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Fandom Coral, Abide with Rubicon!

‘What happened to 621, Walter?’

Aurelia wouldn’t ask right then. Apparently, there was going to be a discussion on the ship, about far more than a silly callsign. She needed to know what a C-Weapon was, although she could guess. ‘C’ always stood for Coral in these instances, after all. She didn’t truly understand why, but Walter did.

Walter knew more about Coral then he let on.

Right then, she simply got to work – helping the Gemini brothers take out the remaining C-Weapons as one of them offered her a repair kit to make sure LEMURES was up and kicking again – and kicking hard.

Something about those red shades certainly inspired her, and she half-wondered if they were real shades, or a vivid hallucination. That was the problem with any good hallucination, though. ‘Shades aren’t real. Just myth. Just hope.’ But of course, a part of her believed in them. Why else name LEMURES, LEMURES?

It haunted her.

Those red shades were going to haunt her, too. She was certain of it, as the last of the C-Weapons exploded in a burst of red miasma. She wanted to ask if anyone else saw it, but she didn’t want to reveal she was well and truly snapping, either. So, she made no comment on it, only turned back to the battered and bruised RLF members, “I think it’s safe to call a transport,” she said, “I’m going to scan the wreckage for signs of life,” it was unlikely…but miracles happened. “I’m sorry I couldn’t defend the STRIDER.”

But she’d help them get out, and she made sure to hang back until the RLF had indeed loaded up onto their transports, and gotten out of there. Then, well, it was time to load into her own transport and get out of the dunes.

Time to let that sense of failure sink in as she sat in the core of LEMURES and pressed her face into her hands.

The red phantoms faded the further she got from the desert, until they weren’t even a whisper, but the red tint didn’t leave her vision as she walked LEMURES to its Loader once she was back in the ship, and once she again ignored the catwalk in favor of climbing down LEMURES, only to look back up at it from the floor.

‘You need a lot of work.’ Not just repair work. That blast had definitely kept the nanobots from recovering LEMURES much. Enough to function, but little else. ‘I need to check how far along RaD is with the frame.’

But a new frame was a topic to consider later, as her gaze found Walter in the hangar. Red tint or not, she still had to speak with him about what happened, so she didn’t wave him off, but approached, “How much coffee is prepared?” they might need a whole pot.

~***~

Rusty could tell that Huntress enjoyed the bite she had of the Takoyaki, and it just made his grin broaden. He would keep the rest to himself, but he suspected she’d get this for herself in the future, as he pulled his tray back to himself, then blinked at the offer, and chuckled. “Fine, fine,” he could argue it, but he leaned forward to take a bite of the shawarma wrap anyways.

It was such a spiced meal, and some couldn’t get it right. Thankfully, this one seemed to have a decent blend of all the spices chosen, and so he hummed appreciatively, and tuned into what Huntress had to say about her living conditions.

He’d nailed it, but that wasn’t really hard, given the options for life on Rubicon-3. “Oh yeah? Xan and Xavie plan to join up with Arquebus?” he hoped not, but he couldn’t imagine much else, unless they wanted to go their rival – but why? Then they’d be fighting their own sister. It seemed the family wasn’t too opposed to her decision, but how could they be?

Ten years of support had to inspire a lot of love.

“Ah, mine? I was raised by my aunt, Nora,” not a lie. The fewer lies, the better. That was always for the best, “my parents died before I could ever know them, so I was raised by my dad’s sister for the most part. It was kind of a community raising, though,” he laughed a bit, “the colony we were a part of was close-knit. A bit too traditional sometimes, but, eh,” he shrugged, sighed, and let his gaze drift. “My aunt’s gone now,” that, sadly, was also true.

Nora passed before she could ever see a free Rubicon-3.

“So I haven’t really been back in a while or thought much about returning,” he shook his head, “it wasn’t at all like this. We struggled a lot for resources. Mars is dying, like Earth.” Like Rubicon. “Most are moving off-planet into satellite facilities, but we were still on the ground. It wasn’t the best sort of living,” he glanced back at her, “I suppose you know a lot about that, though. Nothing seems to grow here – we were lucky we could still grow some things.”

That, of course, was a lie.

On Rubicon-3, his aunt couldn’t grow anything.
 
By the time that the C-weapons were all destroyed, Pollux and Castor were completely out of ammo and their ACs were running on fumes. Pollux himself triggered his terminal armor and almost had to eject. Both brothers had to resort to punching and assault kicking their enemies at the end but with Raven's help, the survivors had all made it.

"Good call. The big guns might have other opinions, but I'm just grateful that we few survived. We wouldn't have without your help. For what it's worth, thank you." Pollux and Castor called for their transport helicopter, waving their arms in sync as soon as everyone of the MTs were loaded up before loading up themselves.

Walter was silent in the comms, muting himself as soon as he was sure that Raven was safe inside the transport helicopter to listen to the voicemail left by Michigan. Confusion rose through him, followed by anger and frustration. Carla! He thought to himself, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. How much did Michigan pay her? It had to be a large sum for her to just give up that kind of information. That was a problem for the future though. He had to make sure his pilot was ok after taking such a big hit.

As he arrived in the hangar, cane clicking off the floor, he was just in time to witness her climbing down from her AC instead of using the catwalk. Old habits died hard and he wasn't about to try and correct this one. If she wanted to break an arm falling from her AC, that was her own decision. She seemed to be in thought for a moment, regarding her AC.

It looked moments away from falling apart at the seams, and judging by the price given for the repairs, he was surprised it hadn't already. She seemed to mean business however as she turned to him. Looks like they were on the same page. They had some things to talk about, and him, some things to explain. He held her gaze as he spoke to her, answering her question.

"What was left from this morning. I'll make us a fresh pot. Are you alright? We can stop by the med bay and get you patched up if you need medical attention first from that explosion." Walter led the way, though not too far ahead as he was still talking to her.

~***~

Huntress tried to keep her mouth shut while she maneuvered her tongue around in her mouth, trying to get it comfortable despite the numbness. It was temporary, it always was, but that didn't stop it from being so uncomfortable or annoying. She couldn't even take a bit of her food until her tongue regained some feeling, or she'd risk biting into it. The red head had learned that lesson months ago.

Hearing of his Aunt's passing had her lips curling downward. How much had he risked to join the Vespers? He could have went anywhere, but he came here. Why? Why go to one dying planet from another? She was left with more questions than answers, but the questions she had were probably rude, so she didn't ask them. Instead, she reached a hand out, placing it against his arm. The numbness had finally subsided. "Am sorry. Sounds like sweet lady."

"Rubicon grows Mealworms for food. Uses coral to feed them. Technically growing? not plants..." The short pilot took a bite of her wrap, savoring the taste of the spiced meat as she thought more on his question from earlier. She was trying to ignore the fact that they had shared an indirect kiss by sharing her food, her face flushing slightly. No, they were just buddies, this was just Lilith's teasing worming its way into her thoughts. Yeah, that's all this was!

"No. Don't think so. Xan and Xavie not augmented. Probably be independent like dad. Haven't heard from them for months..." Huntress's face contorted as she shuffled her tongue around her mouth to relieved the numbness that was starting again.

"Dad was Sparta, piloted GLADIATOR." She, of course, didn't know that he had been in the RLF for years up until his death. Known for his dad jokes, quick wit, and compassion for his fellow RLF members, Varren Fletcher was a loving man beloved by most who encountered him. At least those on the same side as he was. He was a hellion on the battlefield with his Gundam-style AC. To Elliot though, he was just an amazing AC Pilot who helped put food on the table and was her loving father. "Big AC. Like a Gundam! Heavy weight and painted like Roman soldier." She was starting to wish she could use the necklace right now. She was getting awfully sick of peanut butter mouth when she was just trying to talk and enjoy her lunch. "What made you want to be pilot?"
 
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No fresh coffee, but there would be. Aurelia nodded, accepting that offer, as he wasn’t going to run from the conversation. As for medical care, she just shook her head. Sure, her AC was pretty fucked up, but it had done its job. She was fine. The core had never been penetrated, and the straps of the chair kept her in place even as it was shaken around.

The red tint to everything could be ignored.

It wasn’t something the medbay could fix, and she didn’t plan to talk about it, either. Or the voices. They, at least, were gone, and not calling her ‘Raven’ anymore.

Did no one know her name?

They reached the kitchen in peace, and Aurelia went to find her usual cup, and took it to the counter where the coffee machine was, watching Walter at work with preparing the fresh pot as the mug dangled off her fingertips.

There were many more important things to ask him, and Aurelia fully intended to get to them, but the first question to slip her lips was as much tease as it was serious: “Do you finally see me, Walter?” He’d forgotten to call her ‘621’. He didn’t seem to know what to call her, now, and a part of her enjoyed that uncertainty when he’d been so certain about so much before. “What happened to 621?” She would clarify the question, so he understood precisely what she was getting at.

She wanted to know why he changed, all of a sudden.

~***~

Rusty shook his head at the apology, “It’s all right, it’s been a while,” sure, he missed her, but he’d come to terms with it. He’d lost a lot of loved ones by now, not just in fights. Rubicon-3 wasn’t a good planet to grow up on. Many died of hunger, or they died from overdosing on coral, or gods only knew what. Some died from harvesting the meal worms. Death was more common than life, or it felt that way, sometimes.

And of course, she mentioned the mealworms.

“Yeah, I guess that counts as growth,” he chuckled, “not quite what most would think. Doesn’t that cause some harm? I mean…I know coral is used by dosers. Somehow I’d figure eating it from the worms wouldn’t be too great….”

He didn’t know, after all. Couldn’t know. Not as a boy from Mars.

It seemed she didn’t have faith in her brothers becoming Vespers because they weren’t augmented. ‘Do you know Freud?’ He was tempted to ask, but wouldn’t. Freud was an exception to the rule. Few unaugmented humans became good pilots, but those who did? They always stood out, always among the best. It’d be unlikely for Xav and Xander to be in those ranks. They probably wouldn’t last long as mercs, either, but he wouldn’t mention that.

Best to let her dream.

“I’m sure they’re doing all right,” Rusty said, “especially with a dad like you had. You all really like leaning into the old earth mythology, don’t you?” he couldn’t help but chuckle, “How come ARTEMIS?” he decided to ask, “must be something special to you to name your AC after a goddess. I wouldn’t want to risk the wrath,” not that he actually believed any of those old earth deities existed.
 
The shake of her head had him relieved. Good. She wasn't injured. Raven -or whoever she was- was damn lucky to not get injured during that blast. He still worried about Coral burn-in and if she had any symptoms, but she hadn't had another fall like last week. It was more of a subconscious worry compared to other things on his mind. The walk to the kitchen was quick, albeit quiet aside from the soft click of his cane.

