Nova Chasers (A space Western role-play)

I sat on the surgical table as Harris took out a needle. I almost got light head but I averted my eyes to the periodic table. My eyes scanned the poster but I was thinking about the past couple of days. The pain in my shoulder was strong but clenched my fists tightly trying to lessen it.

Harris finished quicker than I thought he would and after he patched me up, I hopped down. He handed my a wool lined leather jacket and I blushed slightly, "Thank you, I'm really grateful."

I nodded as I put the jacket on, I was glad that we were almost the same size because it was practically a perfect fit. The princess stood outside the door and I went out to meet her. Richard walked up to the door and greeted us. I blushed even more and memories suddenly flooded back, "Come on, princess, you must be tired."

I took her to my room where it was exceptionally clean, "This will have to do for."

"Where will you sleep? I know you must be tired as well." Her face was worried and I knew she was ready to object.

"I have a nice place to sleep for now, if I even sleep. We should be landing shortly anyway."

With that, I walked off, closing the door behind me. I sat on the floor next to door and my head laid on the cool metal wall. I slowly fell asleep and a reoccurring dream filled my mind.

I ended up cleaning Teal and the princess' room. Spotless, and had worked my way down the hallway. I was finished cleaning the hallway, and apparently, I ended up just standing on the edge of the hallway, towards the cockpit, looking at nothing. Just thinking. I don't know how long I stood there, but I then ended up walking back to the Engine room, and completely took apart the warp device. By the time I had come to from my zombie-like state, I was half-way done reconfiguring the warp-drive. I had no clue what had happened during that time, it was as if it was a large black spot on my memory.

I decided to quit working on the drive for now, and go see how the princess was doing. I walked down the hallway, still kinda limping, and notice that Teal is sleeping right outside of the door. I go inside quietly, and I notice that the princess was sitting on the bed, thinking about something.

"H-Hello your majesty. How are you feeling?"

"Oh. I didn't notice you come in. But I am doing very well, thank you. I would offer you a chair, but there isn't one right now."

"That's quite alright. I can stand."

We didn't talk much. We were just providing each other some much needed company.

((OOC: Looks like it's gonna be a while till Art posts, so I'm just gonna post what I'm doing after Art leaves the med-bay))

Harris gave a sigh of satisfaction and stretched, "A doctor is a very important job." Harris said to himself, nodding to his statement with his arms crossed. He looked up to the ceiling and then off into the distance, as if he had remembered something. Scratching his head, he steps out of the med-bay and starts to walk off down the corridor of the ship and notices Teal sleeping against the wall, Harris stopped and watched her sleep for a while before taking off his trench coat and sat beside her.

"Jeez, she'll have a sore neck if she sleeps like that." Harris said as he folded his trench coat into a fluffly, makeshift pillow and placed it on his lap. He gently moved Teal and rested her head onto his trench coat pillow. Harris gave a worrysome expression when he noticed Teal kicking around in her sleep, as if she was having a bad dream of some sort. Harris gave a sigh and stared at the wall, thinking about the many possible outcomes that this mission may have.

((OOC: I imagine we're pretty busy IRL))

((OOC: Sorry, didn't want to post immediately about our arrival.))

Rick walked into the cockpit, hand still clutching his side, just in time to see New Britannia in sight.

"Awesome. We're almost here. Should take about 5 minutes or so to land, right? I'll notify the others."

Rick picked up the intercom swiftly, causing a stinging sensation in his side due to the sudden movements.

"Crap, almost forgot about that."

He then slowly brought the intercom to his lips.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at our destination shortly. Please ready your belongings and the Princess, as there will be a ground escort to take over once we land. Thank you."

((I'm working on my post, should be ready when I get back from work later today))

((OOC: Why, aren't you? Come on, the first part is about to be over, then we get to some excitement. I made mine, and I don't feel like consecutive posts. Somebody please keep the ball running. Once Ave makes his post, make one last post if you want once we land, and when I finish, I'll end the act. Thank you.))

((I didn't want to because for some reason it felt awkward. I'll do it anyway))

I shifted slightly as I woke up. My head laid snugly on a folded up trench coat. I was still a bit groggy, also slightly shaken from my dream. Suddenly I felt a hand on my head, a hand that I wasn't use to having there. I looked up to see Harris and I rubbed my eyes, "Harris?"

Suddenly I was flushed and extremely embarrassed. I shot up straight and stood in front of him, "T-thanks...you didn't have to do that..."

An announcement blared on the intercom and I smiled a bit, "New Britannia, here we come!"

I got all my dirty blades from out of room and quickly cleaned them off, stuffing the clean ones in my pouches. I walked back out to see Harris standing by a wall and became slightly flustered. I stood next him and waited for our arrival.

Having mistaken soju for water, Avery was now more than a little drunk and did his best to hide it when Richard had come to check on him. Luckily he left as quickly as he had came. Fi quipped in after Richard was gone.

"You knew you didn't have any water in that damn thing, why would you drink the whole damn bottle thinking it was?"

"You do-don't judge me missy prissy pants-."

Avery chuckled to himself; it was funny because she didn't have any pants.

"If I dun wanna deal with almost...you know...the dead part sober, I WON'T DO IT SOBER!"

