Post by beardalot on Dec 1, 2010 16:20:32 GMT -5
"Bartender, 2 cocktails please, one for me and one for the pretty lady sat next to me" I said with my usual confidence, the start of a well rehearsed routine.
"And if I don't want to drink with you" she said, a teasing smile on her face.
I studied the woman for a moment, blonde hair, blue eyes and a face comparable to any model, just my type I thought, I leaned in close "then I have other suggestions to keep us occupied…" I whispered with a cheeky grin, I knew I was pushing my luck but I didn't have anything to lose, it was my last night in Deling City and I wanted it to be a memorable one.
Just as the unknown woman was about to reply my work partner Chad walked in to the bar "No more time for flirting bro, Ms Franco wants us to report back ASAP"
I swore under my breath and turned to apologise to the woman, but before I could she cut me off "That's a shame, perhaps next time you're in the area you could look me up? Just ask for Ariya" she winked at Gresh then rose and left the bar without looking back, her hips swaying seductively.
"I don't know how you do it man" was all Chad could say.
"I've told you before, you could too if you were this good looking" I said, a cheeky tone to my voice.
"Good looking my ass, since when did it become acceptable for a grown man to moisturise?" Chad replied in banter, the insults went back and forth between us on the way to the airship supplied by Galbadia Garden to take us home.
"Ms Franco better have a good reason for cutting our holiday short" I complained as we walked through the corridors of the research facility, plain white walls adorned only with heavy steel doors and security panels at regular intervals, Chad led the way, he was just shy of 6 foot tall and about 100kgs of pure muscle, an imposing figure to those who didn't know him but a great friend and gentle giant to those who did.
"If what I've heard is true then there's been some kind of breakthrough in the labs" Chad answered
As we approached door number 21 Chad swiped his pass card through the reader and pressed his eye against the retinal scanner, the door slid open with surprising ease despite it's immense weight and we stepped through to be greeted by one of the lab techs who I didn't recognise.
"Ms Franco is in her office, she's been waiting for you all morning" he said.
"Tell it to someone who cares lab rat" I replied. "There was a bacon roll with my name on it in the cafeteria and i'll be damned if i'm gonna let some punk get their hands on the last one"
Chad chuckled as the tech scurried away, his face turning red with embarrassment "was that really necessary?"
"Don't worry i'll make it up to him, I got some free concert tickets I don't want, I'm sure he'll find a use for them"
We continued into Ms Franco's office to find her at her desk, an unimpressed look on her face "I was expecting you 20 minutes ago gentlemen, save your excuses, just get into the lab, I think we've got something to interest even your limited attention span Gresh"
We followed her into the lab, "if she was a guy I'd kick her ass for talking to me like that" I whispered to Chad
"And if you weren't so damned frightened of her" Chad laughed, despite being short and slim Ms Franco had a temper that could intimidate to bravest of people, an attribute that, combined with her impressive intellect, some people thought secured her the job of Chief Weapons Engineer at such a young age. She was 28.
As we approached a desk Ms Franco opened a metal case revealing a pair of pistols and another case containing 6 standard issue grenades.
"So whats the big deal then ma'am?" I asked.
She frowned at me, "the big deal, as you so eloquently put it Gresh, is the ammunition inside these pistols." She removed one of the clips to show me a type of round I'd never seen before. "Each bullet contains a small detonating charge so that as the bullet penetrates it's target they explode, just past the point of impact, with a damage radius of 10 inches through even the hardest of steels."
I found that hard to believe, "and the grenades?"
At the mention of the grenades a smile briefly flashed across her usually serious face "these are our biggest breakthrough yet! We found a way to harvest flare magic from monsters and store it inside these grenades, I won't bore you with the science Gresh, just follow me and try them out." She picked up both cases and the three of us made our way outside to a purpose built firing range.
First i picked up the pistols, I'd always had an affinity to them and they had been my choice of weapon all through my training. As I picked them up I knew they were the finest piece of engineering I'd ever had the chance to use, perfectly balanced and surprisingly light, I aimed at a huge cube of concrete at the end of the range, someone had painted the words HAVE FUN on it, I smiled, a silent chuckle at Ms Franco's dry sense of humour, proof that she wasn't as bad as people made out.