Once in the kitchen, he set to work preparing a fresh pot of coffee. The salt-and-pepper haired man reached into the back of the cabinet and pulled out a small container of expensive coffee. It was something that he only used for special occassions like celebrations or very important meetings, and this seemed like the latter. He emptied the old pot out, cleaned the glass and got the pot prepped with the fancy coffee. Just in time, too, as Raven spoke up, asking the first of many questions for the day.

At first, he was confused. What did she mean could he see her? Of course he could, he had eyes. Anyone with eyes would see her. But her follow up question clarified what she meant. Did he finally see her as a person? Yes. Yes he did.

What had changed though? Out of all 621 of his hounds, why was she the one that he had finally started allowing himself to see the humanity in? Numbers kept him from getting too attached as their job would eventually take them from him, but she somehow still wormed her way into his heart, made him care about her wellbeing and her thoughts.

Was it her fighting spirit? or the fact that she continued to exist inspite of everything that had happened? He knew he would have to read her full file soon, to get the full story, but he knew the basics. She was misunderstood, demonized by the media, when really, she was just a woman trying to make a difference and save her planet from the Corporations similar to what the RLF was doing. Regardless, he couldn't see her as 'just a hound' and it wasn't 'just a job'. He'd learned his lesson with that within the first few days of being her Handler. Realization struck him that she had called him Walter. Not Handler like she had been. She was too complex, too human, to call a hound, to dehumanize her like he had his other pilots.

"Yes. I see you, Raven." Thick fingers ran through silver and grey locks, touseling the tresses as he gathered his thoughts to continue. "Calling you 621, calling you a hound, was to keep myself from forming a bond, getting too attached then losing you like I had the other 620 before you. But you aren't a hound and they weren't either. You're human. You're a pilot. You're..." He wasn't sure what to call her yet, and she hadn't clarified over comms other than saying no to 'Aite'. "...you. It is impossible to not see the humanity in you, to see your ambition and personality." Walter paused for a moment to take a deep breath, meeting her gaze once more.

"What do I call you now? Raven? Something else?" A hint of a smile ghosted on his face as he continued in a slight teasing tone, not at all serious. "unless you prefer 621?" It was then that the coffee maker dinged, signalling that the coffee was done, and he moved out of the way, allowing her to get hers first.

~***~

Rusty's words brought about a thought process that she hadn't had before. Were the mealworms dangerous for them to eat? She hadn't had the privilege to really stop and think about it. Even now, she was surviving on the free rations. if Arquebus started serving mealworms instead of them, she'd be forced to eat the coral-fed creatures again too.

"D-Dont... Don't know, buddy... Most have to eat them... Food like this too expensive for others..."The red head gestured to the food in her hand, a guilty expression painting her face. She had lost her appetite, but she refused to waste the food when so many others couldn't even afford to eat. Her family had been there before.

His further questioning about her name only further soured her mood, her blue eyes locking with the vinyl table slats. "Artemis was strong goddess. Is. Protected her family in stories. Thought if named after her, would help me be strong too. Strong enough to protect family. Keep them safe like Artemis did hers, like dad did us." In a way, she had. Her sacrifices kept them alive long enough to pursue their own dreams. As long as they were happy, she was happy. She fought back tears at the surge of emotions and used her uniform sleeve to wipe at them, careful of the scar tissue around her right eye and her shades. It always got raw whenever she cried even without her rubbing it, and she didn't want to make it hurt more than it already was starting to.

The red head ignored the numbness in her tongue as she ate her food. If she bit her tongue, so be it. If she didn't push past the mush mouth, she'd never finish the wrap and she hated wasting food. Elliot ate in relative silence, focused purely on the food in front of her and battling feelings of guilt. Her family was able to survive because of her, but what about the other families who weren't as fortunate? She knew she couldn't help them when most of her paycheck went to her mom.

Things would be different if her father were still alive. Maybe she'd have a boyfriend like Lilith, or could be an independent like Xan and Xavie were going to be. But then she wouldn't have met Rusty, or Hawkins, or worse, would have had to fight them. She wouldn't have found out who her true friends were, or had the opportunity to leave her home and travel Rubicon. The sunrises during morning missions or drills were her favorite.
 
Raven.

621.

Aite.

“You don’t know my name, do you?” there was no need for callsigns outside of the AC, but Walter persisted in not seeming to know what to call her. Aurelia had assumed he knew, after all, he knew plenty else about her. Somehow, her name had evaded him. “I should be upset that you never saw humanity in the others.” And, in truth, she was, even if there was a part of her that always liked to be special.

She poured herself a cup of coffee, however, “My name’s Aurelia Lycaon,” she said once it was poured, as she moved to get her sugar and cream, “My callsign is 621. Raven’s the lie we picked up.”

Perhaps to some she would be Raven. Most, even, but Walter shouldn’t forget the 620 others, by virtue of her callsign. He shouldn’t forget what he intended with it, turned against him now as her choice of name.

She went to take her seat the table, “You knew what those things were that attacked us. C-Weapons…Coral Weapons,” in case her assumption needed corrected, “how do you know about them? They looked…rusted. Like they hadn’t been used in a while.” So they weren’t sent by the corporations, and likely not the PCA.

She wondered if they were sent by anyone at all.

~***~

Rusty, admittedly, didn’t know either if the mealworms were bad for them. It was hard to tell when so many became dosers, if it was the accumulation of eating mealworms, or the decision to become a doser. Rusty had been fortunate enough to get some variety, and then get augmented. He wasn’t sure if the latter saved him from any coral symptoms he might have otherwise experienced.

Wasn’t sure if augmented could still experience coral issues.

Although her tone offered no expression, he could see enough on her face in spite of the sunglasses. This line of questioning wasn’t something she enjoyed. Not even ARTEMIS, which he thought would have been a happy thing to talk about. Most pilots loved talking about their ACs, after all.

It seemed it just brought up too many memories of her dad.

“You are taking good care of them, like ARTEMIS,” Rusty reassured, but he would let it drop there, and focus on eating, just as she did. The Takoyaki was delicious, after all, and he didn’t want it to go to waste.

He’d just finished off his last one, when he saw movement to the side, and shifted his head just in time for a rock to zip in front of his face and collide with the wall. He got to his feet immediately and scoured the crowd on the street for the assailant, who had no problems announcing herself.

“You scourge!” the woman shouted, a few others around her bearing the same angry expression, “You’re killing Rubicon-3! You should all go home!”
 
The question stung like a whip. Her name. Something he would have learned if he had read all of her file, or tried to see her who she was instead of putting his own feelings first. He was starting to regret that he hadn't now. That should have been his first step, and yet, here he was, floundering on what to call her other than a callsign. He felt foolish, selfish even.

"No, I do not." Admitted the pepper-haired man almost hesitantly. Here he was, trying to connect, and he had failed to do something so... necessary and simple. Hopefully there was still a chance to connect here. If only he could rectify this somehow. Although they shared space on the ship, in truth, they were little closer than strangers. Watching her pour her coffee in silence after his answer had him on edge, though he didn't let it show, waiting patiently for her to continue. If she even was going to continue. But then she did.

Aurelia Lycaon.

A name.

A human name.

Not a number, or a callsign, a name. He made a note in his head to read the rest of her file that night and not leave anything out.

Walter pursed his lips as she chose her callsign, humming quietly at the thought of what she likely intended with it. In all fairness, he deserved it, but he wasn't ready to admit that to himself just yet. This was the path to clearing the air though, or so he hoped.

"Alright then, Aurelia. 621 it is." As soon as she finished preparing her coffee, he set about getting his own. He wasn't much for cream, but he enjoyed sugar from time to time. Usually, however, he just liked it black. Today seemed like a sugar day as he filled his cup and stirred in a few smaller spoonfuls of sugar.

He was expecting her next question, and had already thought of an answer. It was best to stay as close to the truth as possible, even if he couldn't tell her about overseer, or how he really knew about the things he did.

"Old PCA scans taken by the pilots before you. They are dangerous relics of the Institute. If you see more of them, don't hesitate. Take them down." It was mostly true, and he hoped that it came off as truth enough for her to not question it. He prepared himself for it though, just in case, as he sat down in his own seat. He wasn't going to run from the conversation, but he would be very conservative about what he did share. Hopefully they didn't run into anything else during their time here that would expose more of his secrets.

~***~

Despite the sorrowful response to being asked her AC's name, she loved ARTEMIS. Had the conversation not taken a sad turn, she could have ranted for hours about her choice in weapons, the paint job, the fabric choices of the seat and straps inside the cockpit. But she had talked so much about her family in this 'home, but not really home' town and couldn't help but feel homesick.

It was a double-edged sword, in a way. It reminded her of her duty to her family, to be strong, to be courageous and fearless in the eye of danger, to face her problems head on, but it was also the place she felt most comfortable. She felt safe in her cockpit, for the most part, and it reminded her of all the good times her father, how he let her sit in the cockpit of Gladiator while he did repairs, or showed her clips from his training outtings. Was it ARTEMIS that made her feel safe? or was it the memories of her father?

Maybe she would never know. It certainly wasn't now as she was pulled from her thoughts by a rock whizzing by and hitting the wall. Unlike Rusty, she hadn't been lucky enough to finish her food, having to eat more carefully to avoid injuring her tongue. She hadn't been too successful, already feeling the tender spots forming along the sides.

Vesper training and reflex had her scrambling to her feet and putting her arms up defensively, knocking her almost finished food to the ground in the process. She wasn't the best at hand to hand combat, but if she could keep whoever the assailant was at a distance, she could kick. It was the benefit of being an avid runner. In a way, she was much like ARTEMIS. She was fast on her feet and flexible, but couldn't take a hit very well.

Her face softened and posture faltered when she saw who the attackers were. They were just average Rubiconians, but the pure, unadulterate fury that shone in their eyes stunned her. Were they RLF members? Regardless, it would hardly be fair for two trained AC pilots to get into a fight with the civilians, right? She didn't want to hurt anyone. What did she mean by 'killing Rubicon-3'? Surely Arquebus was just there to help the civilians? Right? To chase off the PCA and keep the RLF from destroying supply drops? Truth be told, she knew almost nothing about Arquebus aside from what she had learned from her month as a Vesper. Were... Were they the bad guys here?

Huntress turned to look at Rusty, unsure what to do. She didn't get a chance to speak as another rock this time headed towards her had her bending backwards to avoid being hit. "Don't want a fight. Can leave, right Buddy?" The red head didn't know how to defuse the situation, but leaving was probably the safest option, right?

This seemed to only make the growing group even more angry. "Oh, so you don't want to fight us now that you're outside your precious ACs? Now that Arquebus has doomed hundreds of us to die by killing the power at the dam? I don't think so, cowards! You're going to answer for your crimes against Rubicon-3! Get them!"

In the span of just a few moments, the two found themselves surrounded by angry civilians, fists swinging with and without improvised weapons.

Elliot did her best to keep them at a distance from her, maintaining a defensive stance. She didn't want to hurt these people, even if they seemed hellbent on hurting her. The red head kicked out at a man's legs to trip him up when he got too close, causing him to stumble and fall backwards.

