Jack had decided not question the fact that Chaz had somehow summoned a Huey when his back was turned. God knows how he did it. Chaz (presumably) offered him a grin behind his helmet, and leaned on it proudly, polishing his Nighthawk like nobody's business.
"Like it?" asked the pilot as Jack stared at the new front-lawn ornament, almost dumbfounded. Uni was already sitting in the rear seats, swinging her legs due to the fact she was so small compared to it, gazing in wonder at all the netting and 'Nam-era styling. "I call it, 'The Fortunate Son'." Jack didn't respond to the shitty reference to a terrible country's stupid wars. Instead, he opted to simply walk back into the basilicom in order to say his farewells before he, Uni, and Chaz made their way to Lowee. The weather was rather warm outside, so as usual, Vert was inside. And as usual, that meant she was sitting in her room. Jack had no idea what she did in there.
Violently masturbate?
Perhaps.
Maybe that's why she yelled so much when nobody else was in there.
That assumption in mind, he opted not to knock on the door. Someone else would tell her, or something. Simple manners, don't knock on someone's door when they're having a wank.
After a little bit of wandering, he paused, then shook his head and began making his way out. He'd realized there was probably no point in trying to find anybody, because he'd only run into them if they wanted to run into him.
"Or when it's convenient to the plot," came a sudden voice. Again, Jack paused, and threw his arms up in the air in frustration, turning to the source.
"For God's sake, not this bullshit again," he groaned. Behind him, Chika was approaching with her usual "I prefer younger men" strides and "I spiked your wine and you belong to me" smirk. Jack was used to it, so he didn't comment on the fact Chika always radiated an aura of "Cougar". "I don't even know what you lot go on about when you talk about the 'plot' or 'audience' or fuckin' 'story'."
Chika opted to simply raise a brow and walk alongside him as he made his way back to the exit. "You're not in on that joke?" she asked. She seemed rather surprised. "Hmm."
"Yeah. Do us a favour and fill me in," Jack said flatly. Chika thought for a moment, then closed her eyes, grinning.
"Nope, you can just struggle with it," she giggled, prompting a groan from Jack as they made it outside. Almost immediately upon sighting the olive-green Huey sitting on the basilicom's front lawn, she stopped, and gawped at it. For a moment, she said nothing. "Where..." she began, a look of shock plastered onto her usually smug face. "Where were...where were you even keeping this...?" Not even letting Chaz speak up, Jack turned, and flashed a shit-eating grin as he looked back at Chika, climbing into the left gunner's side of the small helicopter.
"You can just struggle with it."
Chika rolled her eyes, shaking her head clear as she approached. "Fuck you." For a moment, Jack was quite surprised.
"My, my," he laughed as the Oracle slowly began walking around the helicopter, eyeing it up and down almost suspiciously with her hands on her hips. "Mind your fuckin' language, Chika. Uni's nearby."
"Eh?" Uni perked up. "I wasn't listening, sorry."
Chaz turned to her, rubbing the slide of the handgun in his gloved grip in an attempt to clear some of his blood from it. "Yeah, Chika said 'Fuck you' to Jack. Ain't she rude?" Uni nodded, and folded her arms with a frown.
"Really?" she sighed, shaking her head. "Wow, Oracle Hakozaki, you should know better than to swear with me around." The green-haired woman frowned, and a moment later, looked up at Chaz. The helmeted man glanced back at her, and tilted his head.
"Something you need?" he asked. Chika assessed him for a moment.
"You can pilot this, yes?" Chaz nodded in response. "Good. Just make sure you reach Lowee intact. Lady Vert would like to present you to the rest of the goddesses in order to demonstrate her newest asset to the air force." Chaz gave another nod, and slipped his Nighthawk back into its holster. Jack sat up from his position in the gunner's seat, shocked.
