RP XSDF Roleplay Thread: Vanguard of Forseti

[BMPixy]

"So... am I going to have to deal with him?" The android asked seriously as he exited the game.

"Well, hopefully not anything serious, though he might go through the usual 'you hurt her and once she's finished with you I'll turn whatever's left into modern art' routine," Elicia said with a slight shrug, closing the booth door behind her. "Though I will warn you, he does have a tendency to hold onto things far longer than he should."

"Is he the reason you were looking so nervous before on the shuttle?" Ezra asked as he led them over to an air hockey table.

"A, uh, little bit," Elicia replied hesitantly, unsure of how much more she should say. Mentally deciding to screw it, she might as well be an adult about this, she continued, "The reason I mentioned that he has problems letting go, is well... he's trying to play the long game. Y'know, the always be there, comfort them when things go sideways, wait until they slip and end up in your arms, that kind of stupid shit. He's a good guy, I mean, it's just that he doesn't know when to call it quits."

He looked Elicia up and down as he hit the puck towards the woman. "He hates Exalts, doesn't he?"

"Yep," she replied as she carefully deflected the puck away from her goal whilst keeping her guard close. "Not even really sure why. I mean, least his dad has the excuse where he was there when they first split off and joined XCOM, but even then it's just distrust, not outright hate like Riri." Elicia shook her head morosely, only for the puck to slip by her guard while she was distracted. "Dammit," she muttered, putting the puck back onto the field and sending it towards Ezra. "Regardless, if you two ever meet, he'll have double the reason for hating your guts: you've got that name and you've got my affections."

Ezra bounced the puck off the wall and he shrugged. "It doesn't really matter either way I guess... Not like he can kick my ass, and I don't see you being the one to turn their back on someone."

"Yeah, I suppose," Elicia replied half-heartedly, slamming her mallet onto the puck and then lining up a shot, sending the puck straight towards an opening in Ezra's guard. "Anyways, 'nough 'bout my personal dramas. How's your family?"

"Mark was caught about to pork with his GF right before the ban was lifted, Vindicta is as busy as ever. As for my parents..." Ezra accidently let the puck slip in and he sighed, "I haven't spoken to them in a while."

"Sorry if I'm prying, but why's that?" Elicia asked, cocking an eyebrow as she readied herself for the android's serve.

He hit the puck hard. "We aren't really a normal family as you can tell. I haven't talked to them in a while because they aren't really that readily available."

"Ah, I get i- shit!" she cursed as the puck slipped through her guard. "Nice shot," Elicia said, resetting the puck and lining up her shot. "But as I was saying, I get what you're saying. I know I have a hard enough time getting in contact with my ma, doesn't take much to imagine how much harder it is with parents like yours."

"Sometimes I wonder if they even care anymore..." Ezra didn't put much effort into blocking the shot. "They were around... Sometimes in the beginning. Then it just seemed like Vinny became more of a daughter to her then I was as a son."

"Yeesh, that sucks." Elicia gently knocked the puck back towards Ezra. "You ever talk to them 'bout this? Maybe it's just the product of incompetence, rather than malice. Hanlon's Razor and all that."

"You can call it that... you might be right but the four years of silence between me and mother begs to differ. I've tried to get ahold of her, but it never works out, something always gets in the way. I haven't even talked to my Dad in a while... And he was the closest one to me. Maybe they forgot about me... Doesn't really matter to me either way. I've lived by myself for a while now and survived, why should I need them?"

"Because you never know when something might happen," Elicia said, her tone deadly serious as she let the puck gently slide into her goal. "I mean, family's hella important. You don't want to suddenly get news that one of them's bit it, or visa versa, and all you've got is a massive gulf between you and all the regrets that come with it. Granted, I'm not sure how easy it is for an AI to join the choir invisible, but the sentiment is still there."

As Elicia hit the puck slowly towards Ezra he sighed in defeat. "Maybe I will call mother soon... I don't know." As the puck neared his goal, Ezra hit it hard and into an unsuspecting Elicia's goal. "But I do know I won."

"Gwuh-huh!?" Elicia hastily moved to counter, but she was just slightly too slow, and the puck slid into her goal, prompting the display to flash wildly as the game ended. "Was that part of your plan, distract me with sad stories then steal the win?"

"Not at all, you just left your guard down." As they walked from the game, the android whispered, "I meant every word."

"Yeah, I know," Elicia replied, leaning against Ezra and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze as the pair walked off. "If you want, I can join you for the reunion, help make things a little easier."

"If you are available, I will let you know." He returned the squeeze of her hand, enjoying the fact he had something to keep him down. "I wonder if we could pass off as high school lovers. You certainly look young enough, and this is my high school body. Not really an 'adult' one needed."

"I don't think that there are many high school girls with these," Elicia retorted, gently lifting the hem of her shirt to reveal her washboard abs for a brief moment. "Though the compliment is appreciated, I have to ask where that thought came from."

"Out my ass." He said rather authoritatively. "Besides... Does there really have to be meaning behind my words?"

"There's meaning behind everything. It's just that sometimes that meaning is nothing. Doesn't make it absent of meaning," Elicia replied with a shrug.

"You're right... How good would you look in a school uniform?" Ezra asked to try and embarrass the woman.

"Eh, skirts don't really compliment my figure too well," Elicia said, rubbing the back of her neck ashamedly. "Plus if I want to keep people from having a free show, I gotta wear shorts, in which case I might as well just wear the shorts by themselves."

"I have to start paying for a mutual service? Times must really be hard." He joked with a snarky smile.

"You get a pass because you give just as good as you get," Elicia responded, giving a knowing smirk at her boyfriend. "It's those other shameless perverts who gotta pay for any hypothetical views."

"Oh really? That why you were so weak in the knees when you thought I was another guy?" Ezra asked, poking her ribs. All Elicia could do in response to that was shoot a hostile glare at the android, clenching her teeth to hold back a biting remark. Ezra chuckled, "Why so mad? I especially like the face you made after I kissed you. You looked like you were going to swoon before you nearly popped off my head."

"I'm beginning to wonder if I should have done that," Elicia deadpanned. "And for the record, shocked and confused doesn't equal swooning."

"Considering that was my kiss, I think I may take some offense to that." He continued to tease, the android enjoying the usual banter they regularly engaged in.

"Oh please," the medic muttered, rolling her eyes. "If you get offended by that, you're a helluva lot softer than that body suggests."

"There is a joke there but I will refrain from giving you a heart attack." Ezra put an arm around Elicia's shoulder. "Besides, you bring out the teddy bear in me. How often you see me making lunch and massaging other people?"

"Not at all, but that's because I've pretty much staked my claim there," Elicia said, nuzzling affectionately into her boyfriend. "Should I be worried about you cooking for other girls?" she joked.

"I might make a breakfast for Vinny, but then again this ain't Alabama." Ezra snickered uncontrollably.

"And here I thought with your love for Japan you'd be down for dating your cousin," Elicia chuckled evilly. "Or are you not that far gone?"

"Please..." He pulled Elicia real close. "You're the only one who can handle me."

"For given values of handle, at least," the Anglo-German replied, wrapping an arm around Ezra's waist. As the two continued their fun in the arcade, hours flew by and it was time for the couple to leave, Ezra so far having kept quiet so far about some of his surprises.

"Well, night descends, and your time has come," Elicia said, guiding the pair out of the arcade - a few knick-knacks she had obtained with her meager tickets clutched in her other hand. "Care to take the lead?"

Ezra smiled, grabbing Elicia's hand running with her, the two coming to a monorail station. "We are taking this to our destination." He explained as they got on and the train sped away from the capital. Soon they left the city behind and went out into the countryside.

"Oh don't tell me you really did bring the animal crackers," Elicia said, a light smile crossing her face as she examined the scenery as it sped by.

"No, just the rubber chicken." He joked as he put his chin on top of Elicia's head. "I thought it would be nice to stay in the countryside for a bit... Away from the worry of war. I already got permission for today and tomorrow cleared for us."

"Well, you're certainly hedging your bets," she chuckled flirtatiously as she ran a finger across the android's chest. "So, mind filling me in on the full extent of your plans, Ezzy?"

 

[BMPixy]

"Nope." Ezra smirked mischievously.

"Aww..." Elicia pouted slightly. "Are my womanly charms not doing the trick?" she said, the glimmer in her eyes hinting at the insincerity of her question.

"Not at all, I'm just not going to spoil the surprise." Ezra said as they stopped in the small town of New Concord, a population of about 10,000 and nothing really too flashy about it.

"Eh, oh well. I assume this is our stop?" Elicia asked as she perched up in her seat, awaiting Ezra's signal to go.

"Yes, it is." Ezra stood up and walked out, leading Elicia out of the town and up a large hill. When they reached the top, there was a single huge tree atop of it. The entire valley could be seen from the hill, the twinkle of the town off in the distance, the stars up in the sky sparkling along with a full moon, not a cloud in the sky,

"Mein Gott," Elicia whispered as she soaked in the ambiance, a look of unparalleled awe spreading across her face. "It's beautiful..."

"I heard about this spot from word of mouth. Apparently it is really low key, and extremely beautiful with the right conditions." Ezra strode over to the tree and went behind it, taking out a hidden basket and waving it back and forth slightly. "And we have it all to ourselves for dinner."

"You really do spoil me, y'know?" Elicia giggled, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "So, what's on the menu tonight?" she asked as she moved to help Ezra unpack the basket.

"An old classic and favorite of mine..." He pulled out two circular things wrapped in aluminium foil. "Cheeseburgers. I also got a few beers, cole slaw, and fries."

"Ah, protein, the greatest of the food groups," Elicia remarked, taking one of the burgers and grabbing a beer. "Plenty greasy, I take it?" she asked as she lowered herself onto the grass, popping the top off of her beer and taking a quick swig.

"It should be made to satisfactory. It is fully loaded too, so enjoy." He opened up his food and began to eat.

Taking the cue from the android, Elicia unwrapped her meal, removed the top bun of her burger, placed a handful of fries in its place, and then replaced the bun. Satisfied with her modification, she took the burger and bit down, enjoying what flavors she could taste. Swallowing it down, the medic asked, "Got any hot sauce in that basket?"

He took out a small red bottle and threw it Elicia's way. "Not stupid."

"'Course you aren't, wouldn't be dating you if you were," Elicia replied, unscrewing the cap on the bottle after she caught it and pouring the contents over the burger. Taking another bite, she let out an audible 'mmm', and continued to dig in at a ravenous pace.

"Slow down there speedy, might give yourself a heart attack. As much as mouth to mouth sounds pleasing, I would rather not like to be known as the android whose girlfriend croaked on a date." He said in both concern and jest.

"So where was that concern about my heart when you decided to change your appearance without telling me?" Elicia shot back, though she did slow down in her consumption slightly. "Besides, this is a damn good burg."

"You’re right, seeing my handsome self would make any girl's heart explode." He gloated, smiling he took a sip of his beer. "And I'm glad you like it."

"Oh, so that's why you've had problems getting girls," Elicia played along, scarfing down a few fries. "Glad I keep in shape then, gives me a plenty strong heart to resist your curse."

"I think even if you had some chub I would have still fallen for you. Got one of those personalities. Your physique is just the bonus that comes with the package."

"True, but I quite like being well-built," Elicia replied with a shrug. "Makes me good at my job, and allows me to carry your heavy ass should need arise."

"I... think I am a bit too heavy for a normal human to pick me up." He noted with caution. "I might be made lightweight, but it all adds up. Last I checked I weighed 240."

"Kilos or pounds?" Elicia asked, arching an eyebrow as she took a long draught of her beer. "I mean, I can deadlift 130 kilos and bench 225 kilos raw. I think I'm a little bit beyond 'normal' even before you get into the mods and psychic powers."

"240 pounds, which converts into about 109 kilograms." Ezra merely shrugged as he finished his burger. "And my weight never changes since... you know, no fat."

"Both a perk and a curse I suppose," Elicia replied, taking a last couple bites of her own meal and washing it down with the last of her first beer. "After all, if you can't build fat, you can't build muscle either. Least you don't have to count calories, either."

"A lot simpler being me." The android chuckled and began on a second beer, laying down in the grass and looking up at the stars.

"And in return, you make it a helluva lot more complicated for the rest of us," Elicia joked, cracking open her own second beer as the heady buzz of the first one slowly came into full force. "Y'know, I been meaning to ask: can you get drunk, or am I the only one who's going to embarrass myself here?"

Ezra shook his head. "I could simulate it, but unless I do, only you. What? Worried I might do something bad?" The android smirked mischievously.

"No, ah, worried I might," Elicia said, her face flushing upon remembering the second-hand stories of her drunken exploits. "Had a little bit of a rep in college for, er, letting my hair down, so to speak, once I had a few in me."

"Oh really? When we first met I would have never pegged you the one to run around." He seemed amused by this realization.

"Hey, it was college, alright?" Elicia replied, taking a sip of her beer. "I was trying to adapt, was told second-hand of a few things I'm not exactly proud of, over all had a decent time 'fore dropping out. Then things fell into place, mellowed out a bit, and you got me as I am."

"Alright... so who is the best guy you have taken to bed?" Ezra asked rather boldly, still looking up at the sky.

Elicia nearly choked on her drink, having decided to take a sip at the wrong time. "I-I refuse to answer that question, given present company. Wouldn't want to mess with your ego, after all," she said, quickly regaining her bearings. "Though there were these two guys - twins, they were - that I had the pleasure of spending a night with. Enjoyed them... vigorously..." she added, a slightly wistful tone in her voice.

"Twins huh?" Ezra put his hands behind his head. "Can't top that. I am an android but no interchangeable parts here. To be honest, you were really the first girl I seriously took to bed... erm... bench. Got close a few times but it was always right before they decided to back out. Later on I learned it was a game for some of the girls in one of my old schools."

"Jeez, harsh," Elicia said, rubbing the back of her neck in an embarrassed fashion. "Bunch of right assholes, those lot are. Pro'lly didn't occur to 'em that there was a person they were hurting with that tomfoolery."

"Well not all of us can get drunk and run around campus." He interjected, the android closing his eyes. "Besides, after a while it didn't matter anymore. Women were dead to me for a while after that. They say when a person gets used to the same thing everyday, they become a drone of life. That was basically me before Japan." Jerking his foot back and forth in rhythm, Ezra fell silent after that.

"Oh? And what happened in Japan that brought you out of that haze?" Elicia asked, sliding over next to the android, her cheeks slightly flushed from the effects of the alcohol - her second beer nearly drained.

"Nothing. It was a new place with some new people. A change of pace always lightens the spirits, and I did make a few friends along the way in my usually harebrained and highly unethical pranks."

"Ah. Was expecting a story about some wacky shenanigans where you managed to score an entire harem and then decided to not go with any of them," Elicia replied, gently leaning over to rub her hand on Ezra's stomach - though her inebriation caused her to misjudge her balance slightly and she ended up flopping onto the android with an undignified 'eep!'.

He opened one eye briefly and closed it again. "What are you doing now Miss Sausagefest?"

"Balance was lost, mistakes were made," the medic answered, her voice muffled by the face full of Ezra she refused to move from.

Ezra groaned a bit as he stretched out and pat Elicia's head. "Feeling lazy?" He asked almost sleepily.

"A little bit..." Elicia said. "So, you said we had this place all to ourselves, eh?" she said, a flirtatious grin on her rather flushed face as she slowly pulled herself to come face to face with Ezra, laying on top of him with her arms on either side of his head.

Ezra let out a small drawn out sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "I don't know... I'm just not feeling it right now." The android avoided looking straight at Elicia's face.

"C'mon..." Elicia moaned, running a hand along Ezra's cheek. "What happened to that sense of a-hic-adventure? Out here where a-anyone could see us... ex-exciting, huh?"

"I'm just not..." The android shook his head. "Look, the mood is just gone for me alright?" Ezra backed away and he sat up, not looking at Elicia but instead down the hill.

 

[BMPixy]

"Was it something I said?" she slurred, dragging herself next to her boyfriend and leaning against him.

"I shouldn't have asked you about your past." He said, closing his eyes and pulling his legs close to him while resting his arms on his knees. "I knew you were somewhat older than me but I had no idea you were with so many people." His tone was slightly accusing.

"You... you think I'm a... skank, huh?" Elicia muttered. "Think I'm some used up soiled dove, lemme guess?"

Ezra looked visibly stunned, pushing himself away from Elicia and kneeled down in front of the woman. "That's not what I mean, El..." He shook his head, trying to think of the right way to express what he thought. "How are you happy with just me? I'm just an artificial guy that you could swap in for anyone else and still be just as happy and satisfied. Hell, how do I know you aren't thinking of someone better than me when I touch you?"

"Because there's nobody else like you," Elicia replied, leaning forward and clenching her hands in front of her face. "You're unique, one of a kind, and... I wouldn't t-trade you for anyone else..."

"Yeah, I'm unique because of what I am, I get it." He seemed to close off a bit.

Elicia bit her lip, trying to think of something to salvage the situation. Words finally coming to her, she reached out and put a hand on Ezra’s shoulder, explaining, “You're unique not just because of what you are, but also because of who you are. You're Ezra Exalt: serial prankster, XSDF soldier, and... the man I fell head over heels for.”

