NationStates Jolt Archive

Larenz sat at the bar solemnly, staring at the news screen above the bar while tapping his fingers on the counter. He emptied his scotch on the rocks and tapped his glass, indicating a refill to the bartender. The bartender looked at him hesitantly for a moment before leaning over to grab a bottle of scotch from under the bar.

"You sure you haven't had enough to drink?" asked the bartender. "This space station's all out of rooms and I don't think anyone's gonna want some drunk stranger staying with them."

"I don't get drunk..." muttered Larenz. The bartender rose an eyebrow and Larenz just put the money for a refill on the bar. The bartender sighed and refilled the glass.

"Rough day?" he asked as he put the bottle of scotch under the counter.

"You can say that," answered Larenz. A memory flashed through his mind, gunfire, a scream, shouted curses and an explosion... The Druid just sipped his drink. The bartender shrugged and went along with his business.

Larenz let his arm hang by his side, resting on the pistol at his hip. He did look like something you didn't want to stay nearby. His dark green jacket was torn in some places, while his black cargo pants were torn at the right knee and looked as if claws slashed at his thigh. Larenz was lightly armed at the moment, carrying only a pair of pistols.

Can't believe they're gone... He thought as he sipped down more of his drink. Almost every one of them, dead...Why did I live? How come only I got here?!

He slammed a fist into the table. A few customers looked up but quickly went back to whatever it was they were doing.

But Larenz just sipped his drink and took a deep breath…

ooc: What tech level?

((OOC: Future tech, if that's a bit vague...well, it is an open RP))

The Druid glanced up from his drink to the news screen above the bar, resting his glass on the surface of the bar. He moved strand of his black hair out of his eye as he looked up at the screen.

"And in other news, a mysterious space station was discovered floating nearby Quadrant 4 at Polaris. The station was empty of all life, and the only signs of previous life were the bodies left over from what appeared to be a bloody fight. 'Blood splattered walls and floors, slashed bodies, hot weapons, showing recent firing, empty cartridges, and mixed species were among the dead, though most were human... ' said one Military officer recounting his boarding of the station. It is still unclear what had happened, and who was involved. It is believed all that were originally aboard the station were slain. None of the dead have been identified yet. More on this as more details arise. Now to-"

"It was a ship," Larenz muttered. "And a few of us got away..." He gulped down more of his drink looked away from the news screen.

A youngish looking, thought quite beautiful, woman who moved with an almost preternatural grace and ease arrived at the bar, sat down on a stool near Larenz and ordered a drink. She looked at the tv screen and commented, "I wonder what happened there."

ooc: pic, thought you have to copy/paste to get the link to work right.
http://raph.com/3dartists/artgallery/6327.jpg

"It started as a raid..." Larenz said quietly a moment after the woman near him spoke. He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "A simple raid, standard procedure. Paid to move in, put an end to this labratory on the ship, take the data, kill the guards, move out. Only, heh, things went...wrong-"

Larenz stopped abruptly, realizing what he was talking about. He shoved his glass of scotch a bit farther away from himself and glanced over his shoulder. God, feels like a cop is over my shoulder all the time now...

OCC: Need a good char RP before I launch my next phase in my little plan.
IC:
The AE had for some time now been slowly pressed against a wall by the PSN. Money was running low and so were the personel as each loss in the war resulted in hundreds dead or to wounded to be of any use. Bounty hunters were a plauge for them as top ranking offcers were commonly shot in what was thought to be friendly territory. Though several agents had had far better luck in avoiding Phalanix forces and not getting cought in the crosshairs of the bounty hunters.
Petty Officer 1st class Jenny Lancer sighed quietly as she sat on the bar stool, her whisky infront of her. Her latest partner had taken a rifle round through the sternum and ended up dead on the way back to base, only as her luck had it the base was utterly obliterated. So doing the next best thing she salavged a few suits of powered armor and several equipment crates and plotted a jump to the nearest neutral station to think out her next move.
"I doubt this could get any worse," she muttered as she sipped her drink looking over the rest of the patrons in the bar.

Kara gave a half-smile and said "That must have been terrible. Oh and by the way, my name is Kara, what's your's?" She asked while thinking "I wonder what went wrong for him to be so jittery."

"The name's Larenz," said the Druid. He grabbed his drink again and emptied his glass. He shook his head when the bartender offered to refill his glass. He sat up straighter, realizing how terrible he must look, slouching over a bar in his torn clothing. "Must look like hell at the moment," he said. Who wouldn't after that little mess...

Larenz glanced over his shoulder back to the entrance to the bar. Wonder how long til I gotta get moving again...

"It's nice to meet you, though I've seen worse. You are jittery though, care to explain?" Kara asked as she took a sip of her drink.

Jenny listened into the the pair conversing almsot beside her and shook her head before muttering under her breath, "You ain't seen jittery till you return to your port only to find it decimated after a complete failure of a mission." Only a second after saying it her eyes widened and she thought to herself Shit if my luck holds she's a bounty hunter and I'm on the list.
Silently her hand sliped down to her twin hip holsters on her left thigh and she felt the relative safety of the .30cal pistol grip against her sweety palm.

"I need a martini," Larenz said to the bartender, who nodded and went to making the drink. The bartender rested a glass in front of the Druid and moved on to other patrons.

"It's nice to meet you, though I've seen worse. You are jittery though, care to explain?"

"That ship, it had that labratory... Something big was going down," said Larenz. "When we got into the lab, we thought we were nearly finished, but then these things, some aliens I don't think anyone in my group had seen before, just seemed to appear in thin air. It took a full mag to take down one..." He paused, remembering what had happened. "Before that though, we found an ID on a man there. A strange name, couldn't pronounce it, but his ID had a familiar marking, something a 'higher up' politician would have. Our job was to take out the lab, take out guards, get a scientist, and get the data." He shook his head smiled grimly. "The lab apparently disappeared from the ship, the scientists are gone, those.... aliens are gone, and my comrades, their bodies litter the halls of the ship. Only thing that went right was the data I was able to get."

