===Post 18===
John and Akrn stepped to a door labeled 'CENTRAL ENGINEERING'. After catching his breath, John asked:
- Okay, let's do it. I hope that she didn't get a hold of the medical equipment yet.
As the door moved to the side, revealing the room interior, they thankfully were not greeted by zombies or corpses. However, they were not greeted by the engineers either. Pointing his gun at John, he stood there, towering above all the cables and frames that covered the floor. John sighed in vain. He knew this guy. Purple hair, long chin, violent look in his eyes...
- ...Bren McGuire. - John stared at his ex-commander with a mixed feeling of surprise and disgust. - What are the odds!
- As the Chief of Security on this vessel, I am forced to stop and question your decision. - McGuire replied coldly.
- Who's this joker? - asked Akrn.
- I am afraid I am the only one to ask questions here. What the hell do you both think you're doing? Why haven't you even talked to me or the Captain? If you shut down the terraformation lasers, fine. If that will make SHODAN leave our ship, even better. But how the hell do you think we will deal with her occupying another ship of ours?!
- And they say I've become an asshole after leaving the Turrican corps. - John sighed.
Akrn stared at him and McGuire without having even a small clue on what's going on. Meanwhile, one of the engineers working in the background noticed the standout at the door, but Bren just turned around and told him not to pay attention. While he was doing all that, Akrn finally summed up enough courage to ask again:
- John, who is this guy?
- Bren McGuire, my former superior at the Turrican Assault Suit corps. - John whispered theatrically.
- Former? Why did you leave them?
- Sins of my youth. - John boldly looked McGuire in the eyes and asked: - Okay, do you have a better plan?
- I surely do, Mr Targa. You are under arrest at the charge of sabotage. Let us proceed to the bridge.
John and Akrn had no choice but to sigh and obey. After all, they were not the ones with the guns at the moment.
They walked through the narrow corridor composed of gleaming lights and metal framing, all at Bren's gunpoint. Suspiciously, there was no personnel on the floor - either they all were on their lunch breaks, or this place was supposed to be deserted. All three of them kept deadly silence until they reached the teleportation chamber.
- Go in. - ordered McGuire.
John raised his hand to push the lock button, but the door got split into halves on its own. Inside the painfully white room, in front of several mangled corpses, stood Bayonetta. Looks like the fight was pretty bad, as her left arm and midriff were all bruised and bleeding.
- Shit... - ignoring the pulse blaster aimed at his back, John quickly stepped forward and caught Bay just before she fainted from the pain. - She's unconscious. Where's the sick bay here?!
McGuire holstered his gun and helped John grab and carry the nurse's body in the most convenient way available.
- There's none here, and the teleporter control console is all smashed out.
- Looks like Bay was forced to damage it in order to keep the zombies from arriving...
- I can fix that. - said Akrn. - Give me five minutes, I think I will be able to mend this thing.
- OK, go. - John nodded and turned to McGuire. - Man, look at these guys. It's like someone was trying to recreate the Philadelphia Experiment and failed just as miserably. All these gears and cogs sticking out of rotten flesh...
- Yep, even the worst monstrosities of the Machine weren't as gruesome. - McGuire sighed. - John, I have to apologize.
- For what exactly?
- For signing your retirement papers. These f'kers at TriOptimum were holding their soldering irons at my cojones after all that tragedy with Von Braun...
- Von Braun was aeons ago, don't mess with me. And besides, I wanted to leave your forces anyway.
- But why?
- You've all became TriOptimum's torture toys for money, so I've just decided to get even more money. My payment as the Space Hunter is noticeably bigger, that's no secret.
The silence was intense. Only the buzzing sounds of Akrn's tools kept it from getting too suspicious. Suddenly, a grin emerged on McGuire's face.
- Wasn't it because of someone named Samantha? I heard, you know... rumors...
John chuckled:
- Think whatever you want. After all, you've happened to be a princess saver yourself, eh? There, on Katakis...
- Ah, Yuko! - McGuire nodded. - We've married after you gone rogue. She's a biologist on the Tyrian outpost station now.
- How sweet. - John smiled. - Congratulations, sir.
- Thanks, Targa. And what about you? Ever thought of raising some space babies and retiring to be a pharmer Bob? Maybe it's your princess you're holding now!
John looked at Bayonetta. She had very delicate facial features, slightly hinting at her possibly Asian origin. Her hair was very long, pitch black in color and shiny, perfectly fitting her overall vampirish image. Those thin glasses and killer body didn't hurt, too.
- Are you kidding, sir? I know her for about 30 minutes! We have exchanged possibly ten or so lines so far.
These five minutes of cuteness were interrupted by Akrn:
- Alright, I think we're good to go.
The three (or four, counting the unconscious nurse) of them stepped inside the cubic teleportation chamber, and as the dematerializing rays began gathering all around them, McGuire turned to Akrn and asked:
- Well, you heard our girlie talk. What about you?
- Her name is Sigurbelle; she's on the planet surface now. If due to your interference something happens to her down below...
The rays were wrapping fast, but just a moment before they were reduced to scrambled molecules, Bren was able to hear the end of Akrn's sentence:
- ...I'll erase your ass, 'sir'.
