CLOSED PARALOGUE The Evrensel Conflict: Paralogue 1 -- The Cyber-Hangover

[Wade Von Doom]

"Oli, I'm not gonna put a kid in danger," Alec quickly answered back. "I mean, I have an 'okay' idea of the planet we're gonna go to and what it might be like, but that doesn't guarantee we can safely bring a little girl with us. Plus, I know some of you would be okay with it, but the idea of using a child soldier is a bit icky for me."

I mean... it was hard not to agree with that. But lord knows he wasn't with the greatest moralists in this team.

 

[FACELESSFACESFECKINGFLYING]

Idan scoffed as Alec staunchly rejected Anri from the mission. It seemed their mission-leader was short-sighted. Anyone with that sort of tinkertech - kid or not - was an asset to have. Not to mention that she could handle herself rather decently - a fact Idan knew well from experience. As a rebuttal bubbled its way from Idan's mind to his lips, Oliver, the 'Fifth Grade Fixer', spoke up. For a moment, Idan thought he wouldn't have to add-in, that Oliver's argument and offer for protection was convincing enough. Those hopes were dashed as Alec argued on, citing safety concerns and the pain of feeling 'icky'. Idan only had one response to that.

"Feeling icky is a lot better than bein' dead, boss. I'm a bit worried that ya'd put your own moral high ground over our continued safety. Because, lemme tell you-" He gestured to Anri. "-kid 'ere is a helluva shot with her tinkertech rifle. 'Nough to cover our arses if shite gets rough - 'nd trust me, shit doesn't ever NOT get rough." He emphasized before continuing. "Point is. While I get that ya might not feel nice 'bout havin' a kid on the team, you aren't drownin' in enough skilled folks to be selective like that, and I ain't down for taking an increased risk just because you couldn't swallow past your dimensionally-limited morality." He finishes before crossing his arms.

 

[The Wanderer]

David Ludlow

“He’s got a point.” A gravelly voice spoke, the owner walking through the door.

Wearing a slightly different outfit and his hair shorter but still in a ponytail and carrying a duffle bag filled with items was David. He stood taller than most of the ones gathered, it almost reminded him of his first deployment. The only thing missing was a killer heat, teammates that were outright bizarre and orders that they were to not reveal their true nature.

And unlike before, he wasn’t a relatively bright-eyed recruit who had yet to see the bloodshed or the hellish sights he’d be beholden to.

In fact, this scene reminded him of his arrival in Russia…

David paused as he felt something strange in his head, like he was forgetting something, and he couldn’t quite place what it was.

Mentally shaking away the haze, he focused on each of the faces of the ones gathered. He didn’t recognize many of them, save for Alec. Most of their eyes held a familiar glint to them, so for the most part. He knew he wasn’t dealing with softies or those who had never seen a fight.

“I don’t quite like it, but it’s evident she’s fought her fair share. Perhaps even killed some. We could assume all day, but best to ask up front.” With that said, he turned to Anri.

“Kid. Have you ever had to kill anything? Animal or otherwise. We won’t judge.” He said bluntly. He could easily provide anecdotal evidence of child soldiers claiming many lives in Vietnam. Sometimes with a pistol. Sometimes with enough explosives to level a block or to just claim two lives with one grenade. David even heard of a sniper taking on a squad, downing most members and killing a good chunk of their reinforcements before a counter-sniper attack claimed the life of the boy with the rifle.

David still remembers the picture..

@Wade Von Doom @FACELESSFACESFECKINGFLYING @BazusoTheGrey @Valkan @SorryTM @Girania the Knightess @noob13241 @LenxKaitoYaoi @Birdsie

 

[Girania the Knightess]

Sir, She's Both a Veteran and a Monster Hunter.
Anri

Well, introductions seem out of the question at the moment. Still, it was nice to be the center of attention. She understood the concern of the voice guy. There were many people that said similar things to his own words back when she was in the Dawn Covenant's active forces. Hell, Captain Evelynn even tried to keep her from many missions when things started to get more dangerous. Anri tended to both not care enough to listen, as well as join in anyway if they tried to leave without her. If her friends went on a mission, she would go with them as well! There were other kid soldiers of course, but they didn't seem anything like her. Though she never did talk to them long enough to find out. They weren't under Captain Evelynn's command, so she had no reason to know them outside of curiosity.

