Revenge of the Polygems (IC)

[Zender_Solarheart]

<<Mission Briefing>>
The current date is Orion 13th, 3469.

About 2 weeks ago, an ambassador party, sent to welcome the Dracolites of planet Wyrmadon to the Republic of Trans-Galactic Systems (RTGS), went missing at roughly 1700 hours. The rescue team sent for them followed suit, including the same black-out of communications as the ambassadors. It is speculated that the Dracolites attacked the ambassadors and captured and/or killed them, but speculation alone isn't enough to declare war. Therefore, the Platinum Stilettos have sent the carrier Sleipnir, alongside the ISPC's cruiser Izanami, to investigate the cause of the lost communications, and provide assistance as necessary. In particular, the ambassadors' safety must be confirmed, as their diplomatic role in the Republic is vital to foreign relations. These ambassadors' names are:

-Julius Alkaid;
-Alicia Dane;
-Benjamin Arturia; and
-Joanna Shade.

While secondary objectives may be added, changed, or dropped depending on certain circumstances, the primary objective of securing those 4 VIPs is paramount.The Sleipnir and Izanami are too large and threatening for an appropriate landing, so the operatives participating will be inserted via armed aerial drop-ships, using the best cloaking tech available to avoid telegraphing their presence. Field Protocol is currently at Level 1, meaning that no shots may be fired unless the operative in question is fired upon first. If possible, it is strongly recommended to secure the VIPs with as little military action as possible, but first and foremost: failure is not an option.

Good luck, and godspeed.

<<Derek Hernandez, Jen Swofford>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Sleipnir firing range.

<Derek>
You’ve been at the ship’s onboard shooting range for a while now, honing your skills with a handgun. Instead of your combat-ready Needle Gun, you’re instead using a simulator-built substitute, which uses target images generated on your HUD to measure accuracy. It’s proven better to use this virtual build on the range, to save money on ammo that would otherwise be spent. However, for the sake of realism, each gun’s simulator copy looks, sounds, and kicks just like the real thing.

Your most recent accuracy rating is 96.3%, which is just a smidge below your personal best of 97.1. Off to your left, Captain Alex Spade does some practice of his own with a pair of simulator Machine Pistols, as he has a unique talent for dual-wielding handguns, and is one of the few to ever exceed 98% accuracy with that combination. Thankfully, his practice won’t interfere with yours, as the targets generated on his HUD are a separate bunch than the ones you see in yours.

<Jen>
You’ve been practicing alongside your boyfriend Alex, who’s trying to beat his personal best of 98.2% with Machine Pistols. In your case, you’re practicing with a simulator Needle Gun replica, as the ability to shoot healing needles over a distance is pretty useless if one’s marksmanship isn’t kept in shape. That said, your 93.5% accuracy rating isn’t anything to sneeze at…but hey, self-improvement is a key aspect of humanity, is it not?

(For the record, Alex has blue eyes, brown hair, and your average Caucasian skin tone. I’ll be posting reference images for each of the main characters mentioned in this post…)

<<Cae>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Izanami mess hall.

You’ve been here for about 30 minutes now, having your fill of food while duty has yet to call. After all, the desire to eat was built into your super-advanced android body, to go along with the whole “as human as possible” gig. Unlike the standard human, however, your form of a digestive system just transforms the food into pure energy, and feeds it into your power supply.

While doing so, you’ve been chatting with Jillian Edge, though she prefers “Jill” as a nickname. She was the first one on-board to warm up to you, and since then, you two have pretty much become the best of friends. She also happens to be the younger sister of the Kusanagi’s commanding officer: Colonel Jonathan Edge, an expert military tactician and strategist, and just 2 steps down from the ISPC’s most esteemed generals. That connection with someone of such high command allows Jill to know more about galactic news and events than most girls, though she’s never been told any classified information.

“So Cae, you heard those rumors about the missing ambassadors?” Jill asks, her tone implying that she’s heard a lot about them already. You recall one or two about a bunch of pirates kidnapping them, but aside from that, none of the gossip really caught your attention.

<<Whiskers>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Izanami hangar Bravo.

Being a Mechanic and all, you’re doing some maintenance on the ISPC’s newest brand of space fighter craft: the SF-39 “Hogan.” It uses a revolutionary design known as the “grapple-fighter” build, where the classic fighter-craft is given a pair of robotic arms, each of which can be equipped with a mech-sized firearm, or a Plasma Bayonet. Simply put, your job here is to check to make sure that each piece is functional and in battle-ready condition; it’s more of a double-check, considering they had a whole team doing it before departure…but still, it’s what you get paid for.

Your current object to inspect is the hydraulics system that gives the mechanized arms their smooth motion capabilities, and testing them is pretty simple: you just test each method of movement on the joints connecting them to the craft (the "shoulders," if you will), then you test the "elbow" joints, and finally, you operate both at once. Nothing hard, right?

