Operation story: CB-1

Operation

Story

Previous CB Opening	Next CB-2
Characters
Bison Croissant Exusiai Texas Butler Emperor Capone Gambino Mafioso
Backgrounds
1 2 3

Before operation

“

Bison, a young messenger, is attacked by the Siracusan Mafia, but Exusiai and Croissant from Rhodes Island[sic] come to his rescue. Elsewhere in an abandoned alley, the enemy falls into Emperor's overblown trap.

”

<Background 1>
6:44 PM \ Clear Lungmen Ring Expressway, Car
Butler	Young Master? Young Master, are you asleep?
Bison	Hm, oh... Where are we?
Butler	We will soon arrive at the rendezvous point. Do clear your head, Young Master. Penguin Logistics is already there waiting for you.
Bison	Mm. Right.
Butler	You seem exhausted.
Bison	I'm fine.
<Background 1>
Butler	Forgive my indiscretion, Sir, but you do seem to have made this decision in some haste. You know of course that you may at any time share any matters that trouble you.
Bison	...My father... he definitely has his own ideas. But all I have to do is get Penguin Logistics on board. Then those guys won't be able to get between me and my father ever again.
Butler	You are the youngest Messenger in the history of your family, Young Master. You perform all of your duties impeccably. Surely that will be enough.
Bison	Maybe. But who knows if they'll feel the same way.
Butler	Young Master...
Bison	Looking out at the city, all I can think about is how almost all of Lungmen's Messenger firms belong to my father. Penguin Logistics is the last. And the most independent. And the one with a ton of weird rumors swirling around it. My father gets along pretty well with Mr. Emperor, but we have to do more to really get them. Or at least I do.
Butler	That is why I worry, Young Master. I am well aware Penguin Logistics is a most peculiar organization.
Bison	Don't look at me like that. I got this.
Butler	You might change your expression as well, Young Master. Perhaps if you smiled more, like the boys your age. It's Sauin tonight. You could go out on the town with your friends.
Bison	...real funny. Me not having friends is a joke to you, huh?
Butler	Heavens no! Perish the thought! Haha. Dreadfully sorry, Young Master. Do you have your shield with you?
Bison	What's up?
Butler	I'm afraid we're being watched.
Gambino	Target sighted. You ready?
Mafioso	Gah, this fuse is still all...
Gambino	Just do it already.
[An explosion is heard.]
<Background fades out and in>
Bison	Nng... an explosion?!
Butler	Hold on, Young Master!
Mafioso	Target sighted. He's still up.
Gambino	Bring him in. Quick.
<Background fades out and in>
Bison	(They bombed out the road...? But who...?) (Shit... my vision's... all blurry...)
Gambino	Report.
Mafioso	Lots of witnesses, but I don't see the other targets. Hold up, there's somebody in the smoke there!
Gambino	Another survivor? You gotta–
[The mafioso contacting Gambino was shot dead.]
Mafioso	Nnng...
Gambino	Hey? Hey! You got whacked that easy? Talk about a hackneyed mob movie plot, Penguin Logistics.
???	Ooh, sounds like you passed Screenwriting 101.
[The one who shot the mafioso is revealed to be Exusiai.]
Exusiai	But like, throwing up a roadblock on a suburban highway and burying a bomb on the side there. Isn't that also really cliche?
Gambino	Demolition's just a hobby of mine. Take a look around and I think you'll find things ain't so simple.
<Background fades out and in>
[Capone and several mafiosi appears.]
Capone	Damn. How much Originium did that mook use in his bomb? The Rat King'll have our balls for breakfast if he finds out.
Mafioso	We found a Penguin Logistics Messenger. It's Exusiai. Looks like she bumped off the wrecking crew...
Capone	Do I look blind to you? Where's the wolf? Texas?
Mafioso	Dunno. Don't see her.
Capone	Fuggedaboutit. Surround 'em. Let's get this done.
<Background fades out and in>