I focused and allowed instinct to take over, within seconds i had unleashed all 24 rounds and was now staring in awe at their power, as the smoke cleared there was nothing, the concrete block had been reduced to dust and pebbles. The astonishment must have shown on my face because i heard a small giggle and Ms Franco say "I knew you'd like them," she then handed me a grenade, "after you throw it close your eyes"
I took out the pin and launched the grenade, this time towards an ever larger concrete block with a picture of a tank on it, as the grenade landed barely inches from the block I shut my eyes, there was a loud boom and even through my eyelids I could see the blinding flash, when I opened them all that stood where the concrete was just seconds before was a massive crater, at least 20 feet wide. I stood there, my mouth open like a fool.
"Well thats a first, the infamous motor mouth lost for words" Ms Franco laughed.
I turned to look at Chad, still unable to speak, "how about me ms franco, do I have any new toys?" he asked
Her face changed to something that almost looked like pity, "sorry chad, we only called you back to save on air fare" his face fell "but if you go to the canteen I had Mavis make a batch of her famous mystery noodles that you like so much, just for you"
"Mystery noodles!" his face lit up "who needs fancy guns when there's mystery noodles on the menu, catch you later bro" he called out as he ran off.
Ms Franco chuckled and turned to face me "the holy mission is coming up and I want you to go with Chad to demonstrate our technological advances"
"Cool, but why do I need Chad to come?" I asked, this was just a demonstration not a real mission.
"Because Gresh, you don't have that voice inside your head telling you to stop and consider your actions, Chad is going along to make sure you don't do anything stupid"
"Nice to know I'm trusted" I replied "that incident with the T-Rexaur last month could have happened to anyone"
"You released it from the training area and rode it like a chocobo! How could that happen to anyone but you Gresh? If I had my way you'd have been dismissed immediately but luckily for you the head master had a different opinion" Ms Franco shouted angrily, reaching for her Nunchaku…
"And if I don't want to drink with you" she said, a teasing smile on her face.
I studied the woman for a moment, blonde hair, blue eyes and a face comparable to any model, just my type I thought, I leaned in close "then I have other suggestions to keep us occupied…" I whispered with a cheeky grin, I knew I was pushing my luck but I didn't have anything to lose, it was my last night in Deling City and I wanted it to be a memorable one.
Just as the unknown woman was about to reply my work partner Chad walked in to the bar "No more time for flirting bro, Ms Franco wants us to report back ASAP"
I swore under my breath and turned to apologise to the woman, but before I could she cut me off "That's a shame, perhaps next time you're in the area you could look me up? Just ask for Ariya" she winked at Gresh then rose and left the bar without looking back, her hips swaying seductively.
"I don't know how you do it man" was all Chad could say.
"I've told you before, you could too if you were this good looking" I said, a cheeky tone to my voice.
"Good looking my ass, since when did it become acceptable for a grown man to moisturise?" Chad replied in banter, the insults went back and forth between us on the way to the airship supplied by Galbadia Garden to take us home.
"Ms Franco better have a good reason for cutting our holiday short" I complained as we walked through the corridors of the research facility, plain white walls adorned only with heavy steel doors and security panels at regular intervals, Chad led the way, he was just shy of 6 foot tall and about 100kgs of pure muscle, an imposing figure to those who didn't know him but a great friend and gentle giant to those who did.
"If what I've heard is true then there's been some kind of breakthrough in the labs" Chad answered
As we approached door number 21 Chad swiped his pass card through the reader and pressed his eye against the retinal scanner, the door slid open with surprising ease despite it's immense weight and we stepped through to be greeted by one of the lab techs who I didn't recognise.
"Ms Franco is in her office, she's been waiting for you all morning" he said.
