Splicers - I Am Legion - IC Thread

[Eonivar]

Jin threw herself into her work in the sickbay, finally being able to use the skills she had been training to use for a few years now. She was curious about the about the Captured Shiva agent as well as the remains of the machine possessed woman whose head they had captured for research and investigation. She wondered if Pasao was "wired" and if they had gotten anything else out of her?

Yet Jin focused on her patients and work in the sickbay, throwing herself into the work as much as she threw herself into her combat operations. She worked to relieve the horrors she had seen. While not in sickbay and off duty, Jin would be working out. Jin was not one to drink a lot if any at all, mainly because of the parasitic nature of her host suit, and her desire to keep the suit in good working order. She worried that having alcohol in her body would impair the performance of her host armor. With this she worked very hard to keep her body in supreme shape.

Later on in the evening, Jin would find female companionship for comfort, company, relaxation, and rest. She did not like to be alone with her demons and nightmares when she slept. Jin , who is used to only sleeping every four days with her Cycadean rhythm enhancement on her host suit, did not like to sleep a lot. But she had to sleep when out of her suit, and with sleep came the nightmares, thus bringing her want for intimate company lately.

 

[Psychie]

While Toni is waiting for her Host Armor to be complete, she would do her best to be useful in between times she spends looking in on her armor as it is being upgraded to the new Dreadnaught variant. Toni also makes sure to keep the various members of the squad in close contact with one another, so the tight bond that has been built up between them doesn't fade away over time. She does her best to make a personal connection with each, trying to get to know the others better and letting them know her even more, so that by the time they get back into the field, they are still a tight band.

 

[Sherwood]

He wants to talk with Kraken's Deliverymen. He wants to learn more about their operations and experiences and share tricks of the trade for everyone's benefit.

He would also like to share ideas with the Kraken's intelligence community to further expand his perspective in aiding House Artemis and everyone on board.

Chaska would also like to learn more about the other avians onboard. Ever since Lance departured, Woodstock has been the only bird Chaska knows. He finds himself wanting to know more and if there's anything he can do to help out the avians who assists the humans, risking their very lives against the Machine that threatens them all.

With Chaska taking time to get in contact with the other Deliverymen, he discovers that he is in rare company. There are few Deliverymen in the Kraken at any one time, with most of his fellows spending time in the field doing reconnaissance on robot positions and delivering messages. But the small group on the Kraken are not the only ones that have bio-engineered birds that serve the humans on the large War Mount. The impression that Chaska gets from the birds is that they miss their friend Maria, because she was so nice to them. One of the messenger birds manages to ask, "Chaska sing?" in a rather hopeful voice. When the one bird requests that, the others fall silent, watching Chaska carefully to see if you would honor the request.

When not in the aviary, Chaska manages to spend some time with the intel staff of the Kraken. He learns from them that Maria's entire past was a fabrication, that she wasn't the sole survivor of a town that was hit by the Machine, but she was a carefully prepared plant from the hated House Shiva. Even with as bad as House Janus is, at least they can be counted on to only consider the robot force out there as the true enemy and not their fellow humans. It is remarkable how much information that the interrogators have been able to get out of her. There have even been the location of several Shivan outposts uncovered that there is now some controversy as to what to do with. They are human, even if they are evil as hell. How can House Artemis sink to their level to attack them? It has also been suggested that the location of these outposts somehow get leaked to the Machine and let your mutual enemies hammer on each other for a while.

Jin threw herself into her work in the sickbay, finally being able to use the skills she had been training to use for a few years now. She was curious about the about the Captured Shiva agent as well as the remains of the machine possessed woman whose head they had captured for research and investigation. She wondered if Pasao was "wired" and if they had gotten anything else out of her?

Yet Jin focused on her patients and work in the sickbay, throwing herself into the work as much as she threw herself into her combat operations. She worked to relieve the horrors she had seen. While not in sickbay and off duty, Jin would be working out. Jin was not one to drink a lot if any at all, mainly because of the parasitic nature of her host suit, and her desire to keep the suit in good working order. She worried that having alcohol in her body would impair the performance of her host armor. With this she worked very hard to keep her body in supreme shape.