"Sorry," Her face was painted with regret as she continued to dodge fists and rocks. The crowd grew angrier, swarming closer to limit the range of her kicks. Elliot had her arms up to protect her face, but that didn't stop the barrage of blows from making contact with them.

One particularly strong punch landed on her scarred cheekbone and had her stumbling back, tripping over one of the chairs and falling onto her behind. Before she could get back to her feet, she was surrounded, the civilians wailing on her.

"Motherfucker! Ow! Get off me!" Though toneless, her voice was loud as she strained to escape their fury, kicking out harder as her sense of self-preservation kicked in. She could barely hear her grunts of pain over the ringing in her ears after a particularly bad hit to the head, the man she knocked down having boxed her in the ear. Elliot hoped that Rusty was at least faring better against them than she was. He seemed to have more upperbody mass, and well, all over mass as well. It was much better suited for a fight like this than her string bean of a body.
 
Walter made no protests to continuing to use 621. Aurelia did observe him as he added some sugar to his coffee, before joining. He did seem a bit caught off guard, with the first portion of this. The second – answering about the C-Weapons – he seemed…too composed.

‘He’s lying.’

Aurelia wouldn’t call him on it directly. There were more ways to probe into what he may or may not say, and he handed it over easily enough. “I don’t know the Institute,” she said, “who are they? And why shouldn’t I hesitate? Someone must be piloting them,” no, she didn’t actually think anyone was.

Not after trying to hail one, but she wanted to hear him confirm it, and confirm additional suspicions she had, or add onto it. “Are Institute Pilots completely unreasonable?” she’d just play along with her assumed ignorance about the C-Weapons, though. That they were Institute relics, so it must be Institute pilots wreaking havoc through them.

What else could it be?

‘How alive is coral? Why was it given weapons? How do you know the Institute?’

Walter had more ties to Rubicon-3 than he was letting on. Far more. This wasn’t just about coam. Aurelia could see a thousand different ways to make more coam, easier than this, easier than this coral nonsense. No…there was something underneath all that, and she was only starting to see it.

~***~

Rusty could have palmed his face when Huntress spoke to him, seemingly ignoring the crowd – and thus pissing them off further. This was…definitely not the way to avoid a fight. The battle cry went up, and Rusty barely had time to grimace in response to her question, before dashing part-ways away from her so he wouldn’t be surrounded.

He assumed she had good enough instincts to know how to handle a fight on the ground.

Rusty, at least, made sure he didn’t have a wall at his back, and he broke into the larger crowd that really didn’t want to fight, causing chaos amongst the ranks of fighters as they threatened to involve children and parents who didn’t want to be a part of this as Rusty ducked and wove, finding ways to put a strong kick into someone’s side or bust a nose with a fist, but generally, staying low, and keeping himself relatively compact to avoid too much damage that would be serious.

It was mostly the crowd of non-combatants he involved that helped, as some quickly became combatants against the others, if a thrown fist threatened to hit a child, or hit someone just trying to get away. That helped to split how many people Rusty was actually dealing with, as he elbowed his way back towards where he and Huntress had been eating.

He could hear her.

Toneless, but apparently in pain.

He could see her surrounded, but couldn’t see her. “Hell,” he shifted his body left, before throwing a hook into the face of another fighter and sprinting into the area full of tables and chairs. He immediately grabbed a chair, and figuring where Huntress was in the mess, chucked it at the group with the hope it would avoid her, and start to disperse them a bit so he could get more involved – and give her more of a fighting chance to pull herself out.

After all, they couldn’t really just run back to the transport. They still had to pick up supplies, and they couldn’t do that being chased.
 
Walter took a sip of his coffee, the steam briefly obscuring his expression behind the rim of the mug. He didn't flinch at Aurelia's questions, though her keen observation didn't escape him entirely. He had to tread carefully here, revealing just enough to keep her satisfied, yet concealing the deeper truths he held close.

"The Institute," he began, his voice gruff and measured, "Some on Rubicon-3 call them mad scientists, though I've had no run ins with the Institute myself. Just their c-weapons and some old scans." He kept his tone neutral, revealing as little as possible of his personal connections or knowledge.

"As for the pilots, that's a mystery. The PCA scans hinted at drones, and automated systems, though nothing confirmed. Not sure how they're piloted, but it isn't by your average system. They're dangerous, that's all that matters."

Walter took a sip of his coffee, his gaze lingering on the dark liquid as if it held the answers to questions he wasn't ready to divulge. He grunted in response to Aurelia's inquiries, the corners of his mouth turning downward in a subtle frown.

"Unreasonable, huh?" The pepper-haired man hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin as his other hand held his mug. "Don't think too much on it. If they were automated or drones, they wouldn't have to be reasonable if they were programmed only to kill."

His mind flitted across thoughts he dared not speak aloud. The coral, the weapons, the Institute – it was a tangled web, and he was cautious not to get her entangled any further. The worry gnawed at the back of his mind, the unspoken fear that Aurelia might uncover too much if he were too liberal with his information delving.

He'd have to be a little more conservative if she asked more questions. As much as he wanted to clear the air, he couldn't afford to reveal anything else. She was smart, almost too smart for her own good and he couldn't afford to give her a reason to kill him.

~***~
Elliot's world had become a chaotic blur of fists, kicks, and the occasional thrown object. The assault from the angry crowd intensified, leaving her defenseless on the ground. Every attempt to fight back seemed futile as more blows landed, each one accompanied by a surge of pain. The confusion in her mind matched the chaotic scene around her.

"Damn it," she grunted, feeling the sting of each hit, a mixture of frustration and pain evident in her voice as she struggled against the relentless attackers. The ringing in her ears made it difficult to focus, but a familiar voice cut through the cacophony followed by a chair soaring through the air, narrowly missing her and crashing into the group that surrounded her.

With a burst of determination, Elliot seized the opportunity. Using the distraction, she kicked out with renewed vigor, creating enough space to scramble to her feet. Ducking and weaving, she aimed to break free from the encircling assailants. Her kicks became more strategic, aimed at disorienting her attackers rather than causing harm. Her focus was on escape, not retaliation. She ducked and dodged, narrowly avoiding a swing that would have landed on her already bruised cheek.

She moved with the agility of a dancer, sidestepping punches and redirecting the force of the blows away from vulnerable areas. The frustration fueled her movements, a silent determination to fend off the aggression without causing irreversible harm.

As Rusty continued to stir chaos on the periphery, Elliot managed to create some breathing room. She spotted a gap in the encirclement, a chance to escape the immediate threat. With a burst of speed, she lunged forward, exploiting the momentary confusion.

"Fuck this... not here to... hurt you," she grumbled, her words interspersed between evasive maneuvers. She darted towards Rusty, hoping to regroup. amidst the chaos.

The path was fraught with resistance, and Elliot couldn't avoid every blow. A sharp pain flared across her side as a particularly determined assailant landed a solid hit. Gritting her teeth and cursing aloud, she pressed on, fueled by a mix of frustration and the determination to get out of here alive.

"Thanks, buddy, " she quipped monotonously with a quick, grateful smile, acknowledging his intervention. The two AC pilots needed a plan, and fast. "How... How get out of this mess...?" The red head dodged another punch, returning it to sender with one of her own as she waited for his answer.
 
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Walter wanted to insist he never met the Institute and had no dealings with them. He explained it all away as PCA scans and reports. He claimed the systems were automated, but knew nothing else about it. He didn’t even express certainty on that, as Aurelia listened, and sipped her own coffee. “No – but their creators would need reason.”

A reason to set up killing machines. A goal. A reason they went after the STRIDER.

Aurelia understood she wasn’t getting much else from Walter. He was either being honest, and really didn’t know – or he knew far more than he let on. Aurelia leaned to the latter, if only because it fit with the irrationality of going into this job for just coam, along with his reaction to the appearance of the c-weapons. He wasn’t as recklessly supportive of her in that scenario as he was against Nile.

There was more at play.

“They targeted a machine that can mine and transport coral,” she was looking down at her own coffee as she spoke, “everyone wants coral. And it used to be so easy to get, before Rubicon-3 burned. It’s still out there. Still used to change people, like me,” the red filter had yet to leave, “the Rubiconians are willing to die for it, and everyone else is willing to kill for it, even though we’ve synthesized it, and the synthesized fuel is better than coral ever was.”

What was it? What wasn’t she figuring out?

Something the Institute figured out.

Something that was there, in the voices that called her Raven, in the way Walter suggested the machines might be automated, in the things she picked up listening to Father Dolmayan when she rescued him from prison.

“Coral’s alive, isn’t it?”

‘I’m…not just myself.’

~***~

Huntress broke free of her situation with the chair, and Rusty was glad to see it as the combatants began to avoid him, and some of the fire started to die out as he kept near the chairs and tables he could use as weapons or shields, moving to pull people away from Huntress and shove them back towards the crowd.

When Huntress broke free, he was quick to step in front and topple a table to further act as a shield, but he felt sure this was about over.

Either by them being overwhelmed, or by BAWS security.

Thankfully, it was the latter as Huntress asked about what to do, and uniformed people stepped into the area, “Break it up, break it UP!” of course, some went running immediately, to avoid charges and being caught.

Rusty simply moved to right the table he’d knocked over as one of the officers approached the dining area, “What exactly happened here?”

“I’m sure video surveillance could tell ya,” Rusty said with a quick grin, though he let it falter with a sigh, “you know how it is sometimes, the people of Rubicon-3 don’t always like the changes Arquebus is making to their planet, so they decided to try and take it out on me and my buddy here,” Rusty gestured to Huntress. “They threw some rocks, didn’t listen to us, and got violent. We’re just here on a pick-up run and grabbed some lunch.”

The officer sighed, “Damnit. I’m sorry, we should be doing a better job.”

While Rusty agreed, he shook his head, “You can’t patrol everywhere. It’s okay.”

“Well, at least let us take you in to get you patched up and get a formal brief of the situation, and some contact information. I know V.II Snail will want to pursue charges.”

“Heh…yeaaah,” Rusty agreed, hating that now he was being roped into pressing charges, in a way, but he knew he couldn’t get out of this, “I appreciate the help patching us up,” he said as the officer gestured for them to follow and led back towards the street as others began questioning the bystanders who hadn’t run – and some of the assailants they’d caught.
 
Walter's brow furrowed slightly as he listened to Aurelia's deductions, her words stirring a sense of unease within him. He kept his expression neutral as possible, masking any hint of discomfort behind a facade of stoicism.

"That I don't know," he mumbled as if unsure, feigning ignorance as he took another sip of his coffee, buying himself a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Never thought much about it. Just another resource to make coam off of, as far as I'm concerned."

It was alive, much like a school of fish were alive. Coral was fuel in the same way that fish were fuel for sharks. Nothing more.

He shifted his weight, meeting Aurelia's gaze as he continued.