But that was unrelated. She was asked a question by one of her new possible allies! He asked her if she had to kill anything. She gave a big smile and responded,

"Yes!"

She's had to kill a lot of things. She first came into contact with the Dawn Covenant because someone mentioned it while she was out hunting! Since then, she had plenty of experience slaying monsters, fighting undead, and even felling enemy warriors from another world! It was multiple degrees of fun.

"Newer members call me a 'veteran', which my friends think is weird and true. I've hunted a lot of monsters too! I was in the middle of hunting one before I got brought here!"

 

[LenxKaitoYaoi]

Voláre jumped with a startled squeak when he realized he was being spoken to. The man's voice and the way he looked at him- his very tone scared the hell out of the mage right now. He whimpered softly and cowered somewhat at first, terrified and feeling he would only annoy the man further if he did join them. What had he done to earn this man's ire, anyway!? He was just panicking. Why did this guy have to make it worse?? He never should have left the room…

He scrambled under the man's gaze further, an unsure look with creased brows and fearful eyes. He got out of the elevator rather quickly instead of answering the man. What he should do now, though, he didn't know. He barely heard what Alec said, there were too many people and he was still scared of Van. He backed away somewhat slowly hoping no one would stop or talk to him.

 

[Otomos]

Chika was expecting a bit more of a vocal response from the man, but she supposed that would have to do. As the man shiffled forward, Chika would look back to the others. They seemed to have gotten themselves into a bit of a disagreement as to what to do with the child. Chika had no stake in the argument. She did not know anyone here, and had her own problems to deal with. Problems that would be more easily dealt with by the task they had gathered to do. Still, the problem they have found themselves in had pushed that back a bit.

For her, time spent in idleness only whittled away her mind. She did not like to speak, and having no relation to the argument only made it harder to join in and contribute to a swift decision. Still, she had to think of something, lest they stand there for who knows how long. So she walked up, and spoke. Her voice, as shown time and again, was raspy and sctratched. Truth be told, it hurt to speak for any moment outside the adrenaline of battle.

"We... can bring her", said Chika. "We... are strong. We can watch her and do our task... She can prove her own strength... as well."

 

[Wade Von Doom]

Okay, he expected opposition, but not by THIS much. And he just threw up his hands once Chika had the final say. "How the fuck--" he muttered under his breath, turning his back to everyone, before rotating back around to face Anri; bending down to get on her level. "Alright, well... I guess I'm out-voted here, so..." he sighed, "We'll take you with us. BUT! If there's something dangerous down there, you stay behind us and provide cover as best you can. No herotics, just stay with as many people as you can and don't get too close. And, you know, just don't wander off by yourself. Okay?"

 

[Girania the Knightess]

Okay, he expected opposition, but not by THIS much. And he just threw up his hands once Chika had the final say. "How the fuck--" he muttered under his breath, turning his back to everyone, before rotating back around to face Anri; bending down to get on her level. "Alright, well... I guess I'm out-voted here, so..." he sighed, "We'll take you with us. BUT! If there's something dangerous down there, you stay behind us and provide cover as best you can. No herotics, just stay with as many people as you can and don't get too close. And, you know, just don't wander off by yourself. Okay?"

Alec did not know this, but Anri had found out his name. She didn’t commit it to memory, but she had already considered the man one of her allies. As such, his direct command was registered as an order. For a moment-the exact moment of her response, in fact- Anri had changed. Unlike the excited ball of energy and chaos everyone had been introduced to, the girl had stopped moving. The expression on her face had fallen to a stoicism that disturbingly felt fitting for her physical body. Even her eye had momentarily lost that spark of life.

When she spoke, her voice had sounded more like a servant than a child. It lacked the emotion that she had shown before. Her response was simple. All she said was,

“Understood.”

Then suddenly she snapped out of it and started cheering that she was allowed to join in, jumping up and down as she did.

