Tempest

Legend of Renalta 2: Reborn

Okay, maybe if it was a bow or crossbow, and you had a very precise ranged attacker you could use the strategy of shooting into melee. But even in the first mission we already had the instance of that backfiring as Ceann shot an ally (Rayvon) by accident in doing so. A blackpowder weapon has even less accuracy (incredibly less) and does far more damage. To try and shoot into combat with that would be liable to cripple an ally. THIS IS NOT ADVISABLE. So Raen. To have a cannoneer shoot ahead of the group with that before falling back in the midst of the party as the chargers charge forth is actually quite smart.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

Georgia Rhettland // Retrieval Team

Georgia takes a deep breath as she listens to their briefing. There was no emergency evac. They had to succeed in this. From the sounds of it, Eve was too important to let slip away. Too dangerous. The council would have their heads if they let her get away. She closes her eyes and shudders, hugging herself tighter as they approach closer to the drop zone. She just wished she had brought Thomas with her, but she had decided the battlezone was no place for him after the last time. She had almost lost him. Him and Carolyn both to that fog and the Goleyeith and it was probably luck that so many had even survived the mutants.

Her thoughts continue to drift, following along that path. In one of the other steel birds, Carolyn was bound towards another one of the zones. She would be out there today. Her face turns bitter as she holds her head in her face. She would be unable to keep an eye out for her today like she had promised she would. Carolyn would be out there today against who knows what and she would be unable to see her until after she resolved things with this Eve character... All the more reason to get this over with as fast as she could manage.

The heavy thudding of boots about the interior draws her attention. She blinks and opens her obsidian eyes, glancing about the helicopter as the door opens and the wind begins to whip about loose straps and hind. She swallows hard as she picks up something strand. She looks out over the battlezone and can feel something drawing her towards one building in particular. Smack-dab in the middle center of the hotspot. Where they were to drop. The mansion. “Eve is down there,” she says with absolute certainty, “In the mansion.”

One of the grunts overseeing their deployment pats her on the back before smirking and calling out over the ripping wind, “This is your stop, mutt!”

Georgia blinks at him in confuion, “What was that?” but the wind tears the words silently from her mouth.

He shakes his head and shoves her through the door into the open air, letting her freefall towards the ground. Terror seizes her as she sees the Earth rapidly rushing towards her. She had done this once before, yes, but it was still as terrifying as before... And she had a little more preparation than being thrown out from the plane. She begins to hyperventilate but the air felt too thin up this high. She begins to panic and fumbles for the cord at her chest to release the chute.

She tears at the string and it jerks her body back, slowing her descent. She whimpers at the impact to her small body but slowly relaxes into the harness. She closes her eyes and allows herself to think there as she drifts in the air before she decides, grabbing the straps and begins to angle her descent to go towards the mansion. Someone else's chute could already be seen drifting off from the mansion's top. It seemed a good start. She licks her lips and tries to control her fall, fighting the wind.

She lands to upon the mansion's roof with a soft thud, tucking her body in upon itself. Cut the cords or it'll drag you along. She grimaces as the wind begins to tug at the chute and drag her along the roof's rough, broken tiles, tearing up bites and pieces as her boots skid. She disconnects her harness and the parachute continues to go on without her. She sighs and shakes her head, looking up at Roman before nodding.

Now, ready yourself for anything. Where's your weapons, Mutt? Georgia frowns and checks her waist, her tomahawk was secure in its harness and further down at her thigh was her combat knife. She nods, and moves her hand up, shifting the strap on her assault rifle so it slung easier around her shoulder. Good, good. Check your ammo, Mutt. Make sure your gun is clear. Georgia nods to herself, going through her ritual, as she releases her ammo and checks that her clip was full before clearing her gun.

How long had it been since she had to do these checks on her own... At least since she was back on scout duty... She grimaces and almost feels the burning sting of the mutants claws along her arms once more at the memory before shrugging it off. She stands off and slings the weapon along her shoulder. You're forgetting it again, Mutt. You always forget. Comms. Put your damn comms in. She winces and taks out the earpiece to her radio, putting it in her ear as she clips the mic to her chest. She clicks the radio on as she patches through, “This is Rhettland speaking to Retrieval team. I've landed safely on the Mansion's roof. I'm going to advance ahead looking for a way in on the northern side... Looks like the mansion reaches a crest at the center, so I'll try the east-wing first.”

