vietmyke

Mad craving for RPing! Here's some ideas!

hi fren

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Took way too long, but my post is up, thank you for the patience!

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Raymond 'Ray' Cheng

"I've got nothing."

"Hrmph."

"Ray? Any bites?"

"No."

"Well damn."

Huddled underneath cheap raincoats, feet dangling off the edge of a makeshift wooden dock in one of the hidden nooks deep within the West Bengal Port sat a pair of hunched over men- idling by a pair of fishing rods. A cooler with a single, tiny fish and a growing number of empty beer cans sat between them, and a tray of bait sat relatively full atop a small platform of empty cans. Hoods pulled over their face, all that could be seen of the two men sitting on their own were their scruffy beards and a pair of beaten up sticks of tobacco with cherry red tips. The larger of the two men shifted in his seat, throwing a crushed beer can into the cooler.

"You've got work coming up?" the scrawnier of the two men asked. Ray nodded as he took another puff of his cigar.

"What's the job?"

"You know Ahmad, they didn't quite say." Ray replied as he reached out and plucked his fishing rod out of its nook in the dock and began collapsing it.

Ray regarded Ahmad with a glance. Ahmad was a kindly fellow- perhaps too kind for the rough waters of New Malacca. A smallish, simple blue collar laboring man- who spent his days slaving away at the docks for dirt pay and spent his nights drinking beer and fishing with a foreigner whose primary trade tools were firearms and bullets. Quite frankly it was a miracle Ahmad had not yet been mugged, shot, and left floating in the water yet. To his credit, the man did keep his head down and out of trouble most of the time, and no one was too interested in messing with a pair of fishermen when one of them had a shotgun leaning next to him.

Collecting up the rest of his fishing equipment, Ray tossed it all into a damp rucksack that sat just behind him, slinging the heavy pack over one shoulder, and pulling his shotgun sling over the other. Ahmad began packing up his stuff as well, muttering something along the lines of always having terrible luck with the fish when Ray was around, and that they could smell the man's chrome and knew to stay away.

"Don't go off and die now." Ahmad said as a way of saying goodbye.

"You might actually have to spend time with your wife if I did." Ray retorted with a grunt. Ahmad snorted and the two went their separate ways.

A short walk to the transport hub, and a ride on the water taxi later, and Ray was cruising his way into the heart of the Canton Canal. If it wasn't for the extravagant cost of living, Canton Canal would be the closest thing Ray had to home in New Malacca. The neighborhoods and local shops all spoke Cantonese, old chinese men sat around smaller cafes playing mahjong for seemingly weeks at a time, and of course there were the Triads. Even though Ray had no particular love for the Triads- something about their presence just reminded him of home, in a seedy, watch your back or else you might catch a knife kinda way.

Suraiboshen reminded Ray of the quieter nooks of Hong Kong- out of the way, not as much foot traffic, and devoid of the constant neon glow of street signs and advertisements. Almost akin to a small hole in the wall restaurant that only true locals would know about. Of course this wasn't the case with Suraiboshen- it wasn't just dinner, it was a meeting with who knows who for a job doing who knows what. Who it was and what they were doing, Ray didn't particularly care about. Like most jobs in this place, the legality was questionable, and the motivations just as seedy.

There was a small security team waiting for him at the restaurant- as well as a growing crows of what Ray could only assume were his new coworkers. Not entirely surprised, Ray could only hope that the juicy 500,000 they offered was an individual fee, and not something to be split up amongst the group- as unlikely as it was.

The security team didn't even have the chance to open their mouths before Ray's shotgun was unslung and placed into one of the guards' hands. They looked at his pistol but didn't say anything. Sidearms weren't an uncommon sight in New Malacca anyway. He received the chip from the other guard and pocketed it. He was about to take another step when the guard held out a hand.

"What's in the bag?" the guard asked, his hands already rifling through the pack.

"Meds, ammo, fishing rod." Ray listed off plainly as the guard handed the pack back to him with a grunt.

"He's clear." the guard said- but probably not to Ray, "Wait in the hall with the others, the boss will call you in when its time."

Ray walked into the hall where the others stood around waiting. "Evening." Ray nodded at the collective in a way of acknowledgement. Some of them were vaguely familiar- others complete strangers. Not that Ray was completely opposed to the idea. He, likely similar to many of the others here, preferred working alone. It harder to get stabbed in the back when it was just you- but he wagered if the client had the capital to offer up 500k on a job, chances are he had the resources to scout out at least professional wetworkers.

Ray popped open his cigar case- possibly one of the only dry spots in the building, and pulled out a thick, but fairly beaten up cigar. There was the short click of a lighter, a puff and a short grunt as Ray leaned himself against a nearby wall, smoke gently curling away from the burning tobacco stick.

All there was left to do now was wait.

