Escape Trajectory: Makkuro — IC

[FinalTemplar]

As the van leaves, Creed turns to look at the others. He carefully brandishes his new rifle to get a feel for it in his hands. "Honestly I... sort of l-like this." He said with a smile. "The pistol was nice, but this just f-feels g-good."

[Fialova]

Tess gives Amber a polite wave while returning her smile, before continuing to ready her new equipment. She loads up the mag pistol with a magazine and loads a second to keep at her hip with her spare laser pistol cell. Then, before making sure the safety is on, she gives her new mag pistol a twirl and holds it up to get a feel for the weight.

"Yes, I am very pleased with these," she responds to Creed, before holstering the new gun in her jacket opposite the other. "Especially this one," she says, before lifting the heavy sniper rifle off the ground. She contemplates keeping it loaded as well, but ultimately decides it wouldn't be the best course of action. She sets it back down, before turning to face Hikaru.

"I can't believe you didn't get anything," she says, shaking her head at the man. "Guess I'll just have to make sure you're never alone," she adds playfully, giving him one of her signature smirks.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Yeah, just watch where you're waving that thing," Hikaru says, watching Creed uneasily. Gonna have to make sure his safety is always on.

Turning to Tess, he shrugs and smirks. "Good excuse for you to not leave my side, yeah? And like I said, I'd end up shooting an eye out. Do you know how many one-eyed people have been on the cover of a teen magazine?" He stops and thinks for a moment. "Okay, actually, there was the lead of that metal band Cyclopz, but that was one time!"

[ratwizard]

"Wait til we get inside before waving these pieces around, yeah?" Cass says, his eyebrows raised, beginning the lead the way back to the safety of the office should the others follow. He holds the laser rifle in his arms as he walks, pressing the butt into his shoulder. Damn, feels good. Never owned anything other than a pistol, but I sure like where this is going.

"Wait, so tell me the part about how you know your way around a sniper rifle?" he asks Tess, completely at a loss. "Was trying not to cause a scene back there, but damn. Just thought you were another customer back before this. I think I missed something."

[Fialova]

"I think I slept with that guy once," Tess says, at the mention of the metal singer. "Long silky brown hair tied back, right? He was so awkward," she adds with a chuckle. "Who'd have thought, someone like that could be so nervous around women?"

At the mention of her new, shiny toy, she turns her attention to Cass and gives him a sly grin. "You know, I've never actually shot one," she says to the man, giving him a light-hearted shrug while carrying the large weapon back to the office. "But I've always wanted to. It would have certainly made work a lot easier if they'd given me one of these and not just that dinky laser pistol." She pauses a moment, the thought of her employers - old employers? - causing her mood to sour slightly.

"I guess maybe they thought if they gave me anything too strong I might actually be a threat to them," she continues. It would certainly be a nice bargaining chip to have when 'renegotiating.'

[ratwizard]

Cass doesn't respond for a long moment, mulling Tess' words over in his mind. They? I thought she was just an escort. Who's they? Who is this girl? The questions bubble over, and he takes a deep breath before asking any.

"Look, I don't want to pry, and I have my own shit going on, but... what exactly do you do? As in, before being forced into working for the mob. I don't get it. I thought I got it, but I clearly don't."

[Fialova]

Tess watches as the concern and confusion takes over Cass facial expressions, and waits patiently for him to ask the inevitable question. Well, we are all in this now, so I guess there is no harm in telling, she thinks, as she continues to await it. They might be a threat later to deal with if I don't check back in, best they all at least know ahead of time.

When Cass does finally ask, she can't help but to laugh at the question, knowing as she does the absurd answer. After she finishes, she wipes a tear from her eyes, saying, "sorry, I don't mean to laugh at your question, it's just- well, before I was 'forced to work for the mob' I was... also forced to work for the mob. A different mob. One back on Strocho," she says, her tone and facial expression becoming a bit more serious and somber as the words leave her lips. "Now before that I was a courtesan, and on the books I still am, but sometimes they make me, uh... put my clients to sleep in more ways than one, let's say."

[Scratcherclaw]

"Awkward with everyone. You should've seen him at the award shows," Hikaru replies, chuckling lightly. "Those buildings are colder as fuck and he sweats bullets. He has to change outfits at least three times or he's completely drenched."