Larenz glanced to his other side when he thought heard someone speaking. He quickly looked back to his martini and took a sip. Shit, an Officer...

Jenny listened carefuly, her augmentations had permited her to listen for a good while now, and judged the male carefuly. He didn't seem like a bounty hunter yet he seemed like a merc. Her rather casual clothes help hide her rank insigna and but she still had the clasic officer traits (even though she seemed more like a NCO than a officer).
She slowly slipped the pistol out of it's holster and sat it down on her lap not letting anyone see the sleak .30. She was parranoid and the fact that she had accidently spoke of her fialed mission, gave away with a facial expresion that she did something wrong, and was now holding a pistol that only the most trained eyes could see (or someone basicly looking down her shirt). This realy wasn't her day.

"Do you have any pictures or any details on these aliens?" Kara asked as she glanced at the new girl. She smiled, revealing a rather longer than average canine tooth.

ooc: an no she's not a vamp.

Larenz nodded. "No pictures, but the first one I killed... He, she, it, whatever it was must've been over seven feet tall, and was built pretty big. Some of them used guns, the others, used these claws, sharp enough to slice one of the guys clear in half. They were dark in color, some a dark brownish-green, others an almost black dark red. Other than that, I don't anything about them. Might be something this, though."

Larenz reached under his jacket and pulled out an envelope. He dumped its contents, a small data chip, into his palm. "Haven't checked what's on there yet, but it better be something good, a lot of good men and women died on that ship..." He closed his hand over the chip. "It better have been worth it."

"Mind?" She asked as she pulled out a gizmet and held the chip just beside a slot, waiting for his go-ahead to slide it in. She thought "They sound like what I'm looking for, hope this chip has the right beasties."

"Could't possibly amount to the loss of a starbase," Jenny said this time not muttering, the whisky had finaly begun effecting her judgement. Not that it mattered realy, this sector was officaly a lost cause and well as her luck would probably have it she was listed as MIA, had some memorial service held for her and forgotten about. She sighed loudly and quickly in a single movment had her pistol holstered once more before most natural people could see it happen. She then turned to face the two.

"No, I'll hold onto the chip for now, from what I understand, it contains more than just information on some aliens..." Larenz said, taking the chip back. He eyed it a moment before slipping it into a pocket under his jacket.

"Could't possibly amount to the loss of a starbase."

"Probaly not," said Larenz. "But the loss of a few good friends who you have fought with side by side for the last six years cuts pretty deep." He shook his head. "I didn't even know the names of most the others, Mahora Rising was good at keeping secrets. I wasn't a high enough rank to know more than my squad..." He drank more of his martini. "For all I know I'm the only one who made it out alive, and I'm beginning to hope so... Some of the shit I saw in that lab, it'd be better to die than to be captured."

"Ahhh...So tired" moaned a tall disheveled man, as he walked into the lounge. He was carrying a large metallic briefcase that appeared to have been tossed about in a battlefield.

The man's name was Dr. Nathan Aida. His disorganized and messy exterior completely shrouded the fact that he was one of the most renowned scientists on the subject of extraterrestrial lifeforms. Aliens in general. Sent on the very first colonization project in the area several years ago, right after receiving his doctorate at an extremely young age, he had seen his fair share of strange "things" that any regular person would see in several lifetimes. In his late twenties, his hair was beginning to gray from the stress of his work and a thin beard and mustache had started to regrow. Nathan sighed as he staggered towards the lounge's bar, almost limping from his previous assignment.

He walked toward Kara and sat down. His eyes were glazed over as he looked around the lounge, many of the occupants had returned to their drinks and continued on their monotonous lives. As his gaze glanced over to Kara and the data she was showing to some complete stranger, his sense quickly perked up.

"Kara! You don't go showing the research data to strangers!" he exclaimed, spilling the glass of water the bartender just placed down in front of him. "Ah...Sorry 'bout that. Bartender!" He raised his hand to get the man's attention and pointed to the spilled water.

"Alright." Kara said as she relinquished the chip, a faint trace of annoyance tinged with dissapointment on her face.

"Oh, hi Nate, what up?" Kara asked, face shifting back into a happier expression.

"True but then again losing people you've served with always hits hard even more when you are on the losing side of almost everything these days," she said as she finished her whisky. The memories of the chared corpses and crystalized blood didn't play back that well. Fortunatly for her the memories were interupted by a young man making a small commotion.

"You can review the chip later if you want," said Larenz, noticing Kara's look of disappointment. "This just doesn't seem the place."

"True but then again losing people you've served with always hits hard even more when you are on the losing side of almost everything these days"

"I hear ya," said Larenz. "A year back we ran into a streak of bad luck, lost twelve good fighters and two failed missions. We recovered, but this latest...event, we're finished. The old Mahora Rising is finished..." He sipped more of his martini.

A sudden stream of water ran down the bar and onto his arm, sending a sudden sting through a cut in is forearm. He flinched, drawing his arm back. "Damn, forgot about that one," he muttered, reaching into a pants pocket and pulling out a strip of white cloth. He lifted up his jacket sleeve and wrapped the cloth around the cut before letting his sleeve drop back down.

"Thank you." As he was bandaging the cut she was gazing at it intently, "So you are/were a mercenary? What about you and what's your name by the way?" The second question was directed to the other woman as she rested a hand on her thight at almost the same place as Jenny's hip holster.

"I know waht you mean by finished," she replied as she thought back to the begining of the little rebellion that had sparked a war. "The war I'm involved in is probably going to end before I see any more duty. At the rate we are losing ships, agents, and commanding officers I wouldn't be surprised if the brass finaly surendered. Hell I wouldn't be to surprised if I didn't make it off this station. Damn bounty hunters looking to get paid...."
Jenny hadn't noticed she had been talked to by he other woman for a second before it registered and she quickly responded, "It's Jenny and I'm with...screw it. I'm a Petty Officer first class in the Advanced Elite Core. Probably gona get shot for saying that." She muttered the last part.

