The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

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When Aiden heard the beat lumbering away and was informed that it would b headed towards the other group in mere moments he blinked. "I am also happy with option number five..." he said, rather surprised. He had been prepared to die but now that they had a chance to escape he was going to take it without question. When Adam spoke to him he frowned. "You say you didn't intend on using the beast to your advantage, yet you risk pissing it off again with more telepathic communication? I may not know much about the beast or anything about what your girlfriend did to draw it away but continuing the thing that you know attracts it is a horrible idea. Either you're trying to escape or you have a massive death wish." he said angrily. He almost completely distrusted that warm and fuzzy feeling now, but he was going to use it to keep his mind off the pain and hopefully to counteract any wooziness from blood loss.

As the group moved out of the room he stuck close to Carolyn in the middle, knowing he would be useless at the front being unarmed, save the grenade still in his left hand. Being in the back wasn't much different either, other than maybe being able to be a second voice to shout a warning that Adam was making a break for it if it happened. Aside from that however, he felt slightly safer when he was in proximity to Carolyn, which he chalked up to both her legitimate concern for him and the fact that she was armed. He glanced at his shoulder, the bleeding had slowed a little but it would still be a massive problem if it wasn't treated soon. Finally he decided to do the only useful thing he could for the group and listened around with his sixth sense, hoping to catch any threats before they ran into them. He'd be damned if they got away from almost certain doom only to be shot by some asshole.
 
James nodded at Morai and said "Good luck." James also handed over his throw-able grenades to Morai. If there was anything that might be able to make the mutant pause, then it would be a face full of shrapnel. James then quickly shifted over to the elevator shaft. Secretly, James was a bit relieved that he was asked to escort Omar. After all, that... thing was something that James had no idea how to deal with, so it was a bit relieving that he wouldn't have to worry about fighting that big mutant.

Granted, he may be dropping into the hornet's nest downstairs with U-ARM and General Washington on their way, but at least James knew what the threat was and generally how to deal with it. Humans didn't seem that scary compared to the unknown, or at least that was the case for James. Plus, there was supposed to be back up right outside. So, prospects looked decent to James for now. James walked over to Omar and started to help him pry open the elevator. As James pushed, he said "I think it might be a good idea for me to go down first and make sure that it's clear." as he intended to go down first since he was unsure of Omar's fighting capability especially when he was holding onto something seemingly very important and critical to this mission.
 
[BCOLOR=#ffffff]= Peter Tao =[/BCOLOR]​


Out in the wastelands, second chances usually never happened and even rarer than winning pre-catacylsm lotteries. The fact that Peter still moved, thought, and breathed proved that maybe there was a God looking out for them as well as proving a testament to how lucky they'd gotten. Amongst various considerations he'd declined to mention included hitching a table to obstruct the doorways to at least buy Alpha Squad just a couple seconds of breathing room for Final Protective Firing positions. Such counter-measures quickly dissolved after the radios crackled to life and the Beastial fark face's timely arrival prompted the Washington Native's to calmly level his rifle for unloading his entire munition arsenal. The fact that it retreated was beyond him, but in short order, Peter quickly found himself taking point alongside Viper whilst they once again maneuvered through the stairwells and empty hallways. He'd made an effort to properly attach his combat knife upon his rifle as a fixed bayonet in the inevitable moment they engaged in close quarters against the beast or any other mutant.

There were worse ways to die than being eaten alive by an irradiated dinosaur and the fact that his buddies were present proved that shit wasn't all completely sideways. As always, he kept his mouth shut unless absolutely necessary and narrowed his attentions to calmly fulfilling their objectives in the timeliest manner. They'd be in the clear once they reached the mechs, after which, the chance of exfiling the hell out dramatically elevated. As he gripped his rifle, Peter's eyes darted across the hallways and abandoned doorways as he maneuvered adjacent Viper's flank and following her far from useless remarks, felt compelled to voice his thoughts.

"Viper," the Washington Native hissed, "I got AP rounds and extra 'nades in the pouches so if you need an extra kick, now's your chance ..."
 
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"Don't shoot her, Mr. Morai, she's our friend!" -Georgia, Page 1.

As Georgia prepares to set her explosive charges, Morai nods and gives a lazy salute to her. "Bùyào sǐ, fēng nǚrén. (Do not die, crazy woman.)" He slings his shotgun over his back and slides down the elevator cables, quickly descending after Omar and James. The woman in blue, however, did not leave, and watched as Georgia set her explosive. She walks over beside Georgia as the large beast arrived at the hallway just outside the door, it howls in rage, causing Georgia to flinch in fear instead of bolt for the safety of the elevator shaft. The woman in blue wraps her arms around Georgia, placing herself between the explosive and Georgia as it goes off just as the creature bursts into the room. The entire floor collapses, and Georgia blacks out. The last thing she hears in her ear is a motherly voice, "stay calm child."

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Down inside the elevator shaft, James and Omar would manage to slide open the elevator doors just in time to spot a rifle pointed at them. A few feet from them, decorated in eagle-painted chest armour, was a U-ARM soldier. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" The soldier yells at them as he motions to Omar. "YOU! You'll be coming with me! I'm gonna get that promotion for s--" He's interrupted as the entire building shakes from a violent explosion on the tenth floor. Nearby at the stairs a woman--Viper--comes rolling down and out from the steps, causing the soldier to stumble. James took his chance and training to his advantage, bolting towards and then grappling with the soldier to prevent him from regaining his balance. Though the soldier manages to headbutt James down onto the ground, both Viper and Omar were more than able to reach for their own firearms and riddle the soldier with enough rounds to make his armoured vest completely irrelevant. The soldier died before his body even hit the ground.

Several pieces of debris fall down the elevator shaft as all of this occurred, Omar quickly climbing out before he could be struck. As dust chokes the interior of the shaft, a few moments of silence was broken as Morai slowly climbed out, caked in grey dust, he coughs and attempts to brush it off in a rather futile effort. Looking up at James and Omar, he shakes his head with a look of irritation on his face. "Fēng nǚrén. (Crazy woman.)" He brushes some of the dust off of his shotgun and motions outside. "Let's get moving before that strange woman catches up to us again... Take our opportunity to leave this bullshit... Hopefully none of the mechs were trashed, or we're straight fucked." He glances towards the staircase and spots Viper. "We've got our pilots too, assuming Viper isn't the only survivor... Being a raider, it wouldn't fuckin' surprise me." The distaste he had for raiders was hardly concealed in the tone of his voice as he spoke of Viper.

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As the group quickly descends the stairs, Carolyn looks back to Aiden slaps him lightly across the cheek to get his attention. "Enough! It doesn't matter now! You were the only one who supposedly heard anything, we can't even be sure that wasn't some bout of madness on your part! Focus on getting him out of here, not on arguing whether or not he's on our side considering he's our prisoner!" Adam shrugs nonchalantly, showing no signs of fatigue or stress at the situation. "That's what you believe, anyway." Carolyn shakes her head and reaches for her radio, only to feel the blast rip through to the very foundation of the building. They were only one floor away from the bottom when all the lights in the staircase suddenly died out, the power being cut off by the blast. The entire group falls down, with Viper tumbling down the remainder of the steps out into the lobby.

Gunfire quickly followed as alpha squad recovers. Carolyn climbs to her feet and pulls a small flashlight out from her technical kit, turning it on and looking around. Everyone had survived, though a couple looked worse for wear, and dust was in the air, having been disturbed from resting on the ceiling after the blast several floors above. "One hell of a sparkly plug, Georgia..." Carolyn mutters under her breath as she winces in pain. Looking down at her legs and illuminating them with her flashlight, she was placing all of her weight on her right leg, as her left ankle was sprained. "Fuck me..." Carolyn says with pained agitation. "Everybody! Get to the mechs! If that 'Bandersnatch' is still alive, we need access to some real firepower!" She moves her flashlight to Brucey. "Go ahead of me! Get your flamers online, and for the love of God, do not engage at point blank. Some of us would like to live past today." She starts limping down the rest of the stairs, though it was fairly clear she needed some help getting to her mech. "Everybody move! Go go go! Adam, stay close to the mechs for your safety!" Adam bolts past her as he moves towards the mechs, moving just fast enough to belay his superhuman capacities, but not enough to escape from their sight.

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Meanwhile, while all of this occurred, two people arrived at the mechs prior to the explosion. Two women: Jenive Rousseau, and Niamh Greyson. Jenive had been ordered to escort Niamh to the mechs by the general, diverting away just before Bunker Chicago forces could engage U-ARM forces so that Niamh could join up under Carolyn's command, and so that Jenive could issue them new orders too sensitive to give over radio. Jenive, armed with a high-calibre sniper rifle and sidearm, made the call to wait by the mechs for the squad. As the two waited for Carolyn and the others to return, an explosion on the tenth floor sent debris in every direction as a large chunk of the ninth and tenth floors fell out from the skyscraper. Several pieces landed near and around the mechs, leaving both Jenive and Niamh alive as Jenive dragged Niamh under cover of the mechs just in case.

A few moments after the debris stopped falling and the dust settled, it quickly became apparent that there was a body left atop the rubble. Jenive cautiously raises her sidearm as the body stirs to life, and aims it at the body's head. "Identify yourself. I'm Jenive, part of BC-SEC. You are?..." As Georgia stirs from momentary unconsciousness she would find that, aside from a small, bleeding wound on her forehead that was blinding one of her eyes and a case of dizziness, she was fine. There was no sight of the woman in blue however, who was either buried in rubble or disguising her presence from the mutants nearby. Before Georgia could reply, Adam bursts out of the building and stops a few feet away from the mechs, raising his hands as Jenive suddenly points her sidearm at him instead. "You... You're the prisoner, aren't you?" Adam shrugs, his orange eyes looking at Niamh with piqued curiosity. "That's me alright... Unwilling prisoner of U-ARM, willing prisoner of the Council of ADAM's puppets."

Niamh would be able to her a voice in her mind, a masculine one, no doubt from Adam, who distinctly gave off mutant vibes by his mere presence. A powerful one, at that. "My, my, my... Another awakened Child of Sodom. What a gentle soul you have... We have two wounded people inside, Carolyn and another mutant like yourself, named Aiden, though he's far more paranoid than you, hopefully. Inside of Carolyn's mech is a nanobot kit, apparently. You can use it to mend their wounds, if you find your own abilities not yet sufficient to mend sprained ankles and bullet wounds." Omar, Aiden, and Georgia would also be able to overhear his thoughts, the warm aura from him was calming in spite of what was going on around them. He smiles in a friendly manner as Jenive motions for him to stand near the mechs, keeping her pistol trained on him. "Stay." Adam rolls his eyes. "I'll be a good dog, don't you worry."

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[Aiden, Georgia, Omar, Niamh] All four mutants would be able to feel a nearby presence, filled with incredible rage and agony towards them all somewhere close by. It was more than likely the creature that Georgia just detonated a piece of building on, and all four would know by gut instinct that it wouldn't keep the creature away long.