 

[Amber Franklin]

Abigail Delano, Courier Six-Played by Amber Franklin

“Good news!” announces Abigail Delano as she steps off from another elevator onto the command deck. She wears her new favorite armor, and her favorite weapon held in her right hand with the helmet under her left arm.

“Got the Death Pod working! Reloaded and ready for a mission! With the Docs missing I didn't think I could get it going again, but I managed.” She stands next to Alec, beaming, then her brow scrunches and she purses her lips.


"So babe, we ready to go do...whatever it is we're gonna do?" She asks Alec with a smile. She looks around at the group that has gathered so far. Mostly new people.

"Are we waiting for more people?"

 

[Wade Von Doom]

Alec had caught the sudden change in Anri's demeanor, at first thinking she was just mocking him. But the tone of her response was too serious, not to mention the look in her eyes, and the change back to her chaotic nature the moment after. Considering the type of people he'd been with since he first got involved with this multiversal madness, it was hard not to notice it.

And speaking of personalities... The biggest one, at least to him personally, arrived just in time to listen to the rest of the briefing. Of everyone that vanished during the old team's 'blackout,' you couldn't measure the happiness Alec had upon finding out Abby wasn't with them. She was just one level behind him as he took this new station. "Nah," Alec answered, standing up straight as he looked back to Abby, a massive smile forming as he approached her. "You more than make up for ten men with that on," He gave her a tight hug, and a little kiss on the lips. "Glad you're still with us," He whispered to her, looking into her eyes.

Before they could get any more lovey-dovey, Alec had to break off from her to continue his briefing to everyone. "As I was telling everyone before you came in, we're going to try scouting the closet habitable planet to the station. Since without The Doctor's, or that cue-ball machine that helped us, I have no idea how exactly this whole station's systems works. And we're going to need supplies, so we'll take a shuttle in the hanger, and fly ourselves over to this place here," he brought up the planet on the orbital map along the ceiling of the command deck, showing it was Earth.

"It's Earth, which is convenient for most of us, and since you can see lights and city formations along the continents, that means it's populated and still civilized. We'll just get on-world, get as many supplies as we can carry in the ship as possible, then fly back. Easy, simple, quick as can be. That's what I mean by Planetary scouting," he finally answered Idan. "Gather any gear you wanna bring, and meet me down in the hanger. Let's go explore a new world properly, eh?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Once everyone had gotten their things and jumped in the ship, Alec was the one to pilot it, letting Oliver co-pilot. Everyone else would sit in the back. The ship had a small transport system installed, similar to a hyperspace jump at short distances from one solar system to the next, provided you had the fuel to go such distances. For the ship, it was a simple to and from jump, they weren't going anywhere else in this galaxy beyond the chosen planet.

They would arrive above orbit, hovering over North America. Alec had chosen the largest visible city on the orbital map in the station, and the one the station's former occupants, the AI and her machines, seemed the most interested in. A place called 'Night City.' It didn't have much information, meaning they likely just started observing it before the team took it over, and hopefully that meant the planet was interfered with by them at all. But, they would have to find out once they landed. The ship's stealth systems made it easy to slip past the orbiting satellites of the planet, and once they made it through the clouds and could see the city itself, it was hard not to be impressed. They could even get radio from it as they approached closer, which Alec checked on his omni-tool. A song would begin to play from it.

​

Alec would land them within the Industrial District of the city, which you could easily tell from the all the factory and smoke chimneys. He would set it down within an abandoned parking lot, filled with abandoned, burnt out cars and trash covering the tarmac. With the stealth systems on, no one with radar or scanning software would be able to see it, unless they physically got a look at it.

Once landed, Alec opened up the backdoors to the ship, and let everyone out. He would join them last, setting up the security systems on the ship so no one would try stealing it.

Which was just locking the doors.


"Alright!" He said, making his way out. "Successful landing, nobody seemed to see us approach. Now we just need to find ourselves a ride to get around the city."