<<Minerva Moirai>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Sleipnir sparring arena.

The Sleipnir, like most Stiletto military carriers, has a fully-integrated sparring room for CQC and melee weapon training. What you’re in here for right now isn’t exactly practice, though; instead, you’re here to settle a bet. Apparently, some guy known as “Tank” wants a weapon that his mechanic buddy Vector called dibs on: an Ion Sledge, to be precise. Vector’s reply was “if you want it so bad, prove that you can handle it,” and it seems that he thinks “handling” a sword like that requires that he can kick your ass in a CQC match. As a result, here you are, effectively the “judge” on whether he’s man enough to wield that weapon.

The number of spectators is rather low: just Vector, and a few random guys who want to see you beat Tank down. The match’s referee is Captain Greggory Spade, or “Greg,” as his friends call him. He stands about average height for a human male, with red hair and hazel eyes. He’s an ace pilot and expert melee combatant, both of which are largely due to his sharp eyes, making him an ideal referee for this. “Fighters, take your stances.” he commands, holding his hand up between you both to prevent any cheap head-starts. Tank seems to crouch into an offensive stance, as if he plans to make the first move…

<<Keldras SPACE DW-…err, Starcrusher>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Izanami shooting range.

You’re currently in a target-shooting contest with the Izanami crew’s top marksman: Richter Stein. He’s a muscular Neo-Elf male of about 6ft 2in, with short, slicked-back white hair, green eyes, and a dark brown skin tone. The contest itself isn’t over anything too strenuous: just who buys some drinks on the return trip from the mission. The rules are simple: whoever can score the most points in 2 minutes, with a Photon Pistol, wins. Headshots score 3 points, chest-shots score 2, and all other hits score 1.

The contest hasn’t started just yet, as you’re both getting ready for it. Behind you is a star mechanic of the Izanami’s crew: Zandile Freivolt. He’s a human male, average height, a slight bit thinner than average, with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. He just got done configuring the match rules, and the countdown is going…

3.
2.
1.
BEGIN!

<<Jason Argo>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Izanami sparring room.

Your hotheaded attitude has landed you in trouble before, but it was generally with superior officers and the like. Not this time, however; this time, you’re about to be disciplined publicly in the sparring arena, by none other than the femme-fatalle badass that the crew knows only as “Nevvy.”

How did this happen? Well, you were at the mess hall earlier, checking out some of the ladies that walked by, when one of them caught onto your antics…and as it turned out, she has a boyfriend. Needless to say, you and said boyfriend got into a fight, and by the time you got him on the floor and started bashing him in the face repeatedly, Nevvy stepped in…and everyone backed off as if she could rip them in half bare-handed. She challenged you to a 1-on-1 match to “put you in your place,” and not being one to turn down such a challenge, you accepted.

That may turn out as a big mistake.

Nevvy comes from a similar background to your own; born and raised in a military-rooted family, taught how to fight by her father, and amassing a great number of battlefield achievements. Unlike you, however, she’s had the common sense to keep her guns pointed at the enemy, and not at fellow allies in a coup. Her notable specialties are automatic weapons and CQC, the latter of which being what you’re about to experience…

<<Dax Sierra>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Location: Sleipnir mess hall.

You and Sallie are currently eating some lunch, having your fill while the mission is not yet underway. Your current helping consists of some grilled and seasoned tilapia, a side of steamed vegetables, and some iced tea to drink. Meanwhile, your wife’s helping herself to a plate of lean roasted chicken, with corn on the side, and the same kind of iced tea you’re having.

Out of the corner of your left eye, you can spot two guys walking in your direction, and while there’s no present guarantee they’ll sit down next to you, they seem to have a habit of commenting on how lucky you are to be with Sallie…and to be fair, she is a very lovely sight, and her cute, charming personality is quite popular with most men looking for their “special someone.” On the plus side, those guys respect the bond you two share, so they normally don’t do that commentary unless Sallie’s off somewhere else.

[MiscChaos]

Derek exhales deeply as he prepares for the next round of sims. 'OK, one more round seriously, then I can play around.' he tells himself. Seeing him as serious as he is right now is an unusual sight, but he takes saving lives very seriously. So if he can save a life or two by accurately hitting an ally with a healing dart or an enemy with a strategically placed poison dart, then he'll take it as seriously as he would a surgery. With another exhale, he starts the sim, getting his accuracy as good as he can without using Eagle Eye.

