Public Enterprise Day - Darkwire's Anniversary

[Doc Painless]

Darkwire's Anniversary: Enterprise Day!
​

It's the anniversary of Darkwire gaining major faction status! A huge parade is being held on Denon by the various corporations of the DireX Board, celebrating the anniversary of founding the Corporate Authority of Denon. Some people are a lot happier about that than others. The Corpos are enjoying themselves, feeling secure in their wealth, power, and security. Down in the city's lower neighborhoods, however, resentment toward their extravagant lifestyles threatens to boil over. Meanwhile, gangs and other criminals lurk in the shadows, ready to take advantage of the distraction the parade provides in order to carry out their own schemes.

Objective One (Celebrate!): Corpos and Corpo-supporters, it's time to cheer on the parade!
Celebrate the galaxy's greatest free enterprise zone!

Objective Two (Rage Against the Machine!): A brawl has broken out in the Blue Flame tavern.
Thrash the Corpo supporters! Stand up for the litttle guy!

Objective Three (Do Your Own Thing!): Celebrate, mourn, or take advantage of Enterprise Day in your own way!

The Enterprise Day Parade
Live Coverage on Denon United News Network (DUNN)​

"Welcome back to DUNN. I'm Irgo Larfleez. Today is Enterprise Day, officially marking the sixth anniversary of the Corporate Authority of Denon's establishment in 858 ABY. As usual, all of the Authority's member corporations have chipped in to sponsor celebrations across CAD space, with the largest and most impressive parades taking place here on Denon. While almost every district on our planet has organized an expression of their civic pride, the one to watch is always the Grand Parade of Industry around Sakedo Tower, in which each corporation competes to show off the most dazzling floats. Amie Vynt is live on the scene."

"Thanks, Irgo. The theme of this year's Enterprise Day celebrations is 'Opportunity', an apt choice given the billions of jobs added to the CAD's economy by corporate expansion into Altier, Belazura, and Bovo Yagen. We've just seen the Mining Union float pass by, and it's a strong contender for the winner of the coveted Best In Show award. The hovering platform carried a huge statue of a pair of Union miners that, powered by internal servos, appear to continuously ascend a massive staircase labeled 'To Prosperity'. The entire sculpture was built of ore sustainably extracted on Belazura, showing off the Union's eco-conscious practices."

"That's amazing, Amie! I wish I could be there to see it in person. But it would be premature to call the contest just yet. The First Bank of Denon always puts on a classy but extravagant show; who could forget their award-winning Temple of Commerce in the parade of 862, built entirely of purple crystal from Quarzite. And there have been rumors that the Media Conglomerate has somehow incorporated Sakedo Tower itself into this year's festivities... and invited dozens of famous holodrama stars to participate! I can't wait to see what else is in store for us today. We'll be right back with further coverage after a word from our sponsors."

Meanwhile, at the Blue Flame Tavern
Seven Corners District, Far Below Sakedo Tower
​

"Can you please turn that chit off," Doc Painless said, restraining himself from hurling one of the empty shot glasses lined up in front of him up at the holomonitor. "Lie after lie after fething lie, and somehow they keep fething going." He drank down the full shot glass instead, draining it instantly and easily; he'd had a lot of practice as a heavy drinker. It was always to help him forget something, to chase away the memories that stabbed into his brain and turned his stomach upside-down and made him want to die. He'd come in to forget old things, but then those cheery fethers on the news had brought up Belazura. Sustainably extracted? My shiny metal ass it is.

"Another one, Meeno." His head already swimming with the beginnings of a retreat into blissful oblivion, it took the Doc a few seconds to remember his manners. "Please." The Muun bartender frowned, looking at the neat - and long - row of empty shot glasses already arrayed in front of the street medic. He was a quiet one, using gestures and facial expressions in place of words whenever he could get away with it. Finally he shook his head. "You've had enough, Doc." It was gently said, and surprising to hear the laconic barkeep speak at all, but it was still hard not to resent it. "Come on, Meeno," the Doc grumbled. "Hell of a day. Just one more, and I'll go. Please."

The bartender shook his head again, and the Doc sighed. "Fine. I'll go down the street in a minute, and they'll serve me, but whatever. Can you at least turn off that fething 'yay exploitation' racket on the monitor?" The Muun inclined his head, then turned to adjust the broadcast. But at that moment, the doors of the Blue Flame flew open, and a crowd of laughing men and women poured through. Their tailored clothes and expensive chronos marked them as well-paid Corpos, probably upper management slumming it for thrills. "Hey, don't touch that dial," blustered a tall man in a two-piece suit. "Director Manfloon's about to make his address from the float."

