Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » A CATtastrophe III: Return of the Hani (Closed)

Neoma listened intently to the beginning of this argument. She smirked slightly to herself, knowing that if they did get in trouble, she'd just whip out the good ol' General badges and pins. "Well, pleazure to meet you, Zprite." She cringed as her accent ruined Sprite's name. She sheepishly smiled than took off her cloak, folded it and carefully put it in her satchel, making sure Simon, her bug-like creature, was out. As she put her cloak away, she looked up at the sky and a raindrop landed right on the end of her button nose. She pulled out an old trench coat that her father used as raincoat and pulled it on, flipping up the collar once her hood was placed on her head.

Cris's eyes briefly shifted to Barrah as she mentioned 'friends' of the injured target, inwardly taking note of it, just as she had taken mental note of the urn's appearance. If someone was ready to die to retrieve it, then it definitely called for further research... but she wasn't going to mention that. Not unless she actually found out something of interest.

Instead, she turned to Sprite. "Who said it's to be either or? I help you get him in hospital without hassle from police & staff, and help you get some answers out of him." As Barrah spoke of possible retribution from the Kif, her eyes narrowed behind the mask. "Hm. More reason to tag along, then? Security always tends to be very loud and visible, whereas stealth is a ninja's weapon of choice." Again something like an amused smirk flashed in her dark irises. She knew how ironic that sounded from a woman who had literally jumped on a table to hold an entire pub at gun point... but, like in the ages old rite of three cards game, the eye could be deceived by the trick of the hand.

Hearing Neoma's question, she turned to her and gave a half-nodd. "Cris will do fine. Nice to meet you." The hospital's lights were closer in sight now, and she lowered her voice, though still making sure the entire group could hear. "Now, if staff or security asks anything, let me do the talking, alright? I can minimize the troubles for all, but I need you guys to roll with it." She looked Barrah in the eyes. "Deal?"

Neoma nodded towards Cris. "I'm Neoma." She reached into a side pocket on her satchel and pulled her badges and pins out and stuffed them into her pocket, making sure no one saw them. She could already smell the cleaning alcohol wafting from the hospital, even though they were still a decent way from it. She shriveled her nose in disgust and pulled her silk mask and her pure white scarf up over her nose. She looked at the group as if they were crazy. "How ze HELL does ze zmell not bother any of you? It'z zo zuffocating!" She coughed a couple times, not for dramatics, but because of the scent. As they came closer, she began to cough more and more. Damn zese heightened zenzez! Wish I hadn't gone through all zat training!

Sitting up in the rafters, a figure wearing a jumpsuit, boots, and a cloak with the hood over their head is playing a song on a Hurdy-Gurdy, its haunting yet calm melody filling the air of the area and slightly entrancing.

(Song hes playing if interested.)

Suddenly becomes aware of another person joining them, a fox looking person.

“I don’t know who you are..so stay to the back please” she said pushing on to the building

The fiesty Hani follows after the gurney being taken to a room, they work on him for a while then let anybody inside.

“Alright you two do whatever, somebody watch the door” she sits down with the vase, looking it over for cracks.

“Sturdy ceramics huh?” She was a little amazed it didn’t break in the fall.

"Sensitive nose?" Cris turned toward Neoma. "Try breathing with your mouth as much as possible... my kids have the same problem with too strong smells." But then Barrah spoke to her and she looked up, a thin eyebrow raising behind the mask. 'Huh. And this time I wasn't trying to go unnoticed.' "Right, I have terrible manners. Name's Cris, I'm a -" she was about to say problem solver, but refrained with a bemused smirk, "... ah, I guess you can say I'm a travelling ninja with either too much free time on her hands or a schedule so busy it's spontaneously growing. Is it either? Is it both? As in most things in life - it's all in the eyes of the beholder." Cryptic, she? Nah.

The request to stay to the back of the group caused even the other eyebrow to raise. I've just finished saying I can help and you storm right over that? Heh. That's... quaint. She glanced sideways at Sprite, and if their eyes should briefly meet, Cris's own would definitely have the look of someone who was holding back what could either be a laugh, a snort, or both. She opted to stay silent though, and dutifully let Barrah and the others march onward while she lingered to the back of the group... at least, she did outwardly. Rear guard allowed her to slide close to one of the ER staff, reach out for their arm and say something very quietly; the stretcher bearer looked slightly unnerved, color draining from his face, and hastened off, but so discreetly it didn't really stand out from the ordinary hassle that you could expect in an hospital.

Even as the target was assigned a room, she stood near the doorway, but deliberately made no actual attempt to watch it; she had drawn out a datapad and was fiddling with it absently, the living picture of someone who minded her own business and didn't want to be in the way...

... until a nurse approached with two security guards in tow. Only then she looked up - and left the doorway to meet them halfway; but in such a casually arrogant way, it seemed almost as if she was keeping them out at the same time. "Ah, greetings. I'm lady Aliprandi, cousin of Viscount Roberto, representative in the Galactic Union embassy." As always, the flare of title and rank did not fail to get the two guards hackles down. "I figured you'd be looking into this unfortunate matter that occurred to my entourage, which is precisely why I requested discreetion. The embassador would hate any form of unsolicited attention to our dispatch, if you catch my drift..." Lies flowed out so nonchalantly, and with so much assurance, it seemed all legitimately true. Years as a space pirate had honed her silver tongue.