"Wait, have you fuckin' signed some contract?" he asked, angrily, glaring at Chika. "Lady Vert fuckin' well told me she wouldn't sign any deals without tellin' the other goddesses! Why's she signin' Chaz onto the fuckin' Air Force?" Chika calmly shrugged, a nonchalant look on her face.
"Not my place to say," she replied flatly, "Once we'd deemed him no threat to Leanbox whilst you had your...well, 'episode', we signed him up." She paused, glancing at the Huey. Then she smirked. "At least we don't need go building him a new jet or anything. Looks like he just pulls the things out of his a-"
"CHIKA, STOP SWEARIN', IT'S SETTIN' FUCKIN' BAD EXAMPLES FOR UNI," Jack snapped, his hands over Uni's ears. The Oracle gave him a deadpan look. Uni continued looking around with a confused expression, still swinging her legs and remaining unsure as to why she was allowed to listen to Jack turning the air blue, but not anyone else.
"Whatever," Chika muttered, rubbing her forehead. "My dearest Vert is busy today, so she won't be here to say goodbye. Apologies for that." Jack dismissed it with a hand, setting himself down behind the Huey's mounted M60 and leaning on it.
"Tell her it's fine. She's comin' along to Lowee, ain't she?" Chika gave a nod.
"Yes, she'll be there. Are you leaving Mr. Monoplie and Mr. Black here?" Jack raised a brow, and tilted his head.
"I thought they were comin' along."
Chika just shrugged, and began to walk away into the basilicom. "Well, they're bloody well not staying here. I'll go find them for you." Jack nodded, and began fiddling with the M60 in front of him. Uni quietly twiddled her thumbs. Chaz flicked the lights of the Huey on and off, repeatedly. After a moment, Jack leaned over to the cockpit.
"Oi, Chaz."
"Yeah?"
"Does this thing have a radio or anythin'?"
"It's...got a speaker, I think. Lemme check." Uni perked up as Chaz began browsing the control panel.
"Why's a military helicopter got a speaker?" she asked.
"Psychological warfare, I assume," Chaz shrugged, randomly pressing a button. "Americans were real arseholes in every war."
"They still are," Jack corrected. "Remember how many of the people on our trainin' were Yanks?"
"Predominantly? Yeah."
"Strikes me as sayin' summat when most of the people on a course to go and explore and settle in a new place are Americans. Greedy fuckers should stay Stateside." Chaz frowned behind his helmet.
"Bit racist, Jack..." he muttered. Jack simply leaned back in his chair and shrugged, resting his booted feet on the M60 and folding his arms.
"Am I meant to fuckin' care? I just wanna get shiftin' to Lowee." Chaz looked back at him for a moment, before shaking his head and looking forwards in silence, fiddling with the controls for the Huey. Uni decided to sit next to Jack, since then she'd be certain that she would have someone to catch her if she fell out of the helicopter. Though, she kept some distance. She was on her first real trip anywhere without her sister, so she was brave enough to sit alone.
As she noticed Luke and Josh approaching the helicopter, she shifted closer to Jack, hugging his arm as closely as she could. "U-Um..." Jack raised a brow as the rotors whined into life.
"You alright there?" he asked. Uni looked up worriedly, then nodded. Smiling, Jack patted her on the head and ruffled her hair slightly. "Good. And don't worry about those two. They're on the other side of the Huey. Just you and me on this side, alright? No point bein' frightened." After a moment, Uni smiled, and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder as the helicopter took off. Jack decided to keep rubbing her head: It wasn't like Uni even minded. For a moment, the only noise was the loud drone of the rotors as the helicopter lifted up from the basilicom lawn, but that was quickly shattered when Chaz yelled back.
"Guys, I got the radio working! This thing has subwoofers!" shouted the pilot. Jack raised his free hand and let out a loud whoop, the same noise coming from the other side with Josh and Luke. Uni remained indifferent, but Jack didn't.