She could have sworn on her descent she had seen a balcony on that side, at least. It would give them an entrance into the mansion. Georgia starts on a jog towards the northern side of the mansion, careful of the slipping shingles beneath her feet. There was no cover up here, if there was anyone paying attention around that wanted them dead, they were as good as dead. She swallows at the thought and shakes her head. That was a bad thought.

As she reaches the edge, Georgia slips onto her belly before lowering herself down to land onto the balcony below. She lands with a loud crunch of shattering glass beneath her feet. She looks down to reveal she had landed upon an array of glass that had fallen out of the double-pane glass windows before her. She looks at the windows before. Some glass, though shattered, still clung futilely inside the shuttered doors. Even with the dust and grime clinging to them, she catches a faint glimpse of her reflection before she spies the latch through their surface. She reaches through and flips the latch and pushes the doors open with a rusted creak.

Brushing the glass aside so the others would not make the same noise she did coming down, she clicks on her radio once more, “This is Rhettland, I found a way into the mansion from the top. Careful coming down, there's a bit of broken glass.” She draws out her flashlight from her belt and fixes it to her assault rifle's base and flips it on, watching the LEDs flicker at her touch for a moment before flaring to life in the dim of the mansion before she takes a few steps deeper inside.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

Double post.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

The thing is, I dont think we need someone who can pack a punch with eve's group. Because we're good at evading combat. Too innocent to kill and the fact georgia can manipulate people away from them. Not to mention, once we have eve in our care as an ally, she has her own skillset that is devastating i'm sure. There was a reasoning i wanted the two listeners only. Because they wouldnt spook her. But alright. I guess we can try to work around this. Pray to god that they dont need you on the ground because thats where the swarming will be, not on the upper levels.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

@Retrieval Team: Just talked to Brovo a little bit and asked if I could get Georgia to parachute in on top of the mansion. Guess that's in the clear, so she'd be starting in on the fourth level of the mansion if she did that. I actually have a plan if I go through with that if you're all willing to hear me out on this...

Group splits up into two fronts...

First group: Georgia and Nathanial: Sweeping the mansion from up top and down for Eve. We're in charge of finding Eve and peacefully convincing her to come with us. We have diplomacy and traits stacked with us and the highest chances of not spooking her. We'll clear from the top and down and move from the mansion level four down to the ground to make our exit after finding and convincing Eve to come with us.

Second group: Defensive Line: This will be the rest of the team. They will deploy down to the ground as usual and set up a defensive line and make sure to keep anyone who slips through the cracks from coming after Eve or the rest of us. If they do, they'll radio in to us, give a position and direction, make sure we can either avoid them or have a fair enough warning that we can take them out. Basically try to make sure our exit route is secure so that we can make it to one of the other combat zones for evac once Eve is secure.

Legend of Renalta 2: Reborn

Rayvon Krayvitch // Liveria – Heaven's Haven

---

Rayvon curses under her breath as the scene bursts into a flurry of activity. Battle was upon them once more. Things were happening too fast at first to make sense. Mila was thrown back as her horse is felled by shrapnel just ahead. A brutal cry from a guttural throat above and to her right to kill them all calls out. Gabriel takes flight and passes judgment to slay the wicked orcs, drawing her attention to the band upon the cliff where Ceann must be. Already, one of their own was making action to charge the monstrous orc champion ahead of them that had burst from the coverage of the rocks in ambush.

She takes a deep breath as she watches the ally take off on horseback, already seeing that perhaps it was a folly idea. The orc had already taken out one horse by sheer accident, the orc towered above Elrbetrt even on horseback, she was allotting herself no room to correct her course, she would be cut down at this rate. She takes in the scene and begins to take charge, “Mila! Princess Helene! Use your magic to disable the orcish attacker before us, now! Whatever you can to give us the advantage! We cannot fight it by sheer force!” Even as she says this, she draws in whatever magical energies she can and struggles to will it into her armour. The energy congeals and bursts forth in radiant blinding light that would hopefully disorient any attackers focused upon her.

