Rungholt

Astrid certainly appreciated the more utilitarian look of things here. And the people, wow! She wasn't towering over everyone anymore. Just... mostly everyone. She knew she made the right decision to just rock a jumpsuit, too. What she was really here for was her suit though. Oh, the things she'd do with it. Just disassembling the Zets, solving the shit out of the Zet problem, kicking down every door between her and a solution. She couldn't spot her suit yet though; the papers she'd read awhile ago said it'd be a surprisingly quick bulky thing, like an ancient spacesuit. She figured most suits were made for particular spaces though, so she had no damn idea what that word even meant.

Jagoda

She stuck close to Astrid and Tera, joining Astrid in scanning over the suits. "There's so many..." she said softly. "I knew there were a lot of Wardens, but seeing all these suits in one place... it really kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" She looked around, finally fixing her gaze on a group of light suits that looked more like second skins than power armor. "Hm, I wonder if I'll get one of those..."

They joined up with the rest of the other recruits waiting. Together with their arrival they now counted close to nine-hundred people. All from different walks of life. Land-eggs from the sectors, with scarred hands and a permament smell of chemicals and dung. People from centre, with wide-eyed looks if from East or West, or gang-tatoos and ritualistic scars if from South. Admins and Militars of equal measure, surprisingly, with each side about as different as it could be from one another. One preened, fashionable and terribly attractive. The other grim, athletic and stiff as a board.

Just after them the hybrids were the second-largest group. With most of them wolf-, bear or cat-hybrids. Here and there one could spot the typical red or silver hair of a fox. And even one pig-hybrid, a pretty small, young woman with curly brown hair, who looked like she really wanted to be somewhere else, and nervously picked at her tusks.

And lastly there were one or two androids. In comparison to Tera they looked much older and less human. Cold eyes surveying the crowd. Limbs that were clearly second-hand and didn't quite fit their actual body. One had a face with a nasty gash in it, showing the wires and electronics behind it, yet he seemed to see no reason to replace it. Or maybe he couldn't...

Astrid finally spotted a small group to the side, isolated from the main-crowd. They wore hoods and dirty rags. They looked so destitute that they stood out even more, even though they tried to remain unnoticed. A look downwards showed that they stood on their toes, of which they were only three or two, with green, black or grey chitin standing in for any skin. They pulled their hoods deeper, but even so one could see their faces, so close to being human, but just strange enough that they caused an even greater Uncanny Valley-Effect than androids normally did. Their eyes just a bit too big and their lips too rigid. It was one of the few times any of them had seen mutants up close and even more surprising to see them here, as recruits for the Wardens.

But there was little time to examine their fellow recruits. Because just after a few minutes some heavy steps echoed on the metal floor of the Assembly Hall. Stepping out of a side-door, several wardens walked up to them. They walked past them and finally stopped, in front of the crowd, on a small plattform. There were about a dozen of them, but only one captured the eyes of every recruit and that purely by physical presence alone.

He was massive. Possibly the biggest bear-hybrid any of them had ever seen. Towering over them, he was a mountain of muscle. Hands as big as dinner-plates and legs as thick as tree-trunks. A barrel-chest, where each breath strained the badly-fitting uniform, from which several medals hung. One could recognize a Star of Valor and even three Silver Hearts, the former being one of the higher honors the Administratum gave out and the latter given strictly for being wounded in battle and nonetheless successfully finishing the mission. When ones gaze traveled from those clear signs of heroism upwards, one would stare into a grizzled face. Marred by battle and age and with a thick, grey beard covering the lower half, the lips were pulled into a perpetual frown, with two steely-blue eyes glaring as if they wanted to burn a hole into ones skull. Even the normally cute, round ears didn't really soften the image, as one was missing, while the other one was clipped.

Many in the crowd subconsciously drew in their breath. There was no mistaking! Before them stood General Mikhail Bromsfjord. A living legend. The Hero of the Incursion. Slayer of the Behemoth Calzhyn. Survivor of Battlegroup Onyxblade during Operation Irminsul. And now one of the six Commanders of the Wardens.

His eyes traveled over the assembled recruits. His expression was one of clear displeasure and thinly veiled frustration. He stopped short, when his look reached Jagoda, and for a brief moment the lines one his face deepened. Finally, he drew a big breath, making his uniform squeal in protest, and spoke.

"STAND READY, YOU SORRY EXCUSES OF EXCREMENTS!"