[The mafiosi surrounds Bison and Exusiai.]
Exusiai	An ambush, huh? They're nothing if not thorough. Hey, can you move? Your limbs are all shaky.
Bison	Yeah, kinda... You must be... Exusiai?
Exusiai	That's me! And you're... uh... Whatsisname!
Bison	Bison. We... we should get out of here.
Exusiai	Before you get all mopey, that old butlery guy is a-okay.
Bison	Really?!
Exusiai	I put him by the roadside for a minute, but he doesn't look like he needs much help... anyway!
[Capone fires at Exusiai, but misses.]
Capone	Exusiai, Messenger of Penguin Logistics, and the little rich kid there, give it up. Come with us nice and easy-like.
Exusiai	All these fresh faces, must be your relatives from Siracusa? Didn't you teach them how things work in Lungmen?
Capone	None of your damned business. We're cleaning you out for good this time.
Exusiai	Oh come on... You've been in Lungmen so long you turned basic. Grabbing territory like a common thug. I guess at least some of the Siracusan Mafia can do more than just bar brawls.
Capone	Grr... I'll teach you to look down on a Sicilian. *Lungmen Swearing* Get 'em!
[The mafiosi opens fire at Bison and Exusiai, but Croissant appears and blocks some of the shots with her shield.]
Croissant	Awright, looks like I'm right on time!
Exusiai	Croissant, you made it!
Croissant	But they're all so ornery. What're we gonna do?
Exusiai	The usual. You clear a path, I'll bring up the rear, we split the completion bonus.
Croissant	Now that's all ya had to say! Yeeehawww!
[Croissant charges straight through the mafiosi.]
Mafioso	Th- that crazy broad charged right through!
Capone	...get after them. But not too close. Wait for backup.
Mafioso	Got it!
Gambino	You lost 'em, cazzo.
Capone	Look, I ain't a kidnapping expert. The rest of Penguin Logistics never showed and we weren't about to go traipsing into downtown Lungmen by ourselves.
Gambino	I don't wanna hear excuses. There's a car headed your way. Convertible. Old friends inside.
Capone	...already?
<Background 2>
[Bison, Croissant, and Exusiai goes through the alleys to lose the mafiosi, only to run into a dead end.]
Exusiai	Gah, damn it. Another dead end?
Croissant	It's a buncha old ruins nobody's touched fer ages. Lemme just make my own hole already.
Bison	H- hold up! Where are we going?
[The mafiosi catches up with the trio.]
Mafioso	There they are! It's a dead end! We got 'em!
Bison	It's game over, isn't it?
Exusiai	Oh yeah!
Bison	You have an idea?!
Exusiai	We haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we?
Mafioso	Rub 'em out!
[The mafiosi attacks Bison, but he managed to deflect them with his shield.]
Bison	Now's not the time for this! We've got more important things to deal with!
???	Nah. This is important. Real important. We got a serious emphasis on corporate culture. And today's culture buzzword is "courtesy."
[Emperor appears...]
Emperor	I just came up with it.
Mafioso	It's Emperor! Somebody call the boss! There's someone else with him!
[...with Texas following behind him.]
Texas	Came up empty, Exusiai.
Exusiai	Not every Siracusan mook's a total moron. We'll get 'em next time, don't worry. But first, I've got to introduce you to Penguin Logistics's newest temp worker: Bison.
Mafioso	They blocked the only way out. We– we have to fight through!
[Texas strikes a mafioso with her sword.]
Texas	Get down on the ground. You don't have to die.
Mafioso	Woah! Settle down, we just have to hold out until the boss...!
Emperor	Hold out? Hit the lights.
Mafioso	Agh! It's so bright! Where'd that spotlight come from?!
Emperor	Welcome to Penguin Logistics, little doggies. Now I can see you. And that means you're on land that belongs to the Penguin Empire. Now I hate to bother you, but I'm gonna have to see your landing visa. You got it on you? No? Then I think we gotta send you crying home to your mamas.

