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Extra Terrestrial Cattle Rustler
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Vash
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See ya. Good luck with your other RPs
Sep. Until your cs is finished I do not want to see anymore attitude or excuses. Your character is in acceptance purgatory and you have one foot in the grave. It is a work in progress I understand. Take your time finishing it but do not continue to be defensive here or I will be asking you to leave.
Avalant said
Agreed. That's quite enough. And to be frank, you're starting to make me uncomfortable.
Lucius Cypher said
We already have most all our bases covered, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see someone overlapping specializations. Though I would admit, her real name could use a change just so we (Both IC and OOC) don't get it mixed up. Phonetically that is. Though she isn't really talking to herself, but to the suit, not that we would know that. It would actually be fairly useful as the suit follows a similar function to Ada, proving a sort of situational awareness. As for the Big MT similarities, well, for Golem it's more like a footnote. Wynter's backstory goes into more detail with it. My only issues is that I'm still trying to figure out "what" she can do. I suppose having another gunner is great and all, what can she bring to the table that others don't? Again, we do have most if not all our bases covered, so it would be hard for Wynter to figure out something that she can do better than the rest. We have plenty of stealthers, though I would admit, Lucy would be greatly interested in Wynter. Aside from Golem, she would be the only one with tech from the Big MT, and one she could actually get solid data from. Heck, Lucy may want one for herself (Vault suit is great and all, but it sucks at eating bullets). I could always use an apprentice. The only positions I can really think that we need filling is a "Face" and designated repair person. By "Face" I mean someone with high speech/barter. Fairly useless in a fire fight though. And unless our Quartermaster is able to do it for us, we could really use someone who could patch up our armor and weapons in a jiffy on the field. Right now Golem's got a hole in his power armor that could use a patch and Lucy's Disintergrator is two shots from fried. So Maybe Wynter could sort of be the Veronica/Raul, proving a handy assistant for crafting and on the spot maintenance. At least until I upgrade Ada to Lonesome-Road Eddy standards.
Good points. I guess I really don't mind the Big MT back story seeing as how I was more interested in developing Golem's synthetics rather than his time spent there. I guess I just brought up the talking to herself thing to make a point and it really isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of things. I'll admit to that. However, the name needs to change. That's just confusing man.
Sorry about bringing up stupid points, but what I was stressing was that I really want to make sure that new applicants are actually aware of what is going on, know what kind of characters they'll be working with and think about how they can contribute to the team.
Anywho... Looks like Sep is working on a field repair role. I'm really drawing a blank on any sort of specializations that we need at this point. Avalant let us know what your thoughts are on working her into the team like if you have any ideas or suggestions that may help us out.
Don't really know what else to say until Vash gets a look at the CS
Okay so I really don't want to be the one to point this out, but we have a character who's codename is "Winter" and specializes in stealth, an NPC member of Eagle Claw who has a habit of talking to herself, and another character who was also experimented on and implanted extensively with synthetics at the Big MT (though that's as far as the similarities between the two of them go aside from the proton axes). I'm okay with a little redundancy in characters in an RP as it can't be helped much of the time. But I just want to make sure you read the profiles for the other characters before you take this any further.
Sleep did not come easy on the hard ground with the storm swelling outside. Many of the early hours of the night she spent awake thinking, trying to get comfortable and stay warm. When she finally did sink into sleep it was shallow, fraught with unwanted imagery and short lived. After one such bout of light sleep she awoke warm and draped in a blanket. It smelled strongly of old leather, sweat, blood and dirt, but was far from unwelcome. She readjusted and didn't wake again until morning.
Morning. It was still damp and grey from the storm and the lingering cloud cover. She wanted to sleep more but the dim light and lack of a proper bed kept her from doing so. With a begrudging moan she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Almost immediately she noticed her companion was gone. No surprise there. Surprising was that what she thought was a blanket was actually Sebastian's duster. Brooklyn silently ran her fingers over the collar for a moment brows knitted deep in thought.
She stumbled out of the tent with the duster draped over one arm. The outside world became far more crisp all together. The smell of rain, the sound of the creek and a bird every now and then, the cold air on her skin. But no Sebastian. Thankfully no Tenau either. She made her way to the creek intent on washing up a bit before continuing her search. Shivering she decided to slip into the duster for now.
The water was freezing on her face but it served to wake her up a bit more. Unfortunately this also pulled her further into the real world and her mind began to grind through the logistics of getting off this island and back home. Home. She frowned. If she had been taken on a prison ship then... Was she an outlaw? But what did she even do? Could she even go back without being taken again or worse this time? It finally struck her just how right Sebastian had been when he told her she wouldn't be going home. Despite herself her chest started to ache and her eyes burned. Tears began to flow and mix with the creek water she was trying to dry away. She hated everything. She stood up with clenched fists and turned toward the camp. Then she came face to face with a pair of very large, violet, reptilian eyes. Brooklyn jumped back, her heart stopping. Then she screamed.
Adrenaline surged through his blood and violently ripped him out of his slumber. Sword already in hand while he slept Gabe practically tore the tent down as he lept up and sprinted out in to the forest. Terrible screaming came from the water's edge chilling the morning further. He was in kill mode fully prepared to destroy whatever threat waited for him without a second thought.
His boots skidded over mud and rocks as he slammed to a full stop on the banks. Bloodlust was given away in every aspect of his form. Every muscle was tight, his breathing came heavy, his teeth clenched and every sense was on pins and needles. He searched the area quickly only to have every desire to kill immediately snatched away and replaced with the urge to run. Run. Run for miles. And then find a nice quiet place to sit and take a moment to seriously consider which life decisions had been the ones to land him in this situation.
There was the little blonde brat screaming and panicking. There was the loudmouthed Prosthetic that had Her Almighty Bitchfullness Annabelle so bent out of shape. And there was a dragon. No. Gabe took several slow and very quiet steps back toward the trees. Those two were on their own.
