Faction Sea, Sand, and Shadowrun [Darkwire Reunion]

[Cassus Akovin]

Cargo Container Pool across from Port Pub on Samhain's Derelict.
In orbit near Denon...​

Momentum. Cassus exerted himself, pushing harder, working faster, and gasping for more air. But then, he collided with the other end of the cargo container, and all momentum was lost in the impact. As he wiped the water from his hair, he peered into the void, where momentum never ceased. Out there, he could be an eternal bullet, flying unimpeded, unstoppable, unless it burned up in some random atmosphere, lucky even to impact the unforgiving ground where none of the corpos live. Pulling himself out of the container, careful to keep his water-logged trunks from slipping off, he thought about how much was lost. Denon was still a corporate hellhole, and an ostensibly benevolent republic supposedly overseeing it was mostly ignorant, distracted, or bought out from paying it any mind—all the efforts of the more revolutionary Darkwire Shadowrunners... all for naught.

But they were still alive. The members, at least. Alive enough to celebrate nothing less than the miracle that they were still alive. When the world you lived in was filled with so much doom and gloom, sometimes it was better to take a load off and enjoy the simple pleasures of the present. Simple pleasures, like the lovely company of Brie Jaxx in swimwear. Or underage drinking. Though it was arguable he really counted as "underage" anymore, given the lawless space they were in, and that time had invariable moved forward without his permission. Looking around at the new crop of young criminals running amok, pointing fingers, punching each other, laughing, playing, and thieving from each other, he felt more like an outsider than one of them. They probably thought the name "Shadowrunner" was lame, like being called a janitor instead of a hitman.

Cassus plopped down on a crappy lawn chair and downed a shot of something hard, probably closer to biofuel than liquor, but accented nicely with a stupid paper umbrella. He didn't care for the newest brewer on the block. Cassus missed an Anzellan, whose name he couldn't remember five drinks in.

"Hey, pukeface, stay out of the pool! It takes forever to filter this shit out, and it's bad enough as it is!" Cassus yelled at a boozed-out bith before they climbed in for a dip, who was seconds away from ruining the cargo pool for everyone.

"Man, way to be a Lockdown!" A passing young cyborg jeered at Cassus. He got that a lot these days.

 

[Glade]

Gliding smoothly to a stop beside Cassus, her circular hoverchair hummed softly, always changing new designs and modifications lit the purple chair's outer shell surrounding the girl, painted over the damage quite well. There was no music this time, but a couple of screens flashed away on her small interface, and the droid memory core sat plugged into the side as ever.

Sniggering as Cassus scolded someone. "Heya." She chirped, tilting her head and smiling mischievously. Her bubbling green cocktail looked like a living fruit jungle with a life of its own under there. Fancy, but she barely drank any of it; too pricy!

"Long time no signal." Purple as purple could be, her dresses had clear cybernetics hemmed into the weave. Denon had been good to her, but her debts used to find her children were mounting. She never figured she'd live long enough to pay them back, but everyone got really pushy when you cleared a mil, funny that! Two mil, pfft forget it!

Leaning back in her cozy ringed chair, Glade's eyes traced across the pool, reminiscing about better days. Despite the darker rings to her eyes, burning more miles, and stims on the clock, she still had that bubbly smile.

"How ya been? Anything cookin' up?" Casual sounding, trying not to sound desperate, but her bank balance needed it! Trouble, heists, corporate sabotage, or just old-fashioned snatch and grabs for techrunners.

Cassus Akovin

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Pulling himself out of the container, careful to keep his water-logged trunks from slipping off, he thought about how much was lost.

From her spot in the lawn chair next to Cassus', wearing a dark red halterneck bikini, Brie couldn't help but to silently check him out and with a smirk bob her eyebrows at him as he walked over. Brie knew how Cassus looked upon their past efforts not making the future of Denon go in the direction they wanted, so she hoped that this casual and open-ended hangout with the rest of the gang would make him feel somewhat better, and maybe they could even come up with some new ideas. She put her datapad away at the side-table, and laid down under one of the tanning lamps set up around the pool, and giving them the sense of laying on a beach on some paradise planet like Spira. If they shut their eyes, that was.