[Brucey] Would find that his mech is perfectly fine, not a single piece of significant degree dinged it.

[James, Peter, Viper] All three would be able to tell that certain pieces of debris in the large pile that Georgia is laying on were trembling. Something was possibly buried underneath it.

[Viper] Has a heavily bruised arm from landing on it after falling down stairs, but nothing that specifically prevents its movement.
 
Brucey​


Brucey nodded to Georgia. "On it like a Funnel Web Gigaspider on a Clan's fat kids." He began bounding down the steps two at a time as he headed for the Ignis Dei. Breaking into the sunlight past Viper and the dead U-Arm fellow he noticed the rubble and paused for a moment examining his mech for any signs of damage and came to the conclusion it hadn't been struck by any significant debris. He scaled the ladder to his cockpit quickly and stuck his head out, "Hey lady, he's a critical asset, oy, Adam, come join me in the hot-seat, we don't want you getting hit and the beasty seems to have a taste for blood",

Adam looks between Jenive and Brucey, and shrugs his shoulders. "One's better than the other." As he climbs up the mech, Jenive points her pistol at his head and narrows her eyes. "Remember that our mechs have kill switches." Adam chuckles darkly. "That wouldn't be enough, little girl." He finishes climbing into the cockpit and sits beside Brucey. "Light her up, pyromaniac."

Brucey grinned, "Sounds good to me," and hit the ladder secure button and throwing himself into the control couch he patted Jacko in his little seat. "Good Jacko." He smiled at the Wallaby securing the straps and throwing switches including the external audio as Adam secured himself, it was a bit tight, but safer than risking his neck out there.


Reactor Online. A passive female voice said from the computers that helped run the mech. The whining hum of the reactor coming to power and Brucey felt the power running through his veins.

Sensors Online. Brucey rolled his eyes, the computer still couldn't tell the difference between the sensors being ready and power being supplied, it'd take another few moments before they actually came online.

Weapons Online. He shrugged the mechs systems and brought the weapons ready to fire at a moments notice. He fired the igniters for the incinerators and set the Ironstorm to cycling ready to fire, only the Ironstorm could be used even close to the team unless he wanted to crisp them with Satan's BBQ.

All Systems Nominal. Brucey snorted. It was never allways all nominal.

All Brucey needed now was a clear target. He couldn't twitch fire with that many squishies in the kill zone, he needed certainty.



Viper​

Moving fast had one downside Viper recalled during her short and unexpected flight when they floor decided to abandon her, when people set off bombs she tended to have a less certain footing, but still she tucked and rolled with the extra momentum hitting the floor painfully on the left arm, but nothing she wasn't used to, it'd bruise like a bitch, but it wouldn't impede her movements. She watched James grappling with the soldier as she came out of the roll bringing her weapon up flicking the selector to three-shot burst and pulling the trigger as she sighted on his chest. Omar's own shots hammering him at the same time. Viper lowered her weapon, he was dead, she'd seen that expression all too often.

That mix of pain, surprise, regret and finally submission. That look still excited her.

Viper noticed that the rubble that Georgia was on was moving and cocked her head. How had the stupid little empty-minded child survived a fall like that? Even so she was not about to take any chances and armed her grenade launcher, and prepared for combat as her blood pumped and she could almost hear her heartbeat over the whine of the Mechs powering up.

"We will, we will, rock you." She sang to herself. Damn that Australian's oldworld music. It stuck to the mind if anything else.
 
The slap had caught Aiden a little off guard but it didn't anger him. Honestly he felt more like a dog who had just been whacked on the nose by their master for growling too much at someone he didn't know in his house. An apology was just beginning to exit his mouth when the building shook. An explosion had been expected. It had not, however, been expected to be so damn powerful that it knocked all of them on their asses. Aiden landed with what would have been an audible thump in normal circumstance but in this case it wasn't even loud enough to be considered background noise. Thankfully he had fallen mostly on his left side and it didn't feel as though the fall had done much damage to him other than making him a little sore. "This day can officially go fuck itself." he managed to mutter between coughs from the dust.

Pushing off the ground with his left arm he stood up and looked himself over. No knew wounds but an ass load of dust, he would take that any day of the week. It took him only a moment to get his bearings again and when he heard that Carolyn had sprained her ankle but was ordering them to move on without her he completely disregarded the last bit and moved to her and wrapped his left arm around her back.

Carolyn sighs in relief and puts her weight on Aiden. "Alright. Let's get moving, get me to my mech."
Aiden nodded and helped her keep moving forward. "When we get back to the bunker." he said, stilffling another cough. "You're teaching me how to think and analyze situations without relying on my telepathy."
"I..." Carolyn seems to pause a moment, caught off guard. "Yeah, I can do that. You are in dire need of a few tips." She does seem to smile a little, though her eyes looked around the area, focused on the situation at hand. "Focus on staying alive for now, Aiden."
He nodded at that, remaining silent and getting them down the stairs and into the lobby.

When they exited the building he saw that everyone was scrambling and he knew, deep down, that even that hell of a blast wouldn't keep the bandersnatch down for long, though he wasn't sure how. "Think you can manage anything approaching a run?" he asked, still moving forward.
"Not particularly, but this is far enough, thank you." Carolyn says as she points to her mech. Despite the chaos around it, it was still in great shape, and showed signs of a lot of long term maintenance. "Keep your head down and safe.
With a final nod and a smile he began sprinting away from the building towards the back of the group, once again feeling the warm and fuzzy feeling as he got closer to Adam. He wasn't going to bother saying anything to him, it would be pointless. The time away from him did however remind him just how painful his wound was and he didn't think it could wait much longer. He was about to call for a medic when he overheard the thoughts of a new arrival to the group and, by either a massive stroke of luck or the intervention of a higher power, she happened to be a medic. "Oh, well hello there." His tone was rather flat, not conveying any real emotion and simply showing his exhaustion. "Would you mind taking a look at this for me before it gets too out of hand?" he said, gesturing to his wound by tilting his neck.
 
Even by the standards of a post-apocalyptic world, today was turning into one hell of a weird day for Niamh.

Initially, it had just been the irregular nature of the mission. The presence of a general for a snatch-and-grab was, as many of her comrades had noted in hushed voices, simply bizarre. His presence certainly did not seem merited based on the information they had been given, which implied that there was an abundance of information they were not being given. That fact set her on edge from the start - even more so than the oppressive peace and tranquility of the wasteland. Even after four years in the States, wandering through urban areas that weren't ringing with the sound of gunfire and explosives in the distance still felt unnatural. London had been wracked with constant warmongering.

She had just managed to put such uneasy thoughts out of her mind, in preparation for battle, when once again things took a turn for the bizarre. A woman - Jenive - had turned up and requisitioned Niamh for transfer to another unit. A unit which, by chance, was under the command of the general-who-was-there-and-should-not-be's daughter. With only time for a confused backward glance of farewell at her squad, Niamh had been dragged away.

"With all due respect, what the fuck is going on?" She had asked Jenive, with, of course, all the deference and respect a superior deserved. She had not received any kind of satisfactory response. Considering Jenive was currently responsible for relaying information so sensitive it couldn't be radioed, Niamh could only assume the order to transfer her had come from fairly high up. The general? She had heard he was making a squad out of those who had helped search for his daughter through the rubble that day, but had assumed she'd been overlooked. It was weird that the orders should come now, but even the general couldn't be on top of everything all the time. She was a little surprised that, having been overlooked initially, he had remembered her at all.

Waiting outside upon arrival had been tense, to say the least. The mutation-induced whispers Niamh sometimes heard seemed somehow more substantial, all of a sudden. Not clearer, or making more sense, but somehow pressing in on her mind slightly, as if somehow they held psychic weight. If she focused on the whispers, she got a distinct and terrifying sense of rage, of hunger and fury, from them every few seconds, those whispers seeming the heaviest, the most intrusive. Goosebumps rose, the pressure on her mind sending waves of unease through her.

Being so focused on those little whisperings, she was slow to react to the explosion that tore the building asunder. Far too slow. With debris spraying down from the sky, she was vulnerable, and it was only Jenive pulling her under the cover of one of the huge mechs that kept her safe. Niamh nodded her appreciation, a little shaken, her already-pale skin a ghostly-white. Focus, Niamh, you're in a fucking warzone. She would have to ponder the whispering later, if her new squad couldn't provide any answers.

As the dust settled into a translucent miasma surrounding the large, static mechs, a shape became distinct; a body lying atop the rubble. Even before attaining a clear visual, both she and Jenive had weapons trained on the form. Niamh was too spooked to take chances; Jenive was trained not to. Jenive asked the person who they were; as the dust cleared, Niamh could see it was a diminutive woman about Niamh's age, with almost metallic white-silver hair. Niamh thought she recognised the woman from the day of the bombing; the girl had been completely distraught. Presumably, then, this was one of her new squadmates.

Shit, what a way to meet your new comrade: literally plummeting from the sky. During her silent contemplation on the way, Niamh had, with all the pure naivety left within her, unconsciously assumed that the odd mission and her sudden transfer were as strange as things were going to get. Even her arrival here had blown that presumption away, and with bitter self-deprecation she swore to work on being a grumpy, cynical cunt in future so she wouldn't be taken aback like this again.

She was about to inform Jenive that this was a friendly, when a man came running out of the building. No - not just a man, a mutant. Although her mutations were anything but psychic in nature, Niamh could tell what this man was just by his presence. Strands of fuzzy, buzzing warmth soothed the edges of her mind where the whispering pressed, and her unease vanished. Niamh blinked rapidly, trying to think clearly and analytically. Jenive already had her weapon pointed at the man, and in her right mind Niamh would have too. She cast aside the warm feelings, ignoring them, and stared the man down as he looked at her with what seemed to be curiosity. His eyes were a shocking orange. Yeah, definitely a mutant.

And then he spoke. In her mind. Far, far more clearly than any whisper she had ever heard.

"My, my, my... Another awakened Child of Sodom." Niamh started a little, stunned. Her eyes focused intently on the man before her. What the shit? Child of Sodom? "What a gentle soul you have... We have two wounded people inside, Carolyn and another mutant like yourself, named Aiden, though he's far more paranoid than you, hopefully. Inside of Carolyn's mech is a nanobot kit, apparently. You can use it to mend their wounds, if you find your own abilities not yet sufficient to mend sprained ankles and bullet wounds."

Today was a weird fucking day, and by this point Niamh was adjusting to it. Resolving to think more on all this later, she simply nodded at the man - the prisoner, as it turned out. She was sure he would be able to pluck the strands of curiosity and surprise straight from her mind, without her having to formally respond. All she said, responding in her mind without even thinking about it, was a quick thanks. A bullet wound meant no time for chattering

Turning her gaze away from him, she looked around the rest of the squad, who'd followed him, searching for the wounded and for Carolyn. She needed the nanobot kit. Like hell she could heal a bullet wound - this prisoner was presumably the type who forgot what it was like to be normal as soon as he gained power. And he was obviously very powerful. He moved off with another of the squad, climbing into a mech as Jenive gave him stern commands. As he moved away from her, the warm feeling faded - and was rapidly replaced by another.