Later on in the evening, Jin would find female companionship for comfort, company, relaxation, and rest. She did not like to be alone with her demons and nightmares when she slept. Jin , who is used to only sleeping every four days with her Cycadean rhythm enhancement on her host suit, did not like to sleep a lot. But she had to sleep when out of her suit, and with sleep came the nightmares, thus bringing her want for intimate company lately.

Jin's work in the medical bay is rewarding for her, being able to free up the Kraken's remaining Saint from dealing with some of the variety of injuries that come into the medical bay. The soldiers on the Kraken fight hard and play hard, and during both times they get hurt. In between time working on broken bones and bruises, Jin is allowed to look in during the examination of the severed head you brought in. It is handled as if it were a toxic bomb in your midst, because with the metal in the head, it most certainly is. The other medical staff are amazed at the intricate level of surgical work needed to implant these wires and control box into the head of a person without killing them. It is clear that this wasn't done by any human; the amount of precision needed is far beyond anything that a human surgeon could manage to accomplish with the tools in hand. Only a robotic device has the needed technical ability to attempt this without killing the patient. From what can be divined by examining the implants and the part of the brain affected, this would completely replace any sense of self will and make this person a willing agent of the Machine. Very much nightmare inducing stuff.

It isn't hard for Jin to find someone willing to share your bunk with you. After all, hair or no hair, Jin is an attractive woman and there is no lack of takers for your companionship. It doesn't hurt that Cerberus Squad is currently high up on the Chief's favorites list. The first night shows you that the horrid images of the wiring in the head of the poor woman is going to stick with you for a while, and as you wake up in a cold sweat, your companion is there to help soothe your fears and take your mind off of the bad dreams and onto something much more pleasant to think about.

While Toni is waiting for her Host Armor to be complete, she would do her best to be useful in between times she spends looking in on her armor as it is being upgraded to the new Dreadnaught variant. Toni also makes sure to keep the various members of the squad in close contact with one another, so the tight bond that has been built up between them doesn't fade away over time. She does her best to make a personal connection with each, trying to get to know the others better and letting them know her even more, so that by the time they get back into the field, they are still a tight band.

Thanks to the rush order that was given to the Engineers to get Toni's Host Armor ready for action, Toni doesn't have much time to make herself a bother to the Engineers working on your armor. After the first few days of just popping in, they politely but firmly tell you to please go away; the upgrades take time to grow even at this accelerated rate that they are working at. During your off-duty time, Toni manages to learn that Axel is a very skilled card shark, but it only takes you a week's salary before you realize that he is better at cards than you and you stop playing for money. After that, the games remain competitive, but a bit friendlier without the risk of losing a ton of credits.

Finally, Toni gets word that she is needed in the Gene Pool room to give her armor an inspection of the final work done on it. As you get there, the suit of Host Armor is being raised up and out of the Pool to be able to be seen by you for the first time. Compared to your older armor, this suit is much bigger, bulkier and very heavy with the weight of the organic hardware implanted into the armor now. Toni can see that she will also be slower in her new armor, and much less maneuverable. But with the Sentinel Eels helping out, you will be much harder to take by surprise, and when you are hit by enemy fire, the amount of heavy bone plating will keep you alive long enough to deal a lot of damage to the enemy before you have to consider pulling back to safety.

One of the Engineers looks over at Toni as you are marveling at your armor, and he says, "I have been told that you had never named your armor. Now that you have seen what we've given you, do you have a name in mind for your suit now?"

 

[Psychie]

Toni is willing to deal with the loss of a few credits to help her squad get to know one another a bit better in circumstances where something wasn’t trying to kill them. Sure, it was a bit frustrating to be out some pay, but the fact is you can’t take it with you and it was fun to play cards with the squad (assuming that Jin and Chaska join them).