His deep voice bellowed over the Hall and several mechanics actually flinched violently at the noise. The recruits, almost by instinct, stiffened and it felt almost like a physical impact to be yelled at by Bromsfjord. A few actually stumbled back.

The old bear chuckled a bit. "That's better.", he growled.

"So, you want to be Wardens, eh? Made it through two years of training and now think you're ready to join the club, right? IDIOTS!" Again, a few recoiled.

"You're not even close to being wardens. Soft worms, that is what you are, whom we just barely seperated from the rotten ones. You think you have what it takes, but you don't. Your arrogance I can smell from here and it makes me HURL! A sad horde of shit, I see. Delusional! Naive!! PAMPERED!!!"

He took another breath, when suddenly one of the other wardens tapped his shoulder. It was a woman, with pearly white skin and an almost doll-like face, with her black hair tied up in a bun. She had actually had to stand on her toes to reach him, but Bromsfjord immediately stopped in his tirade and looked down on her. "What!? I just got going...", he grumbled.

She smiled serenely. "We are bit short on time, Mikhail. Also, I think the children had their fair share of drills in the past few months. Why don't you cut your introduction a bit short?"

Bromsfjord stared at her, while she met his gaze unflinching. After a few seconds, he sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine...nobody lets me have fun..."

He pulled out a sheet of paper and began to read from it, his voice monotone and bored. "As I was saying...you are yet one step away from being actual Wardens. You have passed many obstacles. And today is the day, where your resolve, your skill and your grit will be put to its final test. Where you will ascend from the diamond in the rough, bla bla bla...who the fuck wrote this crap!?"

He tossed the papers away, to the shock of the other wardens and the mild amusement of the woman. "Long story short: We are going to give you your exo-suits today. Once you got them outfitted and ready, we will transport you several miles inland and drop you off into the wilderness itself. There will be no food or water given to you. The power-cores on your suits will last for about two or three days. In that time, you have to make it back to the Wall alive. Of those that make it, three-hundred that succeed become Wardens."

"Any questions?" It sounded like a friendly question, but the way he phrased it made it sound more like he challenged someone to tell him, that his explanation was inadequate.

Jagoda

She managed not to flinch away from the general's glare, but her antennae twitched wildly, betraying her nervousness. She did, in fact, have a couple of questions, but found herself too intimidated to ask them. She wondered if she could get away with whispering them to Astrid and letting the cat-girl ask for her; from what she'd seen of her, she was unlikely to be intimidated even by the likes of Bromsfjord. She attempted to get closer to Astrid without being noticed.

Tera

Two other androids. Two others like himself. But at the same time...not like him. They were older. Less human. Their limbs didn't match their bodies, and one of them had lost an entire section of his face. Even aside from that, their skin was too shiny, their eyes looked like stained glass, and their movements were jerky and...off. Looking at those two, Tera wondered if they thought he was a regular human.

Okay, they probably didn't; his skin was made of interlocking plates. But still.

Then an enormous bear hybrid approached them for no reason than to scream at them. Tera winced as his voice rang out across the hall, and he reached up to rub an ear. After some more shouting, and a few papers being tossed aside, the man announced that they'd be getting their Exo-Suits and would have to survive in the wilderness alone.

Most people would be too intimidated by the man to speak. Most people would keep their questions to themselves. Most people would stay silent, and thus go into the mission completely unprepared.

Tera was not most people. Or maybe he just didn't understand why everyone was so intimidated.

"Yes," he said, raising his hand. "I have a question. What sort of dangers will we face beyond the Wall?"

Was this a dumb question that most people knew the answer to? Maybe. But again, Tera wasn't most people.

That, and he just plain didn't know.

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Jun 23rd 2020 at 11:53:26 AM

Astrid stared down the bear with grim determination. She'd heard of this guy. She knew a real threat when she saw one, and while the sheer force and volume absolutely made her flinch the content wasn't going to get to her. She held her hands firmly on Tera and Jagoda's shoulders, trying to maybe transfer some of her furious legitimacy and unwavering power to them. She dug deep for all the military jargon she had. "Definitely interested in a quick once-over of Opfor myself too. I also wanted to ask, I don't expect to get juiced back up in the field, but what's an over-under on OSP in the field? Ammo, spare blades, spare parts. You lose enough recruits that we can pick over their wreckage or is the Crucible bare save the Zets?"