 

[BazusoTheGrey]

Oliver, Fifth Grade Fixer

Oliver stood back as what seemed like everyone and their mother decided to go against Alec's decision on bringing the kid along with them. He was a bit surprised by the more democratic decision-making process in the group but in hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been. Right now he didn't have an Office Operator there to give orders, and while Alec was practically the client or leader of this contract, he was still pretty much a peer to everyone else on the station, including Oliver. He mentally shrugs to himself at the thought. It'll be a bit weird getting used to but nothing else to do but keep it in mind.

When Alec orders the girl to not be stupid, Oliver pipes up from behind him, "Again, if the kid needs a bodyguard or chaperone, I got you covered on that front." His statement finished, he glances at Anri as her body stills and becomes focused, her eyes dulling as she replies to Alec in a monotone, "Affirmative" before switching back to the hyperactive kiddy persona. She was definitely some type of experimental corp subject.

Good thing she was obedient because of her mental conditioning or whatever. Wouldn't do to have a panicking tyke killing everyone else with whatever bullshit augs she has shoved in her.

When the next lady appeared, Oliver didn't really react outside of a cursory examination of her gear and a mentally raised eyebrow. Her and Alec being a thing would probably be detrimental to the job if shit went sideways but hey, if the Black Silence could apparently have a husband (or was it wife? No one really knew which one of the pair of Fixers was designated a Color) then his two colleagues could too. Hell considering their situation, their relationship might even end well.

After that and a bit more debriefing, Oliver was off to the hangar, all of the supplies he'd need already on his person.

Hopefully, this new world would impress him, elsewise this job was gonna be a total bore.

---

After experiencing a minor bout of confusion and irritation at the newly learned fact that riding shotgun on a ship was a hell of a lot more different than riding shotgun in a car (not that he had much experience with that either), Oliver's first thoughts on 'Night City' was a mild, "Huh, that's neat."

Coming in from above, the view of the city reminded him of when he took a job in District 13's Nest and the complete difference between what it was like compared to the Backstreets. In the Nest, you didn't have to worry about bumping into the wrong guy in a cramped alleyway, or being forced to walk shoulder to shoulder while walking in a street. There was space in a Nest, space enough that a crowd of people could freely come and go without making a total mess of things. The buildings of a Nest were also different. Unlike the squalid, cramped apartment blocks and bloodstained paths in the Backstreets, buildings would rise like triumphant monoliths, decorated with gilded lights and watching over plazas where people could afford to do jack shit and just relax.

Night City reminded him of a Nest, just with an overabundance of neon.

Still, that job in District 13 taught him a valuable lesson. Never judge a book by its cover.

With the heavy similarities between The City and Night City (funny coincidence) there'd likely be some extreme corporate bullshittery going on down there. Hell, there might even be a Fixer equivalent down there as well, after all, someone is always willing to pay someone else to do their dirty work.

After Alec lands the ship and opens up the backdoor, Oliver leaves the co-pilot seat and shoulders his zweihander while taking in the sights. Wherever the hell they landed is a lot more familiar to Oliver, outside of it being a lot more open than he is used to.

Once Alec fully emerges from the ship, Oliver turns to him and says, "Aight, where to first? We gonna do this all quiet like and just mingle with civvies, or are we gonna be raiding targets?"

 

[Girania the Knightess]

Hello World!
Anri

As excitable as Anri was, she was no fool. Rushing out into an unknown environment was dangerous. So instead of jumping out of the big metal box the moment the door opened, she took a moment to examine the new world from inside. After the moment passed, she stepped out to look at the place. It was weird, but still foreign to her! Broken down structures, an excess of metal and stone, and dirt. It wasn't as grand as the shiny places they saw on the way down, but it was still interesting to Anri.

She looked up at the towering structures, and wondered what they were for. They were imposing, but for a reason that Anri did not know. She went to inspect one of the broken structures, but for the most part it was simply that: broken. Then she pushed something, and part of it opened up like a chest! It was intriguing enough to hold her attention for a moment before moving on.

When another had asked a question as to the way they should go about accomplishing the resupply, Anri refocused into trying to help. She had no doubt the supplies they needed were in the place with all the bright lights, but she had decided to look around for wild game to hunt. After looking around and using the skills she had developed throughout her young life, she found something strange.