"Alright." Kara said as she relinquished the chip, a faint trace of annoyance tinged with dissapointment on her face.

"Oh, hi Nate, what up?" Kara asked, face shifting back into a happier expression.

"Ahhh...Nothing much." Nathan reached out for the gizmet. "And no sharing the little toys." Nathan looked at the odd group, his assistant, and two soldier figures, a man and a woman. "So, what's this little party talking about, Kara?"

He motioned toward the bartender. "Hey, can I have a round of white russians for the group here...Except the girl there," pointing at Kara, "she's still underage, haha."

Placing the battered briefcase on the floor, he turned to face Kara and her new friend. "So, you're interested in these Type-980s lifeforms, hmmm?"

The bartender placed one of the cocktails in front of Nathan, who then swiftly picked it up and placed it to his lips. "Kind of cheesy drink, heard about it a while back."

"Just some history." Kara replied as she stuck her tounge out at Nate, and finished her drink.

"It's Jenny and I'm with...screw it. I'm a Petty Officer first class in the Advanced Elite Core. Probably gona get shot for saying that."

Larenz laughed half heartedly. "We're both in a spot then. I'm on the run from three governments now. Originally one from a job my squad did a couple years back, and now two more, both we're involved somehow at that ship. Now I'm just trying to find any other survivors that made it from the ship... To answer your question though Kara, I was part of the organization Mahora Rising. We had a big name in some parts of the galaxy, we we're picky about our clients. Usually aided rebellions, activist organizations, that sort of thing. Some jobs more noble than others," added Larenz, remembering a mission where he had taken out a luxury ship holding a pair of dictators and their families. "Shouldn't have mentioned all that, but since we're being bold and reckless with our backgrounds, eh." He gave a half smile to Jenny.

"So, you're interested in these Type-980s lifeforms, hmmm?"

Larenz nodded. "If those are what the scum that killed my comrades are called, then yeah, you could say I'm interested..."

Nathan laughed. "Geez..." he slid his drink over to Kara. "There!"

Nathan folded his arms on the table and leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. He reached out one hand for one of the bottles in front of him and moved it rolled the narrow end between the tips of his fingers. "So...What kind of history? Something to do with these recent events?" He pointed with his free finger to the screen that was showing news on the recent discovery of an abandoned space vessel.

Shloren listened to the entire conversation, unbeknownst to anyone at the bar. She was in invisible mode and completely undetectable. The man who attacked us. Thought the 980. I need that chip.

She quickly went to the ladies room and changed into a human form... That of an amazingly beautiful woman, (she had to get these people's attention), stood about 5'7" but much higher with her high heels. She wore a low cut black dress, which was even lower cut in back. Her hair was long and red... wavy, and her face was beautiful. She was stunning. Her name would be 'Loren'.

Shloren was dispatched to keep an eye on the survivor and anyone he dealt with. She was a high ranking assassin. At this point, she just needed information. Time to make her appearance.

Loren walked slowly to the bar and sat on the other side of Larenz. "Bartender? Could I please have a glass of Shiraz?" She flipped her hair back with one hand.

"Hello everyone", she said to the group. "I don't usually just walk up to groups of people and introduce myself, but I don't feel like drinking alone tonight, and you all look like you're having fun."

Loren hoped the group would introduce themselves.

"Ya something to do with that." Kara replied as she took the drink. "Hello Loren, I'm Kara." She said as she downed the drink and rolled her neck to loosen a kink that had formed. "The new girl was attractive, thought nothing overly amazing." She thought.

Larenz glanced at the woman that had sat down beside him. Damn, where'd she come from?

"I don't mind. But the conversation is really what you'd call fun," Larenz added grimly. He grabbed on of the White Russians that the one called Nate bought for the little group, and took a swig. He tasted it a moment, then shrugged. "It's pretty good, er, Nate."

He looked back to the woman. "I'm Larenz, by the way, you?"

Nathan looked over his shoulder and at the new person who had walked up and introduced herself to the group. Silently grunting as he left his comfort position on the bar, he straightned himself and stood up to face Loren.

"Hi, Loren," he said, wriggling his hand out of his oddly oversized lab cloak sleeve, he extended it towards her. "I'm Doctor Nathan Aida, pleased to meet you. Are you interested in the Type 980 also?" He let off a quick sigh, trying to escape the subject.

Eventually he managed to slowly inch his way back to his seat and sit down, resuming original his position. Getting rest, after a whole night of writing reports, had a higher priority than flirting at the moment. He turned his head to face Larenz.

"Yea...Nate, Nathan, Doc, Doctor...Doesn't matter at the moment." he mumbled.

Jenny sighed quietly as she grabbed the White Russian that the man named Nate bought for her. She sipped at it quietly. Drowning her sorrows how predictable of her. One mission goes wrong and the whole ware goes to hell on her. She didn't have much to lose anymore so she decided to hell with everything and asked Larenz a question that bothered her slightly, "Hey um...Larenz was it? Anyways did your organization have any dealings with the AE rebellion that managed to esclate into a fullscale war? And one more thing. What the hell are these 'Type-980 lifeforms'?"
The new woman didn't catch her eye, she couldn't stand the types that craved attention. Great this is turning into alittle party. All we need now is someone to get drunk enough to get trigger happy.

"It's nice to meet you all," Loren said. "I'm sorry you aren't having a fun conversation. I should have noticed. I don't see anyone laughing, Do you mind if I join you anyway?" She asked.

Nathan asked her if she was interested in the type 980.

"Well, a passing interest I guess. There are so many types out there. Why are all of you so interested in type 980? Is there a particular reason?"

Shloren was glad she was packing several guns. She knew everyone was armed. She thought she would ask why. Her guns were still well hidden.