((Imma go sleep for now, everybody try to remai. In the hospital I’ve got plans for a thing

Neoma leaned in the doorway of the hospital room, watching the guards who had been stopped by Cris. She began fidgeting with her badges and pins in her pocket, ready to show them if need be. Her eyes flicked from the room to the hall, keeping up on both current events.

There was something else. An issue. Not the misfortune of carrying a dismembered Kif on her shoulder, nor was it the rackety case that Randle and her’d found themselves into- no, it was far more fundamental (and to her, stupid) than that. Burning white lights. Sweat on her back. Zapping pain in her bones. Clinical cleanness.. ”I-.. I can’t go’n there.” Right in front of the hospital doors, Sprite’d stopped in her tracks, the convulsing body on her back dangling above the concrete floor. Her skin’d lost some color, and she glanced towards Randle and then Cris with eyes that spoke both of shame and pure, unfiltered terror. ”Y’jus’.. jus’ take t’body offa me, ‘kay? M’sure y’ll manage primely without me. I jus’ can’t do ‘tis shit, sorry guy, I can’t.” Everything about it reminded her of the Lab. The long days in concrete cells, clawing for an escape until her nails broke, being shocked, taunted and tortured until she by miracle broke free. No matter how sweet the doctors might be, she wasn’t going in there. Never again. ”Hey, hey, kid, it’s alright- you and Neoma can stay outside and keep an eye on the streets, okay? We got this,” Randle tried to assure her, looking between the Elf, the Hani and his vigilante friend. He appreciated Cris’s interest in talking them through this; although it felt somewhat patronizing to an old sport like himself, he knew from experience that a young and bright dame like her usually had better success persuading the right people than a hulking horror movie creature like him. ”C’mon, I’ll take him for ya. Just stay put out here, alright? Can give us a call if something’s up, we’ll be in here.” He took over the Kif, but decided to carry him in a more respectful, medically responsible position. With that, he gave his buddy a pat on her shoulder and followed behind the rest of the questioning team; the hospital doors opened, and he followed them inside.

A figure approaches out of the crowds that constantly swarm the city scape of meet point, a black hooded figure with a long pale snout walks across the decks silently toward the main doors of the hospital.

It encounters an elf and Sprite who stayed behind outside..it’s a Kiff just like the one inside but he doesn’t seem dangerous as of yet..apart from the obvious bulge in his robes where his left arm would be.

“Greetings friends! Get to point, have Vase we want in there..we make deal? Like deal yes?”

This Kif wasn’t nearly well translated as the previous, having a heavy accent and a rather ugly gutteral tongue as opposed to the pretty Hani purr.

Out of the robes comes a long fingered pale hand, Bering a large blue credit chip with 1000 written across the front in big letters

“I give ladies money if they go get vase and friend for me…” he never meantioned what would happen if they didn’t accept, although the growing Kif presence in the crowd might be somewhat of a clue.

“Let us be reasonable business people yes?”

Sat herself down in a chair beside the bed they eventually got to.

“His friends are likely to show up at some point, better here then in the void, if you wanna ask him stuff now would be a good time, maybe I’ll let ya look at my vase too”

The woman shuffled her hips in a smug manner

Neoma stared the new Kif down and set a hand on her hip, a questioning look on her face. She decided that she wouldnt hide her accent. In fact, she made sure it sounded like gibberish almost. "Vhat makez you tink zhat ve have zhis vase you zpeak ov? And even if ve did, vhish ve dont, vhat vould happen if ve didnt give you zhe vase?" She stood in front of Sprite, slightly turned to her revealing her long sword, long bow, and her gun halter holding her two pistols underneath her trench coat. She leaned her head back and subtly glared at the man, but also trying to give off a 'I can handle this' aura to Sprite.

Although Sprite had no doubt that Neoma could, in fact, handle this, she'd sooner stab herself in the throat with a rusty knife than sideline in a situation like this. So, naturally, she made it worse for the both of them. "T'scrap y'sayin'?" she growled, pushing past the Elf to stare the Kif down. "Dunno what shithole y'might be from, but reasonable bizz y'arn' proposin'." Her axe was in range, but so was the vile creature's collar. Sprite grabbed him by it, pretty much risking it all in the haze of her flash of panic caused by the hospital earlier, and grinned with unnatural malicious intend. "Here's a better deal for y'- y'tell us who exactly y'workin' for an' why, and we'll make sure y'see that stinky friend of yours again, alive." There was a trick to this, she liked to believe; in a way, she was offering herself as a target. If the Kiff would decide to attack, he'd probably hit her first which would give Neoma plenty of time to deal with him from her out-of-spotlight situation. Classic Sprite logic, probably.. In the meantime, Randle waited around for a room to open up, and for the security to leave them alone. He trusted Cris would figure out how to handle this, and not surprisingly, she did! At long last they settled in a room, and after depositing the de-armed Kiff onto his bed, Randle sat down at the end of it, the tip of his tail slowly circling at his ankles. "Alright, pal, the more honest you're gonna be, the sweeter and easier it'll be for ya-" he said, keeping haunting eye contact with the wounded beast at all times. Man, how he craved a good smoke right now.. "Now, we'll keep it simple; what can ya tell us about this rich sponsor of yours? What could he possibly need the urn for?"