[center][h3]Vandelay Campus - Security[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Midgar Sector 06, the City of Glass
Pit’s [@Yankee], Benedict’s [@Dark Cloud], Giovanna, Sandalphon
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2382 (+3)[/center]

Soon enough the elevator’s descent came to an end, and the door slid open to reveal a long, slick, empty hallway. Pit, Chai, and Gio all took off like a starting pistol had been fired in a footrace much to the dismay of the elderly ex-Turk who wasn't as quick or spry as the others, speeding through the corridor past the shiny benches, trash cans, and display screens, most of which offered security slogans like ‘If you can remember your password, it’s too simple!’ and ‘Zip it! Keep our secrets safe!’. Some text displays also constantly scrolled by like market tickers, saying ‘Be on the lookout for any unauthorized individuals‘, ‘Do not stare directly into the data beam’, and ‘All paper files should be encrypted before submitted’. They sped past a couple turns and downward ramps to reach a second sliding door, and after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a little SCR-UB unit just vacuuming the floor, Chai marveled at the sheer size of Security Wing 1’s private [url=https://i.imgur.com/OiNnFph.png]L.I.F.T. station[/url]. “Whoa!” None of the Seekers here happened to have been down in the abandoned subway system outside of Sector 05, so the giant rectangle on wheels was all new to them.

It also happened to be home to a crew of TEC units. “Watch out, Chai,” the wannabe rockstar’s operator warned him through 808. “These guys are ready to ambush you on the L.I.F.T.” 

Chai didn’t seem all that concerned though. “Oh, these guys are like the dude upstairs, they don’t know me. See?” he pshawed as he sauntered onto the mobile platform with confidence. Gio followed tentatively, willing to hear him out–or at least let him take the fall. “Sup, fellow Vandelay employees!” Chai grinned at them, one eyebrow raised as he made a sliding motion with his hands. “Catching the L.I.F.T.?”

The nearest TEC unit nodded enthusiastically, gesturing to the giant machine with his wrench. “Security Wing 2, just as alwa-”

“The intruders! Stop them!” A sudden shout came from the direction of the entrance. In front of the door stood a [url=https://i.imgur.com/RusUCGA.png]hulking machine[/url], his sleek brown armor accentuated by giant drill bits like horns, giving him the appearance of a barbarian rhinoceros. A squad of SBR units surrounded him.

Wiping a bead of sweat off his brow, Benedict breathed a heavy sigh of exasperation both from the exertion of trying to keep up with Chai, Pit and Giovanna, as well as the never-ending obstacles that seemed eager to get in their way "[color=B19666]The work is never done without something to block progress,[/color]" the tactician muttered as he bent over hand on knees to catch his breath.

Shaking his head, the TEC unit tried to placate things. “Nah, these are the guys that fixed the security system, man.”

“Idiot! That one’s the defect, and none of them are with us!” Tunnel Rhino yelled back.

The TEC unit took a second look, then nodded slowly. “Ohhhh…”

Tunnel Rhino spun up his drill bit, and his SBRs deployed their swords, while the TEC units only looked at their wrenches forlornly. They cleared out while the combat bots charged in, ready to fight.

Though he didn't look it, Benedict was quite done with these adventures and made a mental note that after this he would need to take less strenuous jobs of his caliber. As soon as the battle began he flourished his sword cane buffing himself with Bulwark to up his defense. Another note to be made would be to acquire a sort of firearm, a sword would do little to metal and gears.

Well, a man-made sword anyway. A divine weapon the likes that Pit wielded was clearly made of stronger stuff. He swapped from bow to blade and back again in a flash, meeting the robots' advance head on. An arrow smashing against a SBR unit marked which enemy Pit would be targeting next as he followed closely behind the beam of light. Up close, the bow-turned-sword did a number any machines - and though the angel's strength wasn't quite enough to demolish a robot in just one attack, his technique and experience meant the small fry were no problem.

Tunnel Rhino was a tougher beast. On the first charge Pit had to throw himself out of the way of the bulky machine. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Whoa!"[/color] As the reploid barreled past Pit turned to fire upon him with his literal fireball wreathed arrows, hoping the slightly stronger shots might put a dent in him.