"Hm. I don't see any animal tracks. None at all!"

At the very least there would've been signs of birds or even rodents, but this wrecked area had nothing but shoe prints going in various directions. The scent of even the dirt seemed to have been overwhelmed by that belonging to the nearby city. And the distant echoes of gunshots and traffic hindered any chance of a hidden animal's sounds.

 

[Henryboy003]

Karena Kuren
A Horrible, no good, very bad day.

---

It was a normal day. Well, what could be considered normal for the clockworker. One of the great boilers two cities over had a leak in a pressure pipe that caused an under-rotation which in turn caused some damage on quite a few public transport centers. It would have been an easy fix had the new guy not fucked it up and almost lost his arm in a winding flywheel. The tool he dropped crunched to a bit, and snapping a gearshaft down the way. Small little errors compounding into one rather blustery day, ending with the clockworker taking a trip to a local bar to unwind a little bit.

She might have gotten a bit to excited and had a bit too much to drink setting her balance a off enough to send her falling towards the edge of a chair. Her Horrible, no good, very bad day just kept getting worse by the second. The last thing she saw before darkness took her was a flash of green light.

When she came to a smell invaded her nose. She knew that smell rather well. Alcohol and bile. She took a moment to gather herself, only to notice that... someone was pulling on her leg... and grabbing her ass. 'Great... Cogs and Gears this trip just keeps getting better and better...' She thought to herself. Whoever was doing that was going to get a rather rude awakening.

Within a moment a halo of light resembling a large gear formed around her, and the trashcan she was shoved into shattered into a few large pieces as Karena applied a large amount of force to the inside of it. Continuing with the motion she fell to the ground, spun around to kick away the being grabbing her ass, and grew her revolver all in one go. "Alright, who fucked up?"

It took her a moment to register just what was happening. The four men... didn't resemble men at all. Metal and wires sticking out of their bodies, their faces contorted with a horrific mixture of flesh and metal. Not even a single artistic flare to their augments at all. Just metal slapped where metal could be... Disgusting.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" The one without a mouth laughed, some form of blades slipping from his arms. Apparently they did have some style, which surprised her. "This bitch has some fight in her! How 'bout you just kept still like you were doin' 'fore, and we'll make this easier on ya!"

The Dhampir let out a small sigh. "Listen Frankenstein, Unless you want to be one with the wall behind you I suggest you just walk away. I've been having a rather bad day already." She barked back at them, that halo of light manifesting around her once again. If they knew what was good for them they would just back away. Everyone should know not to mess with a pissed off Clockworker.

"Yo, she ain't got a deck!" One of them spoke as he glanced her up and down, grinning slightly.

"Oooooh, now ya just teasin' us! Like we'd let a piece of tech like you go off!" He told her with a cheerful, sadistic glee in his voice, rubbing his blades together. "GET HER!" With that, he made a leap to her. Karena just smiled. This would be some nice stress relief.

---

 

[Amber Franklin]

Abigail Delano, Courier Six-Played by Amber Franklin

“So I get to see another Earth.” says Abigail to herself when she walks with Alec into the transport ship. During this walk, she nudges Alec’s shoulder.


“Hoping we get to land this one.” She smiles and rolls her eyes then laughs.


Given her limited experience with flying in any form, Abby spends the time from their disembark and through the descent with her helmet on, seated and focusing in silence on one point on the floor; this keeps


It would be the longest period of silence any would have with a conscious Abigail Delano.


The music gets her attention but at first she only taps her foot to it until she feels like the ship is much more stable, and there is light coming through the windows.


“Are we there yet?” asks Abby when she gets the resolve to look out the windows. The helmet had some thing that changed her voice, so Abby sounds more robotic and lower pitch.


“Oh wow! Finally a whole city of the future! This Earth musta had a better time than the last one.” She declares excitedly as they come in view of the city they had come to scout.


When the group disembarks, Abby kicks garbage out of her way.


