Galactic Ruins

Before Mex left, she gave out a salute, along with a thumbs up, before leaving the premise to the corridor. 

“Man, that was quite a show in there, wasn’t it? Although, I can understand why some of them are a bit worry; their livelihood is at stake here.” Mex turns to the others. “Hopefully, their expectations won’t place any pressure on our abilities in the field.”
 
"Who you callin' a dweeb you brat?!" Erik grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, at least you can pick fights as fast as you can open your mouth."

Erik rolled his shoulders, bracing himself for whatever may come their way and stretching his old mechanical limbs. He wondered about the mission at hand and tried to think up what Genma might be planning.

"You guys think that Gemmy dude is actually a real threat or is he all talk? I mean... he could be working for someone else. Eh, I doubt it. I bet we can take that pile-o-scrap down faster than one-eye over there can blink!" Erik pointed a finger at Mioi.
 
"The meetings are usually like this, but I think it's because Empress Mystia likes to ruffle the Earthling's feathers. Venusians have a... strange sense of humor." Aurelia explained to Mex. "At least when it comes to socializing. You get used to it, but it probably gives the Chairwoman a headache." 

"The Grand Ruler of Mercury was a leader of a small colony, but he was well-respected for his ability to make successful combat strategies over the years, even with so little manpower," Mioi said. "I find it strange he was able to be killed like that. Even if he was on the losing end, how was someone able to infiltrate his base of operations and get past his personal security detail? Much less physically overpower him."

"Maybe he isn't alone... no idea if it's for somebody, but there's no way just one guy can do that on his own without getting detected." Azumi said, holding her chin and closing one eye to ponder the idea. "How'd you find that stuff out anyway?"

"I read a lot of archives when I was training. Something I don't see you doing." 

"Um, yeah, because reading is for chumps. On Venus we don't have time to read! We're busy taking apart stuff and selling it for a pretty penny! You ever try to wash propellant from a 1997 Earth explorer out of your hair!?" 

"No, and I imagine that is why your hair looks so neon without the hair dye."

"No!!! It was the radiation that made my hair so bright. I think I got it from my mom's side. Assuming that's true, anyway."

"Your priority is to identify the object obstructing our feed and see if Scorpius has anything to do with it. If necessary, disable it or destroy it. Just don't leave any trace that it was you." Aurelia ordered the team. Stopping before a terminal at the end of an unmarked corridor, she placed a hand on a screen that scanned the prints on her palm and fingertips before the doors slid open. It opened to a new section of the floor full of control panels and communications personnel typing away furiously at their computers while speaking to someone on the other side of their headset.

"Aside from that, see if you can get any information about the state of Mercury from that post. The planet relies on imported food and water for survical. We estimated that there was enough surpus food frozen for preservation to last about 6 Earth months, so any survivors on that planet are running out. It's best to get any information quickly so the Union can reconvene and plan the next course of action."

Lieutenant Avan showed up again, holding a stack of plugsuits for each person. "These are for you. Azumi and Mioi already have one, but these ones are specifically for Orion missions." He said, referring to the insignia. "You will be boarding an unmarked spacecraft for the time being. It will be on autopilot, so you needn't worry about piloting it. The changing rooms are on the left. These aren't for enduring the cold of space or Mercury, so the actual space suits go over them. They're on the ship, so you can put them on over the plugsuit before takeoff."

Aurelia fitted a headset onto herself, adjusting the microphone as the plugsuits were distributed. "It's too cold to leave your faces exposed, so the built in helmets will suffice. Usually you don't have to wear a helmet to the other planets, but Mercury was never properly terraformed."
 
Jack thinks doing the same as Aurelia "So clandestine as possible." Jack says "then we may want to hid any indication of our afflation then."
 
“Staying hidden seems to be our best action for this course.” Mex responded to Jack’s comment. “If things get a bit hairy, let me have a crack at it; I’m dying to sink my fists into these punks, if they managed out take down Grand Ruler of Mercury.” 