With that she draws the longsword at her waist, preferring the speed over the greatsword still strapped to her back in this situation as she moves forward, still calling out commands even as she senses the magical presence of Andrea building for something, “Elrithos, flank the beast, look for an opening, strike at his weak points!” She begins to break through the crowd as she approaches the beast, not at a break-neck speed as the one before had. If there was an opening, given by the attacking Elrbetrt, she would strike, if not, she would challenge and take the attention off of the woman to give her a chance to get back and recompose herself after the charge.

“Gabriel! Keep those orcs on the cliff busy! We can't afford them striking down on us from two fronts!”

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

Intermission // Georgia & Morai

---

As Georgia had returned to her shared apartment with Carolyn, she smelled something coming from the floor underneath her own. Following the trail she discovered it was coming from Morai's quarters, and his door was unlocked. Inside, there were several candles burning, and some incense as well, with Morai sitting in the center of the room, legs crossed, eyes closed, back straight, breathing slowly

Georgia watches him quietly, sniffing the air as she quietly shifts about the room and moves across the room. She finds a chair and moves to sit in it before clearing her throat and piping up, “Hey, you know, you've got something burning... It smells awful pretty, but mom always said if you're going to nap, always put everything out so nothing catches fire.”

Morai rolls his neck, hearing it crack a few times he opens his eyes and looks up at Georgia, his face remaining calm and serene. "It is in these moments that I am the most awake." He slowly stands up, motioning for Georgia to come in. "Would you like some tea?"

She tries to keep from wrinkling her nose at the offer but nods, knowing it would be impolite to refuse. “Ah, sure, Mister Morai. I could try some.” She furrows her brow, crooking her head to the side, “I don't get what you mean by most awake. Only time I can say I've felt like that is when you gave me that weird stuff during the mission.” She shudders remembering how it picked her up and had her going so much quicker. “Or when I ate a bunch of coffee beans. They upset my tummy, though.”

Slowly Morai grabs a tea kettle, and slower still, pours two small cups of tea with almost perfect precision in the amount. Setting the kettle down, he grabs both cups of tea and brings one to Georgia, holding it out for her without a single hint of a tremble in his body, which is strange as he had to be addicted to the combat drugs by now. "When I balance myself to the world as it is, and let mortal worries flow to the wind, I am at my most alert, most capable... I am one with my soul, and my soul is one with me in this brief moment of time." He sips his tea and smiles softly. "Green tea. It's hard to get anything other than this out here."

Georgia's gaze drifts over to the incense still smoking, obvious distrust of it being left unattended like that before she takes the tea and sips at it. She grimaces but takes another drink, nodding politely before settling it down, “It's, ah... good.” She coughs and offers a slight smile. She rubs her cheek, thinking about what he said before sighing, “I don't really understand the spiritual stuff you're talking about, Mr. Morai, I'm more of a science girl. Just like grampa, dad and Thomas. But if it helps you relax after everything we go through every time we touch soil, then maybe there's something to it.”

"Hmm..." He sips his tea again, sitting down on the floor at the center of the room again and crossing his legs. With a deep breath he pats the floor beside himself, inviting Georgia to sit with him. "Even those without belief can connect to their inner mind, and relinquish their mortal concerns. Meditation goes beyond spirituality, it is about finding something peaceful within yourself, and holding to it... Mine is my soul, and yours... Yours is whatever you find at the center of yourself."

Georgia moves to sit beside Morai and raises her brows, “I haven't looked recently, Mr. Morai, but I am pretty sure there's mushy stuff and gushy fluids.” She looks at him, “But this meditation, you really think it might help, huh?... And I might find something?” She ruffles her hair, “What if its something I don't like? People don't have much nice to say about people like me, you know. Think we're all crazy.” She hums and tries to fold her legs like his, setting her hands in her lap.

He grasps her hands and places them on her knees, then straightens her back. "It'll feel uncomfortable at first... And... If you do not like what you see... Hm... How to put this for someone that isn't spiritual..." He seems to ponder it for a moment, the small wrinkles around his eyes showing deep thought on this topic, though his eyes seemed quite clear. "Your inner mind, your... Soul, whether you believe in it or not, is like a garden, a large garden, with a river flowing through it. When you pay it no attention, the garden grows out of control, and one piece collides with another, one plant chokes another, it becomes festered and filthy with unattended thoughts, emotions, dreams... And the river dries, and so too does your peace, your serenity, your control over your emotions die with it. To see within yourself, to meditate, to clease your mind of all distractions and find that which is at the utmost core, you will see this... Mess... And slowly, by simply seeing it, you can clean it, clear it, remove the plants that choke others, restore serenity and see the river flow once more... And from that river, you can derive... Peace. Control. Discipline. No emotion can overwhelm the banks of the mightiest river." His eyes look her over, and he straightens out her back again. "Your inner mind, your heart, your soul... The core of your being, is from whence everything else that is you flows. When you know who you are at the center, the rest will follow, whether that is to change, or to preserve."

