Tired of wearing black and blue (Ch. 4: Day 1)

psikeout · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:38 pm

Rock opened the airlock to let Ace, Jam, and Tau through (if the robot was using the same exit, which he might not have been, since he had full access and knowledge to operate any of the airlocks himself). There was no need for it to function like an airlock, being that there was breathable air outside, so both doors stood open, allowing a clear view outside. When the primate saw Badge approaching behind them, though, he slowly sidestepped into the raccoon's way with a scrutinizing look, and a raised, obstructing hand.

"... Badge—no offense, but..." He paused and contemplated how to phrase it without putting all the passengers loitering around into a tizzy. Ultimately, he decided to just say it quietly. "Well. You're the only pilot left who isn't on the registered crew list. You might be... more needed here in a few, if you get what I mean."

He didn't seem to expect things to go well outside.

NPC · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:48 pm

Did Rock have good reason for believing this? One look over his shoulder at the sliver of the outside world visible beyond the airlock doors said yes. The opening led onto a metal catwalk. It looked very narrow and high-walled at first, until focused on more intently, at which time it became clear that those were not walls, but lines of robots shoulder-to-shoulder. Their design was markedly similar to Tau's, and their thrusters were all still hissing as if they had just flown in seconds before. They were all equipped with some kind of energy rifles, which they held at ready, unmoving. At the far end of the harrowing, claustrophobic, gun-bristling walk was a T-junction with another walkway, where a large monitor, all by itself, hovered in midair, as if waiting for them.

Greens · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:36 pm

With the Mudoch business over and dealt with (again), the serval was free to attend the more pressing matters... like the overwhelming egg-presence he felt before even disembarking his vessel. So as he slid his glasses back into the inner pocket of his faithful green jacket, and his pistol into the southern waistband of his jeans, Ace strolled over in Rock's direction with a steadily growing tension. "Aye, captain..." he mumbled aloud, and motioned Jam to come along with. His expression nearly mirrored the paler of the primates, even before glancing ahead... and probably for good reason. As cliche as it was, he had a bad feeling about what awaited him outside.

Mie · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:02 pm

Markedly absent of amusement, Jam laughed.

As she stepped outside, her expression grew tight. Her eyes flickered back and forth over the welcome committee as though speed reading, but a particularly astute person might have noticed the subtle movement of her lips as she counted. She shook her head, slowly at first, as the panic started to set in, and then very crisply and succinctly, as her count wrapped up somewhere around, "... forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, ffffff-... we're screwed. 'We're screwed' is now a quantity, and this is it."

With a quiet clearing of her throat, the smallish girl looked around, and took a deep breath.

"No choice but to play nice for now," mused the monkey in a barely audible mutter, as much to herself as to her companions. With their lack of viable options self-affirmed, squared her shoulders, straightened her back, and held her head high as she moved with an anxious conviction toward the catwalk.

NPC · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:16 pm

And so they went, closing the airlock door behind them.

...

What a walk. Rock and Jam could hardly stand shoulder to shoulder, with the taller Ace, then Tau, trailing behind. None of the robots seemed to really look at them as they passed by, until one, colored orange, suddenly stuck out its arm and halted them.

"Registration indicates that this is not your entire crew," it stated.

"The others are too injured," replied Rock, possibly lying.

The modified Egg Gunner looked him over. Was it possible that a robot would be thinking if you're here, what do they look like? Hard to say. It nonetheless retracted its arm back to its side, and stepped back in line, allowing the group passage.

The group stopped in front of the floating monitor. There was a blip of static, then... Eggman's face. His real face. Live feed. ... Aaand he was bobbing his head and mumble-singing some song at an unintelligibly low volume while apparently reading something. A quiet robotic voice from the background went, "Dr. Eggman, you're on."

"Hm?" he grunted, looking up and somewhere beyond the camera. He very nearly had his finger up his nose and was in the middle of a front-page-photo-worthy face.

"You're live!" hissed the voice.

"Oh. —OH why didn't you ngh—"

He whipped his hand down and suddenly whirled around to better face the camera.

"Well, hello there," he greeted wryly, grinning, hands suddenly neatly folded in front of him as if nothing was wrong, mustache all a-bristle. "If it isn't...!"

... He turned his head a little to the side and pursed his lips.

"... you! Beat-up monkey. What's your name, again?" He wasn't Sonic, so Eggman could hardly be bothered to remember a thing about him. (It was sheer luck he recognized him at all.)

The white monkey in question frowned a little, but replied, "Rock."

"Ah, yes," said Eggman, as if he actually remembered. "Rock the Monkey. I remem—"

"Lochert," the monkey blurted. "My last name's Lochert, not 'the monkey.' I ain't some... naked woodland creature in sneakers," he added bitterly, but quietly.

Eggman eyed him strangely in silence, then continued on with an air of non-concern. "Hoooh. Okay. Well, Mr. Lochert, I hear you just came back from Space Colony ARK! That's curious!"

Rock looked nonplused. "It was a disaster."