==End Post==
John and Akrn stepped to a door labeled 'CENTRAL ENGINEERING'. After catching his breath, John asked:
- Okay, let's do it. I hope that she didn't get a hold of the medical equipment yet.
As the door moved to the side, revealing the room interior, they thankfully were not greeted by zombies or corpses. However, they were not greeted by the engineers either. Pointing his gun at John, he stood there, towering above all the cables and frames that covered the floor. John sighed in vain. He knew this guy. Purple hair, long chin, violent look in his eyes...
- ...Bren McGuire. - John stared at his ex-commander with a mixed feeling of surprise and disgust. - What are the odds!
- As the Chief of Security on this vessel, I am forced to stop and question your decision. - McGuire replied coldly.
- Who's this joker? - asked Akrn.
- I am afraid I am the only one to ask questions here. What the hell do you both think you're doing? Why haven't you even talked to me or the Captain? If you shut down the terraformation lasers, fine. If that will make SHODAN leave our ship, even better. But how the hell do you think we will deal with her occupying another ship of ours?!
- And they say I've become an asshole after leaving the Turrican corps. - John sighed.
Akrn stared at him and McGuire without having even a small clue on what's going on. Meanwhile, one of the engineers working in the background noticed the standout at the door, but Bren just turned around and told him not to pay attention. While he was doing all that, Akrn finally summed up enough courage to ask again:
- John, who is this guy?
- Bren McGuire, my former superior at the Turrican Assault Suit corps. - John whispered theatrically.
- Former? Why did you leave them?
- Sins of my youth. - John boldly looked McGuire in the eyes and asked: - Okay, do you have a better plan?
- I surely do, Mr Targa. You are under arrest at the charge of sabotage. Let us proceed to the bridge.
John and Akrn had no choice but to sigh and obey. After all, they were not the ones with the guns at the moment.
They walked through the narrow corridor composed of gleaming lights and metal framing, all at Bren's gunpoint. Suspiciously, there was no personnel on the floor - either they all were on their lunch breaks, or this place was supposed to be deserted. All three of them kept deadly silence until they reached the teleportation chamber.
- Go in. - ordered McGuire.
John raised his hand to push the lock button, but the door got split into halves on its own. Inside the painfully white room, in front of several mangled corpses, stood Bayonetta. Looks like the fight was pretty bad, as her left arm and midriff were all bruised and bleeding.
- Shit... - ignoring the pulse blaster aimed at his back, John quickly stepped forward and caught Bay just before she fainted from the pain. - She's unconscious. Where's the sick bay here?!
McGuire holstered his gun and helped John grab and carry the nurse's body in the most convenient way available.
- There's none here, and the teleporter control console is all smashed out.
- Looks like Bay was forced to damage it in order to keep the zombies from arriving...
- I can fix that. - said Akrn. - Give me five minutes, I think I will be able to mend this thing.
- OK, go. - John nodded and turned to McGuire. - Man, look at these guys. It's like someone was trying to recreate the Philadelphia Experiment and failed just as miserably. All these gears and cogs sticking out of rotten flesh...
- Yep, even the worst monstrosities of the Machine weren't as gruesome. - McGuire sighed. - John, I have to apologize.
- For what exactly?
- For signing your retirement papers. These f'kers at TriOptimum were holding their soldering irons at my cojones after all that tragedy with Von Braun...
- Von Braun was aeons ago, don't mess with me. And besides, I wanted to leave your forces anyway.
- But why?
- You've all became TriOptimum's torture toys for money, so I've just decided to get even more money. My payment as the Space Hunter is noticeably bigger, that's no secret.
The silence was intense. Only the buzzing sounds of Akrn's tools kept it from getting too suspicious. Suddenly, a grin emerged on McGuire's face.
- Wasn't it because of someone named Samantha? I heard, you know... rumors...
John chuckled:
- Think whatever you want. After all, you've happened to be a princess saver yourself, eh? There, on Katakis...
- Ah, Yuko! - McGuire nodded. - We've married after you gone rogue. She's a biologist on the Tyrian outpost station now.
- How sweet. - John smiled. - Congratulations, sir.
- Thanks, Targa. And what about you? Ever thought of raising some space babies and retiring to be a pharmer Bob? Maybe it's your princess you're holding now!
John looked at Bayonetta. She had very delicate facial features, slightly hinting at her possibly Asian origin. Her hair was very long, pitch black in color and shiny, perfectly fitting her overall vampirish image. Those thin glasses and killer body didn't hurt, too.
- Are you kidding, sir? I know her for about 30 minutes! We have exchanged possibly ten or so lines so far.
These five minutes of cuteness were interrupted by Akrn:
- Alright, I think we're good to go.
The three (or four, counting the unconscious nurse) of them stepped inside the cubic teleportation chamber, and as the dematerializing rays began gathering all around them, McGuire turned to Akrn and asked:
- Well, you heard our girlie talk. What about you?
- Her name is Sigurbelle; she's on the planet surface now. If due to your interference something happens to her down below...
The rays were wrapping fast, but just a moment before they were reduced to scrambled molecules, Bren was able to hear the end of Akrn's sentence:
- ...I'll erase your ass, 'sir'.
==End Post==