To their credit, they did leave quite a few dents, but Tunnel Rhino had a lot of surface area to him. “C’mere, pipsqueak!” he bellowed, chasing Pit down as fast as his multi-ton mass could but always finding the nimble angel one step ahead. While Chai kept dispatching SBRs with his flashy musical combos, Gio swooped in to back up Pit against Tunnel Rhino, alleviating some of the juggernaut’s pressure by applying her own. Her unrelenting dash-dance quickly left Tunnel Rhino outmaneuvered.

After about thirty seconds of combat, Sandalphon hailed Giovanna. “Vertigo, this is Halo. We cannot afford to waste time fighting an endless series of reinforcements,” she pointed out. “I can spool up the L.I.F.T. for you. Get on and defend it.”

At the same time, that annoyed voice came out of 808. “Ugh, there’s no end to these guys. Fine, you all hold them off.” Next to Chai, a blue flash went off, and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/cMDAIl4.png]young woman[/url] appeared. She wore her dyed hair to one side with the other buzz-cut, as well as a denim jacket and shorts over a white crop top and bandolier full of tools, and she sported a hot pink prosthetic leg. “I’ll get this rolling.” Firing off a spray of suppressive laser fire from her pistol, she ran for the control console.

“You got this, Peppermint!” Chai called as he ran in to help tackle the attackers. Nearby a irate Benedict fended off a combat bot, and quickly gave the rockstar a boost of Raging Beast to add a bit of oomph to the kids attack, though he didn't mind the addition of more helping hands he was reticent to immediately trust these newcomers.

There came another blue flash by Gio, however, and Peppermint ran headfirst into the chest of a very tall [url=https://i.imgur.com/H0cxffd.png]woman in white.[/url] Sandalphon had teleported in via her link to Giovanna, appearing from nowhere to help with the controls, and as Peppermint stumbled backward her cheeks were bright red. “W-w-what the!? W-where’d you come from!?”

“I’m here to speed my allies on their way. Time is of the essence, and we have none to waste.” Sandalphon answered as she turned to the controls, calmly and intuitively pressing buttons and flipping switches to get the L.I.F.T. online. “You’re Mr. Chai’s operator, correct? Then we’re of one mind. Let us work together to increase efficiency.”

The doors to the station opened to admit another squad of SBRs, this time led by a menacing [url=https://i.imgur.com/SOyWUQd.png]mechanical kraken[/url] with metal tentacles. Peppermint swallowed, albeit not from fear, and stepped up to the console to help. “Uh, sure.” 

Quite ironically Benedict felt more apt to trust in Sandalphon's words and actions than those of Chai or the other young woman "[color=B19666]Mmhm, I concur.[/color]" was all the tactician said as he stood by to let the two work at the console though he kept an eye trained on Peppermint with his hand gripping his cane tightly.

While keeping out of Rhino’s reach, Pit knocked a SBR down with a flying kick and finished it off with a twist of the bow, carving through its midsection. Momentarily clear of enemies he hopped back towards the L.I.F.T. He was surprised, but not disappointed to see their coordinator pop in while she was supposedly directing the other groups as well.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Defend the platform! Roger, Halo!"[/color] He said. The Palutena Bow disappeared in a small shower of sparkles, and in their place two shields formed and floated in midair. The Guardian Orbitars swirled around Pit until he stuck his palm out towards a squad of robots. They flew to either side of him at about shoulder height, facing the opponents as golden energy began to gather in front of them. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Continuous fire!"[/color] The energy bolts shot forward. Individually they were weak but peppered like this he could keep them at bay and even destroy a few. The weapon's trump card was always an option too, ready to deploy at a moment's notice.

Pit’s resplendent barrage was just the covering fire the others needed to converge on the L.I.F.T. In a flash Giovanna arrived to stand by his side, and though Chai happened to be in a veritable mosh pit of Vandelay robots that included Volt Kraken, he quickly managed to work his way out too. He used Pickup Crash, landing two heavy attacks on one SBR before spinning his guitar vertically like a propeller, magnetically gathering scrap from busted bots as he did. When the ensuing wallop hit home, he grappled to the SBR as it hurled toward the L.I.F.T., bringing him over as well. “Whoo!” he yelled, landing with a knee slide like a rockstar. “I’m on a roll!”

