vietmyke

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

ECHO DOMAIN - PLATFORM #2884

The endoform looked down as the human member of the squad came over to rub off- *something* onto its carapace. The mechanical body made a low toned trill that was vaguely the equivalent to irritation or annoyance, or perhaps confusion.

"Query: Why? Elaboration: Unnecessary." The endoform intoned flatly as its covered panels popped out long enough for it to eject the glop all around it- a combination of compressed air and vibration to cleanse itself of the offending gunk.

The endoform and the attendant microforms began to sprint for the door that Alice and Salvator motioned. The microforms, small and fast were easily through the door first, clearing the way and securing the immediate area for the rest of its biological squad as the Endoform stormed up to the door. Noticing Salvator holding the door opened, the Endoform grabbed it with one massive hand.

"Request: Stand aside. Elaboration: This unit shall maintain door." Servos whirred and steel bent slightly as the large mechanoid held the door open long enough for the rest of the squad to sprint through before pushing it shut.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Galahad Caradoc

---

"Giving the assassin pictures of Isolde- are we assassinating her after all? Can't say I hate the idea." Galahad remarked as he watched the others around the dinner table. He shook his head before objections- or agreement was made, "Twas just a comment. In poor taste, admittedly, given the state of things."

Galahad sighed, setting his empty bowl aside as he considered their options. "I agree with Esben- I don't know if handing Cid over would be ideal. We defended Cid and tried to kill her not long ago, if we suddenly flipped on our decision so soon, I fear it would come off as more suspicious than anything."

He recalled the vague plan they'd discussed a few days ago. Split up into small teams to avoid notice, tasks assigned to the most suitable members. Though now with Cid in the picture, things changed. If he could sway Zacharias, that would make their task at least somewhat easier. Though that still left Isolde to contend with- Alambert remained a wildcard. Perhaps he'd be swayed by Cid, perhaps he'd remain a supporter of Isolde. Isolde was unlikely to be swayed, so they'd likely have to try to get to Alambert after Zacharias, preferably without causing alarm.

"I think the subtle approach is still the best idea. Get in quiet, establish a base of operations, gather information from there. We can try to sway Zacharias first, with Cid's help. Maybe Alambert afterwards. I fear Isolde may be a lost cause. If she so readily had wanted posters of us prepared, I doubt she'll be so willing to 'hear our side' out, so to speak. As Esben says, she may very well be under the thumb of Valheim, if not them directly, then via proxy."

Falling Skies

On the Ropes

Skogsrå, Gelcastre City Outskirts, LZ Delta_
101st Special Forces Legion. Local Time: 1240_

---

<<They're falling back!>> One of the Helldogs crackled over their comms as a combination of the Secutor's and Venator's direct assault, began to break the backs of the Coalition forces. Infantry abandoned their positions, and those too close to flee threw their hands up in surrender. The remaining MAS still put up a fight, but it was clear their hearts were no longer in it, as they began to fall back in order to reconsolidate their forces. The Helldogs surged forward to fill the gaps, though not reckless as one might expect of regular forces. Their advance was methodical and coordinated, calling out their positions to each other as well as Rhino as they advanced in tandem with the Secutor, forming a veritable wall of autocannon spewing death.

<<Left, fire left!>>

<<Copy, shifting fire!>>

<<Steady, keep in line with the Sec, don't overextend.>>
<<Fuck! I'm hit, falling back!>>

The comms were crackled and clipped, as return fire whizzed past and dented armor, one of the Helldog Sentries taking a direct hit to the torso, shaken but not out of the fight just yet. The damaged Helldog fell back behind Rhino, using the Secutor's bulk as cover as the Sentry fired over its shoulder.

<<Aww, boss you do care about us after all huh?>> Sabine cackled as Sparrowhawk hunkered down for a moment, HPK and laserfire strafing around her position. Pits of dust and concrete kicked up as the Watchdog scored a half dozen kills on various infantry positions still converging around Sabine, a dropped AT launcher flying high, giving her enough space to break out of the potential encirclement. The Sparrowhawk, while grounded for the time being, was still a zippy fighter, using its remaining thrusters to skate across the wrecked roads, as she approached Braide's position from an angle.