"Maybe some folks see it differently, but I'm not one of them. As for why they targeted the STRIDER... well, your guess is as good as mine. Could be something hacking the PCA to go after the Coral, could be something else entirely."

Walter's mind flitted over every detail of the interaction, grappling with the weight of his own lies and the truth he dared not speak. He couldn't afford to let Aurelia uncover too much, not when they were getting closer to the Coral. Everything he'd worked so hard to complete would be for naught.

He masked his inner turmoil behind a facade of seemingly truthful ignorance.

"Best not to dwell on it. We got our own problems to deal with, and diving into the mysteries of the coral isn't gonna solve them."

His mind was already thinking ahead to the next sortie, the next battle, anything to get him closer to completing his mission. If that meant lying to his pilot, then so be it, though he hoped in a way, that they came away from this amicably.

~***~

Elliot's body throbbed with pain as she stood amidst the aftermath of the chaos, bruises blooming across her skin and her cheek swollen from a particularly vicious blow. She winced with each movement, the discomfort a constant reminder of the violence they had just endured.

As the BAWS security officer approached, Elliot couldn't help but feel a mix of relief and frustration. Relief that they were finally safe from the angry mob, but frustration at the aggression that had marred what was supposed to be a simple supply run and some time away from HQ.

What did those people mean by what they said? Their words played on repeat as she tried to make sense of them. She was just doing her job, doing her tasks as asked of her. Had her actions really hurt these people like they told her they did? She thought that the dam only supplied power to the RLF, the group deemed dangerous by Arquebus, not these innocent people... How would she even confirm that information? It wasn't like she could just ask Rusty.

She glanced at Rusty, grateful for his support throughout the ordeal. Despite having his own crowd to fight, he still went out of his way to make sure she was ok too. With a small nod of acknowledgment, she followed the officer as he led the way, her feet dragging slightly from the pain.

Her mind raced with thoughts of the implications of pressing charges against their attackers. Elliot knew V.II Snail would want justice, but she couldn't shake the feeling of unease at prosecuting those who were just fighting for what they thought was right. They were taking care of their families just like she was taking care of hers. If her actions truly did cause them harm, she didn't blame them for lashing out like they did.

The officer's words echoed in her mind, and Elliot couldn't help but wonder what would come next for those families. For now, she pushed aside her confused and worried thoughts as the officer guided them to a medical station, where a medic assessed their injuries. Elliot complied silently, allowing them to tend to the bruises and cuts on her body. Out of the two of them, she definitely got the worst of it from her time on the ground.

Thankfully, nothing was broken, though a few of her ribs were bruised and she'd had a pretty nice black eye from the hit to the cheek. She got lucky. Next time, she might not escape as she had. She wasn't much of a fighter outside her AC, prefering words to violence, but she needed to learn how to better defend herself so she was better prepared for the future.
 
Walter mumbled. He acted uncertain. His expression didn’t falter, but Aurelia couldn’t recall him mumbling before. Perhaps it was just in her mind, but she remained fairly certain he was lying as he tried to brush this part away in ignorance. No scans, no theory he bought into, just uncertainty. ‘Who’s to say? You’re just hearing voices and going insane.’

That was…far more likely.

But still, there was something to this.

“My problem is coral,” Aurelia reminded him, for why she’d dwell on it, and why she’d continue to dwell on it. It wasn’t only that coral was inside her veins, it was also her way to freedom. Coral had become everything to her life, like it or not. If coral was alive, that was another problem. Would that be why coral burn happened – was that thing trying to have a life of its own?

Was it sentient enough? 'You don't really think much about living things, anyways, do you, Walter?'

Was it dead, and decaying inside her, poisoning her gradually?

“Why is coral worth so much, Walter? When I was on Pluto, it seemed like we’d synthesized it so well that it wasn’t needed. Higher generations of augmented humans don’t use it at all, and we have numerous other fuel sources. I don’t understand,” and that was the truth – she didn’t. She didn’t get why there was this rush to get coral, at all.

The only thing she could guess at, was that they hadn’t had enough time to truly explore their options with coral, to improve coral itself and its use, before the Fires of Rubicon took their access away.

~***~

Rusty was pretty well off from the fight. A few bruises would manifest later, but for now, he was able to joke with the medics, and talk with the officer to answer any questions they had about the scene, and who started what. He didn’t really have descriptions, but he knew the cameras would catch that.

Then, Snail would press his charges.

It wasn’t Rusty’s business after that, although he didn’t like the thought at all. The people should have known better than to go after Arquebus employees like that.

When they were released from the BAWS security office, he clung close to Huntress. She’d gotten the worst of it from the report, “You know,” he began, as they started walking through far emptier streets, now that no one wanted to be out and possibly caught up in police questioning, “if you need more training for physical combat, I’d be happy to help ya out,” Rusty offered, “I know we don’t run into situations like this too much,” thank goodness, “but it’s still pretty beneficial, anyways.”

It was good exercise, and it definitely kept them prepared.

Arquebus ordered a certain degree of drills related to physical combat, but not nearly as much as they did their AC drills. Rusty and a few others made sure to make up for that on their own time with practice spars.
 
More questions, more probes into the Coral. He would have been frustrated had her questions not been so reasonable for her position.

Were their roles switched, he would be asking the same kind of things.

Walter's gruff demeanor concealed the intricacies of the truth he kept hidden. The corners of his mouth tightened imperceptibly as Aurelia dug further, but he held his ground, his gaze meeting hers with practiced nonchalance.

"Coral's worth comes from its longevity," he replied, his voice carrying a hint of indifference,

"According to the scans, it lasts longer than the synthetic fuels. Though how much longer it lasts, I don't know. They say you can't beat the original, and that's why we are here. Some higher ups are offering triple the price of synthetic fuel for this stuff. The sooner we find it, the sooner I can retire, and you can get your life back."

Walter did his best to keep his tone matter-of-fact and to the point, the lies rolling off his tongue under the guise of a man who was really just in it for the money. A necessary fiction to maintain the delicate balance of information he chose to reveal.

Taking another sip of his coffee, the grizzled man realized that it was almost gone by now. He was going to need another cup at this rate.

"Does that answer your questions, Aurelia? Or do you have more?"

It was a genuine question, keeping the floor open for her to keep asking. He was prepared to answer more if she had them, though he didn't know how much more he could answer without revealing key information.

Her talking about Pluto made him wonder what it was like living on a planet like that. A planet full of criminals, and shady dealings. In a way, it was sort of like Rubicon, though in stead of criminals, they had corporations. At least on Jupiter, they had Michigan, even if the man gave him a migraine everytime he spoke.

Pluto couldn't have been that good of a place seeing how she was in this situation now because of what happened there. There was definitely more to the reports that he had skimmed, and he was going to make sure to read them. He wanted to understand her, to get to know her as a person, and not a number. It was hard to do that when he hadn't even read through her file, learned her name.

~***~

Huntress continued to stay quiet as they went through the motions of giving a report and being escorted out, letting herself zone out. Not even her face held its normally bubbly, over-expressive smile while she was mentally checked out.

How could things get so chaotic so fast?

How could she check the information they provided without inciting more violence?

If it were true that Arquebus were killing the planet, it was hurting her family, and she'd need to escape somehow. There were too many questions and too few answers, leaving her in an loop of emotions, questioning herself and the information she knew vs what she had been given.

Huntress followed Rusty on autopilot, subconsciously sticking closer to him, as if he were her protector in this now-scary place. It wasn't false, seeing as he had saved her from getting hurt worse than she was. His words almost startled her back to the present.

"Please?" She canted her head to the side, albeit slowly, and with a grimace. "Lover, not a fighter. Don't like fighting... But need to be prepared. Need to be able to protect self."

It didn't take too long to get to the pick up location, and took even less time to get everything loaded up in the helicopter, packing the crates in their designated spots so the aircraft wouldn't be unbalanced.

The bruised and battered pilot let herself collapse into one of the seats, only to jolt in surprise when she felt something pressing against a particularly sore spot on her thigh. Furrowed brows quickly morphed into a look of pure, unadulterated joy as she reached into her jacket and pulled out her tiger plush, letting out that same dull whine she had in the market when she first seen him. She had almost forgotten he was in there!

Judging by how he looked, he came out of that fight unscathed, minus a little bit of moisture from the snow. Turning to Rusty, she held the small soft object out , excitement painting her bruised face.

"He survived! Said he needed good name, right? Named him Shere Khan! After Jungle Book tiger."

The red head pulled the plush to her chest for a good long moment with an emotional smile spreading quickly across her cheeks, happy again for the first time since her talk with Rusty before the fight. It was a well needed distraction from the horribly depressing spiral that was threatening to consume her. The one good thing to come out of that town, that 'home, but not really' place.
 
Longevity was a factor that Aurelia never considered. She mostly thought of the fuels in terms of how they impacted human life. If Coral lasted longer than synthetics, why did it do so much harm over time? Her mind cycled back to life, to the voices, to the red that continued to cover everything she saw.

Would that go away, or had she crossed a threshold and lost her normal vision? Would sleep fix her?

When Walter asked about more questions, she shook her head. “No,” no more for him, at any rate, although she didn’t know who else she could speak to. The isolation was crushing, if she ever thought about it, and now she couldn’t help but think about it with all the questions of coral in her head.

Even if Walter knew more – his knowledge had limits. Any, single person, had limits.

She needed more.

But the only other contact she had was the random RaD stranger. Then again…RaD might work with Coral, right? ‘What other option do you have?’ None.

Aurelia rose, “Thank you for answering my questions,” she moved to rinse her cup out, so it’d be ready for use in the morning, “I need to go work on LEMURES, though,” she had a moment of realization that she’d never spoken the name to Walter, but she let it slide. What did it matter, really, if he knew the name?

He had to know LEMURES was naught but shades of mistakes.

Shades of 620 hounds.

Shades of Pluto.

It couldn’t be a surprise.

~***~

Rusty almost made a joke at Huntress’s comment on being a lover, a quip on the tip of his tongue about seeing those skills, but he managed to bite his tongue at the last second. This was serious, after all, and she did need to learn to defend herself better. This was likely to become more common as work continued, although it was still rather unusual to Rusty.

Then again, they hadn’t destroyed generators before. They hadn’t destroyed lives in a way that impacted the regular person, before.

Some people were likely just as upset with the RLF for bringing this kind of reaction on top of their heads.

“Yeah – we can work out a schedule. I do some sparring with others in my squad weekly, so we can bring you into that,” he said, as they moved into the office to pick up the packages. Thankfully, there was no interruption for that, and they were able to load up the transport ship, and get on their way back to Arquebus HQ. Rusty took a seat on one of the benches and tried to stretch a bit, though Huntress seemed to find something more important.

He laughed as he saw the little tiger pulled out, “Shere Khan, huh? I’ve never read the Jungle Book, so I’m afraid I don’t know how good of a name it is, but it sounds nice off the tongue,” the name meant nothing to him, other than the aesthetics of sound, and the way it made her feel.