“Not yet you’re not,” Peppermint muttered, rolling her eyes. Working together at the terminal with Sandalphon, the two got the L.I.F.T. ready for action in record time. A loud [i]BANG[/i] rang out as the wheel locks disengaged, and as Vandelay bots made a run for the mobile platform it rose up from the station, its glass railings popping up into position. “There you go!” Peppermint grinned, shooting a cheeky finger gun at Chai and the Seekers as the L.I.F.T. began to move. “Expect the worst!” She then disappeared again.

“Not so fast!” Although beaten up thanks to the team’s collective efforts, Tunnel Rhino charged their way. Instead of trying to reach them himself, he grabbed Volt Kraken and gave his fellow Reploid the fastball special, hurling him through the air. Cackling as he flew, Volt Kraken extended his metal tentacles, and they crackled with electricity.

His journey came to an abrupt end as a bright blue sniper shot slammed into him and blew him clear into the far tunnel wall. Surprised, Giovanna looked over to see Sandalphon still standing by the terminal as the Vandelay units rushed toward her, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/YAQnNGb.png]high-tech energy rifle[/url] in her arms. “Do be careful,” the archangel advised before warping out in another flash, just as the robots’ swords came down on her. The next second the L.I.F.T. and all its passengers left Security Wing 1 behind.

Though they were out of the danger zone for now, Pit couldn't quite keep still. He rocked on his heels and then tried imitating a few of Giovanna's kicks before he spoke up.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Maybe it's because the robots are all busy fighting each other, but the mission's gone pretty good so far! Waaay easier than usual."[/color] He mimed swinging Chai's guitar-shaped club around, coming to a stop after the spin and gesturing to the man himself. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Plus we got a new friend out of it! Or two? I think I saw your cat thingy beam in a person."[/color]

He glanced at Benedict, giving the old man a cheeky grin. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Bet even you couldn't find anything bad to say so far."[/color] 

The tactician huffed with a slight hint of amusement as he breathed through his nose "[color=B19666]When it is necessary I will.[/color]" Benedict said with a snort all the while he watched Peppermint and Chai closely.

“I said I’m not a cat!” The voice of the mechanic girl insisted through 808.

Chai shrugged with a good-natured smile as the wind whipped at his scarf and hair. “Hey, take it easy on ‘em, Peppermint. I’ve been with you for, like, five missions now, and even I don’t fully understand it.”

“That’s ‘cause you don’t understand [i]anything[/i],” his friend berated him. “And can you not tell my name to literally everyone we meet? We still don’t know if we can trust them!”

Giovanna shook her head. “Hell of a cold shoulder you got there, Pepp. Just relax, you don’t need to trust us. Think of us as two groups doing our own thing in the same area, ‘kay? We’ll settle for you guys not stabbing us in the back.” 

For once Benedict had to give the agent some credit, Giovanna at least understood that outwardly these new people had no reason to trust them even if they seemed to have goals that aligned, if they would be amicable to not betraying them then their presence was beneficial.

It made the tactician a bit more amicable to the idea of Chai and Peppermint tagging along. Still he wasn't going to let down his guard.

“I dunno,” Chai said, clapping a hand on Pit’s shoulder. “I like this dude’s ‘friend’ idea way better. You guys are super cool! ‘Specially those kicks of yours, lady. Both your shoe-kicks and your kick-kicks, I mean.”

Allowing herself a smile, Gio crossed her arms. “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself, kid.” Not knowing that Chai was twenty-five, she mistook him as being a little younger. She then turned to Pit. “What with all the wind in the tunnel here, I’m surprised you stayed upright doing those kicks a minute ago. I could show you a thing or two later if you like."

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Really? That'd be awesome!"[/color]

At that point the likes of Benedict tuned out of the conversation, uninterested in the banter and unimportant chit-chat between the Seekers and their new acquaintances, opting to stand aside and let them enjoy the time they had to talk while he mulled over things.