Small Fry

Upper Promenade  -
 * ''Wide and busy, this polished metal avenue passes a half mile of storefronts of all kinds, people milling in and out of the shops, the chatter of people filling the promenade. Wooden benches are interspersed throughout the space, and indirect lighting on the twenty foot tall ceiling bathes the prominade in its warm glow. A small palmbirch and several pots of New Luna flowers sit near the center of the prominade, where a newly built staircase leads down to a lower level. An airlock-like door leads to the main lift of the station.

-

Lucius is in the process of sprinting after a thin, ragged looking young man who is very determined to get away from the laden down soldier. While he's not carrying his full battle rattle, he's still armoured and has some policing gear on him. In his hand is a stun stick.

Martin glances over the running man and lifts a brow. The Martian cracks his knuckles and lazy jogs in that direction. "Well now."

The lazy jog that Martin canted out with is enough to cause the skinny young man to bash right into the deputy of station security, which causes his frame to buckle backwards and fall onto the ground. He had been looking over his shoulder when Martin moved in the way. Lucius comes now to a screeching halt and raises his stunstick in an arc, probably to give a subdueing crack to the man's ribs.

Martin staggers back and tries to regain his balance and waves for Lucius to put the stick away. "Well shit... whats this all about?"

Too late! That, or Lucius doesn't notice or care that his superior in policing (and subordinate militarily) has waved him off. There is the sound of both a crack and a zap as the stick lands on the dazed guy's ribs, whereupon Lucius slides the stick away and makes to tie a pair of binders to the man's hands. Despite the fact that the man is now totally stunned, the Sergeant Major has his knee in the small of his back. "He was mugging a lady down by the way." He motions with a free hand, distractedly.

"Yes? Was she harmed?" Martin puts his hands on his hips and looks down at the man and shakes his head. "Anything I can use as an excuse not to report you?"

"She was mugged? Were you not fucking listening, Sergeant?" Lucius looks up at Martin irritatedly. "Who are you gonna report me to, anyways? Your laughingstock of a boss?"

"Yes." Martin replies. "And I was asking if she was struck or was it just a purse snatching?" He lifts a brow. "And it is Mister Hayden."

"A mugging constitutes some form of battery, if my law is correct. If not then that's what I meant by that." Lucius gets up, nudging the stunned body over to Martin. "She got smacked around a few times. I decided to return the favour." He shrugs as if this is the most natural thing in the world. "Check your cams. I know the station's fucking wired up with them. Listen, don't take it personally when I call your boss a laughingstock. He's handed you a shit sandwich and dissapeared. I never see the fucking guy around and I've probably interacted with him twice. But the situation sucks, here. If you see him, pass that up."

"He smacked her around then by all means. Just do the beatings in the camera's blind spots." Martin replies with a small shrug.

"I didn't know a smack with a stun stick was considered a beating. That passed down from Timmy-fuck's absentee directives, too?" Lucius asks, sneering. Not really at Martin, mind. He looks up to a camera.

"If he was down then yes is. Screaming orders works better. Kind of like how its not cool to shot someone with a stun gun in the back." Martin rubs the bridge of his nose.

"Fuck it, I like to be safe. It doesn't get my men killed. How do I know he didn't have a fucking knife on him?" Lucius kneels back down to search the guy on the ground. He finds a can of pepper spray, a rolled up porn mag and a multi-tool. "Besides, he forfeited his right to a soft touch when he laid hands on that lady."

"Lucky, you gotta play be the rules." Martin says with a lift of his brow. "He isn't guilt till the trail and you gotta act like it."

"He's guilty cause I saw him do it and it's on the camera. My brand of justice might be harsh but it's not like I'm executing him for Gods' sakes." Lucius shuffles the possessions over to a ledge on the side. "But, I'll ask you this - is that an order?"

"Yes." Martin nods his head. "I do not give two shits about your brand of justice. You have to meet a standard."

"Well then Mister Hayden, I guess you'll be seeing a whole lot less of Vanguard feet on the ground for the next little while. That'll either cost your employer a shitload of cash in hiring contractors or just fuck shit up over here." Lucius shrugs, face with not an ounce of care aboard. "By the way, it's nothing personal against you. I want a meet with Timmy-fuck to deal with this, please. This is about his fucked up standard of justice. On Mars, if a cop sees someone being violently mugged and then takes down the fleeing attacker and stuns him with a stun baton, it's not fucking blinked. This is the Ungstiri's private fiefdom, I know, but we've come to be a nice little supplement to the security op you run here. Besides which, we're way more fucking scary than Joe Security. I bet this twerp shat his pants when he saw me coming for him. So, since that's the rules here, I'm gonna wanna meet with Lebovitch as soon as possible. Until then, Vanguard patrols are suspended. We'll continue to do landing bay security."