Jagoda

Both Tera and Astrid had the courage to speak up. Jagoda was the only one too intimidated to raise her voice. She was ashamed of herself, and did the only thing she could think of to make that feeling go away: she spoke up.

"General, are there any rules of engagement? Are we expected to work with other recruits? Against them? Alone? Can we appropriate supplies in the field, and if so, can we keep them when we succeed?"

Bromsfjord head snapped around, like he had just received a nasty neck-cramp. His eyes caught Tera and his lips curled into a dangerous grin. Several recruits subtly stepped away from the android, as if they feared he would spontaneously combust, if the Commander glared at him hard enough. Then Astrid piped up, as well.

"No information on your opposing forces. We scouted the area and made sure that hostile presence is relatively light.", he finally said, after he chewed a bit on his words. "No need for any of you soft-sacks to relax, though. We did not clear the territory, so you will be confronted by Zet and mutated wildlife. We simply made sure, it is survivable. As long as you have half a brain and can actually lift those brass-balls, some of you pretend to own, you should be able to make it the first few days."

That was when the woman from before stepped up, subtly tapping Bromsfjords side again, before he could get into a another tirade. He looked down and rolled his eyes, letting her take charge. "You will be given five ammunition-packs, no spare parts and only one power-core, that has enough energy for two or three days, as mentioned. That is all for your Operational Support Package. Any extra ressources you will have to obtain from the surrounding nature and ruins, including any damaged or abandoned machinery.", she explained calmly.

When Jagoda finally said something, Bromsfjord stared at her, but said nothing. The woman noticed it, but carried on regardless, smiling politely at the Tinkerer. "The primary goal of this mission to reach the Wall. Any supplies gained in the field are yours to use for the mission. We don't expect you to appropriate anything vital for the Wardens, so you can expect to keep anything that you desire to retain. And you have higher chances of Success, should you choose to work together."

She then looked to the wolfshybrid from earlier, who had raised his hand. "What about Point of Entry? Are we gonna be scattered or simply get in as a unit?", he asked.

"You will transported there with a PCC, a Personnel Carrier Craft, and there exist multiple dropzones. Parachutes will be given to each of you. They are single-use and will self-destruct after you landed."

"And why couldn't you tell us that over Pad or stuff like that? I mean, appreciate the effort, but why the posing?", he added, with a cocky grin that bared his fangs.

The womans smile stayed serene, but got just a tad icy. "Aside from tradition, we will be around to judge perfomance and skill. We will not intervene, though, so do not expect any support during the trial."

After that, no other questions came. The woman looked around, before nodding and giving the word back to Bromsfjord. "Alright, you miscreants. We have lined up your exo-suits in the hall. Go and get ready. Mechanics will be there to assist any of you, should you need get familiar with your suits and clear up anything technical, as well as outfit you with weaponry and ammunition. You have two hours of preparation time, then gather back here. DISMISSED!"

And with that final bark, the recruits scattered...

Tera

No information? His mouth twisted into a frown. Why weren't they telling them anything? Less knowledge meant a higher chance of death. And if they died, who would protect Rungholt? The older Wardens would die eventually, after all.

Now, everyone was heading off to claim their suits. Tera started approaching the other two androids—he'd never really seen any others until now—but both of them immediately made off in different directions, towards rather large and bulky suits that looked like they could be hit by a truck and come out unscathed. Tera stood where he was for a few seconds, then shrugged and started wandering towards the suits.

"Hey! Hey, you!"

Suddenly, someone bounded in front of him, startling him into stepping back. After ascertaining that this person was not a threat, Tera awkwardly waved. "Hello."

Whoever it was looked up at him and grinned. A Tinkerer, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with pale skin, messy hair, and many, many freckles. Tera could tell he was a Tinkerer because his left arm and both his legs were made of metal, whereas the rest of him was very human. He was wearing a white lab coat, and was currently grinning broadly at Tera.

"My name's Krystyn," he said, voice bubbly and energetic. "Krys for short. I saw you earlier, and I was just like, wow, which genius built that android? Take away the skin plates and you'd look just like a human!" He stood on his toes and proceeded to tap Tera's cheek. "No, but seriously, who built you? I need to know how they managed it!"

"I don't know," Tera replied. It would be rude to be dishonest, and Tera did his best to avoid that sort of thing.

Krys gasped loudly, clapping his hands to his cheeks. "You don't know?! But it's your creator! It's like your parents! Everyone knows their parents!"

If Tera could, he might've gone pale. "Everyone?" he said. "But...I...don't..."