After Lieutenant Avan handed them the items, Mex asked a question regarding their bodies. “If we were to die during this mission, our bodies are basically unrecoverable, right?”
 
"Alright, finally, we get to show that Gemma dude a thing or two on respect. So our job is to find whatever is messing up your image feed or something? Sounds easy enough and we get new clothes while we're at it? Nice!" 

Erik took the plugsuit and didn't hesitate to take off his pants and shoes and shove himself in the new attire. He had no shame as he pulled off his shirt, his mechanical parts shimmering in the light. Once he properly adjusted the suit, he flexed his skinny arms and wiggled his fingers. 

"Huh, feels nice and snug. I like it! I make these suits look amazing, huh!" Erik chuckled. "But no worries, we'll unclog your feed and give you all the juicy details we manage to find. If push comes to shove, we can always toss the fighter chick at the enemy. I'm sure she'll enjoy the fight..." Erik pointed at Mex.

And if we're heading to Mercury... I might find her there...
 
"As long as you keep the spacesuits on, the plugsuit's insignia will stay out of sight," Avan said. "Which you will have to since we have no idea if you can survive without it on this mission. We'll have a less bulky model next time."

"I will do my best to get you all back safely, but if you do die out there before you manage to clear up the feed, we might not be able to," Aurelia replied to Mex. "So please look after each other. I will be able to get an audio feed and there will always be the possibility of the audio cutting off. Be prepared for anything to happen."

Azumi and Mioi dismissed themselves to change into the plugsuits out of sight.
 
Jack thinks "I hope they banking on the fact this seems surpluses." Jack changes right there as well discounting his eyes and hair he looks like a good looking human male. Jack thinks "Its a good stop gap till I can modified my self."
 
“Nice joke!” Mex slapped Erik in the back once more. “Keep coming with those jokes.” She stripped down, without leaving the room, and put on the plugsuit. “It feels a bit clunky, but I guess it’s for the time being. Everyone else, ready?”
 
"Gwaah! Will ya' quit slappin' me on the back?!" Erik yelped. "You hit like a truck! Sheesh! I'll end up needin' new parts for my back."

Erik grumbled to himself before rubbing his shoulder.

"Anyways, how long do you think this mission should take? I think hackin' into that tin-bot's ship--or whatever--should be no problem! I'll make sure we gather as much info as we can 'bout that Gemma jerk, I think he's caused enough trouble anyway."
 
(Sorry for the super long delay y'all, school's been kicking my ass since it started. But I still want to keep this going with what ideas I want to do now, so I may as well bump it while I can. I'm gonna aim for at least 1 post a month given how busy things are for me...)

[Elsewhere in some locker room at the HQ...]

"So... Whaddo you think?" Azumi asked, taking off any extra clothes that didn't fit in with their plugsuits and shoving them in her locker. Carefully, she tucked her bike helmet in along with her favorite jacket and shoes.

"About what?" Mioi opened hers to withdraw a large metallic case, although she lifted it as though it were fairly lightweight. 

"Everything, I guess. The guys we're teamed up with, the mission..." Azumi briefly glanced at the floor, voice getting quiet. "What might happen if we mess it up."

"We have no real say over what will happen in the future because we lack the intel to really know what lays before us," Mioi replied flatly. "The most important thing you can do is carry yourself the best you can. Don't tell me after everything, you're afraid?"

"Maybe I am. I don't wanna be remembered for dying and screwing the whole galaxy over, y'know." Azumi muttered.

"Neither does anyone else."

"Yeah... Don't pay attention to me rambling. But you know what people think about us Venusians. They might respect the Empress but someone like me is a total loser, even to my people." Azumi slammed the locker door in frustration with a hand clasped over her Venusian-brand tattoo. "If I'm not doomed to working down in the scrap heaps, I'm doomed to dying from whatever junk I get my hands on to sell, or from a bounty hunter who wants whatever I managed to pocket from some carrier ship. Working for the Union isn't my choice, so I don't even get much honor from that alone. I'm not gonna back out though. Not with all that money waiting for me!"

