Fandom Coral, Abide with Rubicon!

[Lucyfer]

Aurelia’s brows shot up in surprise as Walter confessed to having an ex-wife. It was hard to imagine him finding the time to fall in love, let alone marry, and live…domestically…knowing he'd sent 620 people to their deaths.

‘Was she a pilot?’ Aurelia couldn't help but wonder as she sipped her coffee. How did Walter even meet people if they weren't someone he bought?

‘Was she normal?’ did she give Walter something he now sought in retirement? Was this a life before the hounds?

‘When was the last time you cared about someone?’

Humanizing was dangerous. Aurelia knew Walter was more than just a slave driver. He'd given her far too many freedoms. It wouldn't be all that difficult to leave him if she wanted. So, she didn't focus on that, so much as the concern that perhaps her fever thoughts had some merit. Something to feel out, at any rate. “I'm glad she taught you something that remains useful,” Aurelia said, her eyes following the movements.

She wouldn't joke about the loss. Or how hard it was to imagine. There was love in his tone still, and that wasn't fair to him when he was opening up. But how to avoid the landmines that could sour something so delicate? “What is your favorite thing that you learned to cook?” that ought to be safe enough, right?

~***~

Rusty reluctantly allowed another to take up his things, rather than help out. His mild guilt was offset by amusement and confusion when Elliot turned red, blissfully unaware that barely using her name had done it.

He laughed along with one of the comments, “I'm not really sure how I broke her,” he shook his head a bit. Elliot was likely relieved to have her mother pull her in for a hug and break up the teasing. Rusty just moved towards the door, signaling their need to head out, as he took in the farewells, and let them have their tearful moment from afar.

He waited until Elliot was at his side again.

“Ready,” he agreed with Elliot, before speaking to the family, “thank you, we'll stay safe,” he promised, not acknowledging the more teasing comments, “I hope to see you all around another day. Have Elliot invite you for a tour one day,” he said, though he knew that was unlikely to happen with their affiliation. He still had to say it, before he turned to exit and lead the way back to the helicopter.

“Your family is quite, ah, energetic and positive, aren't they?” He commented, “I'm glad you have so much love and support. Even if they could be a bit nicer,” he joked, adding in lightly, “if I was called little so much I might blow a gasket,” it was a way to test her feeling on it, make sure it really was all right, by adding in his biased view.

His confusion, to beg clarity.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter turned back to the stove, his mind briefly wandering as he tended to the bacon.

Aurelia's question about his favorite thing to cook brought a flood of memories. He could almost hear Vivian’s laughter, see her rolling her eyes playfully as he fumbled his way through yet another recipe.

“My favorite thing to cook…” Walter’s voice trailed off as he cracked another egg into the pan.

“Vivian loved Italian food. She taught me how to make a pretty decent lasagna. We’d spend hours in the kitchen, making the sauce from scratch, layering the pasta, cheese, and meat. It was a bit of a ritual for us, especially on weekends. The kitchen would be a mess, but it was always worth it. The smell of the sauce simmering, the warmth of the oven, and the way her eyes lit up when we finally sat down to eat—it was something special.”

He glanced back at Aurelia, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“I think you two would have gotten along well. You're both strong-willed, smart, and really good at calling me out when I've done something disagreeable,”

He plated the eggs and bacon, setting them on the table along with the toast, butter squares, and silverware. “I’m glad you’re still here, Aurelia. It’s good to have someone to share this with again, even if it’s just breakfast.”

~***~

Falling into step with the taller man was easy, having done it so many times over the last few months, and she looked up at him as he spoke.

Had he not realized that he used her real name?

Or maybe he used it on purpose to tease her and was feinting innocence.

It didn't matter now, she had to reel herself in and hold the memories of her family close. They'd be her key to keeping up her morale to leave. She had a sizeable debt to pay off and she forsaw many nights of running the AllMind simulators to train up to be even more useful to the RLF.

"Yeah, they're so great! They make me feel so loved and cared for. I love them so much. Mom calls us all her orange cats, probably because we're so chaotic when you get all four of us together..." Elliot couldn't help but snicker in that soft, squeaky, barely audible way of hers. She knew her family was a bit rambunctious.

His comment about her family's teasing surprised and confused her and that was evident on her face as her brows furrowed. Rusty could get angry from something like that? But that was just how her and her siblings interacted and he wasn't even short...

"But I am little. I'm like 5'3" on a good day and I'm the shortest pretty much everywhere I go. I struggle to do tall people shit, you've see it..." The tiny pilot canted her head to further indicate her confusion as she helped to lead them back to the Helipad.

It would be different if Pater or someone else was getting on her case about her height, but her family was fair game. It was all in good fun, just like when she called them out on their own heights.

Thankfully the pilot was still there, playing on his phone as Huntress loaded up inside.

"Took you two long enough. I almost left you two here."

Elliot ducked her head in fake apology, though it was convincing enough.

"I'm sorry..."

She wasn't.

She got to see her family, and have lunch with them and her buddy. They were alive, and Rusty's find while they were there may have just saved her. Those were her thoughts as she shut it down, retreating inside herself more as she took a seat, buckling in.

~***~

Lilith, after her sister and her buddy had left and lunch was cleaned up, hiked it to her room to check her phone and get back to Aurelia. She wasn't expecting communications to be up so quickly, or to even get a response back considering the size of the explosion.

She read the text and breathed in sharply through gritted teeth as she typed out her response.

I'm socially inept, not stupid. Plus it would be rude to try and fight a friend. Sorry to lose my temper like that.
​

The tall red head took a moment between responses to collect her thoughts. She had truly forgotten that Raven wasn't an independent.

In my haste for answers and worry for my sister, I neglected to remember that you have a handler and are not an independent like my brothers. I apologize. I'm glad you made it out of there alive. I can only imagine what LEMURES looks like. What was the purpose of the mission if I'm allowed to know? That seems like a hell of a miscalculation and source of misinformation... Good on you for sticking it to the PCA though. Fuck those guys.​

 

[Lucyfer]

Walter was well back on memories as he answered, Vivian at the forefront of his mind as he remembered her reactions. It sealed his favorite meal to prepare for him, a lost ritual, but no less loved. ‘Did it end amicably?’ if it didn't, perhaps he was far enough away from it that he could find the joy again.

Orpheus wasn't that far away.

It was both a month ago, and…gods, how many years had she worked for Aidon? She wasn't even sure enough to figure the math right then. Time had blurred in re-education.

Years, though.

And then six frozen. “Maybe. Maybe not,” Aurelia chuckled, “if we had differing opinions we'd only turn on each other,” but she kept the grin as she took her plate. “It's hard to tell,” she used to have a friend like that.

Yet another one dead at her hands. Her beloved Lucilia, the would have been pilot. Carla reminded her a bit of Lucilia – Lucilia had gone into building things instead of piloting.

She allowed herself the warmth as he commented about her being there –but she still scoffed, “Don't get melancholy on me, Walter. It's too early to put me in the ex-wife zone. I don't have wife experience with anyone,” a bit of a smirk as she took her seat, “I'm going to guess that unlike Carla, I won't be meeting Vivian?”

Shame.

She did glance at her message, and typed a response.

Sorry, Lilith. Given the race between all the factions, I don't think it's my place to say the reasons. Harm wasn't a part of it though, not to Rubicon. I wouldn't still be here with Walter if it was. I hope your family is only shaken. I am sorry for the damage this caused. I know there must be harm to other families.​

Caged or not, she had standards, and she had already made Walter aware of some. The damage was something she had to live with. Mistakes were made. With ACs, it was normal that it cost lives.

~***~

Orange cats? The reference was a bit lost on Rusty, but he made a mental note to look into it. He didn't have much experience with cats.

It did seem that the comments didn't bother her, which was good. She didn't understand, which was also, hopefully, good. She hadn't experienced malice in that way, despite seeing it for her augmentations. He didn't answer immediately since the pilot called out to them. Rusty lifted a hand in greeting.

“Hey, it's appreciated that you waited. Don't worry, I'll make sure we take any blame if they were needing the helicopter back sooner.” Rusty reassured, pretty sure even if Snail was back he could talk through that easily enough.

They took their places in the helicopter, and that was when Rusty went back, “Back to our convo, it may be a guy thing, or it may just be from my differences in growing up,” he clarified, “but basically, if someone kept constantly pointing out something about me that I couldn't control, like my height, and talking about things I either couldn't do because of it, or things they thought were harder for it, it'd start to piss me off,” he stated.

“Like, I don't need to be reminded three times on one sentence that maybe, my height makes it more difficult to walk through doorways. At that point it just starts sounding malicious to me, like they have no confidence in me, and only see the defects. Like when your brothers were talking about piloting an AC? That's not anymore difficult because you're short. People of all sizes pilot them,” his nose wrinkled a bit and on noticing it, he laughed.

“Sorry, I don't mean to get all riled up. You have a different dynamic with them, and I wanted to make sure that's what it was, and they weren't just…you know, abusing you in the guise of playing with you.”

 

[EllieMcEllie]

The scent of the freshly cooked meal filled the air as he took a seat across from her. The mention of meeting Vivian threatened to sour his mood, but he knew she didn't mean anything malicious by it.

"Unfortunately, no. She left a long time ago. At least five years now. It was around the same time that 354 and G13 Seine were fooling around, now that I think about it. You might have liked him too. Or maybe not. He was a bit of a manwhore."

That was putting it lightly.

"Even hit on me a few times. But he was a good pilot. He liked the lighterweight mechs and pulse weapons."

Most of them were good pilots. They wouldn't have lasted long if they weren't.

"Died during a job gone wrong on Jupiter with Antares and I."

It was a horrific, Romeo and Juliet type accident that left both him and Siene dead. Siene's AC was combusting, she was ejecting and Hellbringer had rushed forward to catch her escape pod to get her to safety when they got caught up in enemy fire. A rail cannon-style shot took them both out at once.

“I don’t want to burden you with my old stories too much, but it’s nice to talk about things other than missions and coral for once.”

Walter chuckled softly. Her teasing remark about the "ex-wife zone" brought a glimmer of warmth to the moment, something he hadn't felt in a while.

“Less ex-wife, and more like, possibly, friends?” he replied, turning to meet her gaze, a tentative smile on his lips. “It's been a while since I’ve had one of those that aren't also my mentors.”

~***~

Elliot sat quietly for a moment, processing Rusty’s words. She had always seen her family’s teasing as just that—teasing. But the way Rusty explained it made her second-guess.

“I... didn’t think about it like that,” she said slowly, her voice subdued.

“I don’t think they mean anything mean about it...” She glanced up at Rusty for a moment, her face scrunching in that tell-tale way of hers.

“They love me. They wouldn’t want to hurt me. I just... I guess I make an easy target cause I'm so small and easy to tease... I've always been the smallest in my family, even as a little kid. Mom usually stops them before they get too into it though.”

She appreciated his concern, and it made her feel a warmth deep in her chest. Seeing him get all riled up in her defense was endearing, and she couldn’t help the red that returned to her cheeks.

“Thank you, though. It’s... kind of cute, you getting all worked up like this over little ol' me,” she added playfully with a soft chuckle, attempting a light-hearted teasing. Or was it flirting? She never was good at either, let alone teasing someone she held feelings for.

She was just too easy to fluster, which was obvious by the way her cheeks further pinkened as she ended her sentence and how she couldn't meet his gaze.

Good gods, she even flustered herself.

Good job Elliot.

Really smooth.

~***~

Lilith let out a breath of relief that she didn't even know she was holding when Aurelia's reply text came back in.

Tensions were eased, she didn't lose a friend, and she was able to get her anger under wraps.

This was an accident, Raven hadn't been forced to go after the coral like that, or at least she had hoped not. She typed out a quick response back, staring up at her ceiling.