"You..." Ezra was taken aback for a while. The look he had was a mix of many emotions. The android let out a breath and he leaned forward, pressing his head against Elicia's. "You... You really mean it? None of those others guys matter? I'm really... That special to you?"

"Of course," Elicia replied, a soft smile crossing her face, "you know I'm a terrible liar. You're the first guy in a long, long while to capture my heart so easily, and you did it with such strength that it makes their attempts look like chopped liver in comparison."

"Is that a challenge?" He asked in a soft, humorous tone. "With enough spice, I am sure I could even make chopped liver taste good." He leaned for a slow but passionate kiss.

Elicia moaned into Ezra's mouth as the two embraced, tongues intricately dancing together. Slowly the Anglo-German broke off the kiss, gasping for air with her face aflush with the combination of excitement and intoxication. "And now the games begin," she purred, practically pouncing on her boyfriend.

--------

As the morning sun began to rise the next morning, a fuzzy blanket covering the two lovers, Ezra slowly awoke, looking to the woman on his left and smiling, rolling over and putting both arms around her. "Morning..." He groaned.

"Mm, g'morning," she replied drearily, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Ya mind turning down the lights...?" Elicia asked, still obviously out of it.

"You gotta Death Star in storage somewhere?" Ezra rubbed his face. "You know I wanted to ask you something..."

"Then go ahead and ask," Elicia said, snuggling close to cover her eyes and try to reduce some of the slight pounding in her head brought on by the light hangover.

"Do you like my new realistic look or my old punk rocker most-obviously-android-ever look?" He asked, looking down at his body.

"Both. Both are good," the medic murmured, a brief yawn escaping her lips. "Though I may be a bit biased there," she giggled.

Ezra thought for a few moments. "Both it is then. I like my individual styles, no reason I can't fuse the two, right?" He snuggled up to the woman and he slowly started to drift into hibernation mode. "Love you Ensslin."

"Love ya too, Ezzy," she said, her breath gently leveling out as she drifted off once more.

 

[Alzdude28]

Alzdude28 and Black0ut
Returning the favour

XSDF Battleship Einherjar
Medical Ward
1631 hours
April 14th 2044


Wolfe lifted his eyes, the book he was currently reading managing to bore him. The plot was fairly predictable, the characters either boring or annoying, and the main villain a typical stereotype. I'm never going to take a doctor's advice on books I should read. From now on I take my own advice on books like a classic: Maze Runner. That brings back old memories of books and movies... Some shouldn't have been made. and whoever wrote this deserves to be found be ten chryssalids who are both angry and hungry. Wolfe thought sarcastically.

Soon the door opened and the tall figure of Al entered. He sauntered over towards Wolfe and leaned against the wall. “How’s the arm Wolfe?”

Wolfe placed the book down, simultaneously looking up at Al. "I going to get surgery to have a new arm attached. You know, the minor stuff." Wolfe said with a grin, "But onto more serious topics, how are you holding up? Having me taken down in front of you must have freaked you out."

“We managed. It was a mild inconvenience.” Al laughed, punching Wolfe gently on his uninjured shoulder. After a moment he continued, more seriously: “It was too similar to my own wounding. I was close to panic briefly.”

Wolfe sighed, "I'm sorry. If I had checked above me, I could've rolled out of the way. Don't know why I didn't..." Wolfe trailed off, lost in his thoughts for a moment before saying, "Did you guys get the bastard who hit me? I... haven't had the urge to watch the tapes."

“He’s dead. It took a while but he ended up getting blown apart by a grenade. The last few minutes of that fight were some intense shit…”

"I don't doubt it. If my injury wasn't an indicator of that, I don't know what would be." Wolfe said with a grin. Although... I still have to thank everyone. If my group hadn't been there, my arm wouldn't have been the only thing I lost.

“Have they said when you’ll get the new arm? I’m guessing yours won’t take as long as mine, considering they’ll have the basic design already.” Al said, rubbing his prosthetic unconsciously.

"Soon, actually. Apparently, a doctor ordered me a new one before I woke up from my... nap." Wolfe responded, a grin plastered across his face.

Al gave a high pitched hiss, the Dreaconian equivalent of whistling through his teeth. “Lucky you.” He flexed his artificial fingers. “Still, the wait was worthwhile for these.” He said, grinning as he admired his claws once more.

I hope that wasn't an angry hiss. Wolfe thought worriedly. Upon seeing Al grinning, Wolfe relaxed, disregarding the thought. "Agreed. Wish I still had a real arm though. Synth arms are decent, you can feel something, but they don't compare to being able to fully feel things like a apple or a cup." Wolfe said somberly, "Or someone you love."

Wolfe looked away, lost in thought. After a few moments, Thomas snapped out of his stupor. "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Too many hellish experiences making me bitter." Wolfe said, giving an apologetic smile.

Al nodded. “I understand what you’re saying, but personally I think this arm may be a… what’s the phrase… blessing in disguise.” He flexed the arm, and swiped at the air a couple of times. “I guess it’s a culture difference, but I’m happy to give up that sensitivity for other enhancements.”

Wolfe shook his head. "I was like that too. I was also a hell of a lot younger. But years after I had my robo-arm attached, I began to truly feel the effects of having a cybernetic arm. You begin to miss the ability to feel, especially when it is someone you love." Wolfe explained.

“Interesting… Who knows? Maybe I’ll think the same in the future, but I try not to think too hard about anything too far off, I guess I’m just used to adapting, rather than planning.”

The cyborg paused, unsure of how to respond. A couple of moments passed before Thomas said, "Adapting how?" Thinking about Al, the medic realized he really didn't know much about his draconic friend.

Al hesitated for a while, uncomfortable as always with the memories of his past, before deciding to continue. “Since my tribe was wiped out, I was always just focused on my own survival. I never thought ahead further than I needed to for my day to day life. Then I found a ship, and decided that I had a better chance of survival off planet. I carried on like this until I ended up here, always just looking for a better option as it presented itself.”

Wolfe, noticing his friend's discomfort, responded slowly, "I'm sorry. I-I didn't know that you had lost so many people..." Wolfe recalled his own reactions when someone asked about his past, the pain of the memories that came with that question.

"If you're uncomfortable about talking about your past, then let's talk about something else." The medic said quickly, trying to ensure that his friend didn't have to think about the past.

A slightly distant look had appeared in Al’s eyes. “Yes… it’s all in the past now. No sense in thinking too much about it… by your counting… seventy, maybe eighty years? Ancient history.”

For a moment, Thomas' eyes widened, the medic stunned by the sheer amount of time Al had just casually mentioned. Coughing slightly to try to mask his surprise, Wolfe asked, "I'm sorry, Al. Although... How old are you, both human and Draconian-wise?"

“Styx years, I’m approaching 60.” He thought for a moment. “That’s… a little over 90 earth years… I can’t remember the exact equivalent… In terms of my life, I’m at about the stage a human would be at around… their mid twenties… I think.”

Damn... So, I'll be dead long before Al even hits his 50's. That's slightly depressing news. The medic thought glumly, Well, regardless I wish him the best. Losing friends to old age is pretty heartbreaking. At least, when I get to be 80, I'll be a MEC and be 80% machine. That way, I can still help people for a bit longer.

"Damn... how do I even respond to that? What should I call you? Young-old Drake?" Thomas joked.

Al laughed loudly at this. “You humans… if you made the effort I’m sure you could be just as healthy as me when you’re my age.”

Thomas laughed, a grin plastered on his face. After a moment, Thomas sarcastically said,"Oh definitely! I'll just ask for a life extension. I'm sure it'll go well!"

“That’s the spirit Wolfe!” Al chuckled. “Speaking of spirits, I’m guessing you could use a drink.”

"Definitely. Damn nurses confiscated a bottle Je-erm, a friend brought me." Thomas said, a sad expression his face. The cyborg, then, sighed dramatically.

“Lucky for you, Dr. Ts'kalik-sha is here to prescribe you with a little something.” Al fished a small flask out of a pocket, took a long draught, then tossed it to Wolfe. “To old age.” He said, with a smirk.

"You're a lifesaver, Al!" Wolfe said, grabbing the flask. Raising the flask, the medic said, rolling his eyes,"To old age." before taking a swig. With a smile, Thomas handed the flask back to Al. "Remind me to get injured more often" Thomas joked.

Al sat down. “If that’s the case we’d best get you back in the field as soon as possible.”

For the next few hours, the two soldiers talked and joked, until eventually, one of the medical staff informed Al that visiting time was over, and he stood again, and left his friend to himself once again.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

DarkGemini24601 and BMPixy: “Katesch’s New Deal, Part 1”

High Orbit over Forseti (April 13th, 2044)
The Einherjar (11:20 Hours, A.S.T.)
Floor 2: Commander’s Quarters

Frederick tapped his fingers against his desk, staring down the door with a resigned form of frustration. He was going to have to contact the Humiliata Coalition sooner rather than later now, with the fate of the three alloy SHIVs and various other mechanical units. I didn’t even know we had three of them, and now we have none… The Commander started to get up from his chair, but a beep from outside the room made him sit down. “Come in,” He said, both irked by the fact that his temporal determination was for nothing and relieved to be saved by the bell.

With a slight hiss, the door slid open, revealing the form of a Seikron - though most of his upper body was obscured by the rather large gift basket he carried. “Ah, Venerable Commander Frederick Mason-mkuu!” Tak-sharu said, maneuvering his way into the office. “I am honored that you take the time out of your day to speak with one as lowly as I. How has your day been?”

“Alright,” Frederick responded, doing his best to keep both eyebrows from rising at the sizeable container. “What can I do for you, kan Katesch?” The Commander continued, resisting the urge to ask what in the world was in the gift basket.

“A better question would be what can I do for you, Mason-mkuu,” Tak-sharu replied, putting on the friendliest tone he possibly could whilst looking for a place to set down his burden.

Seeing his plight, Frederick gestured a hand over to a couch on the left side of the room. As he waited for Tak-sharu to set down the monolith, he considered what his response would be carefully. While there was the potential of asking for assistance from the Seikrons in addition to the other factions he was considering, Mason hesitated to ask too much of a faction that the XSDF was already giving a small share of Forseti’s Elerium yield. Neutrally, he asserted, “You don’t need to worry about appeasing me, you know. I try not to be as imposing as my predecessor when speaking with diplomats.”

“Of course, of course,” Tak-sharu replied, letting out an unsteady breath now that the package was out of his hands. “I merely learned that it is tradition among humans to give gifts to those who have recently attained higher rank. Had to spend some time on Ailey to find this, but it was well worth the expenditure.”

Finally having the chance to ask without sounding rude, Frederick asked, “What… is it, exactly?”

“Merely a collection of some of the local flavor of Forseti, with some replicas of some ancient Seikronyr art,” Tak-sharu explained. “Admittedly, the latter is what takes up most of the space. Reliefs made out of false bone are not exactly on the small side.”

Frederick rubbed his chin, a small smile creeping across his face. “That sounds like an interesting gift, and I don’t mean that in the neutral or bad connotation. I appreciate your generosity, especially considering there probably isn’t much ancient art of your peoples’ lying around.”

“Indeed,” Tak-sharu replied. “Luckily there are occasional expeditions to the remains of Kadxa to try and retrieve some of our lost culture. In fact, I myself have a small piece gathered from one such expedition. Had to expend many favors to obtain it.”

“I will treat the gift as valuable, then,” Fred affirmed. “I imagine there’s also something you’d like to discuss?” he prompted.

“A few things, in actuality,” the diplomat said, settling into an attentive, relaxed stance. “To begin, I have heard that you have currently lost several infantry combat drones on the field. While my government is unwilling to provide military assistance in this war, I’m fairly certain that they would be amenable to having production outsourced to them, provided a reasonable deal could be made.”

Frederick smiled awkwardly, massaging his shoulder. “About that… I was planning on talking to another XSDF ally about replacing mechanical losses. One that has an army primarily made up of mechanized troops at this point.”

“Ah, the Humiliatia, of course,” Tak-sharu said, nodding in understanding. “Understandable that one would wish to go to them, but you would likely miss out on the merits of coming to a government such as ours. After all, Seikronyr field doctrine is all about force multipliers, and what greater multiplier than a mechanized frame loaded with weaponry?” Tak-sharu gave a grin, giving his best sales pitch that he could.

The Commander sighed. “The issue is that most of the designs we need replaced aren’t something that is available to the triple S at the moment. We lost the majority of our advanced SHIVs, but those are models the Humiliata happened to copy from us during the war twenty-five years ago, so they have replacements on hand. And I was planning to ask about some more material assistance from them, rather than just purchases.”

“I suppose it would be difficult to talk you into getting an upgrade then, would it?” The Seikron asked, his grin faltering for the briefest of moments. “A dozen infantry combat drones, loaded with some of the best tech our kind can share at a discount price, how about it?”

“What are these infantry combat drones like?” Fred inquired, his tone remaining noncommittal. “Are they similar to the modified Infantry Airframe drones that Exalt Enterprises produce, our humanoid combat drones, or some other unit entirely?”

“The best way to describe them is to imagine… what would the equivalent beast be… a spider, I believe? Those are the ones with eight legs, correct? Imagine one of those, capable of omni-directional all-terrain movement, mounting up to three weapons with room for additional subsystems,” Tak-sharu described. “That would be the model we would most likely be willing to sell you, the Gueza Rusa, or Invert Frame in your tongue.”

Frederick allowed one of his eyebrows to incline. “How big are these things?”

“Roughly…” Tak-sharu tried to do the appropriate measurement conversions in his head, but merely settled on saying, “It is roughly the size of your desk when fully deployed. Prior to that, it is about three-fourths that size.”

“And their combat role? What is their purpose?” Frederick folded his hands together. “I happen to have a powerful close-quarters unit one of my engineers designed that will soon be in production. That, in addition to our tanks, all-terrain vehicles, Drones, Seekers, SHIVs, Cyberdiscs, and Sectopod doesn’t leave a lot of room for any mechanical types that wouldn’t feel excessive.”

“Fire support, flanking, flushing, and with the right subsystems, area denial,” Tak-sharu explained. “Consider it an up-armed, down-armored Cyberdisc, trading in the flight capabilities for being able to maneuver on any surface that can support its weight.”

 

[BMPixy]

DarkGemini24601 and BMPixy: “Katesch’s New Deal, Part 2”

Fred rubbed his chin in thought. “I could think of a place to put them to good use… their profile sounds like it's almost as big as the Cyberdisc, which only fits on the Skyranger in most situations… though that depends on what your price is.” Frederick held up a hand. “And before you say more Elerium, we absolutely cannot afford to cut into our supply any more at this juncture. I will honor the deal Streczyk made, but we need everything we can get in order to produce new weaponry and armor for our troops. That takes priority.”

“Of course, of course,” Tak-sharu said, his smile briefly taking on a shark-like look before returning to his normal expression. “We’ve recently struck a rather lucrative set of asteroids, so we’ll be able to push ahead our habitation ship construction even faster despite the smaller than expected deal. Regardless, my offer is this: in exchange for a dozen of these units, you give me three simple things. The first: the labs on the Einherjar co-ordinate with Nitetis-dhul’s labs in the Seikronyr consulate in regards to any research material gained during this war. Second: Any discoveries that come about as a result of this co-ordination are shared with both of our governments. Any that your people make themselves are yours to keep. Finally, you owe me a favor.”

Frederick paled. “Tak-sharu-mkuu,” he said respectfully, emulating the Seikron’s honorific, “I’m not so sure that I can offer technological advancements we could make for a new robotic unit. What Nitetis’s ‘contributions’ might fall under is a vague shroud indeed, and even if that were to be better-defined… it’s a promise I can’t make in good conscience. We made a deal with the Humiliata to share technology at the end of the Ethereal Subjugation War, but that was a one-time deal that will likely not be refreshed. It was to get both sides on technological parity. If Nitetis were to work on, say, reverse-engineering the particle weaponry we’re currently studying, and the SSS was privy to the same notes… it wouldn’t go over well with the rest of our allies.”

“Then what do you suggest the price for these units be, Mason-mkuu?” Tak-sharu asked. “And for the record, there is no need to refer to me with the honorific. You are the one in power here.”

“An equivalent exchange,” Frederick was quick to reply. “For instance, the Cyberdisc model isn’t a private design anymore, but by anyone aside from the XSDF, the Humiliata, and a few other factions it is just a robotic unit. In exchange for giving us the Invert Frames to reproduce ourselves, we could show you how to get the Silicids that make the Cyberdiscs so much more clever to work for you.”

“Unfortunately, that payment is rather meaningless to us,” Tak-sharu said. “If you went over the notes of my deal with Streczyk-nyin, you’d notice that we obtained a few AI related technologies. That is because we were seeking to improve the dumb AIs that pilot the majority of our drones. They are incapable of self-improvement, of course, but they are more than, what is the expression, ‘up to snuff’? Regardless, shifting from AI to Silicid-based drones would be far too costly and time-consuming, especially given the size of our military forces.”

“Then another robotic unit. I doubt you have any sort of combat droids like the ones we do, considering they’re based off the human form,” Frederick pressed.