Oh, this wasn't good. This wasn't normal. What came next? Would he be investigated? Taken away? Left to rust in some jail cell until they could find out whoever made him—?!

Suddenly, Krys started giggling. "Joking, I'm joking, it's fine. Whenever an android needs to make room for new memory, their origins are usually the first to go." At this, Tera relaxed. Somewhat. Even though this wasn't true.

"I have to go get my Exo-Suit," he said, politeness conflicting with a sudden need to leave the conversation. "I should—"

"Oh!" Krys clasped his hands together, eyes suddenly shining. "We just got done making this new one. Well, I say 'new', it's the third edition of a suit we’ve made before—look, just follow me and you'll see!" And with that, he grabbed Tera's arm and started running down the hall, dragging the android along with him.

Jagoda

Tera got dragged off by the excited Tinkerer boy too quickly for Jagoda to react, but she knew Astrid would appreciate having as much information as possible, so she caught at her sleeve before they could get separated. "The woman with the cybernetics is Commander de Maizière. She's a founding member of the Wardens, worked right alongside Gensky himself. Before that, she fell twenty stories out of a window. That didn't kill her, so you can imagine how tough she must be."

She was prepared to say more, but before she could, a small Tinkerer came up and tapped her hand. It was impossible to tell their gender; all the skin on their face and scalp had been replaced with gleaming metal, with only their human eyes, seated deeply in the chrome surface, belying that they hadn't replaced their entire head. "Ms. Sobczak, correct? I am Madrid Peña y Marín, of the Aegis. I believe my mother knows your mother. Tragic, what happened. You have my condolences." Their voice seemed to emanate from their throat rather than their face, but it betrayed nothing but politeness. "I believe I have seen the suit they have prepared for you," they went on. "If you'd like, I can show you. If not, then may I wish you luck."

"Oh, n-no - I mean, yes, I'd like to see it, thank you." Jagoda waved at Astrid. "I'll catch up with you on the flight. I'd like to work with you to succeed, if you'd have me. The android too. We can all watch out for each other." She turned to follow Madrid. "You don't have to answer now, unless you're sure you don't want to. You can think about it. See you later."

Edited by ChloeJessica on Jun 25th 2020 at 9:58:14 AM

Astrid barged forward to get her suit. She'd read the specs on this thing ahead of time, and looked up the name on it too. Judah Reborn was named for an ancient magician from the old world, a man who forged life into enormous clay servants—not unlike the Hybrids and the suits! The thing looked flat right now, peeled open and mounted on a rack to be boarded for a test launch and fitting.

Some stairs led up to it, but it didn't have a lot of the tubes and wires connected to other suits; it was almost all analog. Astrid didn't feel the need to speak to her technicians, instead just nodding to them before she stepped up into the thing. She could tell there were a couple of modifications made to fit her head and shoulders, but even then when it closed around her there absolutely were a couple hairs snagged in the seals. She also... definitely thought it'd be different. Like being empowered. Instead, when it closed up it was dark first. Inert. She realized with a start that this was what would happen if she ran out of power; a milspec coffin.

Astrid heaved out a breath she didn't know she was holding when it hummed to life. The round dome-like helmet might have looked a little nonthreatening from outside, but just having such a wide view from inside snapped Astrid out before the claustrophobia set in. Light raced around the display—30 shells spare, 6 loaded, phosphorous array primed and good for 6 pops. She felt that light from within, too; a way to make a difference, to become something more than a person and more than a weapon. The heavy, blocky body of the suit made a few experimental steps in place while they got preliminary readings.

And like that it ended and Astrid was popped out of Judah with the same unceremonious manner she gave to the techs working on the thing. She took one step forward, missed, and hit the stairs wrong, tumbling to the floor in a flurry of curses.

Tera

Krys eagerly pulled him down the hallway, weaving around other Tinkerers and suits on their way to whatever Krys wanted to show him. They nearly crashed into one of the mutant recruits—who dodged with surprising skill and hissed at them—and Tera almost tripped several times, but eventually, they reached a sleek turquoise suit.

"Ta-da! I present to you..." Krys let go of Tera's hand and spun over to stand next to the suit. "Mercury Mk. III." He grinned, likely waiting for applause.

All he got was a head tilt and a, "What happened to the first two?"

Krys stilled. "Oh. That. Well..." He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Design flaw. Mk. I had this thing in the foot-booster-things that let you fly. Sometimes, it would just...spontaneously combust. Anyone inside at the time would be burned to death, feet up." He sucked in a breath and sighed. "Terrible way to go."

