* After seperate harrowing paranoid trips to the mansion, everyone made it! There's food. Lot's of food. And soft, muted classical music playing in the background. And a helluva lot of empty chairs. * Smith, Godhand, Clio, and Nina are all there, a couple of mechs, and a couple of other people, none at all recognized. All in all, you number maybe 30 people. * Godhand is dressed in a heavy brown cloak that covers all extremities except for her head, which is very pretty, with long blonde, straight hair (6 appearance, wheee...) * The only one you would recognize, Cait, isn't there currently, and one of the servants rings a bell, presumably the signal that the meal is now starting. [Start] * Cliona is leaned back in her chair, her legs stretched out before her as she lounges, nibbling on some bread. The twin laser pistols at her hips are easily noticeable under the long duster she's got on. * Smith is wearing a suit and black sunglasses, and has a large black obviously heavily armored case sitting on the floor next to her, which is about 3 feet wide and 7 feet long. She is currnetly hodling several forks up to the light and staring at them quizzicly. * Godhand starts to eat with her left hand, digging in * Smith takes off her sunglasses and peers at the forks closer. * Cliona tugs at the rim of her fedora, tugging it down a bit more and obscuring her face in the shadow. "So exactly when do we get to find out why we're here? They could've been a bit more courteous... I'm guessing you at least got in the front way. * Smith nods. "Uneventful except for a brief misunderstanding with the guards." These are scary people, I think. Maybe we shouldn't question it, and just go along with it? They need to stop using laser weapons if they want to suprise people, though. * Nina pokes at several varieties of cake. I don't appreciate being dropped through the floor... * Smith gives up on the forks and examines the assorted spoons. * Cliona reaches out and grabs a chicken leg, chomping into it happily. "Mmm. Food is good." n.n This looks so good. But if I eat it, I know I'll become a blimp. ;_; * Godhand continues eating, stuffing her face now as she hasn't had a good meal in a while * Nina glances at Clio Aren't you worried about that at all? * Smith grabs some bread and munches on it while trying to divine the functions of the knives, which at least _look_ signifignatly different. * Cliona blinks, "Worried about what?" Ya'know... Getting fat. Who -knows- how much fat all this food has in it! * Cliona shrugs a bit. o.o "It's not my--" She cuts herself off.. "..concern. I mean, I'm way too active to get fat. I'll burn this all off eventually." *snarf* *garmph* * The person sitting next to Smith nudges her. Hes big and heavy-set, and there's a nice shiny ballistic sniper rifle leaning against the table next to him. * Smith looks over at the guy. "Yes?" That's some hardware you got there. * Guy whistles appreciatively. * Cliona is happily gnawing away at the chicken leg she got ahold of. "Mm... good stuff. I'll be sure to let her know you said that. * Guy blinks, momentarilly taken aback by the statement, then recovers. So, uh, why'd you reply? Because I needed something to do. * Guy eyes Smith, then Pina-chan, then shrugs. Well, I guess that's a good a reason as any. * Cliona grabs up a coupe slices of bread and slices some meat off a roast and makes a sandwich. "Mmm! Goddess. n.n Why is food so damn good?" n.n * A little bit more time passes, then a door opens at one end of the hall. * Cait comes walking through, carrying a pedestal 5 times his size over his head. * Cait plunks it down a few feet away from the table, then scampers up it. * Smith peers at Cait. * Cait takes off the attached microphone, and the muted classical background music shifts to an upbeat, flashy techno beat. Also muted. Hi everybody! Glad you could all make it! How's the food? Great! n.n Good. Wow. What a lack of enthusiasm. Oh come ON! I know you guys can do better than that! I just got dumped in your basement. All you're getting is 'good'. ( Of all the times to not take Thrown Weapons. ) How! Was! The! Food, baby! Did it rock you off the table and leave you begging for more? ....... Right. Guess not. * Smith stares blankly at Cait. "... We're sitting on chairs, not the table." Tough audience, eh? Oh well! But I DO bet you're all wondering why you're all here! Am I right? * Godhand nods, drumming her fingers * Cliona chuckles and just leans back, waiting. Am I right? Come on, yell it out! ( ... Aww. Smith doesn't have a sense of humor, so I can't go "... Is there somebody _professional_ around here we can talk to?". ;_; ) * Cait deadpans. "Guess not." Oh well. I guess I'll just tell you. First of all, my name is Cait! * A voice from one of the servant mechs calls out, 'The flake!' almost immediately afterwards. ...I'd say so... ........ Okay, moving right along. You all remember the Big Ad a while a while ago, right? Well, you should, since all of you here did respond to it! As you may or may not know, all of you gathered here were accepted! * Cliona sighs and chukles to herself shaking her head. *t* Energetic little runt... All of us for one job? Accepted for what, you say? Big Boss' Elite Mercanary Strike Force! Ah, no, not for one job. For lots of em! If you're in! But all of you have said as much, so I'll just skip that part! Now, here comes the clincher. We don't need so many people. * Cait sighs. I assume there'll be some form of test? Nope. Big Boss already went through the list. Damn. I was hoping to do something entertaining tonight. Oh well. I got a free meal. n.n We only need four or five for our Elite Mercenary Strike Force. ... So, what, you figured out who you'd actually be giving jobs to _Before_ you started collecting people? If I don't call your name, that means your not in. But feel free to stay, for backup purposes, or just to hang around and watch the fireworks! Well, here goes. * Cait sighs. Cliona Crea! You're in! Oh, and sorry about your friend getting involved in this. It's okay! I wanted to get involved! * Cliona shrugs. "Hey. She didn't get too badly hurt. No problem." n.n Now get up on the table and strip for everyone! *strikes a disco pose* ( I really should've invested in Thrown Weapons, so I could throw knives at Cait right now. ;_; ) Strut your stuff down victory lane! * Cliona shrugs and jumps up onto the table. n.n ( *shines her throwing ranks* ) ( Don't blame me, blame my programmer! ) * Cait blinks Wow. You actually did it. That was a joke, you know. Sure. o.o Life's too short to be embarassed.. about most things... * Cliona grins. "I know. But it dun matter to me." n.n .oO(Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Alrighty! Next! Smith! Let's here it for the one word wonder! * Smith sits there. * Cliona hops down off the table, her duster bilowing a bit. * Nina just kinda... stares at Clio. Eventually get the wits to halfheartedly clap. Um... right. Well, she's the one with the gun that's bigger than her. * Cliona pokes Nina in the shoulder. "Stop staring. If you want me, just say so." n.n * Nina blushes furiously. "Eh-hehehe... No, it's not that." ^_^;;;; Suuure. If you say so. n.n C'mon, Smith, not even a monosyllabic uttererance of 'Pie'? * Cliona grins. "Is the pie evil?" n.n * Guy mutters something to himself, and picks up up of the cakes in one hand. Get to the damned point, cat! I'm not a big fan of drama freaks. * Cait droops. Fine. Spoilsport. Next, Guy. And don't you dare think the only reason I called you is because of your cake threat. * Guy smirks, setting the cake back down. * Cait glares evilly at Guy, which really isn't too effective. And Godhand. Sorry if your name wasn't called. But if you'd like to stick around, as backup, or to just watch the show, feel free! We could always use more help, even though we got our Mercenary positions filled! * Most of the other people grumble and leave, various mutterings of 'waste of time,' 'damned flake,' 'who the hell are these people,' etc. Oh yeah! If you're leaving now, talk to the Mech waiting by the door for the $500,000 showing up bonus! * Cliona raises her hand. "I don't suppose we get paid that now, as well? I use some spending cash." n.n Oh. If you're still here, you get paid later. Still got some stuff to talk about! * Nina ....dosen't leave. Actually, not much more of importance. You who are in the Elite! Mercenary! Strike! Force! *strikes a dramatic pose at each !* get to read some stuff! And those who aren't, I'll talk to later, okay? * Nina nods, and so does the lone other person who stayed. * Cait hops down, grabbing some folders, and walks along the table, handing one each to GH, Clio, Smith, and Guy. * Smith takes her folder and looks in it. * GodHand grumbles, opening her own folder with her left hand * The folders contain basic information about the place, and also, a mission dossier. * Cliona flips the folder open and scans over the info surprisingly quickly and then tosses the folder back down on the table. It took her less than 3 minutes. o.0 *skim* * Smith opens Pina-chan's case and roots through her collection of building blueprints to see if she has some for the target. * The dossier describes an old closed down mech production factory, in