"If I may ask, what do all of you do and what has you all so down? Also," she whispered, "Why are you all armed? That intrigues me. Let me in on what's going on..."

She hoped they would be receptive to her. She was trying to be as nice and casual as she could be.

Jenny instantly became worried. Usualy someone who asked why you were armed was ether a cop, a bounty hunter, or just plain stupid and she could alredy tell this person wasn't from catigory three. Of all her three weapons she felt the urge to reach for her 30. cal PX-09 and be prepared to have to blow away the new commer. The plasma blade was a dead give away of her postion in the AE and her .357 hold out wasn't exactly useful right this second.

"With the AE rebellion?" thought Larenz aloud. Did we? I don't remember, perhaps... "I'm not sure, we did a lot lately... If we did, it must've been before the rebellion got big. As I said, I wasn't to high in rank, I only worked with a squad."

"Why are you all armed? That intrigues me. Let me in on what's going on..."

Now what's this? A cop? Agent? Or just curious... Larenz thought a moment before answering. If it is a cop... Let's just see where this goes..

"I'm usually armed," said Larenz simply, then adding, "Most in my profession usually are." If it's a cop, they sure are recruiting prettier girls these days.

Jenny was still slightly edgy and slowly began to finish off her drink when she heard Larenz answer her question, "Well jsut as luck has it the rebellion is almost over. The Fallen Angel was lost with all hands during a fold jump and with that ship the whole thing went with it. Hell this sector has no other forces but me after the starbase was totaled. Fate realy dosn't like me."

Type-980...Eh

"Armed? What are you talking about?" mumbled Nathan, as he lifted up an arm. It took a few seconds for his brain to actually understand what Loren had actually meant. "Oh..."

He flinched has everyone, well almost everyone, declared that they were carrying a weapon of some sort. He sighed, hope this doesn't end up in some cowboy-like gun fight.

AE Rebellion...I think I've heard of that some where. The thought was wiped from his mind as he took another sip of the alcoholic liquid that was randomly placed in front of him.

"Hmmm...How does the Type-980 have any involvement in the AE Rebellion?" he mumbled.

"Oh yea...Does anyone here know of any detail about that?" Nathan pointed to the screen again that showed the abandoned space vessel and white cloth covered corpses being carried around what appeared to be some sort of laboratory.

"We can just drop it. Considering I touched a nerve here, how about I buy the next round?"

"It's nothing," said Larenz. Nah, definitely not a cop, they usually follow up with a 'what profession is that?' He took another swig from his drink, and glanced up the news screen. Absolutely cluess... He thought, commenting on the coverage of the abandoned ship. He noticed he could a bit of a reflection of the doors leading into the bar. The doors slid open and four more people walked in.

Larenz passed a glance over his shoulder, and his hand immediately slid from the counter to a pistol at his hip. "Shit!" He cursed under his breath. "Speaking of bounty hunters, I think we're in some trouble here," he said quietly to Jenny. How'd they find me so fast? He glanced at Jenny. Or did they follow her? He thought quickly and drank down another gulp of his drink.

Kara watched the others, "I'd be up for the drinking contest, pool or nearly anything else." She said as she listened to them talking about the AE and weapons.

OCC: Noir is offline now.

"Ah for shits sake," Jenny said. Her .30 cal was already in her hand and her finger on the trigger by the time she had set her glass down. She prayed she wouldn't ahve to try out the modded rounds she collected. She was extrmely jumpy at the mention of bounty hunters since the reward for commisioned officers in the AE was fairly high. But four of them, she realy wasn't having a good day


OCC:The modded rounds use a hollowed out center filled with some form of a explosive toxic by-product. Much like the Plasma Injector rounds that the Demon SF's are known for.

OCC: It was the biggest incident in the history of Phalanix since the second civil war. The AE were the best of the best in Phalanix and were basicly super super soldiers. But they felt opressed so they rebelled, stole a good 1000 or so ships and ran away. The PSN forces began to track them down and kill them off. In the begining he AE were basicly slaughtering all PSN oppostion but they were slowly being widdled down to nothing and as a result the war is coming to a close.
Also the Fallen Angel is the AE flagship being at 9.5km long and is a prototype Hell class super cruiser. First of the line. She was the AE's pride and joy.

Kara looked between the hunters and others "I wonder if they will start anything. While it would be a good excuse to get more confortable, I'd really prefere not to, this form, for all it's annoyances, is enjoyable." She thought

""Larenz, is there going to be a gunfight? Can't you avoid this????"


Larenz shook his head. "I need to think," he said quietly, sliding his other hand close to the edge of the counter so if needed, he could grab his second pistol quickly. Those doors are the only way out without making a scene...

"I don't know whether or not these guys are here for me or for you, or both," he said to Jenny. "Got any ideas?"

"Most likely me. The fact that the Shadow Realm would pay at least afew million for my capture. Besdies my ship and it's cargo. Christ how bad can today get?" she replied to Larenz her pistol hand trembling. She never prayed much but this was one of those moments where it dosn't hurt. "If things do get hectic I don't have the proper equipment for a prolonged gunfight."

"Why not wait to see if they're after you before you consider trying to shoot your way out of here, or let me deal with them." Kara said while thinking "It's be fun to deal with these if they decided to let me deal with them."

ooc: Pretty sure there are 4

((OOC: 4 bounty hunters...))

"No can do Kara, those bounty hunters are here for either Jenny, me, or both," said Larenz. He glanced up at the news screen once more, ignoring the news but using the distorted reflection to get an idea of who was where.

"Okay, they split up, I think they already guessed who we are," he said to Jenny quickly. "There are two on your left, two on my right." He gripped one of his pistols now and gave a glance to the others down the bar. "You guys might want to find a nice place for cover..." He grinned. "If you think they are here for you, then it's your call. Either way I'm in, they'll figure out who I am soon enough if they haven't already."