Tera suddenly wished he hadn't asked. He'd made Krys sad.

"Mk. II—same issue. People said the suit was cursed and that the people working on it—should mention, both marks were before my time—should just scrap it. Fortunately!" And here, he brightened again. "We fixed said flaw, so you probably won't be combusting on the field of battle. Anyway, putting all that dreary stuff aside, you ready to put it on?"

Tera simply nodded, unsure of what to say.

And so began the long process of clicking each piece of the suit into place, sliding on each bit of armor while Krys cheerfully talked about his contributions to the new Mercury ("I picked out the paint job—blue's such a pretty color!") his dad, who was also a Tinkerer ("Dad's been busy with something he says is really important") his plans for how he was going to help Rungholt ("I've been sketching out some ideas for really tiny tech that'll do really big things") and sometimes anecdotes from when he was younger ("So I put out the fire, but then Patrik showed up and he was still being chased by the bees...")

Tera finally clicked the last piece into place, which seemed to be the cue for Krys. He stopped talking, and his eyes widened. "Wow. You look awesome!"

Tera blinded, then smiled a little. The suit felt surprisingly light and maneuverable, if maybe a bit too light. He was rather surprised that he didn't feel claustrophobic, but maybe that was because he hadn't put the helmet on yet.

"I should be going," he said, tucking the helmet under his arm. "I hope we'll see each other again."

He started heading back to the other recruits, but he didn't make it very far before Krys grabbed his arm. "Hey, wait."

Tera paused, then turned back. Krys slowly let go of his arm and smiled sheepishly. "I never got your name."

"Oh," Tera said. "I forgot. My name is Tera."

For a moment, Krys's expression changed. He looked...thoughtful. But within a second, the smile was back on his face. "See you when you come back!"

Tera smiled a little again, and turned back. As he left, Krys started murmuring something. He couldn't be sure, but he was pretty sure that he heard, "I swear, I've heard that name before..."

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Jun 26th 2020 at 10:33:55 AM

Jagoda

She made her way across the crowd behind Madrid, losing sight of Astrid as the huge catgirl leaped away. Madrid led Jagoda over to the rack of skin-tight suits from earlier. There were only two or three other recruits over here. One of them was the side-shaved redhead from the bus. She glanced up at Jagoda, and smirked a little, but didn't say anything.

Madrid caught the attention of a bored-looking wolf hybrid Warden, and he came over. "Sobczak, Jagoda?" he asked, making a check mark on his clipboard. "You're getting a Snake Mk. III. Named after the best stealth operative there ever was. Heard of him?"

Jagoda murmured thanks to Madrid, who nodded politely and moved off. "Yes, sir. I studied military history at camp. Snake was... well, I doubt half what they said about him was true, but he's still a man I'd be happy to emulate."

The wolf nodded approvingly. "Good woman. Let's get you outfitted."

The suit was mottled gray and black. There was very little armor on it; some webbing on the torso and thighs that would help with blunt impact, and silver studs on the knuckles. Bionic limb struts ran from shoulder to wrist and over thighs down to her feet; she saw that the suit had been modified to not need boots, to suit her prosthetics. On the back of one wrist, there was a dart launcher with an eighteen-round chamber, which slotted into place around her wrist like a bracelet. The tiny darts came in several types, and each magazine held a few of each, and was designed so she could easily swap to and fire whatever kind she needed at will. Her five ammo clips went onto her waist, and at the small of the back was a small framework that held the power socket. On top of the socket was a small button that activated the main feature of the suit.

"The Mk. I and II Snake models relied on mirror camo," explained the tech. "They could turn their skin totally reflective at will. Useful, but limited. The III does much better. It has an active camo module that lets you totally vanish at will."

Jagoda pressed the button, and her body flickered and vanished. No, not quite. Her telescopic eye was picking up a faint shimmer like that of a mirage on a cloudy day.

The tech seemed to know what she was thinking. "The stealth module in your suit is a little older, and not in the best condition," he said apologetically. "If you want a better one, you'll have to earn it." He flicked the stealth field off. "It also overheats after about 45 seconds of continuous use, and requires 15 minutes to cool down before you can use it again."

"I can work with that," Jagoda responded, flexing her strut-enhanced limbs. "Forty-five seconds of near-invisibility is still a massive benefit. That's life and death."

