A day had passed since a momentous decision was made in a seldom-traveled corridor of the Last Light...Not that you’d know it. The trio had decided to hold off the announcement until they had more information, so as to keep vague statements from accruing too much speculation among the naturally excitable crew. With the plan still in such early stages of development it seemed only right to lay some groundwork first... And it was better that word of the upcoming 'shore leave' stay between the ones who were headed down Ringside. No sense in getting everyone riled up just yet. It had not taken the Captain long to schedule a shuttle down to Lisara - but it wasn't due to arrive for several days and there was little to be done in the meantime but wait...
”Okay I, like, know it’s in here somewhere.” Mackie insisted, her voice muffled by the several metric tons of stuff she was presently half buried beneath. The storage panel situated in the wall toward the back of her little living area had proven perfectly easy to open. It had also proven to be jam-packed with Mackie’s stuff - most of which consisted of old clothes, drug paraphernalia, miscellaneous crap, spare parts, half-finished projects, and high-yield ordinance. The usual.
It wasn’t even that she was a pack-rat. She wasn’t. These things just tended to get away from her, irresponsible, airheaded overgrown teenager that she was.
She had stoutly refused any attempts at aid, insisting that she, like, totally knew exactly where it was and had things totally under control. Now it had been about fifteen minutes and she had gone from examining the wall of stuff from different perspectives and prodding experimentally at things to being literally half buried beneath it. Her legs stuck out from the storage panel, the toe of one boot scuffing at the floor for purchase while the other tried to do some kind of counterbalance nonsense up in the air. Buckled over the lip of the storage panel as she was, the woman had appeared to be on the verge of falling in for several minutes now.
”Ooh, wait is tha-AAH!” Her words morphed into a startled yelp as she reached just a bit too far, tipping the precarious balance and toppling head over heels into the storage bay and causing some stuff to topple down onto her as well.
”I’m okay, I’m okay~!” Her still muffled voice called out from beneath the stuff. To emphasize this, she jutted one hand out from under the avalanche to display a reassuring thumbs-up. She wasn’t realistically in any danger, but it still seemed like the thing to do. Ever the one to make the best of every situation, naturally she then chose to use her new position om life to her advantage. ”We have to go deeper. If I’m not back in a fortnight send a search party.” She said with a sort of playful deadpan, and, mumbling to herself something about not even, like, knowing what a ‘fortnight’ is, proceeded to continue her search in the form of some kind of persistent, tie-dyed mole.
The next few minutes were peppered with the sounds of stuff being shifted and moved around, along with the occasional ”Oh, sweet!” and ””Oh man I totally forgot about this-” and ”I’ve been looking for that for-ev-er!” Several treasures were tossed out from the depths, including a small box of incense and lighters, some empty ammunition containers, a few guitar picks, what appeared to be some kind of pipe bomb, and couple of Mackie-style shirts and pants that seemed like they would fit Annag perfectly...Among other things.
Then, just when the idea of sending a search party was beginning to seem like a good idea, there came a victorious ”Ah-hah!” from within the depths that sounded much more certain than the other false alarms she had called out during her quest.
The stuff shifted about. The creature which lurked in the depths stirred. Things moved. And then, like a youngling turtle hesitantly peeking its head from the sand, the black shape of a sturdy looking guitar case breached the surface of the stuff. It was followed by a disheveled and slightly winded looking Macks, who promptly toppled over on the way out as she had on the way in, and ended up sitting on the floor with the guitar case in her lap.
Looking up to the potentially fretful Annag she smiled brightly, gave a thumbs-up. ”See? Like, totally simple.” Then, triumphantly brushing nonexistent dust off the surface of the guitar case, Mackie stood, sauntered over to a free surface and placed it down, wasting no time in unlatching the sturdy thing to see the contents within.
In the distant past, names like ‘Martin’ and ‘Gibson’, ‘Roland’ and ‘Yamaha’ ubiquitously associated with musical instruments. ‘Omni-Vers’ was one such modern name, universally associated with some of the highest-end instruments on the market. But whether or not Annag knew anything of that, there was no doubting that the ‘Omni-Vers ’Transcendence’’ was among the highest of high-end electric guitars.
It lay nestled lovingly within the faux-velvet moulding. An ancient, time-honored design, its glossy , depthless black body had a pearlescent quality that shifted throughout the spectrum in the light while still maintaining that rich, midnight hue. Several knobs and switches unobtrusively adorned the face, along with a little blue holo-screen that faced upwards toward the player to keep track of the myriad features and settings packed into the comparatively unassuming exterior. The dark wood of the fretboard looked elegant and sturdy, the head a simple, but classical design. The strings gleamed like new.
It was a very nice instrument - and Mackie found herself wondering as she took it from the case and flopped into the nearest chair why she had gone so over-the-top with her first and only foray into electric guitars.
”Alright, let’s see if I can still rock it.” The gunsmith-musician-who-knew-what-else woman said as she went about tuning the strings with the pitch-perfect ear of long familiarity. Once satisfied, Mackie played around a bit with the settings, producing a few experimental chords and bits and pieces of riffs both as a warmup and to test the sound - which was, of course, magnificent. The ’Transcendence’ required no amp and was capable of emulating everything from the warm sound of a classical, to the bright tones of a steel, to the angry growl of the high-gain electric that was the staple of hard rock and metal since the dawn of time.
The random bits and pieces began to come together after a time. Macks took to rhythmically tapping one booted foot heavily on the resounding metal floor, and proceeded to bang out an impressive number which she later described as ’a song from some old videogame or something’.
Concluding it with a little flourish of her right hand, Macks giggled delightedly as she gave the instrument in her hands an appreciative once-over. ”I like, forgot how fun this thing is.” She mused, before glancing sidelong toward Annag. Smiling cheerfully, she held the instrument out to the girl.
”Here, I want you to have it.” She said casually, without the slightest hesitation. ”I know you’ll, like, take good care of it and whatever.”
After the decision had been made to keep the announcement from the rest of the crew until the shuttle had arrived Kato had retreated back into his room, but only after peeping his head in to check on Annag. Moments before he’d reached the door a moment of hesitation came over the gigantic man, only that empty void outside knew what was going through his mind, but when he approached the door he was almost tentative, cautious even, some ancient unknowable worry bouncing about within the vast depths of his mind.
Slowly the metal fist pressed itself onto that pad to open up the door, sticking there even as the metal frame slid silently out of the way. It was an odd sight, the man who’d taken countless lives looking as if a room he’d been in so many times before now suddenly frightened him just because of one extra person.
“Ya can come in ya know. Ya dunny need to stand out there, freezing to death!”
Despite looking like he’d taken root outside the door, Kato was drawn inside the door, the room swallowing him up before its seeming Kato-specific gravity could weaken.
He didn’t stay long, nor did he really say anything and yet for the two people in the room he didn’t really need to. The two of them inside understood wordlessly why he was there, what he wanted to see. Even as the gigantic man stood up, ruffling the teens dark brown hair and silently left, he seemed more complete than before. Even if he could never be repaired to what he’d been before, he could at least stop the cracks from getting worse … they all could.
Afterward he’d retreat off to his quarters, yet unlike so many of the times, he’d done so before this time he seemed almost willing, encouraging even for other members of the crew to come to visit him. Something a young intelligence officer took great joy in doing,
She couldn’t see very into that storage space and yet Annag didn’t really need to do so to be utterly blown away by the stuff there. Then again it could have been filled wall to wall with empty cardboard boxes and she’d still have been blown away.
Even with free roam of the entirety of the armoury, she still knew that none of the stuff there was properly hers apart from the one or two little gadgets she’d crudely constructed in the spare time she got when she wasn’t catching up for all the lost time with her mom. Then again, with a mom like hers who wouldn’t want to spend every moment they could enthuse over just random facts and stories with her? Yet here so much stuff that was just owned by one person!
The fact that it was all owned by Mackie just made the whole sight just that bit more appealing to her.
Yet against all the odds here she was looking at all of this amazing stuff - especially those high ordinance owned by just a single person. Even the way it was all just messily thrown together was appealing for that not so little fighter. She’d never really owned enough stuff, or anything really, but she knew that all that neatly laying it out and organizing wasn’t really for her, this method of just searching through piles of stuff was far more appealing.
Of course, she’d offered to help her mom, popping the question in her characteristic way of simultaneously pretending to be only offering to help because she had nothing better to do, while at the same time, utterly failing to hide just how enthusiastic she really was. Yet when the attempt to throw out a life raft was declined she didn’t try forcing the issue.
After all, she knew about wanting to do things alone and knew that trying to offer help where it wasn’t wanted, especially for something as mundane as helping find something in a cupboard was silly. Or at least she’d thought that before seeing the pile of belongings that her mom was half buried alive in.