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

I'm so sorry I've been taking so long! My students have been giving me a bit of the run around this week. But my Saturday morning looks pretty clear so I should have time to stay up super late tonight writing, or write in the morning!

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

I've been super busy lately! I'm still here though, typing away whenever I get the chance

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Just tip tap typing away! The school year for students just started so I've also been pretty busy!

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Suspicion intensifies

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

gonna try and get something up tomorrow or thursday night! Big excite :o

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Nice! Just a heads up, me and the fam are heading out for the weekend for the holiday, so the earliest I'll be able to post will be around Monday

Straits of Steel (A South East Asian Cyberpunk Thriller)

Raymond 'Ray' Cheng

Raymond 'Ray' Cheng

//YOUR SELF

Name: Raymond Cheng, Ray for short

Age: 28

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Formerly Tzu Peace Solutions, currently none.

Appearance:
Raymond is a big man. Standing over most at 6'4", Ray is a bear of a man, built like a truck and hitting just about as hard. He has a serious and imposing demeanor, with a rigid posture and broad shoulders. Raymond has rough facial features, age lines strongly imprinted on his face and lack of youthful enthusiasm implies this man has either seen some shit or isn't wanting to put up with yours. His face is curtained off by a short but thick brown beard, his hair is cut close and kept out of the way. The majority of the left half of his body has been replaced by cybernetics- arm, eye and leg most notably.

//YOUR SOUL

PERSONAL GOAL: A debt to pay. Raymond owes a great deal- including his life to a certain individual. New Malacca is the current hotbed of opportunity for those who don't mind some less-than-legal work, but its not exactly the kinda place you want to retire. Ray wants to get in, make his money while the making is good, then get the fuck out.

LIKES:

• Quiet nights
• Cigars
• Fishing
• Quality Rum and Whiskey

DISLIKES:

• Tzu Peace Solutions
• Liars
• People that don't keep up their end of a deal
• Being indebted to people

REPUTE:
Ray isn't well known in New Malacca, and that's just how he likes it.

To most passer-byes he's a big guy with a big gun and a bad attitude- most mundane folk avoid him because they don't want to fuck with him, the occasional gangster gets in his face because he does want to fuck with him. To fixers, he's muscle with anonymity. Someone who at least looks like they can handle themselves, and no one will ask questions about should he die.

Ray has some reputation for reliability with the local branch of the Black Yangtze. Having done only a few jobs in New Malacca for them- mostly low level work with a need for disposable assets, or people not traceable directly to the Black Yangtze.

HEEL:
Raymond is an addict. A functioning addict, but an addict nonetheless. Alcohol, tobacco, and more recently: painkillers. The severity of his addictions vary, but needless to say without regular access to his vices, he gets... crabby, to say the least. The vices haven't gotten him into trouble on a job- yet, but they're not getting any better, and New Malacca doesn't make things any easier.

CODE:
Honor, respect, honesty. Traits not easily found in New Malacca, and not entirely without warrant. Like trust, Raymond is smart enough to know that blind honesty, respect and honor can get you killed, or worse, depending on your situation. But when given the chance, Raymond prefers to act on these principles, and holds others who do the same in high regard, regardless of their current station or employment.

QUIRKS:
Raymond is commonly seen with a cigar sticking out of his mouth. He carries a variety of cigars on his person, and will use different ones depending on the situation. As a standard, he prefers a nicely wrapped cigar to puff on casually, but he'll reluctantly use an electronic cigar when in situations where light and heat are suboptimal. Occasionally he'll just stick a cigar in his mouth and chew on the end. Raymond is also a lefty.

//YOUR PAST

Raymond Cheng was born to a pair of Tzu Peace Solutions employees in a corporate arcology just a few miles off the coast of Hong Kong. His father was a corporate salaryman, and his mother was a nurse at a local trauma center. Still despite their modest means, most of his childhood was spent in relative security in the megalopolis of Hong Kong. As a child of a pair of corporation employees, Raymond was provided with relatively affordable education for the majority of his childhood- with the caveat that he would join the TPS workforce shortly after he turned 18. Raymond didn't think too much on it- that's how his parents spent their childhood, and its likely how his children would spend theirs.

Scoring well on his mental aptitude tests, but better on his physical ones, Raymond was slotted into one of Tzu Peace Solutions' physical security branches, starting off his career as site security. Performing well enough in his role and grinding his way through the ranks, Raymond was eventually moved to a Physical Asset Recovery team. Even before the corporate wars in SESE, if wasn't uncommon for major corporations to commit strikes or acts of sabotage against one another and their employees- just part of the business after all. Physical Asset Recovery teams were formed as a way for corporations to protect their own employees, with different levels of protection afforded to different levels of executive.