"I see... What are you going to do with your cut?" Mioi asked, wanting to lighten the mood.

"Well, I'll be rich enough to not have to do junker work for the rest of my life. And maybe I can buy out the rest of my sentence working here. But I want to become a hoverbike racer!" Azumi zipped up her suit while the two finished their outfit adjustments. "Maybe on Earth if they decide to lift the ban on using hovercraft. But I hear Mars has an audience for that kind of thing. Venus has a track but it's mostly for amateurs, and my bike is too good to stay on the streets."

"Interesting. Then, treat this mission as one long adrenaline rush. It will get you through." Mioi advised. 

"At least we got a couple optimists on our team to counter my skepticism. Say, what about you when this is all over?"

"There is not much need for someone like a sniper with laser vision in the civilian life. But I do enjoy the finer styles of Earthling fashion."

"Then let's make sure to get through this no matter what happens. We oughta get going. Can't keep those nerds waiting for long." Azumi said, exiting the hall with Mioi leading the way, who looked at her with a puzzled brow.

"Nerds? They do not look like the nerds," Mioi asked. "The muscular woman is the 'cool' in my opinion."

"Well, the old tin-man is a nerd! He looks like a total geek!" Azumi stuck her tongue out at Mioi from the teasing. "He probably wears socks with sandals!"

"... That sounds absolutely lame."

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" Azumi jogged up to the group while Mioi carried the silver rectangular case strapped to her back. "Had to make sure my stuff was packed away nice n' safe for when we got back. And I needed to do a quick check on my tech. We're all ready to go, boss!"

"Now that everyone's accounted for, you ought to head for the ship... it's on autopilot, so there should not be any need to pilot it yourselves unless you're ambushed on the way." Aurelia escorted the group to a large elevator at the far end of the main tunnel. The hall leading to it was lined with black and yellow stripes and flanked by several guards in heavy armor. "Which should not be an issue given your training, but Mioi has the most experience with operating the control panel for this model."

"The elevator will take you up a few stories to reach the shipping docks. Your ship is ready to go, so it should be smooth sailing from here," Avan said as Aurelia ushered each member into the elevator. As the grated doors on the elevator closed, Aurelia waved goodbye to them.

"Come back in one piece, alright?"

"No problem, boss!" Azumi waved back. "But you owe me a drink at the bar later!"

"Nice try, but you're one Earth year too young to be drinking legally at the Martian bars," Aurelia deadpanned, but she seemed to like the joke.

"...A smoothie then!"
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[THE SHIPPING DOCKS]
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(I can't center this rn so you just gotta deal with it looking ugli bc I haven't cleared my cache out yet)
"This is it! Better strap in and get ready for the ride, cause it'll be about a minute before takeoff." Azumi plopped down on one of the seats and buckled herself in. Mioi sat herself down in front of one of the wide-spanning windows that housed a console in front of it. She tapped some of the pieces to ensure everything was up and running.

"I will be taking my place at the sentry console in case we end up getting ambushed. You are free to sit anywhere you please, we are on autopilot after all." Mioi said. "Though, we should probably put the actual space suits on before takeoff..."
 
The sooner we get this mission done, the faster I can find Jalyn. I just hope she's okay. Hang in there honeybun, daddy's coming for ya'.

"So I guess this is gonna be our time to shine. Let's hit that tin-bot back to the scrap yard he came out of. "

Erik took a seat in front of a monitor, knowing he could easily access it in case they needed extra help. He didn't touch anything, however, he was curious about everything around him. He made sure to peer behind his shoulder, making sure Mex wasn't ready to slap his back again.

"Alright, we all got our suits on, right? Let's kick some Scorpion butt."
 
Jack says as a matter of fact to Erik "Don't worry about your back I am a skilled doctor after all." 

Jack starts reading medical rectors of rest of the group he finds a seat to sit in.
 
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