The guy's shimmersilk jacket must have cost more than everything in the Doc's clinic put together. The Doc hated him immediately.

"I don't want to hear it," the street medic said, addressing Meeno rather than the newcomers. "Turn it off, please." The man in shimmersilk stalked over to the Doc's barstool, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him around to face the crowd. "You got a problem, buddy? Divak Manfloon is the reason people like you have jobs. You want to try again, and show a little gratitude to the man who's the reason you're not out on the street?" A deathly calm settled over the Doc then, though he could feel the blood rushing in his ears. "Too many of 'us people' are on the streets because of Manfloon and men like him. Take your hand off me."

The Corpo laughed in his face, his heavy haze of expensive perfume nearly making the Doc gag. "You see this, guys? This is why the theme is 'opportunity'. You can create a billion jobs in a year, and you still get lazy sleemos who'll whine about it. Maybe if you got off your ass and actually worked hard, you'd see some of his success trickle down to you instead of sitting here and resenting him for it." "Not likely," the Doc shot back, still not moving. "Not that you'd understand. You're one of the greedy sons of banthas drafting the corporate indenture contracts, not one of the people forced to sign them. I asked you to take your hand off me."

The Corpo leaned in closer. "Don't hate the game just because you don't know how to play it. We earned what we have; you've earned having nothing. So sit there like a good little drone and listen to what your betters have to say."

Doc Painless was not a violent man. He had never pointed a blaster at anyone, much less fought or killed. But something boiled up inside him then, a feeling he couldn't put a leash on. He remembered the indenture camps on Belazura. He remembered the decraniated, bought by CEOs for the thrill of it. He remembered his friend Trannon, who'd let himself be modified into a monster so that he could keep his job and feed his family. And something just snapped. Before he knew it his fist was flying right into the Corpo's face, his metal hand smashing the guy's nose in a spray of blood and knocking loose several teeth. The shimmersilk suit was suddenly flecked with crimson.

"You've earned that," the Doc said, climbing to his feet, fists clenched. "Feth Enterprise Day, feth Manfloon, and feth you."

The room instantly exploded into chaos. Emboldened by the Doc's example, dozens of locals - many of them either unemployed and desperate or all but enslaved by their contracts and just as desperate - decided today was the day to return to the favor to these rich idiots who'd tresspassed in their neighborhood. For their part, the Corpo's friends leapt eagerly into the fray, brawling with electro-knuckles and personal stunners, eager to beat the druk out of those they considered beneath them. The Blue Flame's bouncers leapt into action, but this crowd was far too big for the three of them to disperse easily. It was a good old fashioned bar brawl...

... and it was just getting started.

Airal Thamne | Anakin Stormrunner | Aren D'Shade | Brie Jaxx | Cartri Keswoll | Cassus Akovin | Chelara "Chel" DuCote | Chloe Santhe | Deryn Kaaldos | Daiya | Kimiko Taiyou | Gray Venasir | Hacks | Haden Del | Helena | Jerec Asyr | M-XIII | 5-WCH (Switchblade) | Spark | Xan Deesa | Yula Perl​

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Location: The Blue Flame

Ruby wasn't much of a drinker.

But today she'd already downed a couple. It was all she could do to try and drown out all the noise about Enterprise Day. Here, in the solitude of a corner booth, she was enjoying being set apart from the crowd – both in the bar and outside on the streets.

She didn't want to see the sort of delusional joy and support that many of the Corpo supporters wore openly on their crazy faces and even their clothing. It was madness. Ruby couldn't understand it. It'd have been easier for her to get if they'd all been brainwashed...

Her darkly lined eyes shifted towards the monitor that displayed the festivities.

Well, maybe they had been brainwashed. The Corporate Authorities were capable of such a move, after all. But, then again, some people were just willing to believe just about anything. She grunted at the thought and opened her mouth to dribble the last of her drink in. Ruby frowned in the direction of the bar, where more drinks could be had – but it was far away, and she didn't want to lose her table.

She crossed her arms, content to stay put a little longer, but her stomach gave an awful howl. Time for some hot wings or chips or something. Fine. Pushing up, Ruby began to stomp towards the bar... just as a commotion was being had about what was showing on the monitor. Squinting, she spotted Doc Painless being harassed by some no-good-corpo-supporter. Her jaw clenched.

