Nato Greavesy

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Airstrip.

It took an incredible amount of effort for Juliana to refrain from making a 'free' joke about Skoll's mother. What held her back wasn't really respect for her comrade, but more a lack of knowledge regarding the familial and reproductive habits of his species. She didn't want to bother making a joke like that if it was just going to fall flat or blow up in her face.

That, and she didn't want to piss off the medic.

"Okay, at the risk of sounding like the first person to die in every horror movie ever, I think we should split up." Juliana announced, taking on a more serious tone. "We know the enemy are coming from two directions, and that this airstrip is their intended destination. If they saw us drop, they might try to circle around, and I don't want to lose out on a payday because some convict decided to get clever and sneak around us. We can't wait here and hope that they'll come straight to us. We need to head them off."

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Airstrip.

"I don't have the budget for better jokes." Banjo straightened into an upright position, arms hanging relaxed by its sides, for now. "Maybe if today goes well, that could change."

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Airstrip.

Dark. Cold. Quiet.

As she peered down into Banjo's cockpit, Juliana rolled her shoulders, flexed her fingers, and exhaled heavily, before clambering inside and pulling the ceiling hatch shut behind her. Her earlier nervousness swiftly succumbing to anticipation, she settled back in her seat, and strapped herself in.

"One minute to drop point."

Juliana powered up the reactor, and in an instant Banjo was transformed from a lifeless lump of metal into a living, breathing force of devastation. The darkness dissipated as lights and buttons and panels lit up throughout the cockpit. The cold was washed away by a mild warmth as the mech's systems began to charge. The quiet was shattered by the melodic thrumming of machinery eager to be unleashed.

"30 seconds."

She skimmed the readouts as her HUD came online. Everything seemed to be in working order. All of her fellow Tigers were registering on scanners, and all of her weapons were online. Ammunition counts were sufficient. Reactor temperature was normal. Heat distribution subsystems were all checking in as fully operational.

"10 seconds."

A small smile flitted across Juliana's face. This part, brief though it was, was one of her favourite parts about being a pilot. There was nothing more satisfying than being at the controls of a few dozen tonnes of mechanised murder machine as it dropped from the sky. In that moment of freefall, with the wind whipping past, the world rushing up to meet her, she felt untethered, indomitable, free and undefeatable. People looked up at the sight with wonder in their eyes. Allies saw hope. Enemies saw doom.

The moment was over in an abrupt, jarring instant, as Banjo slammed into the airstrip, legs bending to absorb the impact. Similar impacts rocked the landscape as her remaining companions landed around her. Juliana checked her display, making sure that nothing had been damaged or dislodged in the drop.

Once she was satisfied, she spoke into her mic, "This is Winters. Banjo is ready to tango. Nice of you all to drop in."

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

Juliana wasn't speciesist, but sometimes she truly wished there were some more humans on the team that she could hold a semi-normal conversation with. Her current crop of companions were a little too casual about killing, sometimes...

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

"I think you might be misunderstanding how war works, Skoll." Juliana teased, "When we shoot at people, they have a tendency to shoot back."

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

"People only become a recurring problem if you don't kill them properly the first time around."

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

"Ugh, I hate having to deal with this bureaucratic BS." Juliana grumbled, "Surely there are some actual, outright bad guys somewhere in this galaxy that we can go up against?"

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

No one else seemed too concerned. Maybe I'm overreacting... or maybe they're all immature. She already knew it was both. The carefree, unconcerned attitudes of the other pilots was what had drawn her to this unit in the first place... but there was such a thing as being too aloof.

Juliana had known more than a few people who'd lost their lives to their own blind loyalty and unwavering obedience. She didn't want to lose any more comrades - friends - in that way.

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

"I dunno..." Juliana finally forced herself to formulate an answer to Zyreq's earlier question, "I'm a little iffy about this mission, if I'm being honest." Her fingertips drummed against the barrel of her sidearm, "We've been hired to stop these mechs, we've flown all the way out here, but the boss still doesn't know whether we're meant to be trying to take these guys alive or kill them outright? And she agreed to completely forfeit our pay if the enemy get past some imaginary line?"

Juliana's mind always tended to wander down some dark paths in the minutes before a mission. Usually it was just nervousness, but this time... this time it really felt like she was missing something. "Why would a prison hire a mercenary outfit from off-world to deal with a breakout, instead of just calling in official backup from the cities?" Juliana knew what it felt like to be kept in the dark, to be used as an expendable pawn in someone else's shady game, and she couldn't shake the grim feeling that she and the rest of the Tigers were being thrust into such a situation.

Rise of Tigers - Stompy Mech Game

IC: Juliana Winters - Shuttle One.

"Oh. I... uh, I guess I was the fourth pilot to sign up? You can always just refer to me by my name. In fact, I would prefer that."