When word comes down that her Host Armor is ready to be checked out, Toni feels like a kid on Christmas Day rushing out to see what Santa has left for her. The modifications that were made were certainly impressive with the increase in size and mass. She takes a hand and runs it over the bony armor as she smiles. “Damn, that is one hell of a piece of work. I’m impressed! I can’t wait to try it out in the field to see how well it works.”

When the question comes to her of what name she would like to call her newly upgraded armor, Toni smiles. “That’s an easy one. Valkyrie.”

 

[Sherwood]

The Engineers working on the bio-mods for the various members of Cerberus Squad let you know that your upgrades will be done in the next few days as the last minute items are successfully grown into place. In the meantime, Toni is given some intense training to know what to expect when she first goes into combat in the new dreadnought armor. There is a training room with a modified suit of Host Armor that can replicate most of the effects of your suits in a virtual environment, saving you from the nastiness of death when and not if you make a mistake against the Machine.

The Harbinger Cannon is a true beast, and when it is not stored on your back it takes two hands to be able to effectively use it and not have it get blown out of your hands from the recoil. It also devours a massive amount of ammo, making you very glad to have your Mantis Claws and your Bio Energy Expulsion Vent as a back up weapon when you expend your missiles and cannon rounds.

Your training also shows you when to fire and when not to in order to keep from hitting your own team members. The Velocity Cannons are not discriminate in their damage, so if you want to keep from hurting allies, you will have to use the Spore Rifle instead.

Axel spends some time kicking it in the simulator room, too, experimenting with what he can get away with in his own armor and seeing what to expect from the upgrades he has added in. From his reaction watching what Toni can wade through in the sims, he is quite impressed with the destructive ability of her new suit.

 

[Eonivar]

Jin would have to don her Host Armor every twenty-four hours to "feed it" and keep it in tip-top shape. She would do so for about an hour everyday. While her new systems were growing she could not do much other than sit there for an hour (she usually read something), once the new systems were grown sufficiently, she would start to work out in the suit getting used to the new weight and balance of having a weapon on either shoulder, and also using her new echo location in conjunction with the rest of her sensors and senses. She was happy she no longer had to carry a backpack on her Host Suit as she could now store her gear in her 4 new pouches, not having the extra drag helped much.

Finally she started to learn to use her newest weapon, the Acid Seed cannon. Once it was available either on her suit or in the simulator...she would spend her suit time shooting the new weapon as much as possible to learn its habits and movements when it fired.

This seemed to be the longest time she had been on "leave" since she was bonded to her suit. Before, she had been anxious to don her suit again and go back out. But since she had attained her medical doctor certification, worked in the infirmary, and made a new girlfriend in a nurse named Priya, she had second thoughts about wanting to go back out. But as soon as she got back into her suit, her mind would switch back to mission mode. And then she would get out of the suit and it was back to working out, tending wounds, playing cards with her squadron and then spending the rest of the night in Priya's waiting arms. Jin wondered that when she left on the next mission and came back, if she came back, if things would be the same or would things change?

To her squadron, for the last few days since their suit enhancements were grown, Jin would seem very preoccupied and deep in thought during their poker games, and in training outside their suits, occasionally glancing towards the infirmary. Once Jin was in her suit...she was the same old Jin that they always knew.

 

[Sherwood]

It is just after the final upgrades are finished in Toni's Dreadnaught suit (since it is taking the longest to get finished) when Cerberus Squad, along with several other teams, are called to the conference room. The Chief is there, and he shifts a bit in his seat as he waits for everyone to sit down. "We have several problems that are in need of resolution, and I can only think to turn this over to my best people. First, we have received a message fragment from our friends at House Deluvane. They say that they have important information for us, but the details of what that information was, it was lost in transit. They have urgently requested a meeting, so I am sending Cerberus out to rendezvous with them. The location that they have requested for the meeting is near the Ghost City of Harrisburg. In case you have forgotten your maps, that is close by to the city of Avalon, home of House Artemis. In case of anything of critical need, you will be closer to Avalon than you will be to the Kraken, so don't hesitate to go there to report in. In other words, I am putting you on detached duty for the duration. In order to aid you in this, I am assigning another Deliveryman scout to your team, an expert named Archos. Sgt. Cruse, between Archos and Chaska, you will have a total of three messenger birds to be able to send out messages and hunt around for the Machine. Sergeant, Archos is a genius in getting into and out of harry situations, but this is your team, and while I would hope that you take his advice, out there in the world, the final call is yours to make. Find out what it is that has House Deluvane so riled up and use your judgement on what to do next. If it is that important, you'll probably need to check in with the Warlord in Avalon. Just be safe out there. You get me?" He waits for your acknowledgement of your orders, then dismisses the four of you to go suit up and meet Archos.