As with most people who are drunk, Avery didn't play things quite so close to the chest. He also emphasized a lot of what he said by shouting at the end. It didn't seem like an angry shout, but more like when you think someone can't hear you. Setting down the ship wouldn't be a problem, Avery could land or dock anywhere with his eyes closed swimming in a pool of mud. What Avery could not do, however, was keep himself in check if he started talking; whatever came to mind went right out his mouth. No questions asked.

"Fucking twat that Richard, giving every lady who comes his way a good Dicking -hah! get it? Cause his name is Dick and all -gives them his shaft, then gives them the shaft-heheh, and then asks me to crash MY SHIP?"

Avery was out of drink, but he took an imaginary swig and threw the bottle to the ground, it didn't break.

"Fuck it allllllllll, can't even break a damn bottle..."

No matter how happy or pissed Avery would start off when he got drunk, he would inevitably become quiet and a little bit depressed. Everything reminded him of space, especially when actually flying through space.

"It all reminds me of space...[size=10]I hate space[/h]."

And so Avery sat, watching New Britannia coming into view, and hating his time in space. He stayed that way for a few minutes more, until the ship arrived at New Britannia. No sooner had the planet loomed into view than his mood quickly improved, time on planet meant time not in space.

It was a perfect landing, even with Avery seeing double of the flight console. Three months alone in the cockpit drifting through space tends to have it burned into ones memory. He wasted no time in getting out of the cockpit, he didn't want to be around the ship for a little while.

"I need to get off this shit for a little while...be back later Fi"

"If you spend even one minute with those wenches at-"

Avery didn't hear it, he was already out of earshot.

"...Sad old bastard"

Teal started to wake up and Harris placed his hand on her head, as a kind of welcoming her back from sleep. She rubbed her eyes and, after realizing where was, quickly got upp from Harris' lap and she became flustered, "T-thanks... You didn't have to do that" Teal said in embarrasment. Harris gave a small chuckle, "Well, I couldn't just let you lie there and get a sore neck."

The intercom came to life as the two paid their attention to the sound of Rick clearing his throat echoed through the entire ship. Rick announced that they would be arriving on New Britania shortly. Teal gave a smile and headed off into her room, the sounds of knives hitting each other could be heard from outside where Harris was. Harris smirked a bit as he stood up. Teal came out from her room and turned to Harris who noticed she was a little bit flustered. The two stood by each other as they waited for the ship to land and dock.

"So, looking forward to New Britania?" Harris asked, in an attempt to pass the time.

It could be said that Avery was a well coordinated drunk, but that isn't really saying much. He at least managed to make it back to the loading bay without tripping over anything or bumping into a wall. He spotted the Doc and Teal, and being in a good mood decided to find himself some company. He walked up behind them and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. He didn't smell too much like booze, since soju has no smell, but it was kind of obvious that he was drunk

"Hey hey! If it isn't Harris M.D. and the young lady with the beautiful singing voice!"

He let both of them go and shuffled over to his crate, using it as a seat.

"I'll tell you, you're gonna love this rock. Britannia was the first place I stopped off after my jaunt through deep space for a few months. I'll tell you, after not talking to an actual person for three months...AHHH shit, that's depressing old crap you don't wanna hear about."

He hoped off his crate with great gusto, and began emphasizing his descriptions with not too coordinated arm gestures. He loved telling this story.

"First place I walked into was a seedy little club called Bravado. Great name right? Now I say little, but you could probably fit my ship here into that hole a couple times over. You could get lost in a place like that...as a matter of fact I did! Spent a whole two weeks in that place before I found the door again. I even sobered up two days later!"

He went back towards the two and wrapped an arm around Harris. Walking him around the bay as if he were actually there. Chances are Avery might have thought they were.

"You'd 've loved the place Doc, the scene there was crazier than you! Haha! Right over there to the right; that was the bar. Beautiful little thing by the name of Jill worked there. Now not having much in the way of conversation for a few months makes it kind of hard to hold one you know? Precious thing gave me my first three shots for free when I finally managed to tell her what I did, that loosened my tongue up it did! Loved that brandy she used to make, never would share the recipe with me."

He dragged him around the cargo bay, gesturing left and right and everywhere in between. Avery let Harris go and waltzed up to Teal, and gave her the same tour.

"Oh and right down this hall was where I won my first poker game. 200,000 on the line! Almost had my johnson cut off when some mob boss caught me with his woman later that night! God that was crazy; lucky for me Jill heard all the commotion and threw him and the woman out...such a shame really. I of course spent every penny from that game before I ever found the door, even might have even made a few kids by the time I got out of there."

Avery let Teal go as well, and sat himself back down on the crate.

"Worst hangover a man ever had on New Britannia, I promise that. Man what a trip; we should hit the place up if we get a chance!"

((Can I write a post, or can I write a post?))

((OOC: Thats quite a lot to read, good job))

Harris was quite surprised when Avery, who was apparently drunk, came out of nowhere and shared him and Teal an old story as well as give them both an imaginary tour in the cargo hold. Harris could deduct, from when he was being dragged around by Avery, that he had drunk some sort of odourless alcohol, something like vodka or similar.