Annabelle came rushing out of the trees after him and stopped by his side, "What in the name of the Gods are you--!?" She balked at the sight before them.
Perhaps the shock of it all had suddenly rendered her more insane than before because Gabe could have sworn he heard her order him to kill the thing. Did he? No. He couldn't have.
"I said kill it!" Annabelle snapped at him, "Kill it!"
Ah, so he did.
"Lady," he turned toward her and looked her right in the eye with a look as serious as death, "Can you shit gold bricks?"
Her silence, the slackness in her jaw and the blood boiling in to her face was answer enough.
"Then you can't afford that," he rested the sword over his shoulder and turned his attention on the dragon once more.
Morning. It was still damp and grey from the storm and the lingering cloud cover. She wanted to sleep more but the dim light and lack of a proper bed kept her from doing so. With a begrudging moan she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Almost immediately she noticed her companion was gone. No surprise there. Surprising was that what she thought was a blanket was actually Sebastian's duster. Brooklyn silently ran her fingers over the collar for a moment brows knitted deep in thought.
She stumbled out of the tent with the duster draped over one arm. The outside world became far more crisp all together. The smell of rain, the sound of the creek and a bird every now and then, the cold air on her skin. But no Sebastian. Thankfully no Tenau either. She made her way to the creek intent on washing up a bit before continuing her search. Shivering she decided to slip into the duster for now.
The water was freezing on her face but it served to wake her up a bit more. Unfortunately this also pulled her further into the real world and her mind began to grind through the logistics of getting off this island and back home. Home. She frowned. If she had been taken on a prison ship then... Was she an outlaw? But what did she even do? Could she even go back without being taken again or worse this time? It finally struck her just how right Sebastian had been when he told her she wouldn't be going home. Despite herself her chest started to ache and her eyes burned. Tears began to flow and mix with the creek water she was trying to dry away. She hated everything. She stood up with clenched fists and turned toward the camp. Then she came face to face with a pair of very large, violet, reptilian eyes. Brooklyn jumped back, her heart stopping. Then she screamed.
Adrenaline surged through his blood and violently ripped him out of his slumber. Sword already in hand while he slept Gabe practically tore the tent down as he lept up and sprinted out in to the forest. Terrible screaming came from the water's edge chilling the morning further. He was in kill mode fully prepared to destroy whatever threat waited for him without a second thought.
His boots skidded over mud and rocks as he slammed to a full stop on the banks. Bloodlust was given away in every aspect of his form. Every muscle was tight, his breathing came heavy, his teeth clenched and every sense was on pins and needles. He searched the area quickly only to have every desire to kill immediately snatched away and replaced with the urge to run. Run. Run for miles. And then find a nice quiet place to sit and take a moment to seriously consider which life decisions had been the ones to land him in this situation.
There was the little blonde brat screaming and panicking. There was the loudmouthed Prosthetic that had Her Almighty Bitchfullness Annabelle so bent out of shape. And there was a dragon. No. Gabe took several slow and very quiet steps back toward the trees. Those two were on their own.
Annabelle came rushing out of the trees after him and stopped by his side, "What in the name of the Gods are you--!?" She balked at the sight before them.
Perhaps the shock of it all had suddenly rendered her more insane than before because Gabe could have sworn he heard her order him to kill the thing. Did he? No. He couldn't have.
"I said kill it!" Annabelle snapped at him, "Kill it!"
Ah, so he did.
"Lady," he turned toward her and looked her right in the eye with a look as serious as death, "Can you shit gold bricks?"
Her silence, the slackness in her jaw and the blood boiling in to her face was answer enough.
"Then you can't afford that," he rested the sword over his shoulder and turned his attention on the dragon once more.
Full payment granted only after after a job was done to completion was something that simply did not exist. Like suddenly sprouting wings from one's ass and landing on the moon. One might as well be wishing for all the riches the world had to offer with immortality as the cherry on top. It wasn't going to happen. Never would he have fathomed entering into such an agreement, especially not with a Templar. However, there was simply no payment to be had on this gods-forsaken island and promises became one of the few currencies available to a mercenary. Even if he never saw his money, which he was sure he wouldn't, at least he had something to do other than sit around until someone figured out how to get the hell out of here.
He scratched the stubble growing on his chin while his employer and the two targets they would be following squabbled and barked insults back and forth. If she wanted this man dead so bad why shouldn't they just kill him now? Prosthetic or no if he didn't put up a challenge at least somewhat entertaining Gabe felt he could make quick work of him. What would they do with the girl he wondered. Would she be executed too just for being found in league with this guy? There was no way he was killing a lady. At least not without being paid upfront.
"Not gonna just kill 'im now?" Gabe asked quietly, his boredom showing.
"Let me be frank with you, Gabriel. He will break you."
He snorted and sneered, "If you say so, lady... And it's just Gabe."
Brooklyn's eyes lit up as she listened to the conversation of the Tanau behind them. She leaned in close to Sebastian and said in a hushed tone, "The hulk over there has a point. Why don't we just kill them now?"
Not that she was hungering for more violence. In fact she was still feeling a bit ill from the encounters earlier, but maybe this time she wouldn't have to be involved. Casually she tapped the toe of one of the worn work boots she had pulled from a comatose woman at the camp trying to pretend they weren't talking about anything important.
"I'm not one to kill a templar, especially a woman templar. Plus, don't need more violence in a survival situation. Besides, I'm sure that she'll be useful...somehow"
"Hm," she frowned narrowed her eyes and looked back at them over her shoulder, "I guess you're right, we could always eat her." The cheek where that wretched woman had slapped her still throbbed.
"Please don't tell me you're into getting it on with bodies and eating them."
"No! I wasn't-- I was-- I was kidding!" she stammered aghast.
"Darn. I was hoping to convince you I was a zombie that was brought back by the Tenau to hunt down people like that and pleasure to no end. Shame." He looked back to her, and eyebrow cocked and a smirk sneaking onto his face.