Everyone of the team is aware of the name Archos. He is a near legend in being able to get information into and out of impossible to breech locations, and with his reputation, he has managed to acquire a second bio-bird to help act as his eyes and ears out in the field. His birds, named Alpha and Beta, both know Chaska and are friendly with him. Chaska has even had the good fortune to have met Archos in person, a rare thing with as often as the Deliveryman is out in the field. Chaska can see some of himself in Archos; a bit of a loner, more at home in the field sleeping in the dirt than in the 'comforts' of the Kraken. Your interactions with him have always been polite, respectful, but somewhat distant, as if he is not comfortable being around people for too long.

Waiting for you at the suit armory is Archos. A rather plain looking man with a bit of scruffy beard sticking out from under his long, hooded robe and a pair of war hawks sitting, one on each shoulder. He stands up straight as Cerberus Squad comes walking up, going to the position of Parade Rest to show respect for the various NCOs in front of him. He gives Toni a nod, saying, "Ma'am, Chief Rybeck has told me that I'm assigned to support your team on this mission. I promise to not let you down. Your orders?"

 

[Psychie]

Toni listens to the Chief and she remembers how they helped out those people from House Deluvane by escorting the Saint to the injured people in Haven. They must be trying to repay us with something important to try to help out House Artemis. I wonder what this could be? And to be put out into the field on detached duty; This is a real chance to prove ourselves. In the meantime, she commits the location to memory and says, "Understood, sir. We'll get to the rendezvous point and find out what has our friends all wound up in knots."

Moving quickly, she leads the team along to the armory, where they run into Archos. "At ease. Good to finally meet you, Archos. Your reputation precedes you. I'm Sgt Toni Cruse. This here is Axel and Jin, and I think you already know Chaska and Woodstock. We need to move quickly to get to the meeting point on time, so we need to travel light but be ready to deliver astounding amounts of ass-kicking to the Machine. Everyone, gather up your Host Armor, grab some grenades and enough rations for a week in our storage bags. Archos, does your Host Armor have flight capability?"

 

[Sherwood]

He shakes his head. "No, Sergeant. I can't fly, but I can run quickly enough to put miles behind me fast. If you need me to move faster than that, you'll have to carry me in my Nighthawk armor. With all due respect, I doubt that I will weigh more than that massive cannon you're hauling, so I shouldn't be much trouble. I'm ready to gather up my equipment at your ok and can be ready to move within a half hour."

 

[Eonivar]

Jin had a question during the briefing. "The message was lost in transit? Does that mean it was possibly intercepted and we are walking into a trap by the Machine or Shiva? Do we have verification that this message was indeed from House Deluvane? How was the original message sent and how did we only get a fragment of it?"

 

[Sherwood]

Jin had a question during the briefing. "The message was lost in transit? Does that mean it was possibly intercepted and we are walking into a trap by the Machine or Shiva? Do we have verification that this message was indeed from House Deluvane? How was the original message sent and how did we only get a fragment of it?"

“The message was delivered by a war hawk that had taken some fire from some machine forces and that resulted in a part of the message getting destroyed. There was enough of the message there, along with the recognition codes, that we have between us to be able to confirm the source of the message was from our allies at House Deluvane. I have high confidence in the authenticity of this message which is why I am sending you out there.”

 

[Eonivar]

After hearing the Chief's answer, Jin had another question. "Does the fact that they want us to meet near Harrisburg suggest that Deluvane has moved farther inland? That seems to be kind of far from where we had met them in the last mission. Does the place make sense with Deluvane's inferred new location?"

