12-02-2017, 06:18 PM
When he next awoke, it was to the sound of raised voices. They came from the corridor just outside the medical bay, and although muffled by the walls and closed door, he was soon able to work out whose voices they were. One was Kroll, and the other... Davion Calrime, their lieutenant.
Davion had been taking some well-earned time off these past couple days and had been visiting friends on Tier Two... his vacation wasn't supposed to have been over so soon, but given the severity of this attack by the NSW, it came as no surprise that he'd returned early.
Though it was unlikely that that was what Kroll was being yelled at for, as it wasn't really his fault. Yes, the barracks had admittedly been left unguarded... but it was hardly the first time that had happened, and no gang had ever broken in and tried to take over the structure before... and even if it had been defended, given the power of the Wolfpack's Claw and the large number of thugs who had accompanied him, it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference.
Therefore, even though he couldn't make out any of the words actually being said, Hijiri could predict their subject matter easily enough; Kroll and Brandon hadn't bothered to inform the lieutenant before putting their little recruitment drive into effect, and as that plan seemed to be displeasing their superiors up the chain of command, it was no surprise that Davion was angry. After all, it was as a direct result of this scheme – which some Imperial Officers were likely viewing as an attempt at a power grab by these lowly stormtroopers – that the squad was being more or less abandoned by Command...
Of course, if the lieutenant were to come bowing and grovelling back to them, with proof of this attempt at freedom of thought having been stamped out and the natural order restored, all would surely be forgiven... the Empire may have believed in harshly punishing those who acted out of order, but they wouldn't want to waste people or resources for no reason... in the worst case scenario, they could always just wait until the squad's attempts at heroism backfired seriously enough that they all ended up dead, as had almost happened today, then move another, more obedient, group down to take their place stationed in the barracks.
Of course, it was also possible that they could be massively successful, with enough people down here fed up of the gangs to actually rally behind the Empire's flag and drive them out of Northside... or even all of Tier Five... for good. In which case the higher-ups would be able to claim that this had been their idea all along and reap the rewards of their success. Not being able to take credit for their own idea wasn't ideal, obviously, but it beat getting court-martialed, so the fact that they were being more-or-less allowed to continue without interference was a good thing, really...
Or it should have been, at least. After seeing what a Prime had been able to do to their 'elite' stormtroopers, as well as the regular sort, Hijiri was much less confident about the chances of this plan; any new recruits they hired really would be just recruits... without any sort of training... and if even the properly-trained and extensively-trained groups they had here were so easily outmatched, what were un-trained noobs supposed to do if they ended up in battle? Would they just be throwing civilians to their deaths here?
Yet another detail to muse over...
Eventually, as the sounds beyond the doorway faded – the speakers moving off down the corridor for whatever reason – the Battle Rabbit sat up; more carefully this time than during his earlier attempt, however long ago it had been, prior to his sedation.
He felt faint aches, but either Prime-healing really must be fast or they'd actually bothered to give him some painkillers this time around. A nurse hurried over as he swung his feet off the bed and stood shakily.
She tried to convince him to get back down and rest, but the corporal waved her off, telling the young woman that he had been lying still for too long and needed a walk to stretch his muscles. She continued to object as he snatched up his katana from where it had been set – leaning against a chair by his bedside – and strode out of the room. Despite her pestering, she made no attempt to subdue him this time, so that was something, at least. Presumably they had done that before simply because he was in so much pain, rather than to prevent him from leaving.
He walked through the cold, grey hallways until he reached the exit, with the metal door still warped and torn out of shape. He gingerly stepped through, not wanting to upset his wounds. As before, though, the gunshots pained him little.
Outside now, night had well and truly fallen. He shivered as a chilly gust of wind cut through the air. His bandages had been changed at some point since he fought Steve, and though these ones still had the occasional blood stains, they were hardly soaked-though completely, as the others had been. He was still shirtless, though, and this was a cold night.