Her mouth hung open in shock.
"What? I'm kidding! Don't look at me like that! Simply trying to lighten the mood!"
"Th-that was just... gross," she shook her head and smiled a little. Though it had been quite some time for her since washing ashore her body still ached from lack of rest, not to mention the near constant excitement. Every rock she had to step over became a chore. A stinging started on the back of one elbow where she hadn't realized until now she'd been scraped.
"Shouldn't we be finding a place to rest? Or look for water? Or food?" She asked.
"Not used to traveling with people that need to eat more than once every couple days. Hold on." He stopped the group and looked around a little, not seeing much other than several tall trees. He came up to one and held out his hand. It took a couple seconds but the finger tips stretched out and formed into dozens of small fingers. "Great for hacking, but also has practical uses" He placed it onto the bark of the tree and began climbing up to the top to get a better lay of the land.
He saw several things on top of the tree, namely, he was able to see a river a few miles away that would serve them nicely. There was a mountain as well, decently tall, near the middle of the island. He didn't get long to look around though as a roar caused the hairs on the back of his head to stand on end. He turned in the tree just in time to see something big fly right at his face and make him fall out of the tree. He screamed as he plummeted towards the earth and landed with a thud next to Brooklyn. "Well." He coughed and stood up. "I may be going insane, but I think I saw a dragon."
"Excuse me?" Annabelle spoke up as she and Gabe drew closer. "Dragon?" They have been extinct for years. The sin that holds you together must be making you see hallucinations." "No thanks to you and your people you scum!"
"How DARE yo-" He came closer to her and put a finger on her chest. "Shut the fuck up. You have no right to speak about the race you Tenau fuckers murdered."
His reaction was quick. One step, one quick shove to get the man away from Annabelle and he was inbetween them. "Hands off," Gabe said slowly and deliberately glaring at the Prosthetic.
Brooklyn had giggled at first thinking this another joke but her hands flew to her mouth when the situation became far more heated. This was obviously not a joke. Her distaste for the woman tailing them only grew with her uncalled for comments and her knack for bringing out the worst in Sebastian.
"Okay, stop!" she yelled, "Wait, so you're searious? A dragon? Really?"
"Yes." He spoke plainly. "They used to be all over the world. At the beginning of the war between Tenau and Illuminavit the Tenau used them to reach the space elevator in New Gnisis. (New Nee-sis). There were not many who could fly using magic and protect themselves while also attacking, so they used the Dragon-kind to raid. The problem was that Dragons are notably immune to all forms of magic and thus could not be protected by said magic. But they didn't care, they used them anyways and the Illuminavit had no choice but to defend themselves and shot them down. The Tenau continued to use them in battle until they were thought to be extinct. Not TWO WEEKS LATER, born out of a necessity to continue to raid the space elevator, you found the right spell to be able to fly and protect yourselves."
"And so you blame me for the death of your precious dragons?!" Annabelle stepped past Gabe and spoke. "I blame your entire faction for being so careless and ignorant. Especially the chantry as I know you bastards were the ones who refused to research the magic needed as you deemed the dragons as abominations of ancient madmen." "And so they were and still are. I plan to see this entire place razed to the ground after I get out of h-" Sebastian was on her in a second, wrapping his hand around her neck and raising her off the ground.
"I have been witholding my temper, Bitch, as I do not want to spill anymore blood. Do not press it." He noticed gabe start to make a move, but Sebastian's gun was faster and he had it pointing at gabe's face. "Make the move. I dare you."
He threw Annabelle to the side and spit at her. "Scum." And stepped away. She started to cough and sputter as she started to rise from the ground. "Brook, there is a stream a few miles away from here. We can rest there for the evening."
He didn't wait for her to catch up, he had the place in his mind, and he hoped that one of the Dragons were there as well, or the next. Or somewhere near."
Rest was a near irresistable carrot dangled in front of her, but of course, she would have to work for it. At first she kept up with her pissed off comerade rather well but soon
lost him in the foliage that spread over the island and seemed to thicken as the creek grew near. Brooklyn stumbled and lost her footing more than once in the overgrowth and started to grow frustrated.
"Sebastian!" she called out. No response. She sighed and kicked a dead branch aside. As she thought and stood still, alone in the forest, the sound of running water became more audible. The creek. Immediately she headed in the direction of the sound and listened carefully to make sure she was really headed in the right direction. Long reaching fingers of especially fierce plant life grabbed her clothing and clawed at her skin as she progressed. One particularly violent branch caught her right in the eye turning her frustration into rage.
"Dammit!" she hissed and pulled the shortsword from her belt in retaliation. These branches would pay. With some difficulty but getting the hang of it after a few minutes she carved a path for herself to the rocky bank. Exhausted but acomplished she sank to her knees by the water and drank deeply before looking around to see if the others had wound up somewhere near by.
A poke on her shoulder would make her perk up and nearly take a swipe at Sebastian behind her. "Careful, you'll put your eye out with that thing. I scouted ahead, seems there is a cave near the mouth of the river. Ominous. Here" He handed her a small bag with a couple sheets he had picked up and stuffed into a bag. "There are tent materials in there for your own tent. Storm is coming and we don't want to be out in the open. I have my own, but I'll get it ready in a bit. How are you doing?"
She slid the shortsword back into her belt. He was right. Up against anything more sentient than the local plant life the only one suffering the blade's wrath would be herself and she knew it.
"Thanks," she said with a weak smile and accepted the bag, "I-- ... I really just want to be home." The smile was gone and she turned her eyes to the ground.
"Well, you're not going to get home. Not for a while." He crossed his arms and sat down next to her, taking a handfull of water and downing it. "Might as well get used to it."
She scowled at him and recoiled. She should have known he would say something like that.