He raises an eyebrow as Tess and Cass speak, having paid little mind to her comments on the rifle til now. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," the pop star says, putting his hands up as his friend comes clean. "You mean to tell me you're even cooler than I thought? What the fuck? You're like... straight out of an action movie!" He shakes his head and smirks. "You owe me a story, you know."

[ratwizard]

"Ah," Cass manages, a bit surprised in the candid nature of Tess' response. Didn't think she'd answer that one. 'Bet you'd want to know, playboy?' and a wink is what I would have placed cred on.

"Right. That makes more sense," he says. "Thanks for the breakdown." Cass frowns, still considering the implications of that. "You... do you think there's gonna be any beef between them? Bao, and whoever it was before, from back on Strocho? These things don't really seem to work out amicably for both parties."

He smiles at Hikaru's words, one that doesn't reach his eyes. "And yeah. Sounds like you do owe him a story."

[Fialova]

"I don't know if sleeping with sleazy rich men who just drank poisoned wine is what I'd call 'out of an action movie', but I suppose it is more interesting than some lines of work," she says with a shrug, trying to hide her disdain for the Harlequins and the strain her position has taken on her sobriety.

"It's not something I ever wanted," she says, after a moment more. "But that's the point of blackmail, isn't it? The blackmailed person doesn't really get much say in their fate."

Turning to Cass, she adds, "if we manage to get ourselves a ship then we should be fine. They don't have a navy that I know of, and if they do have one they do a good job of hiding it. It might be an issue if I land on Strocho without a fake ID, but then that's what this little one is for," she says, holding up her new rifle, with a smile that is clearly more forced this time.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Oh..." Hikaru mumbles, frowning as he listens to Tess talk about what landed her in such an undesirable situation. "I guess that's not as cool then, but hey, you're out now," he offers with a weak smile.

As the discussion turns towards what they'd do upon a return to Strocho, the singer smirks. "Or what this one is for." He points to himself, flashing a photogenic smile and pose. "Strocho's top talent can make sure you're safe. The agency's good at this kind of stuff." Gotta be with some of my fans...

[Fialova]

Her more dour mood is quickly replaced with joy again, as her friend lightens the air with his showmanship. She chuckles at his pose, and sighs. "Sorry to be a downer there for a moment. But yeah, that's my life. Or I guess, it was til quite recently."

As they reach the office she takes the rifle and leans it up at the corner of the wall and the locker she'd claimed, before stepping over to the couch once more and propping her feet up on the table. "That life was more glamourous - and the accommodations much nicer - but you guys make better company," she says, giving them a genuine smile this time.

[ratwizard]

Cass slides the laser rifle under his cot and on top of his hoodie. He makes his bed and sits on top against the pillow, hands behind his head against the wall, fingers interlaced. "Yeah," he says half-heartedly in response to Tess, staring toward the bathroom.

His reflection shines back at him from the mirror within, and he locks eyes with himself. Scruffy. Need a trim. Need a lot of fucking things. Shaking his head with a sigh, Cass finally looks away, scanning over his companions as they get themselves comfortable too. Other than Creed, he's only known them for a single day but he feels already dependent on them somehow. Great, I lose the drug dependency and gain a new one. And what about my past? Am I endangering them too with half the League-full of pedo fucknuts after me for blowing the whistle on their op? How the fuck do I even bring something like that up?

He grimaces, uncomfortable with the dilemma. It'd be a lot easier to put them at risk if I didn't like them.

[FinalTemplar]

Creed nodded and stayed quiet for a while, longing for the privacy of the backroom again. He waited until they were all situated before speaking up again; "Strocho, huh? That sounds like a pretty bad time. I uh, I'm sorry to hear it." He said, taking his time with his words to try and get them out clearly. "Hopefully we can get a ship soon... I've been aching to get back in the pilot's seat for a while. Before this, Flight School was my only chance to get away from my m... my mother, and unfortunately, she's the reason I dropped out, too." He laughed uncomfortably.

[ratwizard]

Creed's words offer Cass an easy distraction from his self-loathing. "Flight school, yeah? Nice. But something tells me those pencil-necks didn't teach you how to move a gravcar like you did today." He smiles, remembering how the man hotwired their way to a smooth escape. "I think a ship's in our sights, one way or another. Just gotta figure out how.

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru almost immediately plops down on the couch with an audible sigh as they return to the office. Way less satisfying than the one at home. "I can relate. Life's a lot less glamourous here, but at least there's no paparazzi or divas." He sighs again, stretching and letting out a yawn. He smirks, saying, "I'll just go solo and get us some sweet accommodations, yeah?"