Sabine cocked an eyebrow as she examined the fight happening before them- two Skollrs and a third one not showing up on IFF. She snorted into her comms.

<<I recognize that ugly dome anywhere.>> Sabine snorted as she put a temporary IFF label on the unknown, pinging it as friendly. <<Rook, go be a knight in shining armor and pull Hex out of her little scrap- I can't wait to hang that over her head for the next week and a half.>> The pink haired menace cackled even as she leveled her rifle and began to take potshots at the Skollrs from a distance. Plasma beams flew over the Venator's shoulders as Sabine landed a quick pair of hits on the Skollr directly facing off with Hex, melting the barrel of its gun with the first shot, and blowing off its arm with the second.

The Sparrowhawk took into the sky- for only a moment as Sabine leaped for the roof of the nearest building to get a better angle on the fight.

---

Meanwhile, up in the sky. The Jaeger managed one last shot at the Shrike before it was too close. The Jaeger boosted backwards, releasing its grip on its rifle just in time for the Shrike's beam saber to cut through its space, sundering the weapon with an explosion. If the Jaeger pilot was panicked at all, it didn't show. A harsh voice growling over the comms in response.

<<Well met, Imperial dog.>>

The Jaeger strafed to the side, a panels on its shoulders, torso and head began to glow and flash rapidly as it drew its own beam saber. It strafed right, fast, then left again. The Shrike's optical sensors began to register not one, not two, but four Jaegers screaming towards him. The four Jaegers flickered as they surged towards Kilmer's right, blade back ready to thrust.

<<Goodbye, dog.>>

At the last moment, Kilmer's proximity sensor screamed that something was coming from directly left.

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

_______________________________........

Location · |@vietmyke] Location: Overpass, Wilds ____________________________________________________________________________. "I don't think I've ever been far out enough to see anything other than sand and desert" Jin remarked as he climbed out of the car, Sumire sliding into the driver seat as the Kyoshi idled. "I'm not used it not being so... bright." he admitted, hitting the button on his helmet to depolarize his faceplate. As Reman asked for binoculars, Jin banged a fist against one of the containers hanging off the side of the truck. "If I have anything, it'll be in there. No promises on whether or not its broken." "I remember the Lower Ring being a lot more cramped," Jin said to Feyi as he readied his own weapon, sliding the action just far enough back that he could see the rim of the cartridge currently seated in the breach before he pushed the bolt back forward. As he approached the wreck a bit closer, the jokes stopped as he readied himself for the possibility of a threat. He kept his distance, relatively, what was the point of a having a rifle if he was just going to rush right into danger? Jin glanced around at the others ready to investigate the wreck, cautiously waving them forward, using generalized hand motions to direct those not used to conflict. "Half circle, don't envelope it fully." His digitized voice hissed. No one here likely had military training- not that he really did either, but it was basic enough to know not to put yourself in front of a friendly barrel.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Galahad Caradoc

---

"Of course the flying metal dragon can also teleport." Galahad grumbled as he picked himself up off the ground. He had just enough time to steady himself as Esben sprinted by- barking commands. They made logical sense- the Adrammelech's armor was tough- but the explosive power of Elaine and Chisato's attacks had a chance of breaking through, if only they had an opening. So, an opening would be provided. Now that its wing was crippled, the dragon was stuck on the ground- so next was to cripple its mobility, arms and neck.

In a few short strides, and Galahad's calculations were complete. Ground cracked and sundered beneath his feet as he pushed himself off the earth and back into the air, leaping at 60 degree angle instead of straight up. He careened towards the Adrammelech like one of Eliane's bullets- if it was slower, and larger- the sharp angles of his armor cutting through the air as he jumped just past the Adrammelech's head. He spun midair, swinging his halberd with both hands as if he were trying to fell a tree with a woodaxe. This would probably end up hurting him more than the dragon- but that was not the main point of this swing. The axe head purposely flew past the Adrammelech's open maw, the steel of his haft catching in its jaw as Galahad climbed onto its head and pulled back on his halberd like a bit.