"I like your thinking, freshie," said the techie. "I'm Sigfried. If you make it back alive, look me up. I'll take you out for a platonic coffee." He grinned.

I love platonic coffee! Jagoda's brain said. "Uhm, sure, that would be nice," was what came out of her mouth. She started to make her way over to the PCC loading zone, where a few of the quicker recruits were already milling around aboard the aircraft. She stopped next to the red-headed Gent, who was lounging against the wall, texting on a PAD. Jagoda managed to catch her eye, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm, good luck out there. Maybe we can -"

The redhead cut her off. "Whatever. I'm not going to try to kill you out there or anything. I'm not psychotic. But we're not friends, and I'm not going to help you. Go away."

Jagoda shrank away from the Gent. She was tempted to activate her stealth so that no one could see her furious blush of shame. She scurried over to the PCC without trying to speak to anyone else.

As Astrid was about to stand up again, a hand reached down. Looking up, she stared into the steely grey eyes of the wolfyhbrid from earlier. His black hair flowing down his shoulders and a mischievous smile on his lips, making his boyish face look rougish and handsome. "Need a hand?", he joked, as he helped her up.

Now that she could get a closer look, Astrid noticed several interesting things about this young man. His eyes were unusally bright, like those of a real wolf, which was only further accentuated by subtle eyeshadow, while his face was marred by a scar on his upper lip. He wasn't as tall as her, but pretty athletic nonetheless, as one could see through his tight shirt. He wore a black vest, that made him look a bit like the gangers in South-Quarter, which was a popular look among the more rebellious hybrids. His hair had a few braids in it and he was clean shaven, which was unusual enough for a wolf. All in all, he could just as well found work as a model, rather than try his luck at the Wardens.

His eyes flickered over to Astrids suit. He whistled. "Damn. Thats one heck of a piece!", he commented, his eyes wandering over the thick frame and heavy armoring. "Am surprised they give out Heavies to freshies like us. I only got a Hagen-1B myself, which is one foot in the scrapyard." He laughed, though it died quickly, once he noticed Astrid didn't laugh with him.

An awkward silence stretched. "What do you want?", asked Astrid brusque.

"Right, straight to the point. Okay...", he mumbled, scratching his cheek with a long nail. They were painted black, on closer inspection. "Have you actually wondered, why they gave us two hours of preparation. Seems excessive, right? Stocking up, outfitting and stuff like that only takes a half."

He waited on her to comment, but then continued. "Well, I think the extra time is for us to...well, procure stuff ourselves. I mean, look around!" He gestured over the Vast Assembly Halls. "There are more exo-suits and mechanics here than we recruits actually need! Also, they only said they were going to give us basic supplies. They never mentioned anything about us adding something to it. The only thing we are not getting is food and water."

He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small, rectangular device, which looked a bit battered and old. Still, Astrid recognized it as a basic Comm-Unit. "Got that from one of the mechanics, in exchange of three marks and first pick of the stuff I bring back from the Crucible.", he explained. "I got two in total, so..."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Well, basically...I'm asking if you wanna team up with me. Oh, my name is Gard, by the way. Gard of Clan Blackclaw."

Edited by TheNohen on Jun 29th 2020 at 6:26:48 PM

Tera

Tera headed over to the loading zone and into the aircraft. "Hello, Jagoda," he said, waving at her. "Have you made a new friend?" He looked at the redheaded Gent girl. "What's your name?"

At that moment, someone wearing a large, bulky suit tripped on their way into the aircraft and crashed right into him, tumbling to the floor with a loud bang.

Tera blinked. "Ow," he said, belatedly.

He knelt down to the person. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Whoever it was scoffed and pulled themself up. "Yeah. Fine." The voice was rough and scratchy, almost like they were sick. Tera looked up to see their face, and noticed the very large segment where it was just wires.

"You're one of the androids," he said, eyes widening.

The android scoffed again. "Astute observation, Captain Obvious." He leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "Marko-X. Former military android, then got blown up and decided it just wasn't right for me." He pointed to the wires. "How about you?"

Tera blinked. "Er...Tera. Woke up in a strange laboratory three years ago—"

"Three years?" Marko said, disbelief written all over what was left of his face. "They don't make them that young anymore." He paused. "Would explain why you look so..."

"Human?" Tera offered.

"Well-made. A lot of androids would give their source codes to look half as good." What was left of his mouth twisted into a frown. "Who made you, exactly?"