 

[Sherwood]

After hearing the Chief's answer, Jin had another question. "Does the fact that they want us to meet near Harrisburg suggest that Deluvane has moved farther inland? That seems to be kind of far from where we had met them in the last mission. Does the place make sense with Deluvane's inferred new location?"

“Insufficient data to give you an answer. I do know from the fragment that they have something of a critical nature to share. That is all I have.”

 

[Eonivar]

Jin nodded at the answer and was silent through the rest of the briefing. She followed Toni into the armory and met Archos, giving the noted deliveryman a nod in her introduction. She was not happy that he could not fly, but then again, everything written about him said he was very good at getting around. He will do, ground movement is better cover anyway, although I wonder why he is being sent with us? Does he know the area better? We all trained around Avalon. Out of the ordinary, but I guess another set of eyes, another set of guns, and a means for messaging is helpful.

Jin before heading to disrobe and enter her Host Suit, wrote a quick note to Priya.

Priya,

Remember when I told you when we started our relationship that I may be called away at any time and that there was a possibility that I may never come back. It is the nature of my job as a soldier. That time has come. I leave now on a mission and I am uncertain if I will return, or it may be some time before I do return. Do not wait for me. Go on with your life and find someone else. I will always love you and love the time we had together. I shared a part of myself with you that I had never shared with anyone else. If I should come back and you have found another, I will not be jealous or have any expectations. I will be very happy for you. Take good care of yourself and survive. I will do my part and keep fighting the machine and all who oppose us.

Jin <Jin's name in Mandarin Characters>

She handed the note off to a messenger and then proceeded to suit up in her Host Suit. She takes a load of medical supplies and tools in one of her storage pockets, with the rest of her usual gear spread out through the other three pockets. Since she does not need to eat, she takes the rations anyway in case they run into someone or some situation where they would be needed.

Then her tall olive green host suit with its mouthless visage, large eyes and now large bat like ears (which kind of look like strange cupped vents on either side of her head) stepped up, its footsteps always quiet. She reflexively lowers and raises her now larger more powerful heat cannon on her left shoulder and then lowers and raises her new long barrelled acid seed cannon on her right shoulder. Both retracting in to their designated organic housing on her back, she stretches her arms and legs, back and body.

She then steps up and salutes Toni sharply in the departure airlock.

"Sergeant Jin Li, Cerebus Squardron, reporting for duty and ready for action ma'am!"

 

[Psychie]

Toni goes into the locker room and quickly disrobes, long over any shyness she may have had in regards to being naked in front of others. Once her suit of armor is ready for her, she climbs up into the heavy armor and seals it around her, feeling complete once more as she melds with the bio-suit. With a thought, she orders her two Sidekick Rifles to their customary positions on her shoulders and nods as they settle into place. Her heavy footsteps clunk as the nearly half ton of walking destructive power comes strolling out of the armory. Toni looks at the group of technicians that are there to assist as they look up at her and she smiles as they give her a wide berth. Kicking on her outer speakers, she says, "Ok, Cerberus. Grab your gear and get to shakin' your tail feathers. We have a rendezvous to make."

 

[Sherwood]

When Axel comes out in his Host Armor, you can see that he’s added to his layers of defense with thicker plates of heavy bone and extra padding to protect him from weapon fire, and he’s still sticking with his Thud Gun and a single Sidekick rifle that comes scuttling out along side him.

Giving Toni in her new suit an impressed look, he says, “Sergeant, let me just say I hope that I don’t ever piss you off while you’re wearing that behemoth. I’m very glad you are on our side! You’re looking quite awesome indeed!” He cracks a smile that is hard to see in his helmet, but you know it’s there.

Looking next to Jin, Woodstock and Chaska he adds, “No offense to the two of you, but you’re just not as scary as she is. Not to say you don’t look good in your upgraded suits, cause you do.”