People were shoving, the flow of the crowd at the bar was more like a turbulent wave – this way and that, fists and elbows. Ruby ought to have moved along with it, but she didn't.

And an elbow caught her right in the nose.

“KARKING KARK!” She hollered, instantly dropping her mug, which broke on the ground by her boots. Now... someone was gonna pay.

 

[Brie Jaxx]

She had missed something. Brie had definately missed something, as a group of Corpos entered the cantina in a higher celebrating and more drunk mood than any other time she had been here. Of all the cantinas she had visited in the Outer Rim, this one could definately compete with the most loud ones this night. For tonight, she wore light blue denim in both trousers and a short jacket, and a dark blue and white striped sweater underneath.

Brie herself had a cup of jawa juice in front of her and were very content that she went under the radar of any of the older and creepy mens and aliens that were visiting the cantina this night. Her datapad laid out in front of her on which she casually messaged with Ahxel, the boy she met on Frego during their little heist against the Cabral Family. Daiya had a bad habit of pulling her along into trouble, but also into unexpected and quite pleasant encounters like the one with Ahxel. He was... tenacious, that was for sure, but not at all in a troubling way. It was just unusual, not to say unique for the salvager girl to be tended to this way. His calls and messages had taken some focus from the last weeks otherwise strange and incomprehensive dreams of hers. Dreams that had continued to emerge ever since that nanotrip or whatever it was a couple of months back. Dreams that had felt more real than life itself and had showed her fractions of what must have been her family; mom, dad and her sister. It didn't matter what she did or where she were, it was always on her mind to find them.

She wished Ahxel had been here. Daiya and Jezper too. Brie opened the conversation with Daiya and wrote to her.

''Blue Flame's open late tonight! Want to come over and re-live old times?''

Just as she pushed the send-button, all hell broke loose by the bar. Probably because some drunk guy said or did something that was not appreciated by the rest of the patrons. It would have been easy just to leave the cantina, if the path wasn't blocked by the brawl that seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Ruby Jaxx Daiya Doc Painless

 

[Cassus Akovin]

​

When Cassus fist came to Denon, he was a boy getting in trouble trying to help his sick mom. No different than an urchin stealing food from the market, except the market was the government center of a galactic super power, and he was packing much more heat than any other urchin in the galaxy.

Not much has really changed since, other than that his mom was dead.

Which could explain why he was at a tavern. It was just one of those days. He bought a drink (after some stern negotiating), sat at a table and then... he just stared at it. A knife twirled in his hands, and the droning of the corporate shills on the holomonitor was inaudible to him, the sounds of the silence in his mind greater than the mundanity of his environment.

Then, the world around him grew loud again as a patron fell on on his table shattering the glass on impact.

His vision went white and the grip on his knife tightened...

Doc Painless Brie Jaxx Ruby Jaxx Daiya

 

[Doc Painless]

The Doc was not generally much of a fighter. He recognized that, sometimes, some folks just needed shooting (or stabbing, or blowing up) for the good of everyone else, and he'd help make sure it happened... but he'd help from the sidelines, organizing beforehand, coordinating during, and patching up the survivors after. He didn't talk about where he'd been or what he'd done before showing up on Denon, but few believed that he could have been too much different. He could be hard when he needed to be, but there was a gentle way about him.

None of that gentleness was on display on Enterprise Day. The Doc laid out all around him with durasteel fists, breaking bones with each impact; for him, 'unarmed' was a bit of a misnomer. Incoming hits glanced off his augmented arms, leaving those who threw the punches howling in pain. It was like slamming their knuckles against a starship bulkhead. The Doc, for his part, felt nothing except the heat of his anger, drowning out the cool-headed reason that normally ruled him. He'd turned off the pain receptors in his augments, and no hit phased him.

At least, not until one of the Corpo-supporters got around behind him and electro-knuckled him in the back of the head.

The street medic flew gracelessly forward, his eye optics spinning wildly and filling with static, his legs buckling beneath him as the electric charge surged through his nervous system and integrated wiring. He crashed face-first into the chest of one of the men he'd just punched; the schmuck was cradling his arm, which the Doc had broken at the wrist with a vicious block. The guy shoved him off with his good hand, and he still couldn't seem to get his legs to respond. Down he went, hitting the floor hard... and that's when the kicking started.