It's ok. Accidents happen. My town just had some broken windows, some older buildings crumbled a little, but any injuries were minor. My family was one of the lucky ones. Just some stuff fell off the wall and communications got wonky for a bit. I'm sure Els will be fine too. Her and her 'buddy' came by and we had lunch. Oh she has it bad, Raven. You should have seen how red she got when he was here! Sorry, getting side-tracked, how are you feeling? Did you get hurt bad? I can't imagine getting caught in a coral explosion felt too great...​

 

[Lucyfer]

“354 sounds fun. Hard to blame him for hitting on you, though,” Aurelia noted, “he sounds more the type I'm used to dealing with in hangars,” besides the handler, pilots were full of issues. Horndogs were drawn to the job for some reason. The fame of piloting let them get laid, and the adrenaline rush simulated a familiar high, from what she'd heard. She hadn't been that type, but she played with them on occasion.

She may not have had a long lasting relationship, but she'd had fun.

Feelings had gotten the best of her.

The best of happiness.

‘Nearly 300 pilots lost in five years.’

That was substantial. She wanted to ask but refrained. There would be other times for serious conversations. She and Walter had so few that weren't serious. “You can tell me about the past. Or anything else,” she shrugged, “you already know everything relevant about me,” it was impossible not to remind him.

“I know next to nothing in comparison. If we're going to be friends, I would like to know more…but not just the serious things,” she'd relent. For the moment. “You could always talk about old shenanigans with Antares. Or your favorite dinosaur.”

Any stupid little thing.

She'd ignore her messages in favor of that.

~***~

Elliot was obviously an easy target. She flustered at the drop of a hat. She got flustered right then, trying to tease him, and he smiled…before laughing at the clear display of red embarrassment.

“You might want to work on that, you know? You turn red at the slightest thing, buddy,” he couldn't help but drop his voice lower again on the term of endearment to further it, though he'd go no further than that.

And shift, again, from play to a bit more serious, “But you can count on me to look out for you. I know you haven't had it easy and I don't want people taking advantage of you, even if they are related. Still, I'll believe you that it's harmless. They all seemed nice enough, and I don't know the dynamic,” he reassured her. “And now you know another dynamic, so you can be careful if you ever do get good at teasing others,” he joked.

That happening seemed quite unlikely.

“And don't worry. I won't mention your family history. I know Arquebus wouldn't hold it against you, but we still don't need that stress from some of the idiotic individuals among us.”

And Snail probably would hold it against her.

But Rusty couldn't say that. "We shouldn't have to suffer for the mistakes of others."

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter couldn't help but laugh at Aurelia’s comment about 354.

“Yeah, he was definitely a character. Always knew how to lighten the mood, even if he could be a bit much at times. He had some good jokes, though. He, 353, 355, and 356 were close.”

He took a bite of his breakfast, savoring the simple pleasure of a shared meal. Her openness and willingness to learn more about him touched upon old memories while they created new ones.

This was something he hadn’t realized he missed so much.

He leaned back in his chair, thinking about what to share next. Antares stories, or his favorite dinosaur, or other random stories he had. He was pretty sure he didn't have a favorite dinosaur.

"Shenanigans with Antares, huh? Oh, there were plenty. We once had this job on Jupiter, where he convinced me to sneak into a rival corporation's hangar to 'borrow' some tech Furlong needed with him. It was the most ridiculous, adrenaline-pumping experience. We got caught, of course, but managed to talk our way out of it by pretending to be inspectors. We barely got out of there intact, but we did get the tech they needed."

Walter shook his head at the memory.

"That was back in my pilot days though. He always had the bad habit of giving his comrades ridiculous nicknames. Mine was Detroit. That wasn't related to my callsign, it was just how he introduced me to his subordinates." He rolled his eyes, though his expression held no ire.

~***~

Elliot's cheeks burned brighter as Rusty's words sunk in. His teasing, coupled with the lowered voice, left her momentarily speechless with her face hidden in the fabric of her polo for the second time today.

Oh fuck, there he went again.

That damned lower voice he used!

Her vocal necklace stuttered and cut out for a moment before she managed to speak again.

"I-I'll, uh, work on that," she mumbled, flustered beyond belief. His playful tone, the endearment—everything about it had her heart racing. "It's just... uh, hard when you do... that."

As Rusty shifted to a more serious tone, Elliot found herself calming down, even if slightly. His reassurance meant more to her than she could express, and she nodded, taking his words to heart. He wasn't even going to mention about her familial ties to the RLF!

But then, Rusty mentioned "the mistakes of others," and the shift in her emotions was immediate and intense. Anger flared up inside her like a wildfire, showing on her face and in her body language. Her father was gone, but he had done what he could to provide for them, and the idea that anyone would consider his actions as mere mistakes was infuriating.

Being of a different faction wasn't a mistake. It was his choice, and in this moment, she had never been more sure of her own decision to leave this gods damned corporation the second she got her debt paid off.

Her expression darkened, and her jaw clenched as she unbuckled herself. Standing up abruptly, she looked down at Rusty, her eyes blazing with a cold fury.

Oh how she wanted to strike him for even daring to say such a thing to her face when he knew just how much her father meant to her. She refrained, being above violence spurred on by anger, and wanting to avoid re-education again.

"You don't get to talk about my family like that, least of all to my face," she practically growled out, her voice icy cold as her lips pulled into a snarling sneer. "You have no idea what we went through to survive, what he went through to provide for us. Don't ever assume you do."

Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and made her way to her AC, her mind rolling with waves of anger and pain. Climbing into the cockpit, she locked the hatch and shut off the comms, isolating herself from the world outside.

Inside ARTEMIS, she let out a shaky breath, trying to steady her emotions. The silence of the cockpit was comforting, a second home to her. She needed time to process, to cool down, and to figure out how to face Rusty amicably again after a massive blow to her trust like that.

 

[Lucyfer]

Michigan as a saboteur was somehow ridiculous, but not implausible. He didn’t seem like he had the intelligence at a glance, but he wouldn’t have made it this far without being smart, so Aurelia listened as Walter spoke of his past stealing technology alongside him. Apparently, Walter didn’t join in working with Furlong – though he piloted an AC, once upon a time.

Not as Detroit, though.

“And this is why Elcano paid well,” Aurelia chuckled. She was never really officially hired by them, but they had certainly contributed to her stay in Pluto. “People like you two,” she smirked, “that never would have flown with me.”

Still, it was amusing.

“What was your callsign? And why did Antares call you Detroit of all things? I’ve never heard of a Detroit related to Jupiter,” but it wasn’t impossible. She didn’t know every nook and cranny of Jupiter, and she tried to forget much of it. “Why did you stop piloting?”

She didn’t think she ever would.

Didn’t think she ever could, even if she was destined to live a long life. She would die in an AC, she was certain of it. That had been the fate she decided on from the moment she slipped in to DI MANES, all those years ago. Walter, apparently, hadn’t been as enamored as she was, or as his friend Antares was.

~***~

Rusty knew what he did.

Not only in teasing Elliot, but in mentioning her father. He expected her anger, though he would have thought the re-education would have tempered it more. ‘Careful.’ There were some things he would have to report. If she struck him, he’d have to report it. She managed to refrain, but she still berated him again.

‘See, Snail would really love to hear about this.’

Were he any other Vesper….

Luckily for Elliot, he wasn’t, but he would keep in mind that this was a good way to add distance between them – calling out her father on making a mistake. Likely, any of her family. She couldn’t take criticism. She didn’t even ask why he thought it was a mistake, she just shut it down and refused to engage.

No wonder she clung to such terrible things sometimes without thinking, like Shere Khan. She’d never been taught how to let go.

Or how to hide her emotions.

He wouldn’t bother her, he took out his tablet to find out about orange cats and quickly learned they were known as ‘dumb’ cats, and rarely had a braincell, because of their antics. ‘Maybe there is some similarity….’

The trip back to Arquebus was fairly silent, and when they got close enough, Rusty got back into STEEL HAZE to prepare to disembark, and walk him back into his loader in the ARQUEBUS hanger. He could see O’Keeffe’s AC there, utterly ruined, barely a skeleton of a frame.

He felt his throat tighten in concern.

He knew O’Keeffe was no friend.

But his status as an enemy was in question, if only because Flatwell wanted to believe it was.

He swallowed down his concerns that O’Keeffe might be dead, or dying, as he got out of his AC, not wanting to imagine having to find a way to get that message to Flatwell as he came down from STEEL HAZE.

“Rusty! Huntress!” Hawkins called. “Snail wants to see you immediately.”

“Yeah – kinda figured,” Rusty chuckled, “guess he doesn’t like Freud using the power he actually has, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say it like that,” Hawkins noted.

Rusty grinned, “I know. Don’t worry, we found plenty to offset the situation,” he gestured into the helicopter, “there were three ACs there. O’Keeffe, Raven, and someone else.”

“We know about Raven,” Hawkins clearly did not know about the third, “O’Keeffe is alive.”

“Well?”

“As well as a forced coma to check for coral damage.”

Rusty hissed in clear, sympathetic pain.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

"It wasn't the first or last time that worked either. Antares was a lot more... impossing in our hayday. If you think he's built now, it was even more so back then. We both were,"

He was, to say the least, terrifying and despite his friendliness with Walter, he was very 'my way or the highway' back then.

The shit that G5 got away with wouldn't fly on Jupiter.

It seemed that both men were getting soft in their old age, though he wouldn't admit it aloud.

Walter smiled at Aurelia's curiosity and genuine interest. It was a refreshing change from the usual hustle and bustle of talking only about jobs or being pried at for answers.

"My callsign was Sentinel," he began, his tone carrying a hint of pride. "I piloted a heavy AC named WATCHTOWER. It was a beast—slow, but built like a fortress like LEMURES. Perfect for holding the line and providing support."

He took a sip of his coffee, thinking back to those days. "I don't know why he called me Detroit. Maybe it was some inside joke I never got or maybe he had a thing for Michigan before he ever took that callsign. Who knows?"

Walter's expression grew more somber as he continued. "I stopped piloting because of an accident. It was a mission gone wrong, and I ended up with this limp."

He gestured to his leg and the cane resting against the table, the injury that had changed the course of his life.

"It was a wake-up call that I wasn't getting any younger. Plus, I'm not augmented like you are. Can't keep up with the younger pilots or the demands of piloting an AC. It was time to step back and focus on the roll of Handler instead."

He paused for a moment. "It wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right one. I still miss it sometimes, the thrill of being in the cockpit, the thrill of the fight. But that's life. It isn't fair. I had a good run."

"We worked with Snail sometimes, though he wasn't always called Snail. Believe it or not, his callsign back in the day was 'Hostage Killer'. Antares, Carla and I all still make fun of him for it behind his back."

~***~

Elliot used the ride back in her AC to reign her wildly flaring emotions back in check. She couldn't explode like that in front of anyone else. They would have reported her to Snail.

Hells, Rusty still might.

She did lash out verbally.

It didn't matter. If he reported it, and Snail sentenced her to re-education again, she'd go down fighting. She'd escape somehow, get out of there, desert. Her morals protested, but she needed to keep herself safe above all.

Gods... What a mess this all was... If Rusty hadn't pointed out her father was RLF, or if her siblings had told her before she joined Arquebus she wouldn't be in this situation...

No, she'd probably be dead from Coral Burn-in if she hadn't taken their offer.

Horse gifts, or whatever the fuck that phrase was.

'Artemis, give the strength I need to do this.'

She almost felt like a tiger caught in a cage; Angry, scared, defensive, confused. She didn't have the braincell today, and yet, she'd been forced to think so hard. There was just too much going on in the last 24 hours. Too much conflicting information, Too many emotions, Too much everything.

Maybe she needed that Yoga session more than she thought.

She felt bad for lashing out. Maybe he didn't even mean her father... Maybe she meant the idiotic pilots they worked with, like Pater and Snail...

Fuck...

She never was good at working through her big emotions or holding them back. Even with Re-education still fresh in her mind, the cracks he had created opened the path for her emotions to spill forth, volatile and explosive as they occasionally were.

She was just an overly expressive person, though she'd need to reel it all back if she didn't want to call any suspicion to herself.