[daxtinator396]

(Really fish for the Neko?) Dax took a bite oh his fish with gusto enjoying the rich spicy flavor of the seasoning on the otherwise normal tasting fish. He smiled at his lovely wife, his ears perked up in clear happiness," So how is your lunch my love? Mine is pretty good! Whoever said food from the ship's mess was bad is a liar!" He said seriously it seemed like the cooks here sure know how to cook fish the way he likes it! After he swallowed his next bite of the food he noticed the two men commenting on his wife once again but he decided not to say anything in front of Sallie not liking to let her see him so angry except during combat. Then they both saw each other raw selves. It was how they grew to love each other so fast in fact. So instead of showing her his anger he simply glared at the two.

[napsii]

Cae whistled as she swung her barefoot legs back and forth, sculpting the arrangement of sprinkles on her cupcake. First blue, then red, then purple, and then yellow and turquoise!

Without the human deficiency of having to worry about health, the android had taken an immense liking for sweets and pastries of all kinds ever since she'd been made. Her taste buds had been simulated down to a tee, and baking was among the first pastimes she'd developed after her creation. She flexed her toes, feeling the little bits of dirt that'd collected on the bottom of her feet. Cae didn't favor shoes, and wore them only in battle. She could not grow calluses, but her refurbished skin was so tough she could walk on broken glass without cutting herself. She liked to feel the ground beneath her when she walked. Touching up the rainbow sprinkles on her vanilla cupcake, she blew out the little sparkler she'd stuck in it.

A speck of frosting fell down onto her cargo shorts and she picked it off with a finger, tasting it. Perfecto! Pulling down her vibrant and close-fitting Lycra tank-top again, she chomped into her cupcake. Her 106th birthday (marking two years of service with the ISPC, too!) was in a few days, and with their next operation so rapidly approaching, she decided to give herself a present ahead of time. Continuing to bite, she then looked to Jill. Oh, wow! She'd barely noticed her BFF over the mouthful of sugar. Cae liked Jill. She'd been the first one to acclimate to the idea of having an android on board, and Cae was ever thankful for it. She shrugged as she chewed messily, crumbs on her cheeks. Rumors? Oh, right, about the ambassadors.

She swallowed and wiped her face off with a napkin.

"I heard one about pirates or something, but that's it. Meh." she admitted, half-destroyed cupcake in hand. As trivial as it was, Cae was a little disappointed she wasn't in on the loop. She really liked to be on top of the recent events. Her eyes locked onto Jill with a sudden and very bright interest.

"Ooh, but are there any good ones? I really hope it doesn't end up being something dumb like 'Oh, their shuttle just broke down!' or 'They fell into a black hole!'. I mean, I don't know about you, but I think politicians going into black holes got boring after the Neo-Elf Secretary of Nature's personal pilot got drunk and flew them into that one in the Faiyna System." she stated with a thoughtful shrug. Cae was rather opinionated.

[jayjaycaps]

Jason was still on adrenaline high from smashing the boyfriend's face it. It was one think to tell Jason who he could and couldn't look at, and it was another to try and fight him. Fighting was the one scenario that Jason could get in were his stubbornness came in handy. Where most would get knocked down and not get back up, Jason would bounce back like nothing had happened. The boyfriend obviously had never heard of Jason as well. Then again, few had. After he had taken over that carrier, the ISPC had tried to hush the whole event up. He was highly decorated solider at the time. The ISPC couldn't let others know about their hero gone rouge. But just like the ISPC, the boyfriend never knew what hit him.

Unfortunately, that had caused some unwanted attention from a certain BAMF. Jason had heard of Nevvy before, but didn't care much. He didn't really keep up with ISPC operations now at all. Since the coup, he hasn't been allowed to leave Izanami, or even hold a firearm. So the name Nevvy didn't mean much to him, and figured this fight would be one of the easier ones. Nevvy was just some girl after all, right? While she was wherever, doing whatever she was doing, Jason was back on the Izanami, training for the day he got back in the field. He was confident he could take some girl. As far as he was concerned, Jason was the BAMF here, not Nevvy.

"Listen Nevvy, I don't know if you saw what just happened here, but I just kicked this guy's ass. Unless you wanna end up on the floor with him, I'd back down. By the way, I'm gonna suggest something to you," Jason leaned down to gloat into the boyfriend's ear. "Next time I look your girlfriend over, let me." Jason stood up straight and ran his hands over his mohawk, trying to slick it back. Eyeing the girlfriend in the crowd, he gave her a wink and a cocky smile. Turning back to Nevvy. Twisting his head to crack his neck, Jason eyed Nevvy too, trying to figure out some physical advantage or weakness he or she might have.