Doc Painless had a lot of augmentations. His eyes and arms were entirely mechanical, and integrated circuitry ran through his face, neck, chest, and legs. Despite all that, the bulk of him was still flesh and blood, and he could not turn off his pain everywhere. He felt every kick as a circle formed around him, boots slamming into his stomach and back. They kept him down, slamming their soles into his shoulders and knees every time he tried to rise. With no other option, the Doc curled into a ball, using his arms to cover his head and stomach.

A little reason crept back into his anger, and the battered Doc bitterly remembered why he tended to let others do the fighting; he just wasn't very good at it. He'd started this whole brawl, and now he was the one that needed help. "Now who's fethed, huh?" The words were a little garbled by a broken nose, still streaming blood, but the street medic could tell who'd said them. Between his guarding arms, the Doc could see the braggart he'd first hit moving into the circle, a whirring vibroblade in his hand and a bloody, savage smile on his face.

Well, feth. He needed help, and he needed help right now.

Cassus Akovin | Ruby Jaxx | Brie Jaxx | Daiya​

 

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

Crossing the threshold into the Blue Flame Tavern, the former Manfloon employee had the quick internal debate of activating her response package to the obvious fight that was going on in front of her. The soft twitch of her eyes told her the dullards kicking the now downed man were little more than blowhards with a gym membership. She decided against the response package, instead letting the unfurling snap of a shock baton be the only warning they would get.

Augmented muscles flexed beneath the skin, duraskin always ready to deflect the wonder weapons little boys thought their fists were.

This would be a blue milk run compared to dealing with a bunch spice strung miners. One broke away from the pile, swinging with a controlled move with what seemed to be a good arm. The other hand was curled awkwardly toward their chest, face contorted in angry pain as she heard the crack of a glass and wood from across the room. Problem for this seeming boxer was that Jocelyn moved into the man's space rather than backing out of it. The crackle of static made their bright eyes open wide before he tensed like a stuck pig and fell backwards.

"Next piggy-pig." She called, making the come on wave with her hand, trying to break up the circle further.

 

[Daiya]

The Blue Flame was ordinarily a fairly cordial place. Daiya liked that about the tavern, and she knew that Shenn, its Chandrillan proprietor, worked hard to keep it that way. Though the place attracted a diverse crowd, mostly spacers and shadowrunners, but often a few bounty hunters, tourists, strays off the street much like she once was, and sometimes even Corpos. Yet despite occasional disagreements, the girl had rarely seen an argument come to blows without Isqi or Dreva, and a few times even Tawrrowaldr, right there to strongly encourage the brawlers to take their dispute outside.

It was cliché to call it like a family. The girl didn't have one of her own, not that she was welcome back to anyhow. It had been her choice to leave her birth family, and her choice to leave Tawrrowaldr later on. Family wasn't the kind of word Daiya would ever use to describe the patrons of the Blue Flame, not the way that it meant to her. The patrons here were something different, something more than a collective truce and yet still something short of sheer loyalty or friendship. There was a camaraderie among those that chose to invest time here, and it only worked when everyone helped to sustain it.

So it was easy to understand why Daiya was not expecting to be met with such an uproar from the moment she stepped into the typically-chill establishment. Wide eyes grew on the teen's fair visage, and they caught the nearby motion in time for her to duck a blow meant for someone else. Daiya had no idea what she had just walked into, but she was betting it had little to do with the drinks today. Not even a free drinks special had caused such mayhem at her favorite watering hole.

Her datapad vibrated with a notification, and the distraction caused the girl to hesitate long enough to take a blow unseen from behind her. Her primal, and streetwise, instincts took over and turned a trajectory toward the looming floor into an opportunity. Tucking in her head, the girl rolled to the side, coming up into a seated position in a spot clear of chairs and trampling legs. An incoming pair, belonging to someone stumbling back in retreat, forced the girl to scramble backwards like a spider. Her hands set themselves down in puddles of spilled drinks or sticky debris on the floor, but she didn't stop to take note of it until her blonde head was ducked safely under the auspices of a booth table.

From underneath the booth, Daiya had a moment to collect herself. The teen's new patterned pants were already soiled and damp in places, her jacket had a tear in the sleeve, and she felt something sticky in her hair that she prayed wasn't gum. The girl sighed, but tossed away those concerns to focus on her next course of action. In-between glances at the brawling crowd, she fished into her satchel for her DL-13 Holdout Blaster. Shenn didn't like them in here, but she wasn't about to go toe to toe with grown adults when they had the advantage of numbers and a lack of sobriety. Besides, she would only use it on stun mode, the old Chandrillan couldn't get mad at her for having fewer brawlers conscious right now.