He then gives Archos a respectful nod as he eyes his two battle birds. “You know, with as useful as these war hawks are, in kinda surprised that the Resistance doesn’t issue out more of them. Heck, we’ve all seen how much Woodstock has done for us over these past months, and obviously Archos sees the value of them enough to get two. Maybe that is something to look into. What do you think, Sergeant? Is there a chance we could get more birbs in the squad?”

Archos makes a non-committal noise, then speaks up, “They are very handy, but if we have too many war hawks in the field the Machine will get wise to them. They are small and quick, but against a dedicated effort they would fall in combat quickly. Best to leave the numbers small for now.”

Axel mulls that over for a moment, then nods. “I guess that makes sense. Ah, well. It was just a thought. Anyhoo, I’m all set to go whenever you guys are. I got my rifle and plenty of grenades to shove up the arse of any robot out there that is in need of an enema.”

 

[Psychie]

Toni gives Axel’s comment a good laugh, saying, “Let’s leave the medical work to Jin, because I now have this horrid mental picture of you trying to give someone that enema and making every mistake possible. We just need to wait for Chaska and we can get moving.”

Purr

 

[Purr]

Eonivar Psychie Sherwood (Part 1 of 2.)

One of the messenger birds manages to ask, "Chaska sing?" in a rather hopeful voice. When the one bird requests that, the others fall silent, watching Chaska carefully to see if you would honor the request.

"Mmm," Chaska consents. He is willing to do an awful lot for the birds, in part because he feels more in touch with them than he feels with his own humankind.

For example, Jin was quite communicative when Cerberus first encountered her. Now? She hardly talks at all unless it's mission-related. Chaska doesn't bother wondering why; the thought never enters his mind. He just figures each person has their own path.

When he eventually sees Jin with Priya, he thinks to himself, "This is where Jin's words must be going." It is well with Chaska.

So he imitates a simple old traveling song he knows, one just about anyone could sing:

Spoiler: Singing.

"A Horse with No Name (2001 Remaster)" by. America

Your interactions with him have always been polite, respectful, but somewhat distant, as if he is not comfortable being around people for too long.

Chaska knows this feeling all too well. He also decided that old soldiers did not often get attached because of the number of dead soldiers they once knew when they were living.

The message was delivered by a war hawk that had taken some fire from some machine forces and that resulted in a part of the message getting destroyed.

During the briefing, Chaska has a request. "Chaska meet war hawk, please?"

If asked why, he provides the following reply: "Chaska think human often underestimate animal. Black Talon birb is alive. But humans no want talk to birb. Instead, dey want talk to human who wrote message.

"Dey no think of birb. Birb has lived. Seen. Heard. Knows. Can tell us. Maybe read entire message. Tell us." Chaska peeks around him to see who has been listening.

"Iz O.K. meet birb?"

 

[Purr]

(Part 2 of 2.)

"Ok, Cerberus. Grab your gear and get to shakin' your tail feathers. We have a rendezvous to make."

There are times when human beings are the most confusing creatures in the world to Chaska. Even the machine causes less confusion to him.

Hearing this order, baffled Chaska stammers and points to WyldKat's hind end where a furry black tail can be seen.

"Ahhh, Toni?" He points in controlled exasperation. "WyldKat... iz cat. No tail-feather. See? Only tail." He quietly gulps. "Did... Toni want Cerberus host armor... to haz feathers... on butt?"

Looking next to Jin, Woodstock and Chaska he adds, “No offense to the two of you, but you’re just not as scary as she is. Not to say you don’t look good in your upgraded suits, cause you do.”

Chaksa feels the desire to explain and he answers that desire by speaking casually.

"JodiAxel. Iz not for Deliveryman to scare. This iz Way of Dreadguard, of Archangel, of Packmasta. De enemy fear, den it die.

With a rare show of pride, Chaska adds, "Way of Deliveryman? Deliveryman too busy to scare enemy. Too many deliveries; neva enough Deliveryman. So... when Deliveryman must kill, iz simply anotha delivery. Anotha obstacle we must surpass. No games. No scare-scare."

Fast, discreet, sure - we deliver death." Chaska gives a confident grin. "Dis way, our package arrive on time."