Harris decided to play along with Avery but was worried that, in his current condition, he would comprimise the mission. Harris laughed along to Avery's story and slapped his back, subtly injecting him with a shot of a tranquilizer that could knock him out cold for a few hours. Avery continued ranting on for a while until the tranquilizers began to take effect. Harris caught Avery as he began to collapse

"Sorry, pal, but I can't afford to risk you comprimising our mission." Harris explained as he gently layed Avery on the floor. Harris took an old blanket from one of the crates and covered Avery with it. Harris turned back to Teal with a joking smile "Well, since we've landed on New Britannia now, why don't we go and take a small walk outside while we wait for everyone else. I haven't seen much natural sunlight for a while." Harris said as he began walking to the loading ramp, turning back to Teal to see if she would follow him.

((OOC: I'll just edit this post so that the order stays in place))

Harris turned around to get an answer. I simply nodded and started to follow him toward the docking ramp, Richard's voice stops me. He ordered us around and a frown grew on my face as I placed my hand on Harris' shoulder, "Sorry, I guess we're too late."

Failure.

It was indubitably an absolute failure.

It was to be expected... but so soon?

What happened? What was different? What went wrong? Such contemplative thoughts race through the woman's mind. The cybernetic metal of her greaves clattered on the hard surface of the ground as she ran along the alleyways; the sounds seemed to reverberate much more greatly than usual, even among the bustling midday activity of the urban populace. Her gauntlets appeared to gleam with the light of the nearby star. She felt that the entire city could hear her every step. Yes, she could not hide. She could only run, with her every step, turn, and intention so evident to the world.

Exiting an alleyway, the woman takes a sharp right into an empty, open area encompassed by several buildings... and she encounters a young man; he had a fairly large build, deep blue eyes, and black, short hair. He wore a combat vest, goggles wrapped around his forehead, thick military-issued pants, and several ammo belts wrapped around his waist and torsos. He was another mercenary. The man had an exhilarated expression upon seeing the woman, clearly evident in his grin and trembling hands. He was a hot-blooded one, a young soul that is reckless due to youth, yet fearless because of it. These types were the most dangerous to her right now. From experiences, the woman understood that in combat, the young and reckless would have several oversights in their defenses. She will find and exploit this weakness, and quickly dispatch the enemy. She is confident, for she has learned not underestimate nor overestimate recklessly. She only carefully and methodically excogitates her actions. She calculates that there is approximately sixteen meters of distance between them.

The man brandishes a large minigun, and connects one of his ammo belts to it. He laughs loudly as if taunting the woman, and yells,

"Come on, you fucking bitch!"

The man unleashes his relentless steel bombardment without a second thought. As he fires, he sweeps the ground, making normal escape impossible—however, his opponent was far from normal. With her agility amplified by her cybernetic gauntlets and greaves, the woman nimbly leaps into the air, evading the stream of bullets as well as entering an arced trajectory leading directly to where the man stood. The woman had ascended into the air in a split second, closing the distance between them, and descending just as fast—if not, faster—she swings her right arm with the intent of smashing the man's skull. However, her hand merely pierces air where the man's body had been, and she strikes the ground with tremendous force, causing the adjacent area, including the air, to tremble violently. The man had quickly avoided the blow by sidestepping, and he seizes his opportunity instantly; the man brandishes a bright sword with a glowing, teal blade. It was a very powerful sword of incredibly high durability, as well as extraordinary cutting power. In his mind, the man felt victory within his grasp. The woman cannot dodge; any and all her defenses would be struck through, he thought. However, as the woman predicted, the man would make a fatal miscalculation... The woman lifts her left arm to defend, and the man's sword strikes the woman's left gauntlet, expecting to slice right through it...

...simple foolishness.

The woman parries the blade with her left gauntlet, throwing the man off balance, and she follows through with a quick straight at the man's clavicle with her right fist. A soft ring echos through the air. The woman's long, elegant, white hair sways in the air and settles in an instant as it falls. The man's clavicle, spinal cord, and rib cage are shattered by the sheer kinetic force the blow in a single instant. He is blown back several meters, falling and rolling as his body smashes into the ground. Wasting no time, the woman continues onward, fleeing.

Not too far behind, a mysterious, humanoid entity enshrouded in a thick, black cloak stood before the corpse of the man that had just been slain. Not a single part of the man's body was perceivable. The large, black hood did not permit even the uncovered visage of the figure to be perceptible in the light of day. The figure seems to observe the corpse of the man, and from the cloak, a shape resembling a completely black hand and arm reaches forth, grabbing the corpse by the collar of its shirt. The black figure then drags the corpse of the man to the side of a structure, making it a little more hidden. There was no purpose in doing so; it would have not mattered if the corpse was left there, as the cleanup task force would be here shortly. The black figure's actions were inexplicable. Afterwards, the black figure seems to briskly trail the woman, heading into the direction that she had left in. The black figure seemed to float like a specter as it traveled... yet, it's footsteps were evident, with the sound of what seemed to be heavy boots stomping the ground with every step.

After traveling some ways, the woman finds herself alone, atop a bridge, connecting two parts of the city. She walks to the edge of side of the bridge, and looking down, she could see that it was a long ways down; the distance from the bridge to the ground directly below it was most likely an upwards of 400ft. She steps away from the peering view of the edge. Normally, bridges would have much traffic, but this one was devoid of all activity. No pedestrians, no vehicles. Nobody was there, except for her...

