Felix: This chapter would mostly be filled with armaments and the history of Xoxlation. Raio here will help with some diversity of said armaments. So far I've been doing mostly offensive armaments, such as Weltzerstӧre and Crescent Moon.
One of the many things the UKO has made that's actually popular is the UKO Mk II "Caliburn" Motorcycle. With an experimental Hydro-fusion core as a fuel, it can emit a hard light trail behind it as some sort of exhaust, though it can be broken fairly easily with a hard hit. The overall look to it is an antique 2000 Harley Davidson, a popular model I suppose. With these fusion cores, about 97% of them have gone past testing. Of course with all Xoxlation divisions, things have to have a weapon. The UKO Mk III Lexton is fitted on both sides of the front, able to be clipped off and used as a handheld.
One of the squadrons from earlier was left around the entrance, talking amongst themselves while one was checking their equipment. A UKO Mk I Ilos, a pump-action shotgun modeled on the old Benelli M3 made by a collaborative effort between the UK, France, and Germany. It is shell-loaded, however, it does not fire traditional shotgun shells. It fires a similar-sized projectile that is electrically charged by the shotgun upon exiting the muzzle. While the pellets do not travel with the velocity to kill someone at the average range a shotgun would be used at to allow the pellets to be charged, the pellets maintain the charge to induce shock on a target, and possibly kill them should enough pellets hit them.
"Sir, we were ordered to give you a ride. A Caliburn to be precise, she's all yours. Take care of her." One of the soldiers said, saluting me and gesturing towards the vehicle. A classic black motorcycle, a closed-back wheel covering, a switch fuel port. The port for the Hydro-fusion core is on a switching hinge for easier access and easy use. A half-closed covering on the front wheel, a pair of UKO Mk III Lexton clipped onto both sides with a lever mechanism to fire it. And a nice flame decor across the front.
"Thank you. Stay safe." I reply, getting on the motorcycle and starting it via a button. A clear message 'START' on said button. A slight hum sounds out, along with slight vibrations. "Any good pubs in town?" I ask, putting on a black helmet with a similar flame design. The dull red HUD on the visor lights up, showing fuel percentage, speed gauge, tachometer, and a small 25m range sensor. The system is running a scan, welcoming me after a few seconds pass.
"Hardstones' Pub is popular with the rookies here. Your first one's on me." The soldier says, handing me a chip reading 20. "But be careful, a few drinks can get a greenie short-fused." He warns, patting me on the back. "Now get going, before the pub's full of idiots." With that, I took off towards the town. New Wellings was a cozy little town, but it's not really that little. Most of the buildings are underground to hide most of the UK Xoxlation forces off base. Soon enough, a sign with a stein full of ale overflowing was in sight.
Hardstone's Pub, from what I already know, is a popular bar for chatting and its atmosphere. Parking the motorcycle and putting the helmet on the seat, I walked in and saw that the bar was different than I imagined. The Dark Oak bar, with crimson seated stools lining the outsides of the counter. The Dark wood tables under gold-lined maple fans, and numerous mugs hanging from the rafters and lining some shelves. Some of the tables were full of plates, mugs, and people. The people at the bar were laughing and drinking from their mugs, chatting about topics.
The whole place was made of dark wood that seemed to soak in light along with stains from spilled drinks. In a corner was an old-fashioned jukebox with a few worn-out buttons. On the other side of the building was a pool table and a darts board, both of which were seeing use from a small group. In an additional space in a wall, there are a couple of pinball machines, another group surrounds it though much younger than the other patrons. After taking in the scene before me, I walked to an empty seat and took out that chip the guy gave me.
A young female bartender came up and asked if I wanted anything. "Pint of Broadsword," I answer, watching the bartender taking a glass with the Pub's Logo on it and filling it with Broadsword. Broadside Beer is a new brewery company that blew up in recent years, coming from North America. Were you to buy a bottle from a store, the logo is a broadsword striking against an ax. Their slogan is 'Nothing is versatile as a Broadsword.' and that saying is true. It can be drunk cold, warm, and it won't change the flavor. Hell, you could drink it hot and it wouldn't change. Only a lunatic, or even insane would do that.