That was until her mom actually tipped forwards, losing her balance and being sent sprawling head first into the avalanche of random junk which made up that little bay. Something that was rapidly looking less and less like a storage area and more similar to the world's biggest skip moments after a bombing raid designed not to destroy, but merely scatter. “MOM! Are you okay? Need me to help?”
Right then and there it looked like she was ready to mount her own rescue operation, flail those metal limbs until the monster in the cave had released the most precious thing in her life. “If you’re sure … then I guess I can wait, but make sure you’re careful!” She knew she was being overprotective and realistically there was no danger involved at all in the situation, but still some instinctual need to protect still remained, a ghost from her past.
Just before the upraised thumb could be withdrawn it would feel a gentle pressure holding it in place for just a second. A feeling which seems suspiciously similar to metal fingers wrapping themselves around it for a miniature hug. “If you need any aid, I’ll be right behind ya!”
With that farewell, there was nothing really that Annag could do but wait and never being the type to stand still during moments like these she took to stretching again, her body getting ever closer to the same level of fitness it had been at before. One this was for sure and that was the muscles which had practically wasted away during her extended stay in the medbay were now back and were practically more well defined than they had ever been. After all, it was a lot easier to recover when actual food was part of your diet.
In fact she did her best not to listen to the mumbled explanations, after all, each of them could just be false starts, something which turned out to be quite true. It was only when her mother exclaimed in triumph did she rush over to the heap, ready to do whatever was needed to rescue Mackie from the clutches of that beast attempting to devour her.
Yet even with her eager readiness, she wasn’t expecting the fall, something that turned out to be more startling that she had assumed it could be. “Wha!”
It would only be after a few moments of scrutiny in which that young fighter seemed to double check every inch of her mother at least twice before she allowed a relaxed grin to spread out across her face. Then her eyes properly fixed on the case Mackie held within her hands and Mackie would be the first in the entire ring to see that girls eyes light up in wide-eyed amazement. The sort that only years of longing on for a dream to finally come true could bring.
“Is…. is …. Is that an electric guitar?” She’d belt out the question in between practically dancing around her mom and peering closer at the now open guitar case.
Truth be told, she had no idea about make, in fact, the knowledge she did have on makes or anything of the sort, what the names meant or really any of the reputations could probably come together to create some sort of rare element of anti-knowledge. But what that girl did know, was quality and this beauty now staring her in the face was one of the most high-quality things she’d ever seen in her life.
Gingerly before it could be removed Annag would place one hand over it, running a finger down the outside, tracing its curves and watching as the metal reflected off in the shiny, practically perfect surface of such a marvel. It was rather obvious from the way her eyes traced over it that to her it was something almost akin to a relic.
And when Mackie began to play it was like the relic, this mystical item was casting a spell over that fighter, so enraptured by its magnificent noise, was she. The fighter whose spirit was practically unbreakable, who’d taken on an opponent she had no hope in all of the dead galaxy of beating, just to save the last remnants of humanity. Now mesmerized and held captive by a simple noise and yet.
Yet there was nothing else she could have rather wished for.
For all the long years she’d sat in her bed and dreamed of seeing one of these, or just once, seeing someone play one live and every year her wishes had been answered with more fighting, more clinging to life out of sheer desperation. Now here she was safe in the comfort of her own room listening live to her mother play her a tune. A single salty tear rolled itself out of the corner of that teen's eye and she was too happy to even care.
“Wh….w…. WHAT!!??” Her face went almost wide with utter shock and awe, those little emerald eyes glistening with something that looked very suspiciously like tears. “Yo….you want to give that to me? Me!?”
In an ironic way, it was almost reminiscent of their first meeting when Mackie had proposed to add a dart thrower to the girl's arm. Except this time it was different, this time the girl was on the verge of tears, not out of being utterly out of her depth or in a situation beyond comprehension, but more that the sheer kindness that her mom showed to her was something she’d never experienced before in her life.
“M...mom … th...thank you” She was fully crying now, the tears trickling down her cheeks in utter overwhelming joy.
No matter what she’d receive later in life this guitar would forever be her most prized possession, “T..thank you… thank you so much.” She wouldn’t even take it, instead just throwing herself into her mother's lap, curling her arms around that metal and flesh body that made up Mackie.
“I promise I’ll take good care of it! I promise! You have my word!”
Slowly the metal fist pressed itself onto that pad to open up the door, sticking there even as the metal frame slid silently out of the way. It was an odd sight, the man who’d taken countless lives looking as if a room he’d been in so many times before now suddenly frightened him just because of one extra person.
“Ya can come in ya know. Ya dunny need to stand out there, freezing to death!”
Despite looking like he’d taken root outside the door, Kato was drawn inside the door, the room swallowing him up before its seeming Kato-specific gravity could weaken.
He didn’t stay long, nor did he really say anything and yet for the two people in the room he didn’t really need to. The two of them inside understood wordlessly why he was there, what he wanted to see. Even as the gigantic man stood up, ruffling the teens dark brown hair and silently left, he seemed more complete than before. Even if he could never be repaired to what he’d been before, he could at least stop the cracks from getting worse … they all could.
Afterward he’d retreat off to his quarters, yet unlike so many of the times, he’d done so before this time he seemed almost willing, encouraging even for other members of the crew to come to visit him. Something a young intelligence officer took great joy in doing,
She couldn’t see very into that storage space and yet Annag didn’t really need to do so to be utterly blown away by the stuff there. Then again it could have been filled wall to wall with empty cardboard boxes and she’d still have been blown away.
Even with free roam of the entirety of the armoury, she still knew that none of the stuff there was properly hers apart from the one or two little gadgets she’d crudely constructed in the spare time she got when she wasn’t catching up for all the lost time with her mom. Then again, with a mom like hers who wouldn’t want to spend every moment they could enthuse over just random facts and stories with her? Yet here so much stuff that was just owned by one person!
The fact that it was all owned by Mackie just made the whole sight just that bit more appealing to her.
Yet against all the odds here she was looking at all of this amazing stuff - especially those high ordinance owned by just a single person. Even the way it was all just messily thrown together was appealing for that not so little fighter. She’d never really owned enough stuff, or anything really, but she knew that all that neatly laying it out and organizing wasn’t really for her, this method of just searching through piles of stuff was far more appealing.
Of course, she’d offered to help her mom, popping the question in her characteristic way of simultaneously pretending to be only offering to help because she had nothing better to do, while at the same time, utterly failing to hide just how enthusiastic she really was. Yet when the attempt to throw out a life raft was declined she didn’t try forcing the issue.
After all, she knew about wanting to do things alone and knew that trying to offer help where it wasn’t wanted, especially for something as mundane as helping find something in a cupboard was silly. Or at least she’d thought that before seeing the pile of belongings that her mom was half buried alive in.
That was until her mom actually tipped forwards, losing her balance and being sent sprawling head first into the avalanche of random junk which made up that little bay. Something that was rapidly looking less and less like a storage area and more similar to the world's biggest skip moments after a bombing raid designed not to destroy, but merely scatter. “MOM! Are you okay? Need me to help?”
Right then and there it looked like she was ready to mount her own rescue operation, flail those metal limbs until the monster in the cave had released the most precious thing in her life. “If you’re sure … then I guess I can wait, but make sure you’re careful!” She knew she was being overprotective and realistically there was no danger involved at all in the situation, but still some instinctual need to protect still remained, a ghost from her past.
Just before the upraised thumb could be withdrawn it would feel a gentle pressure holding it in place for just a second. A feeling which seems suspiciously similar to metal fingers wrapping themselves around it for a miniature hug. “If you need any aid, I’ll be right behind ya!”
With that farewell, there was nothing really that Annag could do but wait and never being the type to stand still during moments like these she took to stretching again, her body getting ever closer to the same level of fitness it had been at before. One this was for sure and that was the muscles which had practically wasted away during her extended stay in the medbay were now back and were practically more well defined than they had ever been. After all, it was a lot easier to recover when actual food was part of your diet.
In fact she did her best not to listen to the mumbled explanations, after all, each of them could just be false starts, something which turned out to be quite true. It was only when her mother exclaimed in triumph did she rush over to the heap, ready to do whatever was needed to rescue Mackie from the clutches of that beast attempting to devour her.
Yet even with her eager readiness, she wasn’t expecting the fall, something that turned out to be more startling that she had assumed it could be. “Wha!”
It would only be after a few moments of scrutiny in which that young fighter seemed to double check every inch of her mother at least twice before she allowed a relaxed grin to spread out across her face. Then her eyes properly fixed on the case Mackie held within her hands and Mackie would be the first in the entire ring to see that girls eyes light up in wide-eyed amazement. The sort that only years of longing on for a dream to finally come true could bring.
“Is…. is …. Is that an electric guitar?” She’d belt out the question in between practically dancing around her mom and peering closer at the now open guitar case.