"Take it up with him. Aint like I've seen him in a while." Martin shakes his head. "At least take him down to holdin."

"You're his subordinate. I hope that idiot appreciates chain of command. I know you do, you're a good soldier." Lucius offers with a nod at Martin, and a two second flash of a smirk. "No problem, Dep Chief. I'll send that idiot a message, too, but I'd appreciate if you did as well. Maybe if he has two heads batting at him one will get stuck up his ass and he'll get a fucking move on for once. What a pogue." Lucius moves to collect the man in a fireman's carry, not bothering to wait for anyone else. "Mind bagging his possessions for me, please?"

"Sure sure." Martin pats himself down lightly. "Honestly, its a job and Ame likes it here." He murmurs and pulls out a plastic bad.

"Hey, not disparaging you. Too bad she likes it on a station, though. You two should move back home. Fuck, the sun's nice once in a while. You know what kind of a hardon they've got for ex-military back home. Police would jump at a chance to hire you. Ex-specops? You've got it made as a posting. And none of this tea bagging liberal Timonae hippy bullshit, either." Lucius adds, moving downstairs and assuming that Martin is following him close enough to hear what he's saying.

"Yeah maybe. We'll see what happens you know? Think her parents might crash with mine. Black hole and all that." Martin replies as he follows lazily. "Strange days."

"Heh. Guess you're not keen on the idea of re-enlisting then, eh?" Lucius queries while heading into the security office.

Security Office  -
 * ''This sizable office suggests no expense has been spared in providing for the station's security. A spacious rectangular chamber, its far end is occupied by a bank of monitors displaying the feed from various cameras, kept coordinated by an intricate control board. The left wall features a locked armory, coded for entry to approved members of the security staff, and the right wall is lined with lockers of less restricted equipment. Private workstations allow security officers to pursue their own business, interspersed neatly throughout the open space. Firmly secured metal doors provide access to the brig, a less imposing hatch allowing one to return to the bustling life of the Lower Promenade."

-

"Eh not sure about that." Martin replies with a small shrug as he yawns.

Lucius grins. "We'd like to see ya back. It's fucked up when you're a reservist in the unit, I'm surprised they let you do it. There's all sorts of intel you're not privy to, and Opsec can get fucked without you even realizing." After inputing a code, he enters the room.

"Not sure if me knowing too much more then I do now would change much. Might be good reading and all but personally I don't give two shits." Martin yawns.

"Might change how you approach a given situation, dear Marty. You could actually act as a team leader instead of another operator then." Lucius deposits the somewhat stirring body into the brig before coming out with a grin. "Smell that?"

"Maybe, but I like how my life is going now." Martin replies lazily and shakes his head. "I really do not want to know."

Lucius doesn't stop grinning. "He shat himself. Logic is gonna tell me it's from the stunner. I'm gonna tell myself I'm a badass motherfucker and he shat his pants when he saw me coming. Then I'm gonna go home and jerk off to myself in the mirror. Another day's work."

"Yeah well, depends on the night. I don't know that many warrior women, except Ace, and she's got this creepy pirate vibe to her. I dunno, she has the vibe that if you piss her off she'll rib open your belly and laugh as she stomps on your intestines. Not quite jerkoff material." Lucius shrugs, then laughs. "Pass that thingie up to the duder on top of ya, please. I'm off to barracks to spread the holiday cheer. Catch a beer later, maybe, when I'm in civies?"

"Can be found in the Black Cat most nights I'm off duty." Martin replies and starts for a desk. "The creepy woman? Eh fuck her." He chuckles.

"Too much effort for one women. I'd rather fuck someone else. See ya, chief!" Lucius waves on the way out, smiling as if he's clearly pleased with himself.

"Not the fun way Lucky. Sure she has someone tucked away for that. Just saying... ya know?" Martin yawns.

"Sick fuck. And you're married!" Lucius says. The door closes behind him.

Martin lifts a brow. "Wha? Didn't say she was hot. Was saying she was creepy and that ruined the..." Martin shakes his head and rubs his eyes. "Dumb fucking marine."

- Return to the year 3008.