The screen of her datapad caught the teen's eye, and she took a quick peek at it. The last thing she received, ostensibly in the moment she entered the bar, was a message from Brie. Daiya had to read it twice, and uttered a quick curse as she looked up to find a brawling pair headed her way. Luckily, they smashed up against a nearby table, sparing her from having to fight from under a booth.

Throwing out her feet, the girl scooched her way forward and then pulled into a crouch, cautious of standing too early and presenting herself as a target. She held the holdout blaster close near her body, keeping it sheltered as much as hidden from anyone who would be eager to counter her weapon with their own.

There were too many options to pick from. Isqi and Dreva were each engaged with their own brawler, or three in Dreva's case, but the big woman could handle five on a good day. The girl spied some familiar faces, and was alarmed to find one of them swinging a knife in a blind rage across the bar. Cassus was too far for her to intervene, and Daiya saw other horrors in closer view. Like Doc Painless on the floor, with a circle of jackbooted thugs driving kicks into his prone form.

Daiya didn't think, she just aimed the holdout blaster and took a shot at the center of the circle. A halo of blue energy shot forth from her blaster, whirring as it passed through the air and into the body of one thug. Another one nearby dropped as a woman with a stun baton stuck him, goading the others to fight her instead of the hapless medic.

At least, Daiya spotted the familiar, blonde form of Brie through the crowd. She spared a glance back to the Doc, with two of his foes down and a veteran color guard to dispatch the rest, he seemed to be in good hands. Daiya headed for the familiar form of the salvager girl instead.

"BRIE!" The girl shouted to her friend, trying to be heard across the commotion. Her head had to bob and weave to be seen above the jostling heads, but Daiya tried to keep an eye on her friend as she told her, "YOU'VE GOT VERY STRANGE IDEA OF OLD TIMES!"

Doc Painless Ruby Jaxx Brie Jaxx Cassus Akovin Jocelyn Pavaliah​

 

[Brie Jaxx]

Because of her position in one of the booths across the room from the enterance, Brie was abruptly cut off from a quick escape route. She silently cursed that she had ended up in the cross fire of the bar brawl with men, most of them drunk, that did not know where to put all of their hormones. So much for an easy night with Daiya and any other shadowrunner that she might have brought along.

Her usually stoic calm was replaced with blue eyes grown big and feverishly looking for a passage through or beside the crowd. She was just about to stand up when all of a sudden, a man came flying backwards towards her position in the booth. Brie exclaimed in surprise but was quick to jump backwards and up onto the backrest of the booth. The man now laying knocked out bled from the nose, and when she saw who was responsible for that she had no doubts about that it must have been broken. Brie held her breath as she saw a tall trandoshan stand in front of the booth. He made a self-satisfied grunt to which you could almost see the the air coming out of his reptile nostrils. Brie had always thought that if only their noses could blow fire they would be like those huge reptile monsters mentioned in ancient fairytales. She exchanged glances with the alien and felt her heart beating heavily. The fight or flight decision was a total no-brainer, but luckily the trando was not interested in taking out his aggression on her and he went back into the crowd, shoving people to the sides like they were nothing. Brie exhaled in utter relief.

She heard a familiar voice call out over the chaos and recognised Daiya that was peaking up over the heads, fists and kicks flying that separated them.

''I DIDN'T COUNT ON THIS, I PROMISE!'' she called over to the younger girl, as the man that had been knocked down in her booth gained conciousness and struggled to sit up and used some napkins to wipe the blood out of his face. Without noticing Brie standing behind him, the man had not learned his lesson and once again entered the fight taking on a random person. Not a trando this time, though.

''YOU'RE OKAY?! WAIT THERE, I'M COMING OVER TO YOU!'' she hollered over to her friend, and was finally given a chance to exit the booth and round the crowd. Brie kept low and on nimble feet she was soon crouched down beside the other girl.

''Better keep that hidden, though! Hopefully, no one will get an idea to start blasting lethals!'' she said and watched the bouncers and some other people trying to break it up for tonight.

Doc Painless , Ruby Jaxx , Cassus Akovin , Jocelyn Pavaliah

 

[Cassus Akovin]

It took a long moment before Cassus understood why his body was in motion.