He wouldn’t ask more. Seeing how asking about ARTEMIS went, he didn’t want to knock her back down into sorrow, “Hopefully he scratched a few out there,” Rusty kept the grin on his lips, “I’m glad you didn’t lose him. I guess it was meant to be.”
 
A spark of relief shot through the cane-wielding man as she declined to further question him, even if he didn't let that show through the mask he had up. The tension that was between them had dissipated enough that he didn't feel as if he were avoiding landmines while tumbling through that conversation.

"Of course. If you have any more, you know where to find me." In a way, he hoped that if she did, they weren't more questions relating to the Coral or the Institute, but something he could actually answer. Crisis averted. For now. Carla would be laughing at him right now for how bad he almost fumbled that, but he tried his best to not think about that. He survived the questions, he got through it, now he just had to keep up that ignorant facade.

Brown eyes locked with the dregs of his coffee before downing the rest in one go. Their talk was practically over now, both of them seemingly having other things to attend to. Her AC needed repaired, and he had some reading to do.

He almost missed the name of her AC, lost in his thoughts, but it floated over his consciousness, sinking in like a stone. LEMURES. The malicious shades of mistakes from Roman Chthonic myth that haunted their loved ones and were said to even harm them. It was no doubt symbolic to her situation, and likely his as well. It was well picked, and although the meaning, was glad to have a name to call the AC other than 'your AC'

"LEMURES, huh? Very fitting." She seemed hellbent on keeping him accountable for his actions, though he probably deserved it seeing all he put his past pilots through. No, He didn't need to think about that right now. He had something else more important than confronting his feelings to be doing right now.

Walter followed after her to rinse his mug, making sure to clean all the undisolved sugar granules and stray coffee grounds out of it before placing it on the drying mat. He had started to walk towards his office when he remembered something.

"Oh. Aurelia. Good job today. I know things didn't go as planned, but you held your own out there. The RLF sent us half from the STRIDER mission, I transferred your cut into your account." Her AC had taken almost a half of the payment in damage and ammo, not including the other costs that were taken out, but 250k Coam wasn't too bad of a payment for failed mission.

With that information out of the way and his piece said, Walter left the mess hall and entered his office. It was time to do some reading.
~***~

He'd never read the Jungle Book?! Blasphemy! She'd have to recount the story for him when she felt strong enough to use her necklace again.

"Big bad tiger. Misunderstood. Humans hurt him. Will tell story later, if you like. Good story! One of my favorites!" Things settled back into a companionable silence as Huntress tucked Shere Khan back into the inside pocket of her Arquebus jacket and let herself relax into the seat she was in.

She would be hurting for a while, but she was able to move, able to walk, still functional, so she'd still keep up her drills with her squad, and go on missions should Snail have any. This wasn't like the migraine that had her out of commission for 2 days. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, starting her conversation back up with Lilith who was back on her bullshit, teasing her again as siblings did.

The next few days passed in a blur of morning routines, questioning everything she knew, and hanging out with her friend and buddy in the common room. There weren't any missions given to her, so she spent her time doing drills with her squad and building rapport with them. If she was going to be leading them, they needed to trust her, right? Thus started their new tradition; weekly game/movie nights.

When she finally got confirmation from Rusty on the time and place for their first sparring session, she was ecstatic. It was a win-win situation. She got to learn how to better protect herself, and she got to hang out with Rusty! Sure, she was likely about to get her ass handed to her seeing as he was a much large build, in both muscle and height, but she knew it would help in the long run. At least, she hoped it would.

The red head changed into her workout attire --a supportive maroon crop top and charcoal spandex shorts paired with athletic shoes-- and headed to the gym. Inside the room were a handful of people who were unfamiliar to her, but were chatting amicably amongst themselves and the tall, dark skinned man she had come to call her buddy. An overenthusiastic smile pulled onto the short pilot's face as she closed the door behind her.

"Heya Buddy! I'm here for my ass kicking," The cheerful, overly energetic voice projected from her necklace as she moved to join the small crowd of people, all in similar states of dress; workout clothes, athletic shoes, and hair tied back. It seems that the self-depreciative jab was all in good fun as her bright smile didn't falter, a giggle bubbling up through the necklace. Why would it not be when she was looking forward to this?
 
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Aurelia didn’t really need the words of gratitude. There was a part of her that wanted to offer Walter back the coam – if it would get them out of here sooner – see if his bluff could be called that way. However, she didn’t. She needed it for LEMURES. Until LEMURES was finished, she wouldn’t intentionally weaken herself that way, just to make a point.

So she only nodded to his information, a bit upset that the RLF still sent money when they’d fucked up so badly.

She didn’t deserve the coam.

Regardless, she would accept it with a nod, and head to the hangar to work on LEMURES. It would likely take all night, and well into the next day, with the damage it had sustained, but Aurelia wasn't craving sleep with all the thoughts running through her head.

She turned on her music, of course, to try and get lost in the work but the thoughts kept coming back, as the red never left her vision. It was still a few hours of patching up LEMURES before she finally took a break, sitting on the beast’s shoulder, she opened up her messaging history with RaD. Really just Lilith, but all the same, a company.

The message would be innocuous enough:

Does RaD do any work with coral fueled products? ​

~***~

Rusty kept in mind what Huntress had to say about Shere Khan. Obviously, it tied to her. Her preference for the tiger design was there, and likely wrapped up in Shere Khan. She, too, was obviously misunderstood and abused. Did she want to be that much bigger, that much stronger, too?

He wondered at it, as they kept in touch over the days, and as they arranged a day she could join his squadron for their sparring. It was in the evening, after other chores had been done. Rusty always preferred it in the evening so he could hit the showers afterwards and head to bed; he was usually sweaty after these, even if he wasn’t decked out in full flight gear.

No, just the Arquebus blue and whites, white sweats and a blue tank, the Arquebus logo between his shoulder blades on his back. He couldn’t let his true character show through, after all, so he always played it safe with Arquebus attire and colors amongst them.

Huntress didn’t have to worry about that. She didn’t lie about herself, and she came in brilliant maroon. A smile lit his face as his eyes fell upon her, something he didn’t even notice, though some of his squad did, as he offered the, “Hey, Buddy!” greeting as she came closer to them, interrupting the conversation about the newest Wall rumors.

Rusty had finally heard the news that Hawkins had been asked to reach out to some of the independent mercs in the area.

Some of the squad snickered and laughed at Huntress’s greeting. Most of it wasn’t malicious – if only for Rusty’s sake – given she was being a good sport about the ass kicking.

“That’s a good attitude! But I promise we have plenty of safety protocols to keep you from being seriously harmed,” he reassured, “including – stretches!”

He heard groans from all around, and some laughter at those groans, too.

“Come on, hop to, you need to be warmed up for this. C’mon Buddy, I’ll show you the stretching routine, you can follow after me. First thing, arms up…,” and Rusty would indeed walk her through the routine of their warm-up stretches that covered the full body, a routine that ended in bodyweight squats.
 
Lilith had been working on SHINING ARMOR in the hangar bay and chatting with her boyfriend, "Handsome" Lukas, who was sitting atop the front right foot of the massive tetrapod when the message came in, her tablet lighting up across the room and playing a chime. He had gotten into a spat with some Coyotes on his patrol who were a little to brazen. The AC just needed a few touch ups and electrical fixes.

"Hey Handsome, can you do me a huge favor and read me that message please? I'm elbows deep in wiring and don't think getting repeatedly shocked is good for my health," The Red-haired mechanic was also covered head to toe in lubricating grease and oil from the last hour of repairs and didn't want to get the tablet all gross.

"Sure thing, pony," slurred the former doser, speech impeded by chronic coral exposure. Reaching the tablet, he flicked open the message.

"It's from Raven. She's asking if we make coral fueled products. What should I say back?"

Lilith stilled for a moment, furrowing her brows. Her and Coral had a bad history because of Handsome and Elliot, having to watch him battle the side effects of using for so long and watching her sister lose her ability to speak right. It may be the lifeblood of the planet, but seeing how it affected them both, it was safer to avoid it in her opinion. Still, Coam was coam and if Carla approved it, they could make a killing. Now that she was making a pretty nice paycheck from custom orders, she had planned to take most, if not all, of the responsiblity off Elliot's shoulders for keeping their mom financially stable for so long. It was high time she contributed. She'd eventually split the cost with Xander and Xavier like they had talked about, but they had to get out of AC training camp first and start making COAM.

"I'll be down. I've been itching to talk to her again anyway after the stint with the Redguns. Wait, no, Don't type that-"Lilith chuckled and shook her head as Handsome had started to mindlessly type what she was saying into the message box before stopping midway.

The tall woman untangled herself from the wiring, wiped her hands off before descending the catwalk and taking the tablet from her boyfriend, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Hey! Long time no see, Raven! Thanks to you, sale of 'Rubiconian Pink remover' has skyrocketed! It's not actually called that. Last I checked, It was just labeled as Goof Away:Extra Strength. I heard what you did to G2 Nile, that was savage! I've made the best memes because of you! Here are just a few! As for the Coral fueled products, RaD specializes in internal combustion engines and products. I can ask the Boss for you though, forward your message to her? Why the sudden interest in Coral, if I may ask? Did you see some Coral powered weapons or something that caught your eye? I can make a non-Coral replica that'll perform way better if that's what you're looking for!
​
Attaching a few PinkGun memes and hitting send, Lilith looked up at the AC in the bay. She'd have to finish her work once she was done talking to Raven, but it was almost done.

~***~

Aurelia Lycaon.

C4-621.

There it was.

Right there, on the front of the binder of paperwork, scrawled out in neat block print.

A name that he hadn't bothered reading or learning when he got the bundle of information, when he bought her as if she were some kind of dog. She wasn't a dog. Neither were the other 620 that had died under his watch, died for him, died for a cause that they didn't even know about.

Thick fingers worked their way through salt and pepper tresses as the older man took a deep, steadying breath. He was past the point of blaming others for his short comings. No, It was his cross to bear, no one else's. Their deaths, their failures, their losses were his fault. He had one last chance to do this right, and damn it, he was going to try.

As he read over the first page, learning of her start on Pluto with DI MANES and helping the revolutionaries there, it reminded him an awful lot of what she was doing here with the RLF. Perhaps making up for what had happened, a soft spot of sorts, or maybe it was the right thing to do in her eyes.

He had his mission, and as long as she kept makng a rep for herself, it didn't matter who she went with, at least to him. Taking the RLF jobs just meant that the Corps wouldn't offer jobs to her that involved the RLF.

There were big jobs like the Wall that they would need to try and get in on for bigger rep. He knew the Redguns had already failed, which only meant that Arquebus was next to try and take the Wall. There were only rumors so far, but he knew someone who could get some definites. Taking another deep breath, he placed the file to the side and dialed up Carla. It had been a while since they talked anyway, this was long overdue.