Whatever the flying fuck was releasing those psychic waves of fury and anguish was still alive. Half a building had fallen on it, and yet Niamh had the distinct feeling it was still coming for them with the ferocity of a hundred Londons.

Niamh was well-accustomed to working under strict time conditions. Saving a life was, after all, a race against death. Mentally, she snapped into cool professionalism. They needed to heal up and be gone, pronto. A man - clearly another mutant, given the odd protrusions on his face - approached her. In the mood she was in, she ignored most of what he said and distilled it down to: I'm the one with the bullet wound.

"I'll need a nanobot kit to take care of a bullet wound. It's likely a clean through-and-through, though, considering you seem fine. Show me." She took his arm gently, inspecting the wound, mumbling under her breath. "Definitely hasn't clipped bone, or the brachial artery, though it's a hair's breadth from the scapular acromion..." she trailed off, before releasing him. "Come with me. I'm assuming it's Carolyn who has the sprained ankle, considering you were helping her walk."

They walked swiftly over to Carolyn's mech. Niamh called up to the other woman, who was in the cockpit by this time, wincing as she put weight on her ankle. "Niamh Greyson. I've been transferred to your command, ma'am. I'm a medic; I need your nanobot kit to do anything with this guy's shoulder." She gestured back over her shoulder with her thumb. "I can also help with your sprained ankle, afterwards." She paused for a second. "I've not been here long, but I can tell that whatever the hell was in there is still alive and kicking. We need to get moving ASAP."

Carolyn rummaged around, and chucked her the kit. "Firstly, welcome. Good to have a medic with us; I don't think anything we do is gonna bring that thing down. Get on it. We'll get moving once you're done." Niamh could tell she was preoccupied; had Jenive already relayed whatever information she was here to tell Carolyn, or was it just the weirdness of the whole damn mission?

Niamh turned to the man beside her, and, after making him sit on a nearby pile of rubble, began treatment with the swiftness and precision that only experience can bring. She made sure to touch his arm and shoulder as much as possible, skin-to-skin, draining away his pain as she cleaned the wound. She didn't try to do anything to heal the wound directly - even if she could do anything about a wound like that, healing it while there might still be detritus in the hole could drastically increase the risk of infection. She snorted to herself as she thought of the prisoner's words - "if you can't heal a bullet wound yet." Was she meant to be able to?

She didn't know how she would have managed without her mutation to dull the man's pain; cleaning the wound of a patient thrashing in agony was obviously impossible. Lastly, she applied the kit, which sealed the wound, regularly applied small doses of antibiotics and antiseptics, and prevented blood loss.

She left the man to his own devices, and made her way around the rest of the group. Firstly Carolyn, whose sprained ankle was only moderately bad considering she could still walk herself, then Georgia's cut, which was shallow and could be healed swiftly, and finally Morai's arm - here she used a bit more of the nanobot kit as well as her own abilities, to reduce the wound to a shallow cut.

She sighed in exhaustion afterwards, wishing she could just flop down on one of those awfully comfortable-looking piles of rubble and sleep. Healing so much in such a short time drained her a lot, though she'd recover soon enough. One thing to be glad for was the heavy coating of dust on her skin from the explosion; it had, hopefully, stopped anyone from noticing the change her skin underwent whenever she used her ability. She hated it. It was the only bad part of her mutation.

For now, she was too tired to make the first move in trying to "get to know" any of her new squad, and imagined they'd all be pretty preoccupied with their own preparations to head out anyway.
 
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She fumbles with the rigging one last time before growing satisfied with it... Or as satisfied as she could be with the beast on the other side of the door. Her heart leaps inside her chest, threatening to burst from its confines. Its breaths echo in her ears, ominous. It was almost as if she could feel the hot puffs through the barrier between them. Sweet begins to bead her brow as she starts towards the elevator.

A howl splits the air. She freezes. Her world explodes in light and noise.

As her world fades to darkness, she hears the soothing whisper of the woman in blue and her strong embrace.


The world spun, her head hurt. She tried to open her eyes. She saw the dingy gray above, mixed with dark red on one side. Her eye burned. She blinks and cringes and shifts to the side, curling up and rubbing the blood away as voices drift lazily to her ears. It was slurred and alien and hard to make up. Her body hurt so much. It felt as if she had been beat; sharp rubble dug into her back.

She coughs and sits up, the world starting to straighten itself and make sense once more as a calm sense begins to come over her once more. She furrows her brow in confusion and turns her head, only to see a strange many with wiry hair and orange eyes. She wipes away more blood as she stares at him, her mind slowly turning gears. It brought to mind the woman in blue, but she could not tell how.

Still, there was a chilling sense at the edge of her periphery. Menacing, cold, brutal: the beast was still alive, as she predicted. She grimaces and slowly pulls herself up, body screaming in protest. "Bandersnatch is coming..." She shudders, remembering the terror it inspires in her with its mere presence. She bites her lip and casts her head frantically from side-to-side looking about. She spies everyone in her team, streaming in one-by-one, some in better shape than others, but the woman in blue was missing. She screws up her face in confusion. She had been real, she was sure. Yet, then, how had she gotten here. She had been in the building, she had thought.

She frets with Thomas' paws, nervous, scared and lost as the medic begins to patch her forehead. Maybe people were right. Maybe she was a little crazy.[/hr]
 
Manny had tagged a good 20 feet behind Jenive and the mutant girl, letting them lead the way to the conflict zone. Apparently they were trying to steal a prisoner from U-ARM, the key word being "steal" and not "rescue". Sometimes that was just the way things were when it came to the Bunker. He was well aware that the folks on top had probably gotten their hands dirty with this sort of work more than once but Manny had hoped to have no part in it. He had been perfectly content with his old life style, but his superiors reasoned that after his injury if they were going to put cybernetics in him than they were going to assign him to more important tasks than just playing tag with bandits. Manny couldn't exactly argue with that logic, going out into the big bad world essentially a cripple seemed like a death sentence. So he was grateful for the new arm, even if the cost was steeper than what he was accustom to paying.

Though he wasn't a fan of doing missions in the Chicago ruins because urban warfare was never his thing. Sure he had tracked down a Raider group inside the dead city every so often but he felt so out of place away from the country environment he was accustom to. The large skyscrapers intimidated him, but what he hated most was going inside them. Manny associated concrete with the Bunker, a place where he could relax and feel safe knowing that some gangbanger or feral dog wasn't going to try and eat his face. The urban ruins took that comfort from him and turned it into a shitty little fantasy. It turned that feeling of comfort into an "Oh shit" moment where a mutated cannibal was trying to use his skin as a napkin.

He was surprisingly eased by the fact that he wasn't going alone. Along with Jenive and the mutant medic (Niamh he believed her name was.. he was having trouble pronouncing it) was the rest of the squad he had been assigned to. He hadn't met any of them really, he had been too busy adapting to his new arm. Hell this morning he had been calibrating it with his Doctor and that damned Engineer so that it would stop fucking with his aim, which explained why he had been absent when Carolyn's squad moved out.

If he had known just exactly what they had gotten themselves into inside that building, he would have been very thankful for the delay.

As they approached the targeted building he spotted a few empty mechs outside it. So he was going to be working with a few pilots? Neat. He stops walking and observes the area around him: time to get to work. There must be some nook he could crawl in and set up a position. The best thing he spots is the skyscraper across the street from mission objective. He takes one last look at Jenive and the medic and begins a light jog with his rifle slung across his shoulder.

"Ground level or higher?" he thought. Ground level, he decided. With urban warfare, mobility was the key. He would need to move in and out in a jiffy if U-ARM decided to lash out with something nasty.

The moment he stepped inside he heard the explosion from the main building, clumsily turning around only to catch the final smoking glimpses of the wreckage and bits and pieces of the 9th​ and 10th​ story collapsing. Who did that? Was it us? U-Arm? Either way, things were about to get serious so he quickly ran into the darkness of building and did a wall-sit on the other side. With one eye peering into the scope that gazed out over the rubble that contained Manny's emerging comrades and his new metallic finger waiting patiently to slide into the trigger. He also brought his armor piercing rounds with him, hopefully that would be enough to stop whatever trouble they were going to be facing.

Or the mechs could just crush everything, that would work too.
 
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Omar hadn't ever killed a man before. As the U-ARM soldier's corpse slumped to the ground, he stared at the pistol in his right hand with a faint smile on his face. The rushing thrill of adrenaline coursing through his body made the constant dull ache of his bodily pains fade into the background for the time being. "Not bad," he murmured to himself as he fumbled with it to flip the little safety switch on, though keeping it in hand just in case. "Might have to try that again some time."

He limped out of the building, shedding small clouds of dead skin flakes from various parts of his body every few steps. The telepathic message from the masculine voice, clearly coming from the new guy Omar spotted outside with the others, was mostly nonsense. The "Children of Sodom" bit caught his attention though. The woman in blue and the mystery man had used the phrase before in the little talks that Omar and the other mutants had heard, but it hadn't quite clicked then. When the woman had done her thing with the computer, she'd seemed focused on something named "Regenesis". Now putting two and two together, Omar realized he was dealing with fucking biblical references. He'd read the book at some point in his youth, but he didn't remember much of it. He made a mental note to go over it again if he got out of there alive, because clearly it was important to the shit going on with mutants and apparently U-ARM as well.

For the time being, Omar headed toward the mech that the mystery man had climbed into with the Australian, intending to get behind the machine to use it for cover and/or hiding. He could feel that damned monster still lurking about, and based on what the mystery bitch had said about luring it that meant it would be coming for their blood with a vengeance. There didn't seem to be any clear move to retreat for the moment, what with the new medic of the group doing some work and others apparently preparing for trouble, so there was nothing to do but follow their lead. He checked his gun and reversed his earlier decision, flipping the safety off, and hoped the damned monster wouldn't make its appearance until he was more or less out of harm's way. Omar intended to make it to the questionable safety of being behind the flamethrower mech before firing, but if the creature came at him before he could get there then he'd be sure to unload the clip into the fucking thing's face before it took him down.
 
"I wonder what that beasty would be like on the barbie." -Brucey, Page 1.

As Brucey powers his mech and Carolyn reaches hers, she looks to Aiden and nods appreciatively. "Alright, now stay with the medic." Aiden smiles and does as he is told as Carolyn climbs her mech. Niamh asks her about the nanobot kit, Carolyn nods affirmatively and reaches into her cockpit, grabbing it from an inner compartment and then tossing it down to her. As she does so, Jenive looks back to her and opens her mouth to speak, only for Carolyn to shut the cockpit abruptly. With her mech beginning start-up sequences, Jenive speaks in her radio to the entire squad. "I've been sent to bring you information that can't be transferred over radio by the authority of the General, as well as transfer this medic and another soldier in the adjacent skyscraper to your command." Jenive's tone was one of irritation at Carolyn, and the response hinted at nothing less than bad blood. "I can hear your barking, Jenive, I'm just surprised the government let you so far off leash. You can give me those orders when we secure the area, as per usual protocol." Jenive sighs and retorts, still irritated, though with a hint of pleading. "Please, these orders are important and come straight from the General. They can't wait."