He pointed straight at Chaz's visor, smirking. "Cue that fuckin' music!" The helmeted pilot grinned behind his visor, nodded, and clicked play on the pre-loaded cassette tape. As if on cue, there came the loud, echoing sound of Fortunate Son's opening guitar riff ringing about the basilicom's air, accompanied by the four lads aboard the helicopter somehow cheering louder than both the speaker and helicopter engine combined as the Huey slowly turned towards the North, towards Lowee. Until such a point where they could actually see the snowy nation, the helicopter's earth-born occupants (Plus their Gamindustrian passenger) decided to sing along.
Loudly.
And badly.
As she heard the hardly pleasant vocal work of the travelling gun show disappear into the distance, Chika found herself exhaling, and rubbing her forehead as she went back inside. "At least 'it ain't me' who's gonna be listening to that..." she mused. Briefly, she chuckled at the song reference. Then, she realized she had never heard the song before, and frowned. "...how did I know that was a reference...?"
After a few hours of flying...
Whilst Tekken stood outside that evening, barefoot in the snowy Lowee outdoors whilst she put away the merchandise from out the front of the shop, she was sure she heard an echoing sound in the distance, even over the sound of the Lowee winds whistling through the alleys of the street. It wasn't loud enough to really make her think it was anything, but it was...well, there. Not that she particularly cared. If it was a monster, she'd fight it. If it wasn't a monster, she felt like her first instinct was going to be panic, stutter, and make whimpering noises until it wandered off.
That was the sad reality she had come to accept.
Tekken had other things on her mind, though: For instance, she had just stepped her bare sole on a particularly large pebble, and it felt great. She paused to shudder at the majesty of the feeling, the 'Come and See!' sign from the street that she used to advertise her store resting on her shoulder. Momentarily, she was in paradise...she briefly looked around.
Was anyone watching?
It didn't seem like it.
Perhaps she could indulge herself in the pain for a little bit?
The cold weather against the bare skin that her revealing outfit displayed meant that her flesh was considerably more sensitive than it would be if she were indoors. Thus, what would normally have been a nice little buzz on the bottom of her foot was like an overwhelming surge of pleasure up her right leg. She wasn't really one to pass up on an opportunity like the one she was presented with...
Quickly, she went back inside, put the sign in the corner where she normally left it, and was just about to head back outside, when...
"Tekken!" came MAGES.' voice from their apartment upstairs. The grey-haired maker stopped in her tracks and sighed, drooping her head slightly as she closed her eyes. 'So close...' she thought sadly. After a moment, she turned back in order to make her way over to the staircase.
"Y-Yes, MAGES.?" she responded feebly, carefully making her way up to their shared abode. The usual, flimsy wooden door greeted her, left ajar slightly so she wouldn't be locked out. Once she was inside, she wiped her feet on the doormat, closed the door behind her, and shuffled into the living room. It was a bit darker than usual, and the fireplace was on. MAGES. was lying on one of the couches, wearing her black shirt, red tie, skirt, and leggings, reading a book. Her coat and hat were on a rack in the corner of the room. Right next to that, with struggling floorboards beneath, was the logging appliance that Mr. Loondumb had left behind. The yellow case for the chainsaw, labelled 'Binski Logging', had been gathering dust and losing colour in the sunlight, causing the text to begin to peel away, and for the yellow to start becoming a mottled grey-gold. The saw itself was in need of some WD40 lubricant.
Of course, that didn't matter to the girls. They didn't need to look after it. Mr. Loondumb should have been thankful that MAGES. actually kept it around to give to him when she next saw him (hehe). Tekken looked at MAGES.. "Hello?" she greeted confusedly. The wizard cast her a sideways glance, looking up from what was presumably one of the science fiction books that Tekken found in her stuff once.
"Try not to indulge your masochistic tendencies out in the street, Tekken," began the wizard. Tekken swallowed, and stepped back, twiddling her thumbs and sweating.