She finds herself already slumping again as she stares at Morai, gripping her knees lightly as she stares at him. “That doesn't make much sense, you know...” She frowns and cocks her head to the side. “But maybe it would do some good to figure out what makes me... me... One of the scientists thinks I'm going to keep changing. I heard one of them muttering... They went into another room. I couldn't help but listen in, with my... ah... talent... You know, some of them are worried, they think some of us might start resembling the shapeshifters.” She pauses and looks at the floor briefly, “If I keep mutating, would I still be myself if I do this? If I figure out this thing that's at my center?”

"... Hm... The scientists know nothing of the battlefield." He seemed to hold some of them in contempt as he stands up slowly and walks over to a nearby cabinet. Tapping on it four times with a certain pattern, Georgia could hear a click sound, followed up with the cabinet door opening. Inside was a safe, which Morai quickly opened. It was a rather large safe, about the size of half a refrigerator, and inside were several papers, and other objects. He briefly stares with admiration at a red star medal, then pulls out a small piece of paper and closes the safe and cabinet. He paces slowly back and forth in front of Georgia, tapping the paper as his eyes ran over its contents. "Shapeshifters have the mental capacity to learn and grow as any human does. They not only have the capacity to equal homo sapiens in intelligence, they have the capacity to circumvent and surpass it. The only thing that holds them back is their age." He lowers the paper and looks at Georgia. "Think about it. On the battlefield we have seen them adapt to the environment and yet also use it like any human does. We've seen them identify specific targets and display emotions. The mechanized batallion wasn't beaten by monsters, it was beaten by an intelligent adversary... And with intelligence comes the capacity for reason, for emotion... Even if you become one of these, you will still be who you are, especially if you have control over your core, your centre... Your heart, your soul, your mind--whatever you wish to call it. It is yours, and yours alone, and turning into another intelligent creature will not diminish this."

Georgia stares up at him with wonder, and just a bit of curiosity as to why he even had a paper like that. She stands up and throws her arms about him, hugging him tight, “Thanks, Mister Morai. I'll remember that.”

Morai hugs her gently, patting her upper back before returning to his safe to put the paper away. "Now, you know why there is incense burning, unless you wish to join me, I will return to my meditation.

She pauses before uncertainly taking up her position back on the floor and taking up the position he had shown her. “I... I think I'll try it, Mister Morai.” She nods. “It doesn't do any harm, and... maybe it does sound a little relaxing and peaceful, and everyone could use that.” She offers him a big grin.

Morai sits beside her, straightening his back and hers once again. "It is better for your posture." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "First, deep breathes in, slowly exhale... Purge your mind of unnecessary thought, and focus only on the smell of the incense, and the light of the candle in front of you."

She follows his instructions, finding herself slowly relaxing into the position he put her in. Her mind begins to drift and she finds her focus begin to blur, as if she was beginning to see the candle from a different angle. She blinks and draws herself back, cheeks flushing as she tries to draw a bit more restraint over herself, embarrassed by her small psychic slip there in her relaxed state and hoping he had not noticed.

Morai smiles a little. "Relax further and ignore distractions." While he hadn't noticed that she had infiltrated his mind for a moment, he had noticed her recoil from something. "Practice, try again... Breath in... Breath out..."

She offers a flicker of a smile before she refocuses upon the candle and attempts to clear her mind. The faint buzzing chatter of what she wanted to do that day, of concerns of what the next mission would bring, of fears of what the future might bring in general, of thoughts of the past that blurred together like a tangled web she couldn't ever quite pick apart aside from time she spent with Carolyn... She watches the flickering flame as her breath draws in and out painfully slow. Time slips away from her. And for a moment, she begins to see what Morai meant as she draws in the intoxicating smell of the incense.