Carolyn's mech finishes starting back up as she glances around her control panel: Something was odd about this. She hadn't left her mech off before, neither had Brucey last she recalled. "They can and they will. Remember, Jenive, we're both on record. If you want to go down on the record as trying to threaten the command of a squad leader in the middle of a combat situation, one under direct orders of the Council itself--which I remind you, is above my father in rank--you can feel free to be the one to explain any needless loss of human life thereafter." Jenive looked unsettled as she put her radio away, brushing her black hair back out of her eyes as she saw the mound of rubble trembling more by the second. It was clear on Jenive's face that she couldn't understand the insubordinate attitude from Carolyn at present, who was ordinarily more than content to do as ordered.

Niamh's attempts to heal Carolyn failed as the mech was sealed, though her aid for Aiden was a complete success, and he quickly accompanied her to Georgia's side. Further still, she managed to close the bleeding wound on Georgia's head. "Hey, uh, Georgia. I know it's awkward to ask this in the middle of a fight, but do you think Carolyn might be intere--" Before Georgia, Niamh, or Aiden could do or say anything further, the rubble suddenly and violently gives out underneath their feet. The creature had dug its way into the intricate system of sewers underneath the city, and all the debris the trio had been sitting on fell inside. Whilst Niamh was able to grab onto one of the edges of the hole, Aiden and Georgia simply fell straight down. Georgia grabs onto an extended pipe jutting out from the edge of the hole a few feet down. Aiden, however, continued falling into the deep, dark abyss, that descended much further than the sewer system: There was an intricate tunnel network underneath the city that hadn't been there before the apocalypse. It seemed methodical and planned out, and if the Council of ADAM knew about it, they hadn't told anyone in Bunker Chicago.

Morai bolts from inside the building as he saw the trio fall into the hole, and comes to a sliding stop in front of Niamh. He looks down to Georgia helplessly as he grabs Niamh's arms and helps her out of the hole. Morai, nonetheless, speaks reassuringly to the medic. "Close call. I thought it'd have burst out to fight, not flee. Guess this beast is a little smarter than it looks." As Niamh is pulled out of the hole, Jenive bolts past both of them with her jetpack lit up. Descending into the hole in a slow and controlled fashion, she reaches out to Georgia grabs her before she could fall again. "Twice now? That's some luck you have there." In the distance, Aiden's yelling could still be heard faintly, echoing up through the tunnel. "... Very lucky." She holds Georgia as she flies out of the tunnel, up onto street in front of Carolyn's mech as she puts Georgia down there. Jenive looks up at Carolyn's mech as the cockpit opens up, with Carolyn leaning out with a look of relief in her eyes at the sight of Georgia being alright. "Now can I relay orders?" Carolyn looks down at Jenive, distrust in her eyes. "Yes, you can."

"You are all ordered to retreat back to Bunker Chicago, effective immediately. The General and his forces are holding until you state, in the radio, on an open frequency, that reinforcements are on route. This is a deception to make U-ARM concern itself with splitting its forces to commit to a flanking defense it doesn't need, to allow the General an easy escape." She looks to Brucey's mech. "I've also been ordered to take command of the prisoner once we arrive at Bunker Chicago. Those orders don't come from the General, by the way: They come from the Council itself... So all of your complaints about my barking are ultimately irrelevant." Carolyn hesitates, her eyes narrowing with an unspoken venom. "By my authority I request knowledge on where Adam will be held and for what reason?" Jenive smiles, though in a manner that is so very clearly smug and fake that everyone in the area could instantly see through it. "That information is far above your role, and I suggest you remember that you're... On record, Carolyn. Don't get too attached, he's not human, and he's not your friend. That's all I will tell you."

As Adam listens to the conversation inside Brucey's mech, he shakes his head and speaks to Brucey alone. "If all of you are dogs of the state, she's the only one foolish enough to think her master loves her." He glances at Brucey's pet, and scratches it behind the ears. "I haven't seen this before..." Morai, on the other hand, keeps his shotgun out and walks over to Omar, shaking his head. "Two women having a pissing contest. Fucking great. I can't wait to get back and have a bite to eat, how about you Omar?"

Carolyn frowns as she simply takes her orders and slides back inside of her mech. Cringing, she looks down at her sprained ankle: If only she had time to give the medic here and now, but they had to obey orders, promptly. Otherwise Jenive would likely attempt to usurp command. Carolyn speaks in the radio, issuing orders to her squad. "Everybody, move out as ordered. I will head up the rear of the formation, Brucey, you stay in the middle. Morai, take point and scout ahead for us: Make sure we don't hit anything unexpected. Others in the squad are free to join Morai, Brucey, or myself as they wish." Morai glances at Omar and shrugs. "Well, that's my cue. Feel free to join me, if you'd like. Should be pretty boring." He starts moving ahead at a brisk pace on foot, seeming relaxed, but keeping his eyes open for trouble.

------------------------------------------------------------​

[Viper, Omar, Niamh, James, Peter, Viper, Manny] Nothing in particular of special note is noticed.

[Georgia, Brucey] Both notice that Carolyn is extremely troubled by the situation.

[James, Peter] No post.
 
[BCOLOR=#ffffff]= Peter Tao =[/BCOLOR]​


Everything happened in a blur. One moment, the Bunker operative was descending the staircase alongside Alpha Squad, the next, he felt his footing unbalance into a jumbled body quagmire. Out in the wastelands, the ebb and flow of battlefield momentum shifted considerably throughout closely contested areas outside Bunker spheres of influence. Under an ever expanding theaters and increasingly volatile threats, the ability to successfully execute missions outside Bunker territories proved absolutely critical. A lot happened under the span of several short minutes and there was really nothing else Peter could do except to fall back on a reliable training base and his hardened battlefield experience. As an OGA, the ability to stack all favorable cards under fire allowed for black ops where he or she could forge his or her warrior spirit. It was when the dust finally cleared, his legs immediately sprang to action following several mostly awkward motions to untangle himself from Alpha Squad's other battered specialists.

Whilst slight confusion began to spread towards the others, Peter took a moment to sigh as he slowly gathered his wits and the unfolding situation. Many grumbles and voices erupted from the others, stimulating immediate concerns for his fellow Alpha Squad comrades. Through the dust and debris riddled area, the operator lowered his rifle to offer assistance. The surprise from losing his footing had already began to worn away and the after effects had quickly grown stale. Luckily, the majority of Alpha Squad had miraculously escaped the carnage without any serious injury, prompting the Captain to bark orders in the manner only seasoned Bunker officers could issue. The prevalence of the shadow zone also posed concerns over its growth as well as the potential for renegade mutants, colossi, irradiated beasts such as the so called bander-snatch and whatever else awaited them from across the fogs. They'd secured their HVT, but as always, the operation's easiest obstacles were now firmly behind them, leaving ahead the most difficult operational phase … achieving exfil.

The lengthy radio exchanges between the Captain and fellow trooper Jenive Rousseau surfaced immediate concerns in regards to encryption along with a lack of focus over the existing threats that threatened to derail everything they'd accomplished. Provided they returned to Bunker Chicago in one piece, Peter could only surmise future situations would eventually require exercising the Posse Comitatus Act. The presence by Combat Application Group operators to overriding Bunker autonomy and limitations over signed and mandated Council of Adam orders afforded the Council with various backdoor options should considerable crises arise. Some barbs would likely exchange given that Bunker Washington and F.A.S.T. fell under the Council of Adam's strict authority as opposed to Bunker Chicago's regional autonomy.

In the distance, Peter pinpointed small-arms fire and could only discern the various calibers and possible weapons used for the existing firefights. He could not say how the situations unfolded, but if the General and his BC-SEC battalion was buying them time; exploiting their generous charity was the least Alpha and Bravo could do before more irreplacceable Bunker troopers fell on their accounts. It was amidst maneuvering towards Caroline's position that the nearby patch of moving gravel gave out, nearly swallowing fellow mutants Georgia and Aiden. The moments provoked a helpless sigh as he watched Aiden fall through. Within several blinks, the wasteland had claimed another casualty to its name and the nameless human entities that perished in unmarked graves or remote locations were inexhaustable. Memories regarding Bunker St. Louis' demise and the terrifying exodus had not escaped his mind and it was those existing fiascos that reminded the operator just how much was at stake. He would not allow the same fate to befall Bunker Chicago, Detroit, or the other existing Bunkers.

Maintaining their combat effectiveness, retaining a tight hold alongside their existing Mech elements became Peter's priority along with establishing momentum and close infantry support. They weren't, by any imaginable stretch, out of the frying pan and if training and experience had taught him anything about surviving in the wastelands, it was constantly staying mindful of who to call if either himself or designated squaddie encountered enough resistance to warrant reinforcements or became a casualty. The prevalence of the shadow zone also posed concerns over its growth as well as the potential for renegade mutants, colossi, irradiated beasts such as the so called bander-snatch and whatever else awaited them from across the fogs. Not wishing to be left behind, the operator kept a firm grip on his rifle as his legs brought him across the debris strewn terrain towards a location suitable to offer close support with Carolyn's mech.

"Time to get the fark outta dodge. We're your eyes and ears down here, Captain," Peter firmly voiced over his radio, "So we got your flanks and six ..."
 
Brucey​


Brucey frowned at the exchange. "Seems like someone wants you under wraps." Brucey remarked, he hated that political bullshit. Regardless he put the Ignis Dei into walking stride and headed for the Nav as he opened a closed channel to Carolyn. "Boss, we're not going to let them just disappear Adam are we? I didn't sign up with Bunker Chicago to start acting like U-ARM." He asked more out of habit, knowing how Carolyn would side.

When they got back he could open up his BBQ once more. Nobody ran a BBQ like Brucey did.

Viper


Viper watched the exchange dispassionately, it wasn't in her paygrade and what did she care if they were to hand over a mutant freak? No it didn't matter, only the job mattered. Instead she glued her eyes onto her surroundings and began searching for any threat, though the lesser mutant beasts would be unlikely to attack them now that the Mechs were operating, at least not without something directing them and she'd bet a full clip of ammo that the beast from upstairs wasn't done with them, not by a long shot.
 
Omar felt he came close to shitting himself when he heard the rubble shift. He turned round in time to see people falling into the newly revealed hole, then stood watching impassively as Morai and Jenive did a little rescue work. Apparently one of the morons had fallen into the hole and lacked the presence of mind to grab onto something. Omar sighed and reversed his previously reversed decision, flipping the safety switch on his pistol and holstering it yet again. "That was a fucking anticlimax," he muttered for anyone nearby to hear it. After a second of thought, he laughed and shook his head. "I think I like anticlimaxes. Disappointing, but bitterly amusing. My life story writ small."