"B-But I-I'm not a m-masochist!" she whimpered. MAGES. rolled her eyes.
"I won't insult your intelligence by pretending you believe for one moment that what you just said is true." There was silence between the two. Finally, Tekken rubbed the back of her head and let out a quiet giggle.
"Additionally, you didn't see any unusual aircraft above Lowee whilst you were out just then, did you?" The fistfighter shook her head, walking across the room and throwing herself upside down onto the other couch to stretch herself out.
"No...I think I heard something, though."
"What did it sound like?" MAGES. asked. Her attention had gone back to her book.
"Like...uh...a quiet whuppawhuppawhuppa noise, and some rock music. I think there was also some singing, too, but that was kind of bad."
"So a helicopter, then?"
"Maybe. Why would anyone have a helicopter out this late?"
"The rich will do what they please, Tekken," MAGES. sighed, "And I can only assume that the helicopter belongs to some arrogant rich businessman who wants to annoy a lot of people with their rather poor choice in music." Tekken frowned, mulling the thought over. The only sound was the crackling fireplace. Finally, she made an admittedly cute 'nngh' noise as she stretched out.
"What's for dinner?" she asked. MAGES. shrugged.
"I'll be doing food shopping tomorrow. Do you want to order pizza?"
Tekken smiled, and nodded.
'Score!'
Meanwhile, in the Lowee basilicom's courtyard...
It was cold nights like that night which made Mina question why she always volunteered to greet guests. Even though Mr. Hillman was with her, leaning against a pillar and fiddling with his rifle, she wasn't having a good time, and was mentally kicking herself for not wearing warmer clothes.
Instead, she had been stupid enough to wear her usual robes and thin leggings. That meant she was shivering. A lot. Quietly, her teeth gnashed together, and she stomped her feet slightly to see if they hadn't fallen off from frostbite. "Th-This wasn't o-o-one of my s-smarter ideas-s-s..." she muttered, scrunching her face up slightly. James didn't even raise his head, still gently turning the Arctic Warfare's scope a degree at a time.
"My worst idea was accidentally leavin' my Berettas lyin' around for Rom and Ram to paint on," he replied calmly, scratching his chin. "Left one blue, right one pink. Congrats to them for only paintin' the slides and frames, though. Perfect electroplating, too..." Mina glanced at him, still finding some amusement in the fact he was right: The formerly gunmetal grey handguns resting in the leather holsters beneath his armpits were now either matte pink or matte blue. It looked frankly ridiculous when she watched him fighting a small herd of Shoebills that had entered Lowee's city limits: A heavily armoured man, with an expression of lethal focus on his face, spraying lead down at his enemies with lethally accurate shots from two oddly coloured pistols. It was amusing at the time, though not for the poor market stall owner who had attempted to sue James for causing tinnitus from the repeated handgun shots.
Mina was about to stutter something in response when she began to hear the faint sound of helicopter rotors coming from the darkened skies over the city. Alongside that, if she looked out through the snowstorm and night hard enough, she could just make out the impression of a light inside a cockpit. Alongside the rotors, however, there was the more (unfortunately) noticeable sound of loud rock music echoing through the night.
Mina scrunched her nose slightly, focusing. "Do you hear a helicopter, Mr. Hillman?" she asked, trying to focus on the approaching airborne object. James nodded, stepping away from the pillar, and gripping his rifle as he walked up beside Mina.
"Yeah, I do..." James sniffed slightly, frowning, chambering a round in the blink of an eye before he shouldered the massive sniper rifle. Glancing down the scope, he could far more clearly make out the approaching lights of a helicopter's cockpit. The doors seemed to be closed, considering that light wasn't coming from the sides. Additionally, the doors being closed meant that the likelihood of him receiving any fire from the sides was exceptionally low. As it got closer, he began to make out the occupants, but barely. In the pilot's seat, there was a helmeted and masked man, wearing what looked like body armour crossed with a boiler suit. In the seat next to him...was Jack?