A loud bang rings in the air. Something had seemed to zip past the woman's head at incredible speeds, grazing it.

"This bridge is closed."

An austere male voice speaks to the woman. She turns to the direction of the source, and she sees the black figure; a gun and hand unveiled from its cloak and the barrel of the gun pointed at her torso, the black figure steadily walks toward her, with heavy footsteps. The woman faces the man and assumes her stance, absolutely expressionless to this new threat. There was at least thirty meters of distance between the two, with the gap continuing to close as the black figure approaches closer. The woman, understanding her disadvantage, does not move from her spot; instead, the woman merely focuses her full attention on the black figure, the gun, and its trigger finger. The black figure continues to speak.

"It will be demolished and replaced, soon... its model is obsolete; it is not needed.

Not needed... like her.

The figure continues speaking, with an ominous tone.

"Looking down earlier, did you happen to notice that there will not be a single soul under this bridge?"

The woman does not answer, but recalling the view she had, what the man had said was not true. The city structures below were surrounded by pedestrians walking, vehicles driven, and other activity, but they had showed no signs of evacuating the proximate vicinity.

As if responding to her thoughts, the figure interjects, "You seem doubtful." The woman had been expressionless the entire time, so the person simply made the supposition. He continues, "This bridge is scheduled for demolition. The date for it... is today." The woman does not respond, but she ponders for a moment. The person's words were odd... what is it talking about?

The black figure stops, standing with about twenty feet of distance between them; its gun was still raised and pointed at the woman. For a few minutes, the two enter a standstill. The woman excogitates her approach; the man's accuracy, rate of fire, attacking power, and damage are all unknown; this fact makes the woman's approaches limited. There is a risk to every approach, and the consequences would be severe...

...but that is nothing new to the woman.

The woman breaks into a dash of incredible speed toward the black figure. The person immediately fires three shots—burst fire. The woman raises her left arm, still running, and blocks the three bullets. They ricochet into their own directions as they come into contact with the woman's metal gauntlet. The black figure draws another pistol of the same kind as he was using, and fires both of them in rapid succession. The figure fires three bursts; the first burst misses; the second burst is evaded, and the third is guarded. The figure attempts to overwhelm her by firing both his pistols at the same time; however, this was exactly what the woman had been hoping for. The bullets simply hit the bullets of the bridge as the woman leaps into the air, closing the remaining distance between them in an instant. With both its guns fired, that split moment gave the woman her opportunity. Such is the consequence of underestimation, as the woman brings her fist down with such force that—

—it seemed like a trick had been played on her eyes. The woman had been struck down from the air and was knocked to the side, rolling dangerously close to the edge of the bridge. She gets up into a kneeling position, and her face seems to slightly contort in pain. She raises her hand to her abdominal area, and there was a large gash across her stomach.

...such was the consequence of underestimation.

The woman's uniform was a specialized fabric that served as armor while appearing inconspicuous, diluting the damage; nonetheless, the woman was bleeding from the wound. Looking back at the black figure, the woman saw what had struck her: a large scythe weapon, which had been held... by a third, left arm. The figure takes off his thick black cloak... and a large man with eight, muscular arms was revealed, four arms on each side of his body. Six of the arms seemed to diverge from the sides of his back. He wore a completely black combat suit which covered his entire body, except for his head. His face was covered in scars, making it appear rugged and rough-looking, and appeared to be in his forties by sol-human standards.

In the man's arms, the bottom pair held two energy-bladed swords; the second pair from the bottom held the two pistols; the third set, which were situated like a normal humanoid's arms, held the large scythe in the left and a baton-like object in the right; the top-most arms held two, moderately-sized pod-shaped objects. The baton-object quickly expands into a replica of the scythe into his other hand, and the two pod-shaped objects expand into variants of plasma cannons.

The woman recognizes him. The man before her was Strnad Lockheed, a renowned mercenary for his mastery of using eight weapons simultaneously, allowing for superb combat effectiveness. His ability to overpower any and all opponents with his combination of weapons had earned him the nickname "Octavo", or simply "Eight".

After marvelously unveiling his full appearance and weaponry and divaricating his arms in a flaunting manner, he continues what he had spoke of earlier.

"There will not be a single soul under this bridge... because they will be crushed. This bridge will be demolished by me, today... you along with it."

The woman remains expressionless; the man becomes irked by the woman's unresponsiveness.

"You still seem so confident...Is it your armor? I have seen it before... It is the specialized and customized 'Gilgamesh System' implant, is it not? You may be more of a fucking monster than I am..." The man humorously chuckles. He continues, "Perhaps you are.... but you will die here. This bridge is your coffin."

The woman appears to show no emotion, but in actuality, she was worried. She was deeply concerned for the potential innocents that may become involved, and she wanted to protect them. Knowing the man's intent, she could no longer flee. She would crush this man before he does any harm to the people. She must. Her resolution would not allow her to fail. The woman stands up and takes her stance. The pain of the wound seems to fade.

The woman, who had not yet said a single word this entire time, speaks undauntedly to the man in a soft, gentle voice,

"Your life will end before this bridge falls."