Once he was finished waxing poetic, Omar limped over to the others and watched the cat fight. He shot a smirk at Morai in response to his commentary, and realized he was damn near starving once the man mentioned food. Everything started to break up after that, and it seemed their farce of a mission was reaching a successful conclusion. They had the prisoner, he had the information tucked away safely in a pocket, and as soon as they could hand it all over to the people in charge then the mission would be counted a success, with only one fatality, and it wasn't even the cripple. If there was some kind of higher power guiding fate as some people thought, then he figured it had to have a damned good sense of humor.

As tempting as the idea of a ride on a mech was, Omar found the prospect of walking and chatting with Morai to be the more appealing option despite his gimp leg and the added pain the walk would bring. Making friends was not his forte, but he was quickly coming to think of Morai as such. He hobbled along to catch up, using his cane to propel himself forward a bit faster than was comfortable. "Boring is fine. Boring means not ending up dead, assuming hunger doesn't do the job anyway. I'm almost hungry enough to risk trying some mystery meat from a street vendor. Almost."
 
"Time to go back?" he said to himself irritably as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. Besides the collapsing hole which had swallowed up one man and almost took two others along for the ride, hardly anything had happened. On one hand he wasn't getting shot at by trained soldiers, on the other he didn't like heading out to places that made him uncomfortable with nothing to show for it. He sighed as he walked out of the building and scanned the rest of the squad beginning to move out. He was still suspicious though; surely U-ARM would show up with at least an armored jeep or something, right? He grabbed his binoculars and scanned the area, his vision was obviously limited by the jungle of buildings but he still managed to get a good look. Nothing as far as he could see. Either they didn't care too much about this prisoner or they were waiting for a better opportunity to play their cards.

He didn't like this and had a bad feeling in his synthetic gut. He had only been here for a few minutes and already something didn't sit quite right. He wasn't used to doing more complicated missions and that made him anxious. Manny was sure he would get used to this whole thing eventually, he just hoped that it would come sooner rather than later.

He caught the rest of the orders and hurried up to the front to catch up with Morai. Maybe he could find some local plant to chew on. He catches up with Morai soon enough and walks about 15 feet away from him looking straight ahead as he surveys potential ambush spots.

"So I just got here, what was with the explosion?" He asked awkwardly to Morai, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well..." Morai mutters quietly as he eyes the environment around, the desecrated grey buildings showed no sign of life or trouble. "Georgia set up an explosive and blew it up in the face of a creature that made all of our mutants shit telepathic bricks. Then she somehow survived a ten floor drop straight to the ground amidst debris." He looks up at the sky, which was grey and overcast as it typically was, but without a drop of rain to spare for any of them. Morai pulls out a cigar from his pocket, and a box of matches. He pulls out a match, and lights the cigar, then places it between his lips as he holds his shotgun with one hand, and the cigar with the other. "Basically, strange nonsense that nobody can figure out. Just another day living in this fucking place."

"Hopefully all the fun is over for now" Manny replied, hoping that the rest of the journey would be uneventful. An ambush was starting to seem less and less likely, but these buildings always provided great hiding places for gunmen looking to fire off a few pot shots for a couple of giggles. In lieu of what Morai said, he had a feeling things were going to get even more complicated once they got back.
 
The look on her face had been one of utter confusion as Aiden had tried to ask her something she could barely understand before the ground was ripped out from beneath her feet and she went tumbling into the new hungry maw of Chicago. Her heart stops. Her twitching fingers reach out and grasp a jagged pipe. The rubber of her glove tears open. Blood rolls down her wrist from where the twisted metal dug into her flesh. Sweat stung the wound and made her fingers slick. Her heart begins to hammer faster. She did not know how much longer she could hold on. Is that wind rushing from the jowls behind me? Tears begin to stream down her concrete and blood smattered cheeks as her grip begins to give.

Jenive was there to save her. She looses small hiccuping laughs at her words. She had no idea how close it had come. It seemed she had so many guardian angels today. She sniffles and wipes at her eyes with her sleeve, nursing her injured hand and tries to bear her own weight. She almost collapses at first before she adjusts. She blinks, dazed, touching her head, she had taken another knock to the head. Frowning, she realizes she had lost her hat as well. Her everything was hurting. She was bruised from top to bottom, scraped up and had been tossed around like a sack of potatoes.

She tries to look clear headed and as if she could carry on as Jenive relays orders. Unconsciously, she was shifting closer to Carolyn. Her brow knits together in a small frown as she notices something was off with her best friend. As she directs them to get into a formation to move out, she shifts into a jog, catching up to the mech. She waves and calls over the radio, "Room for one more in there, Cara?"

The mech stops, though it could remain still for long. The seal to the cockpit hisses as it pops open, with Carolyn leaning out of her mech and reaching out for Georgia. Jenive opens her mouth to protest but goes silent with a scowl from the mech pilot. "Come on in, Georgia. I always have room for you."

Georgia takes her hand, trying to ignore the protest in her limbs as she works to help heft herself up and into the cockpit. She tries to wipe her face clear and wiggles her exposed fingers at Carolyn, "I'll try not to touch too much..." The mutated girl relaxes in the close space, eyes flickering over the space, getting ready to open her mouth to talk and relay all that had happened since they had parted before settling on the radio. "You didn't get hurt too much, right?"

"Not too much." Carolyn replies quietly as she closes the cockpit. "My leg is injured, but, nothing too severe." Looking down at her legs, she winces as she felt the swelling underneath her jumpsuit. "Are you alright, Georgia? That was a hell of a sparkly plug you detonated up there..."

She blinks and nods, "I'm always fine. You know somebody is always looking out for me." Her hand unconsciously goes to the scarred area from her first mission out of the Bunker. She blinks, "Was it that big, though? I was kind of asleep when it happened, so I couldn't tell you if it was like Christmas or not."

"Oh..." Carolyn chuckles and shakes her head, looking around at various components within her mech. She was still trying to figure out why it was off when she returned instead of in defensive mode. Flicking a switch, the filtration system disengaged. Sighing and relaxing at the smell of fresh air, she started guiding her mech with one hand while examining Georgia's hand injury with the other. "You took out the entire tenth floor, so... Biggest Christmas ever..." Biting her lip she looks around the cockpit with disappointment. She wasn't able to find what she was looking for. "You'll have to save the details for me later though, your hand needs tending to..."

She smiles lazily and rests her hand upon her thigh, "Wasn't that your medkit with the medic?" She peels off the remnants of her glove and tries to inspect it under the lights of the consoles, keeping her hand just far enough away to avoid any static interference. "You're going to fuss over me til you look at it, aren't you..." She wrinkles her nose childishly, "Well, I guess you could look in my bag to see if there's anything to work in a pinch? I don't want to bother.. N-n-nuh.. Uh... The medic, over something so small. She might start thinking I'm a sissy."

"Yes, yes I am going to fuss over you until I can see it." She momentarily takes her attention away from the mech to examine Georgia's hand. "Yes, that was my medkit with her. You should be fine, I just... I want to make sure. You scared me, Georgia." With her one free hand, she wraps her arm around Georgia's shoulders and holds her gently. "I'm worried... About all of this. About you. Just... Don't scare me like that again, okay?"

"I know Cara... But I don't want you to worry about me so much..." Her lips part in a yawn, the arm about her felt so warm and the weight was pooling in her limbs with the events of today catching up now that she was somewhere safe. She tries to keep her hand held out, "I will try not to scare you though, but you can't scare me either..."

"You can put your hand down..." Carolyn intentionally avoids answering Georgia, as she focuses back onto the mech's systems. "... We're gonna go through some hard times, for a while..."

She shifts against Carolyn, resting her head in her lap. Thomas lightly flops in his harness at her chest, "Cara, times have always been hard... We'll make it." She lightly waves Thomas' paw and says in a dopey voice, "We'll always be fine so long as we have each other."

Carolyn glances down at Thomas, the corners of her lips twitch and then form into a small, weak smile. "Right." Her eyes follow the displays. "Just... Rest now, okay?"

She closes her eyes and nestles closer, her uninjured fingers lightly clutching Carolyn's jumpsuit and picking at the duct tape idly, "Okay... Just wake me up when we get there."

"I will, Georgia." She sighs and looks at the teddy bear one more time. "I will."
 
"I'm sure you had a good reason…" -Georgia, Page 2.

Carolyn listened to Brucey's incoming communication and frowned. Biting her lip momentarily, she looks down to Georgia on her lap, and then sighs softly. She replies quietly to the private communication from Brucey, despite the fact that the volume of her response wouldn't affect how many people could hear it. "I'll inquire as much as I can, Brucey. Just remember, I'll need to debrief you personally, as part of my squad report." She closes the communication channel, and takes a deep breath. She wasn't in a pleasant situation.

Adam, meanwhile, grins with amusement. He looks over to Brucey's pet, and flicks it on the nose leisurely. "I hope you realize they'll probably torture me. In fact, knowing the Council and their daddy issues, they're probably listening to your every word... Even on private channels... Hehehe... Wouldn't surprise me if they bugged the inside of your mech and your personal radio, even." He grabs Brucey's radio and without hitting the talk button, speaks into it. "Hi! I know you're listening, Ryan. I hate to spoil your secrets, but, you know... Kids these days. He'd have found your little toys by himself anyway. Probably written an irritated report, and you'd blame it on Devin, and he'd blame it on Marie, and she'd be the only honest one out of the bunch--saying she doesn't know shit all." Astonishingly, a response comes through on Brucey's mech, on a private, highly encrypted channel. "You're an idiot Adam." The voice was masked, and Adam chuckled. "Aww, that's no way to talk to your elders... Tsk tsk, it's like all that radiation in Saint Louis cooked your brain." There was no further response as Adam handed Brucey his radio back, shrugging. "Well. There's worse men than him... I think. If you can get past his complete lack of sincere charm."

Morai winces and reaches into one of his pockets, pulling out a few spare old-world dollars and putting it in Omar's free hand. "Get something a little better than mystery meat for yourself. You did good." Glancing around at the environment, he sighs and scratches the back of his head. He then hesitates, and sniffs his armpit, then wrinkles his nose in disgust. "I need a shower." He puffs on his cigar. "I also need to quit these one day. I think."

------------------------------------------------------------​

It took about an hour for the group to get out of the city, where they rendezvoused with General Devin's group. While the overall force came back in great shape, there were notably a few less bodies than before, and one of the jeeps was missing a passenger side door. There was a blood stain all across the passenger seats, and the driver was dead silent, despite the jubilation of those around her. After a few minutes of cheering, the rest of the trip back to the bunker was silent. By the time they arrived, it was late in the afternoon. They were met at the gates to the Bunker, where several soldiers, clad head to toe in dark armour, took Adam away from Brucey. Jenive went with them, though she didn't appear to fit in with them. They also took the data from Omar, unceremoniously and without explanation.