He lowered his rifle in confusion. Mina looked up at him. "What's the matter?" she asked. James tilted his head.
"Wasn't Jack meant to be gettin' dropped off by Lady Green Heart?" he inquired. Mina thought for a minute, then shrugged.
"I'm afraid I can't give you a confirmable answer," she sighed, "But they would surely have called ahead to say they would be in a helicopter..." James shook his head, looking back through the scope as the aircraft approached further.
"Yeah, nah, looks like Jack's made a new friend," he replied casually, adjusting the focus on the sight. After a moment, he raised a brow. Then a moment later, he raised both brows. "Well, fuck me." Mina blushed slightly.
"U-U-Uh! Th-That's wholly inappro-!"
"He's made even more friends, and brought two of his other mates." Mina raised a brow, adjusting her glasses and looking worried as ever.
"How many people are in that helicopter?"
"About five. One of 'em looks to be a kid or summat. Two of the lads in the back I'd recognize anywhere because of their smug-shit faces. Guy piloting is wearing a helmet. Then you've got Jack himself in the back of the chopper."
Mina looked even more concerned, somehow. She glanced around at the surrounding area of the courtyard. "Will they be able to safely land it here?" James nodded.
"Oh, yeah, more than enough space. Besides, I can only assume the guy piloting knows what the hell he's doin', otherwise he wouldn't fuckin'-well be here." Sighing, he flicked the takedown switch on the stock of his Arctic Warfare, and folded the stock in half for compactness, before slinging it over his shoulder. It was a massive weight he was used to; Two Berettas, two Uzis, an AWP, and enough body armour that you'd think he was a TechForcer. He folded his arms, and looked at the chopper as it slowed, beginning to slowly ascend into the courtyard of the basilicom. The rock music was now incredibly loud, and because of its proximity, Mina was now within her rights to speak her mind.
"Their music choice is appalling," she said miserably as the rotors wound themselves down with a steadily decreasing whine. The music also turned off near simultaneously, and the figures inside the vehicle went for the doors, sliding them open.
Naturally, first and foremost was the smug form of Jack, who hopped straight off the chopper and walked towards James with a grin. James couldn't help but return it. "How's it goin', Jamesy?" Jack greeted warmly, extending a hand for their kickarse handshake.
"Doin' solid, doin' solid," James replied calmly, partaking in the bro-handshake. Mina suddenly found herself completely nude and covered in petrol stains whilst fixing a monster truck engine, it was just so manly. James leaned out past Jack, and gestured to Uni, who was cautiously walking up behind Jack. "Who's this?" he asked. Then he frowned, and pointed to Luke, Josh, and Chaz. "Who the fuck are those gimps?" Jack raised a finger.
First, he pointed at the CPU Candidate behind him. "That's Uni, Uni's great," he began. Then he pointed to Luke, "That's Luke, who you know," Then he pointed to Josh, "That's Josh, who you unfortunately know," He finally pointed to Chaz, who was checking his gear in the chopper cockpit. "And that's Chaz. I kneecapped him the other day but he's a pretty chill bloke." Finally, Jack gestured to the helicopter. "And this beautiful machine is The Fortunate Son." James slouched back slightly and groaned, smirking.
"Oh, wow, did you seriously name it that?" he asked. Jack nodded triumphantly with his hands heroically on his hips, as Luke and Josh approached beside him. They glanced at Mina, then looked at James. Luke raised a finger after a moment, pointing between the marksman and the Oracle.
"Are you two, like, fuck buddies?" he asked casually. Mina immediately grew red faces, sputtering angry responses to such a l-lewd question. James folded his arms, and shifted his weight, not looking amused in the slightest. Jack, meanwhile, quickly covered Uni's ears, before lifting his hand off one ear slightly to whisper to her.
"You're too young to know what that means." Uni rolled her eyes. She already knew what that meant: She'd made the mistake of reading one of her sister's private books that she'd left lying around.