“Now this is more like home.” She muses and whistles, stops when she comes to a small metal can in decent condition. Abby picks it up and holds it while Alec speaks first, then Oliver and the young girl. She giggles at the girl looking for tracks, feeling oddly nostalgic.


“Well, we ain’t raiding while I’m around, I tell ya that much. Hate Raiders.” Abby raises her Death Pod with her free left hand. “Let’s go out there friendly, try to cut some deals for what we need; and if someone ain’t friendly then we defend ourselves. But first, hey kid, watch this.” She says the last part to Anri, directing her attention to the can in her hand before setting it in a spot clear of garbage.


“I’m gonna kick this here can, make it bounce off them three wrecks to come right back. Don’t believe me? Just watch.” She says to Anri, lines up her foot, and kicks the can. It flies through the air, arcs down to bounce off a car towards another, however from that point takes a different angle to bounce off that car and down an alley off from the parking lot,


“Aw dang, forgot I’m wearing different boots.” Abby grumbles, tapping her boot heels together.

 

[FACELESSFACESFECKINGFLYING]

Unlike some of the other crewmates, Idan didn't notice anything weird with Anri as she answered Alec's question. He was more surprised by the arrival of weirdly armored woman (presumably a tinker) talking about fixing up some 'Death Pod' device. It seemed like she was the boss's girlfriend or something, and with a device called the 'Death Pod', she also seemed like somebody Idan didn't want to piss off.

So, with that in mind, he held his tongue and gave a simple nod in reply, as some of the others went to pack their things. He already had his 'equipment' on him, so he just followed the others heading towards the hanger and silently boarded the space shuttle.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When the shuttle got closer, Idan eyes widened in recognition as the world - Earth - came into view. He knew what to expect from Alec's reply, but was another thing to see in person, all the way from space. "Same ole continents, same ole bullshite." He scoffed under his breath, hiding his awe of the view.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As they landed, Idan took his time to get out and survey the scene. The smell of trash in the air with the sounds of gunshots and sirens in the distance reminded him of home. This 'Night City' - or at least the industrial district of it they landed in - was most definitely riddled with criminals, crazies, and those too tired to care.

With a put-upon smile on his face, he speaks aloud. "Good news! This place ain't too different from where I came from." That faux-smile quickly changes into a frown as he continues. "Bad news! This place ain't too different from where I came from." He mirthlessly chuckles. "Meaning that, while I got clue on how we can get 'round, I'm pretty sure that someone's going to try to lift the ship or mug us for all we got. If ya got a weapon, keep it at the ready and don't be afraid to show it off. A little bit of threat goes a long way in showin' ya aint to be fucked with."

He turns towards the boss's girlfriend - who he hasn't asked the name of yet. "If we tryin' to be friendly, lets head 'round head in the opposite way of these gunshots. If we can find someone lookin' for a handout, I got somethin' to offer them in exchange for a little rundown of the city." He then looks towards the Fifth Grade Fixer. "If we ain't tryin' to be friendly, then we could follow the sounds of chaos and shooting and carve a little something for ourselves outta the opportunity, if ya catch my drift?"

He shakes his head, "Either way, I suggest we get started quickly. More time waitin' 'bout leaves more of a chance for a problem to show up and make itself known." He comments.

 

[Wade Von Doom]

"Yeah, we're not gonna start trouble here," Alec says to Oliver after Abby mentions her desire of being friendly to the natives of the city. "We'll just find what we need and get out, let's not stay here longer than we need to." On that, he was in agreement with Idan. The gunshots from across the block were already concerning enough, and considering they had barely any intel of this planet, who knows what could happen here.

What stopped that train of thought, however, was the fact that as he fiddled with his omni-tool to get more of a stable connection with the city's radio networks, a very loud scream echoed from where those gunshots were coming from.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Horrifically loud. It made Alec freeze in place, and being who he was, he was already feeling like going back on his word.

"..... Oooooookay, maybe we should at least see what that was about." At worst, they recon what kind of dangers await in this city, and prepare for them accordingly. Once they began making their way over, the gunshots and screams had completely stopped. Alec took point; weapon in hand, as he took cover around the corner and poked his head out slowly to see how many they were facing.