Tera suddenly felt a pit in his stomach again. "I...I don't know," he mumbled.

"...but you're three," Marko said, face disbelieving once more. "You're not at the point where you should be forgetting these kinds of things—"

"I should go," Tera said, loudly. "Jagoda and I need to talk...about...stuff." He gave the Tinkerer a please-get-me-out-of-this look.

"Astrid Andersdottir." Astrid answered plainly, and snagged the comm unit. She wondered what someone like this was doing here, and how long that face would hold up in the line of duty. Especially interesting because he clearly knew what he was talking about; OSP shouldn't be restricted to on the site! Teaming up, too, neat. "If we're teaming, Gard, I got two more over there." Astrid craned her neck over the crowd and pointed out Tera and Jagoda. "Over there. Show me the guy that got you the comms, I'll hook these two up and get all four of us in contact." She started looking over the hangar for someone that might have ammo supplies too, she was hoping she could get an extra reload for her shield's flashers.

Jagoda

She mentally threw up her hands. Can't I go anywhere to get away from drama?! It seems to follow me!

Still, if she wanted the android to team up with them, she had to look out for him, too. "Uh, come on, Tera, I forgot I wanted to check around for more supplies before we left." She attempted to smile at Marko. "I'm sure you two will have time to catch up later," she said weakly, her voice barely audible. She grabbed Tera's hand and dragged him off into the crowd.

It was a useful distraction to get away from the mildroid, but now that Jagoda thought of it, there were some more supplies she could use. She decided to hunt around for a pair of binocs; preferably milspec, but she'd take what she could get. She also wanted a night vision lens for her cybernetic eye. That was an add-on she'd been wanting to do for a while, but she'd had trouble coming by any parts to tinker with while at camp. Lastly, she wanted a weather sensor, a portable one she could clip onto her wrist. It would behoove her to be able to tell when they were about to get rained on, out in the field.

Tera

Tera mentally breathed a sigh of relief as Jagoda dragged him off to...hm. It looked like they could bring other pieces of tech on this trip. Maybe he should pick something up, too?

Well, he only had four marks, so he probably couldn't get anything big. Still, he couldn't help but browse the selection, searching for medical supplies that he could afford.

Astrid and Gard

Gard sighed a tad dissapointed, when Astrid mentioned the others. "Oh? And here I was hoping I was the first..", he mumbled. He thought a bit, before shrugging his shoulders. "Oh well, the more the merrier!" He gave Astrid a charming smile, as he followed her.

The mechanic wasn't too pleased, when Astrid showed up wanting to get two more comm-units. Still, he was willing to give her what she wanted in exchange for the same deal as Gard: Three marks and First Pick of whatever she brought back. The ammo-situation was less successful. The exo-suits around her had been specifically outfitted with just the right ammo-capacity, so none of the mechanics were willing to compromise on that. The one she did find demanded an absolutely ludicrous price for his shotgun-pellets. Twenty marks a piece, which was more then triple that of the current market-price.

"Are you kidding me!? That is robbery!", exclaimed Gard in anger. The elderly Tinkerer just raised his hands defensively.

"Hey, I'm not forcing you to buy anything. That just the price, okay? Ammo is worth a lot during the Crucible. And some of your fellow recruits already bought most of my current stockpile.", he explained. His eyes then traveled over to Astrid and he grinned dirty. "I mean...I would be happy to lower the price in exchange for-"

Gard growled in anger. The old man flinched, his telescopic eye retreating into its socket. "Now, now...no need for that. Tell you what, I cannot sell my ammo-stock for cheap, but I do have casings with me and a parts and scraps needed to cobble together some bullets. A Do-It-Yourself pack, if you wanna call it that."

He rummaged around the back and put a metal container before them with a thud. Inside shells, scraps and many other things loudly rattling around. "I have little use for that and its better than nothing. I can give you that for 5 marks."

Meanwhile at Tera and Jagoda

As Jagoda walked with Tera away, they felt the cold gaze of the android Marko on their backs. Still, he didn't pursue them, instead simply moving his heavy exo-suit to a nearby mounting support.

Binoculars were easy enough to procure. Many of the other recruits didn't really bother with them, as helmet displays were seen as enough. Not to mention that binoculars generally were seen as a bit of an antique nowadays. Medical supplies were mostly already gone though, so the last aid-kit cost them close to fifteen marks.