After operation

“

Bison, who was taken back to the base, is forced to accept Penguin Logistics' "excellent corporate culture". However, in the midst of the chatter, Exusiai accidentally sets off a bomb left behind by the enemy...

”

[The sound of a door being closed is heard.]
<Background 3>
7:10 PM \ Clear Penguin Logistics Base, Messy Room
Bison	So this is where Penguin Logistics holes up... (It's like a disaster area. And so dark.)
Texas	It's one of our bases. We haven't cleaned up in a while. Just sit wherever.
Bison	Oh, thanks... I realize I didn't properly thank you, any of you.
Texas	We did our jobs. You should introduce yourself first.
Bison	I'm a Messenger, codenamed Bison. I'm from Lungmen, and I work for Mountain Dash Logistics. My father sent me to learn what I can from your company. And I appreciate the opportunity. Now about the contract between me and Mr. Emperor, I know we've already been over it, but...
Emperor	Hold up, little man, I got a question. How'd your bigass daddy raise his boy to be so...
Texas	...Boss.
Emperor	Yeah yeah, go ahead.
Bison	Anyway, about that ambush, it was definitely meant to provoke a reaction from MDL and Penguin Logistics. We can't take this sitting down. I can contact my father and the LGD. This is a case of aggravated assault...
Emperor	Hey, Texas.
Texas	Hm?
Emperor	What's for dinner?
Exusiai	We're throwing a welcome party, of course! But where's Sora? Didn't she stay home to hold down the fort?
Croissant	Ya know she'll come a-runnin' soon as Texas gets on the horn. Oh, sorry. You were sayin'?
Bison	(Sora?) ...Um, the first order of business is to figure out who attacked us. Does Penguin Logistics have any leads?
Exusiai	Leads? It's a pretty basic business dispute.
Bison	What do you mean, business dispute...?
Emperor	Texas! Shouldn't I have a cigar in my hand by now?!
Exusiai	Boss, it's been a while since we shacked up here. I think all your smokes went bad.
Texas	Sora came here to clean before. She might have thrown them away.
Emperor	Y'all for real? You tryin' to kill me? This is wack... Yeah, you keep talkin'. Don't worry.
Bison	Our first step should be to figure out exactly what these attackers were targeting...
Emperor	Hold up, we need some tunes! Get some vinyl spinnin'! We got a whole box of them here, don't we?
Croissant	Purdy sure I hauled one over. A box worth a couple months' salary.
Exusiai	Found it. What do you want to hear?
Emperor	Just throw on any one of 'em. Anything I picked out's gonna be fire. It ain't life without music. Bless. Nice tunes, nice me. Bison, what else you got?
Bison	...Oh. Where was I?
Emperor	Their target.
Bison	Right! Well, their target was me, I guess, to try to provoke our two companies.
Emperor	That's it? I figured it'd be some revenge thing...
Bison	So you have a lead?
Emperor	Sigh. Texas! Go scout 'em out!
Texas	Triple overtime.
Exusiai	Um, we get into scuffles like that maybe twenty times a month. Doesn't every Messenger deal with this all the time?
Bison	...Why? Messengers should be quieter, quicker... you shouldn't be settling everything with violence all the time.
Exusiai	Huh.
Texas	We're a logistics company. Why are we always getting involved in gang wars?
Emperor	cause they got no taste. They don't value their own lives.
Croissant	And the baws signs our checks. We still get the goods where they need to go, all nice an' legal-like. It's just we usually end up doin' some armed transport.
Exusiai	Yeah. Like, what's the big deal?
Bison	Umm...? You're really okay with that?
Texas	Ugh... Wait a minute. Here, it's the passcode Sora left.
Bison	C- cookies?
Exusiai	Aww, why'd she open them and leave them here. They're no good when they get all soggy.
Texas	The chocolate side is long, and the tail is short. That's the passcode.
Bison	(That's some weird cryptography...)
Croissant	Really? She wasn't kiddin' with that?
Texas	...All I did was memorize what Sora said. "Suspect." Hm. Maybe she chased them out.
Emperor	Let her go. It's quittin' time. And we got Sauin, so no overtime. Forget about capitalist oppression. We gotta pour one out for the homies. Who's drinkin' with me?
Croissant	Ooh, you buyin', baws? I heard some new top shelf booze just came in stock~
Emperor	S'all good. You ladies got a lotta pay to dock, after all.
Croissant	No thanks!
Bison	Wait! We... we never came up with a plan.
Emperor	Don't need one.
Bison	We just let the mob get away with this?
Croissant	Play it by ear.
Bison	...The LGD won't butt in?
Exusiai	Probably not. They're used to this stuff.
Bison	Ugh...
Texas	It is what it is. Just go with the flow. But last month's property damage invoice was a little longer than usual. You all need to be more careful.
Bison	So what's your typical work like?
Exusiai	We deliver the cargo in accordance with the contract, and then we fight. But if we have to fight, that kinda takes precedence. Oh and jobs go to the boss first. Then it's first come first serve, whoever can handle them.
Bison	......
Emperor	Hey, little man. Your daddy trusted you to me. So you're part of the Penguin Logistics family now, even if it's just for a bit.
Bison	Er, yeah... I get it.
Emperor	And you gotta remember the first rule of Penguin Logistics: "Don't sweat the small stuff."
Exusiai	Wasn't the first rule "live for the party" yesterday?
Croissant	The one I heard was "carpe diem."
Emperor	...pretty much. Those ain't gonna be the last soldiers who wanna scoop you up and haul you off, but we're gonna take 'em one at a time. Simple as that. Hold up, why's my ass feel funny? Somebody leave something in my perfect, ergonomic recliner?
Exusiai	Um, I'll take a look. Oh, what an adorable little candy box! Boss, you were hiding snacks under your chair!
Emperor	That's cap. Why would I stuff snacks in my... did you say candy box?
Exusiai	It's a box of candies. See, it says "Victorian Gumdrops" right here...
Texas	Get back, Exusiai, don't open the—
Exusiai	Huh?
Texas	Gah! Get down.
<Background black>
[An explosion is heard.]