"Hey, pukeface, stay out of the pool! It takes forever to filter this shit out, and it's bad enough as it is!" Cassus yelled at a boozed-out bith before they climbed in for a dip, who was seconds away from ruining the cargo pool for everyone.

Brie snickered as her boyfriend didn't mince his words at the more than tipsy alien about to jump in the makeshift pool. In the intoxicated state the bith was, Cassus probably also saved him from drowning. If anything, that would have been a real party pooper.

Speaking of tipsy. Brie followed Cassus' example and downed the same kind of shot he just had knocked back. His fifth or something, and her second. She was falling behind, but weighted it up with some cheap cider from the galley of the former ghost ship turned Shadowrunner party boat for the night. She grimaced a little bit, but surprisingly not more than Cas. A high-octane concoction of something that would probably act as a perfectly fine fuel additive in podracers, or in Cassus' own speeder bike. The one which she first had rode on to Daiya's party. Stars have it if he had not already added it to the fuel tank before he picked her up!

That was more than a few moons ago. Lovely and very memorable moons, though. Moons under which she had spent with the handsome boy beside her. They both had gone through a lot together since then. They all had gone through a lot. More adventures and dangers than any of her old holobooks. Some of them she wished never would happen again, times when her and her friends had been on the brink of destruction. Still, thinking of them often grew a smile upon older teen lips. Not only because she were grateful for many of the experiences that had made them stronger and had shaped them to who they were now, but especially for the friendships gained and not to forget she had met her ''prince'' in all of it.

Brie grabbed her can of cider and took a generous sip out of it, so ease the strong and lingering aftertaste from the shot.

"Heya." She chirped, tilting her head and smiling mischievously. Her bubbling green cocktail looked like a living fruit jungle with a life of its own under there. Fancy, but she barely drank any of it; too pricy!

The female chirping voice got Brie to turn her head back towards it with a raised eyebrow. She soon recognised the woman from being present at the robot fight on Altier and a few more occasions with Darkwire, but it wasn't someone she had been fully acquainted with. Not like she was with Daiya or Hex. Yet. It seemed as Cassus were, though.

Cassus Akovin , Glade , Daiya , Hex , Cartri Keswoll​

 

[Hex]

Tag: Cassus Akovin Brie Jaxx Daiya Cartri Keswoll Glade
Location: Samhain's Derelict
Objective: Reunion

Spoiler: Equipment

• Neon Lady suit
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers - 3 explosive 1 gas
• Firebee swarm - inferno pattern
• Chewing gum
• Dancer repulsor board
• Jade Void Amulet
• Dervish Knife
• Two grav belts

(all in her ship apart from her knife and her simp pistol)

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

"Of course I fething miss them." Hex said to herself as she made the final approach to the hangar of the Darkwire flagship, the one that had been converted into a pool room, but whose giant forecfield doors would still let her ship in, unless they had scrubbed her tattoo's access. It had been nearly a year since she had been arrested, imprisoned, deported and then freed into the hands of her sister, she felt like a new person. It was probably why she was so nervous coming back here.

'...None of them visited you, why do you care?...'
"Don't be a dumbass, we've been through this, corpsec wanted them to visit, so they could capture them."
'...still...'

Hex scowled at herself. Her medication kept her in the driving seat, but her voices were always their in the background and her voice of doubt was pushing its agenda hard today, all the way here, nothing but fear over the reception she might get. The borrowed scar hound snubfighter breached the shield and Hex could see from her mirrored cockpit several shadowrunners around the pool at the opposite end of the hangar from where she would land. A few of the ship's security forces even responded with looks, but her clearance still seemed valid. She hadnt told anyone she was coming, anything she could do to reduce the chance of a corpsec sting ruinng their fun was a blessing. She hadnt even told Hilal Vizsla that she was coming, she had enough anxiety about this than to worry her girlfriend that she was going to see her old crew and likely her ex. Hex's heart fluttered a moment not knowing exactly what she would say to Daiya when she saw her, but it would be OK.