[SugarCookie]

Whiskers walked into the hangar with her checklist. "Let's see, inspect hydraulics.. do stuff with smotmiothionm cabilrs.... Righto! Time to do stuff" Pulling out her favorite screwdriver (it's a small one that seems to fit with most sizes, due to the nature of screws a smaller one can fit in a large screw), and walked toward the first craft.
She took off the back panel, screwing off all the screws, but keeping them on the panel as not to loose them. She gave the life support systems a quick glance to make sure everything was in order. Then she made sure the fuel tubes were all connected without any holes, put the panel back on, then moved toward the front and checks the lubricant on the hydraulics. All fine, it looks like the guys before her did a good job.
She hopes in the driver seat and powers on the offensives systems, listening to the engine for anything that might sound off. She moves the left arm, then the right, the both in a manner that looks like stretching. Everything looks fine, so she powered down, plugged the systems back into the ship, then re-oiled the arms before heading to the next craft to do the same thing.
She has an easy job, so she takes her time. She has five hours, and it normally takes her three or four to check all of them. At least it pays for food, and her house back at home. Besides, she might be piloting one of these later, keeping the squadron well maintained is enough motivation to do her job well.

[Icaelus]

"And pray tell, why am I fighting this meathead again?"
Minaeta sounded annoyed. And she had all the right to be. Being more or less dragged down to the sparring room while she had been in the middle of a good book was irritating. She had quite the reputation as a top-notch assassin and while she usually kept a low profile, she was obviously infamous throughout the ranks of the Stilettos. Being a mass murderess of...justice tended to make quite the name for yourself.
She sighed, the thought accomplishing nothing except to annoy her even further.
"Now I'm pissed. You, Tank, was it? Haven't killed any innocent people, have you?"
Minaeta completely ignored Greggory Spade's call of getting ready and immediately strode up to Tank, jabbing a finger on his chest. The sight of the two was rather stupid in it's own right. Minaeta wasn't exactly very tall and her lithe build was small compared to the man named after a damn armored vehicle. Yet, it seemed like the girl was throwing all the threats in the room..
She turned on her heel and stepped to her position, not even bothering to take a stance.
"Let's get this over with."

[Lady Foxy]

Jenna held the mimic-like attempt of a Needle Gun, aiming down her sights before softly pressing her right index finger against the trigger, increasing the pressure in one swift move as she watched the target far out in front. She struck the hologram right on it's neck, glancing down at the small screen resting atop of the railing that made the limits where one should shoot. As her hands toyed a bit with the Needle Gun replica, she glanced over towards Alex while he tried to beat his personal top record. It was normal seeing him trying to improve every aspect he had, it was something rather.. Frequent.

She took a step to the side when Alex was unaware, bumping her hips against his as she gave a soft sigh, rubbing her face softly against his neck. ''You're trying to beat your highest score up to date, again? What'll happen when you reach the limit?'' Jenna asked with a caring smile, looking up into his eyes while affectionately giving him a peck on his chin, giving him some space so he could focus on his training.

[Hazard1325]

Keldras grinned just before the countdown started and glanced over at Richter. "Ready to loose yuh scrawny elf?" He tried distracting him with the playful insult, it would be hard to outshoot an elf but Keldras had a new trick up his sleeve, recently he had a new Nano-Tech installed that would steady his aim. He activated it just as the countdown ended aiming for torso shots. Keldras resisted the urge to double tap each one since this was only a drill. He focused on quantity over quality pegging as many of the targets as possible in the short time. About halfway through he glanced over at his opponents score to see how well he was doing.

[Zender_Solarheart]

<<Derek>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The sim round starts up, and the first 2 holographic enemies pop up into view. Just hitting the target gets you 1 point, and depending on where you struck it, you are awarded bonus points. The points are then put through a complex series of algorithms and more fine-tuned accuracy checks to get the overall percentage, but the point system gives you a simpler way to judge your aiming skill. Be careful of the blue-tinted civilians, however; shooting one of those will deduct points from your total.

You nail the first target straight in the head, and the second one in the chest, totaling at 7 points thus far (2 for hitting both targets + 3 headshot points + 2 chest-shot points = 7). The next 3 targets pop up, but the first to pop up marks a civilian. As if on reflex, you quickly shift to the second target, which is okay to shoot, and nail its chest; it seems that sudden civilian target shook up your aim a little. Thankfully, you snap back on the 3rd target, nailing its head with ease. This brings your total up to 14 points.

Not counting civilian pop-ups, the simulator always uses 12 enemy targets in each test, leaving you with 8 to go. The total possible points you could've scored from those first 4 would've been 16, leaving your present point ratio at 7:8. Whether that ratio improves or declines from here on out will depend on the other targets…

<<Jen>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alex smiles warmly at your displays of affection, then answers your question: “Well, 100% is a mean feat, but if I ever get that far, I guess they can just make a mode specially-programmed for me, eh?” His tone is light-hearted and humorous, knowing that an accuracy of 100% is damn near impossible.