Truth be told, she had no idea about make, in fact, the knowledge she did have on makes or anything of the sort, what the names meant or really any of the reputations could probably come together to create some sort of rare element of anti-knowledge. But what that girl did know, was quality and this beauty now staring her in the face was one of the most high-quality things she’d ever seen in her life.
Gingerly before it could be removed Annag would place one hand over it, running a finger down the outside, tracing its curves and watching as the metal reflected off in the shiny, practically perfect surface of such a marvel. It was rather obvious from the way her eyes traced over it that to her it was something almost akin to a relic.
And when Mackie began to play it was like the relic, this mystical item was casting a spell over that fighter, so enraptured by its magnificent noise, was she. The fighter whose spirit was practically unbreakable, who’d taken on an opponent she had no hope in all of the dead galaxy of beating, just to save the last remnants of humanity. Now mesmerized and held captive by a simple noise and yet.
Yet there was nothing else she could have rather wished for.
For all the long years she’d sat in her bed and dreamed of seeing one of these, or just once, seeing someone play one live and every year her wishes had been answered with more fighting, more clinging to life out of sheer desperation. Now here she was safe in the comfort of her own room listening live to her mother play her a tune. A single salty tear rolled itself out of the corner of that teen's eye and she was too happy to even care.
“Wh….w…. WHAT!!??” Her face went almost wide with utter shock and awe, those little emerald eyes glistening with something that looked very suspiciously like tears. “Yo….you want to give that to me? Me!?”
In an ironic way, it was almost reminiscent of their first meeting when Mackie had proposed to add a dart thrower to the girl's arm. Except this time it was different, this time the girl was on the verge of tears, not out of being utterly out of her depth or in a situation beyond comprehension, but more that the sheer kindness that her mom showed to her was something she’d never experienced before in her life.
“M...mom … th...thank you” She was fully crying now, the tears trickling down her cheeks in utter overwhelming joy.
No matter what she’d receive later in life this guitar would forever be her most prized possession, “T..thank you… thank you so much.” She wouldn’t even take it, instead just throwing herself into her mother's lap, curling her arms around that metal and flesh body that made up Mackie.
“I promise I’ll take good care of it! I promise! You have my word!”
Kato sat there in the pilot's seat of the shuttle, alone with all the thoughts in his head. He had been for almost a day now. The way his body was meant that he didn't really need to go get food, or at least he could go without it for far longer than the rest of the crew ever could. All in all, he could just sit there and wait, it wasn't long now until the rest of the crew arrived, then they'd set off after all, everyone had earned this break.
It hadn't taken him long to program the flight path, everything about this trip was automated, ready to take the little vessel down to the surface below, guiding them around the vast slowly spinning bulk of the ringworld. A place for which the inhabitants was their only planet. Then down through the vast concrete forest of Lisara. At least in situations like this one his military position was a bonus, for once it would give him access to the routes reserved for high ranking officials.
Officially they were just going to stop within the Federal complex, touching down on one of the many landing pads there, where he and his supposedly official escort would wait until they were escorted further within to begin negotiations to get funding.
Of course, that was all a lie, He would be the one to go within the jaws of that trap, to undertake the frankly mindnumbing process of negotiating the labyrinthine passages that was the Federal system, especially for something as reckless as taking the Last Light out on a little away mission. He hadn't confessed it to the rest of the crew yet, but he didn't really believe they'd get the funding needed. Something the little voices had never ceased to remind him, once again he was lying to everyone that knew him, withdrawing back inwards and yet ... this time he didn't have any proper regrets about his actions.
He'd thought about taking Mackie along with him, but she needed time with her kid. The kid you saved. . He blinked slightly, pulling up a communications device and quickly looking once more at a message written plainly over it, that little message and picture attached to it that had in many ways become his anchor. After all some time for the two of them to properly act as a family would be good for the two, if nothing else they had most certainly earned it. In fact everyone who was coming with him down had earned this time off, the soldiers, the veterans and the Lights own little lovebirds.
He would have gone on, had a familiar voice not popped up behind him, a voice that he'd grown so grateful of for its persistence in talking to him, another person to remind him that he was still human. He had been prepared to wait in the shuttle alone, but this would be so much nicer.
"Hullo cap."
One-half of said lovebirds was already charging towards the shuttle, which was a strange sight really. Not in the enthusiasm with which he ran, that was normal for the ships own little weird, yet loveable synth, no it was more in the fact that he didn't have a small redheaded engineer bolting along behind him desperately attempting to keep up with the excitable creature as he went about another of his own projects.
Yet there was a reason for this, something which upon closer inspection of Ike could be more plainly seen.
After ensuring he'd woken up much earlier than his girlfriend he'd dashed off towards the little scout ship they'd both taken on their first adventure out, the time when they'd both confessed their love for the other. There he'd picked up a little something he'd been working on over the last few days, having occasionally excused himself and scurried away in the ship working on this little project.
Now after sending Riley a little message which read. "Riles, I've got something I want to show you. I'll be waiting over at the shuttle." He'd put it on and dashed off to the chosen location, doing his best to try and take routes the little engineer wouldn't. After all he didn't want her to see this, it was his own little surprise, something that he desperately hoped she'd like.
What the weird little synth had chosen to do would be plainly obvious to her the second she arrived, where instead of his usual Federal blue clothing he was wearing something decidedly different. Somehow he'd managed to get together a light grey shirt and green camo trousers, a practical mirror image of the set worn by the tiny M'drani. After all if he was going to go down to the surface, he didn't want to look like another random Fed, he wanted people to know exactly who he was with.
The second she'd arrive he'd look up with those twin lavender hearts and greet her with a smile. "Heya Riles, so what do you think?"
For her part Annag had just put away a small communications device she'd been staring at very insenely for the last few minutes, something she'd been doing on and off for almost that entire day, stuffing the little thing into a pocket before turning back towards her mom. It wasn't long before the shuttle took off and while she was in no doubt that they weren't going to make it she wanted to make sure they got to it in good time.
She was doing her best to hide the excitement, but it was another thing she was failing at miserably. Not that it wouldn't stop her getting defensive about that fact though, it felt wrong in some way people seeing her as a normal teenage girl excited about going to see the city properly for the first time with her mom. Especially so for the ships own little extremely determined robotic limbed warrior girl.
"Come on mum! We've got to hurry, we don't want to be late! What if ... what if Kato takes off and leaves us behind! Cmmmmonnnn mum please!"
In her own way it felt good too to be pestering her mother to hurry up for a trip. It was such a small thing and yet she'd been denied it her whole life. She'd fought with all her strength for this little bit of normalcy and she was doing everything in her power to make up for lost time.
It hadn't taken him long to program the flight path, everything about this trip was automated, ready to take the little vessel down to the surface below, guiding them around the vast slowly spinning bulk of the ringworld. A place for which the inhabitants was their only planet. Then down through the vast concrete forest of Lisara. At least in situations like this one his military position was a bonus, for once it would give him access to the routes reserved for high ranking officials.
Officially they were just going to stop within the Federal complex, touching down on one of the many landing pads there, where he and his supposedly official escort would wait until they were escorted further within to begin negotiations to get funding.
Of course, that was all a lie, He would be the one to go within the jaws of that trap, to undertake the frankly mindnumbing process of negotiating the labyrinthine passages that was the Federal system, especially for something as reckless as taking the Last Light out on a little away mission. He hadn't confessed it to the rest of the crew yet, but he didn't really believe they'd get the funding needed. Something the little voices had never ceased to remind him, once again he was lying to everyone that knew him, withdrawing back inwards and yet ... this time he didn't have any proper regrets about his actions.
He'd thought about taking Mackie along with him, but she needed time with her kid. The kid you saved. . He blinked slightly, pulling up a communications device and quickly looking once more at a message written plainly over it, that little message and picture attached to it that had in many ways become his anchor. After all some time for the two of them to properly act as a family would be good for the two, if nothing else they had most certainly earned it. In fact everyone who was coming with him down had earned this time off, the soldiers, the veterans and the Lights own little lovebirds.
He would have gone on, had a familiar voice not popped up behind him, a voice that he'd grown so grateful of for its persistence in talking to him, another person to remind him that he was still human. He had been prepared to wait in the shuttle alone, but this would be so much nicer.
"Hullo cap."
One-half of said lovebirds was already charging towards the shuttle, which was a strange sight really. Not in the enthusiasm with which he ran, that was normal for the ships own little weird, yet loveable synth, no it was more in the fact that he didn't have a small redheaded engineer bolting along behind him desperately attempting to keep up with the excitable creature as he went about another of his own projects.
Yet there was a reason for this, something which upon closer inspection of Ike could be more plainly seen.
After ensuring he'd woken up much earlier than his girlfriend he'd dashed off towards the little scout ship they'd both taken on their first adventure out, the time when they'd both confessed their love for the other. There he'd picked up a little something he'd been working on over the last few days, having occasionally excused himself and scurried away in the ship working on this little project.
