Cornerian Mercenaries

[Zaphyr Stone]

Jolene raised a brow suspiciously at the teen, her guard up as she stuffed her things in a backpack and pulled it on.

"Yeah, good to go. Let's be off."

She stood by the door to let him out first so she could lock up behind her.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor hopped out of the apartment as quickly as possible, crossed his arms impatiently.

"Come on, asszony," he said. "We're wasting time. You know, it feels like I met you in another life... Another Universe..." He squinted his eyes inquisitively.

[Shmibli7]

Jasper groaned as he rode down the seemingly never ending highway. "Does this thing even exist?" He thinks out loud.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan drove his Aventador at top speed, occasionally looking in his rear view mirror to check if the others were keeping up with him. Satisfied that they were, he kept up his high speed. Elizabeth and Korben, meanwhile, were going in Elizabeth's GTO. Elizabeth sipped her cup of coffee, staying as alert as possible. There is no room for error at these speeds. Once in a while, she glanced to see Korben napping in the passenger's seat, his sunglasses off his face and hanging off his shirt pocket. His limp head leaned lazily on the seat, and he snored, which kept Elizabeth more awake than her coffee.

"Had to be in Ctesiphon, huh?" grumbled Elizabeth, annoyed at the distance they docked the Szabla. "Apparently it was physically impossible to put it anywhere near Corneria City. Damn lazy scalie piece of crap." Elizabeth then turned on the phone interface in her GTO, and selected Sven's name. She waited for him to pick up his phone.

[Kurt]

Sven was exiting the Black market with a large locked crate when his phone rang. The sudden noise caused the guard outside to flinch. Setting done the crate he picked up his phone. "Hello?" he said as he tightened the straps holding down the crate onto the trailer of his repulsor bike

 

[Zaphyr Stone]

"Sure, I get that feeling too." Jolene laughed as she locked her door and hurried down the stairs to catch up to him.

She mounted the bike and retracted the kickstand with her heel. "Perhaps we met in a past life." she teased with a mysterious "ooo".

Waiting for him to climb aboard first, she took off out of the parking lot and onto the main road again.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth was relieved when she heard Sven's voice over the phone. "Hey Sven, it's Liz," she began, "I need you to meet my team and I at the spaceport in Ctesiphon, section D8. Can you do that?" Her hands were gripped firmly on the wheel.

[Kurt]

Sven took down the location on his bikes Hud. "Yea," he began "It'll take a few hours for me to get there though. Oh and I stopped by the surplus stores and the Black Market and got some goodies for the next mission." Sven said as he pulled out onto the highway. "Just hope I don't get in a wreck, or else there will be a crater the size of a football field."

 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"The what now?" asked Elizabeth, not believing his claim of shopping at the Black Market. Apparently it is coming to a location near you. "Yeah, yeah, that's good. Well, we'll see you there in a few hours. Bye". She hung up, and refocused on the road. The two moons dominated the sky, and if the highway lights did not illuminate the road, the lights reflected from those moons would have.

[Shmibli7]

"So, what do we do once we get into the ship?" Jasper asked himself out loud. It was a good question, because up until this point, he had no idea. His mind raced to find a solution that could result in their killing of Nichols without them being captured by the Cornerian government seeing as they had no jurisdiction at all to be persuing Nichols any more due to being burned from their mercenary status. "We fly out of Cornerian airspace until we find a lead on Nichols, then we follow it." He answered himself. He tried to think of another plan in case it didn't work, but was unable to.

With a little bit of relief, he leans back and listens to the classic rock station. When they got there, the plan would be put in motion.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan was restless in the driver's seat of his Aventador. They were about an hour away from Ctesiphon's city limits, but he had developed the urge to relieve himself. A mile down the highway, he spotted a Torsten gas station, a chain that was sprinkled liberally across the region. He turned onto the exit, and rolled into the station's parking lot. He parked his super car beside a black sedan, locked it, and rushed inside the station's restrooms. Elizabeth sighed, and parked beside him. She nudged Korben, who was still sleeping beside her.

"Hey, Korby," she said, "wake up." Korben stirred, and opened his glowing eyes. He put his sunglasses back on and sat up in the seat. He yawned.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"We're at a rest stop. You need anything?"

"Coffee. My turn." Korben gestured at the wheel. Elizabeth nodded.

"Right then." They both unbuckled their seat belts and stepped out of the GTO. Closing the doors and locking them, Elizabeth and Korben went inside the station's store to buy snacks and coffee.