Turns out, just one.

Karena had handily taken care of her attackers/harassers in short time.

 

[Valkan]

Agatha Brandt

Agatha was pleased, seeing as the rest of the team had her backed up. Boss ended up giving in, not before throwing a warning to Anri. "Stay behind and cover us if something dangerous happens", she theorized Alec hadn't had many run-ins with child soldiers, if at all. Shame the first one has already a few screws loose, not that Agatha blamed Anri, who knows what the hell has she gone through. Another one joined the party, donning a very interesting weapon and armor, and more notably, she was very intimate with Alec. The thought of a guy like Alec with a lady like the one he was kissing was something moderately amusing, but she kept that to herself, only letting out a quiet giggle.

With not much to pack, as she was already prepared, so she went straight to the hangar. The ship approached the planet without a hitch. As they got closer to their landing spot, she was able to admire the dangerous beauty of Night City. Clearly something was off despite being so dazzling on the surface, at least her guts told her so. That's when the song started playing. She wasn't sure why exactly, but the song felt very catchy to her, making her even rhythmically tap with her foot. Once they landed, it was clear her gut feeling was on point. It was like seeing some pre-war large cities.

Amidst the discussion on how to proceed with gathering resources, something else called Agatha's attention. Along with the gunshots and the distant bustling part of the city. A metal container was smashed into pieces, and someone was discussing with a group, a small one, but Agatha couldn't discern how small. "Looks like there's someone in trouble just around that corner, a group jumping a woman". She pointed a finger towards where she heard the ruckus. "I hope you don't mind me lending a hand, boss. To protect and serve, and all that jazz" she joked. Whether he said yes or no, she was going.

She reached inside her jacket, and pulled her pistol as she sprinted to the corner, where she halted. She managed to witness how the girl in question finished up with the folk harassing her. Seeing as Alec actually decided to follow as well, actually earned him a couple of points in her book, but not many, as he only took initiative once he heard the scream "Well, I'll be damned..." She commented, as she showed herself to the one handing the beating "I'd ask if you're ok... But these punks clearly need it more. Not that I'll give it to them."

 

[Girania the Knightess]

Cans and Noise and Toys and Lady
Anri

When the woman in unique armor addressed Anri, she assumed that she wanted her to do something. Turns out, she did! She wanted Anri to watch her bounce a metal cup off the "wrecks", as she called them. Anri gave a bright smile in response. She always liked it when people showed off what they can do. It was a nice way to connect while having fun. Unfortunately for the woman, she had neglected to remember that she had a different change of clothes, which affected her kicking power, launching the metal cup in a way she had not intended.

Anri, being herself, was about to go and get it.

"I'll ge-"

That's when Idan spoke of the distant noises as potentially dangerous, and some of the others followed them to deal with it. The order that Alec had given were activated. Instead of running after the can with vim and vigor, the little girl stood up straight, lost expression in her face, and quickly and quietly followed the group.

While the older female ran up towards the fight, Anri set up an overwatch position behind one of the wrecked vehicles. From there, the Obedient personality assessed the opponents. Or rather, she would have, if not for the fact that said opponents were already dead. It seemed that the immediate danger had passed. But Anri will proceed with one more action. This new world has threats unknown to her, and thus inspecting the corpses, even briefly, would yield information necessary to carry out her objective more effectively.

Obedient Anri did not visibly acknowledge the woman responsible for the deaths of the enemies, but rather took note of her and moved on. A simple inspection of the bodies and weapons was all she needed.

'Metal prosthetics, metal protrusions, and parts of false-looking skin that is likely more metal. Closer inspection reveals presence of lighter material. Weapons fit into the ranged category. Projectiles are minuscule, but leave notable impacts into the surroundings. Adjust for new information. Analysis end.'

With the end of the analysis, Obedient Anri saw no further need to remain active, and stood by for further orders…

…Allowing for Anri to pop back in with a curiosity at the weapons in front of her! It was similar to her rifle, but it looked so different! A big curved thing that could detach and has these little metal-looking things in it, an extendable part on the back end, and some weird thing on top that makes a red dot wherever it's pointed!