~***~
Huntress made note of his choice of exercise wear, her face tinging pink. The red head had only really seen him in his flight suit, and Arquebus uniform. There was something different about seeing his arms bare to the world with their scars and defined muscles no doubt from a vigorous workout routine and protien packed, non-ration food. She shook her head in an attempt to rid it of the distracting thoughts.

Even with the promise of safety protocols, she had a feeling that her and the mat were about to become best friends. It wasn't an intimidating thought, no. It just meant that she'd have to work to get stronger and learn the techniques he'd teach them all. If anything, it filled her with the determination to be able to keep up with him.

So when he brought up the need for stretches, she was more than on board. As it turned out, they were similar to the ones she did prior to going for a run, but also encompased her upper body as well.

Her arms were complaining at the almost foreign movements and the red head made a mental note to work on her upper body more in the gym next time she went. Her lower body and back were much more flexible and dexterous, taking to the stretching with practiced ease.

Blue eyes lit up as they ended the stretching with squats. That was something she could do in spades! With legs spread shoulder-width apart, core engaged, back straight, and chest out, Huntress lowered her body until her thighs were parallel with the floor before straightening once more.

They did a few reps of this before their stretches were finally over, earning a few cheers from the squad members. Elliot had kept her eyes on Rusty the whole time, mimicking his stretches and maintaining a smile. She was practically vibrating with excitement by the time they were done, her energy knowing no bounds as she rocked on her feet back and forth, arms crossed behind her back and waiting for his next instructions.
 
Aurelia wasn’t expecting a spam of memes to hit her inbox, but lo and behold, memes about the absolute war crimes she was committing with the color pink flooded. She couldn’t help but snort laughter at them, before moving on to the actual message that Lilith sent.

From the sounds of it, coral wasn’t a common component used by RaD.

I can make a non-Coral replica that'll perform way better if that's what you're looking for!
​
Aurelia stared at that sentence and willed herself not to throw her pad against the wall. Willed herself not to break every communication she had.

“Coral's worth comes from its longevity.”
​
Coral might be long-lasting, but at the expense of the device it was in – and Aurelia was not long-lasting.

She set the pad in her lap and buried her face in her hands. Breathed. Willed herself to find words to explain to Lilith what her interest was in coral that didn’t reveal it all, even if she felt herself breaking the more she tried to explain to herself the interest in coral, and the clock she could hear ticking away in her mind.

Years under Aidon, then six frozen, and now, of course now, it all wanted to crash into her with the side effects. Slow – so slow, so benign – but present.

Eventually, she gathered herself, and typed up a message, backspacing it a few times, and rewording it.

My handler is here for coral, actually. I faced off against something called C-Weapons – Coral Weapons. Got my ass kicked. Figured coral had to be better than what I was using, so I thought I’d check in on my options. I don’t really get what all the fuss is about – I’m not from Rubicon-3. Seems all the Corpos want Coral, and all the Rubiconians want to keep it, but you guys don’t seem to be using it for anything. I just don’t get it, thought I might understand if I had something coral-powered to play with, but maybe you can explain why you don’t market it or use it the way the corpos seem to want to use it. ​

Okay, more of an explanation, but it still left herself out of the equation. That should be good enough.

~***~

Carla had intended to head to sleep. Her current project required downtime for results, and she had to stop poking at it. Tempting as it was. However, sleep wasn’t going to come easily for her, it seemed.

She couldn’t help but snort when she saw Walter’s name pop up on her pad. Not even a text, an actual call. Given how recently she’d forwarded information over to Michigan, this wasn’t much of a surprise, but it was still terribly amusing to her all the same.

Mostly, she wondered how Michigan had outed himself.

Still, this was Walter. Carla couldn’t deny him an answer. Even knowing how old they both were now, she still remembered the young boy on Rubicon-3. Silent, with the largest eyes she’d ever seen, witnessing the horrors as his father was lost to madness, and his mother….

“Hello Walter,” Carla answered, “What do you need?” she asked as she took a seat on her bed, “I’m a bit busy, you know.”

~***~

Although Rusty would admit the stretches bored him to tears, he also knew how important they were, at the beginning, and the end, so he was glad that Huntress didn’t protest them and went right along with it.

“All right, all right,” Rusty rolled his eyes at the cheering when they were over, “everyone partner up. Art, stay here a sec, we need to show Huntress what’s up.”

“Aye,” the brunette gave a lazy salute as others partnered up, and Art’s future partner hung back to wait for him to be free of the demonstration role.

“Usually we have some theming to work on for the evening,” Rusty told Huntress, “sometimes we just do straight sparring, and you do whatever to win, but the themes help everyone get exposed to different situations. Today we’re working on grappling takedowns, since it’s usually better to avoid killing an opponent, so this helps with that so they can be taken hostage. Art here,” he wrapped an arm around Art’s shoulders, who was just a little shorter than Rusty, but otherwise of a fairly similar build to his squad leader, “is going to go through the motions with me, so you can see what it’ll actually look like, before you try to attempt it yourself, alright?”

“So does that mean I get to pin you since she needs to learn how it looks?” Art asked, sounding a little smug, though he knew the answer. Of course he didn’t get to do it, because he wasn’t the one walking through it.

“Nope!” Rusty answered cheerfully. “So, take position,” Rusty said as he let go of Art, and both stepped away from each other, “First, probably the one you’ll want to go for in most situations, Huntress, is taking down the legs,” and as Art shifted into position, Rusty did move forward, duck, and wrapped an arm around either leg, as his head pressed into the side of Art – that act being the one to truly off-balance him, and help Rusty bring him down with no issue.

For now, Rusty wasn’t describing too much, as he wanted Huntress to get the visual of how it looked, as he also showed a single-leg takedowns, and takedowns that came from a throw – and then how to get out of these, if the reaction was quick enough, by having Art come towards him, and driving his shoulder down into Art’s back as he went for a double-leg takedown, and wrapping Art up in a headlock instead.

“Okay,” Rusty said as they finished the demonstration of the styles, “that’s what it should look like, so everyone, get to practicing!” he clapped his hands together once, and then turned to Huntress with a grin, “So tell me: do you want to try it first, or do you want to see how it feels first? Not sure how you learn best.”
 
Lilith waited patiently for Raven to get back to her, taking a seat next to Handsome on the foot of SHINING ARMOR and leaning on him. A tanned, muscled arm snaked its way around her waist, pulling her closer to him and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head, drawing a soft, contented hum from the red head's lips. At least she had her emotional support boyfriend to support her through this conversation.

Eyes narrowed as she read through the new message. Her handler was looking for it... She ran into Coral Weapons... Lilith must have had a sour look on her face as one of Handsome's hands ran itself through her hair, playing with the red tresses in the way he knew helped soothe her. "Easy, pony," drawled the shorter man, giving her a squeeze that helped to ground her. She murmured a thanks as she kept reading.

Several minutes passed before Lilith felt safe enough from her frustration to give an intelligent response not fueled by emotions.

I don't know what your Handler wants with it, but as a trusted and well-loved client of mine and RaD's, I can't tell you enough to stay away from it. Rubicon-3 uses the Coral because we have to. Its what feeds the mealworms, the only thing we can grow here and feed our people with. Corporations want it to make more coral fueled parts and botched 4th gen augs because they are caught up on the past and greedy. It's incredibly dangerous. Coral destroys lives. It did for my sister. Thanks to the Coral, she can't speak correctly after complications with her 4th gen augs. It almost took the life of my boyfriend, who used it as a drug like many here on Rubicon-3 do, and he has permanent damage because of it. I don't normally turn down a chance to experiment with toys and create new things, but I can't in good conscience give you something that could damage my favorite client irreparably. Not when I know there are safer options out there. I'm happy to answer more questions if you have them, or get started on a custom order for you, but Coral is just a bad idea.
​
The mad scientist relaxed further into the form of her love as he continued to run his fingers through her grease-stained hair and hold her against him. "Shhhh, it's ok, Lily, it'll be ok," A smile quirked up the corners of Lilith's lips at the nickname; something only he was allowed to call her. "You're right, sunny,"
~***~

There were more than a few things that Walter needed to talk about with Carla, including just how Michigan knew more about his pilot than he did.
The way she answered had the grizzled man rolling his eyes. Yeah, so busy at this time of night. Though, the more he thought about it, it was possible. It wouldn't be the first time her so-called toys kept her up past a reasonable hour.

"Carla." He started, trying to keep the emotion from his voice. The cane-wielding man was still very much in his spiral of guilt and shame, his previous pilots weighing heavy on his thoughts. "We need to talk. About a few things."

It wasn't the best way to start a conversation, but with so much on his mind, it wasn't the worst he could have done. He sighed and palmed his face, running it up into his hair once more.

"Michigan let me an interesting voicemail during 621's last mission." Walter played the message, using his free hand to rub his temples to stave off the migraine that Michigan's voice always threatened to invoke. "How much did he pay you for her information? What did he want it for?"

Did he have to prepare for her to get ambushed by Redguns because of the information that Michigan knew? Especially after embarrassing G2 Nile and his two other pilots like she had by wiping the floor with them. A small smirk spread across his lips as he remembered how pissed the 3 of them were that a so-called 'freelancer' could take them out. Nile would never live down the Pinkgun nickname that the other pilots had started calling him.

~***~

"Themes, grappling, demonstrations, got it Buddy!" A summarization of what he said. It almost went over her head a little bit, but she did her best to hold onto the words. It was good to see how they all interacted together, almost like friends. Maybe it was just because of Rusty's overall friendly demeanor? It gave her hope that her own squadron would eventually be that friendly. Maybe when she learned enough, she could pass this information onto her squad too!

Huntress soaked up as much of the demonstration that she could, noting how the two were similar in build and height. It would be more of a level playing field for them to spar and practice these drills.

She couldn't help but wonder how much of an advantage he'd have against her when it was her turn to get grappled. Would she have the advantage since she was smaller and slipperier? Would she have to fight dirty to manage to get him into a grapple?

The red head continued to watch and try to absorb the different techniques as best she could. She wasn't the smartest and learning didn't come too easy to her. In an AC, things were much more instinctual and easier to grasp, but physical fights? She was out of her ballpark here.

A few of the grappling postions had her grimacing slightly as Art hit the mat. That was going to be her, for sure, and she prepared herself to be floored like Art had been for the demonstrations. As Art was released to his own sparring partner, the others were instructed to start and Rusty turned to her.

Well, at least he was giving her the choice to try it first or get straight to the ass kicking. A silent snicker left her at that thought as she walked up to him and got into the position that she had seen Art get into.

Huntress took her fist and rapped herself on the head a few times. "It's gonna take me a bit to get it, I'm a bit hard headed. I might as well get acquianted with the mat and get my ass kicked first. I'm sure we'll be the best of friends, right mat?" Joked the red head, her voice still so full of excitement and bubbly energy. It was hard to get her down just generally speaking when she was so happy to just exist, and live life. "Come on, Buddy, let's do this!" There was a burst of determination as she steeled herself for what was to come.