[Kurt]

The wind ripped over the helmet on Sven's head as his bike roared down the empty highway, hitting as high of a speed as he could without jarring the explosives in one of the crates.

Using the voice recognition in the enclosed helmet he activated the comlink attached to his ear.

 

"Call Jasper" he said. The earpiece connected as he waited for Jasper to pick up.

[Shmibli7]

Jasper looked at the caller ID. He was surprised to see Kurt's name come across it.

"Heyo! " He yells loudly into his console.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Jolene streaked down the road for what seemed like forever. The road stretched on and on before them with no sign of ending. This ship sure was a long way out from the city. She slowed to a stop as she noticed the cars from before parked at a gas station. Pulling into the parking lot and finding a space, she took off her helmet.

"Looks like your ride ends here, sport." she yawned softly, "You can ride with your friends from here."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor got off of Jolene's motorcycle, and stretched his arms and legs, yawning rather adorably. He turned to Jolene and nodded. "My boss, the Sclav," began Sandor, "will want to talk to you. After all, you and us are working together." He smiled, and walked inside the station. The doors gave way to a cathedral of snacks, soft drinks, coffee, e-cigarettes, candy, and a small alcohol section in the far back of the station. Frozen foods and ice cream could be found in the back as well, and cans of food, sauces, and other assortments were located on shelves dominating the center of the store. Sandor casually walked to the candy aisle, which was positioned next to the soda aisle, and swiped Ingri Bars, chocolate and caramel covered cookie bars. He buried them within his pockets. In order to act more like a paying customer, Sandor picked up a 20 liter bottle of sweet soda: Sarsi. Carrying it, he walked to the register, where he spotted Elizabeth and Korben paying for their coffee and various bags of chips. They both noticed Sandor approach them from behind. Elizabeth turned her head.

"Is she cool?" asked Elizabeth, referring to Jolene.

"She didn't kill me," answered Sandor. "But I don't know. We'll have to talk to her more." Elizabeth nodded in understanding, and after paying for her and Korben's goods, left with the beaver. Sandor payed for his soda with 12 credits, the last ones he had in his wallet. The cashier, unsuspecting of any problems in his mundane shift, cleared Sandor. He left the store, pleased that the Ingri Bars in his pocket remained undetected.

Meanwhile, Bohdan finished up in the restroom, and stepped out of the stall. He approached the sinks, his massive figure overshadowing a proportionally diminutive blue fox beside him as he washed his hands. The blue fox looked suspicious, and upon further inspection from Bohdan, he found Cerinian markings on the fox. Suddenly, the fox reached for something in his leather jacket using his left hand. Bohdan grasped the Cerinian's left arm, and slammed his head down onto the sink. The Cerinian recoiled, but Bohdan, his hands firmly grasping the assassin, threw him against a toilet door. At that moment, another Cerinian blue fox burst forth from the far lavatory, armed with a silenced automatic compact blaster. Bohdan pulled out his massive blaster pistol and shot the Cerinian dead before he could blink. The Cerinian's chest exploded, and he stumbled back onto the toilet seat. Bohdan holstered his blaster, pulled out a dagger, and approached the Cerinian that first encountered him at the sink. Bohdan grabbed this Cerinian by the ear, who cried out in agony, and brought the dagger close to the Cerinian's face.

"Who sent you?" Bohdan inquired.

"Rot in Hell, Demon!" said the Cerinian vindictively. Bohdan then heard the sound of glass being crushed within the Cerinian's mouth: he had bit down on a cyanide capsule! Bohdan attempted to stop the Cerinian from swallowing the poison, but it was futile. The Cerinian had killed himself. Bohdan, frustrated, threw the body down onto the floor. He cussed in Ruthenian, and stepped out of the bathroom, straightening his jacket.

[Kurt]

Sven replied once he He heard an awanser. "Hey I see most of the vehicles about half a mile up the road" he said as he rounded a turn and the gas station came into view "I'll be there soon, I need to get some of these crates into other vehicles." He hung up as he finished. It hadent taken long to get there. He stoped near the other bike and pulled off his helmet before he got off his.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2015 by Kurt

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth, Korben, and Sandor looked to see Sven pull up on a motorcycle and park it. As the canine took off his helmet, the trio approached him.

"Hey, Sven," greeted Elizabeth. Korben followed close behind her. "How you been, man?" They were pleased to see him. Sandor, however, still suffered from the shotgun blast he sustained a few days earlier, and groaned as he fell to one knee. Korben turned to notice this, and walked over to Sandor.

"Taking the painkillers?" asked Korben. Sandor shook his head. "You need to," advised Korben. Again, Sandor shook his head. He managed to stand on his own two feet, wincing in pain.

