you already too.” At the mention of Alex, his face lit up completely.“Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah...Are you telling me you have the original model around here? Holy shit, I never I'd see the day I'd meet his ass again. Not unless we were about to kill eachother or something BS like that. What are the odds...But naw, the guys who trained him figured they wanted a few models just like the original. Honestly I think the second run was a big improvement, if I can say so myself.”
If Corgan didn't like him, he probably would have punched him at that point. He wanted to hear more about Alex anyway. The revelation that Alex had clones running around was interesting. Maybe the kid wasn't completely useless after all. "He's around. Doesn't remember anything from what I hear. We haven't talked much, but he was trying to flirt with a noblewoman. She called him a peasant and he walked away looking like a sad puppy."
"Damn. You'd think that a guy walking around with my face would have a little better game, honestly." The young man shook his head, clearly dissapointed with the reputation that his forebear seems to have already cultivated. "Guess I should hit him up when I don't have much shit to do. Finally meet the dude face to face."
The Nepleslian laughed at that statement. "Yeah, I thought he would have done better. I had to pretend he and Ace were my servants to get information on a crime. Ace actually ended up getting pissed and storming off too, now that I think about it. Maybe it was kind of a dick move, but it worked. They can get over the humiliation or whatever." He shrugged.
"Dick move? Humiliation? Someone fill me in!" Akemi cried with a big smile having silently hovered up behind them after flying around for a while taking in the sights and looking for some fun.
Corgan turned to see Akemi coming up. "Are you following me or something? I keep seeing your face everywhere. It's a little creepy."
"Ey man, I wouldn't sweat it too much. You got shit done, and they decided to act like bitches. Can't help it when people are jealous you're better then them, trust me." He too was taken a bit aback by the arrival of the newcomer. "Man, this place is really starting to get crowded. But yeah man, tell us a little more about how it went down." A shark toothed grin embedded itself on his face. "You have better luck then Alex?"
The little Neko chuckled quietly. "Are you at least able to escape me in your dreams or do I haunt you there too?" If someone was going to call him creepy they were just asking for him to unleash the creeper. "Try thinking of it as romantic."
The idea of Akemi appearing in his dreams must have terrified Corgan by the look on his face. A mix of disgust and confusion. "Uh, not exactly. Some of the dreams involve Arccos murdering clones of you with various weapons though."
Akemi didn't mind such dreams in the slightest. "Well that's to be expected. I only hope she has them too. So what were you guys talking about?" The raven-haired man looked to Jason for a moment. "Fill me in on what I missed with your Mindware if it isn't anything private."
"How the hell did you know I...fuck it, guess it doesn't matter." A signal beamed from his mind to the Neko's digitized one, only taking a moment to bring them up to speed. "I don't think him one-upping my progenitor and some other dude is too private. Who's this Ace dude, anyway?"
"I didn't introduce myself. I'm Corgan Garret, from the PMC Ragnarok. We were hired by Uso to take this planet and serve as her military. Ace is one of us. He's got some AI chick in his head. Makes his eyes glow." Corgan remembered that the Alex clone asked him a question before Akemi destroyed his ability to sleep. "I didn't want to have luck with her, but I probably could have married her if I wanted to. She was annoying and heartless. Her sister was interesting though. Akemi can back me up on the sister, he showed up after Alex and Ace walked off.
"Oh man, I'd destroy 'em both any day," Akemi said emphatically. "Annoying and heartless is heaven to my ears. The one he liked had an eyepatch and some scars and looked pretty cool. She carried herself well like you'd expect a noble to. If I had my way I'd marry both."
"I see, so I guess I'll be you guys' support on missions 'n' vice versa. I'll have to hit up your base one of these days, see if we can coordinate and do a little training together to make sure we're up to snuff before any major operations." The young man seemed rather interested in the banter going on between the two. "Well, if you both agree, gotta make sure I meet her one of these days. So what was the backstory on you guys meeting her, anyway? Said something about a crime and getting information?"
Corgan shrugged. "I don't plan on marrying either one, so you can go ahead. I would only consider marrying Arccos and I don't think Spacers practice monogamy or marriage." He said seriously. "Akemi missed the beginning. We were playing volleyball with a smoking hot Iromakuanhe, Ace, and myself on one team. The other team was Uso, a huge mushroom robot thing named Truffleclub, and Alex I think. Anyway, a woman screamed and I went to check it out. My mother would have beaten my ass if I didn't help a woman in need. When I found her, Ace was talking to her. Her dress was torn and she was holding a glass rose. Turned out it was probably nothing. Some sort of way for women to sleep around and make it socially acceptable. They say this Glass Rose guy assaulted them."