Using the Adrammelech's head like a surface, Galahad grit his teeth and pulled back with all his might, trying to rear the dragon's head all the way back, throwing his weight into it- for all it would do against such a large creature. He didn't need to snap its neck, just keep it back long enough for the others to land a strike. Thankfully his armor and Miina's protections combined would deaden at least some retaliatory lightning, should it be directed his way.

Falling Skies

Alive and Angry.

Skogsrå, Gelcastre City Outskirts, LZ Delta_
101st Special Forces Legion. Local Time: 1225_

---

Sabine's string of French profanity slowly drew to a close as she inevitably ran out of breath. The emergency of her cockpit flickered off as the rest of the Sparrowhawk's systems began to power on. Her machine was currently laying in the remains of an apartment building, if the ruined half of a mattress laying on top of the Sparrowhawk's optical sensor told her anything. Her eyes quickly scanned through the increasingly long list of readouts displaying exactly what was wrong with crashing her mech into a building. Sabine swiped through the readouts, filtering out anything except what would directly effect her during the immediate mission.

<<Turns out, crashing into an apartment is bad for your mech- who'da guessed?>> Sabine chirped across the squad frequency, <<Learn from my mistakes rook- no crashing into buildings. I think that smashing that fancy Venator would give your crew chief an aneurysm.>>

<<Everything looks mostly in order. Trans-shift gear still functional- miraculously, but the wingtips are damaged, so I won't be transforming anytime soon. Claymore rack 1 and 3 risk misfires, but mostly cosmetic otherwise and- huh?>>

Sabine's voice cut out from the comms as her screen lifted above her head, it took her a split second to hear the sounds of stomping boots around her cockpit, and the sound of someone attempting to splice into her system. With an almost insulted growl, Sabine grabbed the PDW a flashbang from beneath her seat and pressed the emergency open on her cockpit. The Sparrowhawk's chest cavity cracked open, and the squad comms heard a muffled bang, followed by a flurry of gunfire before Sabine slid back down into her seat.

<<Those capitalist fucks tried to board me!>> Sabine grumbled irritably. Almost as if reacting to inconvenience, the Sparrowhawk pulled itself out of the wreckage of the apartment building before firing its plasma rifle into it twice. The Sparrowhawk was semi-grounded, but back in the fight.

---

Hex, Braide and Rhino were making smooth work of the frontline, Helldog Sentries stomping to fill the gaps in their impromptu assault line as the Blackout provided long range fire as well as an orbital strike to soften things up. The Secutor was on a tear, doing exactly what it set out to do: garner attention. He certainly had it, the remaining Fenrirs on the battleline focused their fire, At least one firing off an AT launcher, and two more filling the air between them and the Secutor with their entire rack of Spiker missiles- totaling 28, trying to ablate and crack the Secutor's armor before finishing it off with a pair of Jackhammer missiles.

The Venator made smooth progress across the flanks, most of the enemy too distracted by the Secutor to realize soon enough that they were being flanked. Infantry scattered and dove for cover, AT weapons abandoned where they lay as the autocannon shredded with all the ferocity one would expect golfball sized depleted uranium buckshot to do. Though not everything was quite so smooth sailing- Braide's proximity alarm flared at the last moment as a Fenrir rose out from behind cover and dove at him, assault cannon on the ground, combat blade in hand, in attempt to cleave open his cockpit.

---

Sagan crashed into the center of the IFV's formation- initiating panic immediately, half tracked autocannons attempted to whirl on him- though in such close quarters, their tracking was sluggish at best, one of the IFV's even accidentally landing a shot into one of its own allies' wheels, as by surrounding himself with enemy, Vulture was more or less ensuring they couldn't open up on him without risking hitting one of their own. A few of the IFV doors opened, infantry scattering for cover as they fled from the massive mech, though a few others tried to shoot at him- for all the good that did. Rifle rounds pinged ineffectually off of the Watchdog's armor, and a 40mm grenade exploded, sending shrapnel scattering off the armor. A few more of the infantry tried to ready AT weapons, as a short distance away from the Watchdog, one of the Fenrir's he'd battered with SPAMRAAM missiles landed with an uneasy thud. It was missing an arm, and its head was broken open, revealing the sparking optical sensor, but somehow it was alive.