the bottom level of Ferr. It's apparently been started again. * It's strongly implied that there are Numech forces there, using it. * You mission is to investigate the factory, shut it down, and find out who started it. ( Does it mention wether blowing it the hell up is an acceptable solution? ) * Nope. Not at all. * Rather, there's no mention of any kind of protocol. Excuse me, I have a question about the mission. Ah...? Yes? Is simply blowing the place up acceptable? * Cait blinks. Well, I guess. But we want to know who and why, before you do it. We need to find out who's behind it. That's hard if you blow it up. Well, okay, we find out who, and _then_ we blow it up. * Cait grins So that's it! You're a pyro! * Smith stares blankly at Cait. No wonder you don't seem to react to anything else! ( Bah. Smith's just been trained mostly to blow things up and shoot things. When all you have is a hammer and all that. ) No, you're just not that interesting. I have a question. HEY! * Cait shrugs. Yeah? Where're we stationed? Here? Well, there are rooms here. More than enough, just like everything else. You can stay here if you want, but you don't have to. * Smith goes back to attempting to find blueprints of the target in her collection. * The schematics are pretty detailed. There's a top floor, mostly concrete construction, then a really long elevator leading underground. Right. * Underground, it's one giant segmented room, filled with conveyer belts and such, and there's notes indicating where which supply line leads in and out. Any other questions? Oh yeah! You! and You! Come with me, I gotta talk to you two! * Cait points to Nina and the other person who stayed. * Cliona shrugs, leaning back in her chair idly.. "None here. When do we leave?" Preferrably tomorrow, but the window of opportunity lasts for 6 days. You guys have some time to organize and get to know each other and stuff. * Smith starts makring up the maps of the compound she has with some kind of shorthand. Oh, if you need to get a hold of me, just yell REALLY LOUD. * Cait rotates his ears in a nifty fashion. * GodHand nods and looks at the map for the mansion, locating the rooms And if I don't show up, yell twice! Oh yeah! The bedrooms and entertainment and stuff are all on the third floor. It shouldn't be too hard to find. But anyways! You two! Come on! * GodHand shrugs and starts to head up to the third floor * Nina , and the other person follow Cait on out. Wai. *scribble scribble* * Cliona sighs and hops to her feet, wandering over to GodHand. "'ello there." n.n *after, not over. * GodHand looks over her shoulder. "Hello." * Guy stands up, picking up his rifle. I'll see you guys up there. * Guy heads off, presumably to find the bedrooms. Soo... You're Godhand, right? * GodHand nods slightly, her blonde hair rippling * Cliona offers a hand. "Cliona Crea." n.n * GodHand looks at it and takes it with her left hand. Oddly, her right hasn't shown at all * Smith keeps sribbling, occasioanlly erasing stuff. * GodHand nods at her * Cliona blinkblinks and eyes where Godhand's right arm should be visable. "Mmm? What's under the cloak?" n.n "Got a bad scar?" You might say that. Ooh. Can I see? n.n * Cliona tries to peek under the cloak. n.n * GodHand brings up her right arm...or...what would be a right arm. If it weren't thick, and wiry, and shining metal Ooooh. n.n Keen. Must make you pretty strong, hm? * GodHand shrugs slightly SOme people think so. *scribble* *scribble* * GodHand , to demonstrate, points a finger at the solid wall and begins poking holes in it as if it were made of wet tissue paper * Cliona grins. "I'd tell you my secret bu~t... If I do, well. Bad things could happen." Uh huh... * GodHand seems absorbed in making a drawing out of the destruction now... * Smith is still over there, doing whatever it is she's doing. * GodHand finishes what definitely looks like a picture of Cait molesting a small furry mammal, with the words 'I like kittens' under it. She dusts her hands off and nods to Cliona I really don't care. * Cliona leans in and watches GoaHand draw. n.n "That's neat." ( O.o ) ( I don't think we like Cait. ) ( n.n; ) ( I do, she don't >.