Akemi simply had to try to irk Corgan some more and up his lewdness. "I love the glass rose thing. I even got that treatment myself. Man, I wonder if we could get Ace to take some Kaserine and go to sleep so we could fuck his AI through him or get it its own tangible body so we can sully his mind through her."
"Eh, at least by the sound of it, it wasn't a total waste. Hope you catch the guy if you haven't already." Akemi suggesting to switch the genders of the other dudes involved and raping them in their sleep merely elicited a raised eyebrow. "I'm not even going to ask context for that."
"I don't understand kaserine. Doesn't that shit hurt? It can't be worth all that pain. I like my junk the way it is. I would look ugly as fuck as a woman anyway." Corgan commented.
The elf eared imp mechanically turned to Jason, gave him a poker face and spoke with a deadpan delivery. "Do you have a cute AI chick in your head by any chance?"
"Can't say that I do, really, they usually don't download those things directly into your mind. If I do I suppose she's quiet enough for it not to bother me much, I guess."
Yet another thing had to be said by Akemi. There was no way he'd leave Corgan thinking the drug couldn't be enjoyable for him, not when he could soil his thoughts further still and every instance of visible discomfort only made him want to bed the Nepleslian more. "Kaserine doesn't hurt unless you're trying to revert changes too quickly or you've got a bad batch. I bet I'd totally do a girl you buddy. Nothing wrong with muscular women. You can customize it to ensure big people with a lean figure like you look good. You'd get the curves and everything, not just a change in equipment."
Corgan looked at Akemi seriously. "Even if I had girl parts, I would only be attracted to women, so you'd have to take it too." He started to say something else, but the blonde soldier tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. She looked at Akemi and Jason before leaning in to whisper in Corgan's ear. He had to bend down to accommodate her. "He wants to talk to me now? Damn it.. Fine." He turned to Akemi and Jason. "Be right back. One of my engineers has some questions about the custom vehicle he's working on."
As he walked off towards his truck, he called back to the sexy blonde soldier. "Come on, Lieutenant. I won't leave you with Akemi unsupervised." She followed him looking somewhat disappointed.
"While Uso appreciates the meat delivery," Vier said, quickly adding, "For the Vekimen." in an attempt to stop some lewdity from spewing forth from Akemi's mouth, "You may want to consider not using up all that good will trying to drug components of my war machine."
“Well, you have my word that I'll be clean whenever you need someone to core a starship or crack a continent.” He promised Vier, unsuprised she had decided to speak up again by this point. “What is this War Machine planning to get up to in the near future, anyway?”
"We will be removing the NMX fleet from the I'ee home system. You specifically will be tasked with extracting cargo from the NMX's outer-element carrier." Vier replied, "I will not be expecting you to core a starship or crack a continent at the moment and I have yet to determine how effective our fighter, mecha, and power armor assets will be in this operation. The last engagement was, Sub-Optimal."
"Trying to throw off a Mishhu occupation of a whole system? You guys really are playing in the big leagues. Any idea what we're we talking about here? A Gigimishhu or one of the old Ooghlrashithagg? Maybe something they salvaged together? I know a lot of these 'NMX' fleets are settling with whatever they can keep together after the invasion got beaten back. Any clues you might have about it's compliment would be appreciated too. Done a lot of sims against Ravagers, almost up there with a M5." He wasn't particularly enthused with her doubt over his effectiveness based of the bad performances of his predeccesors, but he wasn't about to let it get to him. Only real way to prove yourself as a combatant was on the battlefield. Still, it was in his nature to want to know as much about a future batlle, including the force he'd be fighting beside, as possible, at the risk of barraging her with questions. "If you've got the time, love'd to hear what you thought went wrong in the last battle."
"3 Carriers, 23 light cruisers, and assorted small craft." Vier replied. "If you want my assessment, the problem with the last battle is that I was not there to handle the entire operation. However, Uso is not going to go for a strictly-drone approach to the combat. " She would pause, and turn her attentiont o the group. It was clear, even to her, that she was not exactly being useful with her dry assessment of what happened in the last battle with the NMX.