"Tell it to someone who cares lab rat" I replied. "There was a bacon roll with my name on it in the cafeteria and i'll be damned if i'm gonna let some punk get their hands on the last one"
Chad chuckled as the tech scurried away, his face turning red with embarrassment "was that really necessary?"
"Don't worry i'll make it up to him, I got some free concert tickets I don't want, I'm sure he'll find a use for them"
We continued into Ms Franco's office to find her at her desk, an unimpressed look on her face "I was expecting you 20 minutes ago gentlemen, save your excuses, just get into the lab, I think we've got something to interest even your limited attention span Gresh"
We followed her into the lab, "if she was a guy I'd kick her ass for talking to me like that" I whispered to Chad
"And if you weren't so damned frightened of her" Chad laughed, despite being short and slim Ms Franco had a temper that could intimidate to bravest of people, an attribute that, combined with her impressive intellect, some people thought secured her the job of Chief Weapons Engineer at such a young age. She was 28.
As we approached a desk Ms Franco opened a metal case revealing a pair of pistols and another case containing 6 standard issue grenades.
"So whats the big deal then ma'am?" I asked.
She frowned at me, "the big deal, as you so eloquently put it Gresh, is the ammunition inside these pistols." She removed one of the clips to show me a type of round I'd never seen before. "Each bullet contains a small detonating charge so that as the bullet penetrates it's target they explode, just past the point of impact, with a damage radius of 10 inches through even the hardest of steels."
I found that hard to believe, "and the grenades?"
At the mention of the grenades a smile briefly flashed across her usually serious face "these are our biggest breakthrough yet! We found a way to harvest flare magic from monsters and store it inside these grenades, I won't bore you with the science Gresh, just follow me and try them out." She picked up both cases and the three of us made our way outside to a purpose built firing range.
First i picked up the pistols, I'd always had an affinity to them and they had been my choice of weapon all through my training. As I picked them up I knew they were the finest piece of engineering I'd ever had the chance to use, perfectly balanced and surprisingly light, I aimed at a huge cube of concrete at the end of the range, someone had painted the words HAVE FUN on it, I smiled, a silent chuckle at Ms Franco's dry sense of humour, proof that she wasn't as bad as people made out.
I focused and allowed instinct to take over, within seconds i had unleashed all 24 rounds and was now staring in awe at their power, as the smoke cleared there was nothing, the concrete block had been reduced to dust and pebbles. The astonishment must have shown on my face because i heard a small giggle and Ms Franco say "I knew you'd like them," she then handed me a grenade, "after you throw it close your eyes"
I took out the pin and launched the grenade, this time towards an ever larger concrete block with a picture of a tank on it, as the grenade landed barely inches from the block I shut my eyes, there was a loud boom and even through my eyelids I could see the blinding flash, when I opened them all that stood where the concrete was just seconds before was a massive crater, at least 20 feet wide. I stood there, my mouth open like a fool.
"Well thats a first, the infamous motor mouth lost for words" Ms Franco laughed.
I turned to look at Chad, still unable to speak, "how about me ms franco, do I have any new toys?" he asked
Her face changed to something that almost looked like pity, "sorry chad, we only called you back to save on air fare" his face fell "but if you go to the canteen I had Mavis make a batch of her famous mystery noodles that you like so much, just for you"
"Mystery noodles!" his face lit up "who needs fancy guns when there's mystery noodles on the menu, catch you later bro" he called out as he ran off.
Ms Franco chuckled and turned to face me "the holy mission is coming up and I want you to go with Chad to demonstrate our technological advances"
"Cool, but why do I need Chad to come?" I asked, this was just a demonstration not a real mission.
"Because Gresh, you don't have that voice inside your head telling you to stop and consider your actions, Chad is going along to make sure you don't do anything stupid"
"Nice to know I'm trusted" I replied "that incident with the T-Rexaur last month could have happened to anyone"
"You released it from the training area and rode it like a chocobo! How could that happen to anyone but you Gresh? If I had my way you'd have been dismissed immediately but luckily for you the head master had a different opinion" Ms Franco shouted angrily, reaching for her Nunchaku…