“Very well, then I shall make you an offer,” the Hibaya replied. “The schematics for your previous generation MESHA unit, the particle cannon you use for your cybersuits, and that favor I mentioned, in exchange for a dozen Invert Frames plus their schematics.”

“The first two are undoubtedly acceptable,” Frederick agreed. “I have no problem giving you a variant of the MESHAs, nor the first generation particle cannon.” Especially if Dr. Anderson’s hunch about our particle cannon being inferior to what the enemy can field is correct. “What is this ‘favor’ of yours, though?”

“Merely an insurance that, when I ask for this back,” the Seikron said, retrieving a small metal disk from his belt pocket and presenting it to the Commander, “you will be more inclined to say ‘yes’ to any deal I might be presenting to you. Standard Seikronyr currency, especially in these kinds of transactions.”

“I’ll certainly keep my options open,” Frederick granted, taking the coin gingerly. “I think the SSS and the XSDF could be good allies, just as long as we don’t make any sudden leaps and build up trust gradually.”

“Indeed, we would not wish to spook the Humiliatia with sudden alliances between those they have wronged,” the Seikron jested. “I assume that this means we have a deal?”

It is difficult having these two as allies at the same time, isn’t it? Frederick asked himself rhetorically. “A deal it is, my friend.”

“Good, I shall have one of my aides create a legalized version of it for your perusal,” Tak-sharu said. “Also, Nitetis-dhul sent me a request to ask that you speak with the head of your science department, inquire as to the reasoning behind him being required to monitor the production of contraceptives rather than perform, quotation, ‘actual science’, end quotation.”

Frederick sighed. “I’ll… have Ms. Exalt have a word with him.” That’s not even a major task, that would only involve… The Commander shook his head. I’ll just let Vindicta deal with that…

“Thank you, Venerable Commander Frederick Mason-mkuu,” Tak-sharu said, lowering his head graciously. “That is all I have come to discuss with you. Is there anything you have to discuss with myself?”

Frederick shook his head again. “Not at this moment. Thank you for your time.”

“And thank you for your generous deal,” Tak-sharu replied, slowly backing out of the room. Things fall into place. Now, I just require greater status, the diplomat thought, his eyes giving a small glint of glee as the door sealed shut in front of him.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Recurrent Compulsions, Part 1”

In Orbit Around Forseti (April 16th, 2044)
The Einherjar (1400 Hours)
Near Soldier Shooting Range #2

The blonde turned red-headed turned black-haired Tamearin slowly made her way through the corridors, avoiding eye contact with those around her. As usual, this period of time left her feeling vulnerable, even when in relative safety, and it was during it that she had some of her worst enemies. Still, there was a degree of freedom to it now. Besides the two most obvious things, her fiery red hair made her stand out, and while she enjoyed that, during these times, she wanted to be left alone, and most who couldn’t see her face didn’t immediately recognize her.

Still, this time of anonymity came with a price, and her desire for faithfulness, a certain someone’s respectable desire to take things slow, and some holo-room time she owed someone meant she had some… pent up urges, and needed an outlet. What better way to distract herself then firing some big guns at a few targets. And so, she quickened her pace, pushing past a few guards and a pair of mechanics, finally arriving at the range and going for the biggest, meanest looking gun she could get a hold of.

“I thought SAWs were my thing,” A familiar voice remarked, “though I suppose they fall under a Destroyer’s equipment as well. I just don’t think I’ve ever heard of you practicing with one.”

Korra jumped, quickly turning around and brushing the hair out of her eyes. “Y-yes… I mean no. I… I mean… you never know when you might need… to know…” Korra ran her hand down the length of the weapon slowly. “Besides… call it animalistic, but there is an… appeal to it, you know?”

Kallpa shrugged. “I know what you mean.” The Hispanic-Incan smiled, pushing up the brim of his brown leather cowboy hat slightly. “I mean, I’m using the same sort of weapon that took my arm, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s a good gun,” The gunner declared, having a similar autoblaster to the one Korra was going over to slung on a holster back on his back. Despite the threads holding the straps together being genetically modified to be as sturdy as silk, the contraption still looked strained. And it probably would leave indentations on the Peruvian’s shoulders if he wore it for too long.

“I’m glad you agree. I… I guess I have a thing for stuff like this.” Korra stepped past Kallpa, purposely brushing against his metal arm. She took her position, lining up her shots as carefully as she could. She fired, her stance and grip showing her training, but the wide shots showing inexperience. Either that, or distractions.

“Something the matter?” Kallpa asked, not needing to be highly perceptive to pick up on how nervous Korra was acting. “I don’t remember you being this… uncomfortable your last Sach-diy-deuh.”

“I-I’m fine,” Korra insisted, a little more adamantly than she likely intended. She let off another string of shots, these ones hitting home, though without the kind of grouping someone like Kallpa could achieve. As the firing ceased, and the weapon stopped shaking, Korra shook for a little longer, her face turning a bit red as she placed it to the side and smiled at Kallpa. “Let’s see… what you can do.”

“Believe me, these things are a lot harder to aim than a pistol.” The former sheriff of Mediotierra held the bottom of his gun with his left hand, while putting his right near the trigger, and his corded muscles contracted as he forced himself to hold the weapon steady before firing. The gun didn’t shake all that much, the laser weapon having very little recoil at all: likely the reason Kallpa chose it over a gauss autorifle. A spray of shots hit home, while a second grouping went wide.

Korra frowned as she wiped her brow. “What happened? I know you’re a better shot than that. I’ve stud… I’ve watched you mission recordings.”

“I think you’re misremembering for my sake,” Kallpa responded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Like I said, I’m better with quickfire weapons… which I suppose a machine gun is, but it's a bit more difficult to aim.”

“Oh… right.” Korra laughed nervously. “I guess I just… compared you to me. I’m still getting used to the bigger weapons. Didn’t get to practice with them much in basic training, though I hope I’m improving.” She fired of a few more shots, trying a little harder to steady the weapon, and succeeding to a degree. She smiled and nodded lightly.

“Is there any particular weapon you’ve settled on using as a primary?” the gunner asked, leaning against one of the pillars that divided shooting windows. “Not everyone can be Hermes… I can’t believe he intends to ‘use whatever weapon makes the most tactical sense’ from mission to mission.”

“I’d say it was overconfidence, but considering how well he can probably process information…” Korra fired again, the large weapon sending vibrations through her body. Taking a moment to seemingly catch her breath, she glanced at Kallpa. “I-I’m sorry, um… what was the question?”

Kallpa shook his head. “I’ll ask later. You… really don’t sound fine to me.”4

Korra laughed quietly. “It… it’s something personal. Something…” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”

Kallpa shook his head. “If it wouldn’t bother you to say it, then it won’t bother me,” he insisted, standing straight again and giving Korra an honest smile. “I’d ask you to clarify you trust me, but that’s a cheap way of getting answers. I’d just like to hear what you have to say, honestly.”

Korra looked around, her cheeks flushing a bit. “W-well… I guess it’s a little embarrassing for me too. At least… embarrassing while I’m like this. I… I’ve told you before how my emotions are out of sync when… when my hair is this color, right?”

The Incan nodded. “You have.”

“Well, you know how I have certain… urges when I’m not like this. Well, they… they get worse during my Sahc-diy-deuh. The reason you didn’t notice anything last time is because I had a little… help with them.”

Kallpa tilted his head, not seeming to comprehend. “That was… before…” He considered saying “the whole Cayden fiasco”, but determined it was probably better to be more vague. “...before Operation Static Crow, though.”

“Yeah, I…” Korra’s cheeks reddened a bit more, and she quickly waved her hands. “W-wait. I… I might have given… by help, I didn’t exactly mean human help. Or Tamearin help. Or… any other…” She turned away. “This is… something none of my Tamearin sisters are happy to admit, but when we don’t have anyone, we often need to turn to… artificial help…”

Kallpa lowered the brim of his hat a bit. “I think I know what you mean, though… you realize there are plenty of humans that do that too, right? Though it’s generally not something men do… less socially acceptable for us, even if it’s not very proper for a woman to do something like that either.” Realizing his mistake, he waved his hands. “Not that I’m implying anything about you! Humans don’t have something like Sach-diy-deuh to worry about, so the circumstances are different!”

Korra turned back, still blushing but with a small smile. “Thank you, Kallpa. It… it is still embarrassing, even if it is considered a need by many. There are plenty of us that just use plain old self-discipline.” She shrugged. “I guess I’m not that strong, though I’ll have to be now, at least for today and tomorrow.”

“I… I suppose,” Kallpa responded, an alternative coming to mind but the gunner not really being confident enough to entertain it. “T-Though… do whatever you need to do. Don’t push yourself beyond your limits.”

“Thanks.” The smile slowly faded from Korra’s lips. “Though I… I won’t break my promise. I’m not going to turn to some other man.” She walked over to the SAW again, tapping it idilly. “I… I don’t even know if I should use that holo-room time. I… I don’t know why, but all of a sudden… it feels wrong to me.”

“I understand,” Kallpa responded. “In your position I probably wouldn’t want to either. It may just be simulations, but it would feel like cheating if I did it. That does… make things difficult, though.”

“Y-yeah. It does.” Korra grinned at Kallpa. “Don’t worry about me, though. I’m a tough girl. I’ll… toughen it out, is the expression… right?”

“I think it’s rough it out… though don’t go to me for English lessons,” Kallpa replied humbly. “I’m much more comfortable with my native tongue.”

“Heh… same here.” The Tamearin continued to smile at Kallpa for a few moments, then quickly walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Thanks for being understanding. You might be surprised how many men get jealous. Or envious. Or get big, pervy grins on their face.”

Kallpa shook his head. “They should know the third choice will result in a cybernetic punch. Preferably to the torso or head.”

Korra giggled, and placed her forehead against his, even if she had to stand on her toes to do so. “Just so you know, I… had another option in mind. But I’m respecting your decision. I just wanted you to know that the idea crossed my mind.”

Kallpa glanced up at the ceiling. “W-What would that be?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, you know. You… me…” Korra leaned against him. “You could say I’m a bit sick. And I heard it was fun to… play doctor.”

Kallpa shook his head quickly. “Don’t even put that image in my head… I think if you were wearing some sort of nurse outfit my soul would evaporate out of my mouth.” The Mediotierran fell silent for a few seconds, trying to make a tough consideration quickly. “We… do know each other pretty well now, though, and… the Commander did lift the ban…”

Korra blinked a few times. “He… he did? When? Why wasn’t I…” She snared a bit. That’s why O’Brien has been more open! How dare she not tell me!?

 

[DarkGemini24601]

ZombieSplitter53 and DarkGemini24601: “Recurrent Compulsions, Part 2”

“A few days ago,” Kallpa explained with a chuckle. “Didn’t you hear? Apparently something went on between him and another officer, and he had no choice but to be fair or become a hypocrite.”

“I’m always the last to know…” The Tamearin’s smile quickly returned. “Wait… I’m missing the point, aren’t I? Does… does that mean you really…” She stepped back a foot, placing her hand on Kallpa’s chest. “Please, don’t… don’t do this just because of my condition.”

“I mean… I might have not agreed to this so soon if this wasn’t an issue, but… I’m not going to object now that we’re going steady,” Kallpa expounded, running a hand through Korra’s hair. “It’s fine.”

“I… o-okay, I… heh…” Korra giggled a bit more. She suddenly gave him a very serious face. “We’ll have to be careful, though. Right now is the easiest time for me to… you know…”

Kallpa raised an eyebrow. “That won’t be a problem, actually… all I’d need to do is visit the medical ward before we do anything. They have tablets that would eliminate the risk from me temporarily.”

“Really?” Korra rubbed her chin. “I’d think such things… but then, my people are so fickle about such… my, we sure have missed out on so many things thanks to our taboos. I’m glad I wised up a bit.” Korra slowly, seductively ran her hand across Kallpa’s cybernetic arm. “I do wonder what he’d say if he knew I was seeing someone with this. Or what he’d say about seeing any human, for that matter.”

“Does it matter?” Kallpa replied quietly. More lightly, he added, “And you do realize I don’t have strong nervous sensors in the cyber arm. I can only slightly feel that.”

“I know. I just… like it, you know?” Korra glanced between his arm and his eyes. “It… says so much about you. Represents so much. Your strength. Your bravery. Your willingness to put yourself in danger for others. It… it says something about me too. How I’m willing to… to finally change myself. And how I’m at least trying to put the past behind me now.”

“I’m glad that you aren’t letting your family control you as much,” Kallpa agreed. “Though I would like to hear more about your homeworld sometime. It sounds like a nice place, some traditions aside.”

“Oh, it is.” Korra leaned close again, placing her ear against Kallpa’s chest. “The gorgeous horizon. The magical winters. The blend of old architecture to remember the past with modern conveniences to look to the future. I… I don’t just want to tell you about it. I hope, some day, I’ll get to show it to you.”

“Well, when this war is over, I’ll certainly go down there to visit. Just make sure to buy me a jacket,” Kallpa insisted with a smile. “So… where exactly do we want to go? Both of our rooms have other people that would likely be around even after my trip to the ninth floor.”

“I don’t know. Not like they make rooms for this kind of thing.” Korra tapped her foot rapidly in thought. “Any ideas where we could get some privacy around here? Somewhere… comfortable?”

“Well… I think the private holo-rooms have an additional purpose now… and we could make those into whatever we want,” Kallpa suggested, trying futilely to calm a quickening heartbeat.

Korra nodded. “Do… do you have any time in one? I’m afraid I already used up my time… by which, I mean I used it up a week ago borrowing someone else’s time.”

“The last time I used one was when I was recreating Cusco… so I’m pretty sure I have enough time,” Kallpa stated. “We should be good.”

“Great!” Korra quickly shelved her weapon, being sure to check it back in according to procedure, lest she received the wrath of her currently favorite Commanding Officer in the galaxy, and took Kallpa’s hand. “Shall we?”

Kallpa raised an eyebrow. “I’ll meet you there. Somehow it seems less awkward to ask for the tablets alone than come with the person I’d need them to be with.”

“Good point.” Korra kissed him on the cheek. “See you in a bit, lover boy.” She stepped out, a slight skip in her step.

Kallpa smiled for awhile before turning to head towards the elevators, having a prescription to pick up before he joined Korra, which he swiftly obtained, before meeting her at one of the private holo-rooms. “What sort of scenario should we have set up for this?” He asked. “This is the first time I’ve even conceived of doing something like this in a simulation room… but drastic times…”

Korra thought for a moment, and gave him a surprisingly soft, gentle smile. “I… I have become a fan of human cinema. It has many interesting fields, from action, to drama, to horror. But there are a few… romantic movies I have come to enjoy. They often have a seen where… to lovers, sharing a peaceful, intimate moment, have a gorgeously decorated room, with lush carpets and drapes, a soft light over head, soothing music playing from somewhere, and a cushy, lavish bed with a ridiculous amount of pillows on it.”

Kallpa shrugged. “That sounds good to me… though since you seem to have the vision here, I’ll let you construct the simulation so it’s perfect for you.”

Korra nodded, and got to work. Her fingers flew across the computer’s keyboard, and she spent a bit of time on it. It was clearly a longer time for her then Kallpa, as she seemed to get ancy as she tried to get it just right. When she was finally finished, she led Kallpa into the holo-room, the simulation as she had described, a lush red carpet with matching drapes. A fancy looking bed that likely cost a fortune in real life. The sound of a love song from a 2030s pop singer playing just loud enough to be recognized. “What do you think?” Korra asked. “Too much? Too… girly?”

“I couldn’t really see it as the latter, and it seems adequate,” Kallpa decided. “It seems good to me.”

Korra nodded, kicking off her shoes and flinging herself on the bed. “I’m glad you approve.” She laid comfortably for a bit before cautiously asking. “Do you… have you ever…”

Kallpa glanced away, seeming a bit embarrassed. “I haven’t. Never got that close to someone before.”

“Another first,” Korra whispered to herself, smiling lightly. Louder, she said, “Well… nothing to be embarrassed about, even if I’ve heard some humans think otherwise.” She patted the bed next to her. “I promise… I’ll take care of everything.”

“If you say so… I just hope I can make this enjoyable,” Kallpa said with an uncharacteristic nervousness as he climbed into bed.

Korra pushed the larger man onto his back, easy with him not resisting. She helped him pull off his shirt, and lightly kissed him, on the neck, then on the chest. Her hand ran across the slight scarring where his arm was attached. “My brave soldier,” she whispered. “How you could never find someone is beyond me. I guess that’s just my gain.”


“Well, to be fair, I did find someone now,” Kallpa returned with a smile, reaching up to return the favor by helping Korra out of her shirt.

A little bouncy, in more places than one, Korra took Kallpa’s hands and placed them against her own chest. “They aren’t… silly, are they. Someone once told me that, and it confused me.”

Kallpa smiled softly. “Not at all. A lesser man might say something like that, but you were born with this body for a reason. It makes you look beautiful, believe me. Whether it’s in loose clothing, or armor, or like this…” he asserted, tightening his grip gently while leaning up to plant a kiss on either side of the smooth, red-tinted skin on her chest.