Now after sending Riley a little message which read. "Riles, I've got something I want to show you. I'll be waiting over at the shuttle." He'd put it on and dashed off to the chosen location, doing his best to try and take routes the little engineer wouldn't. After all he didn't want her to see this, it was his own little surprise, something that he desperately hoped she'd like.
What the weird little synth had chosen to do would be plainly obvious to her the second she arrived, where instead of his usual Federal blue clothing he was wearing something decidedly different. Somehow he'd managed to get together a light grey shirt and green camo trousers, a practical mirror image of the set worn by the tiny M'drani. After all if he was going to go down to the surface, he didn't want to look like another random Fed, he wanted people to know exactly who he was with.
The second she'd arrive he'd look up with those twin lavender hearts and greet her with a smile. "Heya Riles, so what do you think?"
For her part Annag had just put away a small communications device she'd been staring at very insenely for the last few minutes, something she'd been doing on and off for almost that entire day, stuffing the little thing into a pocket before turning back towards her mom. It wasn't long before the shuttle took off and while she was in no doubt that they weren't going to make it she wanted to make sure they got to it in good time.
She was doing her best to hide the excitement, but it was another thing she was failing at miserably. Not that it wouldn't stop her getting defensive about that fact though, it felt wrong in some way people seeing her as a normal teenage girl excited about going to see the city properly for the first time with her mom. Especially so for the ships own little extremely determined robotic limbed warrior girl.
"Come on mum! We've got to hurry, we don't want to be late! What if ... what if Kato takes off and leaves us behind! Cmmmmonnnn mum please!"
In her own way it felt good too to be pestering her mother to hurry up for a trip. It was such a small thing and yet she'd been denied it her whole life. She'd fought with all her strength for this little bit of normalcy and she was doing everything in her power to make up for lost time.
Realizing in the brief predawn before waking that she was alone, Chief Engineer Rilynne Miles found herself struck suddenly with a wholly illogical notion that somehow she had overslept and was running the risk of being left behind. This was nonsense for more obvious reasons than were worth delving into. By the time she had flailed her way clumsily out of bed, flailed her way clumsily out of the tangle of blankets that had followed her out of bed, and flailed her way out of the other bed upon which she had flailed her way onto in the process of flailing her way out of the blankets that had followed her from flailing her way out of the first bed….
Riley realised that there was nothing to worry about and proceeded with getting ready for the excursion with vaguely restrained enthusiasm.
Riles had been acting nonchalant, even disinterested at the notion of going ringside to see the metropolis Lisara. Or, at least, she had been trying to act as such and failing miserably. All the dismissive sounds and offhanded, halfhearted reassurances that she would most certainly rather be staying on the ship but she supposed if it really meant that much to him she would let him drag her along- none of it could compete with the way she did that little imperceptibly-bouncing-on-her-toes thing every time the subject was brought up.
The girl had always been mildly curious as to what it was like, of course - most people were, she supposed - but it was only once she had connected the city to Ike that the idea of seeing it became a preoccupying desire. In M’Draan, Lisara was essentially Narnia, or some weird, incomprehensible other dimension beyond the experience of mortal men. It was not relevant to the conflict, and so it was just ignored. Riley had been too focused on obsessively nerding out with her precious copy of the Last Light schematics to join in with the occasional games the others in her Unit played, conjuring up fantastical images of what places like Lisara must be like. She was too straightforward for that kind of thing anyhow - not creative enough - but she could recall a few speculations that had made her giggle with their absurdity.
She’d make a point of asking Ike whether everybody really flew around on magic bombwads - not realizing the lengthy tree of explanations she would then have to embark on in order to explain to Ike what in the holy hell a ‘bomwad’ was. She had been doing that sort of thing a lot lately - casually using obscure terminology exclusive to the dialect which checked nine of the ten boxes toward just being a literally whole different language, then trying to explain to him what one word meant by using a dozen other words which he also would have no way at all of knowing the definitions of. Of course, she hadn’t gotten more than benignly frustrated at him over it - but how was she supposed to know that he didn’t know a muskrat from a ratstick? Or that a ratstick was simply a jerry-rigged, lower-class version of a mothballer and a raisin-ex-machina? Or that he didn’t know what either of those things were either - maybe it was the fault of Riley’s culture for having so many things made up of other things rigged up together…
Riley’s mind was wandering when the alert came on her pocket-terminal. (Ike had convinced her to carry around one of the sleek little palm-sized comms models so that her bulky, sturdy DiaComm could be used more exclusively for its intended purpose. She had resisted, of course, and was still getting used to the blasted, newfangled thing - why the hell didn’t it have any buttons? Just a weird touch-interface navigated by complicated series’ of flicks and taps and arcane magic runes and frustration. And the thing was so tiny and fragile it was almost definitely going to break into a million pieces the first time she inevitablyflung it against a wall dropped it.
Presently she found herself fumbling with the thing, frantically tapping at buttons that didn’t exist and frowning like it had just called her something inherently nasty. Had it been a request for a direct connection it almost certainly would have timed out - but mercifully it was a text message, the basic functions of which she more or less had down a little bit kind of.
Riley blinked, absently fluffing out her damp mop of hair as she read it over again. What could he possibly want now…?
-
Riley poked her head around the open transport door, crimson hair bobbing and a look of owlish skeptical curiosity on her freckled face. Eyes like welcome rainclouds blinked as they glanced over the synth, briefly uncomprehending. Then she cracked a grin, tried to suppress a fit of giggling, failed almost immediately and took to what could have very easily been misconstrued as laughing at him. Granted, Riley had a terrible way of sounding like she was being mean even when she wasn’t - but this time it seemed more deliberate. Something about Ike was definitely resonating as wholly entertaining.
”Suits’ya Grade-A...But….I’s gon’ask you’de same fhing’like, a’chly~”
”Oh my Stars I’m comiiinnnngggggguhhh! Like, hold your horses and whatever!” Annag’s weird maternal figure groaned in an equally if not more juvenile tone of voice. Not that her exasperation could be taken as legitimate, of course.
Also, Mackie wasn’t coming. Not yet. She was still sitting. She sat at one of so many work benches, putting the final, finishing touches on tooling a project she had naturally procrastinated on until the last minute because responsibility is hard. She held the obscenely hefty nano-revolver loosely in one cocked hand, head tilted at a weird angle and one eye screwed shut as she delicately poked and prodded at it with a precision instrument. It was, as it happened, the gun that most people assumed Mackie carried concealed on her at all times, but had never actually seen. There was no reason for this, it was just that rare for her to detach the hand-cannon from the holster mounted at the small of her back and hidden beneath the baggy clothing.
It really was a monster of a gun. An elongated, sturdy barrel, the chamber aglow with the nano-power cell that allowed her implants to interface with the gun and access a whole host of functions, most of which involved converting the cell’s hype=condensed matter into just about any kind of projeectile she could come up with, constrained only by the liberal bore. It was carbon black, just like her special rifle, and shared a similar glowing green holographic sight.
”Besides he’s, like, not gonna’ leave without us.” Mackie argued, ”And we’re not even scheduled to launch for like-” The hand holding the pen-like tool pulled away, shook so as to let the baggy sleeve fall back and expose her wrist. She looked at it as if there were a watch there, which there was not. As if she didn’t already have the time literally inside her head, as if it wasn’t casually blinking away in the corner of her overlayed HUD.
”A while.” She concluded confidently, as if her invisible wrist watch had given her a more reassuring answer than the clock overlayed on her cybernetic eyes - which, in fact, was informing her that the launch was scheduled in an uncomfortably brief eight minutes.
It wasn’t as if the whole morning had been spent procrastinating, though. So that made iti okay. She’d spent some time talking quietly with Danesh about something that probably wasn’t important or interesting enough to listen in on, but seemed to please her nonetheless. She had apparently acquired a pack of some kind of cigarettes from the old bot, which was pretty weird, but she didn’t mention it. She did, however, spend a little too long searching through her organized chaos for a lighter.
And now, here she was, putting the little tool down and snapping the chamber of the nano-revolver into place with a satisfying click. She grinned at it, stood lazily, holstering it securely up under her ridiculous FONK hoodie Which she still stole back from Annag from time to time and sauntering unhurriedly over to where her daughter was doubtless bouncing about with barely contained energy, probably approaching critical mass. ”A’ight, let’s go~”
Nothing left to do now but catch a ride. A ride down to Lisara. Lisara, which she had fled from with two guns, a guitar case and a duffel bag after infiltrating the recruitment office and speaking directly to the city’s military administrator, earning her a direct line straight to Kato and the Light, and a new life.
Lisara, where everything would definitely be fine, and there was nothing to worry about. It was going to be fun.
If there was any anxiety in the woman she was hiding it very, very well.