 

[Sherwood]

During the briefing, Chaska has a request. "Chaska meet war hawk, please?"

If asked why, he provides the following reply: "Chaska think human often underestimate animal. Black Talon birb is alive. But humans no want talk to birb. Instead, dey want talk to human who wrote message.

"Dey no think of birb. Birb has lived. Seen. Heard. Knows. Can tell us. Maybe read entire message. Tell us." Chaska peeks around him to see who has been listening.

"Iz O.K. meet birb?"

At this request, the Chief looks surprised, as if the thought to ask the war hawk about the details of its message. With an upset look, he turns to one of the subordinates in the room and nods, sending the man off in a hurry. A few minutes later he returns with the hawk. It has been shot repeatedly, and has many of its feathers burned or blasted off. It is a surprise it could fly to get here. The bird looks like it’s in a lot of pain, but it also is holding its head up high, having pride in the fact that it has successfully delivered its message.

The Chief looks to Chaska and says, “Go ahead, sergeant. You have a good rapport with the war hawks; see what you can get from him.”

 

[Purr]

Eonivar Psychie Sherwood

At this request, the Chief looks surprised, as if the thought to ask the war hawk about the details of its message. With an upset look, he turns to one of the subordinates in the room and nods, sending the man off in a hurry.

Chaska notes Chief Rybeck's response; like most humans, it seems he had never thought of this before.

Chaska does not judge the man for it; he simply feels good to help him understand something new just as Chief Rybeck had done for Cerberus and many other Splicers before.

Sitting at a table together, Woodstock and Chaska study the Deluvane Black Talon - Woodstock studies the fellow bird's emotional signals, but Chaska focuses on the bird's injuries and struggle.

The Deliveryman's mind then moves into the world of animals. He doesn't mean to, but he disregards every human presence in the room no matter how dear until he is focusing only on the two avians with him. For these few moments, no one else seems to exist to him.

The bird's Black Talon Super Regeneration aside, Chaska feels pain is pain and life in this hard world has no shortage of it. Perhaps that is why when the three of them establish Bio-comm communication together, Chaska stops Woodstock mid-sentence.

Woodstock addresses the suffering bird, "Artemis-Chaska wants Deluvane message. Do you know--"

Right then, Chaska's middle finger and thumb connect and push to form a soft and brief snapping sound. It is just enough to get Woodstock's attention. Woodstock pauses and looks to Chaska. The shake of his blond head is brief and subtle, but Woodstock stops there.

His steely-gray eyes peering, Chaska observes the Deluvane bird's injuries and sees that stoic pride as the bird's body fights to mend itself.

Pain. It can worsen itself if focused upon, or it can lessen if the mind is focused upon something else. This Chaska knows.

Making eye contact with the bird, Chaska's head begins to nod up and down very slightly, very softly - rhythmically - as if hearing sounds not from any outside source, but of sounds found solely in the memory-depths of his unusual mind.

Chaska, seeking to divert the bird's mind from his pain and his stomach battle with it, inhales deeply.

Chaska then sings to the bird.

Spoiler

"Horse With No Name." by America. (First verse and chorus though Chaska sings for the bird the entire song.)

"On the first part of the journey
I was lookin' at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound

[Chorus]
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert, you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la
La, la, la-la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la"

When the song is ended, Chaska is more at peace than he was before and Woodstock is the same. With any luck, this new bird has a similar feeling - one with less pain and more peace.

Only then is Chaska willing to ask anything of that brave and wounded messenger before him.

The questioning begins.

Patiently and thoroughly, Chaska asks the Deluvane bird to relive the moments before he received the message, during when the message was received, everything the bird is willing to share about the person who wrote the message, plus what was going on.

Who wrote the message? Under what circumstances?

He asks the bird to describe every detail. He knows the bird can well understand the language of his own Great House.

What did he see and hear? What did the message say before it was partly destroyed? What were the Deluvane humans talking about? What is going on concerning House Deluvane?