Lastly, there was the weather-sensor. "Oh no..forget it. I won't part with that!", said the woman, patting the sensor-array gently. She was a heavy-set woman, with the typical round ears of a bear and brown hair growing down her nose and cheeks, giving her a more wild look than most hybrids. She was also wearing a grease-covered apron and had a heavy looking wrench in her hand, that was probably pretty handy as a club.

"This beauty here took me a lot of marks and one pretty contested Claim to built. Not gonna give that into your hands for the Crucible.", she continued. "There is no guarantee you would survive or could reimburse me for any damages."

She turned around to them, before stopping short. A look over her shoulder, she took a minute to examine them and their exo-suits. Finally she sighed and banged her wrench agains the suit she was working on, creating a dent in the armor.

"Alright, fine...cannot give you my weather-sensor, but I can throw you together a scanner. Won't be doing much, but it can detect radiation and spores, so you at least won't be walking into a cloud or somethin'.", she finally said. "In turn, I want you both to promise me to bring it back in one piece. Oh, and you little Tinkerer-girl! You gonna work the cost off with me. Five hours on my workstation, if you survive and come back. Your android buddy can help you with that, if he wants to, cutting the time down by half."

She spat into her greasy, meaty palm and stretched it out. "Do we have a deal, kids?"

Edited by TheNohen on Jul 2nd 2020 at 3:35:45 PM

Tera

Tera tilted his head. It certainly sounded reasonable, but then again, half of the deal would affect Jagoda. He wasn't sure if she'd be okay with that sort of thing.

"If she says it's a deal, it's a deal," Tera said, pointing to Jagoda.

Jagoda

She wanted to take the deal, but... the woman's hand was... gross, frankly. She was no stranger to sweat and oil, but she drew the line at saliva. She didn't want to touch it. "Tera, would you shake hands with her?" she murmured to the android, who nodded and took the woman's hand. He gazed at the residue on his palm with interest after she withdrew. She handed Jagoda the scanner, and she clipped it to her unencumbered wrist. She nodded to the woman and moved back over towards the PCC, Tera following in her wake. "You don't have to help me work it off if you don't want to," she said over her shoulder. "I'd appreciate it, but it's only five hours."

Tera

"Hm?" He looked up from his palm and the slimy residue on it. "It's no problem. Though I don't think I'd be very helpful. My technology knowledge is..." He shook some of the residue off his hand. "Lacking."

That was when he noticed Astrid and a wolf-hybrid negotiating...something with an older Tinkerer. He tapped Jagoda on the shoulder. "We should go talk to Astrid."

Whether or not she agreed, he went over to Astrid and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Hello, Astrid," he said. "Have you made a new friend?" He looked over at the wolf-hybrid and waved. "What's your name?"

"He's Gard." Astrid said, again trying to reassert control here. She made sure to remember that other mechanic's face too; bastard was blacklisted from any rescue from her. She sneered down at what the old bastard had offered and sniffed. "Not worth my time. Didn't know I was tangling with garbage." She then handed Tera and Jagoda the comm units she'd acquired from said garbage. "Anyway, Gard, who's not garbage, he found out we could get our hands on these communications units here. You guys find your new gear okay or do you need the hookup here?"

Tera

"Hello, Gard," Tera said, waving at the wolf boy again. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Tera." Given how Marko had reacted to him earlier, he didn't want to say anything more than that.

"What's your Exo-Suit?" he asked, taking the comm-unit from Astrid. "Mine's Mercury. I don't really know what it does, but it used to burst into flames a lot." He didn't really understand how serious of a problem that was, only that talking about it had made Krys sad—and that, while they hadn't known each other long, Tera didn't like to see Krys sad.

Jagoda

She took the comm unit from Astrid and looked it over. It was a JX-PQQ23, an older model renowned for its reliability. It didn't have all the bells and whistles some of the newer models were tricked out with, but they could count on them. She clipped it to her belt. "If all four of them are the same model, you couldn't have done better. These will hold up. Are they already on the same frequency?"

She smiled shyly at Gard. "Hello. I'm Jagoda. I'm pretty sure I saw you on the bus ride. If you're cool with Astrid, you're cool with me."

She turned back to Astrid. "Got some binocs, good reliable distance vision that's not tech-dependent. Also some medical supplies, and this." She unclipped the scanner from her wrist and held it out to the cat woman. "It'll warn us when there's an immediate proximity threat of radiation or spores. Keep us from wandering into pockets. Also could be useful for finding or avoiding Zets - the thickest clouds of spores are the most likely place to find them."