He walked out into the streets, away from the barracks, before finding a narrow alleyway and stopping there to stand hidden in the shadows as he initiated the process of summoning something via Omnilium; a large, rainbow-coloured bubble forming all around him. After approximately ten minutes spent waiting like this, the light faded to reveal his new outfit: a simple pair of black, knee-length, leather boots; tight black trousers; and a coat the bottom of which fell to about knee-height and which had a hood that completely hid his eyes in shadow, leaving the only visible part of his face being the area which was covered by bandages. The coat had white stripes around the hood and wrists, but was black for the most part... oh, and it had bunny ears.
The garment had been something worn by many of the Battle Rabbits in the EDF (Earth Defence Force) back home, and as they had been able to freely switch to their True Forms back there, it only made sense that their clothing should take their ears into account...
He could have changed that when summoning it, of course; if Shotgun Steve could make sentient beings from nothing more than Omnilium and the power of his imagination, then there was certainly no reason why Hijiri ought not to be able to make some minor clothing alterations...
He chose not to, though. This wasn't like back on Earth, after all; with all the different races and species of people, monsters and aliens that resided within the city of Coruscant, it was highly unlikely that simply having an eared hood would draw any attention. It wasn't all that hard to hide, no matter what one looked like, in a place as filled with oddities as this.
Concealing his identity was hardly all that major a concern, since it wasn't like he would expect any random citizens to recognise him in passing, but at least this way if he were to come across some members of the squad while they were on their patrol at some point, he wouldn't need to worry about being lectured for leaving so abruptly and without saying anything, or being dragged back to the barracks... until he'd made up his mind as to how he would move forward from this point, he would stay away from them all, the Rabbit had decided.
And in order to go about working out just how terrible these gangsters really were, he would need to observe them up close, if at all possible... to see if he could really justify what he had been doing on behalf of the Empire... he couldn't be sure exactly were he should begin, though, so a good first step might be to simply start walking, whilst keeping to the shadows as much as possible... this was Tier Five, after all; it couldn't be that hard to come across some criminals...
Davion had been taking some well-earned time off these past couple days and had been visiting friends on Tier Two... his vacation wasn't supposed to have been over so soon, but given the severity of this attack by the NSW, it came as no surprise that he'd returned early.
Though it was unlikely that that was what Kroll was being yelled at for, as it wasn't really his fault. Yes, the barracks had admittedly been left unguarded... but it was hardly the first time that had happened, and no gang had ever broken in and tried to take over the structure before... and even if it had been defended, given the power of the Wolfpack's Claw and the large number of thugs who had accompanied him, it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference.
Therefore, even though he couldn't make out any of the words actually being said, Hijiri could predict their subject matter easily enough; Kroll and Brandon hadn't bothered to inform the lieutenant before putting their little recruitment drive into effect, and as that plan seemed to be displeasing their superiors up the chain of command, it was no surprise that Davion was angry. After all, it was as a direct result of this scheme – which some Imperial Officers were likely viewing as an attempt at a power grab by these lowly stormtroopers – that the squad was being more or less abandoned by Command...
Of course, if the lieutenant were to come bowing and grovelling back to them, with proof of this attempt at freedom of thought having been stamped out and the natural order restored, all would surely be forgiven... the Empire may have believed in harshly punishing those who acted out of order, but they wouldn't want to waste people or resources for no reason... in the worst case scenario, they could always just wait until the squad's attempts at heroism backfired seriously enough that they all ended up dead, as had almost happened today, then move another, more obedient, group down to take their place stationed in the barracks.
Of course, it was also possible that they could be massively successful, with enough people down here fed up of the gangs to actually rally behind the Empire's flag and drive them out of Northside... or even all of Tier Five... for good. In which case the higher-ups would be able to claim that this had been their idea all along and reap the rewards of their success. Not being able to take credit for their own idea wasn't ideal, obviously, but it beat getting court-martialed, so the fact that they were being more-or-less allowed to continue without interference was a good thing, really...
