Julian, always the practical one, chimed in.
"It's good PR we might even attract some Investors."
I looked around at my battle brothers, feeling the grin tug at my lips.
"Alright. F*ck it. Let's do it."
The artist's eyes lit up, and he wasted no time. He grabbed his holo-phone, and we all stepped outside in front of the tattoo shop's neon sign.
"Alright, everyone! Get in close,"
He said, positioning himself in the center.
We huddled around him, each of us wearing our custom-made "Flip-Flop Commandos" shirts, complete with cartoonic versions of ourselves.
The artist snapped the picture, and before we even had a chance to second-guess ourselves, he uploaded it to the Galactic Tube and every major social media platform, tagging both his shop and our PMC.
"Phew, that's gonna blow up,"
The artist said, wiping his hands and grinning from ear to ear.
"I can't wait to see what people say about this."
It didn't take long for the comments to start flooding in.
@SpaceWanderer99: "Wait, is this for real? THE Flip-Flop Commandos just took a selfie outside a f*cking tattoo parlor?!"
@NebulaQueen23: "This is some next-level sh*t. These guys are officially my new heroes."
@MechBro47: "Omg, like they actually went with it. Flip-Flop Commandos confirmed. F*ck, I need that shirt."
@PlasmaPrincess00: "Can I just say how badass these guys are? They're out here, surviving droid attacks and getting tattoos like it's no big deal. #Goals"
Paul glanced over my shoulder, reading the comments with a smirk.
"I swear, man, these people are gonna keep this going until we end up with a f*cking merch line."
Darius groaned.
"I told you, man. We should've just burned those shirts."
"Yeah, well, too late now,"
I said, laughing.
"We're in it. Might as well embrace it."
"Free tats for life, though,"
Airid said, grinning.
"Gotta say, that's a win."
But just as we were basking in the absurdity of it all, Paul froze mid-chuckle, his eyes going wide.
"Wait,"
He said slowly, glancing down at his newly inked skin.
"Didn't we… didn't we just agree to get some major augments done?"
Darius blinked, realization dawning on him.
"Sh*t. We did."
For a moment, the weight of our stupidity hit all of us at once.
We stood there, dumbfounded, staring at each other.
We had literally just spent hours getting detailed tattoos, only to immediately go under the knife and get carved up for our planned augmentations.
"F*cking hell,"
I muttered, rubbing my temples.
"We just wasted hours on these tats and money only to mess them up with surgeries right after."
There was a beat of silence, and then all of us slowly turned to the tattoo artist, our expressions shifting into something that could only be described as murderous grins.
The artist, sensing the sudden shift in the air, stepped back slightly, eyes widening as he took in the sight of six augmented, recently inked mercs staring at him like they were about to tear his shop apart.
"Well,"
I said, grinning as I leaned in closer.
"Good thing we got free tats for life, huh?"
The artist's face paled. He forced a nervous laugh.
"Yeah… real good deal. Real good."
With that, we turned and left the shop, our steps purposeful as we headed for the next stop on our checklist.
The cybernetic augmentation shop. We'd deal with the ruined tattoos later, but right now, we had some serious upgrades to get done.
The shop was located in the seedier part of the citadel, buried deep within the industrial sector.
The entrance was marked with a flickering holographic butchering sign, the moment we stepped inside, it was clear this place meant business.
The air was thick with the scent of oil and sterilizers, and the sound of clinking metal and buzzing tools echoed in the dimly lit space.
At the far end of the room stood the doctor, if you could even call him that.
He was a full humanoid xeno cyborg, with multiple arms and tentacles bristling with various surgical instruments.
His translucent skull revealed a pulsating xeno brain, floating in some kind of liquid, and his mechanical eyes, cold and calculating, swept over us as we approached.
"Homo sapien, Humans,"
He said, his voice a blend of metallic and organic.
"You've come for upgrades?"
"Yeah,"
I said, stepping forward.
"We're here for the real deal. Cybernetic synthetic combat stimulant implants, the neural chips for the exoskeleton armor, ceramic grafting on our bones, nano fibers sewn Into our joints and cybernetic lenses"
The doctor's cybernetic eyes flickered, his many arms twitching in anticipation as he processed my request.
"You've come for the full package, then,"
He said, his voice blending metallic clicks with an almost organic rasp.
"Cybernetic synthetic combat stimulants implants, neural chips, ceramic bone grafting, nano fibers for your joints, and cybernetic lenses, Anesthesia, flesh Is weak after all especially you're species?"
I gave him a nod.
"Nope no need just carve us up"
The doctor's lipless mouth twitched in what passed for a grin.
"Very well. One by one, then. Lie down. Let's begin."
I stripped down completely n*ked while stepping forward and laid down on the cold metal slab that served as his operating table.
His various arms, bristling with high-tech surgical tools, hovered over me, and I could hear the faint hum of the machinery coming to life.
The first incision was cold, not painful, but sharp.
My pain receptors were still offline, so I felt nothing but the pressure and tug of my skin as his tools carved into my flesh with surgical precision.
I could hear the others watching, their breaths steady, though their eyes were fixated on the process.
The doctor worked quickly, starting with the cybernetic synthetic combat stimulants implants.
His mechanical hands moved with mechanical precision, connecting wires, reinforcing my muscles with high-tensile synthetic fibers.
And implanting implants that would flood my body with synthetic combat stimulants 24/7 thus enhancing all aspects of my body.
And endurance beyond my current bodies limits that's why the need for other augments.
Darius, standing by with his arms crossed, watched as the doctor cut into my shoulder, embedding synthetic fibers along my collarbone and down into my arms.
"Its like watching real life horror movie,"
Darius muttered.
"You look like a f*cking anatomy project Drac,"
Paul added, his grin barely contained.
"Bet you're going to feel like a tank after this."
I grunted, my voice a bit tight from the sensation.
"I better. If I don't come out of this stronger I'll be pissed."
The doctor moved on to the ceramic bone grafting, spraying ceramic particles along my bones after peeling off my flesh, reinforcing them to withstand far greater impacts and tension.
I could hear the faint click of the material glueing itself to my bones, my body slowly becoming more machine than man.
The bones were harder now, almost unbreakable.
He was quick, efficient, installing the nano fibers into my joints with the ease of someone who had done this a thousand times.
The fibers were sewn into my tendons and ligaments, designed to increase my flexibility, speed, and reflexes.
I flexed my hand as he worked on my other arm, feeling the subtle yet powerful enhancements.
My movements were smoother, faster, more precise.
"How does it feel?"
Julian asked, watching closely.
I clenched my fist, testing the new flexibility in my wrist.
"It feels... dope,"
I admitted.
"Faster, stronger. Like everything's sharper. You'll see soon enough."
The last part of my upgrade was the installation of the neural chip and cybernetic lenses.
The doctor's fingers carefully opened a small slit at the base of my skull, inserting the neural chip that would allow me to interface directly with exoskeleton armor.
It was quick, like a flicker of energy across my mind, almost as if a second consciousness had been implanted.
Then came the cybernetic lenses.