Fear was a great motivator, and as such, she drew upon the great fear and anxiety of re-education, and losing her family to draw fully back in.

'Smile and wave. Hells, don't even smile. Just follow orders, pay off that debt, get the hell out.' Rusty's actions with his report with Snail would decide if she could even trust him now.

She wanted so badly to hold onto her friend. He was the only person in her corner here, or so she had been lead to believe. She had thought him better then Couren, but maybe he wasn't.

Maybe all men were just like that.

Pretending to be friendly and caring with ulterior motives... Liars...

Rusty was so good at lying too, had he been trying to toy with her this entire time? Her siblings were right if so. She really did have shit judgement... She didn't want to believe he could be as heinous as Couren was.

Elliot walked ARTEMIS into her loader and got out onto the catwalk, dead eyed and as blank-faced as she could manage with all the thoughts ping-ponging around in her head. Her Loader was at the very end of the Hangar, so she had to jog over to meet up with Hawkins and Rusty, catching sight of O'Keefe's AC in the process.

It was, for lack of better words, melted, and barely standing. Had he passed? If he hadn't, then he was for sure fucked up right now. She allowed a flicker of sympathy to cross her face before she came to a rest at the bottom of the catwalk, waiting for Rusty as they had to go see Snail and she wasn't about to go alone, even if she was still angry with Rusty.

Damn, she really needed to smooth out those 'emotional wrinkles'...

"Good Afternoon, Hawkins." she managed a professional and semi-friendly tone, folding her arms behind her back. "Thank you for letting us know."

She kept the same tone as she turned to Rusty.

"I am ready when you are."

 

[Lucyfer]

“I all but had a poster of Antares, I know how he used to look,” Aurelia laughed as Walter commented on his friend. He'd been a hero to her, after all. Still was, even if she betrayed his pilots. That was the manner of the beast of mercenary work. He knew that. Hopefully he didn't take it too personal.

Though, she did wonder how accurate Carla was in saying Michigan was afraid of her. Hardly seemed realistic. Odds were he could still destroy her in a fight.

It seemed Walter favored the same builds she did. Even if she was already thinking of redesigns, mostly adding an actual shield to the left arm of LEMURES. Not an energy one. But she would wait on such a thing. The expenses for repair were going to be brutal, and she wasn't sure about a few other design options.

“If you still have the old specs for WATCHTOWER, I'd be interested. I'm trying to get some new ideas for LEMURES.” and if he favored similar, she might find something.

A later problem.

“I suppose I'll have to provide all the excitement you're missing out on now with piloting,” she noted, aware she probably gave him too much with her style, “I don't suppose Snail’s old name was just a bluff?”

She definitely wasn't going to get captured by Arquebus.

~***~

Rusty made a note to check in on O’Keeffe later as Huntress made it to his side. He considered letting her make her own report, but pushed that feeling down. For the RLF, he had to help her.

He'd be walking an interesting line now, but at least hostilities could be displayed more openly now that she'd displayed those emotions, and would have reasonably put doubt into any Vesper.

How could he be certain an RLF sympathizer would have his back anymore?

He didn't verbally acknowledge her.

He just nodded. “I'll catch you at dinner, Hawkins?” He was curious if Hawkins had new orders regarding Raven. Snail wasn't one to let an opportunity go and the way he abused Freud? Rusty could imagine jobs for Raven were about to get harder, and far more rewarding.

Jobs he couldn't, legally, risk Freud on, even if Freud would do them.

“I'll try,” Hawkins managed, and let Rusty turn to leave.

Rusty didn't talk on the way to Snail’s office.

He buzzed in when they talked the office, “Rusty and Huntress to report,” and waited.

“Enter.”

Rusty did, stepping in and making space for Huntress.

“I understand you two went behind my back to get approval for a job from Freud,” Snail's tone was ice as he looked at them.

Ah yes.

The authority issues.

“I do hope you have returned with something for wasting our resources, or perhaps I'll need to have you both sent to re-education for this abuse of resources.”

“With all due respect, Snail, Freud thought this mission–”

“I know what Freud thought!” A rare, true, snap. “He didn't want to do bereavement paperwork, and you took advantage,” his gaze narrowed, “so, do you have anything to say for this act?”

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter chuckled at Aurelia's enthusiasm. It was interesting seeing her opening up with him and showing interest in his old life like this.

"Antares was definitely larger than life, even back then. He had this way of commanding respect without even trying. It sounds like he was important to you. He was to many. Got a lot of fan mail back on Jupiter, and don't get me started on the paparazzi that were deadset on following him around."

He took another sip of his coffee, considering her request about the WATCHTOWER specs. "I do have the old specs for WATCHTOWER somewhere. I'd be happy to share them with you. Maybe you'll find something useful for LEMURES. Always good to get a fresh perspective." They were in his system

Walter gave an almost cheeky smile at her comment about providing the excitement. "You've provided more than enough excitement. I worry you'll give me a heart attack one of these days, but you always get the job done." Except the STRIDER mission, but that one wasn't her fault. She couldn't have known about the institute machines."Reminds me a lot of how I was as a pilot."

He leaned back, thinking about Snail's old callsign. "Hostage Killer was no bluff. Snail had a reputation back in the day. He still does. He's ruthless, and the name stuck for obvious reasons. Now he's just Snail, but those of us who knew him back then still remember. He had to change it to fit Arquebus's brand better, I believe."

~***~

Rusty didn't say a word the whole walk to Snail's office, but that was fine with Huntress.

She was still angry with him.

She had... a lot of feelings regarding him in the last few hours, actually, and her mind was bouncing off every single one in a random, rapid-fire succession.

Regret, guilt, fury, confusion, affection, all wrapped up tight in the mask as they made their way to their destination wordlessly.

Once at the office, they were buzzed in and Snail looked pissed, more so than normal. It was obvious in his tone as well as she stood at attention, eyes forward and emotionless. It was easier to hide all those emotions in his presence, seeing as he had the power to send her back. Fear of him was not unwarranted.

Like usual, Rusty had taken the role of speaker for the pair. Whether it was out of habit, to curb Snail's anger, or he didn't want to risk Re-education himself, she didn't know, but it wasn't enough for Snail.

He threatened to send them both to re-education and snapped harshly at Rusty, something that sent a shiver of fear down her spine and had her standing straighter under his scrutiny. She wasn't going back. She'd rather die fighting than be re-educated again. She was still fighting the effects of the last stint, another would be her end.

Defiance did not show in her eyes, however. The active threat of Re-education helping to further lock down her emotions, making her seem as complacent as she had when she got out of the center.

It was her family that they were checking on, so she would give the report. No need to add risk to Rusty, or let her anger towards him cloud her judgement. She spoke up as flatly as possible, keeping her gaze straight ahead and her body at attention with her arms behind her back. 'Keep it factual, no emotions' she told herself internally.

"Sir, our trip was not without benefit to Arquebus. V. IV and I sortied to Watchpoint Delta to investigate and found information on what happened there. We located debris of 3 separate ACs. Raven, O'Keefe, and an unknown were present at the time of the explosion. The pieces are in the transport helicopter for analysis if you wish to review them. There were also fragments of PCA Subject Guard, and an unknown machine, likely PCA as well. The Watchpoint is gone."

 

[Lucyfer]

Aurelia shrugged at the importance of Antares, adding simply, “He was my hero,” in some ways he still was. She wasn't sure if he still lived up to his old ideals – or at least the image of them he put out, but she had admired him. “He's why I became pilot.”

She hadn't stayed in Jupiter to meet him.

She wanted her own name, to meet him as an equal. That plan went to hell but it didn't change all the old love she'd had for what he represented.

It seemed that Snail was true to his old name. She would certainly keep that in mind. “Makes me wonder how he arrived at Snail.” It was a strange choice for a ruthless killer. He didn't seem slow. Was it a favorite animal? Had someone else picked it?

“You themed a lot around guarding back then,” it was obvious. Sentinel, WATCHTOWER, it all went together. “What inspired you, Handler?” she could have gone the same way. It have more credence to his comment on styles. She had been guarding Pluto, after all.

~***~

Huntress managed to explain calmly all that was gathered, from the three ACs to the strange PCA vehicle that was located. Snail's expression never softened, but he was clearly hearing.

Rusty added, “Not to mention, it helped keep a pilot as an asset to Arquebus by confirming her family was alive. She does not need to wait for official notification and be a risk during the period.”

“She should not be a risk regardless,” Snail noted but knew that was a hard one to fight. After all, bereavement periods did exist. People should be putting Arquebus first, but no. Their employees still weren't expected to be that dedicated.

One day Arquebus would understand.

“I see that you two did not merely waste time, and it seems you have done a favor. Arquebus did not wish to put the vespers at risk of coral exposure. You will both report to the medbay to undergo a screening for contamination. Dismissed.”

No re-education.

Rusty wouldn't push his luck. “Thank you, V. II.” He inclined his head before turning to leave, only holding the door open long enough for Huntress to catch it, before turning in the direction of the medbay, keeping silent.

There wasn't anything to say. He'd kept his word.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter contemplated her question about his callsign and theme. His eyes momentarily drifted as he was pulled into memories of the past.

Faces flashed before him: his ex-wife, smiling at him from across the kitchen; Antares, fierce, determined, and loud as hell; Carla, with her unwavering support and love for him as a mother figure; and fleeting memories of his time on Rubicon-3, where his life had started.

"I had a lot to protect back then," he began slowly, his voice tinged with a mixture of nostalgia and a hint of sorrow. "I was always on guard, always trying to keep those around me safe. Vivian, Antares, Carla, my mother... I felt this overwhelming need to protect those close to me."

Visions of his father and his experiments flitted across his mind, souring his mood for a moment. It was because of him that he had to leave his home in the first place.

He paused, taking a deep breath.

"It was about being a shield, being the one who took the hits so others wouldn't have to. I guess that's what inspired me. It gave me a sense of purpose, knowing I was the one standing between my loved ones and whatever threats came our way."

Walter looked back at Aurelia, a faint smile on his lips. "Even now, as a Handler, I still feel that need to protect. It's just in a different form."

~***~
Huntress stood at attention, her eyes forward, as Snail dismissed them. "Thank you, sir," she said, her voice flat and emotionless.

She turned and left the office, catching the door as Rusty held it open for her, but she didn't acknowledge him beyond a nod of thanks. Both for the door, and for not saying anything about her father. She could trust him a little bit, at least. He kept his word to her.

'Maybe not like Couren then,' Unless he was playing the long game.

She walked to the medbay in silence, her mind elsewhere as she didn't wait up for him, or fall into line like normal. She needed space to think, to process everything that had happened.

The medbay exam was thorough but routine. They checked for any signs of coral contamination, running scans and taking samples. Huntress stood still, complying with the procedures without a word. The medics moved quickly, and after what felt like an eternity but was probably only about thirty minutes, they gave her the all-clear. There was no contamination.

"You're good to go," one of the medics said, handing her a clean bill of health. Huntress nodded curtly, thanking them, and left the medbay, making her way back to her room.

Once inside, she locked the door and let out a long, shaky breath as looked about the messy room. The last 24 hours was the most stressful and emotionally charged that she had experienced in a very, very long time, and she knew she needed to release the store of deep emotions building up inside her.

She changed into more comfortable clothes and laid her blanket out on the floor, clearing a space for herself. She didn't have a yoga mat here, and didn't feel like going to the gym to do this. No, she'd have to put on an act there if anyone was in there and that would defeat the purpose of the whole Yoga session.

Huntress began her routine, moving through the poses slowly and deliberately. Each stretch, each breath, helped to release the pent-up anger and confusion. As she focused on her movements, she felt the tight knot in her chest begin to loosen.

Inhale.

Exhale.

This was exactly what she needed. She had to find her center again, to calm her mind and body, to clear her mind. The events of the last 2 days had been whole-y overwhelming, and she knew she needed to clear her head to face the daunting task of paying off her debts and getting out of there.

As she moved through her yoga practice, she tried to let go of the anger she felt towards Rusty, to understand his perspective.