"Rather...." Vier started again, her tone changing to be a bit warmer, just to emphasise this information over the last, "Do not deviate from the plan." She paused again, letting that line sink in. "This is not Yamatai or Nepleslia. We do not have a large number of ships to call upon to win the engagement and the margin for error is slim. The Captain of the Necromancer deviated from our planned order of battle during the initial skirmish, resulting in heavy damage to the Necromancer and loss of some of the flight wing. Though I can provide some instruction on void combat strategy, no one can expect that any of you will be profecient before our next engagement. Our initial plan will take that into account, so as long as you follow instructions you have a high chance of survival."
Akemi raised two hands to chest level and held out vertical, open palms. "Hey now buddy, I was only kidding and meant to imply it'd be entirely consensual. I just wanted to weird them out. If I was going to try to drug someone it'd be you, not a piece of your war machine. You look stunning. I love your colours."
“So at least three CSG's, a bunch of extra escorts, and who knows how many mecha, Pas, and battlepods? Yeah, from what i've seen of what we're working with, it does seem like it'll be a fairly tough fight.” For the first time since he entered the young man seemed to have a tone and look of grim seriousness rather then the cocky, self-assured attitude that he usually bore. Vier's own change in tone and concern due to the damage suffered from forces ignoring orders seemed to have mollified any percieved offense he took from her earlier statements.
“I get it, I'm untested, you've had problems with your people going all cowboy and getting their shit kicked in because of it, plus this is a pretty delicate operation. Don't have to worry about falling out of line. If it helps set you at ease, i'd be up for learning what you have to teach about Void Combat.”c
Akemi was a bit surprised his reply went ignored but he figured he'd make the best of what he'd been given. "I'd sincerely like to work with you in all ways besides the first one that probably comes to mind when I say that. I'd like to learn more about you and now that I've learned I've got some goodwill saved up I'd like to spend it on you. I don't mind taking orders even though I bet people think I'm poor at following them."
"You were asked to help provide more modern food for this city, and you have delivered. Your ability to be a functioning part of the team has not gone unnoticed." Vier replied, directly address Akemi for the moment. "Uso seems to think your talk is harmless, despite your attempts to prove otherwise."
She would then turn her attention to Jason. "Teaching you how to fight in space would require months of technical classes before we can start discussing strategy. Though I have been considering a condensed version to help people like yourself and our other new hires to get up to speed. I am certain you have had long-range weapon training, and know that it is generally impossible to hit a target more than three light-seconds out with unguided weapons. Appropriate evasive manuvers give you three seconds to move away from where the weapon is targeted at that distance, so it is less a matter of targeting and more a matter of your opponents ability to move out of the way of a perfectly aimed shot.
With the exception of special scenarios, the goal will be to bring as much of our fleet's firepower as possible to the enemy fleet, while keeping as much of the enemy fleet as possible out of engagement range. At least for short range combat.
There will also be a guided-weapon exchange during this operation. Our goal will be to saturate the enemy's defensive firepower and destroy as many of their ships as possible while protecting our fleet against their own saturation attack. But perhaps how to deal with that is a topic for another day.
During the operation I will highlight the targets I expect you to be able to destroy, and position you accordingly. So long as you are where you need to be when we need you there, you will not need to have an understanding of the larger concerns of the fight." Vier said.
"What'd you mean about me?" the Neko asked with a little worry in his voice and expression. "I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I just want to have fun and be liked and goof around. I really am harmless, especially around someone that looks like you."
"You would prefer a reaction stronger than the one you are getting." Vier clarified, "However your behavior does not require correction at this time."
"See this is what I mean." Akemi crossed his arms and continued to speak in an uncertain tone. "I'm fine with whatever reaction I'm getting now, but everyone knows I'm a sucker for chicks and I'm scared you'll just boss me around because of it and think I'm a loser. You're the real danger here. I'm more harmful to myself than you or Uso. You guys hold all the cards."
“I'm not entirely sure throwing a tantrum is front of her is helping you look like less of a loser, but I kind of want to see where you're going with this.” Jason added to the exchange going on in front of him. As for Vier's summary, he was atleast happy she thought enough of him to assume he knew the basics, like the maximum effect range in space given modern technology.