The man seems to laugh, amused by her response after all this time.

"What, are you actually concerned for—"

The woman wastes no time. She had already dashed and jumped above the man at blinding speeds; she descends with a sharp kick. The man jumps back, avoiding the attack as she strikes the ground; the woman follows up with powerful sweep kick, and it connects with the man's ankles. The man falls on his back, and the woman continues with a drop kick; her attack is parried by the man's swords. The man retaliates with a deep scythe swing; it misses, as the woman jumps in the air and descends with another sharp kick. The man raises, aims, and fires his two pistols at the woman, while guarding with his swords. The bullets cleanly miss, and the woman strikes past his defense, hitting the man in the chest. The woman quickly mounts the man and delivers a set of powerful blows to his face; one punch connects, two punches connect, four, and a final ninth. The man's visage became horribly mangled, and blood had spurt forth from the impacts. The black combat suit's most blatant weakness: the head was unprotected. The woman felt that the man was most likely unconscious; the blows would have, at the very least, given him a serious concussion. She stands from her mounted position, and begins to head across the bridge—

—a blade sticks out from the front of her body, striking through her solar plexus. She trudges forward, forcing her body off the blade, and she is struck at the shoulder by one of the scythes. The pain she had ignored until now returns to her threefold. From the man's deformed mouth came incomprehensible sounds and gasps for air, as well as what seemed to be curses directed at the woman. The man, with his utmost effort, utters,

"...die here."

The man raises and aims his plasma cannons. The woman realizes it much too late. The man fires the one of cannons at the other end of the bridge, sundering it; he fires the other cannon downward, causing a powerful explosion, knocking the woman back several meters.

Gravity brings the bridge to free-fall. The woman, in the split second she had, activates a device in her uniform.

The bridge plummets several hundred feet, crushing and demolishing anything below it.

When the woman opens her eyes, her body is laid down on the ground; rubble, dust, and smoke encompass her. Great pain envelops her entire body. Looking down, the woman sees that there is a pool of blood below her. From its volume, she could estimate how much time had pass since the bridge had fell. She attempts to stand, staggering several times, and trudges in a random direction. While walking and limping, she sees that she had landed a ways from the area that the bridge had impacted. She realizes that she had been temporarily deafened, as her hearing returns to her, gradually. Screams and sirens fill the area in the distance, but she paid them no heed. She retracts the gauntlets and greaves of her Gilgamesh System back into her body. As she trudges along, she discovers the cloak of the man, which had dropped down along with the bridge. She grabs it, enshrouds her body with it, and continues onward.

The woman does not know how much time had passed. Right now, her sense of time was distorted. She had no idea how far she walked, or where she was. She struggled to merely hold onto her consciousness. Within her short moments of able cogitation, she could see that she foolishly headed further into the city, when she had intended to flee.

The woman stops in the shade of a building. She sits down, places her back against the wall, and looks to the sky. She laments on her failures. She failed to carry out her objective, and she failed to protect the innocent people. She, who carried out her tasks and assignments perfectly, had made several mistakes in succession; she made miscalculation after miscalculation. The pain, however, gradually drowns out even her anguish. People walk and run past her, not noticing or simply not concerning themselves with her existence. Some of them mind their own business, others run toward the area she came from, presumably noticing the collapse of the bridge. The pain would not cease or relent, yet did not serve to help her keep conscious. Her ruptured wound continues to spill blood. She stares emptily into the sky. The sun... was a bit too bright for her. She felt that it would be more comfortable to close her eyes, so she shuts her eyelids. A sense of bliss fills her, but it immediately becomes regret.

She did not want to die. She wanted to live.

The woman forces her eyes open, desperately holding onto life and hope.

She earnestly hopes that, under this sky, she was not abandoned...

((OOC: Wow...what an entrance, Rai. Quite long, though, but a very nice way to finish off Act I, I will admit. People, meet Raikadashi, one of Fakku's elite RPers. He has agreed to join Nova Chasers, but with the unorthodox scenario he suggested, I thought I'd let him work his own magic a little. This guy's good, so play nice. Now, let's start the next round!))



Rick exits from his own room after the touchdown, his eye menacingly twitching, as if the anger he usually holds in and never shows finally erupted. He walked through the hallways, carrying a marker pen with him. He stopped in front of Teal's door and knocked on it a few times.

"Your Majesty. We're here. Time to drop you off."

He then continued on his way to the loading ramp, only to find Teal and Harris ready to step out, and Avery sleeping soundly on the floor, a blanket covering him.

"Oh. You two are already here. And it looks like Sleeping Beauty was drunk. Time to teach him a lesson about the consequences of holding out drinks from me, and for calling me a 'fucking twat'."

He kneels down beside Avery, unscrews the marker cap, and starts drawing on his face. Specifically, a bold line connecting his eyebrows together to form a unibrow, and a small patch of a mustache on the centre of his upper lip, reminiscent of the ancient, universally-hated dictator Adolf Hitler.

"You should be thankful that this isn't permanent, you little punk."

After a while, he finished and got up, throwing the marker aside. He also noticed Bohr and the Princess approaching them.

"Well, looks like we're here. If any of you want, please say your goodbyes before we send the Princess off."

((OOC: Hope you guys don't mind me AI'ing you a bit. Just wanted to get to the next part quick.))