Five steps out of the armoury, Mackie stopped, blurted ”OhwaitIforgotsomething-” and turned around, glancing to Annag to see her reaction then proceeding as planned. ”Eh, don’t need it.” She said, grinning and deciding not to pull the dumb little trick again at the risk of giving her daughter a coronary.
”Eeeyyyyy Robbaayyy!” Roared the voice of Jack Vox, the gravely cry echoing throughout the immediate vicinity. He was pretty sure Corporal Firth was somewhere nearby. Pretty sure. ”We’re gonna’ go get smashed and start bar brawls at biker bars! You comin’?” Regardless of the answer - or whether or not there was an answer at all - the elderly cyborg rebels left it at that and proceeded toward the shuttle.
”Aw, sugga’ haiiil naw you ain’t draggin me inn’a no Rusted Cuff boa’ you out yo’ damn mind!” Robin was saying as the old couple entered into the shuttle, crashing like a pair of hoodlums after giving the Captain a hearty wave - though not allowing their banter to be interrupted.
”Pfff lady you’ll be itchin ta’ beat some sense inn’a them no-good Raiders once we’re three bars and a few dozen drinks in and you know it!”
”Aw, yeeeah, I bet, I bet, whi’ass mu@#$%a’ gone take out he’ aggression-”
They were both right - and despite that Robyn was using the thuggy accent she usually took on when engaging in banter with her husband there was truth to both sides. Jack had been spoiling for a fight ever since he and Robyn arrived too late to help out Mackie and Annag in the battle. Robyn played the part of the voice of reason but in reality she was no better - the two of them were both violent criminals and there was no getting around it.
They were also loyal to the death and prepared to protect the Last Light and her crew to the very end - it would be good for the feisty old @#$%s to get out some of that pent-up aggression and bar-crawling with intent to brawl seemed like just the thing to sate that primal need. Granted, Jack was being even more brassy than usual, suggesting they take on The Raiders of Lost Light’ - but it was probably just talk. Surely nobody could get smashed enough to drudge up the suicidal bravado it would take to bust into one of the biker gang’s most notorious hotspots...Surely. They were definitely probably going to keep property destruction and general pandemonium to a minimum. Definitely probably.
Riley realised that there was nothing to worry about and proceeded with getting ready for the excursion with vaguely restrained enthusiasm.
Riles had been acting nonchalant, even disinterested at the notion of going ringside to see the metropolis Lisara. Or, at least, she had been trying to act as such and failing miserably. All the dismissive sounds and offhanded, halfhearted reassurances that she would most certainly rather be staying on the ship but she supposed if it really meant that much to him she would let him drag her along- none of it could compete with the way she did that little imperceptibly-bouncing-on-her-toes thing every time the subject was brought up.
The girl had always been mildly curious as to what it was like, of course - most people were, she supposed - but it was only once she had connected the city to Ike that the idea of seeing it became a preoccupying desire. In M’Draan, Lisara was essentially Narnia, or some weird, incomprehensible other dimension beyond the experience of mortal men. It was not relevant to the conflict, and so it was just ignored. Riley had been too focused on obsessively nerding out with her precious copy of the Last Light schematics to join in with the occasional games the others in her Unit played, conjuring up fantastical images of what places like Lisara must be like. She was too straightforward for that kind of thing anyhow - not creative enough - but she could recall a few speculations that had made her giggle with their absurdity.
She’d make a point of asking Ike whether everybody really flew around on magic bombwads - not realizing the lengthy tree of explanations she would then have to embark on in order to explain to Ike what in the holy hell a ‘bomwad’ was. She had been doing that sort of thing a lot lately - casually using obscure terminology exclusive to the dialect which checked nine of the ten boxes toward just being a literally whole different language, then trying to explain to him what one word meant by using a dozen other words which he also would have no way at all of knowing the definitions of. Of course, she hadn’t gotten more than benignly frustrated at him over it - but how was she supposed to know that he didn’t know a muskrat from a ratstick? Or that a ratstick was simply a jerry-rigged, lower-class version of a mothballer and a raisin-ex-machina? Or that he didn’t know what either of those things were either - maybe it was the fault of Riley’s culture for having so many things made up of other things rigged up together…
Riley’s mind was wandering when the alert came on her pocket-terminal. (Ike had convinced her to carry around one of the sleek little palm-sized comms models so that her bulky, sturdy DiaComm could be used more exclusively for its intended purpose. She had resisted, of course, and was still getting used to the blasted, newfangled thing - why the hell didn’t it have any buttons? Just a weird touch-interface navigated by complicated series’ of flicks and taps and arcane magic runes and frustration. And the thing was so tiny and fragile it was almost definitely going to break into a million pieces the first time she inevitably
Presently she found herself fumbling with the thing, frantically tapping at buttons that didn’t exist and frowning like it had just called her something inherently nasty. Had it been a request for a direct connection it almost certainly would have timed out - but mercifully it was a text message, the basic functions of which she more or less had down a little bit kind of.
Riley blinked, absently fluffing out her damp mop of hair as she read it over again. What could he possibly want now…?
-
Riley poked her head around the open transport door, crimson hair bobbing and a look of owlish skeptical curiosity on her freckled face. Eyes like welcome rainclouds blinked as they glanced over the synth, briefly uncomprehending. Then she cracked a grin, tried to suppress a fit of giggling, failed almost immediately and took to what could have very easily been misconstrued as laughing at him. Granted, Riley had a terrible way of sounding like she was being mean even when she wasn’t - but this time it seemed more deliberate. Something about Ike was definitely resonating as wholly entertaining.
”Suits’ya Grade-A...But….I’s gon’ask you’de same fhing’like, a’chly~”
Riley stepped around the threshold.
Riley was wearing jeans. She was wearing a clean, dark shirt and - perhaps strangest of all - a spotless, bright orange hoodie. The only part of her outfit she was even known to have owned were the boots - and even those had been cleaned and and polished...If not to a shine, at least a respectable degree.
Other than that the clothing seemed to be everything Riley didn’t belong in - clean, new, and properly fitted. Not to mention bright.
Apparently this was how Riley dressed when she wasn’t perpetually ‘at work’.
The outfit had taken almost three months to save up for, some time before the offer to join the Light had been extended to her by an eager recruiter. Simple, sturdy, average-quality clothes produced by a simple, mid-range manufacturer - but given that she had worked exclusively for room and board and no actual pay, saving up the money had been an ordeal.
But Riley had wanted some normal people clothes. Not that she had a problem with her usual fare - she’d hardly dress any other way day-to-day even if she had to - but it felt only right that if there was no longer a M’Dranni military for her to be enlisted in - if she were to be a ‘civilian’ (A term she only learned after her deportation, as it happened) she should have ‘civilian’ clothes. Just one set. Folded up nearly in the very bottom of the duffel bag she’d brought all her ringly possessions in and kept there all the while.
Saved for a special occasion, just like this one.
After all, if she was going to go down to the surface, she didn’t want to look like just another random, idiot tourist. She wanted people to know exactly who she was with.
That, and she didn’t want to embarrass Ike in front of what she could only assume were some kind of mysterious cultural elite.
Hooking a thumb casually around a belt loop, Riley demurred, tapping the toe of one boot on the floor behind her and peering a little shyly across and up at Ike. ”Eh~?”
Riley was wearing jeans. She was wearing a clean, dark shirt and - perhaps strangest of all - a spotless, bright orange hoodie. The only part of her outfit she was even known to have owned were the boots - and even those had been cleaned and and polished...If not to a shine, at least a respectable degree.Other than that the clothing seemed to be everything Riley didn’t belong in - clean, new, and properly fitted. Not to mention bright.
Apparently this was how Riley dressed when she wasn’t perpetually ‘at work’.
The outfit had taken almost three months to save up for, some time before the offer to join the Light had been extended to her by an eager recruiter. Simple, sturdy, average-quality clothes produced by a simple, mid-range manufacturer - but given that she had worked exclusively for room and board and no actual pay, saving up the money had been an ordeal.
But Riley had wanted some normal people clothes. Not that she had a problem with her usual fare - she’d hardly dress any other way day-to-day even if she had to - but it felt only right that if there was no longer a M’Dranni military for her to be enlisted in - if she were to be a ‘civilian’ (A term she only learned after her deportation, as it happened) she should have ‘civilian’ clothes. Just one set. Folded up nearly in the very bottom of the duffel bag she’d brought all her ringly possessions in and kept there all the while.
Saved for a special occasion, just like this one.
After all, if she was going to go down to the surface, she didn’t want to look like just another random, idiot tourist. She wanted people to know exactly who she was with.
That, and she didn’t want to embarrass Ike in front of what she could only assume were some kind of mysterious cultural elite.
Hooking a thumb casually around a belt loop, Riley demurred, tapping the toe of one boot on the floor behind her and peering a little shyly across and up at Ike. ”Eh~?”
”Oh my Stars I’m comiiinnnngggggguhhh! Like, hold your horses and whatever!” Annag’s weird maternal figure groaned in an equally if not more juvenile tone of voice. Not that her exasperation could be taken as legitimate, of course.