As their conversation goes on, Chaska reaches into his pouch and shares the food-stock he feeds Woodstock. Water too. He knows the tough birds are carnivores and he wants to help the bird heal.

But above all, he asks that the bird leave out no detail no matter how small or seemingly trivial.

"Tell Chaska everything. Please."

 

[Sherwood]

The scraggly looking bird at first gives Chaska and Woodstock a long looking over before seeming to relax and starts to hum with the singing with his eyes closed. Woodstock coos and trills at his fellow birb, trying to offer some comfort.

When the questions start, the other bird opens his eyes and remembers, saying, “Big robot. Big. Bigger than others by a lot. Lots of little robots with it. Attacked House Deluvane. Took many humans before retreating. Many died. Sad. Humans very angry. Very scared. Humans say got message from Gaia! She say robot called Legion. One of her sisters gone rogue. At war with man and machine. Not to kill; to make as one.”

The bird takes a bit of the meat treat that Chaska offers and gobbles it up. Then it continues to answer questions. “Message says Legion going to New Harrisburg to eat everything. Attack team going to try intercept Legion at New Harrisburg. Odds not good to rescue captured people and destroy Legion but will try. Request assistance. Message ends.”

The bird looks at Chaska and says, “Humans all scared. Never see robot so big. Robot heading towards House Artemis. Humans say House Artemis good friends and we want to help. Helps from House Artemis much appreciated. Friends.”

 

[Purr]

Chaska opens the Bio-Comm so the birb can relay every word to Chief Rybeck and Cerberus. If this somehow is not possible, then Chaska parrots Deluvane Black Talon's incredibly-valuable intel as he relays them verbatim.

The young Deliveryman feels humbled by the War Bird's cooperation and he tries is level best to show it. "You iz super! House Deluvane haz super-messenger Black Talons! I honored you speak with me!" Chaska then offers the Deluvane Black Talon anything he can reasonably provide him including more of the specially-prepared meats if he wants it.

To Chief Rybeck, he says only this. "ChiefRybeck, dis is big part why Chaska is Deliveryman! Animals best companions! Thank you for allow me to speak with Deluvane's bravest bird!" He bows Japanese-style, deeply and meaningfully to Cerberus's commander and mentor.

The wild youth feels that many other commanders might have blown off his offer as so much nonsense. But not Chief Rybeck. Not only did he react in surprise, disbelief, and then became visibly upset, he gave permission to Chaska to do what he does best - to touch the part of the natural and animal world that Chaska belongs to and trusts the most. He feels Chief Rybeck believes not only in Chaska but in all of Cerberus - and that goes a long way with the last surviving member of House Apollo.

Chaska points to Deluvane's Black Talon. "Is there way we help him heal fasta? Betta?" He looks around to everyone in the room for answer.

 

[Psychie]

Toni frowns. "I know we've heard the name Legion before. It came up . . . when we ran into the cyborg person, right?" She looks over at Jin for confirmation, knowing that she was the one that heard the comment directly. She looks over at the Chief, she says, "Sir, I understand that this is a unverified message, but I am seriously thinking that this should be considered a second verified source about this Legion robots' existence. We have to send our own warning to Avalon and Warlord Artemis." On a side note, she looks at the bird in the eye and says, "Thank you for delivering this message to us. You have done a great job, and you have done yourself and House Deluvane proud. Rest, and get feeling better." Then, she turns to Chaska. "Again, you surprise me with your resourcefulness. Excellent work, Sergeant."

 

[Sherwood]

Chief Rybeck is busy writing on a notepad, but pauses long enough to grunt out, "This guy is getting the very best medical care possible. Our Saint has been busy healing this messenger, and will continue to do so until the war hawk is back up to full health so we can return him to House Deluvane with a return message that we are with them in this and will come to their aid. It is probably going to arrive after your scheduled rendezvous with their team. Perhaps you can get some details that weren't shared with the war hawk, like how did they get a message from Gaia. She is supposed to be one of the many multiple personalities of the Machine, so why is she talking to us? Why do they feel that this isn't a trap? Get moving. If this is as important as it sounds, it needs to be addressed."