"Now, envision a tree." Morai says softly as he opens his eyes and watches her facial expressions, looking for her emotional state. "A nice, large, chestnut tree, with green leaves, in a grassy field... With a light breeze... See yourself there."

For a moment, she closes her eyes and she tries to envision the tree. Her thoughts begin to drift to something someone had said to her once... That there once were a lot of trees all over... Before things went bad and we were left with the world we had now... She tries to remember who had told her about that and a face of someone who was much older than her drifts into her mind, of someone with wavy dark auburn hair that was like hers before it changed, though cut much shorter. She gasps and opens her eyes, and frowns, looking at Morai. “I uhh... Sorry...”

"Why? What did you see?" Morai asked with curiosity as he kneels in front of her, his wizened eyes continuing to scan her face for whatever information he could derive.

She frowns and looks at her feet, “I... ah... at first the tree, but... then my big brother... he used to talk about the old world a lot...”

Morai tilts his head and looks at her with sympathy. "Oh? What happened to him?"

She furrows her brow, thoughts conflicted for a moment. She opens her mouth, first thoughts to say he was in the apartment with Carolyn before she whimpers and shakes her head. Tears start to roll down her cheeks. She didn't want to think about this any longer.

"Ah. I see." He says as he lowers his head. "I am sorry." He sips his cup of tea once more. "Would you like to sit here a while? Try to calm? Gain control?"

She shakes her head, wiping her eyes on her sleeves, “N-no... I think I've bothered you enough for one day, Mr. Morai... And I should get back to Carolyn and Tho-” she falls silent, frowning. “To Carolyn, she worries a lot...”

"Oh?" Morai asks as he takes her cup of tea and brings it to his kitchen. "Then next time, think of your favourite place to spend time with Carolyn... And relax. We can work on the rest later." He motions to the door. "Take care."

She nods and offers a rough smile, “And maybe you can tell me all about your mystery box and that red star, Mr. Morai... If you want to. I know its rude to pry, though. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to notice that.”

"It is fine." Morai says sharply. He then motions her out. "Now shoo. Back to your sister."

Something twists in her stomach at hearing Morai call Carolyn her sister, “She's my friend. My best friend. We... We just live together, that's all...” She flushes after correcting him and nods before going out the door.

He watches her leave and perks his eyebrows up as he closes and locks the door behind her. "Oh my..."

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

You have no idea what you've wrought upon yourself, Oreo.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

Noooooo! You split up Georgia and Carolyn people!! Q.Q

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

intermission // Georgia & Carolyn

---

Georgia blows a bubble with the gum she had managed to barter from a patrol returning from outside Bunker Chicago. She blinks as the pink sugary sweet grows before her eyes before suddenly popping. She jumps, having startled herself with the volume and looks about the garage, wondering if anyone had even noticed. The trick was pretty neat, one of the grunts who had found the sugary sweets had shown her how to do it before saying if she wanted any she needed to trade for it... So far, it was worth the stack of comics. Sweets like these were rare enough as is, leave alone so much fun! -- She draws the sticky gums back into her mouth and starts to smack it as she moves further into the garage over to the familiar mech with duct tape and teddy bear marked on it with a sharpie. "Hey Cara? You here?" She raps on the mech lightly, hoping to draw her out if she was too far in the zone.

Slowly, the cockpit of the partially refurbished mech opens, only for the door to get stuck. A few kicks later, and the door opens with a pained whine. An oily, ruffled looking Carolyn pops out, her hair a ruffled mess and her jumpsuit's top zipped open, arms out of their sleeves, sleeveless t-shirt on underneath, sweat rolled down her arms and from her brow. It mist be an oven inside the cockpit. She blinks seeing the silver hair and smiles awkwardly. "Hey. What's up?"

Georgia smiles a tad and hops up to sit on the edge of the mech, holding out her arm to show a band-aide with a cartoon cat on it. "Back from the lab... They stuck me for tests..." She furrows her brow, looking at her toes and kicking her feet lightly. "Wouldn't let me take Thomas in with me for some of the tests. Like the one with the sticky-cups on my head." She makes suction pop noises as she motions to her head. She shrugs and leans in closer to Carolyn, blowing a big bubble right before her face to show off.