He was just a man from Mars.

Just a really sweet and attractive man, who supported a bad corporation that he may or may not have had a choice in joining.

He also could have been talking about Pater or Snail, but her braincell, who decided in this moment to show its face, was adamant that it wasn't. Was he purposefully trying to provoke her? He knew how much her father meant to her and he went specifically for him...

No, staying aquaintences and returning to a professional relationship would be for the best.

Cordial, but not close.

If she let herself get sucked back in, the separation from Arquebus would be harder if she had to worry about leaving him behind. She needed to be at her best, both physically and mentally, for that separation and to join the RLF.

And she knew that carrying this anger with her wouldn't help anyone, least of all herself.

Risking a re-education trip was not on her to do list right now.

She also needed to tell her siblings of her escape plan, set up code phrases, but she couldn't risk getting caught like that by sending it over text. She would have to tell them during her next visit.

With her mind much clearer, and her emotional wrinkles smoothed out, exhaustion set back in. She could clean her room later. Grabbing her blanket and Shere Khan, she curled up in her bed and was out like a light.

 

[Lucyfer]

Walter left his father out of the list of people to protect. Also children -- so Aurelia assumed there were none, but he certainly had a father, somewhere. There could be any number of reasons for it, but Aurelia made a note of it. Of course, she would never put her own parents on her list. She hoped to never hear from them. But she knew what it was to have people to protect, and she knew what it was to fail them in the worst ways.

Walter still had Antares and Carla.

Vivian sounded alive, somewhere, out of his life.

At Walter’s age, she knew better than to ask about a mother.

She chuckled at his sentiment, “Yeah – you’re not exactly going to be taking anymore hits for me,” she didn’t need him to protect her. She could defend herself quite well, “Seems like you’ve done a good job. Carla and Antares are still around to annoy you,” that seemed to be how they preferred to interact with Walter.

So was she, for that matter, although it was hard to claim Walter was protecting her in any way. He might try to make sure the jobs were safe, but he’d royally fucked that up recently with a job from Carla. “Maybe you can get a few actual dogs in retirement and protect them,” she chuckled at the thought of Walter with a large house full of dogs. “Or at least have them around to keep that sense of purpose around.”

~***~

Rusty also found his stint in the medbay short, but he didn’t leave immediately. He learned where O’Keeffe was, and learned that his own contamination was ruled as non-existent. He was being brought out of the coma, though no one was sure how easy a process it would be on the man, even with the strength of his augments.

Rusty waited.

It wasn’t until nearly midnight that O’Keeffe came around, and Rusty waited until the older man seemed to have his bearings a bit before speaking, “Hey.”

O’Keeffe looked in his direction, bloodshot eyes as if he hadn’t been resting for hours. “It’s okay, I’m not here to interrogate you or anything,” he said, lifting his hands, “just waiting for you to come around, that’s all.” They didn’t have any notable relationship, so he knew O’Keeffe was likely a bit paranoid by his waiting. “I went to check out the Watchpoint. It’s a miracle you’re here.”

“…I was far enough away,” O’Keeffe said, glanced at his set-up, and then shifted to sit up in the bed.

Rusty nodded. O’Keeffe’s AC wasn’t exactly a beast. Still. “They said you don’t have any coral contamination. I can check with the nurse, see if you’re free to leave,” Rusty started to rise, but paused as a hoarse laugh left O’Keeffe. He waited, to see if he’d say something to that, but O’Keeffe just shook his head.

“Go check,” he said, and let Rusty leave, staring into space.

‘No contamination my ass.’

Perhaps nothing lasting, but he couldn’t forget what had happened. Not the way the coral burned on his skin. Not the way it stripped his AC like a hot knife through butter.

Not the voices.

He shut his eyes and let out a shaky breath. Those had faded when the surge ended, but he still remembered that haunting sound when the coral had engulfed him in the core.

Rusty’s steps returned, with another, and O’Keeffe opened his eyes to listen to the discharge instructions, though he heard nothing. He just waited for permission to get up, and walk. He let Rusty fall in line at his side, and though the other Vesper was talking, he also couldn’t claim to have heard a single word of it.

‘ALLMIND…do you know it’s alive? Do you know what you’d do…?’

It wasn’t fair.

Not to humanity.

Not to coral.

He had to make sure it didn’t happen.

Rusty left O’Keeffe at his door, aware of how out of it he was, and returned to his own quarters to rest. ‘After that, the PCA are likely to become a bit more of a nuisance.’ Rusty didn’t think it would be much more as he hit the sack, but he hoped it was enough to draw the corporations off the RLF for a bit. They were still scrambling after the Wall.

They needed a break.

Rusty’s thoughts wouldn’t prove true by morning; the RLF was still on the agenda of Arquebus.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

A sort of relief filled Walter as she didn't question about his mother or father. He didn't want to open up that whole can of worms with their friendly banter and talk. If he didn't have to reveal that part of his past, he would avoid it, for now at least. He wanted to know just how much he could trust her first before he revealed the big secret.

Walter chuckled at Aurelia's playful jab, appreciating the lightheartedness.

"Yeah, I suppose my days of taking hits are long gone," he admitted with a grin, patting his cane. At the mention of Carla and Antares, he rolled his eyes some, though there was no ill-intent behind it.

"Don't get me started on those two. Did you know that they have been in a prank war this whole time? They're older than I am and I feel like I need to parent them. Stick them in a 'get along' shirt or something. I wouldn't have it any other way, even if they drive me up the wall."

After all, family often disagreed, or got into fights, but he liked to believe that his little family held at least an affection for each other despite their antics. Carla and Antares either got along fantastically well, or they disagreed enough to send a bomb to the other's place of work to 'change up the daily routine.'

"You know, you've got me curious now," he said, shifting the conversation. "Why the name 'LEMURES'?" He knew LEMURES was an old Earth thing, but how did it play into her current life? Her ambitions? Her passions? He didn't want to ask about her past callsign or AC name for fear it would spoil the mood, but maybe another day.

~***~

Despite how quickly she fell asleep, Huntress woke several times throughout the night from nightmares. Horrid dreams ranging from the memories of the explosion, the re-education, the events surrounding her father's death, and the coral burn in left her drenched in sweat, waking up with a shout, and coming up swinging.

Her sleep was not restful. That was obvious enough by the growing dark circles under her eyes and the bags starting to form there. In a way, it reminded her of the Coral burn-in and how the sleeplessness and nightmares from it felt even if she didn't have the burning, the fever or the ache deep in her bones.

She already roused in a foul mood, but the message from Snail was the cherry on top. A mission today and her squad was needed. Not even a day off after being exposed to coral or going on another mission? The red head ran a slightly calloused hand down her face with a groan. No, of course not, they were Vespers. Expected to be on 25/8.

"Oh fuck me" She muttered to herself as she untangled herself from Shere Khan and her blankets and hiked it to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She'd have to grab one of the energy drinks from the fridge. Not that she wanted to, but she was at her limit with coffee.

Coffee was free, but horrendously gross. She'd sacrifice a bit of COAM to keep herself functional with an energy drink. Maybe they had one in strawberry...

After her shower, a little bit of yoga to help even her out, and a change of clothes into another maroon, Arquebus-logo'd polo and black pants, she sent a message to her squad to get ready for a mission and headed out of her room.

She was able to slide her calm, emotionless mask back up with little difficulty, using her sleeplessness and the fear of Snail to fuel it, and headed to the messhall.

There were a few Vespers hanging out, eating breakfast and chatting, but Huntress just walked past them all, one-track minding her way to the fridge. After looking around, she located the energy drinks and nearly let out a frustrated growl, stopping the noise before it even could leave her throat.

'Of fucking course they're on the top fucking shelf. Can't even put any on the lower shelves for the short ones?!'

The grumpy red head stood on her tiptoes to reach one of the strawberry ones, but she was just a little too short to reach it. A short running jump might give her the height she needed, so that's what she did.

Propping open the door, she took a few steps back before surging forward like one would approach a gymnast's vault, jumping upwards with enough force and height to snatch it carefully from the top shelf and landing solidly on silent feet.

'Thank Artemis that worked...'

She could feel a few eyes on her as she shut the door, but she ignored them, choosing instead to grab a protein bar and pay for her energy drink. She cracked open the can's tab and took a tentative sip.

Oh...

Oh!

This was way better than coffee! Maybe she was biased because it was one of her favorite flavors, but it was stronger than the coffee too, already feeling the effects after a few sips. With protein bar and energy drink in hand, she headed towards Snail's office, intending to finish at least one of them on the way. She had no inclination for socialization and as such, continued on without greeting anyone. It was better to get there early anyway. Get it over with, get in his good graces, or attempt to at least, and get the job done.

She did manage to finish both before getting to his office and buzzed in, waiting for him to answer before speaking up.

"V.IX Huntress here for the briefing."

Once she got the go-ahead, she walked in, standing at attention in front of his desk as usual, waiting for him to lay out the information.

~***~

Michigan had reviewed the reports from the wall information gathering over and over. There were plenty of good tidbits in there, but one thing in particular stood out to him. One of the logs grabbed was from a friendly, or seemed like a friendly, giving V.IV a warning of sorts.

After analyzing it for a few days, he realized just what it was about.

What he was about.

An RLF plant in the Vespers waiting on word from Elcano for... something.

A wicked grin spread across his face as he realized the kind of gold that G13 had dug up. He'd need a way to get a hold of Rusty, but he was no good at hacking. He knew who was though. He was likely going to spend another fortune to get that information but it would be worth it if Balam could be one step ahead of Arquebus while looking for the Coral. He'd have to thank Walter and G13 later for the information.

Pulling up Carla's contact on his phone, he hit 'call' and waited for an answer or her voicemail.

 

[Lucyfer]

Obviously, Aurelia had no idea about the prank war, and her brows lifted in amusement as Walter explained their idea of ‘pranks’ involved bombs. Somehow, that didn’t seem far from the truth with either of them. She just shook her head at their childish antics. She definitely didn’t want to have to feel like a parent to either of them.

Walter, clearly, had to step up a lot. It brought up the question of why, but she opted not to ask right then. It likely tied in back to his father, and his mother, and she’d already decided she didn’t want to know yet why one wasn’t mentioned.

“I assure you, I will not get into any prank wars with them,” she didn’t have the same sense of humor. A bomb would receive far worse in retaliation.

But he asked about LEMURES.

It was obvious to her, so fucking obvious, but she hadn’t explained. She didn’t ever feel she’d be asked, in truth. Walter hadn’t given much mind to what she did, nor much interest, so long as she was doing the jobs – and wasn’t it obvious? Maybe.

Maybe not, if he didn’t know his history.

Her stomach twisted in knots all the same as she let out puff of air in a, “Heh,” and looked up, “It’s from the ancient Roman religion. I was on Pluto, and I did a lot of research into the namesake. Strange how it keeps coming back, isn’t it? Rubicon is from Rome, too,” the river Caesar crossed, the point of no return.

‘Let the die fly high.’

“Humanity has a love affair with Rome for some reason,” she grinned as she looked back down and met his eyes, “the Lemures are the restless dead. Not the restless, I have something to do, dead. They’re the malicious, vengeful spirits. From the very beginning they were there, when Romulus slew Remus, he created the lemures that ever haunted Rome, but others came after, creating a hoard of malevolent dead crying out for a justice that can never come.”

Her gaze had fallen at some point to the coffee.

“You know what I have done.”

It was all in the report.

“LEMURES will either take me with them, or let me go.”

She expected it to be a coffin.

“Either way. It is my reminder.”

It’s why she would always tend to it. Always repair it. It was hers.

~***~

Rusty was indeed in the messhall when Huntress showed up, though he didn’t wave. He was sitting with Hawkins, and giving him an overview on his brief conversation with O’Keeffe, who hadn’t shown up to breakfast, although he’d answered messages claiming he was heading down. Likely moving slow.

The coral burn had to hurt like a bitch.

He saw the way she went to the fridge to get an energy drink – and the way she ended up doing a running jump.