From there, the squad was left to recover from its injuries--lick its wounds, eat, and then sleep in a small apartment complex near the military districts which was provided to them for the duration of their services to the state. Each had the luxury of outright being given their own rooms, or to bunk up with squad-mates if they wished. The squad was scheduled in two days to give a debriefing on the events that transpired, once they went over the data.

No word was shared on the condition of Adam, and his existence is officially denied by the local government.

Tensions were on the rise, and could be felt by everyone in the colony.

Change was on the horizon... Whether they wanted it, or not.

------------------------------------------------------------​

[Viper, Omar, James, Peter, Viper, Manny, Georgia, Brucey] No particular notes.

[James, Niamh] No post.
 
[BCOLOR=#000000] Brucey's Bitchin' BBQ [/BCOLOR]


Brucey was found in a large area behind a vast brick BBQ with heavy grill plates and stuffing coal beneath it's steel. Hauling over prepared meats in a hand-cart he began spraying a concoction under the grill that made passer-bys noses wrinkle heavily before Brucey theatrically struck a match off of the behind of a passing woman who expressed interested in what he was doing for to long and tossed it at the grille from a safe distance.

FWOOOMP!

The flames roared into the sky for all of a handful of seconds before dying out and Brucey approached more closely pulling out the largest set of tongs anyone had ever seen not on an industrial loader and began to heap meat onto the grille plates. A sign lit up as Brucey kicked the power point switch flashing neon. "Brucey's Bitchin' BBQ" it seemed that Brucey had an improvised off-duty job as well. Once the meat began to sizzle and the Australian nodded to himself in appreciation as the stereo hooked up to the same power point began blaring out AC/DC loudly he prepared the larger firepit and it's spit hauling a large boar spiked on a six foor spear of steel and put it over the supports, several other of his employees, several previously homeless and orphan bunker-born who he'd picked up cheap to help man his side-business.

Soon a crowd began to gather and it was a quickly successful roaring party as Brucey cracked open a tinny and downed the golden nectar of the gods as he chatted up a pair of ladies who were eyeing his meat with clear and present interest, It turned out to be doubly successful when Brucey seemed receptive to requests for medium rare, unlike some Australians who only tolerated BBQ orders of "Light-Char, Medium-Char and 'nuke the fucker'".

It was in veritable high swing and Brucey was in a mighty cheerful mood and Jacko stuck close to the Aussie on the little chain and leash he was used to, his appearance getting curious looks from men and "Daaawwws" of cute from the ladies. All in all Brucey was pleased and his tribute to the fire gods was high.


[BCOLOR=#000000] Viper [/BCOLOR]


Viper moved through the crowd lithely avoiding any direct contact, and those who noticed working to avoid making contact. From her dress to the elaborate facial tattooing she was everything that mere bunker-born had learned to fear in a raider. Swayed by emotion as often as not she did little to change the bunker-born's minds. She wasn't part of Bunker Chicago for their peace of mind. She'd joined up for her own peace of mind.

She meanwhile avoided Brucey's Bitching BBQ, while the smells were driving her wild with hunger the whole scene looked too much like those she'd engaged in as a raider. Large BBQs, the smell of pork, flames reaching into the skies, large boisterous men and the attentions of women.

Though she privately wondered what the Australian's Wallaby, Jacko, tasted like she wasn't inclined to risk the wrath of a man whose mech had gatling 20mm cannons in one arm and a supersized flamethrower in the other, and whose pilot was a somewhat pyromaniacal self-appointed head-man of a church dedicated to fire.

On the flip side, he wasn't a murderer, rapist or child molester like some of the assholes she'd hung with before. She still had the skulls of the nine leader's she'd killed to buy herself a new home in this sanctuary.

Viper chuckled. Most of the men in this place were too afraid to make advances on her. And she doubted any would ever risk asking for a blowjob, after all she'd never particularly went to any lengths to hide the fact she enjoyed a nice batch of Long Pig.

Instead she vaulted a counter into a chair that had been left vacant for her, the other four men at the table shuffling uncomfortably as she dropped ante onto the table. "Are you going to deal or what?" She said cocking her head.
 
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Omar limped his way into the Councillor's Office and managed to keep a grimace off his face. He'd already had a tiring day, despite the fact that it was still less than half over. After the damned mission yesterday, and all the running around that had involved, he had woken up feeling sore and ready to down some painkillers and go right back to sleep. Instead, lo and behold, he rose and got shit done that needed doing, just like every other day of his wretched life. Competency was such a burden, some days.

The office was less decadent than Omar had expected, but not without clear signs of wealth. The fine desk sitting up on a raised platform was a nice touch, probably meant to evoke the same sense of authority as a throne sat upon a high dais back in the days of kings and knights. Knowing the trick robbed most of its power, but Omar could still appreciate the attempt. He spoke to the man sitting behind the raised desk, neither accentuating the natural gruffness of his voice nor bothering to attempt to sound polite or servile. "I'm here to speak to Mister Dufont. My name is Omar, and I'm part of Captain Antoinette's new squad." He figured the man at the desk was Dufont himself, and that the man would know him by sight, but it never hurt to pretend toward a little ignorance.

The man behind the desk made of fine wood was going over some files as Omar limped his way in. He hadn't bothered to stop until the cripple spoke to him, at which point he put his files down and looked down at Omar. A flicker of realization lights up his eyes as he licks his dry lips to speak. "Omar... Omar, Omar, Omar..." The man drums his fingers along the wooden desk, then suddenly rises to his feet. "I am mister Dufont, but, surely, we don't need to upkeep the pretenses of servile customs. Call me Ryan, Omar." Ryan reaches into his desk and pulls out a bottle of high quality wine with a single glass and a carton of high quality, rare, pre-apocalypse cigars. Pouring himself a glass of wine, he glances down at Omar. "Would you like a cigar? I don't mind affording such charity to someone so diligent to the state..."

Omar waved the offer away with his left hand, leaning on his cane with the other. "Thanks, but I'll pass. Smoking has never ranked among my vices." He let the vague statement stand alone for a moment, scratching idly at his right arm and sending a small cascade of flakes of dead skin drifting down to the floor. "That... diligence, as you name it, is why I'm here. I'm no blind loyalist, I just know which side my bread is buttered on. I want certain things out of life, and the Council is in the best position to provide them. Security, wealth, knowledge, maybe a little power, nothing too outrageous."

He gestured to himself, indicating his crippled body. "I'm never going to be a great fighter of course, but I can be useful in other ways to justify a... let us call it a mutually beneficial relationship. For example, you may or may not have gathered from statements in early reports that some telepathic communication occured between Adam and the woman in blue that us mutants picked up on, but Aiden is dead and Georgia is frankly so lacking in mental stability that I'm not sure why she's allowed anywhere near guns and explosives. That leaves me to give you all the details in this and other mutant matters from the retrieval mission that may be relevant. I offer this freely, as proof of my willingness to work with, or perhaps for, the Council. Have I caught your interest yet, Ryan?"

"Yes, yes, I'm already interested..." Ryan snaps his fingers, and then looks up at the darkened ceiling. "Access folder, Omar Lindquist. Play vocalized quote starting with 'suspicious bastard'." Speakers embedded in the ceiling start playing a recorded quote, with just enough white noise to imply that it was recorded from radio: It was Omar's own voice. "Now, I'm a suspicious bastard, and a handy elevator powered up in a ruined building would be bad enough. Can't say I like the idea of taking the elevator after some mystery bitch suggested it directly into my damned head, which just happened a moment ago, for those of you who are fully human and not tuned into mutant radio. Oh, and before that there was a conversation between mystery bitch and her mystery boyfriend, and Mr. Mystery is probably here in the building waiting for us, likely as the prisoner we're here to grab, and Mrs. Mystery said she's on her way here."

The quote ends as Ryan puts away the cigars, sipping from his glass of wine with an overly civilized posture to his form. Yet, Omar couldn't help but feel a bit of uncertainty from the man, it was possible he was putting on a show and didn't know as much as he implied. Still, Ryan's tone remained friendly enough. "Oh yes, Omar... Morai wasn't lying. We do listen... Well, more accurately, I listen, anyway." He offers Omar his seat at his oak desk, a single file folder laid in rest as the light prominently shined on it. "Please, you have my full attention, tell me... Everything. When you're finished, I have a surprise for you."

Getting confirmation of Morai's suspicion of someone listening in to their communications came as no real surprise, but Omar hadn't expected it to be done directly by Ryan Dufont. That was quite nice to know, and it might even become useful in the future. He took the offer of a seat gratefully, sinking down into it and sitting quietly for just a moment, both savoring the momentary relief from the pain in his leg and back and wracking his memory for everything he could recall about the telepathic communications and other mutant events over the course of their little retrieval mission.

"We first heard them when we were just outside the building. The woman in blue let the mystery m- Adam, that is, know we were coming. He seemed impatient. The woman was worried we'd shoot him if we realized what he was, but he seemed confident. I got a sense of something.. inhuman observing me, then Adam seemed surprise to note we could hear them. The woman said 'it' is spreading through the 'Children of Sodom' and that it's inevitable, then said she was coming for Adam. Adam called us misguided children and wished us luck, and that was the end of their first chat. Shortly after that was when the woman telepathically told me to take the elevator, which you already heard about of course."

Omar shifted in his seat, already feeling the twinges of pain in his back that came from sitting. There was nothing to be done about it, so he forged forward. "After we split up they had another little chat. The woman in blue seemed surprised we chose to split up, but then said something like 'the Children of Sodom's astute listeners heard us', so I guess she likes using that phrase to describe.. I dunno, bunker folks, or maybe just humans? Then Adam said Washington was coming to attack our allies, said he'd met the man, called him a tactical genius and a violent fellow. After that was the first time the woman mentioned the beast, and she said they needed to stay quiet because she couldn't distract it forever. Wasn't long after that that I felt the nasty vibes from the beast myself. Felt like murder incarnate, not just inhuman but it didn't actually feel like a living thing, just.. angry and seeking something. Even so, somehow the woman could keep it quiet for a while, meaning she's probably got some powerful psychic bullshit going on." Omar wasn't sure of Ryan gave a damn to hear his own little bits of commentary, but it couldn't hurt to seem as forthcoming as possible.

"We found her waiting there in the computer room. Radio silence on the telepathy front for a while there, because apparently that could attract the beast's attention. She was giving off a sort of warm and friendly aura, kind of creepy really, probably more psychic manipulation. She took some files from the computer onto one of those little storage things, not sure what she wanted, but Georgia definitely saw whatever there was to be seen. Then she gave Georgia the storage thing that ended up with me, and pointed out something for her to grab. I'm sure you know whatever ended up on it better than I do. Anyway, the beast came knocking on the door, then I felt some psychic mojo from Adam again and it ran off, probably intending to kill him for being stupid enough to do telepathy shit and get its attention. After that the woman talked out loud for the first time, so I figure you've got the content of that on record. What you might not know about her speech is that she's got a mutation that makes it sound strange and make the listener feel comfortable with her. Just before I took off to bring the info to safety, I got direct dose of her weird mood shit and got a sort of.. motherly feeling. Damned creepy."