"I'll live, Korben," assured Sandor, patting the dark-dressed beaver on the shoulder. "After all, it's just a flesh wound."

[Shmibli7]

Jasper pulled in and got out of his car. Instead of greeting Kurt, his military mind looked for hostiles. He saw Bohdan come out into the store with a gun still in his hand. Sensing there was trouble, he opened his glove box where his automag and a full size twelve millimeter rested. He pulled the slide back on the automag and the other, but stuffed the twelve in the back of his pants.

He brushes past the others and walks to where Bohdan is.

"What happened?" He said simply.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Bohdan put aside formalities to explain the situation. "Two Cerinian assassins tried to kill me," said Bohdan, holstering his pistol. "They failed. Do not worry, they were after me, not you." Bohdan then pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, and selected a contact by the name of Roy Carlisle. The phone rang.

In Ctesiphon, Roy sat up on the flatbed of a truck as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The truck was parked in the same section of the space port where the Szabla was docked. He yawned and groaned, annoyed that someone decided to wake him. Shaking his head, he took out his phone and answered it. "Hello?" he said groggily.

"Good morning," answered Bohdan. "Is the Szabla ready?" Roy turned to the docked ship.

"No, she is not," Roy replied. He sniffed.

"Why?" inquired Bohdan.

"Because I was sleeping, Boss," said Roy. Bohdan rolled his eyes.

"Well, get it ready, Roy," ordered Bohdan. "We shall arrive soon."

"Got it, Boss," said Roy obediently, who leaped from the truck, taking his guitar with him.

[Kurt]

"Been doing just fine.'" Sven awansered Elizabeth. Setting down his helmet he continued "Got some special equipment for the next time we locate the target." He said as he patted the largest of the crates. "You guys have room in any of your vehicles for some of this?" Sven asked as Bohdan made a call. "Oh before we move Any of this I got you something Elizabeth." Prying open  small crate he pulled out a Compound Bow "Now this" he began "shoots an explosive arrow that is capable of blowing a hole the size of a bowling ball in a tank."Holding it out to her he added "I figured you'd have some fun with it."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Elizabeth stared blankly at the compound bow Sven held in his hands. After a few awkward moments of silence, she looked up at him. "I don't know how to use this," she confessed. Sandor, in the background, slapped his forehead. Korben shook his head.

Bohdan, at this, time, approached the rest of his team. He noticed Sven trying to give Elizabeth a compound bow. "I thought you did not know how to use this," he said, pointing at the bow.

"I don't!" yelled Elizabeth, peeved.

[Shmibli7]

"Guys, a convenience store isn't the best place to show off weapons, especially after what just happened." He said, gesturing to Bohdan. 

"I'm pretty sure that manager has a phone and with the amount of things that are used to kill people out here, I'm pretty sure every cop in Corneria City is coming after us. Let's just get to the ship."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Don't worry," said Sandor. He then turned to the store, and took out a device. It looked like a scanner of some sort. He pointed it at the store and pressed a button. Suddenly, all of the electronic devices in the store, including the lights, were turned off. Sandor rushed into the store, taking out an expandable baton. He struck the cashier in the head with it, knocking him out cold. The manager stepped out of his office to see what was going on, but he too was knocked unconscious by Sandor. Sandor then put on black gloves and smashed open the cash register, grabbing all of the credits there and stuffing them in his pocket. When his deed was done, he calmly walked out of the store.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Jolene watched the exchange in increasing dread. What was she getting herself into? Still, she was true to her word. She walked up to the group, seeing that they were joined by others now.

"Was all of that really necessary?" She asked Sandor as he returned to them, "I'm pretty sure all we had to do was leave, and we would have been fine." She looked around at the newcomers, "I'm Jolene, by the way. I've been invited to join in your shenanigans."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Of course it was," answered Sandor as he stopped beside Bohdan. "They witnessed our shenanigans." He then gestured to Bohdan, Elizabeth, and Korben, respectively, saying their names. "These are my coworkers and family. They'll only kill you if you decide to turn your guns on us."

"Welcome Jolene," greeted Bohdan rather warmly, considering the circumstances. However, she piqued his curiosity. He had the impression that he had seen this woman from somewhere... somewhere... "Do I..." Bohdan stepped closer to Jolene, bending down. "Do I know you? I have the feeling that I saw you from somewhere before..."

"Yeah..." added Elizabeth as she opened a bag of Jugurtha chips. "You look like someone we know..." she stated, munching on some of the sour cream and onion-flavored chips.