If the pilot inside was shouting something at Sagan, he couldn't hear, as it seemed like the communications gear on the Fenrir had also been fried. Single arm of not however, that didn't stop the Fenrir from drawing its combat blade and pointing it at the Watchdog in apparent challenge, before drawing the blade close and charging him.

---

The Shrike screamed into the air, leaving the wreckage of the sniper team behind in a burning heap of scrap and bad times. Kilmer was on the hunt. He didn't have to wait long. His sensors pinged a desperate warning- a split second later a brilliant column of energy streaked from the sky. His sensors pinged a second time- a second streak of energy coursing through the air faster than one could blink.

The sun made it hard to see- both via optical camera as well as sensors, but as the Shrike's sensors screamed at Kilmer for a third time, he found it. Masking its presence against the sun and firing down at them with near impunity. Dark wings splayed open like a reaper, or an angel of death.

<<Target detected. AATx-007 Jaeger.>>

Visual Scan Data

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Galahad Caradoc

---

The beasts were wrapped up in short order- an expected outcome, honestly. Especially with an Eidolon in the mix, it was really only a matter of time before the beasts were routed from this apparently holy place. The holy land of Ramuh was apparently rather simple, a grove with a clearing, with naught adorning it but a single stone in the center. Ascetic, perhaps. Izayoi was quick to grill Cid about what had happened and his true nature, his answers to which were... sensible enough, if somewhat annoying.

"I think it would've been quite a bit more convenient for us if you had told the Grovemasters about your extended lifespan- maybe a few decades earlier. Galahad remarked, but left well enough alone. Further discussion with Cid about what to do going forward might've have been the next logical step, but they were interrupted by the Eidolon of lightning, Ramuh himself. He vouched for Cid's truthfulness, which Galahad in particular didn't really question, what Galahad didn't- though perhaps should have expected was Ramuh's desire to test their mettle and worthiness.

"I don't suppose we have a say in this." Galahad remarked, even as the steelclad dragon arrived with a crash of lightning and thunder. "I suppose not."

Galahad rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, even as thundagas began to strike the battlefield at random. Well, at least this one looked like a dragon. That was something he was much more comfortable fighting. He glanced at his hands as he felt Miina's spell sink into them, he supposed the feeling he felt was 'insulated'. His dragoon armor was already faintly lightning resistant- but with Miina's spell as well, he felt fairly well protected from electricity. Rudolf rushed past them, engaging the foe from the front, leaving the flanks open for the rest of them.

They were as protected as they could be from electricity, and had a warrior holding the front for them. Now it was on the rest of the party to start dealing some damage. "Now! Hit it from the flanks!" he shouted. "Look for breaks in the armor- aim for vitals, neck, or limbs to cripple it!"

With a short sprint as a lead up, Galahad leaped into the air, his halberd flashing in the daylight as he spun it in his hand. Fighting dragons was literally what he was trained to do. He carried such a front heavy halberd for exactly foes like this. As he twisted in the air, Galahad found his first target- the joint where the wing met the back- and dove for it. His halberd flashed as he brought it down with as much strength as he could muster. Even if he couldn't sever the wing, if he could injure it enough, the creature would be effectively grounded.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Galahad Caradoc

---

The trip to Brightlam was proving to be almost as much of a hostile one as Osprey- Galahad had not anticipated there being truly so many blightbeasts out here in Drana Asaneu. It made their strict position on neutrality that much more baffling, really. Perhaps the Grovemasters weren't as capable of rule as he'd thought, though Galahad decided not to voice that line of thinking aloud, lest he encourage the others to insist on going forward on eliminating them. They'd been avoiding the major roads, using smaller backroads or just trekking through the rainforests themselves, trees so tall, that Galahad would've been hard pressed to reach the canopy with his leaps. Possible certainly, but not without the risk of cracking his skull or getting caught on a hidden tree branch- though he was sure that would entertain some of the folks in his midst. A smaller group might've been able to avoid detection on more well traveled paths, but their group was hardly small at this point, they couldn't just follow along the main roads, any passing patrol would easily detect their movements, so cutting their own path was required.