"Tch. Yeah I guess I shouldn't expect sympathy from you," Brooklyn grumbled, "It's just so easy for you to be out here stomping around in the dirt and killing people like an animal," She stood up with the bag tucked under one arm and looked down on him, "Some of us are just normal people with normal lives so excuse me if I'm not thrilled about having impromptu wilderness rampage funtime."
"It's sad that you're resorting to judging me off of me being able to kill somebody. You're well on your way to being just like that annabelle bitch. I've been on the run from the templars since before you were born. It's easy for me to kill and survive, yes. But unless I missed it, you killed and survived as well."
Emotions whirled up in her chest, all of them tainted with rage and fear. Her body stiffened and her teeth were bared, "I am NOT the one who decided to start murdering everybody in that camp! That was all you buddy. We would have been completely fine out here on our own but no! We had to make your bloody little pit-stop first!" she was shouting now, "And don't you EVER compare me to you people! I didn't WANT to--..." she trailed off. Vaccancy overcame her face and her shoulders sunk. Her voice quieted to nearly a whisper, "I didn't want to kill them."
"If they weren't put down, they would have done unspeakable horrors to the captives. Would you rather that we let that happen? The other two women that were there had their mines broken by the prisoners. Would you have prefered that happen to the rest so you could trail off and be a coward? Killing shouldn't ever come easily. Killing is something that I never enjoy nor want to do, but when I have to help somebody, I do. Simple as that."
"That's terrible, I get it," she sighed, "But it wasn't our problem! We could have been killed."
He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees, breathing slowly. "That's the risk when you work to help people. No getting around that." The other two came out of the foliage, joining them, but keeping their distance at the treeline. They talked among themselves. "I can promise you this. I don't murder innocent souls in the name of some crackpot wisp of air that doesn't exist."
Brooklyn let out a tiny noise of disgust and covered her face with one hand. They were back and once again Sebastian was intent on starting something.
"Relax. Not in the mood."
"Good. I don't know how much more fighting I can take in one lifetime." The girl pressed her lips together and watched the pair in the trees. Being watched like this was giving her the creeps. "What is her problem?" she spoke absently.
"She's been hunting me for the last few years. Paid a group of bandits to kill a few kids to lure me into a trap. Was effective as hell."
"Obsessed is a word for her. Psychotic is another one."
"She's also the one that put half the scars on my body. By herself."
"Don't let the small body fool you. She's insane with a sword."
Now Brooklyn was outright glaring in their direction. It was a lot to process. As harshly as she had judged the woman up until now it was clear that her judgements had not been near harsh enough. Killing children... Scars... She wondered just how bad they were. "That... that..." she stammered. He would kill a dozen men to save a few prisoners but he wouldn't end this bitch even after all that? It didn't make sense. It wasn't fair. Never-the-less if that's how the Tenau really were then she was quickly becoming conviced that she was working for the right side and losing interest in those who sympathized with them. Without warning Brooklyn snatched up the first good sized rock she saw and hurled it with all her strength in Annabelle's direction.
He stopped her before she could hurl it and lowered the rock to the ground. "Not worth it. You'll be fighting on your own. I don't kill women. Take a few breaths and relax. There are plenty in the world that have done worse. Like Andrew Mccloud. You should know that name well. General of the Illuminavit armed forces."
She fought him for a moment trying to tear her arm away and finish what she had started but quickly gave up and resorted to simply fuming. "Worse?" she sneered, "He's a war hero."
"He's also the man that ordered the destruction of blackgate, formerly known as Valshoth, the city of the one. A city that was located in the arctic content of Tussia. You know of it, there were millions of Tenau there and it was protected by a powerful magic shield. He needed to send a message that the Tenau attempting to attack the illuminavit were not to be tolerated, so he launched a nuke, planning to just lock the citizens in until they gave up on their gods and sided with the IVT. Turns out Magic can't block the power of a nuclear warhead. The entire thing was swept under the rug, the blame was shoved onto another general whom was on Centari-five at the time, and the hero of the IVT was absolved."
Silence followed while all the information being forced on her processed. It was too much. She didn't know what to think and her head was spinning. All the politics and conspiracy and horrors of war were exactly the reason she favored her position as grunt among the military scientists who would rarely be involved in government and who would never see battle. Her mouth contorted into a deeply pensive look.
"I'm gonna go set up the tent," she said and walked away from Sebastian.
He scratched the stubble growing on his chin while his employer and the two targets they would be following squabbled and barked insults back and forth. If she wanted this man dead so bad why shouldn't they just kill him now? Prosthetic or no if he didn't put up a challenge at least somewhat entertaining Gabe felt he could make quick work of him. What would they do with the girl he wondered. Would she be executed too just for being found in league with this guy? There was no way he was killing a lady. At least not without being paid upfront.
"Not gonna just kill 'im now?" Gabe asked quietly, his boredom showing.
"Let me be frank with you, Gabriel. He will break you."
He snorted and sneered, "If you say so, lady... And it's just Gabe."
Brooklyn's eyes lit up as she listened to the conversation of the Tanau behind them. She leaned in close to Sebastian and said in a hushed tone, "The hulk over there has a point. Why don't we just kill them now?"
Not that she was hungering for more violence. In fact she was still feeling a bit ill from the encounters earlier, but maybe this time she wouldn't have to be involved. Casually she tapped the toe of one of the worn work boots she had pulled from a comatose woman at the camp trying to pretend they weren't talking about anything important.
"I'm not one to kill a templar, especially a woman templar. Plus, don't need more violence in a survival situation. Besides, I'm sure that she'll be useful...somehow"
"Hm," she frowned narrowed her eyes and looked back at them over her shoulder, "I guess you're right, we could always eat her." The cheek where that wretched woman had slapped her still throbbed.
"Please don't tell me you're into getting it on with bodies and eating them."
"No! I wasn't-- I was-- I was kidding!" she stammered aghast.