He sputtered a laugh, as Hawkins let out a sigh, noticing, like so many others, that she couldn’t just go ask for help to get a damn drink. Others also laughed, or smiled and looked away. Hawkins was about to lift his hand to alert her to this, but Rusty caught it.

“What?”

“She’s busy,” Rusty stated, which was obvious in the way she marched out. “Besides,” he let go of Hawkin’s arm, “I’m not really sure she wants to bother with us anymore.”

“You two get into a fight?”

Rusty rolled his eyes, “Something like that. One criticism about her father sent her off the handle again.”

Hawkins frowned, “She should go back to….” At the look from Rusty, he lifted his hands in surrender.

Rusty wanted to outright criticize re-education. “I think that only buries the deeper problems,” it was the best he could do, “I mean, we see Swinburne going all the time and it doesn’t seem to be working out what really causes the problems, does it?”

Hawkins shook his head, but didn’t comment.

It was safer not to.

~***~

Snail let Huntress in when she buzzed in, a bit more his usual self. He’d spoken with O’Keeffe not long before her arrival and gathered more information from him, just not as much as he wanted. O’Keeffe knew nothing about the third AC. There were no logs about the strange vehicle they’d picked up from the PCA, though Snail was terribly intrigued by it.

He wanted to rebuild it.

That wasn’t what he had Huntress in there for.

“V. IX, I am tasking you and your squadron to take out an RLF base near the Bona Dea Dunes. We received word of them recently, and that many of their AC units have been seen moving in and out. At this time, there should not be an AC unit to oppose you, however,” he lifted his gaze just a moment.

“Do not bother sparing technology or supplies. Destroy them. We do not want them to have a base to return to or make use of.”

With O’Keeffe down and out, and Pater still in recovery, he didn’t have as many pilots as he’d like to send on this job. Huntress had started to show more promise, however, so this would be a good way to test her further on that, and make sure she could continue to keep up in combat. She’d done well against the strange ‘Ghosts’, this ought to be a cakewalk compared to that.

“Questions?”

~***~

Carla wasn’t expecting a call from Michigan.

Walter? Sure. After the fuck-up that was the Watchpoint, she was expecting more calls from him about the data that came out of it. She had her drones watching the coral, so she was figuring where it was going.

She didn’t really like the answer, though. Not if it was what she suspected.

Despite not expecting Michigan’s call, she still answered, making sure to sound perfectly annoyed with him, “What is it, Michigan? You better have an actual job for me, my time is coam – and it better not be another shipment of dye remover.”

She was pretty sure he hadn’t been stupid enough to go against Raven since that time with Nile.

But she was eager for the day he covered his own AC in the dye.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter listened intently as Aurelia explained the significance of LEMURES. He was captivated by her passion and the thought she had put into naming her AC. Her explanation revealed a layer of her personality and history he hadn't fully understood until now, even with the information presented to him in the packet from her purchase and that Carla had gotten him.

He nodded thoughtfully, taking in the reasoning.

"I know some Greco-Roman stories, but not enough it seems," he admitted. "The meaning you've imbued in LEMURES is fitting, and a bit haunting. It makes sense, considering everything you've been through."

Walter's gaze softened as he met her eyes. "I admire your strength. It takes a lot of courage to face those demons head-on, to fight alongside them rather than run from them." Something he was working on doing himself, though something told him he was going to answer to those demons sooner rather than later.

"We all have our ghosts. Yours just seem to be a bit more physical." Almost a pun in reference to the meaning of her AC's name, though he got serious again. "I hope, in time, you'll find the peace you're looking for, whether it’s with LEMURES or beyond it now that your burn-in is seeming to get better."

Walter lifted his mug of half-drank coffee, raising it in a toast with a soft chuckle. "To you and LEMURES, setting off pink fireworks, and causing all of Rubicon to have the biggest headache having to order pink remover from Carla." Mentioning her explosives, he couldn't help the question that followed.

"What made you so fond of explosives? Was it because of Antares?" It could have been. The man adored his explosions and 'fireworks' and wasnt' shy about it seeing as Furlong specialized in them, and hearing that Antares was Aurelia's hero? That could be the whole explanation for it.

~***~

An RLF base.

'Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?! You crazy son of a bitch!'

She wanted to scream, pull at her hair, but she kept it all in, hidden behind her mask of complacency with her fear of the man at the desk in front of her. There was no getting out of this one. She'd do it, but she'd hate every second of it.

'Looks like another sleepless night for me. Fuck.'

The fates were cruel. A job against those she had the plans to join once she paid off her debt. Not just a hit, but to raze the base. Destroy it. Ruin the lives of so many Rubiconians...

'Arquebus helps the planet my ass. And I totally didn't have coral burn-in.'

Huntress listened though, absorbing the details like a sponge and waiting for him to finish talking. He had a bad habit of monologing sometimes and his briefs could be long winded, but thankfully he kept this one short.

"Yes sir. Would you like us to grab logs from the terminals while we are there before we destroy them? They could have information on other bases in the area to raid later."

'Play the part. Play the part.'

If she was sent there to burn it to the ground, then she was going to do her best to give them as quick and painless a death as she could. Be like the lethal Huntress she named her AC after. She could only hope to make up for the atrocities she was about to commit later, whether in this life, or the next.

~***~

Her tone was as it usually was when they talked after a prank of his. She must have received the bomb that he sent her for her last prank. He had to stifle a laugh into a cough as she answered him.

"Carla! My favorite Rubiconian! How's it going? How would you like to make some coam and also fuck with Arquebus? I learned a little something about a certain V.IV Rusty that might benefit the both of us. I just need your hacking stills to get ahold of him without getting him caught by ol' Hostage Killer. 350k coam and access to all the information he coughs up, whaddya say?"

He hoped that she would take the offer, though he was willing to pay higher if she wanted more. This was a lucrative opportunity for them both.

If they could capitalize on it, then they could get ahead of Arquebus, which would be huge for RaD and Balam.

Maybe the Red Guns would stand a better chance against them, or find out about jobs that were going to be offered to G13 and offer her more than Arquebus to do the opposite.

 

[Lucyfer]

Aurelia scoffed, but not without humor, “What would a Son of Jupiter need to know about the Chthonic mythology?” Of course, she also hailed from Jupiter, but that was besides the point. She’d made her home on Pluto, like Proserpina.

Again, he spoke of strength, and she couldn’t help but shake her head, ‘It’s not strength.’ She didn’t have a choice. What option, but to pretend it didn’t happen, to run? That would take more energy. Acceptance was heavy, but it was easier.

She did smirk at his comment on LEMURES and the explosives, though, lifting her own cup in a mock cheers. “Antares played a role in it, but much more credit goes to DI MANES,” Aurelia answered, “I did steal him, after all, so I didn’t start out with coam to change him. He was built for explosives, so I learned how to use them, and when I finally had coam to make changes…I was already used to it.”

Familiarity.

“It helped that Elcano didn’t specialize in explosives or heavy frames, and most who bothered to challenge me had Elcano ACs.” There were others, but with Elcano being the closest producer in the area, they were restricted to that.

DI MANES was heavy and explosive, everything Elcano wasn’t – and she obliterated the small frames with ease. “It’s a bit hard to fall in love with AC designs you regularly destroyed,” she chuckled, “but I may be growing soft on the beam saber now. I was thinking of replacing it before BALTEUS.”

~***~

“Yes,” Snail stated, “but do not leave the terminals or anything else intact after you have taken the intel that you need.” It was a straightforward mission. He wouldn’t actually be too upset if there was little gathered. Although Bona Dea saw a lot of activity, his scouts hadn’t seemed to think it was an important one.

Not since the STRIDER was lost.

But, the still needed to weaken the RLF, so leaving them without a base was good. This one seemed like a dropoff base, so supplies moved between it frequently. That would be good to cut off their route in at least one way.

“Any additional questions, V.IX?” Snail had little else to say on the mission and was prepared to dismiss her if she had no other questions. It wasn’t a complicated one. Even Swinburne would understand the directions, and his brain was a bit, well…lobotomized would be the nice word for it.

~***~

Carla frowned, not in disappointment at what Michigan brought, but in thought. ‘V.IV?’ She knew that one a bit more, now. It was the one Lilith’s sister was infatuated with. It was one who had been involved in the Wall, and it was the one who she’d briefly spoken to in a PCA base. He seemed to be drawing all kinds of attention.

Now, it seemed, he’d drawn the wrong attention.

“Tell me what you found on him, Michigan,” Carla said, “then I’ll see if what you’re offering is worth my time. Getting around Hostage Killer means I’ll need to find a personal contact for him, rather than that Arquebus tech.”

Not everyone had that, but if Michigan needed to contact Rusty to fuck with Arquebus, odds were good he had something personal. He’d need to, if Michigan was thinking he could use Rusty against Arquebus.

‘Lilith doesn’t have that….’ No, Lilith had his work information, which he’d used to place his order.

This would be interesting.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

So he was right. Her love for explosives did have something to do with Antares, but it was more than just that. It was necessity as well. She didn't have the same privileges that he had under the care of Antares and Carla.

He was able to afford his starter AC and then upgrade it. Compared to his pilot, he lived a very privileged life.

She had to steal hers.

She had to build her name from the ground up.

He had help from his mentors and his father's money. He didn't need to work nearly as hard to get where he was. The curse of the silver spoon. A blessing to get an AC and be able to pilot it, and a curse to forever have the trauma associated with what his father put him through and the job of preventing his work to ever happen again.

"He served you well, all things considered. Just like WATCHTOWER did for me before the accident. Now DI MANES lives on in LEMURES." Even though it was a necessity considering their situation, he had said that her AC was hers to do whatever she pleased with.

After all, he wouldn't need it back once the coral was found and burned and it gave her something that was truly hers. Give a pilot some freedom, and they were more likely to be happier to work for you.

"The Pulse blade, huh? WATCHTOWER had one of those. Judging by your fighting style, You might like the LR-036 CURTIS, its a Laser Rifle, or the SG-027 ZIMMERMAN, a pretty powerful shotgun. I think I seen one on G4 Volta's AC. Balam makes them both, so you might even be able to intimidate Antares into giving you one."

The last part was said as a joke mostly. He didn't know if the man would backdown enough to give her AC parts, but it was always worth a try. He'd back her up about it and claim ownership of responsibility. He'd claim it as a prank if he had to.

~***~

'Eat shit and die, you sick motherfucker. I wish your coffee is always too hot or too cold and that your razor breaks everytime you go to use it.'

"No sir. Thank you, Sir."

'Gross. Absolutely disgusting. I hope you trip on your own two feet in front of the rest of the Vespers, hit your head off a counter and they laugh at you, creepy inhuman barbiedoll-looking ass. I bet your own mother hates you.'

She cut her thoughts as they bordered on dangerous, keeping her face controlled. Damn, the lack of meaningful sleep was really getting to her.

Huntress waited until she was dismissed before she left calmly, making her way back out of his office and heading back the way she came. Exhaustion staved off, she had a bit more pep in her step as she walked back through the cafeteria, giving a single, blank-faced nod of greeting to everyone present, making note of Hawkins, Rusty, Pater, and Maeterlinck all in different stages of food and conversation, before heading to her room. She needed to change into her flight suit and then do a quick look over of ARTEMIS before she left.

The walk back to her room was quick, and so was getting changed, unceremoniously tossing her clothes onto the bed as she slipped into her Arquebus and V.IX logo'd flight suit. She took a look at her phone lock screen, pausing for a moment in the solitude of her room to remind herself why she was pushing herself so hard before pocketing it, her bluetooth headphones and her work tablet, making her way to the hangar.

When she got there, she put on the gimble harness, only to find that the buttons to lift her up weren't working.

'Great. Just fucking great. At least this stupid fucking flight suit is flexible.'

The AC techs working on Pater's AC cast a curious gaze her way as she unbuckled herself from the harness, put in headphones, and turned on her music. Wasn't she supposed to be getting inside her AC? Not working on it? That was their job! But she didn't stop there. Kicking off her boots, she grabbed two handfuls of the suspension ropes and began her ascent to the top.