"This is Dragonfly 3-2, requesting additional assistance at the Townhall. There is heavy resistance of several intoxicated civilians. Requesting additional assistance at the Townhall." The earpiece sounded, making me sigh in response. With a hearty drink of Broadsword, I walked out and started to walk towards the Townhall of (Insert name). And a squad of police officers is wrestling with a group of supposedly drunk men. A pair of them were at a standstill while another was pushing each other back and forth. A pair of officers was being headlock while a third was attempting to free them.
Taking a moment to analyze the overall scene, a short man taking on a female officer. Surprisingly the female is winning the pushing game. With a quick give and a grab, the female slammed the short man onto the ground and began to clip magnetic cuffs onto him. Mk II Magcuffs are now standard equipment to all EXO police forces. A quick slap and the connecting cuff swings around and locks into place. A free man started to walk towards me, saying slurred words at me. "Yer gonna beee… mine mew welmcoming mat." He lunged at me with open arms.
With an arm sweep and a side step, the man tumbled to the ground. Now enraged, the man got up and ran at me. Crouching, I let the man run into me letting me be able to flip him without much hassle. A free officer tosses me a pair of magcuffs, catching and snapping the cuffs on him. I stood up and began to help the officers with the men. A few struggles happened, but no one got seriously hurt. "If that's all, I have a drink to continue," I say to the officers, waving them off as I walk back to Hardstones.
Sitting back down on the bar, my drink still untouched since I left, in fact, a new face is sitting next to me. "Hello." She greeted, facing me with her chilling blue eyes. Nothing too interesting about her, the only notable thing is how her eyes are scanning just about everything. The faces of everyone, the clothing they have on, the activity they're doing, everything. I've caught her staring at me more than once, eyeing me from the jacket to the boots I'm wearing. "Serving the military, I'm guessing. Can't say which one you're in. Got the boots from United States Marines, the jacket from the United Kingdom army, and the pants from the France army."
"Impressed you could tell the differences of each piece. Intelligence, probably going with the recent inspection." I say to her, waving the bartender for another drink. "With your aged, yet somehow youthful look, I'm taking a wild guess that you're Russian." Her eyes narrowed now, making sure I'm in her eyesight. "Judging by that, I'm correct." A glass slide in front of her, essentially trapping her here. "It's on me." I say, letting out a small smirk."What's the name you're under?" I ask as she grudgingly takes a sip of her drink.
"Alexa Colt. Age 38." She told me, surprising me slightly. "What's the look for? Didn't expect me to be this old?" She asks, giving herself a smirk of her own. Guess the woman isn't as uninteresting as I thought. There's some movement of young women. "Eyes." That's what she whispers to me. "My handler. Sierra Wishing. Frail, but a quick talker." The same young woman faux-turn a newspaper, making her Alexa's Handler. Her description sounds about right, frail, and looks like she couldn't do much if anyone tried to harm her.
"Anything else I should know?" I ask, pausing once I saw Sierra faux-turning again. I caught a glance of flash from her glasses, making my assumption more solid. Prescribed glasses don't regularly flash. Regular glass does. "I tell you what, she's doing a damn good job. But she's turning the paper too fast, and glasses don't regularly shine. Now watch, she's going to turn slower." I had to stop using my lips for the last part, difficult to do but extremely useful against lip readers.
It took a couple of drinks for her to turn this time. "See?" Again, no lip movement. Much easier for single syllables. "Look, as much as I want to finish my drink with you. My time is coming up. Cheers." With that, I down the last fifth of the pint. I tossed a 20 Currency Card and left. The young woman is tracking me, doing the same as Alexa did earlier. Scanned top to bottom. Her eyes lingered on my face before coming back to her paper.
Felix: This one certainly took a bit longer. Had a chapter goal for this, but took too long to actually write before time is stretching. Hope you have a good day, and thanks for reading this story. And thanks to Raio for helping me.