"Darn. I was hoping to convince you I was a zombie that was brought back by the Tenau to hunt down people like that and pleasure to no end. Shame." He looked back to her, and eyebrow cocked and a smirk sneaking onto his face.
Her mouth hung open in shock.
"What? I'm kidding! Don't look at me like that! Simply trying to lighten the mood!"
"Th-that was just... gross," she shook her head and smiled a little. Though it had been quite some time for her since washing ashore her body still ached from lack of rest, not to mention the near constant excitement. Every rock she had to step over became a chore. A stinging started on the back of one elbow where she hadn't realized until now she'd been scraped.
"Shouldn't we be finding a place to rest? Or look for water? Or food?" She asked.
"Not used to traveling with people that need to eat more than once every couple days. Hold on." He stopped the group and looked around a little, not seeing much other than several tall trees. He came up to one and held out his hand. It took a couple seconds but the finger tips stretched out and formed into dozens of small fingers. "Great for hacking, but also has practical uses" He placed it onto the bark of the tree and began climbing up to the top to get a better lay of the land.
He saw several things on top of the tree, namely, he was able to see a river a few miles away that would serve them nicely. There was a mountain as well, decently tall, near the middle of the island. He didn't get long to look around though as a roar caused the hairs on the back of his head to stand on end. He turned in the tree just in time to see something big fly right at his face and make him fall out of the tree. He screamed as he plummeted towards the earth and landed with a thud next to Brooklyn. "Well." He coughed and stood up. "I may be going insane, but I think I saw a dragon."
"Excuse me?" Annabelle spoke up as she and Gabe drew closer. "Dragon?" They have been extinct for years. The sin that holds you together must be making you see hallucinations." "No thanks to you and your people you scum!"
"How DARE yo-" He came closer to her and put a finger on her chest. "Shut the fuck up. You have no right to speak about the race you Tenau fuckers murdered."
His reaction was quick. One step, one quick shove to get the man away from Annabelle and he was inbetween them. "Hands off," Gabe said slowly and deliberately glaring at the Prosthetic.
Brooklyn had giggled at first thinking this another joke but her hands flew to her mouth when the situation became far more heated. This was obviously not a joke. Her distaste for the woman tailing them only grew with her uncalled for comments and her knack for bringing out the worst in Sebastian.
"Okay, stop!" she yelled, "Wait, so you're searious? A dragon? Really?"
"Yes." He spoke plainly. "They used to be all over the world. At the beginning of the war between Tenau and Illuminavit the Tenau used them to reach the space elevator in New Gnisis. (New Nee-sis). There were not many who could fly using magic and protect themselves while also attacking, so they used the Dragon-kind to raid. The problem was that Dragons are notably immune to all forms of magic and thus could not be protected by said magic. But they didn't care, they used them anyways and the Illuminavit had no choice but to defend themselves and shot them down. The Tenau continued to use them in battle until they were thought to be extinct. Not TWO WEEKS LATER, born out of a necessity to continue to raid the space elevator, you found the right spell to be able to fly and protect yourselves."
"And so you blame me for the death of your precious dragons?!" Annabelle stepped past Gabe and spoke. "I blame your entire faction for being so careless and ignorant. Especially the chantry as I know you bastards were the ones who refused to research the magic needed as you deemed the dragons as abominations of ancient madmen." "And so they were and still are. I plan to see this entire place razed to the ground after I get out of h-" Sebastian was on her in a second, wrapping his hand around her neck and raising her off the ground.
"I have been witholding my temper, Bitch, as I do not want to spill anymore blood. Do not press it." He noticed gabe start to make a move, but Sebastian's gun was faster and he had it pointing at gabe's face. "Make the move. I dare you."
He threw Annabelle to the side and spit at her. "Scum." And stepped away. She started to cough and sputter as she started to rise from the ground. "Brook, there is a stream a few miles away from here. We can rest there for the evening."
He didn't wait for her to catch up, he had the place in his mind, and he hoped that one of the Dragons were there as well, or the next. Or somewhere near."
Rest was a near irresistable carrot dangled in front of her, but of course, she would have to work for it. At first she kept up with her pissed off comerade rather well but soon
lost him in the foliage that spread over the island and seemed to thicken as the creek grew near. Brooklyn stumbled and lost her footing more than once in the overgrowth and started to grow frustrated.
"Sebastian!" she called out. No response. She sighed and kicked a dead branch aside. As she thought and stood still, alone in the forest, the sound of running water became more audible. The creek. Immediately she headed in the direction of the sound and listened carefully to make sure she was really headed in the right direction. Long reaching fingers of especially fierce plant life grabbed her clothing and clawed at her skin as she progressed. One particularly violent branch caught her right in the eye turning her frustration into rage.
"Dammit!" she hissed and pulled the shortsword from her belt in retaliation. These branches would pay. With some difficulty but getting the hang of it after a few minutes she carved a path for herself to the rocky bank. Exhausted but acomplished she sank to her knees by the water and drank deeply before looking around to see if the others had wound up somewhere near by.
A poke on her shoulder would make her perk up and nearly take a swipe at Sebastian behind her. "Careful, you'll put your eye out with that thing. I scouted ahead, seems there is a cave near the mouth of the river. Ominous. Here" He handed her a small bag with a couple sheets he had picked up and stuffed into a bag. "There are tent materials in there for your own tent. Storm is coming and we don't want to be out in the open. I have my own, but I'll get it ready in a bit. How are you doing?"
She slid the shortsword back into her belt. He was right. Up against anything more sentient than the local plant life the only one suffering the blade's wrath would be herself and she knew it.
"Thanks," she said with a weak smile and accepted the bag, "I-- ... I really just want to be home." The smile was gone and she turned her eyes to the ground.
"Well, you're not going to get home. Not for a while." He crossed his arms and sat down next to her, taking a handfull of water and downing it. "Might as well get used to it."
She scowled at him and recoiled. She should have known he would say something like that.