Once the bay doors opened, they found a small military-like group waiting just outside, standing in strict formation. Once the Princess was in their sights, they gave a quick salute.

"Well, last stop, Princess. I hope we meet again someday."

The Princess nods and gives one last look at Rick and smiles.

"The feeling is mutual, Richard. Everyone, thank you for protecting me and keeping me company throughout the journey. Rest assured, for your deeds, you will have Windia's eternal and loyal support."

With that, the Princess separated from the group and went towards the entourage. She stopped for a moment and looked back, but with a solemn expression.

"And Richard? I sincerely hope your wanderlust doesn't get the better of you in the future."

She finally entered the middle of the escort and walked off with the group.

"Just remember to transfer the credits soon! You know my account!"

Rick shouted back at the Princess, and softly chuckled and thought out loud.

"Sorry, Nina. Wanderlust is I have left."

He turned back to his own group and smiled.

"Well, looks like we're gonna be here for a while. Might as well enjoy a little. Here, take these earpieces, so we can stay in touch with one another, and if I want you to run a sudden errand."

He hands an earpiece to each of his teammates, who put them on immediately.

"OK, might as well travel a little in groups, so I'll take Harris. Bohr, you're with Teal."

Rick, after delivering his short speech, dragged Harris off by the collar, ever so calmly. He waved goodbye to the other two and disappeared into the crowd.

---

"Man, is it fucking hot out here?!"

Rick and Harris had been walking around a busy, yet not that lively part of the city. People minding their own business, loitering around in the streets trying to cool off. They had passed by some electronics shops, but never bothered to go in. One thing that caught Rick's eye was a recent accident that occurred in another part of town. Apparently, some explosion caused a bridge to completely collapse, right on top of numerous civilians. The cause of the accident was still unknown.

"Must have been some real shit going on there."

Harris simply nodded as he followed Rick with a blank expression. Rick knew Harris was getting bored, but honestly, he didn't care. It had been a while since he had some free time and company.

"Come on. Let's buy a couple of bottles of water to cool down."

They went to a nearby stall selling fans and bottled water, obviously taking advantage of the heat. As he started to pay for the water, Rick's eyes traveled to what seemed like a black blob sitting down under the shade. On closer inspection, it was a person wearing a huge black hood and cloak. Rick wouldn't have paid too much attention to such hobo-like mannerisms, but something stood out about this one. The cloak seemed like it was completely black, but some other color seemed to appear in blotches all over it. In fact, said blotches seemed like they were spreading, as if it were really...

Rick took the bottles with him and handed one to Harris, whispering into his ear in the meantime.

"I know you have some painkillers and patches with you right now, since you always step out with them. Go over to that hobo in black sitting over there and fix him up. Enough innocents have died today, and I don't want that guy becoming another statistic. Don't worry, no one will notice."

He pats him on the back before pushing him towards the victim, and stands in such a position as to block the view, inconspicuously drinking from the bottle.

((OOC: Kei, try to post as soon as possible. Rai, you can if you want, but I would suggest getting healed first.))

((OOC: Nice to meet you Rai. That really was a great introduction. I was all into it and everything lol.))

I bowed gratefully to the princess and she gently placed her hand on my head, patting and messing my hair up as if I were a child. I looked up at her, seeing a heart felt smile on her face, which I returned. She gave me a small hug and my eyes welled up with tears. I held them in as hard as I could and smiled again, "It was such a pleasure to have met you, princess. I will miss you greatly."

She simply spoke my name, smiling and I knew the feeling was mutual. She walked off and shouted to Richard, giving final farewells to everyone. I felt more accomplished than everything; finally I've done something to means something. My life, even if it isn't very significant, I felt that I was finally needed.

Richard gave me an ear piece and paired me up with Bohr. A small smirk grew on my face as I remembered our sparring match, "Want to spar?"

My smirk faded as I remember the wounds on both our bodies, "Man, what luck. You're lucky we're injured, I would of beat your butt."

((This is a joint post between Zandorf and Cammi.))

"You think you could really win, little girl?", I say in responce to Teal's comment. "Anyway, I need to go pick up some parts for that warp device... Mind coming with? I should warn you, it will be boring."

"I don't mind at all...I find some way to keep myself entertained."

"That's fine by me.", I say as I start heading to the market.

I walked next to him and smiled a bit. I rubbed my shoulder, making exaggeragated faces at him as we started to walk off, "I blame you for this."

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Oh and I'm not a little girl."

"How old are you? What, 18, 20? You're still a child to me.", I say, teasing Teal, and half patting her head.

I glared at Bohr as he patted my head, "Everyone just love's to pat my head, don't they. I'm 19 just so you know."

"Well, that's because you are so small and cute. You are also younger than the rest of us, that's why.", I say truthfully.

"Small? I'm pretty sure that I'm twice your size." I smirked as I looked down at him.

"It doesn't matter to me...", I say as I hide the true fact.

I laughed light heartedly at him. For some reason, now that the mission was over, all of my hatred for Bohr was gone. I do admit it though, I wanted to bother him as if he was my older brother, maybe I am a child, I pondered on the thought as I followed him to some store and patiently waited outside of the entrance.

