Part 127: Mission 33 (Rand - Renton Route) - Prologue

Since we’ve this few units in our group, everyone’s getting auto-deployed.
Mind, since so many people stayed behind, don’t be afraid to share Boosters/Megaboosters around as not everyone has Accel/Boost.



We find Renton, pondering how he didn't have a plan when he left, only the desire to get as far away as possible.
He's now learned something important: when he was with ZEUTH, he wasn't alone. He's got no idea what to do now, but his train of thought is interrupted:


: What’s wrong, kid? You a runaway…?
: (Is that a woman talking…?)
: Don’t have anywhere to go? Wanna tag along with me?
: Really? Can I?!














: ‘Course. Just leave it all to me.
: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
: I’m the wily Greta Karas. Taking care of another kid or two’ll be no problem at all.
: Heeeey…now that I got a better look, you’re actually kinda cute. Hee hee…quite the nice catch, if I do say so myself.
: S-s-sorry but I really gotta go! E-e-excuse meeeee!!
: Oi! Hold on, boy!
: D-don’t eat me! I’ll taste awful, I swear!!

*Renton runs off…no respect.*



Renton seems to have lost Greta but quickly starts to wonder if the woman might’ve legit been trying to help him…if so, he was downright rude back then. In his distraction, though, he ends up bumping right into Enil who chides him for not looking where he’s going.
Renton quickly apologizes and, once again blushing, realizes that this time he ran into a much prettier woman – mind, his most pressing concern is inwardly noting how “soft” she was during their encounter. Either way, she quickly tags him as a runaway and, figuring it might’ve been more than just a coincidence for them to meet like this, offers to treat him to lunch.



Renton’s just finished telling her his story and thanks her for listening on top of buying the food. With that done, Enil wishes him good luck and hopes that he finds whatever it is he’s searching for.
Renton is a bit surprised that she’s got nothing else to add and she ask if he was expecting her to hand down some sagely advice. Sadly, no, as there wouldn’t be a whole lot of point to his running away if she just gave him the answer, right?
As long as he looks at life like a kid, he'll never be able to accomplish much. Or did he want her to assure him that everyone would welcome him back if he went straight home right now?

Nope, that's genuine anger in his eyes, and Enil's glad to see that, if anything, he still has some of his inner fire remaining. When Renton asks why she bothered talking to him, Enil muses it must be some mixture of boredom, curiosity, and pure happenstance.
This makes Renton even angrier since he was being sincere when confiding in her, and she apologizes.

Enil adds that she sees a bit of her old self in him and, while she won’t go into details, tells him not to end up like her.
She addresses him by his name before walking off and, fate willing, hopes to see him again. Renton can only wonder how she knew his name, considering he never gave it…actually, he swears he’s heard her voice before.




He’s interrupted by an outburst of feedback from the park's PA system - Charles apologizes, and explains that he's helping run an outdoor dance event.
He decides to switch it up a bit by playing the hottest coolest song in the Siberian scene – Meeya’s own single. Renton quickly remembers Rand having a CD with this song and Charles is rather impressed that he knows it but it doesn’t seem the tune has clicked with the crowd around here.

Charles asks if Renton’s from Siberia and he replies that, while he was there, now he's just traveling here and there on his board. Charles rather likes the idea of travelling in search of good Trapar waves and just doing your thing…aah, youth.
Charles quickly introduces himself to the confused kid and teases the kid when he stammers his name as “Re-Renton”. Renton is rather silent but not because he’s miffed at the teasing – it’s just been too long since he’s heard someone sound so happy.



Garrod shows up right then, having finally found Renton – he tells how everyone was worried about him and asks him to come back. Renton says he can’t, though, and Garrod tells him to just ignore whatever Holland might say about it.
That gets Charles' attention, but Renton tells Garrod that it'd be too pathetic for him to get hauled back home just now, without having accomplished anything on his own.

Sure, he first ran away because of the mess with Eureka, but he feels he's got to somehow make more out of it.
Charles praises the kid for his spunk, brushing aside Garrod's protest that this doesn't concern him – for these two people to just randomly meet in this crazy world, it’s gotta be fate! That said, he’ll need to excuse himself for a bit to check on what seems to be a fight starting.



We find Pala, telling a couple of Breakers to take a hike. They’ve noticed that she’s not from around here and offer to show her around.
In that case, she tells them to point her towards the Argama as she needs to get there ASAP.
Neither of the Breakers have ever heard of it and Ray quickly shows up to tell them to quit bothering the girl. They yell that this ain’t her problem but, as she’s the event’s promoter, it actually is.
While people hitting on people is par for the course at a parties like this, lowlifes like them aren’t allowed. The Breakers know her words are on the money but that certainly doesn’t make them willing to put up with it!

Before it comes to blows, Charles steps in and offers to “dance” with them in his wife’s stead – mind, it’d be best if they ran off to avoid getting hurt. The Breakers realize this ain’t your average joe but proud members of the Karas gang aren’t to be trifled with, either!
They turn their sights on Pala and while Charles tries getting her to run, Garrod jumps right in and decks one of them – “Going after the girl, eh? Then you’ll need to deal with Mr. Awesome himself, Garrod Ran, first, creeps!” he yells.



The other Breaker tries going after Ray and off goes Renton, tackling the guy – Charles approves. The Breakers are now outnumbered so they run off with the usual promise to REMEMBER THIS!
With the mooks gone, the party can go without a hitch and Ray tells everyone to have a good time after switching the music back to Meeya’s song. Pala thanks Garrod for the assist, annoyed that she would’ve been able to handle those guys if she wasn’t still unaccustomed to Earth’s gravity.

When Garrod asks, she introduces herself as Pala Sys and adds that she’s only just recently broke through the Rivalry Zones and made landfall.
Nearby, Renton’s feeling the effects of his shenanigans but Ray helps him up and thanks for helping her out – Charles also adds his appreciation as her husband. They exchange quick introductions but the party’s once again interrupted as the Breakers return with Walker Machines and start shooting…