"Tch. Yeah I guess I shouldn't expect sympathy from you," Brooklyn grumbled, "It's just so easy for you to be out here stomping around in the dirt and killing people like an animal," She stood up with the bag tucked under one arm and looked down on him, "Some of us are just normal people with normal lives so excuse me if I'm not thrilled about having impromptu wilderness rampage funtime."
"It's sad that you're resorting to judging me off of me being able to kill somebody. You're well on your way to being just like that annabelle bitch. I've been on the run from the templars since before you were born. It's easy for me to kill and survive, yes. But unless I missed it, you killed and survived as well."
Emotions whirled up in her chest, all of them tainted with rage and fear. Her body stiffened and her teeth were bared, "I am NOT the one who decided to start murdering everybody in that camp! That was all you buddy. We would have been completely fine out here on our own but no! We had to make your bloody little pit-stop first!" she was shouting now, "And don't you EVER compare me to you people! I didn't WANT to--..." she trailed off. Vaccancy overcame her face and her shoulders sunk. Her voice quieted to nearly a whisper, "I didn't want to kill them."
"If they weren't put down, they would have done unspeakable horrors to the captives. Would you rather that we let that happen? The other two women that were there had their mines broken by the prisoners. Would you have prefered that happen to the rest so you could trail off and be a coward? Killing shouldn't ever come easily. Killing is something that I never enjoy nor want to do, but when I have to help somebody, I do. Simple as that."
"That's terrible, I get it," she sighed, "But it wasn't our problem! We could have been killed."
He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees, breathing slowly. "That's the risk when you work to help people. No getting around that." The other two came out of the foliage, joining them, but keeping their distance at the treeline. They talked among themselves. "I can promise you this. I don't murder innocent souls in the name of some crackpot wisp of air that doesn't exist."
Brooklyn let out a tiny noise of disgust and covered her face with one hand. They were back and once again Sebastian was intent on starting something.
"Relax. Not in the mood."
"Good. I don't know how much more fighting I can take in one lifetime." The girl pressed her lips together and watched the pair in the trees. Being watched like this was giving her the creeps. "What is her problem?" she spoke absently.
"She's been hunting me for the last few years. Paid a group of bandits to kill a few kids to lure me into a trap. Was effective as hell."
"Obsessed is a word for her. Psychotic is another one."
"She's also the one that put half the scars on my body. By herself."
"Don't let the small body fool you. She's insane with a sword."
Now Brooklyn was outright glaring in their direction. It was a lot to process. As harshly as she had judged the woman up until now it was clear that her judgements had not been near harsh enough. Killing children... Scars... She wondered just how bad they were. "That... that..." she stammered. He would kill a dozen men to save a few prisoners but he wouldn't end this bitch even after all that? It didn't make sense. It wasn't fair. Never-the-less if that's how the Tenau really were then she was quickly becoming conviced that she was working for the right side and losing interest in those who sympathized with them. Without warning Brooklyn snatched up the first good sized rock she saw and hurled it with all her strength in Annabelle's direction.
He stopped her before she could hurl it and lowered the rock to the ground. "Not worth it. You'll be fighting on your own. I don't kill women. Take a few breaths and relax. There are plenty in the world that have done worse. Like Andrew Mccloud. You should know that name well. General of the Illuminavit armed forces."
She fought him for a moment trying to tear her arm away and finish what she had started but quickly gave up and resorted to simply fuming. "Worse?" she sneered, "He's a war hero."
"He's also the man that ordered the destruction of blackgate, formerly known as Valshoth, the city of the one. A city that was located in the arctic content of Tussia. You know of it, there were millions of Tenau there and it was protected by a powerful magic shield. He needed to send a message that the Tenau attempting to attack the illuminavit were not to be tolerated, so he launched a nuke, planning to just lock the citizens in until they gave up on their gods and sided with the IVT. Turns out Magic can't block the power of a nuclear warhead. The entire thing was swept under the rug, the blame was shoved onto another general whom was on Centari-five at the time, and the hero of the IVT was absolved."
Silence followed while all the information being forced on her processed. It was too much. She didn't know what to think and her head was spinning. All the politics and conspiracy and horrors of war were exactly the reason she favored her position as grunt among the military scientists who would rarely be involved in government and who would never see battle. Her mouth contorted into a deeply pensive look.
"I'm gonna go set up the tent," she said and walked away from Sebastian.
After observing her savior for a minute or two the girl stood with her hands on her hips scanning the beach as he did. She wasn't actually looking for anything though. To the contrary she was simply thinking and still trying to come to terms with the events of the past couple days. At least Sebastian had been blessed with real clothes, although if those were clothes he normally wore it definitely raised questions about his sense of fashion. He even had a damn up-link to the digi-net! Not that it was functional at the moment. And here she stood feeling vastly unprepared with frizzy hair, smeared eyeliner, navy running shorts and a black long-sleeved t-shirt that was certainly too big for her. No bra, no shoes, no nothing. They had ripped her out of bed at the most ghastly hour of the morning on a Saturday. She hadn't even missed work. Despite herself, her lower lip jutted in a pout.
She didn't like his tone. Never-the-less she half listened as the man prattled on about camps and prisoners and some scout or whomever. She glared at how delicately he addressed her assault. What a gentleman. She had half a mind to just leave him here to his own devices and start working out how she was going to survive and get home. It would be easy with her smarts. Even though she had never built a fire, or been on an island or cooked anything from scratch that didn't turn out repulsive. Even though she had no idea where she was. Even though the ocean stretched on for an indeterminable number of miles that way. And that way. And also that way. Then Sebastian started off down the beach. Leaving her alone.
Fine. Let him go. This is what she wanted. The girl wrung her hands nervously and watched the ground. She bit her lip. She had no idea where to even begin. Maybe if she had some of her tools. The tools that wouldn't even work here in the dead-zone. Those tools. She jumped when Sebastian yelled at her and clenched her fists in rage when he brought up the thought of rape again. How dare he? But, there was no denying it. She needed his help. With a deep breath she stood up straight and proud and marched forward, albeit with an utter lack of grace thanks to the sand under her feet, until she caught up with him.