The boy was not often known for his careful use of the blade, but few knew that when he was younger, he played a mean Bes'bev - a Mandalorian Flute that doubled as a knife - and he was just as good at making it whistle with his hand as he was with his mouth.

Although his head was pounding with adrenaline, he stopped himself just short of stabbing anyone. That wasn't to say that he didn't cut up the nearest Corpo-smelling fether unfortunate enough to be standing around Doc Painless . When he came to, Cassus noticed the blood pooling from this Manfloon thug's arms. Apparently, he had parried a few punches with his blade... clearly his opponent was an idiot.

"What the feth man?!" His opponent shrilly whimpered. Or just too scared to know any better. He thought to himself.

"Run." The boy growled simply, and re-arranging his grip on the knife to point it at him, the Corporate Shill complied, along with a few others that stumbled over one another to get out. The bar was in Chaos, but he had something of a berth around him, and it gave him opportunity to see Daiya and Brie Jaxx enter the building.

Jocelyn Pavaliah Ruby Jaxx

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

“Kark it, dude,” Ruby said, her voice strangely nasal sounding as she pinched the bridge of her nose. There was a rather big fuss going on around where she'd glimpsed the Doc, but fellows were being tossed about too much for her to really see what was going on now. However, she hoped the man was alright.

A man backed into her, his big foot trod on her toes. Ouch. And she shifted her weight in time to avoid yet another elbow. So, this was the one that'd just bloodied her face and probably bruised it, too. “Hey.” Ruby's fists clenched. “Hey!”she shouted a bit louder to get the guy's attention. He turned to look, but gave Ruby a look as if to say she was insignificant.

Well, that just rubbed her the wrong way.

Reaching over with one hand, she grabbed a basket of hot fried food and shoved it up into the guy's face. He let out an annoyed grunt and reached out to grab Ruby as the bar food fell to the ground in a greasy pile. But she was ready – she had a bottle of hot sauce and promptly squirted it into her attacker's face. Now his eyes and nose were red like hers, but his was spicy, her own was not.

“Why you stupid little--”

She attempted to turn tail, but felt his hand clamp down on the scruff of her neck.

Oh. Great.

 

[Doc Painless]

As boots slammed repeatedly against his chest and back, the Doc remembered why he stuck to patching up wounds.

If he'd been an Alliance commando or a holovid star, he would have pulled some fancy move, maybe grabbing one of his attackers' feet and twisting it to bring the man down and open up an escape route. But the Doc wasn't either of those things. He had no technique, and if the impact of his metal bits weren't enough to bring someone down, he was bound to lose to pretty much anyone who had any idea of how to fight. A particularly vicious kick slammed his durasteel forearm back into his mouth, loosening several teeth, and he cursed his temper.

Then, like an angel descending from the Moons of Iego, a ray of light broke through the circle. The hum of her shock baton was audible even over the general sounds of chaos, and the cries of surprise and pain as it impacted his attackers certainly were. The thug with the vibroblade, only paces away from collecting one of the Doc's kidneys, fell back and dropped the weapon as the baton slammed into his forearm; the street medic very much hoped it the bone was broken. The kicking lessened, then stopped as his attackers turned to face the new threat.

Or threats, as the case might be. Staring up from the ground and blinking to clear his de-calibrated vision, the Doc recognized Cassus Akovin , a bloodied knife in his hand and a terrifying coldness in his voice. This was getting out of hand, and fast; with knives out, even if they weren't yet being used to their full killing potential, how long would it be before someone pulled a blaster? The Doc has the sinking feeling he might not be welcome in the Blue Flame ever again after this. But he had to focus on the now, and now he wasn't getting kicked anymore.

Seizing his chance, the Doc pushed himself to his hands and knees, managing to crawl under one of the tables. He winced with the exertion of it; not all of him was metal, and not all of his pain could be turned off. He estimated that two or three of his ribs were cracked, and his left cheekbone probably was, too. He was going to be one solid mass of bruises from ankles to neck by morning. Still, he couldn't just lurk down there until the fight was over; he'd started it, and he was responsible if any of his friends got hurt. He couldn't let that happen.

Besides, whoever had saved him deserved a little backup in turn. It was only polite.