It was true it wasn't exactly his job to draw up fleet actions, and the knowledge that he was effectively going to be micromanaged by her didn't weigh to heavily on him. About what he expected from a professional outfit. “Go where you to tell me, shoot at the targets you mark. I think I can handle it, somehow.” He responded with a light hearted chuck.
“Can't help but ask, though feel free to tell me I don't need to know or that it's above my 'paygrade'” He put a strange emphasis on the last word, as if telling a joke only he was in on. “What's so special about this cargo you want us to extract from the carrier?”
"It's not a temper tantrum," Akemi said in a little, huffy, baby voice followed by an uncontrollable, creeping smile.
"It is equipment that we can sell. We have people willing to pay a premium for NMX equipment. I am not certain on how to frame the moral aspect of this." VIer replied, her attention now on Akemi. The woman waiting an odd amount of time before deciding to pat him on the head.
The little kitten immediately started purring and leaning into the touch. "Awww. This doesn't exactly assuage my fears but it sure is nice. I'd love to get some Mishhu stuff. I wanna be able to grow tentacles and talk in a deep spooky voice and shoot icky stuff at people that bully me. And I wanna sick Nightmare body with tiny tentacles as fur and clothes."
"Moral Aspect? I mean we're their to kill them, we might as well sell off whatever's valuble we can get from them.” He said, reacting to the purring with a hint of amusement. "Unless your using the word equipment loosely, which with NMX is a possibility.."
"Oh yeah! And I wanna be able to telepathically shout YOU ARE GAY and make people deeply question their sexuality," Akemi quickly added while turning to look at Corgan for a moment.
Vier would stop petting Akemi at this point, satisfied that she had resolved the tantrum. "The cargo extraction itself will require that we render the Carrier safe to approach as we will have other assets in the area that its weapon systems can harm. Once that is complete, I can leave it to our mecha group to enter the hanger and pull anything that looks like cargo out into space."
“Sounds like a plan. Speaking of the mecha group, met at least one of them just the other day. Call himself Ronin, pilots one of the first M models Origin put out back in the early thirties.” For not the first time, he wondered about the andryogynous Neko's gender. Not that it mattered to much to him... “What's your take on him? He dependable on a sortie? Good pilot, follows orders?”
"I feel it would be in your best interest to develop your own opinion regarding Ronin." Vier stated. "But yes, his performance was satisfactory during the last engagement."
"Fair enough. Guy hasn't managed to piss me off yet, so I have no problems with him." Jason crossed his arms. "And...Alex? How's he been doing? I trust as his clone he's been doing me proud while serving with you."
"That remains to be seen. Alex still seems to be getting used to his role here." Vier stated.
Corgan walked back up to the group shaking his head. "Sometimes I think that guy is an idiot, other times he's a genius. Anyway, what did I miss?"
Turning his attention to Corgan, Jason was a bit ashamed at this point he didn't even notice the guy had left. Really off of his game today. "Well, Akemi had to be soothed by Vier, we talked over space combat basics and what my mission would be when we take on the NMX, and I think Akemi said he wanted to use some of their tech to make you question your sexuality."
"If he does that I will find a way to kill him that he can't come back from." He said calmly. "Regarding the space combat basics, I need to practice those. Right now I get a little freaked out in space, especially if I'm not in a ship. While we're on that subject, if we're fighting Mishu I need better Power Armor and armor-scale weapons. My basic Impulse won't be too effective."
"Well, I do have some suggestions for you if you want." The topic of power armor had elicted a grin from Jason, his usual demeanor when talking about military hardware. "NAM sells some pretty good shit that PMC's can legally buy. You aren't going to get one of their current gen models unmodified, but they sell a Docile which is basically a Hostile with the weapons taken off. They also sell the old element series they mothballed which should still come with the armanent, which should be compatible with the thing for us to cannabalize."
Not taking kindly to the threat of a final death and loving to try to be witty and vulgar Akemi decided to unload a big, fat, deluge on Corgan. "You try to permanently kill me and I swear I will kill your heterosexuality first. You'll crave the cock so bad you'll be feasting on my still warm corpse to satiate your ravenous, insatiable hunger."