"I'm not stupid," she informed him, "Just because we've found ourselves in a bad situation doesn't give you the right to be rude."
He didn't respond. She fumed.
It took her completely by surprise when Sebastian suddenly bolted for the treeline not long after. She followed of course but it took her a moment to see what was going on. A camp! By some miracle the camp he was going on about earlier actually existed. They probably had food and equipment. Maybe they could get them out of here. Then she saw the men with guns, and the cages, and the people inside those cages, and the women... Maybe they should just stay as far away from this camp as possible.
"We should go," she whispered and stood up to leave but Sebastian yanked her back down.
It felt like an eternity of waiting. She grew more nervous as they watched the camp. She hated seeing those people like that. Every time she saw one of those disgusting men touch one of the women they had taken captive, every time she heard begging or screaming or laughing, she cringed. She kept a close watch on Sebastian. That look in his eye, the way he was surveying what lay before them and the way he followed the guards was familiar to her. All at once she knew exactly what he planned on doing. No. He turned to her. No, no, no. As much as she wanted to survive this island this was not okay. There had to be other options. This was simply out of her league.
"Okay, but-- Alright that's-- I don't," was all she seemed to be able to get in as he explained the plan to her, "Yeah I'm a good shot, but--"
Because he wanted her to do the woman killing.
She was rendered speechless.
She was glad that he was glad that she was going along with this because she had no fucking idea she was going along with this.
May die. She gritted her teeth and looked up at him wide-eyed at the prospect of her death.
Then he was gone again. She was shaking. Either with rage or fear she couldn't be sure. Again she realized she didn't have to follow him. She could just leave him. Although with no back up going into that camp was just a fancy way of committing suicide. The girl frowned. Then followed him and stayed close. Idiot. As they neared she could feel her senses sharpening and her adrenaline pumping. Her measly eight weeks of mandatory combat training were coming back to her, however, and she was able to stay low and out of sight without much direction from Sebastian. She was doing well. Until he snapped a guard's neck and dropped the body in front of her. And then he took it a step further and killed his friend. Now she just felt sick. Sick, scared, barefoot, unprepared and armed: this was starting to sound like a recipe for disaster.
Fear gripped her and it must have been obvious because the normally rude man was trying to comfort her for a change. Trying at least. Then she realized. She'd never introduced herself. But he was gone. Damn it! How the shit could she have forgotten to tell him her name? Why the hell did he keep running off like that? What the fuck was wrong with her? What the fuck kind of gun was this? Damn everything. Why, this particular model of hand gun had been widely used by the military! About fifty fucking years ago and they stopped using the pieces of shit because they jammed if you even looked at them wrong. This sorry hunk of steel had probably been in water, it had probably been in sand, in had probably been shoved up some hussie-- No. Not going there. She stopped her mental fit of rage, sighed a long frustrated sigh and chambered a round. At least it was steel and not the stupid neo-magical-sooper-dooper-plastic-alloy garbage her colleagues kept pushing into development. Ballistics, energy, laser or plasma it didn't matter. Guns should be steel.
"Don't play any games with me you lousy piece of crap," she whispered to the gun. This would be just like target practice she told herself. Just like target practice.
Except it wasn't. She mostly stayed out of sight and let Sebastian have all the fun. Upon aiming the gun at one of the men she found herself unable to pull the trigger. Unreal amounts of pressure built upon her to do something. Action was needed here and now, but she just couldn't do it. She'd never killed anybody. During the commotion she mustered up the courage to fire a few shots off when she felt Sebastian really needed the cover. Not a single one of them hit. A good shot she had called herself.
Then shit really hit the fan. Sebastian was pinned. Two women on either side a brute on top of him. This is why she had come along she remembered. Thus far she had been useless. For fucks sake she still had sixteen rounds left. Sure this wasn't her stupid, reckless, idiotic, bull-headed... this wasn't her plan, but she still should have been more help. The girl's brow furrowed and her lips turned in a determined frown. Without him she wouldn't make it out of here alive. Without him she would be one of those prisoners. She had to survive. She had to fight to survive.
With all the chaos erupting around her she rose from her cover calmly and deliberately. Slowly she inhaled, looked down the barrel and began a long controlled exhale. Just like target practice. She relaxed and let her finger squeeze, not jerk, the trigger. One of the women was in her sights. She focused on her. It was her job to take out any enemy women after all. She aimed for her. And shot the man holding Sebastian down with his foot square in the forehead.
Fuck. "Uuhhhgg!!" she growled, rolled her eyes and glared at the gun.
Yet another man came up beside her. Fury turned his face red and left his eyes vacant and crazed as he charged her. She jumped. A scream stuck in her throat and never made it out. She turned to run but wasn't fast enough. He was already on her. She wheeled to face him. He tackled her to the ground. She couldn't breathe. He pinned her bent right arm under his chest. They were face to face. For a moment she panicked and struggled. He started to lift off of her and then she realized that the barrel of her gun had been aimed at his chin the whole time. No thought was involved. As he lifted off her arm she shoved the barrel further into the hollow under his chin. She looked him in the eye and pulled the trigger.
Before she could even think about the fact that she had just killed for the first time she was already adding a second to the count.
She didn't like his tone. Never-the-less she half listened as the man prattled on about camps and prisoners and some scout or whomever. She glared at how delicately he addressed her assault. What a gentleman. She had half a mind to just leave him here to his own devices and start working out how she was going to survive and get home. It would be easy with her smarts. Even though she had never built a fire, or been on an island or cooked anything from scratch that didn't turn out repulsive. Even though she had no idea where she was. Even though the ocean stretched on for an indeterminable number of miles that way. And that way. And also that way. Then Sebastian started off down the beach. Leaving her alone.