"Yeees, I imagine it was. You do realize you were tampering with Eggman Empire property, I hope," said the doctor with sinister grins abound.

Rock didn't reply.

"You and your friends stick your noses in a lot of things, you know. But I remember when someone does right by me!" He raised a single index finger, as if leading into something. "Actually," he started to almost cackle in that gritty, sandpapery way, "that stunt in Empire City was very good! Exactly what I was going to do before you showed up and helped me out! I was very impressed. I never got to properly thank you."

"... Just 'doing the right thing'," Rock said in a very flatly-delivered quote from their earlier exchange.

Eggman squinted at him as if trying to figure out the significance of the heavily-stressed sentence. He then leaned back in his seat and sputtered an, "Ohoh. Oohhh. Ohohoh," pointing a single, jabbing finger at the screen, as if to say I see what you did there! His ego blossomed like the finest, most grotesque flower at the insinuation.

"Flattery will get you nowhere!" he chided, tongue-in-cheek. "But loyalty to The Eggman Way will. I'm hiring!"

The way he twinkled his jazz-hands and grinned from ear to ear, one would think he was expecting them to look like they had just won the Price is Right.

"Running a whole world is tiring, and I just don't have enough robots for it yet, aaand it helps keep morale up among the subjects, blah blah blah, you know. It's a once in a lifetime job offer."

The way he said "lifetime" seemed to ring with an unspoken "literally."

Diluss · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:47 pm

One of the airlocks on the back of the ship quietly slid open. Apart from a cockpit alarm there was no other warning that someone had pulled the emergency release on the smaller door's controls.

There was a low rumbling from the metal door as it slid along its track on greased bearings, but the noise was lost in the dull mechanical roar that suffused the air -- background noise supplied by the limitless skyline of industrial plants that surround the landing.

The door stopped after about eight inches. Someone peered through the gap, looking around for any signs of surveillance. A flat, ash-black bird's head rose above the edge of the door, and looked sharply around.

Noticing nothing immediate, the bird, an eagle, wedged a shoulder against the airlock door and twisted his body around, levering the metal slab open until it was roughly the width of his body. Then he reached up out of the airlock, planted his arms on the surface of the ship, and hung there from his armpits, head and shoulders out in the recessed cavity that was the location of the airlock proper.

He listened quietly.

Kazz · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:49 pm

A minute or two after the eagle was the ever-snooping unicorn once more. Had he trailed behind the crew and continued on in search of a way to eavesdrop, or had he simply gone back into the to his place when he spied the bird?

... It was the latter. No need to beat around the bush.

Rodolf had simply left the crumpled Tasmanian devil and walked away as soon as the monkeys (and cat) had departed. He had resigned himself to return to his original location, when the moving mass of man that was Coop had passed through, headed somewhere, and he had promptly given chase. (Well, a subtle, quiet, and low-speed chase, giving the bird a sizable lead. Perhaps chase wasn't the best word-- gave sneak?) Only the sound of his feet on the floor would have announced his presence there-- he once again hung back a few feet, choosing to stay within the airlock for the time being. Rodolf idly wondered what would happen were he to startle him.

However, such thoughts were banished quickly; he furrowed his brow as the sounds from outside reached his ears, and he tossed a look back in the general direction of where the remaining passengers dwell in a state of disarray.

Greens · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:43 am

Ace couldn't help but don his shifty face while the other two did their introduction act. There was a special brand of pressure that only being surrounded by fifty-some armed mechs with a license to kill could supply. He caught glimpses from his peripheral vision, but did his best to not look suspicious in the monitor's eyes. All subtlety aside, he couldn't resist an incredulous glance when the good doctor produced his offer.

"You're kidding, right?" He spoke only half under his breath with disbelief, but hopefully not enough treachery in his voice to justify a firing squad funeral. "Figures the first job offer I got would be from you..."

psikeout · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:37 am

Contrast Ace to Rock, who instead appeared to be considering the offer with about as much attachment as if he were trying to decide between a cheeseburger and a barbeque burger.

"Yeah, alright."

That was it? For the most part. He did add a question, though, shooting a thumb back toward the ship. "What about everybody else?"

NPC · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:22 pm

It would be noted that Eggman was grinning, but that didn't really change for most of the conversation, anyway.

"That's your first order of business," he declared ominously. "You three have to prove you mean business," he said, apparently not even noticing Tau as a member of their party, "and turn your ships and aaall your friends over to me for... investigation, and sorting."

"Done," answered the simian abruptly.

Eggman looked confused. "... That's it?"

"You expect something else?" asked Rock dryly.

"Well, no. Complete compliance is the only option," answered Eggman, almost defensively. "This is good. There's just usually a little more... turmoil involved!"

The corner of Rock's mouth turned down. "Those people wouldn't even bat an eye if you gunned us down right here," he spat bitterly, and with an unnerving amount of sincerity. Memories of Tracer, and conflicts with Geoff, Murdoch, and others springing to the surface, maybe? "They don't care about anything but their own hides, their own stupid goals... I really don't care what you do with'em."

Eggman seemed to blink behind his spectacles. His neutral expression suddenly vanished a few seconds later.