"Nothing more on the mutant front until after the other group got outside with Adam. He felt strong, in the mutant senses department. He used more telepathy to say some things to the medic who showed up with Jenive, though I could hear it and I assume the other mutants could to. Adam called her an 'awakened Child of Sodom' and said she had a gentle soul. Then he told her about the couple wounded folks and suggested she help them, and he somehow knew there was a nanobot healing kit in Carolyn's mech. I could feel the beast nearby, felt ready to rip us all to pieces, but apparently it chose to burrow away instead. I have no idea what happened to the woman in blue, but for her to save Georgia from the blast I figure that means she has more abilities than just telepathy and some good vibes."

Omar sat forward in the chair, both hands resting on his cane. "That's everything. Whatever the Council and BCSEC wanted out of that mission, it's pretty damned clear that Adam and the woman in blue wanted it to happen for their own purposes as well. I don't know about you, but that does not strike me as a happy fucking thought."

"Hm... My, but that is interesting." Ryan says calmly as he opens his desk. He appeared somewhat troubled by the last revelation, though not overly so as he pulled out a large pistol and an ear piece radio. Putting the radio into his ear, he taps it and speaks quietly. "Bring him in." A pair of men in all black armour dragged a beaten looking prisoner into the room. With a simple motion of the hand from Ryan, the prisoner is dropped onto his hands and knees. The prisoner looks up at Omar, his eyes opening widely. "H-Hey! N-No fuckin' way... You're a lapdog of the state?!" Ryan hands Omar his pistol and motions to the prisoner. "Gregory Barthello Jones, otherwise known by his street name... 'The Ripper'. He made threats towards you, even perhaps beat you once or twice for debts? Well... It's illegal to attack people in Bunker Chicago, but, then again, it's exceedingly illegal when done against those who try to improve the world around them."

The ripper spits a little blood out, and wipes his mouth. Looking up at Omar, he glares. "You... You don't understand. I was just doing my job! C'mon, buddy... Hey... We can work things out, just you and me?" Ryan chuckles and shakes his head. "Seeing as how the Council is judge, jury, and executioner over any prisoners it takes into its custody, I leave his fate in your hands... Bunker Chicago was going to put him to work as a labourer to pay back for his crimes, but... I think we both know, that scum like this never learn their place... Never mold into society... Still... I'll respect your decision either way. Let him go, send him into the custody of the locals, shoot him... Consider it a gift." The ripper gulps, there was fear in his eyes, but he didn't run as he stared Omar eye to eye, ready for his judgment.

Omar found himself grinning as Ryan finished his explanation. "An interesting gift indeed. Thank you." He stood up and looked over the pistol, making sure there was no safety switch toggled on. It would ruin the moment if he made such a rookie mistake. Once he was satisfied that the gun was in working order, although he knew with his lack of familiarity with the things he could have easily missed something, Omar turned his attention and the pistol toward the Ripper, both aimed right at his face. "Lapdog of the state? Could be, could be. Not a cuddly little lap warmer though. No, I'm definitely one of those mean, yappy little shits. The kind that bites ankles and pisses everywhere. Am I a killer though? That's the real question."

Omar paused, savoring the fear in the Ripper's eyes. He knew this was likely some kind of test from Ryan, to see what sort of man he was, but there was no telling if the urging to kill the scum was genuine or just a ploy. Ah, well, as his mother always said, honesty was the best policy. "To tell you the truth, Greg, pal, old buddy of mine, I killed a man for the first time yesterday. I've wanted you dead for weeks now. See you in hell." It had been a foregone conclusion from the moment Ryan had presented him with this little opportunity. Omar pulled the trigger.

The firearm discharged one round into the skull of Gregory Barthello Jones, a few droplets of blood striking the legs of the two guards who didn't so much as flinch at the sound of a gunshot ringing through the office. The body merely, pitifully slumped forward, and was dragged away by the two guards thereafter. Ryan scratches his chin and shrugs, taking the pistol away from Omar and putting it back into his desk. "Not bad... Lacks a little charm, it's a bit blunt for my taste, but it works." He taps his ear piece with a sigh. "Get a cleaner in my office, before--... Yes, yes it is a blood stain again. Just do it." Tapping his ear piece off he takes it out and puts it inside his desk beside his pistol. He then glances at Omar, and smiles broadly. "Right. So. I suspect that some of your little friends, and maybe even some members of the military government here are going to try and break in to say hello to our little creepy friend... I'm willing to bet they're even going to be so impatient as to do it tonight. So, Omar, buddy, pal... Can I count on you? There's far better rewards later if you do as I ask."

Omar looked at the body, his second kill, for only a few moments before dismissing it as unimportant and heeding Ryan's words. He nodded slowly, scratching idly at his chin and loosing a small shower of skin flakes. "Impatient, yeah, that sounds like them. Wouldn't be surprised if some of them are out there scheming right now. If the woman in blue is still around then I bet she'll be involved too." Omar thought about it for a few seconds, about his life as a mutant and the emotional manipulation the mystery bitch had directed at him and how this would set him in opposition to at least a couple powerful mutants. His lips twisted into a snarl. "Fuck 'em. If they're stupid enough to work against the Council for the sake of some weird mutant they just met the other day they're even dumber than I thought. You can count on me, Ryan." He felt a slight twinge of guilt at the idea of potentially betraying Morai, but in the end a man had to look out for himself, tough shit to anyone else who happened to get knocked down in the process.

"Good." He pats Omar on the shoulder, and smiles, though Omar could feel that the smile was fake, and the man was hiding some regrets himself, through his empathetic powers. "Then, tonight, you will return here, where we'll plan on how to take them down. Preferably without more bloodshed... Good people are hard to find, after all, even if they're driven to self-righteous childishness."

That came as something of a relief to Omar, for he had suspected that lethal force might actually be the intent of Ryan's plans. "No bloodshed would be great. Let's hope they don't force our hands." He turned and headed for the door, making heavy use of his cane. "I'll be here for the planning session, and I'll do whatever needs doing." He hoped to have some extra mutant bullshit to use to keep things under control by then, but there was no need to give Ryan free information about his personal doings. The Councillor probably already knew everything anyway, or would before night fell in any case, so it wasn't even worth mentioning. Omar left the office at a quick limp and headed off in the direction of what he liked to think of as the mutant chop shop, off to keep an appointment to get his eyes mutated eyes tinkered with.
 
Georgia fixes the new R&D hat she had managed to spend a fraction of her pay on to acquire from a scientist who spends a small fortune regularly on wasterat blubber for his hair, so never wore the thing. She sniffs and fiddles with the bill of the hat, trying to bend it and break it in. The hat was far too new. It did not have that weathered and well-loved feel to it yet. It would.

Still, she tries to stop fiddling with her replacement hat, as much as she hated that it was blue and not red, and draw her attention to the machineshop before her. It was alive with powertools ripping and sparking away. Booming voices called out over the symphony of labour, directing, arguing, laughing. The smell of metal and oil was so thick she could all but taste it in her mouth. Where others might see cold, dirty metal and grease, Georgia could see through it all. There was a warmth here, a common passion among so many within those metal walls.

She felt disoriented as she stepped inside and her new sense began to alert her to all the movement around her. Her head aches as she tries to keep track of it all. It felt like too much even for her. She tries to push it to the back of her mind as she strides up to Carolyn. She clears her thoat and tries to announce herself over the din of activity, "Hey, Cara! Its me! I came to see how you were doing."

Carolyn was welding a new piece of armour onto one of her mech's legs when Georgia showed up behind her. Wearing her usual jump suit with a pair of thick gloves, she was sweating like a pig. Turning off the welder, she places it down at the mech's feet and takes off her welding mask, rubbing several dozen beads of sweat off her forehead as she then reached for a bottle of water beside the welder. "Hey Georgia!" Carolyn says, a little fatigue in her voice as she presses the bottle of water onto her forehead to try and cool herself down. Her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was heavy: She had been working hard up until that point. A couple of men around her glanced and grinned to themselves, but she either didn't notice, or didn't mind the attention. "Settling into the new place alright? Nobody's bothering you, right?"

She was momentarily distracted, watching the scene with some confusion and wondering at what the guys were staring at before she shrugs her shoulders. "I moved the last box over this afternoon... No one has really bothered me, really... It's been boring, just sitting with nothing to do and no one to keep me company." Her arm moves to her chest to hug Thomas but the bear was absent. Her fingers tap awkwardly over her ribs before clenching and unclenching it at her side. "Has everything been fine here?"

"Yeah, yeah, things have been fine here." Gently patting the side of her mech, she glances up to the open cockpit. It had just been cleaned and fixed up, looking as good as the day she first assembled it. "So, are you here to keep me company, Georgia?" Carolyn asks with a sweet, friendly smile, as she turns back and looks Georgia eye to eye. "Because if you are..." Her eyes glance about the area, the two had been given some space to work by everyone else in the machine shop: Everyone was focused on their own projects, and not on them. "... We need to talk."

Georgia offers a wide smile and nods, "Yeah, I thought we could take a walk, too..." Her smile falters for a moment before she shuffles her feet and reaches into her jean pockets, taking out the radio she would normally hear reports in from in case anyone higher up the chain in BCSEC had orders for them, "Alone." She sets it aside. "That's why Thomas is back home. A nice time for just you and me." She had heard a little about the radio incident. It troubled her deeply for a number of reasons. For now, though, she just wanted to catch Carolyn up.

Carolyn looks up at the mech, hesitating. She was in the middle of working on it, and walking away from a work in progress generally set one back a number of steps when they returned to it later. Looking up at the ceiling, she takes off one of her gloves and scratches the back of her head. "Georgia, I don't know if I can walk away from my mech right now... I'm not finished putting her back together again. Besides, it's safe to talk here... I don't know how safe it is to talk where guards are patrolling and where under cover agents could be lurking anywhere." It was, perhaps, a bit paranoid, but given that everything from their radios to their mechs had been bugged, it stood to reason that Carolyn was not comfortable talking about things that could get them kidnapped or killed out in public.

She chews on her lip, shuffling from foot-to-foot nervously. Finally, she grabs Carolyn lightly by the arm and leans in close to her, talking quietly, "What if I told you I met a guardian angel and she might be here?" She frowns and looks concerned for a moment, "She saved us, all of us, on that mission, Cara. And I'm worried she got hurt because of me."

Resting a hand over Georgia's hand, she lightly squeezes it and closes her eyes. Carolyn takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "Georgia, there are lots of people in the Bunker. I can't go off looking for them when I wouldn't even know where to start... Especially not now... I need to have my mech ready by tonight, for an assignment my father gave me." Looking into Georgia's eyes with earnest, she smiles a little. "I hope I can repay her one day for saving you, but that day isn't today."