Fine. Let him go. This is what she wanted. The girl wrung her hands nervously and watched the ground. She bit her lip. She had no idea where to even begin. Maybe if she had some of her tools. The tools that wouldn't even work here in the dead-zone. Those tools. She jumped when Sebastian yelled at her and clenched her fists in rage when he brought up the thought of rape again. How dare he? But, there was no denying it. She needed his help. With a deep breath she stood up straight and proud and marched forward, albeit with an utter lack of grace thanks to the sand under her feet, until she caught up with him.
"I'm not stupid," she informed him, "Just because we've found ourselves in a bad situation doesn't give you the right to be rude."
He didn't respond. She fumed.
It took her completely by surprise when Sebastian suddenly bolted for the treeline not long after. She followed of course but it took her a moment to see what was going on. A camp! By some miracle the camp he was going on about earlier actually existed. They probably had food and equipment. Maybe they could get them out of here. Then she saw the men with guns, and the cages, and the people inside those cages, and the women... Maybe they should just stay as far away from this camp as possible.
"We should go," she whispered and stood up to leave but Sebastian yanked her back down.
It felt like an eternity of waiting. She grew more nervous as they watched the camp. She hated seeing those people like that. Every time she saw one of those disgusting men touch one of the women they had taken captive, every time she heard begging or screaming or laughing, she cringed. She kept a close watch on Sebastian. That look in his eye, the way he was surveying what lay before them and the way he followed the guards was familiar to her. All at once she knew exactly what he planned on doing. No. He turned to her. No, no, no. As much as she wanted to survive this island this was not okay. There had to be other options. This was simply out of her league.
"Okay, but-- Alright that's-- I don't," was all she seemed to be able to get in as he explained the plan to her, "Yeah I'm a good shot, but--"
Because he wanted her to do the woman killing.
She was rendered speechless.
She was glad that he was glad that she was going along with this because she had no fucking idea she was going along with this.
May die. She gritted her teeth and looked up at him wide-eyed at the prospect of her death.
Then he was gone again. She was shaking. Either with rage or fear she couldn't be sure. Again she realized she didn't have to follow him. She could just leave him. Although with no back up going into that camp was just a fancy way of committing suicide. The girl frowned. Then followed him and stayed close. Idiot. As they neared she could feel her senses sharpening and her adrenaline pumping. Her measly eight weeks of mandatory combat training were coming back to her, however, and she was able to stay low and out of sight without much direction from Sebastian. She was doing well. Until he snapped a guard's neck and dropped the body in front of her. And then he took it a step further and killed his friend. Now she just felt sick. Sick, scared, barefoot, unprepared and armed: this was starting to sound like a recipe for disaster.
Fear gripped her and it must have been obvious because the normally rude man was trying to comfort her for a change. Trying at least. Then she realized. She'd never introduced herself. But he was gone. Damn it! How the shit could she have forgotten to tell him her name? Why the hell did he keep running off like that? What the fuck was wrong with her? What the fuck kind of gun was this? Damn everything. Why, this particular model of hand gun had been widely used by the military! About fifty fucking years ago and they stopped using the pieces of shit because they jammed if you even looked at them wrong. This sorry hunk of steel had probably been in water, it had probably been in sand, in had probably been shoved up some hussie-- No. Not going there. She stopped her mental fit of rage, sighed a long frustrated sigh and chambered a round. At least it was steel and not the stupid neo-magical-sooper-dooper-plastic-alloy garbage her colleagues kept pushing into development. Ballistics, energy, laser or plasma it didn't matter. Guns should be steel.
"Don't play any games with me you lousy piece of crap," she whispered to the gun. This would be just like target practice she told herself. Just like target practice.
Except it wasn't. She mostly stayed out of sight and let Sebastian have all the fun. Upon aiming the gun at one of the men she found herself unable to pull the trigger. Unreal amounts of pressure built upon her to do something. Action was needed here and now, but she just couldn't do it. She'd never killed anybody. During the commotion she mustered up the courage to fire a few shots off when she felt Sebastian really needed the cover. Not a single one of them hit. A good shot she had called herself.
Then shit really hit the fan. Sebastian was pinned. Two women on either side a brute on top of him. This is why she had come along she remembered. Thus far she had been useless. For fucks sake she still had sixteen rounds left. Sure this wasn't her stupid, reckless, idiotic, bull-headed... this wasn't her plan, but she still should have been more help. The girl's brow furrowed and her lips turned in a determined frown. Without him she wouldn't make it out of here alive. Without him she would be one of those prisoners. She had to survive. She had to fight to survive.
With all the chaos erupting around her she rose from her cover calmly and deliberately. Slowly she inhaled, looked down the barrel and began a long controlled exhale. Just like target practice. She relaxed and let her finger squeeze, not jerk, the trigger. One of the women was in her sights. She focused on her. It was her job to take out any enemy women after all. She aimed for her. And shot the man holding Sebastian down with his foot square in the forehead.
Fuck. "Uuhhhgg!!" she growled, rolled her eyes and glared at the gun.
Yet another man came up beside her. Fury turned his face red and left his eyes vacant and crazed as he charged her. She jumped. A scream stuck in her throat and never made it out. She turned to run but wasn't fast enough. He was already on her. She wheeled to face him. He tackled her to the ground. She couldn't breathe. He pinned her bent right arm under his chest. They were face to face. For a moment she panicked and struggled. He started to lift off of her and then she realized that the barrel of her gun had been aimed at his chin the whole time. No thought was involved. As he lifted off her arm she shoved the barrel further into the hollow under his chin. She looked him in the eye and pulled the trigger.
Before she could even think about the fact that she had just killed for the first time she was already adding a second to the count.
I'M THE BEST SCOUT IN ARCADIA, BITCHES.
I finally posted... a week late... I'm so ashamed. I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON GO READ THAT SHIT.
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