Physical Asset Recovery teams were less on site security teams and bodyguards and more similar to the rapid response SWAT teams of governments past. They were armed for a fight, well trained, and generally disregarded collateral damage, though wanton destruction of property was both discouraged and usually unnecessary. Their main role was to get to wherever their distressed executive was, bust in, grab the exec and get them out alive.

In this role, Raymond performed well. Not a rising star or ace to be sure, but a reliable and well grounded trooper. Raymond worked as one of the lower level PAR teams, not trusted to handle senior executives and individuals well up the chain of command, but local offices, employees and minor execs were the bread and butter of his team's rescues.

For a while, all was going well, until they didn't. One botched rescue operation, a car bomb, and three dead execs later, Raymond found himself lying on the rain and blood slicked boards of the Hong Kong docks, arm missing, leg crushed, consciousness fading and bleeding out.

By some miracle- or a fuckton of drugs and tech, Raymond survived. He came to consciousness in the backroom of what looked like the combination of a brothel and medical office. He had been found by a family friend of his mother's, who took pity on him and brought him back to safety. Most of the left side of his body had been destroyed and had to be replaced, and he found himself staring out a brand new eye at a brand new metal arm and leg. Promising to repay the doctor for saving his life- and repairing his body, Raymond returned home to put his nose back to the pavement and start getting more work done.

He arrived home to find out that he had been written off as dead by the company after his body had been noted as missing for a week. To add more salt to the wound, his family had been fined in his stead for the loss of the company's executives. With his family now left destitute and in debt, Raymond returned to them and staged a kidnapping, with the hope that they'd be worthless enough that TPS wouldn't waste the resources to find them. Raymond returned to the doctor who took his family in. To repay his debts, she directed him towards a contact she had in the Black Yangtze in New Malacca- a land of strife and opportunity ripe for the picking.

With all of his prior assets claimed by Tzu Peace Solutions, Raymond found under the table work as a shipping crew member and made his way to New Malacca, where he began applying his skills. Work has been slow and not nearly as profitable as he would like- until he got an offer he couldn't refuse: 500,000 asyuan and a one time job.

//YOUR PERSON

ATTRIBUTES:

• CQB Proficiency - while trained with firearms in general, Raymond is at his best within 50 meters and is most proficient with and prefers compact and easily manipulated weaponry. Breaching and clearing rooms, point shooting, and quick melee takedowns form the majority of Ray's experience.
• Tactical Field Care - While not a surgeon by any stretch of the imagination, Raymond is capable with a needle and a bottle of alcohol- at least capable enough to make sure you don't bleed out during a job. Part of his training as a PAR team trooper included basic trauma care, in case the asset was injured upon recovery.
• Resilience - Close fighting is never pretty, and no matter how good you are, you're bound to get a beating. Luckily, thanks to several years of getting his skull bashed and chest kicked, Raymond has gotten pretty decent at taking a beating and managing to get up and keep going.

BODY MODS:

• Verge Battletech Atlas-model cyberlimb: Left arm, Left leg - high durability frame with replaceable composite armor plates and adaptable strength limiters. Responsive, strong, and not much bulkier than a regular human limb. The arm has built in electroshock knuckle pads.
• Saewung Imugi-series cyber-eye: left eye - high resolution cybereye with built in low-light vision setting. Built in HUD and database provides basic target acquisition, adjustable FFID tags, and ammunition readouts for all weapons within current database.
• Verge Skin2.0 Dermaplating: left torso beneath the armpit to the pelvis - lightweight dermal plating beneath the left arm and stretching down the length of the side. Durability reaches about the strength of kevlar, but serves more as a quicker, cheaper skin graft than actual armor.

EQUIPMENT:

• K91 Maverick Combat shotgun - Raymond might have a distaste for Tzu Peace Solutions, but its hard to hate their guns. A compact, 12 gauge, pump action shotgun with a pair of 6 round tubular magazines- for a total of 12+1 shells. The two tube magazines allow this shotgun to load different types of ammunition simultaneously. This rugged and reliable weapon features a bullpup design, pistol grip, and plenty of space for flashlights, lasers and sights.
• Zeiger A-45 Pistol - A common sight in New Malacca, reliable, ubiquitous, and cheap enough to be easily replaceable.
• Field Trauma Pack - A small, waterproof combat pack that Raymond typically carries on his person, styled roughly after the PAR medical kits. Quikseal bandages, morphine, tourniquets, a compact defibrillator and scissors among other necessary field medical supplies. Raymond also keeps a supply of painkillers for personal consumption with this kit.
• Combat Knife - For when combat has devolved into punching, kicking and stabbing. For optimum performance, the leading edge should be applied to the enemy and thrust into vital regions. This should be repeated as necessary.
• Cigar Case - waterproof, stainless steel cigar carrier. Holds 2 cigars and 1 electronic cigar.