"There's rumours about the marketplace. I think I can find her. I want to find her before anyone else does, but if I don't find her by tonight, I'll come back here, alright?" She furrows her brow before hugging her friend, not caring about any of the grease or sweat. "Be careful, though." She pauses, "I'll take my radio with me, if you want. Then you can check up on me on a private channel if you get too worried."

Without hesitation Carolyn hugged Georgia in return, tightly, patting her on the back with a frown of concern. "Alright. You be careful too, alright, Georgia?" She taps her mech's leg lightly. "I'll keep in mind you have your radio."

She smiles slightly, "I will, Cara." She draws back and starts to leave before turning back, "Was there anything else we needed to talk about?"

"I... Ah..." Carolyn looks to her mech, then leans down and picks up her welding mask again. "I won't be here tonight, Georgia, I... I'm going to be busy."

She furrows her brow, "So you said..." She takes a step forward, a worried feeling beginning to gnaw inside of her, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know... Things... And stuff." Carolyn scratches the back of her neck and takes off her welding mask, putting it on the ground once more and sighing. "Dammit I was hoping to get this done within the hour, guess not..." Climbing up her mech and into the cockpit, she starts working on something else absent mindedly. "Well... Georgia... Do you remember that one time we stole a bunch of stuff to make Christmas lights? Er... Sparkly plugs?"

Georgia walks closer, feeling a bit of irritation with her beating around the bush but moves to the edge of the cockpit, "Yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"Right, well..." Carolyn says as she starts working on her communication system: The whole thing had been ripped out for some reason. "... Well... I'm going to do that, tonight... Except, instead of a sparkly plug... I'm going to be stealing... A person. From the Council of ADAM... With uh... Help. So... Uh... Yeah." She clears her throat, her lips parting to add more, only to close a moment later. There was nothing she could say to alleviate concerns about this.

She blinks and her fingers tap lightly along the mech, "Is it Adam?" She looks at Carolyn, "Regardless of who it is, you can count on me to be here to help, but my guardian angel is Adam's friend, so it might be important to her."

"Yes. It's Adam... Look, no offense to your guardian angel, but, this is a delicate and secretive operation. I don't think I could convince those who have passed these orders to me in secret to bring on a mystery mutant woman." Looking over the new com system she was installing, she closes her eyes and inhales sharply. "We can't trust her right now. We don't know her motives... Again, I'm glad she saved you, but we have to keep this between us for now... Then, later, when we have Adam, we can look for her. Return him to her. We just... Have to be sure of a few things first, okay?"

Georgia tenses and looks at Carolyn, "The only reason more people did not die was because of her, Cara. Now, you're going up against the Council, who, by far, are a lot worse. I think you need all the help you can get, and I think regardless of if you want her there, she's going to be there, so better to have it cleared up who is on whose side before going in."

Carolyn hesitates, and shakes her head, opening her eyes with a steely determination as she continues to work on her mech. "I can't do that. I can't go looking for someone when I don't know where they are... Georgia... Adam looked right through me, like I was wallpaper. I can't trust this woman, I don't know her... I don't know why she saved you. What if she saved us just to use us as bait later? As sacrifical pawns in some... Greater scheme between her and the Council... What I know is this, Georgia: I can trust you, and I can trust my father, and I can trust a few other people. We're gonna break out Adam, and we're gonna do it because this is our colony first. If we have to depend on strangers we can't trust with powers we don't understand whose motives are unclear to solve our problems, then we don't deserve to succeed..." Her eyes seemed to darken as she looked down to her knees. "Georgia... Sometimes... People do good things just so they can hurt you later when your back is turned... Maybe you can trust this woman... Maybe, just, maybe, she drew the beast to you specifically to get your trust, knowing it couldn't really hurt her... At no point was Adam even once scared for his life despite this beast coming for him... We can't trust people we don't know. Especially ones this powerful, who know things so apparently dire, that the Council would risk setting off a massive conflict with U-ARM just to kidnap him. We need to depend on ourselves for once in our lives..." She looks over to Georgia, and smiles softly, though a little bit of pain managed to ebb out from the way the corners of her lips struggled to remain upward. "I'm sorry, Georgia... I can't take this kind of a risk. Not on something this secretive, and possibly deadly... If you trust her this much, I'll understand. I'll let you go and won't say a word to anyone... But I can't trust her, Georgia. Not right now. Not with... God knows what on the line."

"Just like I have special talents that others don't understand," she works her jaw, "I'm not stupid. I know I confuse people, I'm different. I'm not dumb." She clenches her hand along the side of the mech, sighing softly, "I won't tell her anything, I won't get her involved. I'll be back tonight. I do have to try and thank her, because she saved you, Cara. That means the world to me."

"I was never given a chance to save myself... But... Pass along my thanks, if you do find her." Carolyn gets back to work on her mech without another word.

Georgia turns and leaves the shop, a bitter taste in her mouth after the exchange. A part of her wished for Thomas' comforting embrace right now to soothe her frayed nerves, but there would be none of that. A niggling at the back of her mind tries to explain why. She brushes it aside and begins to walk off into the marketplace, alone with her racing thoughts, her sour mood and a lot of questions. She thought she never would be alone so long as she knew she had Thomas and Carolyn in her life... Yet, right this moment, she felt bare of their presence. She tries to push it away and just focus on the search, only stopping once to buy some sweet bread to eat.

Just in that moment, a tall looking woman with blonde hair walks beside her. Wearing a large trench coat that seemed to hide a much smaller frame underneath, her orange eyes looked over the sweet bread. A small smile creeps onto her lips, but she otherwise remains silent.

Her eyes trail over the woman before settling on her orange eyes. The orange eyes the woman in blue and Adam had both possessed. Georgia tears off a piece and offers it to the woman, "Want some?"

The woman shakes her head and smiles. "Not necessary, I've already had my fill today." She motions over into a crowd, away from the merchants, where the two would be lost in the noise. She speaks calmly into Georgia's mind, her aura of warmth seemed repressed. "How are you doing, Child of Sodom?"

Georgia pops her food into her mouth and chews, thinking, a mix of emotions running through her. She had taken a chance to rest and it had done her well, but emotionally she was feeling strained. "I'm not flying without wings from the tenth floor, at least?" She studies the woman. From what she could see, which was not too terribly much, she did not look very injured, "What about you?"

"I'm doing... Adequately... I am concerned." She looks around the crowd, smiling that none seemed to notice them, despite how odd the pair looked. "For obvious reasons, I hope."

The silver-haired girl nods, "Yeah. Your friend." She starts chewing her another piece of bread idly before swallowing. "I wanted to thank you for all of your help. Carolyn, my best friend, she thanks you too, for saving me."

"Ah, one of the pilots? That's good." Glancing to the sky, she briefly brushes against Georgia. The incidental brush gave Georgia the sense of warmth that was lacking, and confirmed that she was able to repress it. "This place is full of... Confused people." She comments, almost as if observing, rather than being part of it.

Georgia nods in confirmation that it was one of the pilots. At the contact, she draws away, her cheeks flushed from the sudden warmth it had instilled in her. "Are you saying there aren't confused people where you're from?"

"There are... Just, in a different way." She frowns a little. "A very different way... A way that I'll need Adam, and those... Files you got me... But Adam insisted on being captured."

The young mutant girl nods and swallows the last of her bread, "I guess that leaves two questions for me to ask... Why did he want to be captured... And what is Regenesis?"

She looks around at the crowd once more, and switches to speaking in Georgia's mind. "He wanted to be captured so he could try to warn the Council of an impending threat to mankind. He wanted to open a dialogue... Even when I told him it was pointless. Regenesis is... It's a complicated scientific experiment. It involves the eradication of radiation and the refinement of mutations to a point where everyone can be equal with them, where they become stable improvements... It's all theoretical right now... Either way, I need to get Adam back."

"Of course, I expected that," she lifts her hat and scratches her head, feeling a bit at a crossroads. "You're going to try and break him out, aren't you?"

"Yes." The woman replied simply and bluntly. "I am. I'm also aware others will try, but I doubt their ability to succeed."

Georgia rubs over her face and looks exhausted for a moment, "Just tell me this, on a scale of 1 to yes, how likely is it that the Council has been following any of us or listening to us or already knows all of this? They are rude, no good dirty radio peepers, after all."

"Well." The woman looks up into the grey sky and shrugs. "They'll be paranoid enough to set up defenses for it whether they know of it or not. They won't intend to keep Adam long... And, they are indeed, no good spies. Much like... Children, who can't keep out of the cookie jar."

Georgia smiles slightly at the analogy, "Well, good to know. Thomas never liked them anyways." She looks up at the sky, trying to see what she sees with no luck, "What's your name, anyways?"

The woman pauses for a moment, and then smiles sweetly. "Evelynn Winters." She spoke aloud, before gently holding Georgia's hand, to give her that feeling of warmth again. "And you?... Will you help me?"

She meets Evelynn's gaze, "I already planned to. I won't be going in with you, though, Eve. I have to keep my best friend safe. So I'll see you there, alright?" She pauses, "I'm Georgia Rhettland, by the way."

"Ah, I see..." Evelynn says, her smile fading a bit. "It is nice to meet you. I hope the other children of Sodom do not hurt you too much."

She bites her lip and looks at Evelynn, feeling like she had just trodden on more toes today on accident. "I know our best chance is to work together. People are too busy playing the Council's game right now, though. All about not trusting one another... Well, if you can please trust me, Eve, I will help you... We'll help get Adam out of there. I would like your help on it, but I can't get them to agree to have you there, before we get there. If you understand? I don't even know if Carolyn will forgive me for having said anything about this..." She sighs and looks down.

"I cannot wait. I need to slip in tonight. As for the pilot... I do not believe she would appreciate you slipping secrets, no. You can feel free to tell them that I will be sneaking in, though... I will... Avoid them. I don't trust that they can do things quietly... It's not in the nature of the Children of Sodom to do anything gracefully, try though they may." She grasps Georgia's shoulders and looks her eye to eye. "Please... Don't concern yourself with impressing me. Keep yourself alive, do what you feel is right... All I ask is that you don't try to kill me. Let me do my work, and I will let you do what you feel is right. Be proud."

Her heartstrings tug for a moment before she raises her chin, "You can't go in alone. Cara will have plenty of others to help her, but you're going to need help. I'm going with you."

"Are you sure?" Evelynn asks her empathetically. "I can handle things alone if needbe."

"I'm sure. I feel this is right. I just hope Cara will understand," she looks down to the ground and rubs the back of her neck.

"Whether she does or doesn't, you have my gratitude... Meet me back here, in the market, tonight. I know a few ways to slip in..." She replies softly. "And thank you."

"Yeah... I'll see you tonight. Take care til then." She waves and starts off back through the crowds of the market. As she gets further from Evelynn she grabs her radio in her hand and takes a deep breath. She flicks the switch and gets ready to say something. Hesitates, then releases it once more. She did not know what to say or what she could say.
 
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