Elliot hit the mat much faster than she was expecting, her breath leaving her from the sudden impact, blinking owlishly as she stared up at the ceiling. One moment she was standing, and the next she was floored. A wide grin spread back across her face and a round of giggles left the necklace as she got back to her feet and into position. "Hey, that was kinda fun! What's the next one?"
 
Coral was dangerous.

Coral ruined lives.

A drug.

Bad augmentations.

All Lilith had to say for it being good, was that it was used to feed mealworms. It was quite a different perspective than the RLF had, and different from Walter, as well. She imagined there was a fraction of truth in all of it, but she latched onto the mealworms.

Life needed life, be it plant-life, or animal-life.

‘It is alive.’

That kept coming back to haunt her. Her body was host to her, and something Else. Something Else that probably wanted to live its own life, too.

Could she compromise with it? ‘That’s if it is still alive and not decaying in you. Maybe that’s Coral burn. Necrosis.’ Aurelia shook the thought from her head.

Didn’t know you all used it for food. Is it a sort of bio-fuel then – a living thing? A plant? Sorry for the questions, I just really don’t understand why my handler wants it, or the corpos, when all I really knew before now was it being used for outdated tech. Never seemed important to me, and the way you’re putting it, it still doesn’t. ​

She had no idea if Lilith would know, but if she had a vendetta against coral – she just might.

~***~

Carla listened to the voicemail as Walter played it, grinning to herself at Michigan’s audacity to try and warn Walter off the criminal. Well, at least Michigan still cared about Walter. That was nice. Reassuring, in a way, and it made her hopeful, “He didn’t tell me what he wanted it for, and I didn’t really care,” Carla answered, “he paid me handsomely, and gave me a favor. A favor that’s likely to be far more important than whatever he plans to do. Sounds like he still cares about you, so I’m sure you can talk to him about how intelligent a decision this was.”

But Walter couldn’t justify it.

Carla knew that, or he wouldn’t be calling her, so she leaned back into her free hand and crossed her leg as she looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t think it puts us at risk, or I wouldn’t have bothered. She’s good, Walter. Unless Michigan or Freud themselves come out to play, I don’t think you need to worry. Especially once I finish up the frame she’s asked for. Had to do a lot of research into DI MANES, but I should have it done here soon.”

She’d sent the information along to Lilith. It was a bit of a joint project now, given that Carla just wanted to get her hands on it and understand what made it tick by putting it together. She was a hands-on learner, after all.

“That’s not really why you called me, is it? You finally caught up with Michigan. Well, mostly,” he didn’t have all those new files on DI MANES, after all. “I gave you everything before you picked her, Walter. You can’t blame me for not reading it.” Or for the financial state he’d been in that someone like Aurelia was even on his radar.

That was on him, and what happened with 617, 619, and 620.

~***~

Rusty couldn’t help the slightly apologetic smile that pulled at his lips as Huntress gave him the go ahead. “All right, just take position,” he encouraged, and he would wait until she had adjusted her stance, before he’d go with that first method – not that he really needed to do much with off-balancing using his head.

Her stance didn’t hold her well, and she didn’t have the best strength to keep her legs, once he piled into her and wrapped his arms around her legs.

As soon as she was down, of course, he unwrapped her legs and shifted his body up to show the obvious continuation – covering, pinning – with a bit of a laugh as her own laughter floated, mostly relieved she wasn’t too hurt. He’d offer her a hand up, and let hers go before stepping back.

“Well, now you have to try it on me. It’s okay, we can take it in parts, now that you’ve felt it,” he didn’t intend to actually defend himself, since Huntress needed to learn how to do it, before he’d even consider a defense. So, naturally, he sunk back into position and gestured for her to give it a shot.
 
The red head shouldn't have been as shocked as she was at the next message. Not only was her handler not informing her about the dangers, but was likely sending her after it without the right precautions. Greasy fingers typed rapidly on the tablet screen.

Yes! Exactly! An extremely dangerous species of... something. I don't know if it is a plant or an animal, I have limited knowledge compared to others on this planet, but its kind of like a flock of birds, or like algae colonies. The way it groups together, multiplies, reacts to things, I have half a mind to say it has intelligence of some kind, though that's not proven and I don't plan to test that theory. This might be easier to talk about over a call or we could meet up if you'd like? The closest BAWS town to me is R3-291 and I have to go there anyway for personal matters.
​
Getting to meet the infamous Pinkgun-inator would be interesting, and the red head couldn't help but wonder if a friendship could come of this? Sure she had friends here, and a boyfriend, but she was always down to make new friends. Plus, if it helped her get out of her Lab, her mom would finally get off her back for not getting out more.

~***~

"Good." Walter could at least relax knowing that his pilot was safe for now. He didn't think Michigan would go gunning for his own pilot, and her rep wasn't big enough to warrant Arquebus sending Freud in.

Wait.

DI MANES?

"She didn't tell me she was looking to order a new DI MANES..." grumbled the man, though he was impressed. "It makes sense though. She's a damn good pilot, better than most."

Walter trailed off as his breath hitched as a wave of emotions slammed into him once more. Carla's assumptions stung, though he supposed he deserved it.

"I don't regret buying her. I regret not showing the same respect to the others. I just finished reading her files. They paint her as this highly dangerous criminal, but I would wager that they are wrong. I think she was painted in a bad light. She's too smart for her own good, cares about the lives of fellow pilots, and has a soft spot for the RLF." The man stumbles slightly over his words as he tries to defend his pilot against the potential accusations before continuing to try and answer her question.

"Why did it take me this long, Carla? Why did it take me this long to see them as pilots, and not hounds? Why did it take such a willful, strong-headed pilot to break that?"

~***~

Oh!

It was her turn! A sudden pulse of nervousness had her hesitate for a moment before shaking it out. She could do this! "Ok! My turn!"

The red headed pilot drove forward in a crouch once he was ready for her and locked her arms around his well-muscled legs. That was the first step, right? Lowering herself and charging to grab their legs! Now what had he done to knock her off balance?

Truthfully, in the demo and when he had done it to her, she hadn't figured out what had knocked them off balance.

Maybe it was pushing with the weight of her hips behind it? He didn't budge when she tried it, so she tried something else. She pulled at his legs to try and draw them closer to her, but that also didn't work.

Huntress let go and rose to her full height, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly and blushing in embarrassment at her own denseness. "I think I need another demonstration to get it, sorry buddy."
 
Alive.

It was alive.

It had a life, perhaps nothing more than that of a member of a school of fish, but it had a life before it was ripped out of it and put into her, and forced to make her live. ‘No different than eating fish.’ Perhaps it wasn’t, in truth, but it felt different, because it felt like this thing might still be alive within her.

Lilith wanted to meet up, or talk. Aurelia hesitated, and then sighed to herself. She wasn’t quite ready for anything like that. Not when it could become obvious why she was asking, more than it already was. Still, she knew she needed more in her life than Walter.

I’ll have to raincheck that. My AC took a beating and I’m not sure how long the repairs are going to take, or when my next job is. I don’t exactly control my schedule, but I’ll let you know when there seems to be a lull, and when I might be able to use the transport for personal matters.​

There. Something in person. That ought to help put a salve on any wounds the rejection added. Not to mention, give her time to try and cover any feelings on the matter as she adapted to it. With that, she did put her tablet back into a pocket, to return to work.

She’d check any messages, later.

~***~

Carla wasn’t surprised that Walter knew nothing of her plans with the AC. “Did she tell you about the weapons?” Did Aurelia tell Walter anything? Carla got the feeling it was very little, if only because Walter also told very little, and he already had a whole folder on her. Aurelia was at a disadvantage.

Either way, it didn’t seem Walter was upset buying her.

No, he was upset it took 621 people for him to figure out they were, in fact, people. ‘Well, you are your father’s son….’ That, of course, she kept locked behind her teeth. That would not be something to ever say to Walter. His father was a goddamn menace who was willing to sacrifice everyone and everything for his coral experiments.

He was a monster.

They should have put him down far sooner than they did.

Before Sulla, before so many others, were harmed beyond repair.

“Because you always focus on your missions, Walter. You’ve always been dutiful. To a fault. It’s a damn miracle you avoided being enlisted,” she smirked, but it faded, “I’m surprised anyone’s gotten through to you. Weren’t some of those others willful? What about 618?” she could be misremembering. Numbers were hard to keep track of. He did that intentionally.

~***~

Rusty braced, but the assault wasn't enough to budge him. He felt her attempt to put more pressure on him with her legs, but it wasn't enough, either. Of course, that was once of the points of this move. Strength wasn't as important, balance was, and disrupting that for the opponent.

Rusty chuckled a bit as she disengaged, willing himself not to flush as he looked down at her just before. After all, she was still all around his hips. Some redness could be forgiven as general exertion, so he'd not comment on hers, either.

“You got most of the positioning right, but this isn't about brute strength. You've gotta use your head – literally – to knock your opponent off balance once you grab them. And don't give them time to adjust to your presence. I'll go again, this time, focus on the pressure you feel at your side from my skull, okay?”

He'd wait for her to take position again, and once she had, he'd do as before – take hold off her legs, and press his skull into her side in tandem with using his weight to push her forward and down to the mat, moving once again to get over her to show how the move would typically end, though of course, not actually going for the grappling pin.

“Did you feel that this time?” He asked, not yet getting up, not yet realizing how the position could be seen as he hovered over her to ask that.
 
The rejection was well received, with Lilith giving a shrug as Handsome ran his fingers through her hair. Well, her mom couldn't fault her for trying. She really needed to finish SHINING ARMOR before she had to leave for the night. RaD was close enough to her home at R3-291 that she commuted, and this time, she'd be bringing Handsome home to meet her mom.

I understand. No problems here. It was still nice to talk to you again! Oh! And DI MANES is nearly ready to start assembling! Boss put me on to help her work on it and Ah!!! I'm so excited! It's not everyday you get to work on a relic like this! We start production soon! Just thought I'd update you! Anyway, I have a tetrapod to rewire and re-grease. If you have anymore questions, or need me to cook up something else for ya, you know how to get a hold of me. Tiny, out!
​
Lilith untangled herself from the warmth of Handsome and placed the tablet back on the workbench. "Come on, sunny, let's get your Knight here back in working order, huh?"

~***~

"No. Those were a surprise too," Grumbled the younger man as he sighed. She didn't tell him anything, and for good reason it seemed. What did he do to earn her trust to be told things like that?

He only hoped that he'd remedied their tense interactions earlier by throwing her some information, albeit only half true at best. Was it enough to sate her? probably not, but she had stopped asking questions, which was scary and good in their own ways. To his knowledge, she didn't have anyone to talk to outside himself and Carla, and from how she was talking, he didn't think it was her that Aurelia had talked to. Probably some poor engineer that Carla put on messaging duty.