The fact that they had run into Cid, again, in the midst of all of this was nothing short of miraculous- especially when they'd been pondering whether or not they were lost just some hours before. But here he was, as was Ramuh, yet another Eidolon, though thankfully considerably less hostile towards them at least. Bolts of lightning cracked from the sky, making Galahad's own look like mere sparks in comparison, though comparing an Eidolon to materia wasn't even a comparison really. Luckily, the Eidolon's wrath was not directed towards them, rather the great sages, both of them, were in the middle of being beset by blightbeasts.

And so, the Kirins were once again called upon into action.

"Scatter them!" Galahad called out, leaping into the air, a relatively shorter hop than he was used to as he capitalized on beasts Rudolf had knocked back with gravity. Armored boots sent a lifted blightwolf crashing back into the ground as Galahad pushed off of it and landed onto the back of a great bear, a magnificent beast had it not been blighted. Raising his halberd up, Galahad reversed it in his grip as electricity crackled down the haft and into the blade before driving it down into the back of the bear's neck, wrenching the weapon upwards to take the beast's head off in a single stroke. At this point, this was more of the same for them- just a bit more beasts than usual was all. Or a lot more, but more blightbeasts didn't make dealing with them particularly different.

From his relative vantage from the top of the bear, Galahad brought his halberd down and around him in broad, sweeping strokes, expertly twisting the haft of his weapon around his torso as his heavy blade made short work of any beast it made contact with. One of the wolf shaped beasts leaped at him to tackle him off the bear corpse, its jaws latching onto the Wyrmfang only for Galahad to spin and flourish and throw the beast off.

"Why is it, Cid," Galahad called over the din of fighting, "That whenever we come across you, at least someone is fighting for their life?" Admittedly, Galahad was half joking, but he was, by that turn of phrase, half serious. "Blightbeasts hate you, the Grovemasters apparently aren't fond of you either- maybe Drana Asnaeu isn't the place to be?"

To be fair, that same statement also applied to them at the moment, and Galahad wasn't expecting a response either. His eyes scanned upwards as he saw Ramuh gather lightning to call down another bolt towards a pack of blightbeasts. Leaping into the air, Galahad swung his weapon as he felt, rather than saw the bolt of lightning crack past him, an arcing trail catching the glinting blade of his halberd as the rest of the bolt crashed down on a pack of beasts. The dragoon grimaced and grunted as he felt residual electricity dissipate across the blue scales of his armor- thank Etro his first dragon kill was a lightning dragon.

Galahad landed in the midst of the pack of blightbeasts scattered by the bolt, his own weapon crackling blue. The Wyrmfang's blade and spearpoint had gathered enough electricity that it looked like he was practically wielding a blade made of it. It wouldn't last forever, but his next swing would deliver Ramuh's bolt directly into the next beast he struck. Leaping back into the air, Galahad brought his weapon back, his eyes quickly scanning the clearing, seeking out a suitable target to deliver Ramuh's 'blessing' to.

Falling Skies

...Into the fire.

Skogsrå, Gelcastre City Outskirts, LZ Delta_
101st Special Forces Legion. Local Time: 1215_

---

<<Oh lucky me!>> Sabine remarked sarcastically enough that Kilmer could practically feel her eyes rolling from behind her polarized faceplate. <<I'll just say it now- just because one of us is a Communist doesn't mean I have to like sharing my toys.>>

Sabine's head pushed into her seat as the G forces began to take over, pushing the Sparrowhawk faster and faster as she began to seek out targets to cover the boys on the ground already. She'd barely had time to get herself into position when she heard Commie's voice crackling on the comm. She sighed, banking the Sparrowhawk's wing down and breaking into a sharp turn, a pair of sledgehammer missiles screaming after her. <<Breaking right.>> her reply automatic as she turned away from the LZ, dropping chaff and flares to intercept the missiles before turning back to take another pass at the LZ. <<Oh Kilmer, you sure know your way to a girl's heart, who told you I love flowers?>> Sabine's laugh soft and lifted as she observed the pair of blooming fireballs below them, taking the Sparrowhawk on a wide orbit around the LZ, observing the carnage below from on high.