She liked it! And this guy wasn't going to use it, so Anri decided to take it! She also pocketed the extra big curved things that he had on him because they might be important. Afterwards, she noticed the new lady, and said,

"Hello! I'm Anri! What's your name?"

 

[Otomos]

The lights. The noise. The shift from unfamiliar surroundings to more unfamiliar surroundings. The traveling vessel moving through layers of reality the likes of which she had never known or cared to know. So many things to rile the spirits up. The pained souls that cannot handle the new sights shriek in panic. The sadistic warriors that seek more conflict and victims laugh in excitement. Amidst the conflicting and chaotic noise that only she could hear among her current peers (at least as far as she knew), Chika focused her mental faculties on observation. The city that they were descending towards was filled with bright lights and strange, somewhat obscene pictures. Some few of them even had Japanese characters included, though it was written differently from how she was used to.

As they landed, the group had decided to file out one after the other to establish just where they were and their first course of action. They wished to go about things quietly. They sought to move through this city of light and vulgarity without raising suspicion. With such a varied bunch of individuals, Chika wondered if such an approach would be possible. She even wondered if going into this place with her current kit would be a good idea. Her mask, though likely not to cause much suspicion, would still make her stand out if those pictures of people were more common appearances of the city's inhabitants. Her weapon, being both large and ornate would also make it so that anyone would know who she was and where the others may be. Perhaps she was overestimating her importance. Her usefulness, after all, was limited only to battle and violence.

Luckly, there was another reason for leaving her mask and weapon behind.

The spirits shrieked and raged and moaned all the louder when she actually left them in the traveling vessel along with the few pieces of armor she wore. She was intent on NOT being the one to start trouble or raise questions. Her overall attire may not fit in with those pictures, but given the absurdity of some of the clothes shown earlier, she would have to assume her clothes would have her be more or less ignored. The strength she gained in training and battle would have her still be able to fight when necessary, but she is both less conspicuous and less likely to cause trouble should she give in to the spirits that haunt her.

Fate itself would put her self-restraint to the test as sounds of supposed combat went off, and some few of their number made their way to it. She considered following them, but decided to stay behind. There were others who had not gone, after all. Besides, chasing conflict so soon after resolving not to cause it? It would a poor decision. Besides, the sound of battle had ceased just as soon as it was first heard. Chika chose to calm herself and breathe...Then her lungs realized just how bad the air in this city was, and she started coughing.

 

[BazusoTheGrey]

Oliver shrugs at Alec as he finishes talking, responding with a mild "Aight" before turning to Idan. Whatever response he was about to give however was drowned out by an ear-piercing scream that came from nearby. Lazily, he tilts his head in the direction of the noise before giving off a light snort at whichever dumbass got unlucky. Good to know that some things didn't change. Outside of the gunshots, this place felt just like home.

Turning back toward Idan, Oliver raised a cheery thumb toward the noise before giving a mild scoff. "Whoever did that must've been a total amateur or a sadist 'cause they're definitely not making any cash off those bodies." he jokingly says to his fellow rat before glancing at his colleagues... who a majority of had decided to move toward the scream. Oliver stared at their fleeting backs incredulously for a moment before shrugging to himself. If they wanted to get roped into whatever the hell happened over there, they definitely could, he wasn't gonna do anything about it. Besides, it wouldn't do to leave their way out of this... universe (that's gonna need some getting used to huh?) unattended just because everyone got curious about some dead guy. If shit hit the fan for them, the distance was short enough that he'd be able to get there before anyone got snuffed.

Walking back to the ship, he leans against it, his off-hand dropping toward his baton as he keeps his head on a constant subtle swivel even as he visibly seems to relax. Every so often he'd turn to check on the others who decided to stay with the ship, with extra attention given to the chick who had gotten herself into a coughing fit (@Otomos). After a little bit, Oliver walks up to her and gives her a couple of pats on the back to help her out. After she finishes coughing, he raises a hand for her to shake, "Probably an awkward time to be doing this but we weren't introduced, I'm Oliver."