It took a solid 30 seconds, but once at the optimal height, she wrapped the suspension wires around her legs and feet in a way that could hold her as she rested in a split several stories in the air to check the top of her AC, spiraling down little by little as she completed her checks on ARTEMIS. When she was done, she death dropped, stopping herself right before she hit the ground, nearly giving the Techs, who had been watching in horror and fascination, heart attacks. One even gave a shout of worry as she ended what she was doing in an upside-down Spiderman pose. Once she was low enough, she pulled herself up, untangled the ropes, and lowered herself back to the floor.

'Damn... I forgot how fun that was... Maybe I'll do one of my old routines when I get back...'

Putting her shoes back on, she made her way into ARTEMIS, started her up, and connected her comms to her Squadron's as she loaded up on the transport copter with them. This was going to be... hell. There was no sugarcoating this. It was going to be hell, and she was going to definitely have more nightmares tonight.

"V.IX Huntress, checking in with 9th Squad actual, Arlo. All systems go?"

"All systems go! Let's show them what Arquebus can do!"

'Shit. They were into it... Well, there go Movie and Game Nights. Maybe I'll still start Yoga club but for Vespers only... I doubt Snail would show up to something like that...'

As she battled her thoughts, the copter lifted up into the air, taking them towards their mission's destination.

~***~

'Yes! Set the hook!'

He got her interested, that was the harder part of this proposition. Now he just had to reel her in with the information he had.

"Oh you're gonna love this. Turns out our Vesper pal is an RLF plant and has a deal he's working out with Elcano! It would be a real shame if Arquebus found out about that, huh? And I'm just such a big fan of V.IV Rusty and STEEL HAZE."

The robust man let out a boisterous laugh at the thought. A fan of his enemy? Yeah right. but maybe the enemy of his enemy could be his information providing not-friend?

It would be devastating, but not for him. No, he would have a blast blackmailing this muzzled wolf. Maybe an old dog could teach this wolf some new tricks, gain helpful Intel and fuck with Arquebus in the process. It was more than worth the cost.

 

[Lucyfer]

Aurelia rolled her eyes at the mention of Zimmermans, “Please, I wouldn’t dare offend LEMURES with zimmers. Do you know how many people just strapped on zimmers and songbirds to their ACs and thought they could fight?” the exasperation was apparent, “I’d rather cut my arm off and pilot LEMURES with one arm than ever use zimmers.”

The Curtis wasn’t any better in her opinion.

“I’ve got some thoughts for upgrades to the bazooka, though. Once it’s a bit more solid, I’ll reach out to RaD. As well as when I think of something I might prefer to a pulse blade, although I believe I’ll stick to something in the realm of melee. With how close I get in combat, it would be for the best to continue to press that advantage.”

She had the missiles for afar, and even the bazooka shot could go far, it just didn’t hit quite as hard that way.

Her gaze went down again into the coffee. With the clarity of the coral burn-in gone away, there was a question of what to do if, she made it out of this alive. If she got Walter to his retirement. Would she really want to fight to the end on Rubicon-3? Would she want to return to Pluto? Life beyond being an AC pilot never crossed her mind.

A terrible thought twisted in her mind, incomplete, but as haunting as LEMURES: ‘I want….’

An outstretched hand, trying to find it, trying to take hold of an unknown it.

Perhaps it would have been better of Ayre never gave her hope. “I think I need to start in on LEMURES, though. Run the damage assessment and diagnostics,” she put her hands on the table and stood up, “I’ll need to be ready soon, and I’d rather not have to use the old frame. I…don’t think things get easier from here.”

There was no reason for them to get more difficult, all she should really face were other ACs and MTs, but she’d been confronted by strange vehicles more than once now. BALTEUS, and the Institute’s machines. Somehow, she had a feeling this wasn’t the last of the oddities.

~***~

Carla was intrigued by what he had to say. ‘So Rusty is a Rubiconian?’ Well, perhaps not – but 99.99% of all RLF was Rubiconian, and she doubted a Vesper who came in from off-world would grow sympathetic to the cause of Rubicon-3. Not to mention the odds of the RLF trusting them would be next to zero.

No, he had to be a plant, then.

“Interesting. I’m surprised you of all people found that kind of information,” someone else found it for him, but Carla wouldn’t pry into that. This could be a lucrative offer. Knowing what Arquebus knew would be immensely useful. Arquebus was the most well-informed of the corporations.

Michigan knew it, too.

Balam had more force, and had even brought more MTs and ACs, and were bringing in more if she understood things right, but that didn’t help if they didn’t know where or how to place them. Arquebus was meticulous.

They didn’t need the numbers.

“All right, Michigan, but I expect every drop of information forwarded to me. Send half the coam, and I’ll get to work on finding out what I can about Rusty. I’ll send his personal contact information as soon as I can locate it,” she gave a heavy sigh, “I’ll need to hack some RLF files,” which was not going to be easy, given Rusty’s information likely wasn’t just anywhere.

Still, it would be found.

Carla would put Chatty on it to make sure.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Oh he struck a nerve with that one. He understood a bit. You either loved Zimmies or you didn't and she seemed to hate them with a passion. That was good to know. No ZIMMERMANs.

It did surprise him further that after the hell that Carla and he had put her through that she was still wanting to get something from RaD. It seemed that she liked their work, not that there were many custom AC part makers here on Rubicon, and that made him happy.

He knew that out of everyone else on this planet, they could trust Carla's custom work more than anything that the other corporations here offered. Balam maybe, but Arquebus? Absolutely not.

Something Melee? Well, there weren't many things in the way of Melee compared to kinetic or energy weapons, but maybe the ASHMEADE?

He'd seen a few Pile bunkers on ACs back on Jupiter and they did a devastating amount of damage, especially during overheat. They could be more her style compared to the dreaded ZIMMERMANs.

She was up and moving though before he could get the suggestion out. She was right. There was a lot of work to be done on LEMURES, and he still needed to call Carla and figure out what the hell happened for their intel to be so bad that he almost lost his pilot and new friend.

Walter hadn't noticed that his own food had been gone for a while now, and his coffee all but the dreggs as he also got to his feet.

"I have a bad feeling that you're right. I should go talk to Carla and get that increase in payment for you and see about getting replacement parts when the scans upload on my screens. Let me know if you need anything." He took his plate and cup to the sink, and started out of the kitchen towards his office, pausing to look back at her for a moment.

"Thanks for listening to an old pilot tell his 'war stories'," He said jokingly, knowing very well that she had asked for him to tell her about himself. It was refreshing getting to talk about something other than the jobs he assigned, or getting grilled for information or coral and he was looking forward to their next talk.

~***~

Bona Dea Dunes.

'The fucking desert. The middle fucking nowhere, Rubicon-3. He sent me to a fucking desert!'

The trip out wasn't too long, and she had muted her own mic while her squad yammered away in comms about how excited they were to go out there and kill people. If she didn't have to keep an eye on her squad and try to keep them alive, then she would have left every single one for dead.

As the transport copter landed on the outskirts of the base, Huntress unmuted herself and started giving orders, her voice flat and almost condescending in her grumpiness.

'Time to scramble the pilots.'

"Squad 9, deploy! Follow my lead!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

As soon as everyone got off the transport copter, she hit her boost thrusters and zipped towards the base.

It wasn't a massive base, but it was large enough that she could see why her squad was needed here.

'Artemis, forgive me for what I'm about to do.'

"Arquebus! Incoming Vesper and MT squadron!"

"Which one is it?!"

"V.IX! Protect the base!"

"Coral! Abide with Rubicon!"

Huntress did her best to tune out the panicked calls and warcries of the RLF MTs. She knew that they didn't stand a chance against an AC, and that made it all the worse for her.

'I'm so fucking sorry.... I wish things were different, but the best I can do is just take you out as quick as I can so you don't suffer...'

Her AC, ARTEMIS, boosted across the sand, the RLF MTs scrambling to form a defensive line. Their smaller frames darted to and fro, trying to find an opening to exploit and scrambling to watch towers.

"Arlo, Squad 9, Engage." she called back icily, her eyes narrowing as she locked onto the first target. She was going to hate every fucking second of this...

The RLF MTs fired a barrage of rockets and bullets, but Huntress was on the move. ARTEMIS dodged right, the projectiles whizzing past harmlessly. She returned fire with a volley of her own, the flurry of shots from her LUDLOWs tearing through the lead MT's armor like paper. The MT exploded in a fiery ball, debris scattering across the dunes.

"Move forward! Sweep the perimeter and don't let any of them escape!" Huntress ordered, her voice cold and detached.

Her squad followed her lead, the Arquebus MTs moving in a tight formation, their superior firepower and armor overwhelming the RLF defenders. After all, the RLF had to rely on BAWS parts when Arquebus could pull better parts from off world.

Huntress targeted another couple MTs, her missile lock-on tone steadying before she unleashed a salvo. The missiles streaked towards their targets, impacting with devastating force and leaving wreckage in their wake. She could feel her heart sink with every life she was forced to take. Thankfully, the ones she had attacked so far had all went down quickly. It was as painless a death as she could give in her situation.

"Base defenses are coming online!" shouted one of her squad members.

"Focus on taking them out." Huntress commanded, her AC already moving towards the nearest turret.

The turret swiveled to track her, but she was too fast. Artemis assault boosted across the distance in a heartbeat, sending a kick through the turret's base in a single, fluid motion. Sparks flew as the turret collapsed, rendered useless.

"Two more turrets at the northeast corner!" another pilot reported.

"I've got them," Huntress replied, boosting towards the new targets. She could hear the desperate chatter of the RLF defenders, their fear and determination palpable even through the chaos of battle.

"Hold the line! Don't let them reach the supply depot!"

"Corporate dogs! Taking all our coral and killing our families!"

"Focus fire on V.IX! We have to take her down!"

"She's too fast!"

Huntress grit her teeth, pushing Artemis forward to descend on the turrets before they could fire upon her. She unleashed another barrage of missiles, taking out one of the turrets while her LUDLOWs made short work of the other. The remaining RLF MTs were scattered and disorganized, their attempts to regroup futile against the relentless assault of the Arquebus squad.

"All units, converge on the supply depot. Destroy everything. Leave no trace. I will take out the remaining MTs, leave the terminals for me." Huntress ordered coldly, approaching the nearest small grouping of MTs and decimating them with a storm of kinetic hell.

'I'm the only one not out to make them suffer. I will at the very least be a more compassionate end for them.'

Her squad moved in, their weapons laying waste to the RLF's supplies and technology. Explosions rocked the base as crates of munitions and equipment went up in flames. Huntress's heart clenched at the destruction, but she forced herself to stay focused as she hunted down the remaining RLF pilots.

Things were, to her surprise, ahead of schedule. They had gotten there earlier than expected, then they had taken out the RLF faster too, and as such, she would likely get her log gathering done early.

'All before fucking lunch too... Fuck you Snail. I hope you choke on your gods damn nutrition bar and Freud has to do the heimlich manuever on you.'

She made her way to the central terminal, her AC's sensors scanning for any remaining threats. The base was in ruins, the last of the RLF defenders in varying states of death. Huntress opened her information plug port as she approached the only terminal.

"Keep watch. I only need a few moments to pull the logs," she instructed her squad, a progress bar flying towards completion on the terminal's interface. That upgrade from Lils a month ago really was a blessing.

The data transfer was quick, the logs downloading onto her device. As the final file copied over, she took a deep breath, her eyes scanning the horizon. Most of it was nothing, just invoices for supplies bought from BAWS, but there was a tidbit in there about another base on the other side of Bellius. Another Supply depot from where the supplies to this base were being sent. The mission was almost over, there was just one last thing to do.

'When I get out of this fucking Tartarus-ass hellhole you call 'the Vespers' , I'm gonna rain so much death and destruction down on you and yours Snail. Just you fucking wait.'