While command may have chosen LZ Delta as the insertion point for the 101st, seeing as it would have relatively fewer defenders, making it easier for the 7th to break away and get started on their own tasks, it hardly meant the point was undefended. By this point, basically the entirety of the planet's surface had been configured into an anti-air emplacement, or at least, that's how it may have seemed from up above. The suburbs and side streets that made up LZ Delta hardly seemed as idyllic as it may have some days ago, as heavy machines and cannonfire ripped through wood and brick. Smoke and dust from exploding buildings, asphalt and dirt kicked up in a near constant haze, as UEE regular forces rallied around the elite squad.

Radio chatter garbled in a near indecipherable mess, the Venator's sensors picking up a half squadron of Sentries landing behind them, thrusters flaring. Each mech was painted with the bright red and orange stripes of the 111st Helldogs, the 5th fleet's premier assault unit- aside from them, of course. As close to elite as it got, while still being considered a 'regular' unit, each of these Sentries were equipped with a large, rigid backpack, which they quickly set down onto the ground after landing, turning the soccer field that they had landed into an impromptu staging area. The backpacks opened up with a mechanical hiss as a dozen marines climbed out of each, a pair of mortar sections, and a command unit, along with several teams of assault infantry. One of the marines made eye contact with the Venator's ocular sensor, and the man quickly snapped off a casual salute at the mech before grabbing the mic on the side of his helmet.

<<Appreciate the assist- we were getting chewed up, out there. Watch your step will ya? Don't wanna get lost underfoot.>>

Conversation was quickly cut short as the marines- along with their Sentry escorts, and the Secutor and Venator by proximity began taking return fire. An explosion ended the short run of a few marines as the rest rushed forward to occupy cover, and the Sentries took up the positions conveniently manned by Fenrirs a few short moments ago as Coalie forces began to push back against the advance that the 7th had built. Down on the ground, combat was considerably less 3 dimensional than fighting up in space, there was still up, but there was no more down to worry about, not to mention plenty of cover as squads of enemy infantry crouched behind burnt out cars for cover and an advancing pack of Fenrirs used the ruined remains of a few nearby houses as cover to fire at the 7th from as they began to counter their advance.

<<AT! AT! Look out!>> The same marine's voice crackled into the Venator's comms as Braide's warning sensors simultaneously tracked a pair of heat signatures exiting the 5th story of a nearby apartment building, streaking towards his flank. The rest of the building began to light up like a rave as muzzle flashes began to appear from several windows on the same floor, peppering the marines' position. The same apartment building rumbled as a Garmr dropped from the sky and landed on top of the building, its rifle and launchers traded out for a mech sized rocket launcher, using the vantage point to line up a shot at the Secutor's cockpit.

A blue-green beam of plasma streaked down from the sky, almost completely vertical as it pierced the Garmr's launcher, causing it to explode in its hand, shaking the foundations of the building and shrouding the roof in smoke and fire. A second and third beam punched through the smoke a moment later, coring the poor bastard as it ruptured a fuel line and exploded, taking the building's roof off with it.

<<You're welcome Rhino, buy me a beer after, 'kay?>> came Sabine's unprompted demands as the Sparrowhawk, now a bright pink, streaked past overhead, plasma rifle taking potshots at another pair of Garmr flying towards the Secutor and Venator to harry their advance. A blast of plasma clipped one of the Garmr's thrusters, causing it to flame out and crash to the ground- down, but not out just yet. The other Garmr broke off from the engagement and began evasive actions as another flight of Garmr broke from their previous engagements to chase after her.