'...you hope...'

CLANG

Her ship hit the deck and powered down. Hex took a deep breath and removed her helmet and flight goggles, she wore her Neon Lady suit for piloting as mawite ships had very limited life support, but underneath was a cute little two piece bikini. The blue haired girl climbed out of her cockpit and walked over, unzipping the suit as she went until it was hanging at her waist. She finally caught the eyes of Cassus Akovin and Brie Jaxx she smiled shyly as she saw the lovers enjoying each others company. She also spotted a new face, she supposed it had been a while, so it was good to see new blood.

"Hey guys! Hows things?"

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus smiled at Brie, who was trying to keep up with his drinking pace, and shook his head a little. It wasn't a competition, but he loved her desire to match his mood anyway. It was also difficult to suppress the joy of being watched and being able to watch in return as she lay beneath the sunlamp. There was something about a beach, even a simulated one, that just made everything so much more vivid. Cassus remembered a time, what felt like a lifetime ago, when Darkwire enjoyed themselves for a time on Belazura. It didn't end well, of course, but it was the first time that he could recall that he had met Brie Jaxx . For all the darkness the rest of that day wrought, he could at least be thankful for that.

"Heya."

Pulled out of his remembrance, he saw another familiar face. As a Shadowrunner, contacts cropped up in all sorts of different places, and at some point, one might lose track of who they actually know or not. For Cassus at least, this wasn't a problem. As a former Bounty Hunter, it was a critical function of his skillset to remember a face and name like he knew his own. Cassus raised his glass in response and tipped it towards Glade.

"Heyaself, Glade ."

"Long time no signal."

"How ya been? Anything cookin' up?"

"Not much to signal. Baddies still bad, the drinks stink, and money burns." Cassus swiveled his body to face Glade; his words were dismissive, but his body betrayed attention. Even while in the dark, the wires of Denon still flowed with Shadowrunners looking for work. Old contacts still called on occasion, but new contacts were a rarity. Even as young as he was, when work was dry, old operatives came to him to see what he could 'fix.' He had built a persona of ambition, even at personal expense, and that sort of reputation made him dependable for jobs.

With this much booze in his system, though, that reputation would be tested. Just as Cassus was about to try and put his brain back together to 'cook up' a plot together, he saw a ship landing with a familiar neon silhouette stepping off the ramp.

CLANG

Her ship hit the deck and powered down. Hex took a deep breath and removed her helmet and flight goggles, she wore her Neon Lady suit for piloting as mawite ships had very limited life support, but underneath was a cute little two piece bikini. The blue haired girl climbed out of her cockpit and walked over, unzipping the suit as she went until it was hanging at her waist. She finally caught the eyes of Cassus Akovin and Brie Jaxx she smiled shyly as she saw the lovers enjoying each others company. She also spotted a new face, she supposed it had been a while, so it was good to see new blood.

"Hey guys! Hows things?"

" Hex ?! Shit, how drunk am I?" Cassus looked to Brie Jaxx for reassurance that he wasn't seeing things. He rubbed his eyes just in case; maybe there were chemicals in the cargo container water that needed to be washed out.

 

[Glade]

Tag: Cassus Akovin | Brie Jaxx | Hex

Brie Jaxx

Glade, Natoline, had few filters and remained as happy-go-lucky as ever. She gave Brie Jaxx a little wave and smiled, "Comfy spot. Pool, bar, no sirens." It definitely beats running from creditors. Losing herself in her cocktail's jungle of umbrellas. It didn't taste great, but she could only taste the sugar anyway, so bonus points.

Natoline uniquely remembered faces. She stored every object that held sentimental value in her memory vaults, her personal junk library filled with memories of cups, spoons, and discarded items that held a happy memory—until last week anyway. The Corpos were after her cluttered vaults, trying to repossess them to recover some of their money from her loans. Fetting Fett-heads!