Or it should have been, at least. After seeing what a Prime had been able to do to their 'elite' stormtroopers, as well as the regular sort, Hijiri was much less confident about the chances of this plan; any new recruits they hired really would be just recruits... without any sort of training... and if even the properly-trained and extensively-trained groups they had here were so easily outmatched, what were un-trained noobs supposed to do if they ended up in battle? Would they just be throwing civilians to their deaths here?
Yet another detail to muse over...
Eventually, as the sounds beyond the doorway faded – the speakers moving off down the corridor for whatever reason – the Battle Rabbit sat up; more carefully this time than during his earlier attempt, however long ago it had been, prior to his sedation.
He felt faint aches, but either Prime-healing really must be fast or they'd actually bothered to give him some painkillers this time around. A nurse hurried over as he swung his feet off the bed and stood shakily.
She tried to convince him to get back down and rest, but the corporal waved her off, telling the young woman that he had been lying still for too long and needed a walk to stretch his muscles. She continued to object as he snatched up his katana from where it had been set – leaning against a chair by his bedside – and strode out of the room. Despite her pestering, she made no attempt to subdue him this time, so that was something, at least. Presumably they had done that before simply because he was in so much pain, rather than to prevent him from leaving.
He walked through the cold, grey hallways until he reached the exit, with the metal door still warped and torn out of shape. He gingerly stepped through, not wanting to upset his wounds. As before, though, the gunshots pained him little.
Outside now, night had well and truly fallen. He shivered as a chilly gust of wind cut through the air. His bandages had been changed at some point since he fought Steve, and though these ones still had the occasional blood stains, they were hardly soaked-though completely, as the others had been. He was still shirtless, though, and this was a cold night.
He walked out into the streets, away from the barracks, before finding a narrow alleyway and stopping there to stand hidden in the shadows as he initiated the process of summoning something via Omnilium; a large, rainbow-coloured bubble forming all around him. After approximately ten minutes spent waiting like this, the light faded to reveal his new outfit: a simple pair of black, knee-length, leather boots; tight black trousers; and a coat the bottom of which fell to about knee-height and which had a hood that completely hid his eyes in shadow, leaving the only visible part of his face being the area which was covered by bandages. The coat had white stripes around the hood and wrists, but was black for the most part... oh, and it had bunny ears.
The garment had been something worn by many of the Battle Rabbits in the EDF (Earth Defence Force) back home, and as they had been able to freely switch to their True Forms back there, it only made sense that their clothing should take their ears into account...
He could have changed that when summoning it, of course; if Shotgun Steve could make sentient beings from nothing more than Omnilium and the power of his imagination, then there was certainly no reason why Hijiri ought not to be able to make some minor clothing alterations...
He chose not to, though. This wasn't like back on Earth, after all; with all the different races and species of people, monsters and aliens that resided within the city of Coruscant, it was highly unlikely that simply having an eared hood would draw any attention. It wasn't all that hard to hide, no matter what one looked like, in a place as filled with oddities as this.
Concealing his identity was hardly all that major a concern, since it wasn't like he would expect any random citizens to recognise him in passing, but at least this way if he were to come across some members of the squad while they were on their patrol at some point, he wouldn't need to worry about being lectured for leaving so abruptly and without saying anything, or being dragged back to the barracks... until he'd made up his mind as to how he would move forward from this point, he would stay away from them all, the Rabbit had decided.
And in order to go about working out just how terrible these gangsters really were, he would need to observe them up close, if at all possible... to see if he could really justify what he had been doing on behalf of the Empire... he couldn't be sure exactly were he should begin, though, so a good first step might be to simply start walking, whilst keeping to the shadows as much as possible... this was Tier Five, after all; it couldn't be that hard to come across some criminals...
Quote:New outfit:
[spoiler]
- Art by Werewolf9595 -[/spoiler]
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)