Also, Mackie wasn’t coming. Not yet. She was still sitting. She sat at one of so many work benches, putting the final, finishing touches on tooling a project she had naturally procrastinated on until the last minute because responsibility is hard. She held the obscenely hefty nano-revolver loosely in one cocked hand, head tilted at a weird angle and one eye screwed shut as she delicately poked and prodded at it with a precision instrument. It was, as it happened, the gun that most people assumed Mackie carried concealed on her at all times, but had never actually seen. There was no reason for this, it was just that rare for her to detach the hand-cannon from the holster mounted at the small of her back and hidden beneath the baggy clothing.
It really was a monster of a gun. An elongated, sturdy barrel, the chamber aglow with the nano-power cell that allowed her implants to interface with the gun and access a whole host of functions, most of which involved converting the cell’s hype=condensed matter into just about any kind of projeectile she could come up with, constrained only by the liberal bore. It was carbon black, just like her special rifle, and shared a similar glowing green holographic sight.
”Besides he’s, like, not gonna’ leave without us.” Mackie argued, ”And we’re not even scheduled to launch for like-” The hand holding the pen-like tool pulled away, shook so as to let the baggy sleeve fall back and expose her wrist. She looked at it as if there were a watch there, which there was not. As if she didn’t already have the time literally inside her head, as if it wasn’t casually blinking away in the corner of her overlayed HUD.
”A while.” She concluded confidently, as if her invisible wrist watch had given her a more reassuring answer than the clock overlayed on her cybernetic eyes - which, in fact, was informing her that the launch was scheduled in an uncomfortably brief eight minutes.
It wasn’t as if the whole morning had been spent procrastinating, though. So that made iti okay. She’d spent some time talking quietly with Danesh about something that probably wasn’t important or interesting enough to listen in on, but seemed to please her nonetheless. She had apparently acquired a pack of some kind of cigarettes from the old bot, which was pretty weird, but she didn’t mention it. She did, however, spend a little too long searching through her organized chaos for a lighter.
And now, here she was, putting the little tool down and snapping the chamber of the nano-revolver into place with a satisfying click. She grinned at it, stood lazily, holstering it securely up under her ridiculous FONK hoodie Which she still stole back from Annag from time to time and sauntering unhurriedly over to where her daughter was doubtless bouncing about with barely contained energy, probably approaching critical mass. ”A’ight, let’s go~”
Nothing left to do now but catch a ride. A ride down to Lisara. Lisara, which she had fled from with two guns, a guitar case and a duffel bag after infiltrating the recruitment office and speaking directly to the city’s military administrator, earning her a direct line straight to Kato and the Light, and a new life.
Lisara, where everything would definitely be fine, and there was nothing to worry about. It was going to be fun.
If there was any anxiety in the woman she was hiding it very, very well.
Five steps out of the armoury, Mackie stopped, blurted ”OhwaitIforgotsomething-” and turned around, glancing to Annag to see her reaction then proceeding as planned. ”Eh, don’t need it.” She said, grinning and deciding not to pull the dumb little trick again at the risk of giving her daughter a coronary.
”Eeeyyyyy Robbaayyy!” Roared the voice of Jack Vox, the gravely cry echoing throughout the immediate vicinity. He was pretty sure Corporal Firth was somewhere nearby. Pretty sure. ”We’re gonna’ go get smashed and start bar brawls at biker bars! You comin’?” Regardless of the answer - or whether or not there was an answer at all - the elderly cyborg rebels left it at that and proceeded toward the shuttle.
”Aw, sugga’ haiiil naw you ain’t draggin me inn’a no Rusted Cuff boa’ you out yo’ damn mind!” Robin was saying as the old couple entered into the shuttle, crashing like a pair of hoodlums after giving the Captain a hearty wave - though not allowing their banter to be interrupted.
”Pfff lady you’ll be itchin ta’ beat some sense inn’a them no-good Raiders once we’re three bars and a few dozen drinks in and you know it!”
”Aw, yeeeah, I bet, I bet, whi’ass mu@#$%a’ gone take out he’ aggression-”
They were both right - and despite that Robyn was using the thuggy accent she usually took on when engaging in banter with her husband there was truth to both sides. Jack had been spoiling for a fight ever since he and Robyn arrived too late to help out Mackie and Annag in the battle. Robyn played the part of the voice of reason but in reality she was no better - the two of them were both violent criminals and there was no getting around it.
They were also loyal to the death and prepared to protect the Last Light and her crew to the very end - it would be good for the feisty old @#$%s to get out some of that pent-up aggression and bar-crawling with intent to brawl seemed like just the thing to sate that primal need. Granted, Jack was being even more brassy than usual, suggesting they take on The Raiders of Lost Light’ - but it was probably just talk. Surely nobody could get smashed enough to drudge up the suicidal bravado it would take to bust into one of the biker gang’s most notorious hotspots...Surely. They were definitely probably going to keep property destruction and general pandemonium to a minimum. Definitely probably.
Much to everyone's total and utter complete lack of surprise Ike seemed to go into overdrive the second he saw the person he cared about more than the ring, more than space itself pop her head around the corner. It was the moment she had been waiting for and his eyes began glowing even brighter as those little hearts pulsed into view.
It wasn't long before the only real term left to describe that little ball of excitement was aglow with joy. After all Riley had begun grinning the second she saw him, not that he knew what she was laughing about in this second, but that didn't really matter, what did matter was the fact that she was happy. Riley was enjoying his little surprise and that was all he could have ever wanted. Then when she went so far as to compliment how he looked in them the Synth looked like he could have melted there on the spot had not all the tricksy bits like a skeleton got in the way of things.
Then, of course, she stepped around the corner into full view.
If before Ike had been asked to think of any look that suited her perfectly, he'd have been hard-pressed to come up with anything other than the usual set of clothes she wore almost constantly, they had just seemed to be a part of her. Yet now as he gazed upon her new choice of clothing, that answer extended by one to encompass this new outfit.
There was, of course, some part of him that was still attempting to adjust to this new reality, scrambling around to even attempt believing what it was seeing, that she looked not only casual but bright too. It felt unnatural and yet - yet it fitted her so damn well.
Even if he hadn't fervently believed that she was friggin cute before, even if many of the crew would have disagreed with him he felt certain none would be able to say she wasn't now.
Then it hit him, the sudden hilarity of the situation. Not only had both of them decided that in order to go to Lisara properly they'd dress as the other did, but they'd also both done so as a little happy surprise for the other. Within a second he was laughing, almost doubling up for a moment as the uncontrollable fits of joy bubbled out of his mouth, this was an extremely happy Ike and it was all because of Riley.
It would take what felt like ages for his laughter to begin fading long enough for him to even speak coherent words, but when it did they tumbled out all at once, desperate to make up for all the lost time spent on merriment. "You ... youlookamazing!Liketotallytotallyamazing ... andadorable! You'll look perfect down in Lisara and -"
He paused for a second then instead of continuing to speak, in which he knew all he'd do would be to repeat everything he'd said before he decided upon a different course of action and swept forward to plant a kiss directly on her lips.
As Mackie whined back at her demanding teenage daughter Annag's face curled up into a frustrated pout as if to say without any words. I don't believe you! We should be going nowwwwwwwwww. Yet her inner feelings couldn't have been further from that if they had been trying, she was smart enough to know that Kato would never leave without Mackie and so there was absolutely no danger of them being left behind. But the simple act of being able to stand in the doorway whining at her mom to hurry up filled her with so much joy it practically radiated out from behind that grumpy teenage mask she wore.
So much of this, she'd only ever heard snippets of as people discussed it in whispered tones back down in the pits, while other parts, much like with Riley had simply been guessed at with attempts that ranged from the sensible to the completely absurd.
Yet even with her limited knowledge of what a mother and daughter relationship was supposed to be like she knew deep down that there should be some pestering involved, especially from the younger member. After all it stood to reason right, that the younger member was more lively and therefore should do more of the pestering, something Annag was indeed quite good at. Not that Mackie with her understanding of the girl ever not be able to see through it to the contended girl beneath.
It was funny but in her own way, in doing her best to capture what such a relationship should be like then make up for all the lost time she hadn't had it, Annag had captured one of the most fundamental elements of such. To enjoy as much of the time spent together as possible. Which for every moment she spent in that weird hippie gunsmiths company she pretty much did.
"A whileeeee's tooo short, what if he decides to leave early to make sure he's on schedule? What iffff .... She paused in an attempt to think up another thing Kato could do to ruin their plans in the "A while" he had allocated to him, ending up on the decidedly lame "He does something!"