Carolyn giggles as as pokes the bubble and watches it pop in Georgia's face. "Aww. I haven't had this stuff in years. They call it gum right?" She says with a soft laugh, relieved to be out of the cockpit. She wipes the sweat from her brow and breathes heavily, having been working hard. "Tests? What for?"

Georgia rubs over her arm, "Changes..." She furrows her brow, trying to remember what they had said. "With my head. Mu... Mutations?" She shakes her head and pulls on her hair, showing the silvery white locks, a bit nervous before she releases it. Instead she runs her hands into her pockets and procures the packet of gum and offers it out to Carolyn. "I can do a few new tricks, I guess?"

Carolyn grabs a stick of gum and pops it into her mouth, chewing and grimacing slightly. "Oh these are old." Still, she keeps chewing anyway as she softly touches the silver hair, a spine tingling shudder going through her as she did. "What happened to your hair..."

She furrows her brow, lowering her gaze. "Same thing like with my eyes..." She bites her lip uncertainly, "Just another thing that makes me different... That makes them call me a freak or... Or a mutt." She wrinkles her nose at the term some of the grunts threw around. "I don't like it. I miss my hair... It was like... Like mom's... And Thomas'..."

There was a bit of happiness in her, noticing that Georgia was recognizing that Thomas the bear was not Thomas her brother, and yet, that was overwhelmed with sympathy as she frowns and draws Georgia into a warm embrace. "Ahh... I'm sorry they're bullying you again..." Then the both of them felt it as Carolyn brushed against Georgia's hair with her shoulder, a small shock of psychic energy like static which vanished as quickly as it came. "... Woah." Carolyn says as she blinks in surprise. "Um... Was that supposed to happen?"

She shudders and nods slowly, "A-ah... Yeah... I just felt... well..."She furrows her brow, wondering why Carolyn was feeling sympathy, but tries to ignore it as she raises her arms up to hug her as well. "Just a little shock, I think." She couldn't have accidentally read Carolyn from just that little contact...

"Heh..." After a few more moments of hugging, Carolyn snaps back and snaps her fingers. "Right! I forgot! I got something you will looove from R&D! Close your eyes." Carolyn says with a warm smile as she climbs back into the cockpit to grab something.

Georgia blinks before closing her eyes and raising her hands to cover them as well. She pauses for a moment, so tempted to peek through Carolyn's eyes that she fidgets and squirms in her spot and looses quiet whimpers. "Oh gosh, hurry, Cara. You know I can't handle surprises! The suspense is kiiiiilliiiing meeeee!~"

Just as it seemed the wait was going to kill her and time was going to stop, she hears a robotic bark. "Open your eyes!" Before her was the head and body of a robotic puppy, connected to a small battery. He barks again, his electronic eyes staring up at Georgia with happy emoticons. "Robopuppy!... Or what I've done so far." The legs were laying beside the body, disconnected from the form with dozens of wires and screws laying with them. "Isn't he adorable?!"

Georgia gasps and lets out a giddy squeal as she sees the robotic dog, "Oh my gosh! He is so cuuuuute!" She giggles and reaches out to pet the puppy. As her hand comes into contact with him, his LED displays show bits of static here and there. She smiles and looks up at Carolyn, "What's his name?"

"Ditzy." Carolyn says as she notices off-hand the sparks. "Touch him again." She says with curiosity.

"Why?" Georgia asks curiously, scratching under Ditzy's jowl like she would a real dog, looking at Carolyn. Even as she does so, his display fuzzes over again.

She points at Ditzy, resting her hand over Georgia's hand. "Look for yourself." Ditzy's bark sounded a little off, there was static in his voice.

She looks down and frowns, "Oh... Right." She wriggles her fingers beneath Carolyn's, a slight flicker of a smile passing over her lips, "I told you it was a shock earlier."

"Yeah..." Carolyn says as she tries to blow a bubble, and fails. "... How do you do that?"

She smiles and puckers her lips like she's about to give a kiss, "Like this, then you blow."

Peckering her own lips close to Georgia, she attempts to blow a bubble. The first couple of attempts fail until she adjusts her lips to just the right angle, then with one steady blow, a bubble finally comes out. Popping it herself, she smiles and leans back against her "new" mech, patting its leg with her hand. "This piece of junk is a lot of work." Ditzy barks again, causing her to roll her eyes as she rests her hands behind her head, happy to have air conditioning blowing by to cool down her exposed arms and face. "You too, Ditzy." He whimpers, only for Carolyn to frown with her eyes closed. "The good kind, Ditzy."

