RP Wars on Distant Shores (Starbound USCM RP)

"I'm ready."
Bustow was interested to see a USCM medbay. The Miniknog ones all looked the same; tacky wallpaper, life support pods, weird test tubes everywhere... He had some bad memories in those places.

 

Lucerentia sighed, exasperated but somehow amused. Really, what kind of person reflexively spin-kicks a warbot in midair? If these were the shenanigans her squad would come up with in their off time, which is partially understandable since she herself is a fan of bunny-hopping everywhere, she really, really hoped that they won't be doing that in real-combat situations.

And she wanted to try the obstacle course, too...

"I agree with the sentiment, Lieutenant. Let us head to the medbay as soon as possible", she replied, trying to keep her politeness despite the slight mirth in her voice.

 

"Right, let's get a move on."

The Lieutenant didn't move quite as fast as before, possibly slowing down to account for d'Artangan's injury. Ultimately though, it didn't affect the travel time much: The medbay was conveniently placed near the obstacle course, marked by a red cross symbol on the automated door. A marine stood outside, equipped in USCM armor and holding a Pulse rifle lazily on his back. He yawned, but quickly stifled it when he saw Jacobs approach, moving the Rifle in front of him, cradled in his arms. When Jacobs stepped inside the room, the marine didn't visibly react, making no move to stop the rest of the group, only observing the alien mercenaries for a little longer.

When the group entered the medbay, there were scant inhabitants: the rows of neat, white beds lay unoccupied on the sides, and the private rooms, reserved for emergencies or more permanent residents, were glowing green: Unoccupied.

There was only one person in the entire room, and he was sitting in an receptionist-like area, a U-shaped desk facing outwards.

"Afternoon sir," the man spoke, not looking up from his paperwork, "What seems to be the problem today?"

"One of the mercenaries jacked their foot up during training." Explained Jacobs, "I figured I should get it fixed as soon as possible."

The man lifted his head, his blue-green eyes staring at the group behind Jacobs. Closing his eyes, he let loose a sigh.

"Which one of you?" He spoke at last.

 

"This one", Lucerentia spoke up before anyone else had the chance to, pointing at d'Artangan, "Thought that jump-spin-kicking a warbot, at running speed, without protection, during an obstacle course run, was a good idea. I don't really know how bad it is, but I hope it's not permanent", she said, plain and blunt with little tact, if any.


What? Schadenfreude is a thing.

 

Flamewing looked at D'artagnan. Did he actually kick it with his foot? Flamewing even knew that when you kicked you didn't kick with your foot. Unless you wanted to break your foot and sleep in the medbay for a few days. He was slowly losing confidence in his mercenary comrades.

 

The doctor sighed, and began to type into his Codex. "That makes it the thirteenth time new arrivals have injured themselves on the obstacle course." He spoke as he typed.

The doctor stood up, and walked over to a nearby supply cabinet. Pressing a code into the container, it unlocked with a small click. Reaching inside, he brought out a roll of bandages... And a large syringe, filed with a bright red liquid.

" You might want to sit down for this," He spoke, looking at d'Artangan, "My previous patients told me it's less painful that way."

 

d'Artangan was extremely pale as he slowly sat down on the closest hospital bed. "Just hurry up and make it quick....."

 

The Doctor looked at d'Artangan, examining him. "Which foot?" He asked. "I can't help you if I don't know where the injury is."

 

"Right foot."

 

The Doctor nods, placing the bandages and the syringe on a nearby table. He removes D'Artangan's shoe, and examined the injury.

"Banged it up pretty good," noted the man, who began to painfully set the broken limb into place. Once he did so, he held onto the foot with his left hand, his right grabbing the bandages on the nearby table. He then wrapped them around the foot, keeping the broken bones in their correct places. Finally, he reached out and grabbed the syringe. With careful precision, he inserted the needle into d'Artangan's foot, and injected the red substance until the syringe was empty.

"That was a healing agent," explained the doctor, as he stepped back to the desk, "It accelerates the body's natural healing processes, not as much as Nano-Bandages, but it isn't too shabby. Now, for the rest of today don't run, jump, or kick with your foot. Next morning, it should be all healed and ready to go."

"Now, any questions?"

 

"No...thanks."

 

Smith took a look at his robotic arm and how it reminded him when he he was almost blown into pieces.He shook his head trying to forget for what happened.

 

"Well, that was fast..." Lucerentia commented offhand, looking over the work that the doctor had given the human mercenary. Not about the recovery time, mind you - she acknowledged the doctor's note that nano-bandages heal faster - but rather about how quickly the treatment was administered. Well, this was a military forward base, after all, so she supposed quick treatment of the wounded would be a given.

She certainly hoped Murphy's Law won't kick in and force her to some kind of skirmish before the merc's leg healed, though.

Turning back to the lieutenant, she said, "Where to next, sir?"

 

"That would be the PX," spoke Jacobs, "Post Exchange for you mercs, basically where you can buy anything and everything we don't give you." He nodded towards the door. "See you later, doc."

The PX, as it turned out, was only a short distance away from the medbay, a few hundred meters away. From the onset, the room was structured differently, the solid steel doors replaced by transparent glass ones. Weaker, but more welcoming. This design choice was also reflected inside the PX: the utilitarian, spartan look that dominated the rest of the base faded away, replaced by something that resembled some odd cross between a department, gun, and drug store. There were some basic clothes stocked, put on display. There were also some food as well, mostly non-essentials such as gum or candy. Behind the clerk were weapons and ammunition as well. Speaking of the clerk, she was different than the others on the base in that she was a Hylotl, blue-skinned and wearing a Kimono.

"Welcome!" She said, enthusiastically, "Anything you needed?"

 

Bustow looked around, deciding if he needed anything. First he selected a few pieces of candy. Then he asked the clerk for a gray and red machine-pistol sitting in a display case behind her.

 

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see a Hylotl here", Lucerentia admitted honestly, using a bright tone of voice without malice or prejudice.
The young woman let her eyes wander for a bit, letting out a low hum of appreciation at the various goods stocked neatly on the shelves.

She turned to the clerk, moving in a bit closer.
"So... Do you only deal with mercs, or can we soldiers get away with a thing or two?"

 

d'Artangan walked in and looked around for anything interesting.

 

The Hylotl opened her mouth to speak when Jacobs interrupted her. "Post Exchanges aren't technically owned by the military, their a strictly for-profit organization. As such, it is possible though unlikely, for an alien to be in charge of one, such as miss..." he trailed off at the end, visibly confused.

"Just call me Silk-swimmer, it's the closest translation I've been able to find." The Hylotl said. "As for your question, the PX sells to both marines and mercenaries. Speaking of which..."

"This one?" She asked, pulling out the weapon. "It seems you're well-armed already, just want another gun in case something goes wrong?"

 

Bustow nodded. "That's the one. Some of the ones I have aren't exactly the best. Kind of old. Plus, it'd be a nice little souvenir."

 

"Silk-Swimmer, huh?" Lucerentia repeated. "Language barrier can get pretty inconvenient sometimes", she expressed her sentiments.
Idly she wondered if she can actually learn the Hylotl tongue. It'd be pretty fancy, if nothing else. Though, she supposed it was somewhat of a pipe dream.

"Well, I suppose I'll keep this place in mind. I don't actually have anything specific I want to buy... Yet"
After saying that, she walked back a few steps, giving everyone some space.
"Call me when you're all done", she said to the mercenaries in the place.