“Hehe… you’re sweet.” Korra unfastened her bra, tossing it to the side, and pressed against Kallpa. “When I’m finished with you, you’re going to be cursing yourself for waiting.” She placed her lips directly over his. “Of course… you wanting to wait is probably the sweetest sign of respect anyone has ever given me.”

Kallpa wrapped his arms around Korra’s back, kissing her before replying, “I’m glad you feel that way… I think a couple of my relationships ended up so poorly because I tried to wait.”

Korra’s hands slipped low, following the sound of unbuckling by saying, “Like I said… that just my gain.”

Kallpa hooked his fingers onto the hem of Korra’s pants with a tug, responding, “Well, I have a couple of hours on my holo-room time. So let’s make it count.”

 

[BMPixy]

DarkGemini24601 and BMPixy: “Invisible Walls”

High Orbit over Forseti (April 13th, 2044)
The Einherjar (1:25 Hours, A.S.T.)
Floor 7: Office of Vindicta Exalt

Vindicta poured over her research notes, trying to get a grasp of the progress the armor and equipment teams were making. The Damage Boosters that the latter had been working on were now functional, and attachable to weaponry. Vindicta hadn’t assigned them a new technological project at this very moment, however, instead having a more intrinsic task for them: rework the way operatives were assigned gear without increasing physical burdens on them. It wasn’t a terribly exciting task, but it was a vital one. In the meantime, the Armor R&D team had finished work on studying and replicated the condensed E-115 power cells found in the advanced pirate armor. Rather than create new armors using them, however, Vindicta had assigned the team to begin work on the first level of personal shielding possible.

We apply that to our existing armors and that’ll increase protection across the board. For now the new power cells aren’t doing much, Vindicta thought with brief frustration, but shook her head. It’ll come in time. I just hope, with the two preliminary compressed systems nearing completion in the Weapons R&D division, that we’ll have some advanced weapons coming into play. For now, though, we’re just doing the less-than-glorious work while engineering builds us more armor and plasma weapons.

As if to interrupt her thoughts, four sharp raps echoed from the door to the Exalt’s office, a muffled voice echoing through in what seemed to be a request for access. Outside, the Seikron responsible - Nitetis sen Senna - patiently awaited a response, a tablet tucked under his outer arm.

Vindicta hit a key to unlock the door. “Come in,” the Exalt spoke, sighing as she had been priorly warned about who her guest might be.

Carefully Nitetis opened the door, lowering his head graciously as he was allowed entry. “Science Lead Vindicta Exalt-mkuu,” the Seikron said, carefully stepping into place before her. “Safe to assume you have been briefed on the reason for my arrival?”

“I have. Tell me, have you been working on the task that so irks you for any longer than a few hours at most? Because that’s all it really should have taken, and I don’t quite see that as an issue.”

“It is more than merely that,” Nitetis explained, “it merely was a catalyzing agent. I realize I am a free agent among those who hold the XSDF’s trust, but I… I am not to be used for trivial tasks such as making contraceptives or running chemical analyses on soil samples from where enemy weapons have stuck. I came here to join others in a quest for knowledge, to see the limits of human science, and I am treated as a lowly lab technician. Explain yourself.”

“The reason you haven’t been assigned to any bigger task is politics,” Vindicta responded without a hitch. “The Commander doesn’t want the SSS to be privy to any research notes that the XSDF isn’t planning to immediately share with any of its other allies. That said,” the yellow psion contested, “I might be able to work some things out. If we can find a position that allows you to help with the new technologies without risking sensitive data being copied or memorized, then we can get you off of the pointless crap. It’s just a matter of what would fall under those parameters.” Vindicta leaned forward. “Obviously, I can’t do much about Weapons R&D. Anderson would have my head if I was sharing her research without a good reason.”

“Then what would fall under those parameters?” Nitetis asked, arching a brow. “I have many specialties, so no field is too obscure. If you looked at the citations on the psi-boosting technology, you would know that I can even perform in that field, were that to prevent me from pursuing meaningful research.”

Vindicta slowly gained a smile. “Then how about we give you a duality of tasks? Since I can’t focus on psionics like I would like, you would be a boon to that team, but you could also assist in another field that I’m sure garners your attention…” Vindicta’s grin only widened. “Our cybernetics and robotics science team is fairly small. We could use your assistance there as well, and I understand you’re interested in AI technology anyway. While I doubt we’ll do much in the way of building sentient AIs here… you can certainly work with the existing ones onboard. Maybe figure out how the hell one of them has psionics before I do, though I plan to be the one to make that discovery.”

Nitetis’s cybernetic eye slowly zoomed in and out, examining Vindicta’s expression as the Seikron thought. “An interesting offer. And here I thought you Dhulka, not Hibaya,” he said. “Understand, efficiency may be impaired while assisting the latter team. After all, politics. Do not wish to leak our own technology.”

Vindicta shrugged. “Fair enough. Though I will see about opening up the latter two teams to you more. I hardly see an issue with sharing what we know about artificial intelligence, seeing as the processes involved with making robots that advanced aren’t something you could memorized without plugging yourself into a computer like a living flashdrive.”

“Were your former Commander so understanding,” Nitetis replied. “The AI technology she provided in that deal was next to useless. I surely hope that that is not the sum total of your knowledge, lest a Vati Chemzo team technician know more than the XSDF.”

Vindicta rolled her eyes. “Certainly not. Though while I can certainly work with you on matters relevant to the war, I have no plans to show you how to make an A.I. to the level of Avanix. I think mother would have a heart attack if I tried to access those old project files, anyway.”

Nitetis raised an eyebrow, before tilting his head to dismiss the confusion. “Of course, Osahar-ba said that you humans look out for your young for an absurd amount of time, understandable you would still hold bonds after leaving the reefs,” he explained, mostly to himself. “Regardless, the Sovereign Seikronyr State does not hold much interest in sapient AIs. We prefer our artificial intelligences dumb, incapable of self-improvement. You would not have to worry about leaking such technologies.”

So Seikronyr don’t really care much for their families, then. “Understood. It sounds like you prefer your A.I.s like how our combat droids function. Tell me, though,” Vindicta inquired, “if you can, of course: have you ever created a unit of combat machines that have a collective intelligence?”

“All of our current generation combat drones possess cloud networking capabilities, allowing them something similar to that - though it functions more as a way to strategize, share data, and other such tasks between individuals and nearby Seikronyr units than what you describe,” the Dhulka answered. “Reason for inquiry?”

“During the Ethereal Subjugation War, the Exalt family came up with a machine that functions as I described, called Legion. However, the combat droids you see now, while based off the models we used, don’t have the same intelligence.” Vindicta twirled a pen absently. “The Council is too worried that they’d gain sentience, even though we ensured that Legion’s evolution was entirely contained in safe parameters. Throughout the course of his wartime service he changed little, and certainly didn’t get any ideas about overthrowing his masters.”

Nitetis twitched his whiskers, trying to sense if what he believed about her implications were true. “Could see how such a system could be useful,” he said neutrally. “But why mention it now? Unless…” the Seikron trailed off, to let Vindicta fill in the blanks with her own assumptions.

“I’m hoping that the war’s difficulties will prove the need to take some risks such as that one. If we could create another Legion for the Einherjar, and improve the onboard A.I., perhaps even connected the two…” Vindicta smirked. “The possibilities are endless, and they’d give us an edge in the fighting.”

“Make, out of many, one,” Nitetis summarized. “And from that one, have them be many. The only problem I can foresee is if we ever need too much from whatever we create. After all, even the greatest of minds have limits.”

“Then that’s where we come in,” Vindicta replied. “Or I ask Avanix for help.” She shook her head. “Regardless, those are just concepts at the moment. I’ll need to clear them with command first. For now… I hope you’ll get more enjoyment out of your new positions.”

“Indeed. The quest for knowledge never ends,” Nitetis replied. “And as long as I pursue it, I shall find bliss. May you have a pleasant Sonada.” With that, the Seikron slowly backed away, graciously nodding his head for a brief moment as he made his way through the door.

 

[Adrammalech]

| LOCK-IN
| Willow “Tess” Ryan & Tabitha Le’talla / Mark Exalt (MarineAvenger)
| Einherjar – Soldier Housing Wings
| Forseti
| April 12th, 2044 – 8:30 PM

Tess grabbed a few of her belongings underneath her bed, including the phone she had lent from Tao to fulfill her gambit against the sexual conduct rules. Tabitha was on the other side, brushing through the long locks of her hair before tying up the ends. As Tess went towards the door, she gave the Tamearin a glance.

“Heading to the bar? I can wait for you,” she offered.

“No, I’m going out with Mark,” Tabitha replied.

“Really? First time since the…”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “I’m nervous. I got him in trouble, even if it all worked out…but, on the other hand, we can do whatever we want now.”

“What do you want to do that has you so nervous?” Tess smirked.

Tabitha turned around and blushed, trying to think of a way to say it diplomatically.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Tess chuckled. “Have fun…and use protection, because I don’t want another roommate.”

“W-what?!”

Tess disappeared through the door, leaving a blushing Tabitha furiously trying to calm herself down and continue making herself appealing for her boyfriend. A few moments more carried a knock on the door, forcing Tabitha to calm herself. She walked out the door and closed it behind her.

“Evening,” she said with a smile.

Mark stood of to the side, dressed up as usual and this time not lacking the lab coat he favored so often, the scientist looking over with a ghost of a smile. “Hey.”

“So, whatcha wanna do?”

The Exalt seemed to ponder the question briefly before lazily shrugging his shoulders. “Dinner?”

“Sounds good,” she nodded, grabbing his hand and lacing her fingers between his. “Lead the way.”

He looked down at her hand for a few brief seconds before going to lead her to the mess hall. His walk seemed slower, and he was slouching a bit, not something Mark usually does.

“Since we have a minute, I wanted to say I’m sorry.” She looked up at him with a guilty expression in her ice-blue eyes. “I didn’t think we’d get in trouble, and I didn’t mean to be so pushy to begin with…”

“It’s over with Tabitha.” Mark stated rather harshly. “There is no reason to bring it up, and I will not let the same mistake happen again.”

“Well, the rule’s gone, so it can’t.” She looked aside. “Unless…you’re breaking up with me…”

“I am not.” He told her rather quickly. “I have just come to realize there is more important stuff to do, even with the ban lifted.”

“I guess,” Tabitha sighed. “I just want you to know that I can wait as short or long as you want. I won’t be so… selfish, again.”

“Not really selfish to desire something that is biologically programmed into almost every sexually reproducing species.” Mark’s voice had some sort of edge to it, though the reason why was almost discernable.

“It’s not like I’m an animal though. I can control myself, and I chose not to.”

“Well to be honest I should have really tried harder after denying you the first time. You just seem to have some sort of lure.” The scientist shook his head. “That is not an insult.” He clarified.

Tabitha smiled. “I know, thanks.” With those words, the two finally made it to the mess all, mostly everyone who had gone to eat dinner having done so several hours before, so neither the line nor the tables being that occupied.

Tonight’s dinner was chicken, a baked potato, and corn. Grabbing their food, Mark found them a table with no one in listening distance. “Have you been working hard?” Mark said, eager to change the subject from before.

“I put in a little training, but mostly I’m just hide…keeping to myself. I’m worried about people knowing…and I have a new book to read, so there’s no point in ‘going out.’ Other than with you, of course.”

“Is it a book I would like?” Mark asked, putting his cheek in his hand as he poked his potato with his fork.

“Maybe not, it’s, umm…romance,” Tabitha replied.

“My world or yours?” He looked to a group of girls who entered the mess. “Didn’t really suspect you for needing pointers.”

“Both, kind of. It’s about a Tamearin princess who leaves home to become a fighter pilot in a mercenary company to escape a diplomatic marriage with a Balmadaar, but then she gets shot down over Earth and loses her legs, but a Human scientist finds a way to regenerate them, and they slowly fall in love.” She blushed a little, scooping some of her potato into her mouth. “There’s also a side-plot with this Ardenian and the protagonist’s mum…umm…it’s kind of shoddily-written, and not looked on very fondly, at least at home. It has some interesting plot points though…”

He raised an eyebrow and was silent for a long bit before taking a bit of chicken and eating it. “Didn’t realize you were feeling that lonely…”

“W-what do you mean?” she asked, flashing him with doe eyes. “There are some good twists, and it’s not like there’s a lot of pleasure reading I can get here…”

“Uh… huh. And how often you read this book?”

“Just a few nights a week…when I don’t have anything to do and Tess is at the bar,” she replied, eating a piece of chicken.

“I must admit, my time for myself has been dwindling slightly, with helping out where I can, several soldiers needing new parts after the last mission and some new projects slowly working up the pipeline, I’ve been putting in a lot of work time. Not that I really mind really, work really is the most important thing to me.”

“You’re saying ‘really’ a lot,” Tabitha said, looking worried.

“I’m tired, shut up.” Mark rubbed his eyes, taking a sip of the drink he had off to the side. “Not all dialogue can go off like a crazy romance novel.”

“It’s actually kind of accurate for that one,” she looked aside.

“That make us a cliched couple?” The scientist asked, letting out a low mumbling sigh.

“I think going to spaceship jail kind of nullified a chance of us being boring,” Tabitha replied.

Seeming to poke his food a little bit longer, the scientist dabbed his mouth with a napkin and pushed his tray away. “I think I am going to turn in for the night… I am not really in much of a mood to do anything else.”

“You don’t want to do anything else?” she frowned. “It’s not even 10 yet.”

“I know.” Getting up from his seat, Mark rolled a shoulder and turned around to leave. “I will see you later.”

“Okay, well, let me know if you want to do this again…or something,” Tabitha said sadly, not sure if she should stand or not.

Mark didn’t say anything in response, quickly leaving the mess.

Tabitha looked down at her food for a few minutes, just feeling awkward trying to eat alone. She stood up and went back to her room, unsure of what she did wrong or what she could do. She pulled the covers up to her chin and grabbed the book under her bed, flipping to her bookmark. As she got wrapped up in it again, the door opened and Tess walked back in. The assault looked at the cover of the book and took a half step back.

“Are you…busy?” Tess asked. “It’s hard to tell from here.”

“What are you talking about?” Tabitha asked, giving an annoyed look.

“I can’t see your hands…”

Tabitha quickly threw the blanket off and crossed her arms. “I’m not ‘busy!’ I’m just sad!”

“Oh, sorry,” Tess replied. “What happened with your date night?”

“He said he was tired and left.”

“He just…left? That’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it! I don’t want to talk about it.” Tabitha dropped the open book on her face, leaving it there even though she couldn’t read the text.

“Alright…we won’t talk about it then,” Tess said warily, going to her own bed. “Sounds like a dick move though.”

Tabitha just made a loud grumble, dropping her hands to the side. Just as Tess got a few minutes to relax into her own bed, a knock came out from behind the door. She looked over at the still Tabitha, and gave a little sigh.

“I got it,” Tess said.

When Tess opened the door, Mark was standing there with his arms crossed and a rather bored look on his face. “Is Tabitha back here?” He asked in a low tone of voice.

Tess walked out and closed the door, crossing her arms. “Yeah, she’s super depressed. What do you want?”

“I want to talk to her obviously,” He replied in a rather neutral tone, though there was some frustration lacing it. “Maybe it would help what she is feeling right now.”

“Well…she’s super depressed,” Tess repeated, looking skeptical. “She’s just hiding under the sheets and not talking. I don’t know how you stood her up or whatever, but she’s pretty bummed about it.”

Mark’s rather soft face seemed to harden. “Is feeling fatigue suddenly a crime? I was tired and merely left as to not further bring down the quality of the date. I realized it might have hurt her feelings so I came here to be with her.” He replied analytically.

“Well, I wouldn’t be a friend if I didn’t make sure you knew and understood something,” she replied, “she doesn’t care about the ‘quality’ of the date. She just wants to be with you. She wants you.”

“I know perfectly well what she wants.” He interjected. “But unfortunately, it is not as easily said rather than done.”

“Why not?”

“Because despite what people may think, it is not something just easily given up. Besides, I am just simply not ready after we had both got reprimanded for it, which killed the feelings in itself, but also because I am busy. I cannot allow myself to fall behind on any work and she understands that. You act as if she will die if I give her none of that attention. I’ve learned from the past and will not repeat them.”

 

[Adrammalech]

| LOCK-IN: PART TWO

“I-” Tess stopped, and smiled a bit. “The rule was handled, so your work’s not going to be a problem. It’s okay if you’re uncertain or nervous. Are you a virgin?”

Mark said nothing, keeping some semblance of dignity as he nodded his head.

“That’s perfect, she is too. So even if you’re terrible, she won’t have a clue. It’s literally risk-free,” Tess grinned. “You do know the basics, right?”

“Yes, of course I do, I am a biologist after all as one half of my job.” Mark thought for a few moments. “Wait, how do you know that about her? What, you watch her as she takes care of herself at night or something?”

“Who do you take me for? I leave so she can do that. It’s just obvious,” Tess scoffed. “She couldn’t date at home and she tells me she only stayed inside at Luna, and now all of a sudden she’s with a guy and the only thing she’ll do is stay in her room with that Fifty Shades of Purple book.” Tess grabbed Mark’s shoulder uncomfortably hard and opened the door, pushing him through. “Now show that girl some passion, because I’m guessing you don’t want to ask her for a key.” Just as Mark got through the door, Tess quickly shut it and locked it with her own key.