>) ( I meant as a party. ) ( Wai. Then he's annoying as I intend him to be. ^_^. ) ( As a player, yeah, I like him. Having Smith just not pick up on any of his jokes or anything is fun. ^_^ ) Hm... Well. I *guess* there's no harm in telling you. You know I meant I don't care if you do or don't tell me... I might care about whatever it is * Nina pokes her head into the room. "Clio, are you there?" * Cliona shrugs. "I dunno. I was just gonna show ya' that you're not the only one who is hiding a big secret." n.n Ah! Clio! Hm? * Nina hurries into the room, smiling. * Cliona blinks and looks abck, waving at Nina. "Hi hi! (Heh heh. Clio's turning out decidedly more cheery than i expected.) Well, I talked to Cait, and he said I could be a comm officer or something. He really wasn't specific, though..... (...and GodHand is surprisingly...off-beat humor) ( And Smith is turning out much like I expected, except that she hasn't gotten a chance to use the Glare of Doom yet. ) Hm... Comm Officer, huh? But, since I can't really fight, but I still want in on the action, I get to help somehow. It's really wierd. He said it's really dosen't matter how competent I am, as longer as I'm trustworthy. * Nina tugs on Clio's arm. "Introduce me to your other friends!" * Cliona nodnotds. "You're trustworthy enough for me." n.n "Oh! Nina, this is GodHand. She's got a robotic arm." n.n It's easier to train a trustworthy person than it is to make a trained, non-trustworthy person trustworthy. *scribble scribble* * Nina , by the way, is tall and skinny and blond. If you've played Tekken, the exact same look, but cuter. * GodHand gives Cliona a look Yeah, he mentioned training too. How'd you know? * Cliona grins. n.n A robotic arm....? * GodHand considers going off on what precisely it is, but shrugs and turns, figuring she won't be missed. "Yeah. Robotic." Well.... That's interesting, I guess. Uh huh. * GodHand trudges up. * Nina ... looks elsewhere. *scribble* .oO(Am I surrounded by lesbians?) * Cliona chases after GodHand, "Wait up!" ( Am NOT a lesbain! ;_; ) ( Bah. Smith would need to be interested in sex to be a lesbian. ) * GodHand doesn't. But she's not exactly hard to catch. SHe ehads up to the third floor and explores * Cliona follows after her. So... why'd you reply to the ad? I'm a mercenary. * Guy is looking around on the third floor, too. You notice a nice big sword hilt that dosen't seem to be attached to anything on his back. Well yeah. So'm I, but what was your specific reason? o.o It was a job. * Nina watches the other two leave, then decides to talk to Smith. * GodHand replies evasively Hi! Smith, right? Yes. *scribble* Ah. See... for me, it's another expierience. I'm one of those people who believes in living life to the fullest and that life is wonderful and all that. n.n; * Nina peers at the scribblings.... * Smith is scribbling weird incomprehensible stuff, like "*funny squiggle*" and "f 35/Z?" Feh. Sure. Um.... *starts to say something, then stops.* Nevermind. Probably better not to ask. Hey... compared to the life I used to have, believe me. You'd think the same. I'm planning where to place the Ackbar Compound to destory the factory. Right! So, can you sing? ... What? You know. Sing. Uhhh huh *doesn't sound very convinced, poking around for a room* * Smith actually stops scribbling to peer confusedly at Nina. ~/o Over yonder green hills, o/~ You know. Sing. ... Why? * Cliona sighs and shakes her head. "It is. And i'm gonna do everything I can to enjoy things." n.n * Smith looks very confused. Well.... I've been trying to start a band. * GodHand finds a room and heads inside * Cliona follows right after her. n.n ... I've been meaning to ask Clio, but I think she'll read to much into it, so I'm afraid to ask her. Excuse me... You're excused. n.n ... Does this have anything to do with the mission? * Cliona doesn't budge. No, not really. What is the mission? Cait didn't tell me. * GodHand shrugs. "As you wish." She reaches forward and bodily brabs the front of Cliona's clothes in her cyborg hand. She lifts her and calmly walks back to the door We go shut down a robot plant and find out who and why. * Smith goes back to scribbling on the plans. * Nina blinks. Right..... I think I'll go find an interesting wall to talk to. (*points to the drawing wall*) * Nina walks cautiously away from Smith. * GodHand plops Clio down outside the door, nods curtly, and shuts it * Nina eyes the drawing on the wall, then Smith again, then exits through the nearest exit, nervously. "Bye! Nice to meet you!" *scribble* * Cliona blinks and sits on te ground for a moment and then shrugs and stands up. "Oh well." n.n Guess she doesn't get to know my secret then. n.n * Cliona wanders down the hall, hunting for something entertaining to do. * GodHand crashes on the bed (z.z.oO(zzzzzzz)) Hm... wonder if there's any shooter games here. * Guy emerges from one of the rooms. * Guy eyes Clio, frowning, then enters another room. * One of the room, does, indeed, have video games. And there's a couple of shooters, too. Not anything recent, though. [End]