OCC: Sorry the reply took so long. Working on a dif Char RP. Adn it kinda was a mood/RP killer kiling all four in a single sentence. Jenny is a advnaced augmented human with reflexes that easily outstrip even the fastest augmented humans and she can't even kill four bounty hunters in a second. Besides I think this is more of a gloomy kind of tense RP than a light hearted one

ooc: Just so you know, both Phalanix and TDC have logged off so they can't respond.
Also replied to your TG.

ooc: Can't say then, though I explained my reason in my TG.

OCC: I happened to be logging off in the midst of your posting. I had other things to do and can't be online evey second you are. And just a little thing for the future. FT RPing does permit limitless opptions but it also requires a higher attention to know where to draw the line. Learned that in my first year so thought I might pass it on to a beginner in the FT world.
IC:
Jenny smirked slightly and looked over at Larenz and spoke quicky, "Ain't letting you hog the glory of protecting everyone." With that she stood up her pistol hidden to the side the bounty hunters wouldn't be able to see. "Good luck," she whispered before lunging forth pistol infront of her and her other army drawn back ready to smash thefirst bounty hunter to the floor before she would shoot him.

"Ahhh..." moaned Nathan, as he awoke from his nap. He yawned and wiped the drool at the edge of his mouth. "What's with all this ruckus?"

He looked blankly at the blurred figures around him, most of whom seemed that they were ready to kill someone.

"Uh...Umm...Bartender, a water please." he asked as he raised his hand. His vision now clearing, he turned to the group. "Children, settle down. We don't want anyone dying right now, save it for later."

OOC: what in the world is going on?

Kara continued to observe the hunters and those who appeared to be the hunted. She took a sip of her drink and chuckled lightly to herself at the hunters, If they were at home, they'd last maybe a minute. She thought. She then ordered a plate of chicken wings, ready to help if needed, though the two seemed like they could take care of themselves.

Nathan looked to his side.

"Ahh! Kara, mind sharing? I'll buy you another drink." Nathan asked, his hand ready to snatch one of the hot chicken wings from the plate that was placed in front of his assistant. "So...Tell me about the news. What happened to that space vessel?"

She gestured for him to go ahead, though there was already a substantial pile of bones and it was rising. "It appears some unknown beasties butchered everyone on-board. Of course that's the official story so it may be true or complete bull. Though if Larenz let me check the chip I may know more, but so far he's still bogarting it."

"What chip? Did he get it from the ship?" Nathan asked, his curiousity peaked.

He looked around, and at the same time he grabbed another chicken wing from the pile. "You know...We were assigned to board THAT ship yesturday. Did you know that? I had our stay here extended because I didn't have my preliminary report finished." He waited for the surprise to settle in with Kara.


OOC: (The last sentence, is that the correct diction? It sounds awkward)

"The chip you thought was research data when you first got here. And why didn't you finish your report, to busy chasing stewardesses and flight attendants?" She asked with a chuckle. "So we're staying a few extra days or weeks?" She asked as she snagged the last wing and place an order for another plate.

ooc: Diction seems ok, though I'm no linguist. Also have to get sleep so will be off now

"The chip you thought was research data when you first got here. And why didn't you finish your report, to busy chasing stewardesses and flight attendants?" She asked with a chuckle. "So we're staying a few extra days or weeks?" She asked as she snagged the last wing and place an order for another plate.

ooc: Diction seems ok, though I'm no linguist. Also have to get sleep so will be off now

"If there were stewardesses and flight attendents..." sighed Nathan as he picked up another chicken wing from the new plate. "Hey, watch your head...They're waving guns over there."

He pointed to the other people in their little party. "Hmmm...Kara, try writing that report. And if you want to know what's on that little diskette...Just as me. I wrote the thing."

He tossed the chicken bone back onto the plate. "I'll talk about the stuff later...I just want to rest now. Get a few drinks down. Sounds fun?"

OOC: seriously...rest!

((OOC: Had to hit the sack early last night, waking up at 4 in the morning isn't easy...))

Larenz ignored the doctor's request to settle down. Bounty hunter isn't going to wait... He gripped one pistol ready, and held the now empty White Russian bottle and prepared to spin around. He gave a quick glance to Jenny as she stood. About the same the time she lunged at the two bounty hunters nearest her, Larenz spun around on his stool throwing the bottle, causing a bounty hunter to duck away from the bottle. He leveled his pistol with the other bounty hunter, who moved to the side just as he pulled the trigger, the single round piercing into the hunter's leg above the knee.

Larenz gripped his barstool with his free hand and hurled it at one hunter while the one he had shot fired back with his own weapon. Larenz jumped back as a round barely missed his arm, singing his clothing.

((OOC: It's spelled 'singing' right? Doesn't seem right. Still waiting for the coffee to kick in...))

OCC: Mornings are so damn evil....
IC:
Jenny brought her PX-09 against the chest of the first bounty hunter and squeezed the trigger filing his chest cavity with a hot .30 explosive slug. As he fell back in shock and pain the round detonated splattering gore around the better part of the bar. Though by this time she was attempting to take down the first when she felt the hot peircing sensation of being shot go through her left arm. The pain could easily be described as a red hot poker being stabbed into the wound, not that she knew what that was like.
The round hit her augmented bones and bounced off exiting at a diffrent angle resulting in a secondary wound that bled just as bad as the primary. The impact had stopped her in her tracks for only a few seconds but it was enough for the bounty hunter to get close enough to punch her to the floor.
She wimmpered as she was hit but a humming sound replaced her wimpering and she moved. On her right wrist a plasma blade emiter was mounted on her MDA and it sliced through the bounty hunter before he could even react. His chest had been cleaved in half and the wound cauterized causing him to simply fall over in two parts.
As he fell she deactivated the blade and dropped her pistol letting her right arm squeeze the nasty wound she had recived in a attempt to slow the bleeding before she could begin to bandage it up.

Larenz ripped out his second pistol and fired. The first bounty hunter took two bullets to his chest, unable to move quickly with the wound in his leg. The second bounty hunter held a rifle at his hip and held it level with Larenz.