He slammed a fist against the door. “Damn it…” Letting out a sigh, the scientist turned around and looked at Tabitha’s bed.

Realizing it probably was no longer Tess at the door, Tabitha experimentally lifted the book off her face. She seemed to get a little more perky on seeing Mark, but didn’t say anything to start with.

Not saying anything in kind, Mark merely approached the bed and sat on the edge of it, rubbing his face with one hand. “You doing okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tabitha sighed. “I thought you were going to sleep?”

“Well I couldn’t, and I felt bad about just up and abandoning you. Since it seems your roommate has locked us in here, it seems I will be sleeping here the night.”

“She did what?” Tabitha asked. She reached over and opened her drawer, her key sitting inside. “She can be crazy…you can go if you want to go back to sleep. Really, I’m fine…I know work is important…”

“I see no reason why I can not just simply sleep in here tonight. I already walked the way.” Taking off his shoes, he scooted up closer onto the bed. “Unless you would rather not share a bed?”

Tabitha quickly scooted over to give him more space, her smile widening. “No, I’d love to have you here.”

Laying down on the pillow next to her, he eyed the book. “Reach anything good?”

“The Ardenian was about to take the queen to her chambers…but he’s an asshole, so I don’t care about skipping it,” Tabitha said, batting the book off the bed.

“Rather fast reaction…” He noted, turning in the bed so he faced Tabitha. “I am sorry about running out. Was kind of a low move.”

“It’s okay, you’re here now.” Tabitha kissed him modestly. “I’m just happy to be with you.”

“Yeah… I am too, to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if I overwork myself just to prove something.” He admitted, putting an arm around Tabitha to pull her up against him in a caring embrace.

“Or maybe you just have good work ethic,” she said. “Even if you are proving something, you’re doing something a lot of people can’t, and a lot of people need. So you can brag every now and again, in my opinion anyway.”

“I don’t brag. It makes you look overinflated and will only make people dislike you. That is why I stick to truth with my coworkers.” Mark pulled the covers over them.

“I didn’t mean in a mean way…just a pride-in-your-work kind of way, I guess. Maybe I’m not making any sense,” she chuckled nervously.

“A little bit. I guess it is easier for a soldier to do rather than a scientist.” Mark put one hand on her upper leg.

“I-I’m sure we’re similar in the doing department,” Tabitha replied innocently, returning the gesture with her own hand.

“Maybe, but then again I’ve never been in active duty, just as you have never been in a proper lab before.” His hand moved forward up her body slowly.

Tabitha couldn’t formulate a response, only smile and look at him. She leaned back a bit, giving him a more obvious access to her body.

Mark couldn't help but gawk at the Tamearin, feeling a bit hot in the face. Even though they had the blanket covering them, the fabric still couldn't hide Tabitha's figure. The scientist moved his hand onto the woman's cheek, brushing it with his thumb. “You're beautiful...”

“You’re quite attractive yourself,” Tabitha chuckled.

“Something funny?” He teased.

“No, just happy. Really, really happy.”

“Really?” He asked, getting closer to the woman.

“Yeah,” she said, putting her hands on his hips. “I’m tingling all over, it’s weird, but good.”

“Well... Since you seem so eager, you can wait just a little longer.” He kissed her briefly and smiled at the game.

“What if I decided not to be so patient anymore?” Tabitha shot back, leaning forwards and kissing up his neck.

Mark held up his hand, dangling the key he had swiped. “I could leave anytime, remember?” The smirk on his face grew. “So... Sit, and play nice.”

Just as fast, the tip of her tail shot out from underneath the blankets and slapped his hand, sending the key tumbling behind the headboard. “Oops,” she shrugged.

Almost just as fast, Mark reached out and took hold of her tail firmly. “That wasn't very nice.”

As soon as Mark grabbed her tail, Tabitha shuddered visibly, a pleasured grin on her face. “We can get you a new one…if you play your cards right.”

“Oh really?” He looked at her furry appendage in his hand. “You like it when I pull on this, don't you? Never took the timid side of you as a masochist.”

“It’s not painful, it’s sensitive,” she whined. “You could just…run your hand down it…”

Mark raised an eyebrow. “I didn't know that. I assume most Tamearin would be adverse to a scientist trying to mess with their tail.” He slowly brought his hand down her tail, almost painfully slow till he reached the bottom that connected to her waist.

Throughout the long motion, Tabitha merely trembled, breathing heavily and erratically. “Y-you’re a special s-scientist…”

“Really? But I am not the only biologist on this ship... Perhaps another should give you an exam.” His hand travel back up it, almost as if he was petting it on an animal.

Tabitha let out a helpless moan, losing all of her composure. “No, you, just you, I need you…”

Mark let go of her tail and easily pulled down her pajama bottoms. “I guess you have earned it...” The scientist leaned forward and kissed her lightly.

She reached down and did the same for his pants, still panting from having her tail touched. She locked eyes with him, barely able to think straight. “I love you, Mark.”

He smiled as he took the biggest step in their relationship so far, leaning into her ear as he whispered, “And I love you as well...”

----- just use your imagination -----​

Tabitha woke up early in the morning, finding Mark’s arms around her, both of them snuggled tightly beneath her bunk’s blankets. She smiled blissfully and leaned into the cuddle, hoping to stay put as long as possible.

It wasn't long until the scientist slowly awoke, his hand moving up and down her bare back. “Hey...” He said in barely a whisper.

“Morning,” she said, turning around slowly. “That was…something.”

“You let yourself seem a lot more timid then how you act, you know that? I'm still sore...” He complained slightly, though it was mostly in jest.

“Oh, you’re exaggerating,” she blushed, “but I’m glad you liked it. I took some ideas from the book…it was important research too, I suppose.”

“Can lonely late nights even be considered ‘research?’” He asked, pulling the covers back over his shoulders.

“Well, if Princess Rosette and Dr. Stronghips never rebuilt the Eiffel Tower, I would’ve been clueless last night,” she said, poking his ribs. “So yes, it was very fruitful research…”

“That book should be burned based on the names alone...” Rubbing his face, he rewrapped his arm around her, exploring her a bit. “But... I guess for now on, if you ever feel lonely again, come tell me. May not always culminate into last night... But just some nights of just holding one another would not be adverse. I think work can... Be put on hold for the sake of someone special.”

“And I’ll always have time for you too, if you ever need anything. Whether it’s a cuddle or someone to vent to…we’re a team now.”

“You are so innocent it hurts.” Mark stated, smiling as he kissed her neck. “You should stay like that. It suits you to a T.”

“I’ll try not to change…but I kind of do, everyday,” she chuckled, scrunching up her nose as he kissed her.

When he pulled away from her he rested his head against hers. “Mmmm... We should have done this... A long time ago.”

“Well, I don’t want to say I told you so…” Tabitha smirked. “Do you have anywhere to be, or can we spend all morning like this?”

“We could spend all day like this... Working hard gives you a lot of excess time off.”

“I think we could do breakfast…but until then, this is good.”

“I do have one question though...” Mark stretched out and looked at the door. “Where the hell did your roommate spend the night?”

Tabitha opened her mouth to respond, and then a subtle click came from the door, opening wide to show a Tess left in her sleeping clothes and her hair thoroughly tossed about from the night. She smiled wide when she looked at Tabitha and Mark in the bed, and raised up her hands like a victorious gesture.

“Fuck yeah!”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “A Brighter Tomorrow, Part 1”

High Orbit over Forseti (April 15th, 2044)
The Einherjar (1742 Hours, A.S.T.)
Floor 6: Mess Hall

Connor smiled as he watched his daughter meticulously color in the new book he had gotten her, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth as she was coloring in a flower with a pink crayon. Ever since the Latvian man had gotten Tracey back into his life, he found his days brighter and the man smiled more often. The extra worry of constantly wondering whether or not he had been the person people made him out to be had put an extra weight on his shoulders, something that was now gone.

A young Russian man wearing a black ushanka stopped nearby, looking over the flower drawing. “Not bad,” He encouraged, before looking up at Connor. “Mr. Karo, right? And this is your daughter?”

Connor looked at the man for a few moments, nodding his head. “Yes, her name is Tracey.”

The little girl glanced up from her picture and smiled widely, waving her hand with a friendly greeting and went back to her coloring. The Russian smiled back, and introduced himself. “I’m Mikhail Dragomirov. I was hoping to meet you, Mr. Karo. I heard about you from a few friends, and when I learned that your name had been cleared and your daughter was returned to you I wanted to see how you were doing, and figured I ought to get to know you a bit better in the process.”

What friends? Connor shook his head and looked Mikhail in the eyes. “Alright… I guess that is acceptable. Would you like to sit down?”

Mikail scratched his head. “Actually, I was wondering if you two wanted to have dinner with a few members of the Greyhounds. They’re your squad, and since I noticed they were here I figured we could all share a meal.”

“The Greyhounds? That where you heard about what happened?” Connor asked curiously, taking a sip of his beverage.

“Sort of,” Mikhail responded. “I didn’t learn of you from one of the four that are over there,” He clarified, pointing discreetly over to four women sitting in the middle of a long table, “But rather from Korra Devolina and Brigid O’Brien.”

Connor raised a surprised eyebrow and he merely shook his head. “It figures it would be those to…” The Latvian man looked over to the table reluctantly.

“You… don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I figured you might enjoy hanging out with your team.” Mikhail tapped one arm with the hand of another. “Besides, Charbonneau has a son, I learned… he’s about Tracey’s age. Might not have many other chances to make her some friends on the ship that aren’t much older than she is.”

When Connor looked back to his daughter her head was up and looking over at the table. She turned her head back to her father and she had a pleading face as if she wanted to. Unable to resist, Connor let out a defeated sigh. “I… I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

Doing his best to make his triumphant smile not be damningly obvious, Mikhal led the two over. Seeing who was with Mikhail when he requested to sit down with the four, Kriemhiel allowed it, the brown-haired German having a fairly simple meal accented by a beer she was currently drinking, hence her silent acknowledgement.

The other four there included a short haired, red haired Russian woman that seemed to catch Mikhail’s attention. “Zoya Lagunouv, ispravit?”

Zoya nodded. “Da. I vy Dragomirov,” The sniper replied, seeming to recognize Mikhail but not being a woman of many words.

“And I’m Karolina Magi!” The sniper’s companion introduced herself, being slightly more busty than her ‘sister’ and having a more warm smile. Of course, her figure was rather small compared to the voluptuous form of Avril Charbonneau, the black-haired French Destroyer that sat on the side where Mikhail and the two Karos were. And, next to her, was a nine-year-old boy with the same striking emerald eyes as his mother, and a similar messy hairstyle: Fraser.

Tracey made her way over to the boy, sitting down next to him and putting her book on the table with her box of crayons. “Hi.”

Fraser pushed some hair off his eyes. “Uh… hi,” He said back. “Nice flower.”

“Thanks… I did it by myself.” Tracey pulled back her still brunette hair, the dye the people had taken her had put in not having come out yet.

“I totally thought maybe your dad did it,” Fraser joked.

Avril chuckled, glancing over at Connor. “No, he seems more like the tough-guy fighting type. He did help out with the end of Constricting Gears, so I heard. Didn’t get to see it myself, though…” She complained.

“That’s because you got yourself shot,” Fraser mumbled.

“It… was a bad situation…”

Kriemhiel raised an eyebrow. “More like you ran straight into trouble.”

Avril growled a little. “Hey, they made me a Destroyer. I think my performance was satisfactory!”

“Vy znayete , chto oni govoryat . Duraki pervym,” Zoya muttered.

Mikhail rubbed the back of his neck, smiling and hoping neither of the Lativans knew Russian. The fools die first? Harsh.

Connor shook his head, rubbing his wrists. “I am just a normal infantry. I got nothing special going on for me, just serving my time.”

“And I’m just some talentless lowlife,” Avril said with a mixture of mirth and dryness. “Doesn’t mean we can’t have our moments of badass.”

The Latvian shrugged his shoulders and looked at his daughter. “You won’t see anything too heroic for me. I can’t exactly be running out there without a care.”

“And neither can you,” Fraser asserted.

“I know, I know…” Avril ruffled her son’s hair, not that it did much to the already-frazzled style. “I won’t be that reckless again… without a good reason.”

“Such as…?”

“Protecting an ally?” Karolina offered optimistically.

“That would be an appropriate reason to take risks, though not needless ones,” Kriemhiel specified. “But yes, that would be acceptable. I don’t intend on losing any of you, though.”

“Our unshakeable leader,” Zoya deadpanned. “Truly we have nothing to fear with her reassuring words on our side.”

“She did prove herself capable out there,” Karolina admonished. “Lighten up a little, Zoya.”

Zoya frowned in irritation, and Mikhail tried his hand a bit more gently. “Just relax. We’re all friends here.” She hasn’t had much experience with those, has she? Mikhail suspected. Reminds me of someone I know…

“I see nothing wrong with her leadership. I didn’t see any of you volunteer or have the skill to do so.” The infantry noted.

“It pays to be cynical,” Zoya explained. “Well… no, it doesn’t, but it keeps you alive.”

“It won’t exactly make you happy, though,” Mikhail offered. “Feel free to be cautious on the battlefield, but you should enjoy yourself more off it.”

Zoya sighed, resting her head in her arms. “Eh, I’m not good at relaxing…”

“You could try to learn how to be.”

“Why does it sound like you aren’t going to give me a choice?”

Mikhail grinned. “Because I’m not?”

“Sirotskiy ublyudok,” Zoya said in defeat.

“You don’t know that,” Mikhail responded. I happen to have two mothers, I’ll have you know, he thought to himself, but didn’t actually say. Hardly a motherless bastard.

Connor looked away from the group, putting his chin in his hand and just seeming to drone out. Connor never really liked Russians; too many thought he was one.

“So…” Avril began, scooting over by Connor. “What do you do for fun, grand garçon?”

Connor scooted away just slightly. “I mostly just practice in the ring or the range… I don’t really… do anything.”

“Welcome to my world,” The Frenchwoman replied. “I’m pretty average at sports in general… though I like to think I’ve gotten good with a shotgun. And I like myself a strong-looking man…”

Connor just grimaced slightly. “If you’re trying to seduce me it won’t work.” He told her in a whispered tone.

“Lighten up, I’m just messing with you,” Avril responded, leaning back and placing her hands behind her head. “I’m not that loose.” Anymore…

Connor shook his head. “Wasn’t calling you loose, I am just not a romantic person anymore.”

Avril - not knowing his story - considered asking why, but decided to leave him alone about it. “I understand. Looking back, most of the guys I dated were assholes… I wonder to myself why I dated them in the first place.” I mean, besides the sex.

“To be honest. I never really was much of a ladies man. No one really wanted to be with a guy like me… no one worth the trouble anyways.” He said, looking at his daughter as she colored and talked to the other boy.

Avril chuckled. “If you’re saying I’m not worth the trouble than I can’t fault you for that. I’m a esprit libre… a free spirit.”

“Not referring to you, just some women I knew in my past. They weren’t exactly clean, nor looking for something remotely resembling serious.” Connor explained. “I won’t go to speak about the merit of someone I have barely talked to.”

 

[MarineAvenger]

MarineAvenger and DarkGemini24601: “A Brighter Tomorrow, Part 2”

The French destroyer rested her cheek on her hand. “I know what you mean… I doubt most of the people I’ve dated were really interested in me for anything long-term.” Avril straightened, shaking her head. “I’d like to think I’m better than that now, though. I have something worth protecting, as I’m sure you can tell.” More quietly, she added, “It wouldn’t do to be messing around and setting a bad example for Fraser. I’m pretty sure he knows I’m joking when I flirt.”

Connor raised an eyebrow, looking at his own daughter. “Kids aren’t blind, but I doubt he takes anything serious away from it, but it is all we can do to try and do things right for them.” The Latvian man rubbed the back of his neck. “Admittedly, some of my own family struggled with that, but I can’t exactly blame them.”

“Struggled with what?” Avril asked. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re part of the Greyhounds now. You can’t do the ‘mysterious loner’ thing anymore, especially now that whatever problems you had in the past seem to be wrapped up now.” Her smile noted that she was trying to lightheartedly open him up rather than just chastise the Lativan.

The man tried to keep his look neutral but he couldn’t help but let a smile slip as he rubbed the side of his nose with his thumb and took in a sharp breath, “Well… where to begin? I grew up in a foreign country, just living a relatively normal life when the war broke out when I was six. Mother was… unfortunately killed after a spat with some rather unsavory people and after the war ended we had nothing left in Riga, so my father backed us up with my grandmother and we shipped off to America.”

Looking up at the ceiling as if trying to recollect about his past, he continued with the story. “We ended up in Detroit, father got a near minimum wage job in a car factory assembly line, so he was working almost constantly, unable to watch his son grow up and chastise him for all the bad shit he did. Meanwhile, my bitter grandmother was no better, and basically pushed me out of her life, and I was grateful for it. Just so happened to get a lucky break and after that life turned around for a while.”