The only one to ever record such an unbelievable score was Leonard Chapel, and he later got demoted, because it turned out he hacked the console for it. Captain Greg Spade - Alex’s older brother, and a remarkable ace pilot – was the one who presented the case-closing evidence. No one really talks about it, but something apparently happened between Greg and Chapel after that, which left the ace Captain with some emotional scarring. Still, that was 4 years ago, when Greg was still a Sergeant, and Alex had yet to even enter service; if it bothers Greg even today, what happened with Chapel must've been really hurtful…

…but that was before your time as well, so there’s no real point in thinking deeply about it. Besides, you have targets to shoot.

<<Cae>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

“Well, it’s a little more specific than just what happened to them.” Jill replies, crossing her legs and clasping her hands together, as if she were a business CEO about to open up a board meeting. “Supposedly, somebody found video footage of the diplomatic ship’s bridge just before they lost contact, and saw something colored hot pink clinging onto the ship’s side. Could be VideoShopped, for all we know…but it could also be legit.” Considering how Dracolite technology is normally colored a dark red, blue, and/or green, it doesn't seem too likely to be theirs…assuming the rumor isn’t just a hoax with video-editing…

<<Whiskers>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Everything you check indeed looks fine; hell, the way the Hogan’s arms move is so fluid, it’s almost life-like. Judging by that little test, they could easily pull off 1-to-1 motions even in an open combat zone. The other Hogans in the hangar perform similarly well, though Serial #9643 seems a tad less responsive on the arms, nothing too major.

While you’re hopping out of the 5th Hogan you’ve checked, Corporal Rick Timmons walks in. Like you, he’s a mechanic, though the only reason he’s at Corporal rank is because he likes serving under the sergeant that he’s stuck with for the past 5 years, aka Sgt. Kirk Grifboll. Apparently, he also is quite the kiss-ass with his favorite sergeant, and a self-proclaimed “nerd of war,” leading to people calling Timmons “Corporal Spock,” in reference to an antiquated science-fiction show.

<<*ahem* Minaeta>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Finally speaking up, Tank has the nerve to taunt you, in his obviously Jamaican accent: “Now now, Minnie. Don’t think I’ll be cuttin’ you any slack just ‘cuz yer a lassy, ‘kay?” Greg can only sigh with annoyance, step back, raise his hand up, and call out: “Begin!”

Tank’s first move is to rush straight up with his right fist held back, and judging by his posture, it seems most likely that he’ll open with a hook at your left side. What’s your response?

<<Keldras>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

As you try to activate your nano-tech, you realize something: that ability was disabled for the shooting contest, as Richter didn’t want you trying to cheat with it. As such, your mental signal to activate it does nothing…and your time spent acknowledging this allows Richter to nail himself 2 headshots, giving him a jump-start advantage of 6 points. You might want to pick up the slack…

<<Jason Argo>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Nevvy listens to your taunting and subsequent wink at the girl…

“Pff…pffffhahahaHA!”

…and suddenly starts laughing like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard. “AHAHA, oh my God! Are you really that stuck-up? That’s so arrogant, it’s actually funny!” You can’t tell if she’s just not taking you seriously, or if she’s really that unafraid of you, because she has yet to take a stance. That considered, she’s leaving herself wide open, and since she wanted to do this without an in-person referee…

<<Dax Sierra>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You can hear Sallie groan with annoyance, though she doesn’t say anything. It seems she’s also trying to remain as composed as possible.

While the two men are chatting, you can also see someone walk over their way: Ryoto Zanshin, one of the best, if not THE best CQC master on the Sleipnir. He’s a man of Japanese descent, where the fist and the sword hold deep roots in history. Very clearly, the two men haven’t heard of him, as the first thing the taller man says to him is: “Yo Zanzy, this is a no-handyman zone. Only gun-toters pass.” Ryoto’s response is a calm one, but still a sick burn on them:

“Why so? Were your faces struck a lot as children? That would explain the mental deficiency.”

The taller one clearly took offense to that, as he rushes Ryoto with an upraised fist…only to be promptly ducked beneath, and flipped over onto his backside. The shorter one then runs in, using his momentum to drive a straight jab…and Ryoto simply dodges to the side, letting the man’s inertia send him tumbling down and accidentally punching his buddy in the face. Security arrives soon enough, and escorts “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum” out of the mess hall, while Ryoto sits down next to you, seemingly unphased by what just happened. “Sorry about that. Some men just don’t seem to learn any way except the hard one.” When he’s not making fools of two…well, fools…Ryoto’s apparently a pretty nice guy.

Ryoto's appearance:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

[Lady Foxy]

Jenna giggled ever so softly while he smiled, crossing her arms below her chest and leaning a bit on her right leg as she glanced towards him. ''Then, Mr. Spade.. If you're so confident about your accuracy skills, why don't you have a little practice match with me?'' She asked in a totally playful but smooth tone before waving the Needle Gun replica back and forth with her right hand, taunting him just a little with a wide smile of her own.