He pulls at a clump of his bangs, closely examining his signature locks. Hm. This dye's not gonna last much longer. Fuck, where am I gonna find Cosmic Coral dye in a backwater like this? He sighs, Tess and Creed's words about their lives echoing in his head. And I've gotta just pretend everything's perfect for me. Not like anyone would take a pop star's struggles seriously.

Trying to ignore his thoughts, he listens to Cass. "Well we've got a few routes there anyways. Getting a loan, buying a piece of crap, or somehow, somehow swiping one."

[FinalTemplar]

Creed nods at Cass, before thinking back to his earlier exploits with the gravcar. "Yeah... yeah, maybe..." He trails off. "H-hey, I might know where to uh... find a ship." He says, "If you watch my back, maybe the two of us c-can snag something n-nice and pick up Tess and Hikaru somewhere safe. Tess can k-keep pretty boy here s-s-s-safe." He gulps back the stutter but tries to give a smile.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Piloting+Int = 7(3d6.takehighest(2)) +1 = 8

[Namelessjake]

Eridas

[SHOW]

As is common knowledge among Idarete residents, most of the planet's ship traffic arrives and departs from the Idarete Platform, the large spaceport complex which orbits at the top of the space elevator in the centre of the city. Before the Diktat moved in, this was mostly Civillian Liners and Bulk Freighters, as well as the Idarete Government's limited navy. While you haven't been there since the occupation began, you assume it's now mostly being used by the Diktat Navy to bring in supplies for the occupation and to maintain their fleet in orbit.

Less well known, but familiar to you in your profession as a smuggler, are the handful of smaller spaceports which lie on the outskirts of the city. They are built above the surface on the ice and served mostly as landing pads for Shuttles and Free Merchants capable of atmospheric flight. While most of the cargo moved through these ports is done so legitimately, these ports are significantly easier to smuggle in and out of than the Platform.

As a smuggler you are familiar with Idarete's Navy, little more than a small fleet of patrol boats and one or two Frigates - you've had to dodge their patrols more than once. You heard they surrendered rather than fight against the overwhelming odds, but you don't know what happened to the ships.

[Fialova]

Tess notes Cass ambivalent reaction, but doesn't think too much of it. He asked. As the conversation turns towards a ship, she listens to Hikaru before saying, "at this point I'd rather just steal one. Getting a bank involved when the League clearly has it out for us is risky, and we don't have enough credits to buy the biggest piece of junk out there without one."

[ratwizard]

"Steal or salvage," Cass says. "I've welded junkers before. They're not pretty, but as long as the wiring, hull, reactor, and the climate's running, that's about all you need. I can do most of that myself if we need."

[Fialova]

"I've never stolen something that big, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't sound exhilarating," Tess says, as Cass mentions his skills. "If we can get a good ship without further risk of prison time, though, I'd also be fine with that," she adds with a chuckle.

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru lets out an exaggerated sigh. "Fixing something like that sounds like a lot of work." He shakes his head. "Plus it'd be missing all the vital amenities! Whirlpool tub, massage chairs, sushi bar. Can people really travel without all that?" Aren't those all standard installations? Except the sushi bar maybe. Not everyone likes sushi, after all.

[ratwizard]

"Prison does blow," Cass responds, nodding wearily. "I think we can all agree on that."

At Hikaru's question, he stares at him blankly. "Guess you're gonna have to find out, unless NTER5TELLAR is comping our tub." He pauses, thinking about that. "Wait, is that an option?"

[Scratcherclaw]

"I wish," the pop star mutters with an eyeroll. "They barely gave me enough for a hotel on this backwater. Not even five stars. It was only four stars! And no executive suite either! Like, what the hell?" Hikaru shakes his head, an annoyed expression on his face. "They've been tight on their pocketbooks even since Kaze got sent to rehab. Guess they think they need it to stay afloat."

[Fialova]

"That's is true," Tess says, as Hikaru mentions the lack of amenities a scavenged ship would have. "I'd also be happy if we could obtain an actually nice ship, and not just a pile of junk that barely flies." She thinks for a moment, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of stealing vs salvaging.

"I'd only want to do it if everyone was fine with it, but I'd steal one if it meant we had a decent ship. A nicer ship means nicer defenses too, and those are going to be important if the League really is out to get us."