When it appeared that this latest batch of whining hadn't quite achieved its aim of making Mackie jump upwards and bolt towards the door, that pouting cyborg pulled out her little communications device and began to stare at it intently again, making flicking motions which if Mackie was looking could only be described as thumbing through messages. Something perfectly natural for a bored teen to be doing, less natural for a bored teen who Mackie would know, didn't have anyone to message her.
At the sound of the revolver clicking into place, the girl practically dropped her phone before shoving it hastily into a pocket. That sound meant that her mum was finally done messing about with that revolver, which in turn meant she was ready to go. For an instant, her eyes hovered over the FONK hoodie, which Mackie had made the right choice in getting to quickly, for it was one of the many days Annag had been planning to procure it. "Yes!"
She had seemed like she practically exploded there with barely contained excitement, even the mask of grumpiness had been melted away by the sheer bounding joy which she felt.
After everything that had happened to her, she was finally going on a little trip. Not for any political reason or an attempt to find a new enemy to fight in a desperate struggle to survive. No this time she was going to just be a tourist, a teenager taking a holiday down to the big city with her mum, life she decided was good.
The instant Mackie swung around exclaiming over some forgotten item Annag's eyes widened in frustration and disbelief, "WHAAAAA???? But mummmmmmmmmm w-"
She trailed off into a pout as Mackie waved the issue aside, doing her best to pretend that she was annoyed properly for that one. An attempt that didn't stop her snuggling up to her mum as the two of them walked down the corridor approaching the ship.
At the alloted time scheduled for departure a man stepped out from the cockpit, the door separating that small portion of the ship sliding away to reveal a smartly dressed man in his fourties. Or at least something that resembled that at first glance.
It would be rather a shock to most people to see Kato like this, fully dressed up in a smart admirals uniform, a cap pulled down over his head, hiding the small shock of hair atop his head. That alongside the way he had for once properly smartened up his robotic shell, doing his best to swap in actual parts to replace the decaying ones he'd worn for so long really did change him. He looked younger, far more similar to what people had probably imagined the captain of such a warship to look like.
"Well then ... is everyone ready to leave?"
It wasn't long before the only real term left to describe that little ball of excitement was aglow with joy. After all Riley had begun grinning the second she saw him, not that he knew what she was laughing about in this second, but that didn't really matter, what did matter was the fact that she was happy. Riley was enjoying his little surprise and that was all he could have ever wanted. Then when she went so far as to compliment how he looked in them the Synth looked like he could have melted there on the spot had not all the tricksy bits like a skeleton got in the way of things.
Then, of course, she stepped around the corner into full view.
If before Ike had been asked to think of any look that suited her perfectly, he'd have been hard-pressed to come up with anything other than the usual set of clothes she wore almost constantly, they had just seemed to be a part of her. Yet now as he gazed upon her new choice of clothing, that answer extended by one to encompass this new outfit.
There was, of course, some part of him that was still attempting to adjust to this new reality, scrambling around to even attempt believing what it was seeing, that she looked not only casual but bright too. It felt unnatural and yet - yet it fitted her so damn well.
Even if he hadn't fervently believed that she was friggin cute before, even if many of the crew would have disagreed with him he felt certain none would be able to say she wasn't now.
Then it hit him, the sudden hilarity of the situation. Not only had both of them decided that in order to go to Lisara properly they'd dress as the other did, but they'd also both done so as a little happy surprise for the other. Within a second he was laughing, almost doubling up for a moment as the uncontrollable fits of joy bubbled out of his mouth, this was an extremely happy Ike and it was all because of Riley.
It would take what felt like ages for his laughter to begin fading long enough for him to even speak coherent words, but when it did they tumbled out all at once, desperate to make up for all the lost time spent on merriment. "You ... youlookamazing!Liketotallytotallyamazing ... andadorable! You'll look perfect down in Lisara and -"
He paused for a second then instead of continuing to speak, in which he knew all he'd do would be to repeat everything he'd said before he decided upon a different course of action and swept forward to plant a kiss directly on her lips.
As Mackie whined back at her demanding teenage daughter Annag's face curled up into a frustrated pout as if to say without any words. I don't believe you! We should be going nowwwwwwwwww. Yet her inner feelings couldn't have been further from that if they had been trying, she was smart enough to know that Kato would never leave without Mackie and so there was absolutely no danger of them being left behind. But the simple act of being able to stand in the doorway whining at her mom to hurry up filled her with so much joy it practically radiated out from behind that grumpy teenage mask she wore.
So much of this, she'd only ever heard snippets of as people discussed it in whispered tones back down in the pits, while other parts, much like with Riley had simply been guessed at with attempts that ranged from the sensible to the completely absurd.
Yet even with her limited knowledge of what a mother and daughter relationship was supposed to be like she knew deep down that there should be some pestering involved, especially from the younger member. After all it stood to reason right, that the younger member was more lively and therefore should do more of the pestering, something Annag was indeed quite good at. Not that Mackie with her understanding of the girl ever not be able to see through it to the contended girl beneath.
It was funny but in her own way, in doing her best to capture what such a relationship should be like then make up for all the lost time she hadn't had it, Annag had captured one of the most fundamental elements of such. To enjoy as much of the time spent together as possible. Which for every moment she spent in that weird hippie gunsmiths company she pretty much did.
"A whileeeee's tooo short, what if he decides to leave early to make sure he's on schedule? What iffff .... She paused in an attempt to think up another thing Kato could do to ruin their plans in the "A while" he had allocated to him, ending up on the decidedly lame "He does something!"
When it appeared that this latest batch of whining hadn't quite achieved its aim of making Mackie jump upwards and bolt towards the door, that pouting cyborg pulled out her little communications device and began to stare at it intently again, making flicking motions which if Mackie was looking could only be described as thumbing through messages. Something perfectly natural for a bored teen to be doing, less natural for a bored teen who Mackie would know, didn't have anyone to message her.
At the sound of the revolver clicking into place, the girl practically dropped her phone before shoving it hastily into a pocket. That sound meant that her mum was finally done messing about with that revolver, which in turn meant she was ready to go. For an instant, her eyes hovered over the FONK hoodie, which Mackie had made the right choice in getting to quickly, for it was one of the many days Annag had been planning to procure it. "Yes!"
She had seemed like she practically exploded there with barely contained excitement, even the mask of grumpiness had been melted away by the sheer bounding joy which she felt.
After everything that had happened to her, she was finally going on a little trip. Not for any political reason or an attempt to find a new enemy to fight in a desperate struggle to survive. No this time she was going to just be a tourist, a teenager taking a holiday down to the big city with her mum, life she decided was good.
The instant Mackie swung around exclaiming over some forgotten item Annag's eyes widened in frustration and disbelief, "WHAAAAA???? But mummmmmmmmmm w-"
She trailed off into a pout as Mackie waved the issue aside, doing her best to pretend that she was annoyed properly for that one. An attempt that didn't stop her snuggling up to her mum as the two of them walked down the corridor approaching the ship.
At the alloted time scheduled for departure a man stepped out from the cockpit, the door separating that small portion of the ship sliding away to reveal a smartly dressed man in his fourties. Or at least something that resembled that at first glance.
It would be rather a shock to most people to see Kato like this, fully dressed up in a smart admirals uniform, a cap pulled down over his head, hiding the small shock of hair atop his head. That alongside the way he had for once properly smartened up his robotic shell, doing his best to swap in actual parts to replace the decaying ones he'd worn for so long really did change him. He looked younger, far more similar to what people had probably imagined the captain of such a warship to look like.
"Well then ... is everyone ready to leave?"
”If he leaves early...” Mackie said wisely, with a sly grin and a sagely finger extended vaguely upward, ”Then he’s not ‘on schedule’.”
Everything, as it happened, was on schedule.
Riley scampered through the airlock with Ike in tow, somehow managing to actually pull off - to a very small extent - the act of begrudgingly allowing herself to be dragged along on something she wanted nothing to do with. That that it was fooling anyone. Not remotely. But she was better at that sort of thing than Annag was, at least.
Though Annag’s presence was certainly a large part of why that act could be pulled off to the extent that it was. The older girl’s presence had never ceased to bother Riley who, while having cooled off to the point of no longer actively denouncing the girl’s position as crew, still made a point of keeping away from her whenever possible. It was just too hard to see her as anything but the enemy - and more than that the memory of her boyfriend’s back opened up in a gruesome, lassy mechanical crater had never quite left her mind. Fiercely protective of him as she was, it seemed there was little hope of reconciliation on that front.
But all she had to do was ignore the Mortugan, and that would be good enough. That was an improvement in itself, given that a few weeks before she’d not have so much as stepped foot on the shuttle if it meant having to share it with Annag. As it was, Riley sat on the opposite side of the seating arrangements and quietly marveled at the sophistication of the machine itself. Granted, it was as battered and out of date as the rest of the hulking mass of welded metal and ancient bolts - but she still couldn’t disassociate the shuttle from the rickety hydrogen - or worse, diesel - helicopters that were her only experience in flight before her first ascent to the Last Light. She couldn’t help but imagine the shuttle as a chopper that had somehow been fashioned like a sort of bus. Ships - even small ones, like the scouts - felt like a different category.