''You're not scared of my shooting skills, are you?'' The smiling Jenna asked as she tilted her head to the side, knowing that it was most likely that he wouldn't decline her challenge, nor the chance of a sweet winning prize. Shortly afterwards, she turned around and softly squeezed the trigger of the Needle Gun replica, seeing the holographic target blink with a red spot on it's chin. Yeah, she should definitely stop teasing Alex into shooting challenges.

[Icaelus]

((Zen, she's called Minaeta :/. Not Minerva.))

"Minnie?"
The only thing that could possibly be colder than her voice right now was probably deep space itself. Old as it was, she did not appreciate being called an outdated cartoon mouse. Or any other name than her own.
She held her stance loosely, readying herself to react to the giant bulldozer of a man that was currently charging towards her. He was so easy to read..a hook to her side? Dodgeable enough..but why not make it interesting?
A cold smile curled her lip as she broke into a run towards the giant, the complete opposite of what you usually did when a hulking monster of a man was charging you. At the very last moment, she dropped low, using the momentum of her sprint to slide through the gap between Tank's legs. Behind him, she immediately sprang to her feet and aimed a hard kick to his family jewels. Wasn't much chance dodging that unless he could teleport or something.

[daxtinator396]

Dax saw the men approached by a man he knew as Ryoto and he knew then that this would not end well for these two who apparently had irked him just as bad as they did for him. And to make matters worse he saw it was irritating his wife as well and he would have stepped in as well had he not known Ryoto had this undercontrol. So instead he left it to him and smiled at him as he sat down next to him," Thanks Ryoto maybe now they'll learn their lesson and not talk about other peoples ladies anymore. And those two never were very smart maybe you knocked some sense into them. So have you heard anything about where we're going?" He asked alittle curious about their destination.

[jayjaycaps]

Jason tensed up. This stupid girl was laughing at him? That bitch! "Oh wow... I don't even know where to start with you. Do you have any idea, any idea who you're takin' to here? Basically? Kind of a big deal." Jason crossed his arms and waited for Nevvy to stop laughing. He noted that he would've attacked now, but decided against it. Perhaps next time, Nevvy wouldn't be so lucky.

"Whatever. You ready to get your ass kicked or what?"

[napsii]

Cae stretched her arms over her head, looking down at her chest.

I should start wearing a bra, shouldn't I? she thought. Her tight-fitting tank tops did a good job of keeping her figure... compressed, but Cae's irresponsible dress code was just about criminal. And the lecherous stares were bordering on eerie by now. She looked back to Jill, having almost dismissed her BFF. One of the android's shortcomings was an excitable attention span. But then, who among them, save for the dorkiest, could stand to listen to Colonel Edge's boring announcements and briefings? She topped off her cupcake with a few big bites, wiping her mouth. The sugar rush from it was really sublime!

"Pink, huh? I would have chosen orange, personally. It's the color of the sun and the same color as that orange drink I bought from the vending machine the other day. You should try it!" she replied brightly. It had been less bought and more charmed, though. Just a wink coaxed a few cold drinks from the machine. Poor thing... but Cae was certain it'd find that special someone one of these days. A mass of pink attacking a warship wasn't the goofiest thing she could think of, and in fact, it was an interesting enough speculation that the android felt it could be real! But you never knew with VideoShop, since it was a real nightmare.

"If you ask me, it was pink space rabbits. They destroyed the Vanagandr, too." she said lightly. The mystery of the Vanagandr had dressed internet headlines for going on two years now. About two years ago, contact was lost with the RTGS warship for 9 days straight until it was found drifting in distant space as a hollow, eaten out shell several lightyears from its AO. Zero survivors, and no conclusive evidence to decide what had destroyed it. Cae's own theory was space rabbits.

"Sooo, anyway, what are you doing later? I'm sorta bored." she questioned Jill, swinging her legs back and forth.

[SugarCookie]

"Wasup!" She says waving to the fellow mechanic, walking over to him "So uh, that one over there, 6934... no wait, 9634, or was it 6943?, Fuck it, that one there is a bit less responsive on the arms, nothing too important but I want to make sure everything is 100%, if we run into trouble a split second could mean life or death. If your not doing anything, could you check it out?"

[Zender_Solarheart]

<Jen>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Alex smirks and chuckles at your challenge, definitely up to it. In a friendly, eager tone, he replies: “Well, if you insist…though, if you’re serious about that, let’s make it on even terms.” He then hands you one of his sim machine pistols, and cues up a competitive match screen. “We each get infinite ammo to shoot with. Headshots worth 5 points, body shots get 3, missing takes away 1 point. Best score after 12 targets wins.” The holographic screen in front of you displays these statistics, along with a diagram to count the 100 total rounds you each have available. Having accepted the match invite, you and Alex both get the countdown to the start…

3…
2…
1…
BEGIN!