Walter should have known that his old caretaker would have ribbed him for this, but he more or less deserved it. "Yeah, yeah," What else was he supposed to say to that first half? Sure, he was dedicated to his mission, but the fact that it had blinded him so much that he had failed to see the 621 pilots he worked with as people made him no better than his father. A thought that did not settle well in his stomach.

He didn't want to be like that monster! He was on this mission because of him, to destroy coral once and for all, and somehow, along the way, stopped seeing the humanity in people. Not anymore. He couldn't hide behind it being a technique to distance himself from attachment to pilots that died too fast. At least his other pilots had each other to lessen the inhuman treatment he gave them... hopefully.

"618 was willful, but not spiteful, and not nearly as smart as Aurelia. She was asking me about Coral earlier and I had to give her the run around. We ran into C-Weapons out in the dunes. HYLIANTHUS and WEEVILs. I don't know how she made it out of there unscathed. Her AC was almost in pieces when she brought it back." Walter took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair once more, a bad habit born out of nervousness and uncertainty.

"I think we might have another player on the board. There were too many for it to be a coincidence. Sending you the combat logs now" She needed to know what had happened out there so they could both prepare and come up with a game plan.

~***~

Huntress was grateful that he didn't say anything about her denseness, seeming to roll with it and adapt as he explained the right way to do it. Oh! Her head. She had to use her head, of all things. The irony was not lost on her, pulling a small giggle from her.

"Use my head, got it!"

The red head got into position and this time, closed her eyes to better focus on the sensations in her body. It was just as sudden as the first time, but with her eyes closed, she was able to feel where he had placed his hands, gripping her thighs as he pressed his head into her side. She hit the mat just as hard, knocking the breath out of her for a moment and causing her bruised ribs to complain at the impact. She felt his body hovering over of hers in the mock pin and opened her eyes.

Azure eyes locked with umber ones, and her breath hitched in her throat as crimson spread from the apex of her ears across the freckled, marred skin of her face. He was close. His face was so close. He smelled nice. It was a combination of sweat and teakwood, something rich, warm, and earthy that washed over her senses and put them at ease.

It was perfectly normal to have this kind of reaction to being in this kind of sparring situation, right?

The realization hit her like a truck. Fuck... Lilith was right, wasn't she? She liked him and as more than just a friend.

Words failed her as she lay there flustered, trying desperately to pull herself together enough to speak. This too didn't go unnoticed by a few of the squad members. Unable to pull her thoughts together concretely enough to use the necklace, she relied on her physical voice instead.

"F-Felt it." She certainly felt something. "T-Think I got it, buddy,"
 
‘You almost sound like you like spiteful.’ Carla thought as Walter mentioned the differences between 618 and 621. Walter knew their traits, of course. He studied them, in his way, since they were his tools. It was hard to imagine out of 620 others, Aurelia was one who was so different, so defiant, enough to turn his head and make him reconsider his decisions.

Even those who hadn’t been tools to Walter hadn’t managed to succeed in that. She and Michigan rarely did any longer. When Walter was set on something, nothing deterred him. ‘I wonder if you have to give her the runaround, Walter.’

Likely so.

If she was sympathetic to the RLF, she’d never abide the planet being burned. Carla had to keep her secrets, too, aware that she was going to have to either evacuate her employees without explanation, or kill them all. She didn’t know which route she’d go. She liked them, but the fate of the universe was bigger than them.

It was something Nagai had understood when he did it, though he made sure Walter was off planet.

“Are you sure it’s another player, and not just coral trying to reunite?” Carla would take a look at the information, of course, “A mining ship may have had plenty of coral in it, enough to attract the C-Weapons, and you know they try to converge, too.” Shame they couldn’t use them reliably to track the convergence, or her life would have been a lot easier. “I’ll give it a look. See what I can find. It’d be easier if I had the scraps, you know.”

She might send a party to see if they could be collected. She couldn’t imagine the RLF picking them up, and the other parties shouldn’t know about it, except to know the STRIDER was destroyed.

“Anything else you want me to take a look at, or hit you over the head for?”

~***~

It was impossible not to notice the way that Huntress flushed. And it wasn’t from exertion, given it came on rapidly, when she opened her eyes. At first, Rusty was fairly oblivious, until she used her physical voice to speak. It was the fact she couldn’t get her mind to function, paired with the stammering, that made him realize his own position.

“Oh!”

He knew his own cheeks darkened as he hopped up, far quicker than necessary, to a few cackles of other groups who had paused to watch. Despite it all, he still offered her a hand up, “Sorry about that, buddy,” he chuckled, “didn’t mean to keep ya down there like that. You can try, then!” He just had to move on with it.

Even if he heard someone else mimic his ‘buddy’. He couldn’t discern who it was, and too many were chuckling for him to pinpoint someone to call out for it, so he would let it slide. They were here to spar.

Awkward moments always happened when people got close, and touched.

But they didn’t usually feel awkward unless there were thoughts below the surface, and Rusty knew, despite his resentment for her choice to work with Arquebus, he’d had thoughts. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered joking with her about her talents as a lover, over being a fighter.

‘Not the TIME.’ He tried to tell his own mind that as it again wanted to resurface as a comment since the setting still fit it.

He’d just try to brace himself and let her have another go.

And try not to call it early.
 
"I don't know, but I don't like not knowing." If it were really just coral converging, would they go to the lengths that they did to take down the STRIDER and everyone present? That would require some level of intelligence, which Coral didn't have. It was no more intelligent, no more sentient than a school of fish.

That had to mean they were sent by someone else, right? Carla would soon figure it out, she just needed to get the wreckage first. Something he hadn't thought of before, likely because Aurelia had gone down and almost died on that mission. In the moment that was more pressing and important. He was just glad she made it through that. It gave him hope of all things. Hope that she would be the one that would complete Overseer's mission.

"One more thing. Then I'll let you go back to your toys," DI MANES, probably, seeing as she was usually up at all hours of the night. He had to give it to her, she was dedicated to her experiments like he was dedicated to finishing this mission with her.

"The rumors I've been hearing are that Michigan sent his Redguns to the Wall and failed. That means Arquebus would be next, and I want 621 on that mission. I need to know when Arquebus plans to take it and who they plan to send. Something tells me Hostage Killer won't enjoy an independant joining his operation. if I can get her in on it and they succeed, her reputation will put her in the higher standings for better sorties and better chances for travel to find the convergence."

The easiest part of this would be convincing V.II Snail that his pilot was qualified enough for this. The hardest woudl be catching him in a good enough mood that he'd allow something like this. Walter wasn't above a bribe, if all else failed, though he was unsure if the shrewd man would take it or not. Hopefully it didn't come to that.

~***~

Huntress was still very red as she took his much bigger hand with her smaller pale one and got to her feet once more. She was too frazzled to notice his face was red as well, though she noticed the laughing. The red head did her best to put it out of her mind. They were there to spar, to learn how to better fight, not get caught up on feelings, or just how close he was... Focus!

"I-It's ok. H-happens best of us," While she still couldn't pull her mind fully together yet, she waited until he was back into position again before diving forward once more. She tried to push the thought of where her hands were holding, or how close to his hips she was out of her head as she pushed her skull against his side, toppling him off balance.

It worked? It worked!! The success was enough to have her brain working some as she practically pounced into the pinning position, hovering over him like he had her moments before. The necklace dangled between them, stopping just short of his chin as a mirthful grin overtook her face. Her blush had finally calmed down as her victory, though small, took the forefront of her emotions.

"I got you!" joked the red head as she chuckled, proud that it only took her two tries to figure this out. She lingered in place for a moment too long, giving her mind a little too much time to catch up that she again was up close and very personal with the brunette. The worst part was that it was a comfortable place to be, the fourth squad leader being a damn heater of a man.

Freckled skin flushed dark red once more as she scrambled back to her feet, losing her words once again. There was more laughter among the pairs at the two who were floundering. "S-sorry, buddy," This was going to be a long sparring session... "N-next one?"
 
Carla knew Michigan had hit the wall – literally – with the Wall. He’d been thwarted by the AC pilots that Raven broke out of prison. Arquebus wouldn’t make the same mistake, if nothing else, Snail was too intelligent to let that happen. Arquebus didn’t abide failure, and he’d see it as a personal one if he led his Vespers to failure.

That would mean having to move aside for Freud for just one mission, and Snail loathed that.

“Yeah, I heard about the Redguns,” Carla agreed, “but I don’t know the timing for Snail’s plans,” that wasn’t her area of expertise. She hadn’t infiltrated the corporations in that way, nor did she play with them in that way. “I think you’re going to have to bite the bullet and reach out to Hostage Killer yourself.” And not call him Hostage Killer, obviously.

She was pretty sure that Walter knew how to fake niceties with him.

“It’ll be soon. I hear about these things afterwards, and Snail was following Balam’s trail, picking off and completing their jobs, as well as spreading out to do others. Currently, Arquebus has been on a mad hunt to hunt down generators, and that’s scattering the RLF ACs. If they’re not at the Wall, Snail will make his move.”

Soon.

Once Snail was certain he’d moved them all to generators instead of the Wall.

‘Your hound isn’t going to like it, though, Walter.’ That was his problem. His to learn, when the Wall went down, and his hound had to deal with what she’d just done. Hopefully, it wasn’t a fatal lesson for Walter…but even Carla would agree with Michigan, to some degree. There was reason to worry for Walter’s life.

~***~

Rusty went down with no struggle – of course not, he was letting her do this, so she’d know how to perform it. Later, she could learn how to defend if it happened to her, if she could catch it fast enough. The mat didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did with some of his partners. He fell from the same heights, but the pressure wasn’t the same.

When Huntress all but pounced on him after, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Or think of how easy it’d be to show her the futile victory in her position by rolling her. Or grabbing the necklace and pulling her down, pulling her closer –

He cut the thought off, but kept a grin on his lips as she realized her own predicament, not unlike the one he’d found himself in earlier. He was a bit more accustomed to playing, even with these situations, and now that he’d caught on – and saw how flustered she was – he was able to pick that norm back up.

When she scrambled up, he sat up, “What, no hand for me?” he joked, but of course, climbed up on his own, languidly teasing, “Fine, I see how it is,” he continued in that playful tone, “See if I help you up next time, buddy!”

Of course, he would.

Every time, as he continued the lesson through other takedowns, and a few defensive maneuvers for the two hours of the session, until it began to wind down and some began to head out to get some rest. He thought he did pretty well instructing, despite how red Huntress could get, she seemed to pull through those feelings and show she was skilled.

That wasn’t really in question, given her role as a Vesper. Not to Rusty, at least.

“Good work, buddy!” he said at the end, “we do this weekly, if you want to keep joining us, we’d be happy to have you.”

Art added, “It’s always good seeing Rusty get knocked on his ass by someone else.”

Rusty rolled his eyes, still grinning, though.
 
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