The man shook his head with a chuckle. “I find it ironic my father made us leave home for a new and better life but we ended up in a shithole, him not being able to raise me because he was working so hard to provide. Isn’t like I hated him but… you know, I was young… I didn’t understand completely at the time. No matter what though he tried to be there, so… gotta give the old man credit where credit is due.”

Avril’s smile fell. “Wow, I really am a pretty shallow person, aren’t I?” The Frenchwoman laid her chin on her arms, the appendages splayed on the table glumly. “Money-wise, our families couldn’t be more different. My parents were rich. Not by family inheritance, mind you. They worked hard to get into the fledgling starship industry, and got all that money by coming up with the designs for some craft that France still uses today. And I was just some shitty kid that got into fights and disappointed her parents constantly. I’m pretty sure they were happy to see me go after I dropped out of high school.”

“I don’t think you are a shallow person.” He told her honestly. “You listened to my story, shared yours, and from what I can tell, that little boy loves his mother. It seems to me you are actually quite the opposite.”

“I didn’t use to be, though. I burned pretty much any bridges I could have had in the past. The XSDF is pretty much my last chance to get my life together and be able to provide a better future for Fraser,” Avril countered, a brief expression of sadness crossing her features. “I’m not good at much else, but hopefully by the end of the war my salary will have paid enough to give him some options when he’s older. I doubt I’ll leave even if this conflict is resolved in a reasonable amount of time, though. It’s free education for him.”

Connor couldn’t help but feel pity for the woman, knowing all too well how her situation felt. “I am sort of in the same boat you could say. Not sure what the hell to do with my life. Even with the murder charges cleared my name still holds stigma, so I am not too sure a fighting career may be possible. I know I won’t end up in some dead end job pressing bumpers though… I’ll figure out a way somehow.” The man let out a rather regretful sigh. “Unfortunately, a lot of the wealth I had was either taken, spent or sitting somewhere in limbo that is the banking system. I will be starting over… fresh. I can make myself into the man I wanna be… it is what Louise would have wanted for me.”

Avril tilted her head slightly. “I really should just ask for an abridged version of your story… I didn’t pay attention to some of the controversy that was hovering around you. It seemed like a load of bullshit, and apparently it was.”

“Long story short, I was blamed for the murder of my wife -Tracey’s mother- and afterwards wasn’t given the time of day. I also blamed myself, and my life went downhill. Joined the XSDF, met some people, they called in favors and the real perps were found. That is basically the story in a nutshell. All that pain and grief for a title and a couple million… you think the world would be better than that.” Karo stated with a depressed tone.

Avril sighed. “If the world was a great, happy place, we wouldn’t be fighting some evil pirate conglomerate whose leader apparently wages war for kicks.”

“Yeah, I guess. At least everything isn’t so bad though…” Connor glanced at Avril for a few moments before slowly looking to the kids.

“They’re innocent now… but you never know, Connor,” Avril said with a neutral expression. “Tracey could grow up to be the Queen of Bank Robbers, and turn the Busters into a massive organization that terrorizes entire planets.”

“And Fraser could become the next King of Pirates, calling together a galactic force that no one would have the power to stop. All relative I guess…” He responded with an equal expression.

Avril nodded. “True, true. Maybe we should just put an end to their evil now before it has a chance to grow.”

“I think I know a couple secluded corners they could spend contemplating the life choices they might make in the future.”

Avril smiled slightly, and then burst out laughing. “Damn you, how do you keep calm for that long!”

Connor let the corner of his lip curve upward. “A lot of practice and willpower. Besides, I think I took one too many hits to the face, usually I just keep the same stiff face all day.” He rubbed the sides of his slightly fuzzy face and then shrugged.

“By that logic if I get shot any more I won’t be able to laugh.” Avril rolled her eyes. “I might break my laughbox for all you know.”

“What a shame that would be.” Connor noted cryptically, looking away with a large grin.

“Oh, I apologize for being lively, connard,” Avril retorted.

“And I am sorry for being such a party crasher, kuce.” Connor responded in kind.

I don’t know what that is, but it’d probably slap him for whatever it means. “Yeah, you should be sorry.”

I know for a fact she was insulting me there… “And maybe you should be sorry for being so hyper.”

“Hyper? What are you, four?”

“Trying to antagonize me for no reason, what are you, three?” He shot back.

Tracey looked up from her drawing and poked Fraser’s arm. “I think our parents are a little crazy…” The little girl whispered.

Fraser rolled his eyes. “I already knew that. I’m sorry if this is your first time realizing all adults are nuts.”

Tracey shrugged her shoulders. “I hope we don’t become that nuts when we are adults.” With that she ripped out a picture for Fraser to color and gave him crayons. Seeming hesitant at first, he sighed in defeat and complied, doing his best to appease the younger girl by trying his hand at drawing, and turning out to be fairly good at it.

Connor stopped his bickering for a few moments and looked at the two kids with a warm smile. He leaned to whisper to Avril, “They seem to be getting along fairly well. Here I was thinking Tracey wouldn’t make any friends on the ship.”

Avril nodded seriously. “I’m glad you brought her onboard… weren’t many kids near Fraser’s age for him to interact with. He was getting a little too antisocial… started reminding me of Dr. Beaumont.”

“Huh… you know her too?” Connor asked.

“She helped patch me up after I got wounded on our mission, and has taken care of Fraser before, yeah,” Avril responded. “How’d you meet our antisocialite Frenchwoman?”

“Um…” Connor looked away. “Probably best you don’t know. It is not really a great way to keep people around, so just forget I said anything.”

Avril sighed. “If you say so. I won’t pry.”

“It is more for your own sake rather than mine.” He explained. “I got a lot of things I wish would rather disappear… but, we are enjoying a nice dinner together, no need to ruin it, right?”

Avril nodded, grabbing a glass of wine. “I can drink to that!”

Connor responded in kind, though his drink was non-alcoholic, and his mood more toned down. Somehow, a couple of hours seemed to fly by, everyone except Avril and Connor having gone back to their respective rooms, Tracey just lying at the other end of the table from her Dad breathing lightly as she had fallen asleep not too long ago.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Dalexpert & ZombieSplitter53
The mindset of a Van Dam

Einherjar medical room
April 13th, 2044 – 1:15 PM

Cassia sat in the medical ward, just looking to her right, and no matter how long she looked at it, she realized her arm wasn't coming back. "Gods damn sniper. I can't believe I gave my arm to a program... for people I don't even like. I'm becoming soft. I would have never done that when I was younger." Cassia remembered her old team and the amount of time she put herself in harm's way to save them. "At least I liked those guys. These people, I can't stand. Just being on this ship is driving me crazy."

"Strange," said a voice from the doorway. "I'd hope there's be one or two people you like here."

Cassia turned her head and saw her childhood friend, and the only person she could trust. "Heh. Hey Brigid. Oh, don't worry. I'll always love you above every thing else"

"Mhmm." The obviously unamused Irishwoman stepped in.

She was closely followed by a very distressed looking Sectoid carrying a medical case. "Please, Ms. O'Brien. Can you not do this later?"

Brigid waved her hand dismissively. "You don't know what I'm here for."

"I have an idea," Tee countered. "And Ms. Can Dam is in no condition for it."

Cassia grinned. "It's fine, doc. I gave Brigid shit when she was in here. Plus, I'm use to her anger and her yelling. So Brigid, lay it one me."

"It's your blood pressure," the Sectoid mumbled, opening the kit and pulling out a few blood sample tubes.

Brigid sat next to her injured friend, an unnerving smile on her face. "You know... you might not like them, but a lot of people like you now. I've heard a few words about Van Dam, that crazy woman who have her arm to give her team a chance. Cool, huh?"

"Heh, as great as that sounds, you know I don't change over night. I gave my arm because I saw no other choice in that situation. I mean, I had no smoke grenades, every thing that sniper shot melted, so even though they see it as a noble sacrifice, you know better then most. I probably would have done that no matter what."

"Yeah... I know better..." Brigid's eye twitched as her smile widened into sinister levels. "After all... what makes more sense... then making yourself a target to find someone." She laughed. "Making yourself a target twice, if I recall!" She continued to laugh, the Sectoid taking several cautious steps back from Cassia.

Oh boy, she's nearly there. Ear drums get ready. "Brigid, you like me because I hate when you hold back, and I constantly tell you not to hold back your anger. It's not good for you. So let me have it, Brigid. I know you're holding it back, so come on." Cassia prepared her ears.

Brigid stopped laughing like someone had hit a button. "What... were you THINKING?!" Brigid slammed her fists on the side of the bed, making the Sectoid nearly jump out of his skin. "I have to listen about all this crap about recklessness, and then you pull this! I swear, maybe I should keep a count of all the friends who haven't lost a body part, because THAT would be a shorter list! How could you do this to yourself? To your family? To me? What if that round punched through you heart?!"

"It wouldn't have. Besides, your incident was way easier then mine. I had to face a small army with three crashed ships and see weapons even I've never seen before. As for my family, they would have been proud. If you knew half the things I did in the years we've been separated, you would know they would be proud. And as for worried, you had me worried sick during your mission."

"Well, I almost had a heart attack during yours!" Brigid dropped to her knees, her strength seeming to give out. "You didn'tknow that you wouldn't be killed. You could have found another way!" Tears started to stream down her cheeks. "Look what they've done to you! How could... this happen. All these years as a mercenary, and some... no good pirates..." She placed her head against the bed, sobbing softly.

Cassia looked down at her friend, and held her hand. "I know you worried about me, and yes, in all my years as a mercenary, I can say that I never faced an enemy like this." She stopped to think. "Look, Brigid. I need to tell you somethings."

Brigid looked up, a bit worried. "What... what is it?"

Cassia sighed. "A long time ago, probably when I first started as a mercenary, I was on this planet. I had no idea what I was doing and it was a lot to take in. I found this person that became my handler. Over time I found a ship and a crew that became my team. We fought every thing together. One was a Balmadaar, and the other was a Tamearin. Those two were practically my family."

"You've never mentioned them before." A grunt from the Sectoid trying to do his job made Brigid stand up, walking to Cassia's other side and sitting down so he could draw blood. "What... what happened to them?"

Cassia lowers her head. "There was a job. Well, not a job, but a mission, way out in alien controlled space, far beyond the XSDF reach. There was a city that fell to Chryssalids. Me and a bunch of other mercenaries took the job because the money was too much to pass up. 300 mercenaries went to the city and after two weeks, I was the only one that left. My crew gave their lives to save me and so I can finish the job. They were beaten, battered, and broken, and they knew they weren't going to live. So they gave their lives for me, and after that, I vowed to never care about anyone ever again. To close my emotions, and to never let anyone die on my watch again."She kept her head down, tears starting to go down her cheeks.

Brigid sighed. She reached over, wrapping her arms around Cassia's head and pulling her close. "I'm so sorry, Cassia. It... it must have been so terrible for you. I can't even imagine..."

Cassia held Brigid. "I kept this hidden for years. I saw so many get torn apart right in front of me. So many died. Never before in my life was I scared on a mission. I was actually scared for once in my life, but what hit home for me was that I couldn't save them. I'm the leader of my people and those two expected me to get them out, but for them to give their lives to save me? It impressed me, but it also sadden me. I loved those two and if I can't lead two people, how am I supposed to lead my people into the future."

"Listen to me." Brigid released Cassia and grasped her head, forcing her to look into Brigid's eyes. "You were obviously in an impossible situation. I'm sure you'd have done the same for either of them. You're strong. You're brave. But you also have a big heart. You'd have to, to lead your people... and to care about your fallen comrades. Imagine how they'd feel, seeing you now, recklessly risking the gift they gave you. I care about you, Cassia. You're my oldest friend. How you felt when they died? That's how I would feel if you died."

Cassia looked at Brigid. "Why did I have to fall for you of all people? Yeah, the Balmadaar would have probably torn my spine out if he saw me do what I did. And my mom probably would have had my head."

Brigid wiped a tear from Cassia's eye. "We all care about you. I think more people do then you realize. You know... Korra was upset to hear what happened. It surprised me, actually."

"Really? Korra, the girl who's head I slammed into the bar table? Huh, never would have thought Korra would be upset about me getting hurt. I know Noire is probably upset about me getting hurt. I never would have imagined anyone would care about me other then you."

"Well, you probably remind Noire of her mother, and Korra has an odd attraction to strong people." Brigid looked at her seriously. "Come on now, Cassia. You know me. Am I the kind of person who would have stuck by your side this long if I didn't know there was a good person deep down."

"Fair point. I never would have thought other people, other than you, would have cared for me. Hmm... maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing, joining this war." Cassia smiled at Brigid "Thanks, Brigid. However, I do want to ask you something, and it's kinda been bothering me for a while."

"Um... okay." Brigid watched as Tee packed up his kit and stepped out. "Go ahead."

"You mind telling me about this love triangle you were in with Korra and this guy named Cayden? Because I ignored it for a month because I thought I would let you handle your business, and I didn't want to go on rumors."

Brigid blinked several times, a bit caught off guard. "Well... um, we... we weren't exactly hiding it... though we haven't been advertising either. You know how nosy people can be. I'm sure you know Desmond Walker from the original XCOM project, right?"

"Yes, the legendary Desmond Walker of EXALT. I've heard plenty about him for Eva and your mom. What about him?"

"Well, Cayden is his son. And I've known him for a long time now. We... we had a little hiccup when a combination of a misunderstanding and a dangerous degree of hesitation resulted in him and Korra... um... bumping uglies. It wasn't easy, but he and I are... together. And I think we're pretty solid. I really love him... and I'm confident he loves me back."

 

[Dahlexpert]

Part 2

Well Cass, it was going to happen eventually. You knew she would love someone, though that does not help my feelings. Oh well, nothing that a bottle can't fix.

"I'm happy for you, B. That's good to hear. I hoped that you would find someone that makes you happy. However, if he does anything to you, I get to hurt him, but I'm sure whatever pain I do won't compare what you'll do."

Brigid squeezed Cassia's hand. "We'll hurt together. Don't you worry." Her smile faded as she gazed at Cassia's side. "So... what are going to do now? Go home? Or are you going to stick around, and get outfitted with a nice replacement."

"Heh, you think this is going to stop me? Come on, Brigid, you know me better then that. This is nothing but a small injury, a small price to pay to keep fighting. But now that they took my arm? Oh, I'm not going anywhere. They will pay for taking my trigger arm!"

"Well, we'll make you better than ever." Brigid patted her on the shoulder. "Then, the first one of those dirty lot that are in charge we find, you ram your new arm so far up their ass, everyone will think they're looking at a really constipated puppet."


"Oh yeah! I can't wait to get my new arm, and the second I do, it's back to training with Noire. To test it out, of course."

"That will require you... getting better, Ms. Van Dam." A somewhat familiar voice called out from the hallway, as if the owner was afraid to step in. The tall figure with dark skin poked her head inside, adding, "And... that requires some... rest."

"Hmm? Ethereal... I'm going to call you that until I know your name. Look, I'm fine. I don't need any more rest. I've been in here for a day or two. I'm rested and ready to go."

Volupta stepped inside, clenching her lower fists while crossing her upper arms. "I... I told you already, it is Dr. Sumama. Volupta'ba-sumama. And your personal prejudices against me aside, I am still the assigned doctor for this room. You are not...'rested and ready to go', as you say. You just lost a limb. Do you think you get over that over night?"

"Yes! It's not like I'm scarred mentally by it. Oh well, I lost my arm. Can't be helped. I'm not like other humans that are shaken up after losing a limb. It's just another injury to me."

Volupta rubbed her forehead vigorously. "I can't. I just... can't. Tee!"

Her Sectoid companion stepped in with her mask, as if he had anticipated a need. She quickly took it, placing it on her head and rushing into the corner. She crouched down, facing the wall, and started mumbling to herself.

Tee watched her with concern for a moment before turning to Cassia. "What my mistress was trying to say was... regardless of how you feel mentally... and you may need more time in that department then you believe... physically, you are not fit to go or do anything." He held up a medical chart for her to see, assuming she could read any of the medical figures and words. "You lost quite a bit of blood, rushing around like you did after, and replacing it does not instantly repair the damage your body suffered from not having it for as long as you did. What's more, your arm was not exactly removed with surgical precision, and you will need to have work done on it, both to assure you do not get an infection, and to prepare you for a cybernetic replacement if you so choose to get one."

"Of course I'm getting a cybernetic arm. It's not like you can put my old arm back on me or anything like that." Cassia looked at the Humiliata. "I broke her in record time. Damn, I'm getting better at this." She laughed to herself.

Brigid punched her friend in the shoulder and looked at Tee. "Is she going to be alright?"

Tee nodded. "She is... distressed. She finds Cassia refusal to see past her unfortunate heritage, he lack of respect for her doctor, and her general arrogance to be... irritating. I was told she used to do this years ago when she didn't get her way. Strange to... see it again after so much time."

"Heh Heh. Well, I'm a tough customer. Now, I will never forgive the Ethereals for what they did for gods know how long. But I don't hate her, nor do I don't hate all Ethereals. I just hate what they did,. Now mind you, we've been at peace for twenty-five years, and I was a kid when you attacked. But I remember when the XCOM base was attacked, and rocks fell from the ceiling."