"Logs secured. Begin final demolition," Elliot fought back the tears that wanted to gather. She could morn later in the privacy of her room.

She watched as her squad set off explosions throughout the base, the attacks ensure nothing was left standing. The RLF would have nothing to return to.

'I'm so sorry... Artemis... please... forgive me...'

With a final, resolute nod, she turned away, her heart heavy but her mask unbroken.

"Mission complete. Squad 9, load up," she said, her voice hardened.

As they boarded the transport copter and lifted off, Huntress looked out at the burning wreckage below. She had done what needed to be done, was still running ahead of schedule, avoided getting hit, and not a single MT had fallen out there thanks to her speed. If she didn't know what she now knew about the RLF, the thought would be exciting to her. No, instead it was depressing, furthering the grumpiness and hostility brewing inside her under the emotionless mask of complacency she wore.

Just like they had gotten there early, they were still early to get back, and as soon as she locked her AC into it's LOADER in the hanger, she was out of it. She had a report to give to Snail, and then she'd get a more flexible set of clothes on, come back here, and play on the suspension ropes. There were somethings that Yoga couldn't fix after all, and this was one of them.

As she walked through the halls again, she was practically thrumming with irritation, hateful thoughts and threats for those that got in her way inside, all carefully hidden as she instead offered nods of greeting and small 'excuse me's' to anyone she passed that were in her way. She was miserable but there was nothing she could do to fix the situation other than pay down her debt as quick as possible.

Getting to Snail's office, she buzzed in.

"V.IX Huntress, here for the debrief."

When she was let in, she stood at attention once more in front of his desk, waiting for the go ahead to give the information.

'I'm fucking back, you insufferable prick. I bet you're soooo pleased that I got this job done fast. You warmongering, smooth-brained, slimey, bottom-feeding, slow-ass bug in a shell motherfucker.'

~***~

The innitial silence was either a very good thing, or she had hung up on him. A bad habit that she and Walter had when he talked to them. I mean, who wouldn't want to talk to him?

Actually... nevermind, he could think of quiet a few people who didn't want to talk to him... Like Snail, or the RLF, or Iguazu, or...

He was going to speak up to make sure that she hadn't done just that when she spoke again, leaving an almost snarking comment on how he had come across this information but he wasn't going to give it any attention, waiting to see if she accepted the deal or not.

She was smart. She would know how huge this could be for them, assuming they could find personal information for this Rusty fellow. But he knew Carla. He knew that if she didn't know it, she'd be able to find it. It was honestly terrifying and impressive how quick she could get the information someone needed.

The moment he heard her give any sort of go-ahead, he sent her over half the amount. He knew how she worked, he just needed the ok before he sent it.

"Pleasure doing business with ya! I'll send over the tidbits that our good friend, Raven, gathered for me. I can't wait to see if we can't get this wolf to roll on over."

And Michigan did just that, forwarding the information to her right as the distant sound of one of his prank bombs went off, likely shooting streamers and glitter everywhere while playing noisemakers. Well, time to split! "And here I thought you didn't recieve it! Enjoy your present, Carla. That's for the last one you sent us. Thanks again!"

With a hearty laugh and a shit-eating grin, he hung up. These prank wars were getting out of hand but neither side was backing down.

 

[Lucyfer]

Aurelia really wasn’t happy to hear that Walter thought the same. Still, hopefully it meant he’d try to do more research before accepting jobs – or she’d be more on her guard. Either way, the jobs weren’t going to be in short supply, she was sure of that. LEMURES needed to get up and running for her to continue pursuing them.

She scoffed a bit at his comment of war stories, “Please – I don’t think any of those involved wars,” she’d considered saying he wasn’t that old, but opted against that. She wasn’t actually sure of his age, and after meeting Carla, she really had questions as to the age of everyone around.

Either way, she would exit the kitchen and return to the hangar to get to work on LEMURES in peace.

Or, she assumed peace.

Ayre could always return at any moment. Until then, Aurelia would turn up the music in the hangar to start doing what she could to fix LEMURES up until the parts arrived that she needed to replace.

~***~

Snail was, of course, aware of when the 9th Squadron returned, and the logs were forwarded his way. He skimmed through them, before calling over to Freud. “’Ello?” Freud greeted, the annoyance obvious in his tone.

“Bona Dea Dunes. The RLF base has been eliminated. Go there with your squadron and secure it for an Arquebus base. There were reports of Institute technology in the desert. I want it found, Freud.”

Freud scoffed on the line, annoyance shifting to amusement, “You don’t care what shape it’s in, right?”

“I would rather it not be too broken down. We are attempting to research it and recreate what is useful. I understand the technology took down a STRIDER. That is useful.” Snail stated, every sentence cutting off on a harsh note.

He could imagine the other pilot rolling his eyes, “It’ll be done. Squad one, shipping out,” he imagined the mock salute, before the call dropped. It wasn’t long after that Huntress arrived at his door and he buzzed her in.

She walked in, silent, and stood at attention.

He anticipated she would debrief, but when she stayed silent, he said, “Do you intend to stand there and waste my time, V. IX, or do you have something to say about the mission?”

~***~

The coam came through, and Carla was pleased to see it. Far more than enough to find one bit of contact information. She also graciously accepted the logs that Raven had retrieved. ‘She’s been busy.’ Well, no matter, Carla would use this information.

She heard the distant explosion and let out an exasperated sigh.

He was really asking for his AC to be dyed pink. Shame Carla wanted to leave that to Raven, but she’d make sure something was destroyed in the future. “Try not to hurt yourself between now and then, Michigan.” Carla would let him go with that, and look into the logs without going to see the present.

The mess would either still be there, or be cleaned up, by the time she went to check.

Michigan wasn’t good at lasting damage.

But the information was indeed interesting.

And quite damning.

Nothing contained Rusty’s real name, which meant she had some digging to do to find out just who he was, so she could determine how to contact him, “Chatty, are you ready to take a dive into Arquebus’s logs?”

“Ready, Carla.” Chatty confirmed.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Well, the stories kind of did involve the Jupiter wars, but he had moved back towards Rubicon by the time that they were in full swing, leaving the work to Michigan. It wasn't ideal, but the Coral needed pursued and Antares got his fair bit of fame from the ordeal. So when he got even the smallest inkling of Coral still being on Rubicon, off he went, leaving his second home for his first.

He didn't need to say that though. not yet. Maybe another day, over another meal. He hadn't realized how much he had missed cooking for others, or her, but he knew he'd likely be doing this again. Something friends did, caught up, told stories, or something.

The pepper-haired man made his way to his office slowly, taking his time. He didn't have to tell Carla about the hallucinations, or the freakout he had when he thought he had lost Aurelia, but he probably should tell her the first one.

Maybe.

First things first, He'd need to relay the information of what happened to her, and see if she couldn't get those parts out for his pilot.

Walter sat down at his desk and ran a hand through his greying tresses, touseling them a little bit as he did so.

This wasn't a texting conversation.

No.

He needed to call her, and so he grabbed his tablet, setting it up in front of him, and hitting call on Carla's contact. Hopefully she wasn't too busy, though this could wait another few hours if she was.

~***~

Ayre had advntured through the ship while Aurelia ate breakfast with Walter, giving its new companion a much needed break for privacy. They had been together pretty much non-stop since the accident at the Watchpoint and it was nice to have free reign too.

She hoped that Raven was having a good chat with Walter, or at least a chat that wouldn't end in a fight between the two.

There were a few interesting pieces of information in the system that she wanted to bring to Aurelia, like the blueprints for an AC called WATCHTOWER, and a personal contact for the Carla person.

Some of the information it tried to reach but there were ridiculously strong encryptions on them and passwords. She'd have to spend a lot more time trying to get into it. Maybe next time Aurelia wanted some alone time.

By the time that Ayre went to return to their dark-haired companion, she wasn't where she last was, and so the c-pulse wave had to track her down. It wasn't too hard, considering there was only one mass of coral on this ship; her.

When it had found her, she was blasting her music again and working on LEMURES. Ayre did her best to gently move back to her resting place in her implants, a knock of sorts before entering. "I... have returned. With some information. How was your talk with Walter?"

~***~

'Oh you motherf-'

"My apologies, sir." She stated flatly, keeping the fear and anger behind her mask as she mentally reminded herself to keep her report as factual and unemotional as possible.

"The Bona Dea Dunes base is destroyed. We left nothing intact for them to use as instructed."

Her stomach felt queezy just thinking about it.

Hopefully, it wasn't one of their bigger supply stops.

"There are no survivors. No losses our side. There a handful of MTs with surface damage to them from shrapnel and MT fire. There is no damage to ARTEMIS. I picked up a few logs from a terminal. They were mostly shipping reciepts, but there was information on another supply base on the other side of Bellius. "

Western Bellius somewhere.

Gods... She hoped that she wasn't sent there too.

There was only so much she could take, and yet, she had to endure if she wanted out of there. She had to do the missions she was sent on if she wanted any hope of paying down that debt of hers and staying out of re-education.

Her phone vibrated silently in her pocket, but she ignored it. She had no idea what it could be, but she wasn't about to check it in front of Snail of all people.

Is that all he needed? She really hoped he didn't have question and would just dismiss her so she could go have more fun on the suspension wires in the hangar.

~***~

The twins had called a family meeting.

A family meeting with all except Elliot of course, and their deceased father.

Maura was curious, but Lilith was antsy.

"Can we hurry this up? I have to go comb glitter out of Handsome's hair... Again."

"Another G1 Michigan Prank bomb?"

Lilith groaned tugged at her hair in frustration.

"Yes. He and Carla have this stupid prank war. I wouldn't mind it normally, its really funny when one of the other workers get caught in the paint or glitter or whatever, given they aren't killed, but not my poor Handsome. He didn't learn his lesson the last 2 times because he just wants to be helpful to Carla, and its his job to bring in packages. Last time it was glitter, the time before was pink paint in revenge for the Pink Gun incident. That was hell trying to get out of his hair..."

The woman shook her head, groaning again and waving the brother's on.

"I think it's time to start operation save our sister-"

"That's a terrible name"

"We can workshop it later. The fact of the matter, is that we need to bust Els out of there. I don't know how much she owes, but 9th gen augs are pretty pricey. Let's bet on at least 7 mil until I can hack into her phone later to peak."

"Have I ever told you how terrifying that is that you can do that?"

"Carla's better at it but I get the job done."

"How much can we spare right now?"

"200k easily from my side, though we might have to cut back on 'fancy' eating if we're gonna be helping her."

"50k from both of us until we get paid next. We don't get paid a lot by the RLF but we get enough."

"I know, I know. I make a lot with commissions, especially if Raven keeps fucking up LEMURES. That's not a cheap core to replace. If you BAWSBucks me your half, I'll hack into her phone and sneak it into her account with a little friendly note in her messages.

"If she really does owe that much, she'll need all the help she can get..."

"It's settled then. Lils, we'll BAWSBucks you and send more next time we get paid."

And with that, their family meeting adjourned and the siblings went on their own ways. The twins sent the money to Lilith and headed out to go back to the RLF, and Lilith left for RaD to go help her poor, glitter-doused boyfriend. Not before hacking her sister's phone and slipping a hefty 300k Coam into her bank account with a note in her messages reading 'Care package in your account' with a roman helmet emoji. Hopefully she was smart enough to realize what that meant.


~***~

Poor Handsome indeed.

He had just been doing his job! He was supposed to carry in the packages for Carla.

It wasn't his fault that his hearing wasn't all there to hear the ticking of the package...!

OK, maybe it was, considering it was due to coral dosing damage, but he was just doing his job! He was a good worker for her, a good grid guard. leagues better than that silly 'Rummy' guy, even if he made for a fun drinking buddy. At least when Handsome wasn't having hallucinations of helicopters and sparrows.

He had nearly been to Carla's office when the bomb package went off in his arms, dousing the tallish male with a crazy amount of pink glitter, streamers, and setting off noise makers that should have hurt his ears if he wasn't already semi hard of hearing.