[Namelessjake]

With it starting to get late, you decide to settle down for the night. After more than one night in a holding cell, the rickety cots feel like luxury four poster beds - for Creed on the floor under the desk, there is little difference. A forgotten compad alarm wakes you all earlier than you would have otherwise naturally, but you still wake feeling rested after the previous day's hectic events. You do wake up feeling hungry though, the last time you ate was Fallafella's.

Mechanics

[SHOW]

Cass and Creed heal up to full HP

[FinalTemplar]

Creed wakes up groggily, he slowly sits up and looks around. "Wh-wh-wh-who's compad is that?" He asked shakily. "C-can you shut it off?"

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru groans as he's forced awake by the blaring alarm, checking his compad to see if it's his. He sighs in relief, seeing that it's not. He glances at the screen and grimaces. Fuck, fifty new emails? He scrolls through. Spam, spam, spam, quarterly investors' report, spam, someone logging into my Starflix account? He eyes it suspiciously before noticing a text from Kenzo reading, "Using your account for the gravball game, hope u don't mind!" He smirks and shakes his head.

He rolls off the cot and stretches. "God, do you think there's any food around here? Don't think we can expect a brunch buffet, or room service," he says, clutching his growling stomach. "I doubt Bao wants us having food delivered out here either."

[ratwizard]

"I don't know," Cass croaks, his throat dry after sleeping like a rock. "Not mine." He pulls the covers over his head. "Turn it off," he whines.

His belly rumbles at Hikaru's comment, remembering that their last meal was midday at the shawarma joint. "Fuck, good question... I'm starved." He finally climbs out of bed, peering out the windows of the office at the warehouse below. "I wonder if there's any grub around here. Maybe there's a vending machine that could use a good pay-net override."

[Fialova]

After a longer-than-appropriate amount of time passes of the compad alarm going off, Tess finally groggily awakens. It takes her a moment still to grab the device and fumble clumsily with it to turn it off, before she covers her head once more with the covers. It is moments later, when it goes off a second time, that she finally sits up on the cot. She yawns and stretches, before once more fumbling with the compad to stop the alarm. She then finally looks up, rubbing her eyes as she does so, and notices the annoyance on her companions faces.

"Oh," she says quietly, and a little raspily. "Sorry," she continues as she proceeds to yawn once more. She listens half-heartedly as the others talk, taking awhile to fully wake up. Instead she just lays flat on her cot, facing the ceiling. Mornings are the worst.

[FinalTemplar]

Creed just sort of takes a moment after the alarm ends. "There... it's finally over."

[ratwizard]

"Lot of shit to do, so let's make a plan," Cass says, turning to face the others. "First off, I think it's safe to say we're fucking hungry. At least Glitter and me. So let's get food. Then, we'll get to work on ship options. If we're really looking to swipe one, we should make sure we've got everything we need from Idarete before we do cos we're not coming back anytime soon after."

He takes a deep breath, running the inventory for himself. Hm, I should hit my old pad before we go. Most of it can stay, but I wanna scuttle any leads and trash whatever is necessary.

"Oh," he says, as his own alarm sounds and he immediately dismisses it on his compad. He slides out a glossy, neon tablet from a small tube in his pocket, dry-swallowing it and counting its remaining friends. Six? That's it? Well, that's not a fun way to die on a tub.

"I'm, uh... I've got another thing I gotta do today as well."

[Fialova]

"Well look at you, mister responsible," Tess says playfully to Cass, as she begins to wake up more. That is a lot to wake up to. I haven't even gotten dressed yet and they're already talking about all of our daily plans. Morning people are crazy.

She slowly eases out of the bed and puts on her boots and jacket, before tying her hair up. She grabs both of her guns and goes to place them both on her hip, but Amber's words about Diktat crackdowns ring in her ear. Despite her excitement for it, she places her new pistol in her bag along with its loaded magazine. I can always take it back out later.

"I could definitely go for some food, though," she says, pulling up her compad to view a map of the area. "Let's see what sort of stuff is nearby. We should avoid taking a cab if we can, the last thing we need is our faces on video for the League spooks to track."

[FinalTemplar]

"I'd like to eat, too." Creed said softly. "Maybe we could go back to Fallafellas." He offered.

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru shakes his head at Creed's suggestion. "What part of laying low didn't you get? We can't just go into the middle of town." He rubs his forehead in annoyance, both at the man and their highly-restricted situation. "Besides, I doubt a place like that serves breakfast."