Forcing himself to his feet, the Doc scooped up a barstool in his cybernetic hands. As one of the thugs who'd been kicked him rushed his rescuer, an older woman with some impressive augments of her own, the street medic brought the padded top down on the back of his head. The blow was just enough to knock him sprawling; though the Doc had the strength to do far more, he had never killed anyone for any reason, and he wasn't about to start with a pointless manslaughter in a brawl that could've been avoided if he'd just kept in control of himself.

"Thanks," he told Jocelyn Pavaliah breathlessly, then braced himself for the next person to rush him.

Just then, he looked over and saw Ruby Jaxx being grabbed around the neck from behind. The guy she'd been brawling with was a nasty-looking customer, and only nastier with the grease burns on his face from the hot food she'd hit him with. Before he could start compressing Ruby's neck down a necklace size, the Doc scooped up a glass from the bar and hurled it across the room, where it smashed against the thug's right ear. Hopefully that would stun him long enough for Ruby to turn the tables on him again.

Daiya | Brie Jaxx ​

 

[Daiya]

The chaos of the brawl was starting to simmer down, yet Daiya remained vigilant. Her first priority was to find her way over to Brie, whose form she could make out a lot easier now that the older teen had climbed up on top of a booth. Only one problem remained, getting there. A half-dozen or so brawlers, and opportunists looking for a way into one, stood between the girl and her friend. She let out a short scream of surprise as a crashing table forced her to stop short and jump back, only for the cause of it to fall in the place she had once stood, the grunting body of the aggressor trying to untangle himself from his opponent now lying unconscious on the floor.

She stepped gingerly around them, trying not to draw ire towards herself. Her small frame came in handy, but it was as much of a drawback as an advantage in the close quarters of the tavern. The Blue Flame was not the smallest bar around, but it was still packed for Enterprise Day, and every extra body was another chance that Daiya would find herself jostled or on the receiving end of a drunken punch. And the teen would rather not find out just how resilient she was against an alcohol-fueled fist today.

Daiya only found herself halfway when Brie shouted back to her, and she giggled at the older teen's confession. But she would have plenty of time to tease her friend about this later. Pulling her blaster up, the girl drew in a sharp breath just before she was to pull the trigger, and in that time her encroaching threat found itself tackled to the ground by Isqi. The girl sighed, silently thanking the bouncer for engaging the alien himself as she skirted around them, just in time to hear Brie announced that she was coming to the young shadowrunner instead.

"I'M OKAY!" Daiya yelled across the reassurance to her friend, wincing as a clattering of chairs and patrons crashed somewhere behind her. "MEET ME BY THE RED COUCH!"

The girl trusted that none of the brawlers were that interested in a pair of teenage girls, especially a pair who weren't caught up in the day's festivities. Enterprise Day was an excuse for some denizens of their world to go out drinking and partying, but to Daiya it was just another day. The streets were busier than usual, but the young shadowrunner had managed to finish a job this morning with better time than usual. Probably owing to the same holiday fervor that put boots on the streets and in bars, rather than working security or watching the integrity of their deliveries too closely. And that was worth celebrating for Daiya.

It was just a shame she couldn't do it at her favorite tavern today, at least not anymore. The girl grinned to her fellow blonde friend as Brie crouched behind the couch ottoman alongside her, and resumed her impromptu guard duty with her holdout blaster in hand. She turned to look at the older girl when Brie mentioned it, and lowered the blaster to beneath the view of others. "I'll keep it low, but I'd rather shoot someone than throw a punch. I nearly broke my hand doing that once!"

That would have been a humorous anecdote any other time, and Daiya's expression turned into a light scowl. She let out a groan of frustration, which deepened as she spied a some man trying to grab hold of Ruby. A glass flew out of nowhere into the back of his head, and Daiya took the chance to aim at the man's bloody ear to deliver a stun shot at his head. The girl dropped her blaster low again, tucking it out of sight before anyone, least of all Ruby's assailant, spotted who the shot had come from.

"This isn't fair," Daiya groused to her friend. "I didn't even get anything to drink yet!" She didn't think Meeno was going to keep the taps flowing after this. Assuming any of them survived the day's fight, that is.

There was only so much Daiya could do to keep her friends alone safe, and she beckoned with a hand to Cassus, who finally seemed close enough to reach them now. Just a few more people to save, she figured. The tavern staff was going to have to protect the bar on their own.