Cassia looked back to the Humiliata. "But I also remember how my mom treated the Ethereal prisoners back then. She was warm to them after a while, even though they were the enemy. I've also seen your home world. It's quit beautiful, and it shows what the Ethereals actually are. Please... excuse my prejudice, Doc. I don't hate you, I just take change very slowly."

Volupta looked back at Cassia. "You... you know... I will have to take your word on my home world. I have not seen it for hundreds of your Earth years. Do you know why?" She slowly stood up, turning to face Cassia and folding her arms. "Because I willingly and openly opposed the very things you hate them for. I hated them for it too. And do you know what it got me? Excommunication from my very race and planet, cycle after cycle of being hunted, all of my closest friends taken from me, and fifty years of exile on a frozen planet." She dropped her arms to her side. "And... and I'd do it all again... if it meant standing up for innocent races like the humans. So you'll have to have to excuse me if you calling me 'Ethereal' come off, to me, as a racial slur."

Cassia sighed. "Well I'm sorry for calling you Ethereal. Didn't know you were exiled from your own race. But understand, I don't change easily, so if I still call you Ethereal, just know I mean nothing by it, alright?"

Volupta placed her hands on her hips, and looked ready to say something more, when Brigid subtly shook her head. It might not seem like it, but for Cassia, this is her trying to be nice. Study the history of her family, and you'll see this is actually a surprisingly quick turnabout.

Volupta stared at Cassia for a few moments longer, but finally nodded. "Very well. I suppose I could call you 'human', but I shall be the bigger woman." Volupta placed her hand eloquently against her chest, posing like a spoiled sixteen year old. "I... don't suppose this means you'll actually listen to me as a doctor, will it?"

"Well, you are a doctor, and have medical training, so as much as it irritates me being stuck here... I will..." Cassia looked like she was about to vomit and swallowed hard. "I will stay here and get better, and not train."

"Good. I am sure, when you get out of here and find your recovery a breeze under my care, you might actually thank me." Volupta motioned for Tee to come with her as she walked over to the counter. "Please do not stay for too much longer, Ms. O'Brien. She needs her rest."

"Yeah, rest, right. Actually, I need my happy gas so they can fix this hole in my arm." Cassia smiled at Brigid. "Don't worry, B. I'll be fine. I made sure they didn't do anything strange to you, so I'm sure they won't do anything to me."

"Right. That reminds me..." Brigid took a deep breath. "After talking with you and... an old friend, I've decided to do the mental therapy to try and fix my psionics. Volupta said it'll take a while... days, maybe even weeks. But I think I can trust her, and even if I can't, you'll be there to save me, no matter how many arms you have."

Cassia looked at the Volupta. "I told you I could convince her. See, Brigid is sort of like me. She needs a bit of force combined with caring to get the point across. Though she could still be rowdy, even with evidence, but that's part of her charm."

"You know me best." Brigid stood up, reaching down to hug Cassia one last time. "And I think it's time for you to follow your doctor's advice and rest up."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll try to keep my urges in sneak out or lose what's left of my sanity in this hospital."

"Please do." Brigid nodded to her doctor, and took her exit.

After she was gone, Volupta slowly took off her mask. "Go inform engineering of Cassia's decision, would you?" she said to Tee, handing him the mask.

"Yes, mistress." Tee bowed his head to Cassia and left.

Now alone with Cassia, Volupta slowly stated, "Forgive me, but... why do you not tell her how you truly feel, Ms. Van Dam?"

Cassia looked at the Humiliata. "I have no idea what your talking about. Who are you mentioning?" She tried to avoid the question, knowing full well who she was talking about.

"Ms. O'Brien, of course." Volupta turned to face her. "A biokinetic doctor picks up on things, like elevated heart beats and slightly heavier breaths. Though... I suppose I could have been mistaken. Not likely, but possible."

"You were mistaken!" Cassia shouted. "And if I were you, I would never mention this to me ever again, are we clear."

"Yes, Ms. Van Dam." Volupta smiled, and bowed her head. "I shall leave you to rest. Please, do not hesitate to call me if you need anything."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that doc!" Cassia laid back in her bed and started to think to herself. My happiness doesn't matter as long as Brigid is happy. I don't care. And besides, she would never feel the same way about me as I do for her.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Mangrale & ZombieSplitter53
Synthetic Flesh & Metal Bones

In Orbit Around Forseti (April 15th, 2015)
The Einherjar (1225 Hours)
Main Hanger

Throwing herself into work, Alice desperately tried to drown out the plethora of troubling thoughts running through her head. It wasn't easy for her, able to think of so many things at once with such clarity. Avoiding Engineering for the time, she was under a fighter, checking on the underbelly. A small radio next to her head blared "Battle of Dragons", the 2036 version by The Red Mages.

Somehow, she had succeeded in distracting herself, so much so that she didn't realize she had company until the fighter above her started to move. She was wheeled out by her foot, and found two men standing over her. The shorter of the two was a familiar sight, the tech she had argued with some many times already. The much, much larger one was a relative of his, one who obviously hit the gym on a regular basis.

"What is it, Matthews?" Alice asked the larger one, sure she already knew the answer as she climbed to her feet.

With a permanent scowl and a distinctive southern US accent, Matthews nodded his head back. "Ye know... when my brother here told me about what happened the last time y'all argued, ya know what I did?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "I hope you know I could have reported..."

Matthews leaned down. "What happened... is I nearly broke his arm. Because our mama taught us to treat ladies much better than that." He jabbed his finger into Alice's shoulder. "Didn't know y'all was a robot."

Alice smiled pleasantly. "Android, actually. Gynoid if you want to be specific. You see, a robot could refer..."

Matthews suddenly grabbed her and lifted her in the air by her collar, impressive considering her deceptive weight. "I was thinking I'd be making good on 'im by breaking yer arm! Least y'all deserve, running around, playing human behind our backs!"

Moments earlier, the doors of the hangar were opened, letting in the always recognizable cyborg, Narcisse. Upon identifying the tech as Alice's less than disciplined assistant, he began thinking of ways to best neutralize the threat he and his bulkier associate presented, hiding out of site and working his way closer. Settling under another fighter just behind the brothers.

He had intended to try and subdue both of them at the same time, but when he saw Alice being picked up, the pilot prioritize the immediate threat. Narcisse rose from his crouched position in a second, taking position behind the large aggressor, tapping him firmly on the left shoulder blade.

The southern "gentleman" turned his head to his left curiously. "Now wha-" his half inquiry was met with a firm black fist to his nose, the owner of which stumbling back a few feet. All Alice saw was the man's face turn to his left and be bashed away to the side, the shock making him loosen his grip, releasing her.

Narcisse stood by Alice, though shifting his fearsome attention between the two brothers on either side, especially the smaller one, with the hopes that he'll recognize him.

He did, and took a cautious step back. The bigger of the two held his aching jaw firmly, staring daggers at the robotic pair. "The hell was that for, metal man?! You wanna start something over this machine?"

"It appears so." Narcisse said, stoically but with an aggressive undertone. "I might be willing to go pretty far for her, actually." His muscles tensed and his brows arched. "Now the question is... how far are you willing to go?..."

Matthews scoffed, and pointed an angry finger at Alice. "It hurt my brother! It has no rights!"

"He's right," Alice mumbled. "I don't want you to get hurt or in trouble over me."

Bellrose breathed deeply, trying to not let his seething emotions get the better of him, though from his tone, one could tell it was hard for him. "Hey, I hurt your brother too. Had him in a head lock and everything." The cyborg swallowed worriedly as he turned to said brother momentarily. "And I said I was sorry, didn't I, yo-you might not have heard it, what with..." words failed him so he tried to pantomime it awkwardly, right arm around his own neck. He gave up on that too and re-fixed his tired eyes on Matthew.

"But we're on the same side... so I'm going to give you a chance," the augmented airman stated firmly, a pointed finger at nothing in particular to help focus his mind. "The two of you walk away and we focus our aggression on our real enemy, or... I'll have to give you something new to hate." he reaffirmed his aggressive posture.

Matthews stared at him for a few moments longer, than waved a dismissive hand and walked away. His brother rushed after him, half whispering, "That's it! You said you'd..."

Matthews shoved hard enough to nearly knock him over. "You wanna fight a bunch a machines with your bare hands, you can go fight your own fights, or shut up!" Appearently, his brother chose the latter, simply following after.

Alice didn't look up, simply staring at nothing in particular on the ground. "You shouldn't have done that. People... peopl might turn on you now."

Narcisse's sight didn't leave the pair until they left the area, and even after they had, remained staring off into space, slowly calming down. He smiled thinly. "And just when I thought I couldn't tick any more people off." The frenchman turned looked at Alice for the first time this whole incident, with the same smile. "That's fine, Alice. It was bound to happen eventually. Are you alright?"

"As... well as can be expected." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I... I don't want to sound ungrateful. Because I am grateful. But... you did hear about me, right? Most of the staff has by now."

Narcisse was at a loss initially, unfamiliar with discussing things of this kind. He nodded plainly, but saw that her gaze was still bound to the ground, so he leaned to meet her face to face, smiling warmly. "I did. You don't have to worry about it. It doesn't bother me."

Alice slowly looked up, meeting his gaze. "Why not? I lied to you. I lied to everyone. Not to mention you thought you were gaining a human friend, only to find out that we have quite a bit in combat, but I chose to keep you in the dark."

And like I'm completely... Narcisse opened his mouth, about to say something, but decided against it, his expression still kindly but a little stern. "Um... you did what you had to do. You knew what could happen if the... wrong people found out. Besides, it's not like you kept everyone in the dark," he said cautiously.

Alice's eyes darted away, a pang of guilt apparent on her face. "It... it isn't like I don't consider you me friend. I... I would have told you eventually, I... I swear." She rubbed her eyes, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Narcisse. That probably doesn't make it sound any better."

"(Ack)" The particular implication of what he just said hit him hard and he hurriedly wave his hands to express his regret. "Wait, wait! I didn't mean it that way!" He sighed, angry with himself. "We-we've haven't known each other that well, and when we have met, it's not like I... really seemed that trustworthy."

"Kind of weird, me not trusting you when I was the one hiding something." Alice finally smiled at Narcisse. "Thank you for helping me. It was really sweet. The only thing that would have made it better is if you had got to cream the guy."

"I know. Words, they're still kind of new to me," Narcisse chuckled. "What I was trying to say was, even if you didn't trust me, as long as you trusted others. I'm glad you weren't alone in this." He put a hand over his chest and nodded once. "Really, I am," he stated calmly, partially sounding it down within himself.

"That's really sweat of you." Alice offered her hand to him. "Let's... let's be honest friends from now on. I promise I won't keep anymore secrets from you, and you promise you'll keep being as sweet as you have been."

"Oh?" Narcisse took her hand carefully, smiling with a newfound appreciation for its warmth, his cheeks a little warm as well. "Seeing as how you really helped me out when we first met, Alice, I can try."

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

With his other hand though, he rubbed his fatigued eyes, flicking away some bits from them.

Alice's smile faded a bit, and she gazed into his eyes. "Are you okay? You seem a bit... tired."

"Hmm?..." Narcisse perked up a little at her direct attention "It's... nothing... really. "It's just.. I haven't been getting the best sleep I could have, you know?" He yawned without opening his mouth, blinking to clear his eyes. "Nothing important, Alice," he smiled nervously.

Alice looked around, noting the clock. "It... it's time for my lunch break. You wanna talk for a little bit? Maybe get a bite to eat?"

Narcisse put his free hand over that respective hand's shoulder, thinking for a minute before smiling again at her. "S-sure Alice, whatever you want."

Alice let her staff manager know she was leaving, and led Narcisse to the staff lounge. "You want a cup of coffee," she asked, walking over to the appropriate machine.

"Hmm... I'm not really a "coffee person," Narcisse said. "Could it be decaf if possible, please. I've avoided the stuff for so long, that if I took it now, I'd probably get a heat attack. Not as big a deal for me but I could still do without it," he chuckled.

"Hmm." Alice poured them both a cup of decaf, bringing it over to the table in the center of the room before walking over to the refrigerator. "I have it easy in that case. I developed my taste naturally... or as naturally as I could. And I hated coffee. Tasted like dirt, which I literally tasted to have the reference. But I saw how it was normal for so many people to drink coffee, that I cheated and altered my program so I like it. Though it feels... artificial... which I prefer, so I don't forget what I really think of it." She ducked her head in the fridge, adding, "Personally, I prefer tea."

Narcisse, saw the cups at the table, choosing instead to stay a few feet by the gynoid patiently. "Interesting. I'm the same - I-I don't mean the dirt tasting and taste developing thing." He clarified hastily before continuing. "I mean for preferring tea. The taste is just more agreeable to me than coffee. Is that how it is for you?"

"Pretty much. My... mother, you could say, used you own taste as a template, so you could say I developed it from her." Alice walked back to the table with a long sub sandwich, unwrapping it and offering half to Narcisse.

Narcisse was preoccupied with the size of the sandwich, enough that he almost forgot to present Alice's respective seat to her. He quickly did so and once she was seated, carefully nudged her to the table, with a little extra force all things considered. "Wow... Looks good. Thank you Alice," he said gratefully.

"You really are a gentleman, Narcisse." Alice took a small bite of her half. "You seem almost trained, like a member of royalty. You know you don't have to make an extra effort for me, right?"

"Thanks," the cyborg smiled back, devoting a second on how exactly to go about eating his half, taking a small bite from it. "When I was younger, they tried to teach me manners. I don't remember a lot, but what I do remember... well I'm glad it didn't all go to waste."

"I didn't." Alice watched him for a moment before continuing. "I might as well tell you a little about myself. I was created by Dr. Sonya Randolf, my body made in the old base of Project XCOM. My personality is older, but in many ways I'm as old as I look, in my mid twenties. I have a number of friends on board, and... thanks mostly to my engineer partner, I have a little sister named Hestia."

Narcisse nodded with a friendly but perplexed look, working his head around matters. He took a sip from his coffee, to buy him more time for a response. "Okay... that's..." His smile widened, letting the drink's heat leave his nostrils. "...pretty amazing! And to top it all, a little sister. She's an android too?"

"Yes." Alice's smile faltered a bit. "I... didn't really think about it, but this has to be hard for her. By little, I do mean young. Both physically and mentally, she's a child. I... I really hope people don't treat her differently." She smiled brightly again. "I'll tell her to run to you if anyone picks on her. I know she'd like you."

"Really?... I-I haven't..." Narcisse looked away and gestured his hand to 'draw out' the correct phrasing. "...dealt a lot with children. But if you insist, I'll punch whoever picks on her extra hard, just for you." He put a hand over his mouth, laughing a tad louder to express that he was kidding mostly.

Alice laughed back, wiping a strand of hair of her forehead. "I... I like you Narcisse. And I get the feeling you like me too. But I also get the distinctive feeling that you're uncomfortable talking to me. It isn't the android thing, is it?"

Narcisse wished he didn't have a mouth full of coffee at the start of what Alice was saying, but forced himself to swallow after a tense second, his hands outstretched on the table. "Ah, no it's not that... not at all!" He looked shyly away. "If anything... it's partly because you're the first girl I've spent this much time with..."

"Well, I find that hard to believe, a charming man like you." Alice leaned back in her chair. "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?"

"Well..." Narcisse began, still evidently embarrassed. "You overlooked how I just called you a girl, when you are clearly a beautiful, sophisticated woman who just may be older than I am. I appreciate that, Alice." He folded his jet black fingers over his cup, looking in her eyes and smirking.

"Well, if I let every slip of the tongue get under my skin, I'd be a lot more temperamental than I care to be." She leaned forward a bit. "I'll leave that to Nick and Brigid, amongst others. Besides, you're clearly nervous, though I wish you wouldn't be."

In turn, Narcisse leaned back to gather his thoughts, at first thinking of a verbal dodge. "I'd like to think I'm in a better shape than the first time we met," the cyborg said, friendly but a little conflicted. "I was a mess... and I doubt I could ever thank you properly..." He looked despondently at his coffee. "I was never in a war before..." he joked for a last chance at humor, but the enthusiasm was all but gone.

"Yeah... I figured as much. Trust me... it isn't fun." Alice stared down at her cup solemnly. "There will be hardships. There will be strife. There... there will be death. But like you said to that brute before. We need to come together and focus our aggression on the enemy. If we can do that, we'll make it through." Alice stretched her arm across the table, placing it on Narcisse's. "There isn't much I can do from here, but I promise, any fighter you fly that was cared for by me will never fail you. I... will never fail you, or the Einherjar."

Narcisse abruptly looked up at her, flustered. "Th-thank you Alice." He took a deep breathe and smiled with a little more vigor. "At least, when all is said and done, I'll make for a better protector than an assisstant, eh?"

Alice huffed, placing her hand in her chin. "With the assistants I've had to put up with, I wouldn't be so sure about that." She emptied her cup, and shook her head. "Since we've met, I looked over some of you flight data. And I am not worried. With my engineering skills, you flight skills, and the XSDF's technology, they won't touch you out there."

Out there... Narcisse thought worriedly, but nodded happily, finishing the last of his sandwich and washing it down with his coffee, standing from his seat. "You're right, Alice. You're always right..." He thanked her for the meal and scratched the side of his head. "Um... do you think that... Mr. Cauthon... would mind visitors?"