Georgia looks over Carolyn curiously, shifting closer and sprawling out beside her. "Hey Cara?..."

Yeah?" Carolyn replies as a couple pilots pass by, staring in awe for a moment before they move quickly away when Carolyn looks at them with a knowing smile.

"We'll still be friends even if I keep changing, right?... Even if... If I weren't human?" She looks at her face, watching for her reaction.

Carolyn seems to pause a moment. Not in thought, but in surprise. "Of course... You will always be my friend." Her hand reaches out and grasps Georgia's hand. "So long as you'd keep being my friend if I was horrible mutilated in combat."

She frowns and looks at Carolyn with shock-widened eyes upon hearing that “Cara, that won't happen! I won't let it happen...” She squeezes her hand tighter and gives her a serious look that looks out of place on her softly rounded face. “I... I'll keep you safe.”

Carolyn looks at Georgia eye to eye, breathing softly before she slowly reaches out and ruffles Georgia's hair. Again, Georgia felt a hint of warm emotions from Carolyn. “Don't worry...” There was a hint that Carolyn was uncertain. “I will be fine. I will...” Her hand leaves Georgia's hair, wringing out her wrists nervously. “Hey, could you help me?” She lifts up some duct tape. “the jumpsuit is too big, as usual. They still don't make them in womens' sizes, leave alone in someone with my shape.”

Georgia's eyes drift to the duct tape and instantly her face melts to glee, “Hand me the stick silver, my amigo!” She holds her hand out, a big goofy grin on her face as looks her over, sizing up where she would have to doctor up the suit... and do other adjustments just to make sure she was as spiffy as possible. No friend of hers was going to go about in some silly duck-suit unless it was the most impressive one out there.

Carolyn smiles and giggles as well, handing her the duct tape and then going silent momentarily as she spreads her arms and legs out to be taped at the joints. “So, Georgia... We have our own apartments now. I was wondering something...”

She draws out on the tape sharply, hearing the sudden crrrrriiiiip-ing sound of duct tape with a satisfied giggle before she starts to tape along her best friend's joints to give her a snug fit. She furrows her brow, patting the duct tape along her thighs to make sure the tape sticks before she looks up, “Uh, yeah... What were you thinking, Cara?”

She stretches out, bending her back and admiring how her clothing now fit her properly as she zips up her jumpsuit. “Would you move in with me? I don't like the idea of you living alone.... Neither does your mother.” She says softly.

Georgia toys with the roll of duct tape in her hand as she chews on her lip. “I... Yeah. I admit... It's been a bit lonely with just Thomas... And he's not very good company lately.” She lowers her voice, “Don't tell him that... He'll get grumpy and then he'll just be unbearable.”

“Ha... Unbearable...” Carolyn mutters quietly, obvious concern on her face as was usual when Georgia talked about Thomas. “Regardless... You should stay with someone. Why not me? It'll be like old times, the sleepovers, remember? With Ritz, my German Shepard, and your sparkly plugs. Only permanent so I can keep you close... So how about it? Stay with me?” Offering a handshake, Carolyn looked at Ditzy as he barked, completely unaware of the situation.

Georgia smiles a tad and takes her hand with both of hers. “I'm a big girl, Cara. Different, but a big girl. They send me out there just like they do you, don't they?” She shakes her head as she draws her into an embrace, “But I'd love to move in with my best friend... And I do miss our sleepovers.” She says the last bit with a blush and a slight ruffling of her hair.

“Aww you are so cute when you blush!” Carolyn says in a friendly way, before handing Georgia a wrench. “Now want to help me with my mech and Ditzy?” She says with a small grin.

Georgia rubs her cheek, trying to will the blush away as she grips the wrench, “Definitely!” She looks at the duct tape about her other wrist and holds it up, “Hey, do you think Ditzy needs stick silver too?”

“Maybe, but not right now I think.” Carolyn says with a soft, though almost remorseful smile. “Now come on, let me show you about the cockpit.”

She tries to hide her pout as she follows Carolyn, “Lead on, captain.”