Doc Painless Ruby Jaxx Brie Jaxx Cassus Akovin Jocelyn Pavaliah​

 

[Jocelyn Pavaliah]

One goon went down by her hand. A shot from the corner of the room knocked another goon down, and there was a pause as someone with a knife scared the rest off. Her hearing caught the sound of something whiffling through the air as another caught a chair to the head, for which she had the Doc Painless to be thankful for.

"Not a problem-talk later." She nodded before spying a pair of girls moving around the room. There was also a girl about to be on the receiving end of ill attention as she watched the beer bottle fly through the air. A small frown appeared as she stepped further into the chaos, juking slightly as fighters tangoed with each other before making her way to the pair of girls off to the side( Daiya and Brie Jaxx ).

"Head outside, you-" She had made herself a target by accident by standing still. There was a solid punch to the back of her head that had a static film laying over her eyes a moment. Muscles tightened as she rounded and one eye corrected itself long enough to have her grabbing the perpetrator before receiving another blow to the face.

Her vision fixed itself in short order. Anger rode through the punch she delivered to the man's face, a solid crack of enhanced body versus organic body as she threw the man to the floor when she pulped his face. Stumbling, blinking as her eyes hypercorrected and made the real almost too much, she put a hand out for a table.

Ruby Jaxx Cassus Akovin

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus was in a mood, and didn't appreciate all the commotion. He looked to make sure Doc Painless was alright, and figured now that he was dog-piled he be alright, especially with Jocelyn Pavaliah right there with him. The spontaneous bar fight started to die down, especially as the blaster wielding Bouncer came in throwing out the corporate rabble-rousers who were more than happen to start running away anyway. Between the onslaught of rescuers coming to the defense of Doc, and all the attention they were getting, the scene no longer looked to go for drinking and "celebrating" their "great boss" any more. CorpSec would probably come poking their nose in here later.

Bring them on. Cassus thought in his head. He saw Daiya waiving at him beside Brie Jaxx , and he felt obliged to come, the fleeting memory of her and Zenie inviting him to a stay-at-home picnic on Belazura while working through his issues ran through his mind as he walked towards them.

It wasn't too difficult getting through the crowd until he found the pair of young women.

"I kinda lost myself in there." The boy admitted as he wiped blood from his knife from a handkerchief that looked too rich to be his own. He tossed it lazily when it was finished on the ground. "I lost my drink too." His face betrayed a bit of irritation even as he tried to maintain a neutral disposition.

"Can I get either of you something?" He offered simply.

Ruby Jaxx

 

[Doc Painless]

As suddenly as it had begun, the brawl began to wind down. The wave of rescuers that had come to the Doc's aid pushed back the Corpo-apologists, breaking bones and smashing noses; the rich snobs who'd come down here for the thrill of "slumming it" were quickly discovering that the locals knew a thing or two more about street brawling than they did. Step by step, trying to keep up their pride and their defenses, they retreated from the bar, dragging their unconscious friends with them. They didn't have to worry; CorpSec would finish the fight for them.

With the Corpos gone, the bouncers managed to restore order. The Doc leaned heavily on the bar, catching his breath. Blood ran freely from his nose, his brow, and a cut on his temple. He could feel waves of pain radiating from several broken bones. But what hurt him far more was looking around the Blue Flame, his favorite drinking spot, and seeing the destruction that losing his temper had unleashed. He wanted to slump into a chair, to order another drink or five so that he could forget this latest in a long, long line of mistakes. But that wasn't an option.

"Meeno, I'm so, so sorry." He couldn't meet the Muun bartender's eyes. He slid his whole credit stick across the bar, hoping the balance there would be enough to get the place fixed up. He didn't have to ask to know that he was banned, probably for life. Pulling a second credit stick from his pocket, he slapped that down, too, then raised his voice so that the whole bar could hear him. "Drinks for everyone, on me. You're good people, looking after your own. It's why I love Seven Corners. But drink up quick. CorpSec will be here soon."

Turning toward the doors, the Doc decided it was past time to make himself scarce. He wasn't sure when, or even if, he'd be back here, but he deserved that. He just hoped he hadn't done too much damage to his reputation down here; if this little incident cost him his practice, too, he really might just lose himself for good. He pulled his jacket from the coat hook, pulled up the hood, and stepped out into the Denon night. It was time to hustle home, before someone fingered him as the instigator of the chaos. He had no illusions about his chances in a CorpSec prison.

Well, he reflected bitterly, so much for kicking back and forgetting his problems. "Feth Enterprise Day," he whispered.