"It's a done deal, then!" he declared, grin back in place. "I'm a very busy man, so my port authorities will handle it from here. They'll also take you to a recruitment center for..." He paused and squinted at Rock. "Well, they'll take you to a hospital, first. You really need to get that cleaned up. Then they'll take you to a recruitment center! Goodbye, and enjoy your new careeer~!"

*Blip.*

... Several squads of the burly, overly-generic "Egg Pawn" robots were already trundling their way down the catwalks.

Rock looked to Ace with a strangely hard stare.

"Why don't you go back to the ship 'n grab our gear before these robots make a mess? I'm sure I can buy us a couple minutes."

Mie · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:49 pm

Jam had learned long ago (or maybe not so long ago, but it certainly felt like it) that the proper code of conduct when in negotiations with potential hostiles was to STFU -- At least under Rock's command, anyway.

Thus, she had stood silently and unobstructively at the other primate's flank throughout the interaction. Certainly, there was a time or two when her attention wandered to all the guns pointed at them, and the subsequent snaps back to the matter at hand, when she'd whip a perplexed expression back to the monitor or the monkey it addressed, but she was quick to recompose herself, more or less, feigning boredom, while evidently succumbing to ADD, but actually keeping acutely aware of the conditions around them.

That was until Rock's oral signature for all of them on the dotted line blared through her consciousness, and she couldn't help but throw a closed-mouthed gape at the responsible party.

Upon Eggman's sign-off, her posture relaxed just enough for her to allocate more weight to one hip than the other, her arms crossing tightly over her chest. When finally, she felt the floor was open, she stepped around to Rock's front, and fixed him with an odd, piercing stare, as if carefully choosing her words.

"'Career,'" she grumbled derisively. "Maybe for you. I doubt he's forgotten that whole 'threatening at gunpoint' thing; I'll prolly be shovelin' s**t on his battery farms."

... In light of the situation, they were probably still not the right ones.

Greens · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 3:54 pm

"Hwa-- WHAT?"

Those were the next words he spoke, before the deal was finalized. Ace only bit his tongue until that was over for the sake of not getting ventilated. Once the doctor was out of the picture, he certainly had more to say

"R-- ...What!? Nn'd- dude...!"

...Not that it was terribly well-worded. He was clearly flabbergasted by the decision, darting his glance between the two monkeys and the oncoming Egg Pawns, and it took a moment for him to sputter more than half-finished answers.

"E-a-- are you serious!?" he spat, taking a backwards step in the direction of the ship. "If this's some kin'aaa- ulterior motive or somethin' you got..."

Tau · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:36 pm

Tau hadn't become as uneasy about their welcome party as the others and had expected such a welcoming considering the nature of whom they were dealing with, though the thought that his current body had quickly gained additional 'benefits' crossed his mind. Tau had remained behind the others as they approached the monitor and remained there during Rock's 'interview' with the eccentric doctor. When the interview had ended the A.I. wasn't entirely concerned with the fact he hadn't been addressed, instead found the possibility that the doctor had failed to distinguish him from the other machines as useful.

"This decision will end in.....interesting results. " It wasn't really spoke to any one in general, but those were the only words Tau had to say about Rock's verbal agreement to Eggman. The A.I. wasn't convinced the white simian was being entirely honest in his comments regarding those still aboard the vessel, nor entirely behind his, and the others, new found employment, but knew it wise decision for Rock to make given the current circumstances.

psikeout · Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:37 pm

Rock had been avoiding looking at the cat the whole time, smirking at Jam's commentary ("Hey, he probably thought you were some dude in those clothes you were wearin' then, anyway,") and even nodding to Tau's idle observation instead of answering Ace. It wasn't an easy situation; maybe he knew Ace wouldn't easily go along with it. Nonetheless, he finally did turn to address his worried partner-in-crime. Compared to the tension present while talking to Eggman, he suddenly sounded... aloof, almost.

"I gotta do what I gotta do, Ace," he just shrugged, palm out and up, conciliatory smile on his face. "You know you ain't attached to my hip. You can make your own decisions." Rock started to saunter off toward the incoming Egg Pawns in a similar slow, backward walk. "I just trust you to do the right thing."

There was that line again. Whatever the case, the navy-clad primate was soon halting the robots and explaining the situation. He could only hope Ace would get his head on straight before they grew too impatient.

Diluss · Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:27 am

Coop dropped back within the shuttle and very nearly attempted murder upon finding the unicorn standing directly beside him. He grabbed at the unicorn and hoisted him into the air with attitude of one about to do something seriously indiscriminate, when he noticed that the unicorn was actually, as far as could be considered, an ally.

He set him back down, turned, and stormed out of the dorsal airlock into the greater ship area, his face contorted in an ugly rage.

Before he reached any groups of people, it had subsided to an intensely malignant leer, and then as he spoke to the population of the ship at large, to a face of iron indifference.

"Who can fly this ship?" He asked, laconically, of the crowd at large.

Tired of wearing black and blue (Ch. 4: Day 1)

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