"Ah hell," Larenz said as he dove to his right, the hunter firing his gun from the hip. Larenz fired his pistols as he fell through the air, four rounds making hits on the hunter's chest and collar bone. The Druid landed on the ground on his shoulder but still held his pistols level with the hunter, who stopped moving. The hunter coughed, droplets of blood falling from his mouth, then fell backward.

Larenz stood cautiously. He glanced around the bar. By now, most of the patrons had either left the bar, or were backed against the walls, trying to keep out of the way of the small fight. He looked to the others who had remained boldly at the bar.

"Sorry about that, but they were hunters..." he said. Larenz bent over and picked up his stool and placed it back in front of the bar where he was previously sitting, to see that the spot was riddled with holes and two burn marks. How many shots did that guy make? He thought in wonder. He looked to Jenny now.

"Are you gonna be okay? I have some extra bandages," said Larenz, holstering a pistol and moving his hand towards a pocket on his cargo pants. "I'm gonna guess ten minutes before the cops arrive," he added, glancing at his watch, which looked like it had been through too many gunfights itself.

OOC: I'm lost...

((OOC: Check TG -Noir-))

"I should be fine," Jenny said as she reached down to he rpistol and picked it up. She hid the grimice of pain as she closed her hand around the pistol's grip and placed it in her holster.
It was offical her day had gone from bad, to worse, all the way to god damned horrible in just five hours. "I think I'll take one of those bandages," she said as she sat down on one of the untouched barstools and began to remove her jacket to help her get at the wound better.

Kara smiled at her 'boss's' drunkness. Seeing the two 'hunted' cream the hunters made her chuckle. "Hey Jenny, Larenz want some wings?" She asked

((OOC: It's spelled 'singing' right? Doesn't seem right. Still waiting for the coffee to kick in...))
Should be singeing

"In a moment, Kara," answered Larenz as he flipped open one of his pockets and pulled out a strip of bandaging cloth. He stepped next to Jenny get a better look at her wound and pulled out another strip. "It became a habit to carry these, since on most jobs we had to fix up our wounds on the move," he said, straightening out the bandage.

"Let me see your arm," said Larenz. "Need to wrap it up quick, you got hit pretty bad..."

Jenny quickly slipped her arm out of her uniform's overshirt letting Larenz get at the wound. "Thanks. Normaly I have a nanokit on me but looks like I forgot mine. Though this isn't the worst I've been hit with. One of those 14.5mm slugs the XR-65 puts out has to be the worst," she said trying to make her wound seem less serrious. "I think I'll pass on the wings. Thanks."

"Alright." She replied as she continued sucking the meat off the bones. "So, why might those hunters been after you and what will you do now?" Kara asked

Larenz nodded and wrapped the first strip of white cloth carefully around the wound. Shit, it punched straight through... He thought as he tried to tighten the bandage as easily as he could.

"It seems to have missed the artery," he pointed out as he started wrapping the second strip of cloth. He tightened it carefully and grabbed a steel pin from a pocket to hold the cloth tightly together. "There. Now I need to think a moment."

Larenz plopped down on the bar stool and leaned on the counter. Gotta find a way out of here before the cops arrive... "Any of you guys have ship of your own, or you come here on a shuttle?"

"Ya I have a shuttle. Can't trust charter pilots when almsot everyone you turn to wants to rake in a few million," Jenny said as she slipped her arm back in to her overshirt and jacket, "Though it is abit cramped thanks to the supplies I recovered." She quickly began to go over a mental list of the items she did have on her shuttle and the ones she lacked.

Larenz nodded. "We're gonna need to split soon." He zipped shut the flap on his pocket. He looked to Kara and Nate.

"You two going to come with?" he asked as he popped a new clip into his pistol. "I'll let you check out that chip once away from this station," he added as he holstered his gun. He stepped next to the body of the second bounty hunter he had killed. He knelt and picked up the automatic rifle and checked the body for ammo before slinging the weapon over his shoulder. He wiped some blood off his hands on his pants leg and stood.

"Sure we'll come, or at least I will. Nate has to choose for himself." Kara replied as she continued to demolish large numbers of the chicken wings. She was on her eights plate and was digging in with the same speed as when she started the first plate.

"Sure...I'll go." said the Doctor, not even looking away from his drink as he lifted it up and drained it. "You can then fill me in on what you saw on the research vessel."

"Alright, all though there's probaly more info on this chip," replied Larenz. There better be something worthwhile on this damned thing... He glanced around the bar, it was empty now, even the bartender was gone. There were some overturned tables and chairs, while other tables still had drinks or food layed out. He chuckled. Guess everyone's under the impression we'll go postal on them... He jumped up over the bar and knelt behind the counter and came back up with a bottle of scotch and a new glass with ice.

Larenz poured himself a drink. "Ready to leave when you are, Jenny," he said, taking a gulp from the glass. "God I needed that," he muttered.

Jenny stood up and streched before speaking again, "Well I'm waiting on you." She began to walk towards the door and leaned against the doorframe as she waited.

Larenz glanced at his watch and adjusted the rifle that was slung over his shoulder and finished his drink before dropping the glass to shatter on the floor. He wiped his mouth and walked towards the door.

"Lead the way," he said, resting his arm on the pistol at his hip.

Jenny had already begun to jog out of the bar her pistol in her good hand (not wounded arm) and darted towards the closest landing bay. She had a tendency to dock nearest to bars for some reason but for once it paid off.
The shuttle was more like a moddified Eagle class dropship that had been elongated, had a fold generator in it, and had a nice sized cargo hold that Jenny had modded so as to have a bedroom near the cockpit.

Larenz jogged after Jenny, not intent on hanging behind with three minutes to go before the cops should start arriving, or worse, more bounty hunters. Hope that thing can move faster than it looks... Thought Larenz as he approached the ship.

"We probaly only got a few minutes," he said to Jenny, glancing around the dock for any cops or bounty hunters already in the station.