Corgan rolled his eyes in response to Akemi. "I don't plan on actually trying to kill you, as long as you stay out of my brain. It's not polite to mess with people's brains, you know? Anyway, that sounds like a good idea. I didn't realize they were selling that shit now. Need to ask Uso or Cyrus to get some of those for us before we actually go fight squids."
"Yeah, don't really see a lot of PMC's using them. I blame the price and them being new on the market..." The image of Corgan giving a blow job to Akemi's corpse that flashed through his mind from the exchange was probably a thought he should swat away. "If they come in, feel free to ask and I can help customize them for you. Like I said before, I have some engineeing chops, and thats includes know how to work on PAs."
"I'd totally make my own Aggressor out of a FIRE and a EARTH and call it the Girth," Akemi said to keep himself involved. "Girth as in Greater Earth of course."
"I'll do that. Maybe you can teach me something. I can maintain my Impulse but that's about the extent." Corgan replied. The dog that had come with him was rolling around on the ground in front of Akemi, looking up at the catboy curiously. "That's a good name Akemi. I approve."
"I could teach you plenty," Akemi said. Noticing the dog he bent down and tried to cautiously rub its exposed belly and whatever areas seemed safest to start with. "I've got loads of info on power armor in my noggin. Since I was space infantry I decided to spend my years with Yamatai learning about all kinds, not just theirs."
"On the other hand if you took his offer up you'd probably have to put up with his attempts to get you to go down on him longer then neccesary." The pilot looked down at the dog, seemingly eager to see how this meeting of natural enemies would go. "You serve anywhere before you ended up here, Corgan or did you learn all everything working with Ragnarock?"
"I learned everything I know about combat from gang wars. This guy named 14k taught me how to shoot. Never really had a desire to serve Nepleslia for barely any pay. Getting into Ragnarok seemed like it would be much more lucrative." Corgan watched Akemi petting Ragna-dog with mild amusement. The dog seemed oblivious to the fact that Akemi was cat-like. Or maybe he had never seen a cat. Either way, Akemi's petting was appreciated. The dog's leg was twitching even.
"So you're chasing after the money, then? Smart choice." By the point Jason had sauntered over to Ragnadog himself and decided to try his luck, scratching between the pet's ears. "How lucrative is working for a private army occupying a whole planet?"
"Awww! I made another friend! He's so cute!" Akemi gushed. "You're just a little baby. You're such a little sweetie. You're my baby buddy now." The Neko began to rub the canine more confidently. "If only I could do this to Arccos or Uso or Vier. Maybe two at once."
Corgan looked at Vier to see if she would respond. "Hey Vier, can we rub you like that?" He asked with a big grin.
"What would Arccos think, seeing you rubbing someone else?" Vier responded.
Akemi continued to stroke the dog while looking up at Vier with a serious stare. "I know you might use this against me in the future but however she felt wouldn't be enough to dissuade me. I bet you've got a great belly. I'd just lavish her with affection afterwards to compensate."
"I haven't met the woman, so
"He's the best boy," Akemi answered. "He'd win the girl or be a harem protagonist in a Yamataian cartoon."
The response seemed to surprise Corgan. He didn't think Vier actually paid attention to things like people's personal relationships. "Wel, maybe I should ask her on our date how she would feel about it. Would you mind if she said it was okay?" He was having visions of threesomes with Arccos and Vier, or maybe even two Viers.
The Nepleslian Shepherd was loving all the attention. It looked like he was about to fall asleep right there on the concrete. "I found him in Osman city. The poor guy was starving. I took him in. Closest thing to a kid I ever want." Corgan said, referring to the dog. "Everyone calls him Ragna-dog. I thought I might get him uplifted so he can talk."
"She might find it offputting that you're trying to build a harem before you have wooed her." Vier replied, pausing a bit before adding, "... Not like I would know."
"What, you haven't been a part of many harems Vier?" Jason teased, standing up straight once more.
"I have received a few offers, but I have yet to take anyone up on that." She replied.
"Fair, enough, fair enough." He turned to his newfound friend. "Think you might be out of luck here, Corgan."
"Have you ever thought of starting your own harem? I wouldn't mind being one of many as long as you told me I was special," Akemi said with a gleeful smile.
"I do not need to start a Harem to tell you that you are special." Vier replied.
"All right, even I think that's kind of sweet." Jason responded. "What's your story, anyway? You apart of ragnarok like corgan or did Uso scout you herself? You have to be pretty high up either way if you're deciding strategy for the whole fleet."