When the Captain appeared donning a full admiral’s ensemble and presentable cybernetic shells he was immediately greeted with the sound of Mackie whistling out an exaggerated cat call. Implicitly trusting both the pilot’s aptitude and - perhaps less wisely - the shuttle’s overall integrity, the woman was lazily sprawled out over the space of three different seats - one in front serving as a footrest, and one at her side where her arm wrapped casually around the back. That seat, naturally, was occupied by her giddy cyborg kid.
Jack and Robyn were situated in a similarly, if slightly less overtly casual fashion.
There was a general sounding and gesturing of assent from the passengers at Kato’s confirmation. Onward and...downward.
Everything, as it happened, was on schedule.
Riley scampered through the airlock with Ike in tow, somehow managing to actually pull off - to a very small extent - the act of begrudgingly allowing herself to be dragged along on something she wanted nothing to do with. That that it was fooling anyone. Not remotely. But she was better at that sort of thing than Annag was, at least.
Though Annag’s presence was certainly a large part of why that act could be pulled off to the extent that it was. The older girl’s presence had never ceased to bother Riley who, while having cooled off to the point of no longer actively denouncing the girl’s position as crew, still made a point of keeping away from her whenever possible. It was just too hard to see her as anything but the enemy - and more than that the memory of her boyfriend’s back opened up in a gruesome, lassy mechanical crater had never quite left her mind. Fiercely protective of him as she was, it seemed there was little hope of reconciliation on that front.
But all she had to do was ignore the Mortugan, and that would be good enough. That was an improvement in itself, given that a few weeks before she’d not have so much as stepped foot on the shuttle if it meant having to share it with Annag. As it was, Riley sat on the opposite side of the seating arrangements and quietly marveled at the sophistication of the machine itself. Granted, it was as battered and out of date as the rest of the hulking mass of welded metal and ancient bolts - but she still couldn’t disassociate the shuttle from the rickety hydrogen - or worse, diesel - helicopters that were her only experience in flight before her first ascent to the Last Light. She couldn’t help but imagine the shuttle as a chopper that had somehow been fashioned like a sort of bus. Ships - even small ones, like the scouts - felt like a different category.
When the Captain appeared donning a full admiral’s ensemble and presentable cybernetic shells he was immediately greeted with the sound of Mackie whistling out an exaggerated cat call. Implicitly trusting both the pilot’s aptitude and - perhaps less wisely - the shuttle’s overall integrity, the woman was lazily sprawled out over the space of three different seats - one in front serving as a footrest, and one at her side where her arm wrapped casually around the back. That seat, naturally, was occupied by her giddy cyborg kid.
Jack and Robyn were situated in a similarly, if slightly less overtly casual fashion.
There was a general sounding and gesturing of assent from the passengers at Kato’s confirmation. Onward and...downward.
Unlike the other teens there was one among them who was very, very openly displaying just how excited they were by the prospect of exploring the city alongside all the new friends they'd made aboard the Light. Much the complete lack of surprise of the whole universe that little being was Ike, his eyes sparkling like the twin lovehearts they were. All of which was pretty much just standard behavior for the adorable synth, especially when anything involving Riley was involved, it seemed around her each of his already excited movements became twice as bouncy.
Then again he didn't share the same misgivings which were affecting his trust of the group as Riley did. Unlike her he was more comfortable around Annag than Riley had ever been, especially after the little things she'd done which to his far more trusting mind was proof she had regretted everything she'd done. Although similarly to his girlfriend, the knowledge that she'd been responsible for the pain and trips to the medbay he'd had to endure still did sour relations between the two. Of course now he had Riley to protect him, a thought that cheered him up to no end, even if she probably wasn't the best of fighters, her sheer strength of will gave him enough encouragement to face anything.
As she took her seat Ike would bolt to its neighbor as if he truly believed she'd be popular enough to warrant enough haste in ensuring that he got the seat next to hers. After a few seconds of little wriggles and adjustment in order to get the comfiest position, he gave up and adopted a new tactic: Snuggling up onto his girlfriend's lap and resting his head on her shoulder, a task he undertook with glee, adding a surprise kiss on the lips as he enacted it.
In quite a distinct contrast rather than thoughts about the ship, which after so long practicing in his own little scout and time spent in training simulations back in Lisara that it had just become just another sight to him. A marvel of engineering to be certain, however something that paled to the vast expanse waiting for him at the end of the journey. Instead his head was full of all the different sights he could show Riley, all the different foods he could introduce her to, feel the joy again he'd felt in watching her as she devoured that plate of real proper food.
Such a journey for him felt like perfection and so long as his Riles was with him, he was fairly certain it would be. "Love youuuuu!"
For Annag's part the sight of Riley had sent a wave of sadness washing over her, not that it would show at all, the exterior barrier provided to her by snuggling up into her mother's protective arms was all she needed to continue walking towards the shuttle in an extremely bad pretense of teen annoyance. The knowledge that her actions had deeply hurt this girl, someone who seemed to have suffered enough was a bitter one, even in escaping the torment of her past life she'd damaged someone elses.
Still, it was slightly molified by the fact that she'd made such an impact on other people, particularly her mother, her grandparents, and Kato. Although Jack and Robyn weren't technically her grandparents she still considered them as such, not that she knew what the real deal was anyway so two badass cyborgs like herself seemed particularly fitting.
In the end, she, like the rest of the people on the ship would settle down in a seat, which she chose right next to her mum, after all who else would she want to share this trip with?
Kato took on a rather sheepish expression as he heard Mackie whistling at him, a similar look echoing on the face of her mortified daughter. It seemed that out of every reaction he'd been expecting to his freshly prepared look, this was certainly not one of them. He spent a few moments coughing, silently pushing back a sudden wave of nasea which pushed up against him, voices screaming silently within his head at the notion that anyone could even find him attractive.
"Ahem ... well then ... we should be arriving soon, until then do make your decisions about what you want to do down there, you will only have until the negociations are finished so keep that in mind."
Then again he didn't share the same misgivings which were affecting his trust of the group as Riley did. Unlike her he was more comfortable around Annag than Riley had ever been, especially after the little things she'd done which to his far more trusting mind was proof she had regretted everything she'd done. Although similarly to his girlfriend, the knowledge that she'd been responsible for the pain and trips to the medbay he'd had to endure still did sour relations between the two. Of course now he had Riley to protect him, a thought that cheered him up to no end, even if she probably wasn't the best of fighters, her sheer strength of will gave him enough encouragement to face anything.
As she took her seat Ike would bolt to its neighbor as if he truly believed she'd be popular enough to warrant enough haste in ensuring that he got the seat next to hers. After a few seconds of little wriggles and adjustment in order to get the comfiest position, he gave up and adopted a new tactic: Snuggling up onto his girlfriend's lap and resting his head on her shoulder, a task he undertook with glee, adding a surprise kiss on the lips as he enacted it.
In quite a distinct contrast rather than thoughts about the ship, which after so long practicing in his own little scout and time spent in training simulations back in Lisara that it had just become just another sight to him. A marvel of engineering to be certain, however something that paled to the vast expanse waiting for him at the end of the journey. Instead his head was full of all the different sights he could show Riley, all the different foods he could introduce her to, feel the joy again he'd felt in watching her as she devoured that plate of real proper food.
Such a journey for him felt like perfection and so long as his Riles was with him, he was fairly certain it would be. "Love youuuuu!"
For Annag's part the sight of Riley had sent a wave of sadness washing over her, not that it would show at all, the exterior barrier provided to her by snuggling up into her mother's protective arms was all she needed to continue walking towards the shuttle in an extremely bad pretense of teen annoyance. The knowledge that her actions had deeply hurt this girl, someone who seemed to have suffered enough was a bitter one, even in escaping the torment of her past life she'd damaged someone elses.
Still, it was slightly molified by the fact that she'd made such an impact on other people, particularly her mother, her grandparents, and Kato. Although Jack and Robyn weren't technically her grandparents she still considered them as such, not that she knew what the real deal was anyway so two badass cyborgs like herself seemed particularly fitting.
In the end, she, like the rest of the people on the ship would settle down in a seat, which she chose right next to her mum, after all who else would she want to share this trip with?
Kato took on a rather sheepish expression as he heard Mackie whistling at him, a similar look echoing on the face of her mortified daughter. It seemed that out of every reaction he'd been expecting to his freshly prepared look, this was certainly not one of them. He spent a few moments coughing, silently pushing back a sudden wave of nasea which pushed up against him, voices screaming silently within his head at the notion that anyone could even find him attractive.
"Ahem ... well then ... we should be arriving soon, until then do make your decisions about what you want to do down there, you will only have until the negociations are finished so keep that in mind."
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