((Theao? Noir?))

Kara followed having paid her tab and finished off her plate of wings. She took a seat in one of the chairs. "How good is this ship?" She asked

(OOC: been busy)

Dr. Nathan followed close behind Kara towards the exit of the bar.

"Hey, Larenz, where are we going?" asked Nathan, "If you can just wait a second, I need to gather my equipment."

Larenz shrugged. "I don't know man, away from here." The Druid glanced at his watch and pulled his new rifle over his shoulder and leaned back against the ship. "Come on Doc, you gotta move if your with us," he said. "Hey Jenny, can you put this thing in gear, so we can take off soon as the Doc gets here. The law should be here in a matter of minutes..."

"Ahh...Just a second." Nathan said, as he ran out of the ship. "Don't leave without me. I think I might have some things that might peak your interests."

He ran through the maze like corridors of the station towards his corridor in the east wing, all the way across the entire station. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve as he slowed down at Room 294-E.

"Here we go..." Nathan panted. "Now where's that card key." Rummaging(sp?) through his pockets and nothing turning up, he sighed. "Where in the world is it?" Suddenly the sliding door of his room opened.

"Ok..."

He reached inside his room for the lightswitch, but found out quickly that it didn't work. Cautiously, he walked into the room, aided only by the corridor light that managed to get into the room. In an instant, Nathan sensed that his room had been ransacked. Not only did he have the feeling that everything was out of place, he had tripped and fallen several times over his personal effects that lay on the floor.

He felt his way over to his bed. Reaching underneath the mattress, he pulled out his secondary flexipad, which he would always hide somewhere in his room. Gripping the synthetic handle, he increased the brightness of the thin screen and used it to guide his way through the mess.

"Shoot...The files are gone." he muttered, as he kicked an opened suitcase on the floor. Nathan shook his head, as he started to make his way out of the room. On his way, he picked up several various items and jammed them into the empty suitcase.

The sliding door shutting behind him, he began to jog back to Larenz ship.

"They better not have left." he said to himself. "I might have a chance to recover those files there."

"Jenny," Kara said, "Do you have any meat on board, or at least high protien foods? I'm still hungry." She commented even though she'd just had eight plates of chicken wings.

*A shadowy form unfolds from the corner. slowly he aims a Tech pistol at Jenny.*

"Damn streight. Tell you what, hand over the cargo and the ship and I might let you live...."

Larenz, standing on the other side of the ship, was quickly losing patience.

"Shit, where is he..." he muttered. "Kara, tell Jenny I'll be back in a flash, gonna go find Doc." With that, Larenz jogged back down the hall to the bar. He listened for a moment, hearing the quickened steps of someone in a hurry. That better be him... Larenz walked to the hall he heard the steps coming from and walked cautiously down the hall, careful to avoid running into someone who wouldn't be too....friendly.

OCC: Sorry I took so long I'm setting up a huge string of dark and deep rooted RPs that are extremly high risk to me and afew others.
IC: "Ya I got some rations somewhere they should be high in god knows what, but didn't you fill yourself with all those..," before she could even finish she reacted to the intruder. Jenny's reaction time was off the charts as she spun her pistol aimed into the center mass of the figure. "Get the hell off my ship before I have to make you as litteraly as you are metiphoricly gutless," she snarled before continuing, "Kara go to the cockpit and on the key pad type in 56711357. It's the start up command."

Kara was slightly amazed at Jenny's speed. She nodded in agreement and headed to the cockpit, "Just so you know Nate and Larenz arn't onboard, should be coming back quite soon though." She said.

"Ahh...Larenz!" exclaimed Nathan. "Here, can you hold onto this for me?" He tossed over a small black orb he had extracted from his suitcase. "I still need to get my other stuff I left in the bar." He pointed to the door at his right.

"Dang...What a mess." he muttered under his breath as the sliding door opened with a hiss. "Larenz, come look at this. Looks like everyone got out safely atleast."

Nathan stepped into the deserted but completely torn up bar but stopped abruptly.

"I think I may have been mistaken."

A human finger was held up to the flickering light of the overhead fixtures. As the doctor walked deeper into the dimmed room, a faint trace of human corpses alerted his senses. This new scent became stronger and stronger as he edged around tables, chairs, and the broken glass away from the filtered and circulated air of the outside corridor.

"Larenz...I think you HAVE to see this." Nathan said, as he rubbed the stubble he had grown on his chin. Before him was a mound of corpses piled up against the far window. He was unable to see them at first because of the lack of lights.

"Uhh...Larenz...Where's the external station lights?" he said, looking out the windows.

Larenz caught the orb in one hand, moving his arm to keep it balanced, while holding his rifle steady with the other hand. He nodded as the Doc requested he follow him into the bar. As he entered the bar, a very familiar scent reached his nostrils, but not one that was there when he had previously left the bar.

"Ah shit..." He muttered as he tucked the small orb into one of his larger pockets, so that he could carry the automatic rifle with two hands.

"Larenz...I think you HAVE to see this."

Larenz stepped in beside the Doc and stared at the mound of bodies for a moment. "What in the hell," he muttered as he looked up from the corpses.

"I don't where the lights are, Doc, but I think it's time we got back to the ship," he said, moving a hand to his hip to grab a pistol. "You have your own, or do you think we'll need mine? We aren't the only ones on this station any more..."

"Oh, don't worry, just keep that orb safe." said the Doctor as he turned to face Larenz. "Attentive, that's good. Hopefully you won't need to use that on our way back to the ship. I wonder what else is going to happen? Or has happened..."

Just as he finished, the lights in the entire complex went out. An erie silence engulfed them. Even the constant drone of the various life support systems had become inaudible, or had simply died. It was only the smell of death that kept the two men's senses alert.

"Just keep that orb safe. You don't need to worry about me. Don't bother asking questions about it, you do not need to know." repeated Nathan. "Now...Uh, let's get back to your ship...'