His stomach growls again and he eyes the small refrigerator, curious what it might hold within. He approaches it and opens it, checking the contents. Let's see what Bao left for us...

[Namelessjake]

Hikaru

[SHOW]

Opening the refrigerator you find it mostly empty save for a couple of bottles of beer, an unlabelled jar of some mystery substance, and a takeout box of some half eaten sushi.

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru sighs, looking at the sushi almost longingly before shaking his head and slamming the fridge shut. "Well, looks like the fridge isn't an option, unless you want beer, old sushi, and a mystery jar for breakfast."

[Namelessjake]

Tess

[SHOW]

Pulling up a map, you see little in the way of restaurants with it being an industrial area. You do however find a relatively new street food market which has set up shop in an old warehouse about a 5 minute drive from your location.

[Fialova]

"Well nothing in walking distance," Tess says, holding up her compad to show anyone nearby. "But there is this neat looking food market in a warehouse we could go to. Seems like the sort of place that would have pretty unique options."

[ratwizard]

"Works for me," Cass says, his belly growling. "Anything's better than fridge sushi."

Leaving his rifle under the bed, he slips his laser pistol into a holster on the hip of his jumpsuit. "We can take the gravcar, but we shouldn't be using it any more than we need to. Nobody's going to be looking for it soon, though."

[Scratcherclaw]

Hikaru beams at the thought of a wide variety of food available to him, wondering what he may end up craving. "Let's do it. But let's also not draw too much attention to ourselves, yeah?" I'd rather not get kidnapped, or worse, while I'm trying to stuff my face in peace.

"Let's head out then," he says, putting on his hoodie and trying his best to suppress his stomach's volume.

[Fialova]

"It's probably best we park a ways away and walk in separately," Tess says, adding to Hikaru's suggestion about not drawing too much attention. "If we go in as a group we will stand out." Though two of us will probably stand out no matter what we do. I really should have packed more inconspicuous clothing.

[FinalTemplar]

Creed nods and shrugs, taking Cass' idea to ditch the rifle here in his sleeping spot.

[Scratcherclaw]

"Makes sense. We can always regroup inside if things seem safe enough," the pop star says, tapping his hoodie's color module to set it to a more subdued hue, a deep indigo. He takes off his glasses and neatly places them under his pillow, knowing how recognizable they can be. It works on teens, he justifies with himself. Then again, teens are fucking morons.

He pulls out his compad, using his front-facing camera as a mirror to adjust his hair. He flashes and smile to himself and nods. "Ready whenever."

[ratwizard]

Cass buckles his boots, taking a quick glance over the room anxiously, wondering if he is forgetting anything. No, guess not. Looks good.

"Yeah, same. Let's go get some grub." He claps Eridas lightly on the shoulder, nodding to him. "You sleep alright, beratna? Good to drive?"

[FinalTemplar]

Creed looks up from his stupor. "Huh? Oh, yeah." He smiled. "I'm good to drive."

[ratwizard]

"Or we can just walk," Cass reasons. "Sounds like it might only take us an hour there and back, but I think it's safer to blend in on foot than to joyride that gravcar in a non-emergency."

[Fialova]

"I figured you would be too hungry to want to walk that far," Tess says with a shrug. "I am happy to walk, though. It will be nice to be able to walk through the town without a crazy job to do, just taking in the sights. As mundane as they may be," she continues with a small smile. She heads towards the door and opens it, saying, "let's go!"

[Namelessjake]

Deciding to walk, you head out of the warehouse and set off it the direction of the street market. Foot traffic is fairly light, but not rare enough for you to stick out. The walks passes uneventfully and as you near the market to start to notice and increase in Gravcars parked on the street.

You find the warehouse easily, thanks to a large neon sign out the front reading 'Eazy Street' which has a queue of teenagers in front of it waiting turns to take photos with it. The warehouse's door is fully open revealing the inside which is lined with various food stalls with a seating area in the middle.

It is moderately busy inside, but you notice a couple of closed stalls and plenty of empty tables in the middle - presumably breakfast isn't its busiest time.

[ratwizard]

As they near the market, Cass carefully positions himself between the teenagers and Hikaru while they pass by. Don't want them to make the B-boy. Running from paparazzi on an empty stomach sounds like a bust.

"Alright, what we got?" he says quietly, surveying the stalls that are open.