That was an eye-opening experience.
The next morning...
Blanc barely reacted to the presence of four additional people at the breakfast table. Nor did she display a reaction to the fact that one of them was Noire's younger sister. Nor did she seem to be bothered by the fact that James, Jack, Josh, and Luke seemed to know each other very well and none of them would just shut up, whilst Chaz sat opposite Mina, the two of them silently judging each other whilst they ate.
The Lowee CPU was honestly more confused by the fact Chaz was eating with a helmet on, than anything else. But she didn't display that. Instead, she just opted to eat her cereal and observe Mr. Hillman's so-called 'Goonsquad™' and their inter-group interactions. So far, she had made interesting notes from Mr. Loondumb's ranting that Mr. Monoplie was 'a right stuck-up prick', and that Mr. Black was 'probably looking for scrap metal because that's what pikeys do'. Mentally, she made sure she remembered to note them down later on, for when she released a fact book about Earth society.
Quietly, she cleared her throat, and looked at Mina. The Oracle still had her worried gaze set on Chaz, who had already eaten over half of the breakfast he had been served, with none of it going on his helmet or mask. "Oracle Nishizawa," began the CPU, prompting Mina to jump slightly, shake her head clear, and look at her boss.
"Y-Yes, Lady Blanc?" she responded. Blanc glanced down the table at the four bickering men, then back at Mina.
"You did confiscate Mr. Black and Mr. Monoplie's weapons, didn't you?" The Oracle swallowed, then nodded, leaning towards Lady Blanc to avoid the men hearing.
"We...had them removed from their rooms last night whilst they slept," she whispered. "An assault rifle, a double-barrelled pistol, a semi-automatic pistol, and multiple knives, among other things." Blanc nodded understandingly, rubbing her adorable little chin thoughtfully.
"Such armaments would bolster Lowee's military..." she mused. Finally, she sighed, looking back at Mina. "Ask them." The Oracle swallowed again, adjusted her collar, and glanced down past Rom and Ram at Luke and Josh. The latter two were engaged in a spot of the age old schoolyard game of 'Don't you dare call me a cunt, I'll gouge your fucking eyes out with my thumbs, you arrogant prick', so, naturally, Mina was quite hesitant to interrupt. Before she could speak, however, both Luke and Josh had sugar cubes thrown at their heads. They jumped in surprise, turning to see James in the post-throw stance. He glared at them for a second, then jabbed a thumb at Mina. Both Luke and Josh, realizing what he meant, turned to her.
"Hi," Luke said flatly. Mina swallowed again.
"H-Hello...ahem. I-It is my duty, a-as Oracle, to aid in the development of Lowee as a countr-"
"You already lectured us on this," Josh groaned.
"We get it, you're second in command," Luke added.
"You two're still gonna fuuuuuu..." Jack glanced at Rom and Ram, who were staring at him curiously, as they always did when he was about to swear. "...dgin' listen to her anyway, or I'll remove your heads with some double-aught buckshot, got it?" Luke and Josh glared at him, before sighing and admitting defeat. Jack gestured to Mina, leaning back in his chair slightly. "Sorry for interruptin'. Carry on, Oracle." The blue-haired woman looked at him with her usual look of concern, then cleared her throat.
"...th-thank you, Mr. Loafbun...as I was saying to you two, we believe it may be in Lowee's best interests to reverse-engineer some of your equi-"
"No."
"No."
"Do it anyway," Jack cut in, drawing most eyes in the room towards him. "Lazy gits should be able to learn how to pull their own weight around here whilst you're workin' with their guns." Luke and Josh, quite rightfully, began yelling expletives at him. James and Mina rushed to cover Rom and Ram's ears, and Jack did the same with Uni whilst he dodged a bombardment of cutlery from the two other men.
Blanc was beginning to think she was no longer the most foul-mouthed and violent character.