Instead of panicking like the last two times, he just sighed dejectedly, leaving to find the nearest broom to sweep the mess of the prank bomb up and send his loving girlfriend a message asking for help getting the glitter out of his hair and facial hair.

 

[Lucyfer]

Just as Carla asked Chatty, a call came through. She thought it might be Michigan and was prepared to chew him out for it, but instead, it was Walter. ‘Ah.’ She shifted, disgruntled, but put the phone to her ear as she answered.

“Walter,” she greeted, tamping down her irritation of being broken away from getting into the zone for her research, “Michigan’s taken a liking to that information you got him on Rusty. Seems there’s more at play there than I think even he could have guessed,” Carla shifted, “but that’s not why you’re calling.”

No, of course not, that mission was long eclipsed by the one Raven was just on.

“How is Raven, Walter?”

Carla didn’t know much. She knew of the destruction, everyone on Rubicon 3 knew of the destruction, but she didn’t know if Raven even made it out alive. The place was picked clean by Arquebus before Carla could get out there, and Walter hadn’t called. Yet, somehow, because he hadn’t called, she suspected Raven was alive.

Otherwise he would have needed to, so they could figure out the next step.

~***~

Aurelia was deep into removing the melted parts from the frame of LEMURES when that strange sensation fell over her. She lifted her head, and then heard Ayre speak. She knew what to associate the feeling with, and relaxed her body.

“Welcome back,” she could speak aloud while no one was there to bother her, and she turned down the music a bit. “The talk went well. I learned some more about him,” she answered, “we…haven’t known each other long. I haven’t been awake long,” she said, “I was just bought to help him with whatever tasks he needed.”

A hound indeed.

“We didn’t talk anymore about you,” she noted, “what did you find?” She would go back to her work while she listened and conversed with Ayre, still unsure what she felt for this situation, but certain enough that she wanted to feel it out.

~***~

No survivors. No losses. Just some superficial damage to MTs and ACs. Snail was pleased with the information even if his expression never showed any pleasure. There was information on another shipping base, as well, that could be useful to destroy. Disrupting the supply lines would make it difficult for the RLF to stay together, after all.


If they couldn’t feed each other, and couldn’t fuel up, they’d fall.

Snail knew how to wage war better than the infamous Hero of Jupiter.

“Good. I will look into the information on the base, perhaps I will send you on the strike there,” he would see how far it was, the size of it, before he decided that. He could have Rusty run ahead to gather information on it.

“That will be all, Huntress. Dismissed.” He needed to begin that research, and more. Already, his gaze turned away from Huntress to resume his previous work, narrowing a bit in remembered thought.

‘RaD.’

They were starting to get on his nerves, as were the Coyotes. He’d heard G5 was doing odd jobs for the Coyotes, he wasn’t sure if that was Michigan approved, but he needed to look into that and see if he could use it, or just turn it into G5’s death.

Either way would be good.

He could put Freud on that, though.

 

[EllieMcEllie]

Walter had known Carla long enough to know when she was irritated by something. She was like a mother to him after all. She was trying to hide it behind that 'laugh while you can' attitude of hers, but he couldn't blame her. She was either irritated by what had happened at the Watchpoint or-

Michigan.

Ok, yeah, that made sense. The two had a prank war going on, but also just generally speaking either hated each other or were the best of buds. There was no in between and it would have been comical if they weren't so obnoxious about it. He was half-temped to shove them into a 'get along' sweater together at times.

The information given to him about Rusty was apparently damning enough for Michigan to contact Carla about it, which intrigued him too. What did the 4th Vesper do that caught the unfortunate attention of Antares?

"It is not," He confirmed, though he wouldn't lie that he was curious about what exactly was found. Maybe he should have read all those reports when Aurelia gathered them...

How was Raven? Well... that was such a complicated answer.

"She's alive. Some how..." How did he go about telling her all the information? It was an absolute miracle that she was even functional now.

"Pissed off that she has to deal with Coral burns and has asked about more pay for the mission given the poor intel about just how much Coral was gathered. LEMURES is all but a melted pile of scrap." Straight to the point, and blunt, just like usual and he sent over the damage report as well as the pictures he gathered from the hangar bay.

"She's going to need new parts, and time off to heal."

He paused for a moment as the grey-haired man pondered what all to add. He didn't want to bring up to hallucinations just yet, waiting to see just how long it would go on, if this was a rare, unheard of 'second wind' right before the end of her life.

"We picked up V.III O'Keefe from the wreckage too. He was worse off than Aurelia was and old Killer of Hostages came to pick him up this morning. He got on my case about bad intel and 'controling my hound better' , but I didn't let him overstep his welcome on my ship." There was an almost amused tone as he remembered how he had snarked back at the man as he tried to insult his pilot in front of him.

~***~

The C-Wave pulse mutation was happy to hear that the two at least got to talk. She didn't sound... angry. That was a good thing at least. Things weren't said that got her new companion riled up. It didn't know how it felt about her speaking so casually about being bought. To Ayre, it was a horrifying thought.

"I see..." She spoke, but would say nothing more on it. It wouldn't do well to anger her herself. Further good news though hit after; They didn't talk more about her. She didn't trust Walter yet.

There was just something off about him and his aspirations that left a sour taste in the figurative mouth of the Coral being. It set her on edge knowing that he at the very least knew of her. The only solace being that he considered her a hallucination as well.

"I found the schematics for an AC... The name on the file was 'WATCHTOWER'." They had found it interesting that the build was of a similar style to the way that Aurelia seemed to pilot. A heavy AC with the ability to punish foes and take more than its own fair share of hits.

"I can pull up the information for you if you would like?" She 'hummed' thoughtfully, moving fluidly through the implants as she got herself settled back in near the front.

"I also found what seems to be the private contact information for that 'Carla' person. The rest of the files I had tried were heavily encrypted. I will spend time cracking them though."

~***~

Huntress was going to have a fit. If she wasn't absolutely certain that Snail would pummel or kill her in an instant for it, she'd have launched herself across his desk and throttled him. No, she needed to stay calm and keep her mind off the violent thoughts. She had caused enough carnage for one day and she didn't need another re-education stint.

Damn... she really needed to get some good sleep. Something told her that wasn't going to happen.

'Sure, send me to further destroy my dad's faction, that's fine, that's so fine, that's-'

Her thoughts were cut off once more by the drone of his voice, dismissing her.

"Thank you, sir."

The red head wasted no time leaving his office, nodding respectfully to him as she did so and made a beeline for the hangar. She passed through the cafeteria, like always, and grabbed a strawberry protien bar on her way through. She wanted nothing to do with people at the moment, just the sweet bliss that was the aerial routine she was about to perform on the suspension ropes.

Just like earlier in the day, she put in her headphones, turned on her music, and ascended the ropes, scaring a whole new shift of hangar workers who were still working tirelessly on Pater's AC. She had no care if others saw her. It was technically exercising and keeping her body in shape and it wasn't going to hurt the thick ropes of the already busted harness.

'Let's see if I remember that finishing move...'

Remember it she did, as she death-dropped, much to the horror of the repair men and women, and stopped halfway to hang upside-down and contort herself into a funky arch shape with one leg lifted upwards. By the time she was done, she had worked out more of the anger for the day, letting herself have fun and headed back to her room for the night, absolutely drenched in sweat and exhausted.

As she reached her room, she opened her work tablet and typed up an email to just the Vespers.

To whom it may concern,

Tomorrow, I am starting up teaching Yoga in the training room twice a week if anyone would like to learn and better train their body and mind for Arquebus. Vespers only. Starting at 0700.

-V.IX Huntress​

She hated that she had to add that it was for the benefit of Arquebus, but it would fly under Snail's radar, so she practically had to. Sending the message reminded her to check her phone from the notification earlier in Snail's office, and so she did. That didn't stop her eyes from bugging out as she saw the 2 transfer notifications from her bank, along with the message from Lils.

'Fuck...' Was it that obvious that she was planning to leave...?? If Lils knew, if her brothers knew, that meant that Rusty also knew.' A thought that made her a little uneasy. She still needed to apologize for flying off the handle... again... but maybe if he came to Yoga club, she could apologize after. Being on his good side was probably for the best, regardless of her crush, seeing as if he knew, there was a possibility that he could tell Snail that she was planning on leaving... Not a good idea when she had so much debt to pay down still.

She took the 'care package' money and all of her earnings from the mission she did today aside from what she would need for energy drinks, and sent it to her debt, satisfied to see the number drop from 4.5 million coam, to just a little over 4,100,000. If she kept this up....

If they helped her like they had just did... She'd be out of there in under a year, 6-8 months, give or take, depending on the missions she got and how much her brain could handle the All Mind simulations. She sent a return text back to Lils thanking her and set off for her nightly routine, setting an alarm for 6 am, crawling into bed after her shower and knocking out the second her head hit the pillow.

 

[Lucyfer]

Alive.

More than alive, by the sounds of it. Functioning. Angry. Carla laughed a bit at the reaction to the situation. “I think I can throw in a repair free of charge,” Carla had plenty to spare, and she supposed she owed it to Raven for surviving, and taking down so much with her.

She hummed at the name O’Keeffe, looking over the damage reports Walter sent, and mulling over the need of his pilot. She almost missed the humor in his tone, until it dawned on her that Walter sounded…happy.

That was a surprise.

Carla let out a sigh, releasing some of her tension about how quickly they’d need Aurelia again. ‘It can wait.’ Things weren’t moving that quickly. “Shame Hostage Killer is on top of things, but don’t worry. I was able to monitor the path of the coral. I know where it’s heading. So do you.”

Perhaps he didn’t want to admit it.
She didn’t really want to admit it.

“We’ll need to keep Balam and Arquebus distracted. The path’s not as clear cut as it used to be, given the Institute was ground zero,” strange that the coral would try to go there. Why? Was there some experiment there that was still calling to the coral to gather? It didn’t make any sense to Carla. “We’ll need to get the Xylem active again to proceed, Walter.”

Not ideal, either.

The PCA had that ship locked up tight.

“But that’s all across the sea. It’s going to take even me some time to figure out how to cross without the PCA noticing.”

~***~

Ayre found WATCHTOWER.

Aurelia couldn’t prove that Ayre hadn’t stuck around and listened, and so knew of WATCHTOWER. She considered letting Ayre show her the details, as proof she was real, but thankfully, she had something else to offer: Carla’s contact information.

Aurelia wasn’t sure she’d ever use it, but it was interesting to learn that everything else around Carla was heavily encrypted. “I’ll take Carla’s information but I’d rather Walter show me WATCHTOWER himself. He told me of it when we were talking. It was his old AC unit,” and she didn’t want to know before he showed it to her.

That felt like something worth learning of more from him.

“Ayre, do you think you’d be able to control an AC unit? Or – maybe a small robot? You seem able to interact with technology,” that had to be how she was interacting with her, right? The implants she had for the surgery.

Aurelia wondered if she could get Ayre a small robot so she could actually interact with the world in a more physical way. Or if Ayre even wanted that.

~***~

The Vespers didn’t exactly have any group activities. Freud all but laughed at the email, before he frowned, and opted to check in and see if this had gone through all the protocols. Sure enough, he found a room reserved, though when he mentioned it to Snail, V.II mentioned he was unaware of this and hadn’t signed off on anything to make any official ‘Vesper’ training clubs.

It seemed Snail was willing to let it slide, though.

It was beneficial, even if Snail had no desire to attend. The more hot-headed and prone to rebellion Vespers would get something out of it, and if not, it didn’t matter so long as they had no better use for the training room at that hour.

He’d worry about it then.

Of course, given the short warning, there weren’t many there at 7am when Freud strolled in with a yoga mat. Hawkins was there, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. With most the mercenaries dead, and Raven recovering, he probably didn’t have as much to do right then. Freud lifted a hand in greeting as Hawkins showed sudden shock, and a flicker of fear.

Freud didn’t acknowledge that, only unrolled his mat and took a seat, waiting to see what Huntress had in store for them.

Rusty wouldn’t show up.