The first 3 targets pop up, lined up in an L-type formation: 2 on one side, stacked on top of each other, while the 3rd one is off to one side on the bottom row. You can score up to 5 hits on one target, allowing for a possible total of 75 points from each if you get all headshots here. Aim swiftly, but carefully…

<<Cae>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

“’Space rabbits,’ eh? Well, not the most unlikely case I’ve heard for the Vanagandr…” Jill replies, her tone sounding more playful and joking than anything that’d suggest disbelief. “But yeah, some people think it was a new form of Dracolite tech; I wouldn’t bet on that, though, knowing the situation they’re in. I mean, those folk don’t have any reason to fight us, and even if they did, we’d have ‘em hopelessly out-gunned. My money’s more on some extremist group getting rowdy, but we won’t really know until our guys get searching on the ground, am I right?”

*ahem* “Anyhow, I was thinking of dropping by the arcade later. What can I say? Ever since Jon and I first tried StarCalibur, I’ve been hooked…wanna join me?” It’s not all that hard to believe, knowing Jill and her bro; Jon’s the one who’s more into anime and RPGs, but Jill’s been more the type for multiplayer action and party games. StarCalibur, in particular, is a 1-on-1 arcade fighting game, in a similar vein to genre classics like Tekken. It's pretty simple to learn how to play, but to truly kick ass at the game, it takes a lot of practice.

<<Whiskers>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Timmons replies: “Eh, sure, why not? Sarge’s jeep’s had all its work done, so I’m free for the time being.” He then heads over to Hogan #9643, checking various details on its hydraulics and electrical systems. In truth, the "jeep" that Timmons and his sergeant have is actually a Cobra: a hovercraft LAAV, with a mounted heavy machine gun turret in the back. “By the way, did you ever see that one video online? Y’know, about that pink thing on the ambassadors’ ship? Personally, I think it’s a hoax. If they were looking at it from inside the cockpit, it’d be too dark to see that the thing’s pink. Since Wyrmadon was about 89 hundredths of the way through its yearly orbit around the local star, the majority of light refracted off the surface would be scattered in other directions, and the ship was just not at the right angle to catch enough from the star itself. Not to mention the shading on the object was wrong, and it was way too shiny, and…”

…and there he goes, babbling away. Timmons’ nerdy know-how gets the better of him at times, and once he starts talking about something important, 3 out of 5 times will have him carrying on and on for almost a whole hour. Nobody ever said being a geek was easy…

<<Minaeta>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Tank’s own momentum proves to be his undoing, as your maneuver between his legs works spectacularly, leaving him wide open to your nut-cracker kick. The impact of said kick is no joke, either: an audible “thud” can be heard as your foot meets his happy-sack, causing him to cry out in pain, and nearly face-plant on one of the four pillars that project the safety barrier around the sparring arena. Many of the spectators present can’t help but cringe and grimace at the sight, possibly from thinking of how much that hurt; Vector, on the other hand, rolls his eyes and face-palms, while Greg moves in to call the match’s end.

“Well…I think it’s obvious who won here. Could somebody fetch a medic for Tank?” Greg asks to the spectators, while Vector walks up to check on his buddy. “I told you, man. I told you fighting her was a bad idea. Be glad you still have those balls.” Vector then looks up at you, and says: “Sorry about all that. I tried talking him out of it, but he just wouldn’t listen.” It would seem that Vector is the brains of their little duo, while Tank is the brawn.

<<Jason>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Nevvy finally calms down her laughter, then returns your taunt with one of her own: “I dunno, hot-head…are you?” She then raises her arms into a boxer-like stance, prancing in place side to side with short hops. The stance itself appears pretty open, and easy to get through…but knowing Nevvy’s famous CQC skills, it could just be a trap to lure you in. What’s your move, tough guy?

<<Dax>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Yamato raises an eyebrow quizzically at your question, apparently surprised you’d even ask it. “Didn’t you hear from the briefing? We’re going to be conducting search-and-rescue for a group of ambassadors…though, I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets a bit…hairy down there.” If you paid attention to the briefing, you might be able to infer that by “hairy,” he meant you could be fighting who or whatever caused the ambassadors and scout team to go MIA in the first place…yeah, you might want to start paying attention to those briefings, eh?

<<Meanwhile, on the Sleipnir's bridge...>>

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The commanding officer of the Sleipnir, Colonel Denzo Wa'Shintun, looks over various files pertaining to the mission at hand. He's a Neo-Elf male of 452 years old, about middle-aged by his people's standards. Before working with the Platinum Stilettos, he was a war-counselor for duke Tami Wi'Zough of the Neo-Elf homeworld, Rovendella. As such, he already had a goldmine of strategic experience and emotional temperament, making him ideal for leadership roles. His attention is called away from his documents, however, when one of the bridge's tactical officers calls out:

"Captain, I've got something on visual, about 80 clicks off starboard bow. Looks like a Republic patrol ship."