"I do." Alice stood herself and bowed her head. "Tell him we're friends. And thanks for speaking with me. I'm sure we'll be the best of friends. Lord knows I could use a few good ones like you right now."

"Of course, Alice" Narcisse smiled widely and bowed as well, making his way to the door still watching her. "You could never be more thankful than I am. Lord also knows I may not have... ah, anyway. Alice, stick close to your friends for me and... till next time." He waved at her and exited the room. Stay safe...

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Fancy Fan Club: Part One

Einherjar Infirmary
April 15th, 1400 Hours

James laid in his hospital bed, simply hoping for his condition to get better soon so he could work on repairing his drone. Luckily, one of the nurses managed to get him a pen to draw a blueprint for the mass production of one of his new devices, but he was still going over the name. Fancypants looked down at his abdomen, still red from the punch he was hit with. After a second though, he started laughing, "Oh... What the fuck was I thinking trying to pull that off? That might go down as one of the stupidest fucking things I have ever tried to do..." He said, before smirking, "Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket..."

"Is... this in regards to your luck for being alive?" A pair of antennae and large eyes peaked into the room. "Because... I can see your point."

James looked up at the door, his eyes widened a little, "Baka? Is that you?"

"Yes... it is..." Baka stepped into the room, and nervously approached the bed. "Apologies. I hope I am not disturbing you. I am... not used to this 'visiting injured friends'... thing."

"I was beginning to think that none of my friends had gotten the memo that I was injured, but you've heard about it, so whats taking the others?" Fancypants asked.

"Oh, dear." Baka nervously rubbed his antenna. "I suppose, being cooped up in here, you would not have heard. There was some commotion in engineering. Commotion involving your... young friend, Nick."

"What now? Is someone else trying to pick on him even after what happened last time?" James rolled his eyes, "Maybe I should've told him that this trick only really works on people with at least a small amount of self preservation in their heads... Some of these people are just too stupid to see when it's no longer worth the effort to kick around a teenager..."

"You do not understand, sir." Baka pulled over the doctor's rolling stool, small enough for him to comfotably climb on. "A spy by the name of Patrick Diggle attempted to remove Alice Fischer from the ship. Nick assisted her in thwarting him, but he did not come out unscathed. He received a few bruised ribs, and his implants were hit with a direct EMP. There are... rumors about emotional damage... but only rumors."

His eyes widened slightly, there seemed to be much, much more going on than he originally thought, "Alice? I think she was at the party... But what would this Diggle want with her?"

Baka tapped his head softly. "I suppose... it is common knowledge by now. Alice is an android. Diggle... or the people who wanted her, wanted her because she's an advanced android created by Dr. Sonya Randolf during the Ethereal war. We believe he was working under the orders of the remnants of the Japanese mafia. Fortunately, Nick stopped him. But it wasn't... pretty, I believe is the expression."

"Created by Sunny Randolph?" James held his chin, "I remember her having machines during that movie, Shivs and so forth, but an AI? That long ago? AI aren't even common now... She's even more impressive than I thought..."

"Yes..." Baka stepped off the stool and stepped closer to the bed. "I must admit, my friend, I was aware of this before hand. She and Nick will need their friends, as I fear others will turn on them. I... I ask that you be amongst them. They are in need of a friend skilled with drones, for one."

"Well... Skilled with drone is a gross understatement, honestly, but I'll help..." James nodded, then looked away for a second, "So... What did you mean when you said it... Wasn't pretty? Is the kid alright?"

Baka sat back down. "This... this is not confirmed. But because of my family, I have eyes and ears all over the ship. It would appear that Nick manufactured himself a firearm, and used it to shoot Diggle in an impromptu interrogation. There is also a rumor... just a rumor, mind you, that... that he may have tried to turn the weapon on himself when it was over."

James rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, "So you're saying... He build the gun I told him to, used it to defend himself and his friend successfully, but then he turned it on himself because he felt sorry for the guy?!" My head hurts now...

"That... seems to be the case. Either that or he fired at Diggle again, but he does not seem the 'type'. Though everyone is... I believe the expression is 'hush hush' about it. Though... there is something else we can confirm. Please... remember I am but the messenger..."

"Okay then, lay it on me..." He responded.

Despite the reassurance, Baka still hesitated for a moment. "It... it is his robotic assistant. He... uh..."

"His Drone? Glitch?" Fancypants confirmed, "I can imagine he's worried sick about the kid, he's really protective of him, and he has to be furious at me for that whole gun idea now that the kid tried to off himself... I doubt he'll even let me see him after I get out of here, but I'll find a way, kid needs someone that can say something straight, and not sugar coat it for his protection."

Baka lowered his head, not wanting to look James in the eyes. "I... sir... Glitch, he... he's..."

"What's the matter?" James questioned, beginning to piece it together for himself, "Is he broken? I'm not sure if you're used to working with drones, Baka, but they can be fixed... All Nick has to do is repair the body, then more than likely just back up the AI personality and memories from his server and transfer it into the data banks inside of the repaired drone. Shouldn't take more than a week."

"I don't... know if that is possible. I don't know if Glitch had any back-up, and..." Baka slowly looked up. "He took a bullet for Nick. It ripped through him. Alice is trying, but... he might be gone."

"But why wouldn't he back up Glitch's personality and memories? That doesn't make sense to me... It's just like with a PC, you store the information in case something happens, I know Glitch wasn't exactly a combat drone, but he worked in engineering, what if a piece of metal fell on him? There's no point for him to just die there..." He sighed, "I hope this wasn't an attempt to make Glitch 'more human'... AI's are people, but they have benefits, such as transferable intelligence in case disaster strikes, to not take advantage of it and lose not only years of work, but a friend, even if you want it to be more human, is just stupid..."

"Perhaps Glitch did himself, and it has yet to be found. Or... maybe his program was too massive to back up, like Alice's and Hest..." Baka fell silent, with the exception of something in his language that sounded an awful lot like curses.

"Who's Hest? Why does no one fill me in on these things? Am I not trustworthy or something?" James responded, raising his hands.

"No! Please, sir, I do not mean to be rude. I... I just..." Baka rubbed the sides of his head, looking a bit distressed. "I am sorry. I do not know what to do. I want to be honest with James... but also with Alice. I owe James a debt... but Alice one as well. This is... all so confusing. But.. I do not want James to think I do not trust him. Bec-tek dekig. Turdeken dal eaktu!"

What about a Turducken? Huh... "Look, that Alice girl seemed nice at the party, she didn't seem to instantly hate me, and keep in mind that this is going to spread around eventually anyway, I'd rather know now when I can help, then later when I can't. Besides Nick is my friend too... And if I want to make him feel better, I think I should know about what's going on..." He explained.

After a few moments, Baka seemed to calm down a bit, and he slowly nodded. "Hestia... the little pink haired girl Nick says is his sister... is an android as well. I am not sure, but she appears to be a younger version of Alice, so I believe she was also created by Dr. Randolf. Alice did not tell me, but... I can tell when someone is an android. All my people can, based on the energies and scents they give off."

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Fancy Fan Club: Part Two

"So you just go around sniffing people?" James smiled at the thought, "'You're clean, You're clean, You're clean, Wait! We've got one!'"

"It... is not something we do intentionally," Baka countered. "It is simply a part of how we view the world. We have no more control over it than our sight while our eyes are open." His antennae twitched a bit, as if demonstrating.

"I'm kidding, buddy." James smirked, but then faded slightly, "So... How's your family been? That guy been bothering you anymore?"

Baka calmed down a bit. "He... he tried to. But I informed him of our friendship, and that of my other friends. His pact has withdrawn for now, though they have their own allies. It will not be long before they make another push. I am making preparations so Tini will not be hurt again."

"Hey, if you need me, I'll be happy to be there and help you again... We'll teach that idiot not to screw with your family anymore, he has to learn eventually after all." James said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, James. You are a good friend." Baka reached into his side pack, pulling out flash drive. "I have something for you."

"A flash drive? What's on it?" He asked.

"Well, as I said, regardless of how much hope there is in it, Alice is doing what she can to save Glitch, and I am sure Nick will do the same when... when he can. Alice asked me to ask you to offer your assistance to Nick if you can, and she asked me to give this to you to encourage you to do so. It is information of drone mechanics straight from Dr. Randolf. She hopes it will help you in your efforts to rebuild your own drone."

"Really?" He exclaimed, slowly taking the drive out of his hand, "This is exactly what I need to fine tune my new project..." Fancypants looked back up at him and nodded, "Of course I'll help out Nick,I'm happy to lend him a hand."

"Excellent." Baka gave him a worried look. "How extensive was the damage to your own drone?"

"He's... Not in... Great shape... It should take me about a week or two to piece him back to together. I haven't been able to look at the damage much yet, but if the blast caused other systems in the drone to explode, then that's when it'll take the two weeks." He responded.

"I know how much he means to you." Baka rubbed his head nervously. "I believe you said you built him from the ground up with what you could get. I do hope you will be successful. Is there anything I can do to help?"

James considered a few things, "Well, you could always try to get me the parts I need from engineering, I think they're starting to get tired of me asking, honestly."

"Of course," Baka responded with his odd Bajir smile. "And my siblings would be pleased to do the same, especially my sisters. They have been insisting on doing something to repay you for coming to our Anati's aid. This sounds perfect."

"Speaking of, I've never really held a conversation with your sisters or your Anati, I'd like to meet them sometime." Fancypants suggested.

"Oh... you would... would you..." Baka started rubbing his head again. "Are you sure you would not... prefer to meet one of my brothers? I doubt there is much my sister's could do to... to hold your interest."

"Why? Can they not hold a conversation, or do they just not speak my language?" He guessed.

"No... they have translators." Baka sighed. "They are sensitive. Timid. Nana and Teefa are quite impressionable, and quick to frighten. And you... quite direct in you mannerisms. Which I admire, of course. But..."

"Well couldn't you just vouch for me? Tell them I'm alright? I'm sure they'd trust you." James suggested.

Baka slowly nodded, and took a radio off his belt. Switching of his translator, he spoke in his own language with another Bajir for a few moments. He switched his translator back on, and said, "They are on their way."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get along." James smiled, "After all, I'm great with kids, just ask Nick... Your sister's... Are still kids right?"

"Well... Yes... and no." Baka took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Humans... often find it difficult to understand Bajir development. Humans take for granted that they'll develop, body and mind, with little more than time. Bajir mental development, and the very development of our brains, is tied to physical growth. If we mentally develop slow, our body grow slowly. If our bodies are slow to grow, so are our minds. My entire pact is what humans might call 'runts'. My Anati and I were lucky enough to have enough stimulus to grow beyond that, but the rest of my siblings are much slower on it. So... while my sisters are the same age as myself, and have an adult's worth of knowledge, they are children in mentality. Does... that make any sense?"

"So... Your bodies keep your intelligence in balance with your physical size? Then why wasn't that big guy I scared off smarter? You'd think with a body like his he'd be some kind of genius." James questioned, taking a drink from a small glass off water on his bedside table.

"Well... because his species of Bajir is much bigger than mine," Baka answered. "He was actually a bit on the small size for his people. Though... his people are more know for their brawn then their brains."

"Right. That's a hell of a far cry from how humans work, but it's interesting." He stated, nodding slightly.

A knock came from the door, and Baka went to open it. After conversing with what looked like one of his brothers, Baka led two much smaller Bajir in. "Teefa, Nana. You remember James, yes?"

He gave them quick wave, "It's great to meet you, I'm the one who kicked that other Bajir's butt for you all. I wanted to introduce myself to my new friend's family, didn't really get a chance to before."

The sister stared at James for a moment, then simultaneously turned of their translators.

Is human how saves Anati!

Is human that friend to Tatota Bajir!

Will fight for Tini? Will fight for Baka?

Is injured. Maybe bad.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53
Fancy Fan Club: Part Three

They switched their translators on, and cautiously approached James' bed. "Is Teefa," the slightly taller, slightly leaner one said.

"Is Nana," said her sister.

"Human is... hurt?" Teefa asked.

"Human is... dying?" asked Nana.

"Just hurt, although I got pretty lucky pulling a move like the one I did." He smirked, "If it was anyone else, they might not be here."

"Is human James really strong?" Teefa asked.

"Is human James best soldier?" asked Nana.

"Human James stops all pirates!"

"Human James destroys all enemies!"

"You bet! And before you all know it, we'll win this war just you wait and see." Fancypants smiled at the adorable bug girls.

"And you will save Bajir?" Teefa climbed onto the bed.

"Yes? Will save us from pirates?" Nana joined her.

"Save us from Bodomin?"

Yes! Mean, smelly Bodomin! Bad Bodomin!"

"I'll make sure he doesn't mess with you guys again, or the rest of his group." James said confidently, soaking in the praise, all the while carrying his all too common smirk.

Teefa and Nana exchanged a nervous look.

"But... Bori said he is coming back."

"And Bodomin twice size of Tatota."

"Bodomin outnumber, too."

"Fifteen to thirteen."

"Well, Bodomin don't have a James, do they? I'll be able to beat them, easy, all I have to do is take their leader again, and they'll go away like last time."

"Nana? Teefa?" Baka approached the bed. "Why don't you go get something more for James to drink?" His sisters nodded, jumping off the bed and rushing out the door. Baka turned to James, giving him a worried glance.

James glanced towards him, his expression fading a little,"What? After I get out of here I'll be ready to go kick some ass, I don't think it'll take my drone to deal with them. Besides, if I do need it, I'll use this opportunity to test out a special project I've been working on, it's sure to catch them off guard."

"You... you know you can't kill them, right?" Baka asked cautiously, reminded of stories of mob wars in Earth's not too distant past. "I have learned that such behavior will not be tolerated here, even if I am unsure they will respect that."

"Only if they try to kill us... I'm going to make sure the whole thing gets taped this time, that way, when they force us to fight back, we'll have all the evidence to show that it was self defense." He explained, "That way, we won't have another repeat of this problem..."

"That is a good plan. But... they will still have the advantage of the force they are willing to exert. And... um..." Baka glanced to make sure the girls were still gone. "As I said before... Bori wasn't all that big for his pact. You... you do know he was not their alpha, right?"

James looked up for a second, "He... He wasn't? Oh uh... Don't worry, I mean, how much bigger could their alpha be? I mean, he's got to fit in the tunnels somehow..."

"Not if she has the rest of her pact do the tunnel work for her," Baka muttered, lowering his head. "I mean... you're still technically bigger than her... but..." He shook his head. "I... I can not risk you getting hurt on our behalf. It is not fair for you."

"Listen, Baka, I'm doing this because I want to, I'm not going to sit by while some roided out beefheads try to walk all over my new friends." James replied.

Baka bowed his head. "That... that is very kind of you. I guess I am simply not used to having human friends. You can be quite odd with your actions and convictions... but in a good way."

James grinned at Baka. This shouldn't be too hard, even if that alpha is a little bigger than I thought, and after that's done, I'll get even more fanfare, it's about time someone on this ship realized how great I am, after all.

Baka looked like he was about to say something, but his sisters rushed inside. Each was carrying four glasses of water, which they placed on the desk next James' bed. Teefa offered one out for James. "This is enough?"

"Yes, enough?" Nana clapped her hands together.

"Yes, plenty, thank you." Fancypants replied, putting the glasses of water next to his bed one at a time, mumbling to himself, "I could get used to this..."

Teefa and Nana glanced at each other, than back at James.

"So... when are you going to beat all the bad Bodomin?"

"You get out of bed soon?"

"You kill Sari, Bodomin Alpha?"

"You kill Sari, Bodomin leave us alone!"

"Maybe not kill, but I'll show her the... Error of her ways..." James corrected.

The sisters tilted their heads in confusion. "But..." Teefa stepped up to the bed, reaching out for James' hand. "But Bajir fight, one Anati dies!"

Nana stepped next to her. "You not want Tini to die, do you?"

Baka placed his hands on their shoulders. "Please. James is saying nothing of the sort. But that is not how things work here. We can not kill anyone."

"Don't worry, I'll just make them leave you all alone, no one is going to die If I can help it, and even if I do have to kill one of them, it'll be self defense, so none of us will get in trouble." He said, trying to explain to Baka's sisters, but also to Baka himself.

Thank you, Baka said telepathically. "I think we should let James rest a bit."

Teefa and Nana let out a soft whine. "Can we come again later?" the asked together.

"Of course you can, what would I do without my fans support?" James scooted up a little," But I should only be in here maybe two more days, I could probably even leave right now, but I'm using this time for some well deserved relaxation."

"Then you can meet our Anati!" both girls shouted, jumping up and down.

"I'd love to, especially if she's half as adorable as you two are." He said, patting them both on the head.

They giggled, and rushed out the door. Baka bowed his head to James. "That went well. I am sorry if it sounded like I doubted you before."

"Apology accepted. Now, I think I'm going to order some popcorn, I've got lots of water to drink and I need something salty." James chuckled.

Baka nodded. "I shall ask my Anati if she wouldn't mind meeting with you." He bowed his head one last time. "Rest well, dear friend."

"You too, buddy! I'll be here!" James responded, watching as he left.