A strange screeching noise had just erupted from some where in the station corridors. The high pitched echo was so intense that it was deafening.

"Ugh...Quickly." he finished in an almost strained whisper, removing his hands from his ears.

Larenz nodded and holstered his pistol. "Let's go," he said, turning on his heel to head back to the ship. The sudden, high pitched screech reached his own ears and he gritted his teeth. What the hell is that?!

"Ugh...Quickly."

Larenz stepped forward. "Sounds like something dragging against steel...Like the wall or floor inside this station," he said, staring down each hall leading from the bar. "Come on Doc, let's get off this floating heap of metal."

The Druid walked back towards the dock and stepped through the doorway. He walked with caution towards the ship and stopped as he neared the ship.

"Who the hell?!" He muttered as he saw Jenny holding a pistol level with a stranger, who also carried a pistol level with Jenny. Larez rose his rifle to his shoulder and walked towards the stranger.

"Back the hell up!" He shouted, ready to pull the trigger. "You got my back Doc?" He muttered to Nate.

"Ahh...Yeah, I got your back Larenz." said the Doctor, as he pulled out a small, almost antique looking pistol from his suitcase. "Uhhh...Something's coming down the hall..."

Nathan motioned his head towards the outside of the docking hatch they had just come through. A low rumbling noise originating from darkened corridor began to grow.

"I think...I'll close...This hatch here..." said the Doctor as he kept his gun at the ready while inching closer to the open and close lever.

(OOC: im not sure what you want to happen next...)

Ah shit, what now?! Larenz cast a glance behind him, staring down the hall. He backed up a few steps to get a better look. He could hear the sounds growing closer, as if something, or somethings, were getting closer and closer, but nothing was in sight. Then it clicked, the memory of what had happened at the research ship. His eyes grew wide.

"Christ, it's those things! Those, Type 980s!" shouted Larenz. He turned and kicked out with his foot, shutting the hatch. He stared at through the thick glass of the closed hatch into the hall, taking a step back, holding his rifle at his shoulder. With a sudden slam against the glass, one of the Type 980s appeared, trying to claw its way through the glass. Another slammed into the hatch, creating a huge dent. Another appeared as it bumped into its two comrades.

"How in the hell did they get here?!" spat Larenz as he turned the rifle to 'Rock n Roll'. He took another step back. "Let's get to that ship! If there's three here, God knows how many more there are!" A fourth slammed into the hatch as he finished, creating another, larger dent in the hatch.

OCC: Since TEW hasn't shown up I'm killin his guy.
IC:
Jenny pulled her trigger not wanting to wait any longer. As she did the other figure did the same.
((Assuming the pistol is a projectile based and uses a .45 round))
Jenny felt the stinging blow of the round as it tore into her already wounded arm but it wasn't as bad as the fate the stranger had as his upper boddy was simply a spray of gore, blood, and bone fragments as the .30 cal round exploded in his chest.
"God damnit can't anything go right!" she cried out as she held her wounded arm and began to swear.

Seeing the wound on Jenny's cause Kara's stomach to growl, as well as a faint ripple in her face. With a bit of effort, she masked her nature and proceeded to clean and bandage the arm with surprising skill.

Larenz backed up another step, holding the rifle level with the hatch. Jesus H. Christ, how did they get here? Another Type 980 slammed into the hatch, creating another dent. Unlike the other four, this one carried a pistol. It fired its gun, a beam of light punching straight through the hatch and just grazing Larenz's jacket collar.

"Damn!" Larenz fired his rifle, sending six rounds to punch through the weakened steel around the dents of the hatch. A Type 980 staggered back, then rushed forward again, holding a claw forward, which pierced through the hatch like a knife through butter. It pulled back, tearing away a piece of the hatch. Larenz fired again, sending twenty rounds through the hatch into the Type 980 trying to claw through the hatch. It fell back as a number of rounds tore straight through its thick skull.

"What I tell ya? These bastards are tough to take down!" said Larenz, ducking as a Type 980 fired its gun. Larenz backed up once more, firing his rifle. "Gotta get outta here fast, or you, me, and your orb aren't gonna see the outside of this station!" He said to the Doc.

"Ahh...I got your back Larenz." Nathan took a step closer to Larenz as he fired a few shots into an incoming Type-980. "They aren't going down. If only I could get to my...ARGH!"

Nathan fell to the floor with a thud. His vision was blurred. All he could hear were the sounds of gunfire and the frequent growls and screeching of the monsters that were attacking them.

((Sorry about that absence.... If you don't like Larenz handled the falling of the Doc, I can rework the post.))

Larenz saw from the corner of his as the Doc fell to the ground. Dammit, where'd all these come from?! He moved towards the fallen comrade, firing his rifle wildly at the oncoming Type 980s, who busted all the way through the hatch. Another enemy fell to the ground while another staggered back from the impact of a dozen rounds pumping into it's torso. Larenz made his move quickly, crouching low as he grabbed the Doc and heaved up and over his shoulder as he stood.

He walked backwards as quickly as he could, firing his rifle from his hip. Another Type 980 fell back onto the floor.

"God damn, there are too many!" shouted Larenz as the rifle let out a single click. Damn, now I'm outta rounds for that.. He let go of the rifle, letting it hang on its strap from his shoulder, and ripped out a pistol. He fired three rounds at another Type 980, his hollow point rounds doing more damage than an average bullet would do, but not nearly enough to bring down the creature.

Larenz reached the ship and threw the Doc in before turning around to fire off three more rounds. He jumped into the ship.

"Hey Kara, your friend here's in some trouble!" he said, referring to the Doc who had fallen to the floor. Larenz quickly took the time to reload his rifle and turned to face out of the ship and fired off twenty rounds, dropping the nearest Type 980. He fired off ten more rounds, only slowing one of the creature's enough to get some time.

"Let's close these doors and get into the air before those things get here!" he shouted as he fired the rifle.