"Interesting...put it on-screen, please." Denzo replies, which prompts the display screen to show the aforementioned patrol ship. From the current angle of display, the ship's service name is visible: "Vorsight."

"'Vorsight?'" Denzo remarks, being unfamiliar with the name. The tactical officer then chimes in: "Couldn't be, sir. The Vorsight was docked on the Vanagandr at the time it was destroyed." "Can you establish a comms link?" "Negative, sir." "Odd..." Denzo takes a long pause, pondering how to respond to this situation. "Send a pair of escort drones to it. Try to figure out if it's being jammed." "Yes sir."

[daxtinator396]

Dax looks away in embarrassment. In all honesty he hadn't paid much attention to the briefing as he was thinking about his wife and daydreaming once again of fatherhood. He did manage to know that the ship was attacked but not much else and now he knew the rest. He replied to Ryoto," I was alittle distracted..." He purposefully avoided looking at Sallie as she knew why he was distracted. He had confided in her before about it and she seemed unsure but what girl wouldn't? He hoped she wasn't disappointed that he had let it distract him and said after a moment," What happens if it wasn't the Dracolites? They did say that something strange had attacked the ship." He said it quietly not liking that particular train of thoughts.

[napsii]

So weird, though... I mean, what reason do they have to attack us?

Cae pondered the ambassadors' fate as she cracked open an icy can of orange drink. She didn't have any groundbreaking revelations to share, but several memory blades' worth of military tactics had been uploaded to her when she signed onto the ISPC, and none of it agreed with any plausible Dracolite strategy for making war. Besides that, it was common sense to think that they'd gain more from joining the RTGS than they would from fragging a bunch of ambassadors. The android wasn't sure. She took some long gulps from her drink, savoring the taste. She was endlessly pleased with the thought put into her design, even after all these years: the synthetic enamel composing her teeth was so resilient she could drink unlimited amounts of sugar. Organic sugar, too! Not the synthetic stuff that'd been popular on earth for the past thousand or so years.

The android grinned. Cae's personality had always enjoyed victory, but it wasn't until her hardware and programming had been sidegraded by the ISPC to eliminate the flaws built into her that she'd acquired a lust for winning. And video games, especially ones that favored her inhuman motor skills, were an easy way to gratify herself when she was down.

"Ooh, yeah. I love StarCalibur. Plus my online account just got unbanned, too, so I have my achievements and win-loss ratio for it and Call of Lunaris back!" she related. By now, Cae knocked over enough people in a row with inhumanly-quick combos and counters that she had got the banhammer about four times now because people thought she was botting... which she technically was, not being a human. Of course, they always found her not guilty. Taking out the last of her orange drink with a few long sips, she crushed the can -- killing the pretty holographic designs swirling around the shiny labeling -- and tossed it neatly over her shoulder. There was a thwink as it sailed into the waste disposal on the other end of the cafeteria. With that, she flipped adroitly from the bench, looking to Jill while standing akimbo.

"Well, I think we have some time till crazy stuff happens and we have to go on a daring rescue mission, so... want to go now?" she questioned.

[Lady Foxy]

Jenna placed the simulation of a needle gun upon a nearby table, leaving it there before gently accepting one of Alex's machine pistols, getting to know the feel of yet another simulation gun. She listened to his rules, softly crossing her arms below her chest while a holographic screen popped up, letting them see a countdown of the 100 rounds that they have available within their sim pistols. Biting her lower lip just softly, she felt slightly nervous as she knew that she wasn't that good with automatic pistols, not unless she decided to use them how she liked to.

However, the countdown for their match had been triggered already, starting with a short countdown of just three seconds.

Begin!

Three targets popped up soon afterwards, two stacked on top of one another as if the second one were in the 'second' floor and thus the first one of the first floor. The third one however, had appeared next to them and completing an L-type formation. She held the sim machine pistol tightly with both of her hands, taking a more appropriate stance before beginning to let herself feel that sensation of being in combat. Aiming the sim pistol towards the upper target first, she squeezed the trigger but let go as she felt the gun's recoil kicking in, having chosen earlier to aim for the head before going over to the next target soon after she had wasted five shots in the virtual target her choice. ''You wouldn't feel embarrassed if I beat you, right Alex?'' Jenna had said softly in her smooth and feminine, joyful tone as she smiled widely, aiming down the sights of the sim pistol and squeezing the trigger for a brief second after letting the shots land onto the virtual targets, trying to shoot two-bullets per squeeze even though she avoided squeezing it in the end to avoid shooting six bullets in total towards the target's heads.