"I am not with Ragnarok or Uso." Vier responded. "I am here as part of an agreement Uso made. In exchange for my help and certain concessions she will be helping develop large-scale scientific projects. My involvement after competion of the agreement has not been determined."
"Well if things don't work out with Arccos, I will keep you in mind, Vier. I've never been with someone like you before." Corgan said with a wink. "Anyway, tell us more about you, Vier. You are an AI, aren't you? How does your... consciousness occupy a human body? Can you leave a body, and if you do, what happens to it?" He was genuinely curious about how she functioned. It wasn't something he advertised, but Corgan had an interest in Psychology. He had more free time now to actually study, and Vier seemed like an interesting subject due to her unique perspective as a multiple bodied person who was also possibly an AI.
Akemi didn't have confidence in the idea that Vier meant what she said in a positive way. "Am I special? If so, am I good special or bad special?"
Jason of course had his own intrest in whatever answers the strategist might give, considering his own curiosity when it comes to novel applications of anything in war. ""Wait, Vier, your a legit AI? Not a lot militaries have them calling the shots these days. Was that other body...you?" He looked back in the directiont that she had gone. "I just thought you had a clone or something."
"It may be easier for you to think of me as a system. Each node has its own consciousness of varying capacity. Memories and experiences are constantly being synched between each node. This body is more like a cyborg than a computer, and I have three more just like it. There are also other software and hardware nodes in deployment." She explained. "My consciousness does not leave this body, though new nodes can be added."
"Interesting. Do you ever sleep?" Corgan asked curiously.
"Yes." Vier replied.
"Neat set-up. Sounds pretty efficent. All they stuck me with out of the vats were some neural implants, reflex enhancers, some minor muscle augs..." He cast a glance towards the giant slab of muscle before them. "What about you buddy? All natural, or like the rest of us?"
"My eyes are cybernetic, and my right hand. Got it cut off by this gang on Nepleslia for stealing from them. As for the eyes.." He gestured to burn scars around his eyes. "They did that too. My gang boss gave me the upgrades. A couple years later I found out he was selling slaves and I killed him with this hand." Corgan flexed his right hand to demonstrate. "I hope to get more upgrades, probably mindware too. Not from injury if I have a say though."
.
"Shit man...sorry to hear that. Hope you got the gang who did it to you back what they dished out." The clone shook his head. "Still, 'least the burn scars are pretty badass. And yeah, gotta say, out of all the stuff they stuck in me, mindware was probably the most useful thing. Can't recommend it enough."
Ace walked over looking for Alex. Upon seeing Jason he ran up to him and slapped him on the back. "Hey kid been looking for you. Got some stuff I need to tell you."
"Eh?" The kid in question in turned back to the mercenary, wondering what he was in for. "Uso send you down here? What's up?"
"Hey Ace, how's it going? Sorry about the thing with that horrible woman on the beach." Corgan said. "Akemi here wants to marry her, can you believe that?"
"Of course I do!" Akemi exclaimed. "I love her type. She's great. I'd decimate that any day."
"No problem Corgan. I'm pretty much over it now." Pointing at Akemi he said. "I think we need to get his brain checked."
"Alex no Uso didn't send me. This is about what we talked about earlier. You know about the company."
"Oh, so you were the Ace guy he was talking about earlier. Anyway..." He gave the the man standing in front of him a rather annoyed look. "Your not the first person to make that mistake, but it's Jason not Alex. And I don't believe we've met."
Ace stroked his chin a bit. "Nope we haven't but I'll assume you're from Psychopomp."
Corgan's driver honked the horn and when Corgan looked she gestured towards the sky. The lieutenant looked pretty pissed off. He motioned for her to bite him. "The lieutenant says I'm taking too long. Guess I had better get going before she comes over here. Akemi, see you at the Dantratten residence. Jason, good luck here. See you around. Ace, see you later back at Ragnarok headquarters." He waved as he walked into the Queen's Slave and came back out with a big crate of supplies over his shoulder. Then he walked back to his vehicle, loaded the crate, and hopped in the truck. As the truck pulled out the others could hear Aethersperm playing on the radio cranked up as high as it would go.
"That would be a safe assumption, yeah." The young man replied as he waved off Corgan. "See you later man, have a good one."
"Cya around Corgan."