Cassus Akovin

Beaming they remembered her, she sipped away on a 90% sugar high, losing track of her thoughts. Umm, oh, work, paying the bills. Money burns. She blew some uncooperative hair out of her blinking eyes and said, "You betcha." Her side jobs were getting increasingly dangerous to pull off alone; she was really hoping someone had a paying gig. Nine lives so far used up, she'd borrowed credit on the neighbor's cat.

"We're livin' though, right?" she reassured herself as much as being supportive. She was kinda living; she just had to get through the next few months and not let them take all her stuff! Easy. Yep, yes sir, easy.

Hex

Tilting her brightening face and bobbing her head to Hex, "Hey, great thanks," she lied, resting back into her hoverchair. "Nice t'meet you. I'm," her voice tightened a touch, "Glade." Recently family funerals don't ask. "Anyone need a refill?" Hoping they'd tell her what they wanted because that was probably important to know before getting it. Don't let me blow this please, a chance at making connections again—a nervous surface energy, but a happy one. Somewhere on her chair, fyor-droid beeped 'gloria mundi' in quiet binary, as if realizing her hand's tension on the chair's control.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Spoiler

Brie nodded at the woman in the hoverchair, offering her a friendly smile back and tried to focus back on the happy feeling that they all were going to get together this evening. Glade was her name. Yes, now she remembered it from the robot fight. Like Xan older than the rest of them, but someone to balance the sometimes rash actions taken by the younger generations of Darkwire. Someone to keep them from doing more stupid things than they already did sometimes. However, Brie used to be the more rational of the trio of Hex , Daiya and her, at least when she was sober. Much to her discontent, the subject was threatening to be one of business, which was something that they were supposed to forget for tonight.

Brie silently shaked her head at Cassus, before the sound of a ship approaching and entering the hangar bay got them all to turn their heads towards it.

"Hey guys! Hows things?"

The silhouette walking down the ships ramp carried a very familiar voice that reminded Brie of old times. Old times rolling her eyes, sighing in despair, and having one or two arguments with the owner of the voice. Calling it old times wasn't really fair, though. It made them sound so old and so grown up, but considering the little unofficial drinking contest she and Cassus had, they were still young and wild as ever. Maybe Brie more than she had ever been, thanks to hooking up with Cassus and the crazy company of the two girls.

" Hex ?! Shit, how drunk am I?" Cassus looked to Brie Jaxx for reassurance that he wasn't seeing things. He rubbed his eyes just in case; maybe there were chemicals in the cargo container water that needed to be washed out.

''No kriffing way?! Hex?!'' Brie blurted out in utter surprise and suddenly sat up in the lawn chair, meeting Cassus' glance before staring in joy at the new visitor.

''You crazy nerf herder! I never thought I'd say this, but I've missed you to pieces!'' she uttered before running over and literally jumping at her friend, giggling and capturing her in a tight hug. ''Hey!'' Brie called and snapped her fingers pointing at the flight suit still covering her friends lower body. ''You got to strip that off and jump in the pool, Hex! Water's just about right, and Cass just saved a Bith from drowning in it! Also, you're way behind on the drinks, but we'll fix that in a flash!'' Brie urged her fellow Shadowrunner and headed towards the pool. She made a stop by the chairs and her spot by Cassus, grabbing the can of cider and emptying what was left of it. ''You're coming... pool boy?'' she said with a hand resting on her hip and a teasing wink at her boyfriend.

Cassus Akovin​

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Ruby sat in a dark corner of port pub.

From her little booth, she had a clear view of the pool across the way. It wasn't a fancy pool deck by any means, but it was a tiny slice of niceness for them. Well, for those that enjoyed water. Ruby was not one of those.

She planned on staying as far away from the 'fun' as she could. True cave-goblin style. However, she did plan on keeping an eye on the kids, so to speak. By that she meant Cassus Akovin and Brie Jaxx . Her little sister was grown, but she still felt responsible for her well-being. Mostly because she recognized that she'd bungled things up more times than she'd made them better.

If the boyfriend had good eyes, he might even see her glaring from the window.

ooc: <3 all 'yall