We arrived at a spare parts store, and I went inside. The place wasn't big, but it was know for having what you needed. I look around for a bit, then I see some off the "black market" brands of the parts I needed. The black market parts always are better than the marketed ones. But, you always end up paying more for them. I spend about half my earnings in the store, roughly 1.7 million credits, and I go back outside, and I see Teal just leaning on the store front.

"Wanna go somewhere for something to eat?", I ask.

"Yeah, I was starting to get a little hungry."
I straightened up off of the wall and followed him again, "I'm not very picky, you can chose any place."

"Hm... I heard that there is this nice cuisine place just down the street here. It's pretty cheap, but still has really nice food.", I say putting a little twist on the end, making it sound like a question.

I simply nodded, "Cheap and tasty, my two favorite things."

"Hm. Well, it shouldn't be too far now.", as I finish saying that, the resturaunt pops into view. "Ah... There it is. You can go inside first, I'll follow.", as I hold open the door.

I hesitated for a moment; men never really showed me any manners. I walked in slowly as the smells of the kitchen overwhelm my senses, "Wow, I've never smelt something so delicious in my life."

"Well, this is one of the specialties of New Britannia. The great food., I say a little happily while keeping a straight face.

"Yes, hello. I would like a table for two please.", I say to the waiter. The waiter then shows us to our table, and I hold out the chair for Teal. "You can sit here.".

I stared at Bohr, "Thanks..." I sat down and continued to look at him.

I push in Teal's chair a bit after she sat down, and proceded to my chair and sat down.

"So, how come you've been so nice lately?"

"What's with the sudden question? I've always been polite to women.", I say as I start looking over the menu, hiding my face.

I pursed my lips a bit at his comment, "I never really thought so, either way I don't mind this new attitude of yours."

I take her reply sourly. "You really want to know the truth?', I ask Teal as I folded back up the menu and looked at her seriously.

I looked back at him, just as seriously, "I never meant to offend you, but yes, I want to know the truth."

"Fine... I consider you like a daughter... No matter how... awkward that seems, it's the truth. And during this last mission, when you got injured, I felt like I was going to lose you. That hurt, to think that.... That's why I've changed my attitude towards you.... Now, would you like to order something, or should we continure to talk?", I say as I start to look at the menu again.

I blushed, like a father?..., I thought about my father figures in my life; my abusive biological father and the man that took me in. I frowned intensely at the thought of them but I slowly came back to reality, "You can order for me."

"No. I can't order for you. I don't know what you would like to eat. Red meat or chicken, or what?"

My stomach grumbled at the thought of red meat and I blushed slightly, "I kind of want steak."

I push the serving button, and the waiter comes out. "Yes. I would like to order two steaks. Um.. Mine should be the meat from a cow from the planet of Zangar. I like it tough and juicy. Done medium well please. And how would you like your steak Teal?", I ask as I hand the waiter my menu.

"Well done and from...any planet, thank you." I placed my hand on my stomach as it growled again.

"I guess two steaks from Zangar then.", I say as the waiter finishes taking the order and returns to the kitchen.

"Thanks for this, Bohr. Now that I think of it, you're the only one who-" Teal cuts off as she hears Richard start talking about an accident through the ear piece.

As soon as Richard is done speaking, I start talking to him as well.

"Richard, should we come over to your location, or meet with you at the ship as soon as we are done here?"

((OOC: Eh. Being your first joint post, I'll give you a B+ at best. Nothing really wrong with it, except for the glaring flaw of "mixed POVs". You put in both persons' 1st person perspective, when in reality, the best way to handle such a post would be a 3rd person perspective. Either way, it was OK. And yeah one, take up the knockout with Kei, not me.))

Rick hears Teal's concerned voice through the earpiece and calms her down.

"That's a negative, Teal. We're nowhere near the scene. I just saw it in the news and felt like thinking out loud. Continue on your little pity date with Daddy. And relax a little, we still have a lot of time here. No need to come back to the ship any time soon. Besides, I may actually have an errand for you two., if you're interested."

Rick turns the piece off for a moment and turns to Harris.

"How much longer, Harris?"

((OOC: Kei's time zone really screws things over. No offense, bro. Also, about the errand, Zan and Cam, if you do decide to carry it out, take it a little slow, because it involves a new character joining, but she actually took a little break. May be back by Friday or Saturday. So, yeah...slow if you can.))

((OOC: yeah, my timezone is quite an obstacle for me. You're all posting when I'm asleep or at work. Sorry about that Oneshot, if I plan on anything like that again, I'll PM you for permission first.))

Harris knelt down over to the person cloaked in black and opened up his med-pack. Harris moved the cloak over and revealed the wounds that the person had suffered through. This doesn't look like the normal injuries you'd get from an accident Harris thought to himself as he observed the open wound in the person's gut. Harris turned over to Rick

"This'll take a while, there's a substantial amount of damage, many of them seem suspicious at that. I'll do what I can but it might be better if we take him to the ship and patch him up there." Harris turned back to the person who was losing consciousness. Harris, after observing for a while, had noticed that it was a woman. Of course, Harris didn't really care about that, he injected her with some painkillers, washed off the blood with a bottle of water he had and applied some field dressing over the major wounds. The person seemed to react to the sulfur when it hit her wounds. Harris took out several rolls of bandages from his pack and began wrapping over the wounds, the bandages quickly turned from their original beige color into a blood red.

Harris pulled the cloak over to cover her again and gave a thumbs up to Rick. "Captain, may I ask, what are we going to do with this person? I've done what I can for her right now but her situation is still critical. She's lost a huge amount of blood and needs a proper place to recover." Harris said, surprisingly, with a concerned voice.

((OOC: Mind if you post Rai's profile on the OP?))

[[Okay, here goes nothing, behold! The adrenal rush that is Big Al’s introduction! and yes, took a liberty at the end but thats my character to a T i couldn't NOT do that.]]


“Beer, and Steak. Best combination man has ever invented, I swear.”

I say quietly to myself as I dig into the large T-bone steak on my plate. Enjoying the break from the usual dark and dreary depths of space. I arrived at this Bar and Grill a little over a half-hour ago, getting a cold brew and ordering a hot meal, relaxing and watching the multitude of sports programs being displayed on the holo-screens, enjoying a long needed break from bounty-hunting, and resting from a particularly exhausting space chase.

Ever aware, and not visually impaired I immediately notice the three men who enter the place wearing mercenary hunter type clothes, I sigh and set down my fork when they make a beeline for my table the moment they notice me, taking time to crack my neck and put a hand on Betty. I have to hold in laughter as they get closer and surround me, looking more like teenage punks then bounty hunters. The one who appears to be there leader speaking.

“Excuse us, but are you Alistar McKeon?” he grunts out in gravely voice dripping with killer intent and a trace of fear.

“Depends on whos asking boys.” I spit out, grinning the moment he goes for his pistol clearly visible on his hip.

The moment his hand touches it Im in action, drawing betty faster then he can flinch, I purposely keep a loose grip on her as I pull the hammer down, letting the .50 caliber steel core round explode out the barrel, hitting him in the neck, causing his head and a portion of his chest to explode in a fount of blood.

Due to my slack hold on the massive hand-cannon, the kickback generated by the custom loaded round whips the heavy weapon back and up faster then you can blink, smashing the nose in of the Blondie that was standing behind my right shoulder with enough force to send him flying into the bar, I grimace slightly at the shock of the blow, and seeing who he flew into, I quickly holster the gun and rocket out of my seat, giving the remaining merc a heel kick, sending him flying into the man who was talking to the small foxy girl I had been eyeing at the table across from me.

“oi! What the hell do you think your doing, do you know who you just hit with your garbage!?” someone shouts at me and I turn my head noticing three bikers standing up at the bar, there leader, who was clearly marked by the ink on his face was scowling at me.

“don’t give a shit boys, but if you wana do something about it, feel free. Its been a while since I beat the shit out of someone with my bare hands.” I state grinning as the charge me in a blind rage. I laugh at the idiocy of it, lashing out with a lighting fast open palmed strike to the leaders larynx, crushing it instantly. In the same fluid movement I roll with the blow and deliver I crushing knee to the gut of the nearest biker, bouncing back and giring as the last two stare at me in shock before charging in, I deflect the wild swing delved by the one on the right with my elbow, and catch the wriste of the one on the left, whom was attempting to jab me with a knife, promptly twisting and snapping it. Catching the knife as he drops it, droping to my knee to doge a thrust from his buddy I jam it in his knee joint and smile at the scream of pain, standing back up and knocking them out by smashing there heads together.

“bloody idiots.” I state simply before spiting on there limp forms. Before walking to the unconscious mercenary whom I kicked into the table next to mine, I bend down and pull out my switchblade, cutting a chunk of his hear out and dropping it in front of his face.

“……….. what? Haven’t you peeps ever heard of a good olfaction brawl?” I speak aloud when I realize everyone is staring at me, including the mousey blue eyed girl, I smirk and walk up to her, giving her a kiss on the lips before seting down one of my business cards on the table, trying not to laugh at the mix of emotions playing across her face, confusion, embarrassment, anger…

“well. Im outa here, might wana clean up the mess.” I say simply to noone inparticular before heading out the entrance.





[[charecter profile]]

((OOC: I'll give you an A-, It'd make it easier for us to distinguish you if you settle for a color that your speech text will be, i.e. I have green, Art has red, etc))

Harris gave a quick reaction to the sound of a gunshot through the earpiece, nearly reaching out for his FMG-9. Harris could hear a lot of fighting and talking through the earpiece but couldn't really make out much of what they were saying. "Hey, Bohr, what's going on over there? somebody causing trouble for us?" As Harris asked, he could hear that the fighting had stopped, Looks like somebody won he thought to himself. Through the earpiece, Harris could hear footsteps getting louder, The winner is coming over to them, what business does he have with the two? Harris thought and then gave a sigh to a wet sound that seemed to have been a kiss. . . on the lips, Either that guy had just kissed Teal, which would mean he's some form of womanizer, or he kissed Bohr, in which case he's one tough homo. . . Harris sighed again as he turned to Rick who he was still waiting for an answer from.

"Captain, what are we doing with this person?" Harris asked again, more worried than before, seeing that her condition was getting worser as they waited.

((OOC: Welcome to the two new players of this RP, nice to know that this is growing bigger))