In the burnt out husk of the second AA position, the Blackout had a clear vantage of the forces approaching the Secutor and Venator, as well as the Watchdog not far off. Some number of different units were converging on their location, totaling some dozen Fenrirs, 8 approaching the Venator and Secutor from the north, and 4 preparing an assault on the Watchdog from the northeast. They carried a mix of weapons, though mostly regular autocannons and AT launchers. Of note however were several of the support vehicles the Coalies had with them, a half dozen infantry fighting vehicles were advancing ahead of the Fenrirs, and a battery of mobile missile artillery- likely stuck a bit too close to the fighting for comfort- were in the final stages of reangling themselves some few miles away. Alongside with the artillery, Sköllr and Garmr were getting set up as well- the Garmr no doubt acting as a spotter as the Sköllr had traded its weapons for a heavy cannon emplacement.

<<Rabbit here, coming around for another pass. Commie, hurry up and get these guys off my->>

Sabine blinked as she saw a lock-on warning out of the corner of her eye, her hands barely throwing her mech into a dive as a blast of yellow energy arced past where her cockpit was at a split second earlier, streaking out from, apparently the sun. Just the heat wash from the near miss was enough to shatter her shields. The blast must've also possessed electromagnetic properties as the Sparrowhawk's systems shut off mid air, thrusters cutting out and mimetic paint disabling as the Sparrowhawk tumbled out of the sky. Suddenly surrounded by darkness, the idea of the Sparrowhawk becoming her coffin flashed through Sabine's mind at least once before her systems finally began to reboot themselves, her engines and sensors blinking to life just in time to watch herself crash into the remains of a burnt out apartment building. Warnings blared as airbags deployed. Despite the roughness of the impact, the angry stream of profanity- mostly french- broadcasting across the squad comms informed the rest of the 7th that Sabine was, unfortunately, still alive.

<<J'en ai ras de cul- Fucking garage à bites- Ta mère aurait dû t'avaler- Somebody fucking core that motherfucker! >>

ᵗʰᵉ Last Avatar.

_______________________________........

Location · |@vietmyke] Location: Tu Zin, West Gate ____________________________________________________________________________. Tu Zin was definitely larger than Jin had anticipated. He could've spent the entire week exploring, and still would've barely scratched the surface. At the very least they weren't unwelcome. It was hard for anyone to frown for too long when Sumire was chatting them up, and it turned out that being a technically minded and properly educated mechanic was quite useful out here in the Wilds. Not that the folks out in Tu Zin didn't do okay for themselves, but stopgaps and experience could only go so far without foundational knowledge to help out- and Jin, while not exactly used to the tech of Tu Zin, had both the foundations and experience to hit his stride easily enough. Sumire had more or less press-ganged Jin into becoming a handyman and mechanic, helping locals fix up whatever bits of machinery wasn't running quite right, in return for goodwill and beer. For all his grumbling, Jin didn't mind too much. It was strange being in a single place for so long, stranger still that it was safe place for people like him. In a city like Tu Zin, Jin could actually play around with his bending to do more than just lift a coin in the air without fear of being arrested and sent to who knows where. Add to it the fact that he was now unofficially unemployed- he'd not gotten in contact with, nor had he tried to reach out to contact Vyska and SynEn- Jin found himself with a surprising amount of free time on his hands. Time that he could use to really start exploring what his abilities that he'd hidden away for so long could do. That well of mysterious potential yielded only some faint results- apparently controlling air was harder than he expected to, especially without any sort of reference or teacher- the only they had even remotely similar to that were Chu Hua's firebending tapes- not exactly applicable to Jin, but he figured the basic fundamentals were probably the same. In lieu of proper education, Jin stuck to what felt 'natural', well, as natural as all of this was anyway. Between training and helping out, Jin actually found very little time to explore the city at his own leisure. At least working with people helped him check out some parts of the city- though there were still areas they as newcomers weren't allowed into, like the town hall. Not that Jin wanted to go check the town hall out anyway, he still hadn't forgotten their first meeting. Unye seemed fine enough a man, but something about his very large shadow Tenet felt off to him. Jin still hadn't forgotten the weird heebie jeebies he'd gotten when the man first walked in, and wasn't entirely keen on experiencing it again, and thus gave Unye and Tenet a fairly wide berth during the week. Keeping away didn't necessarily stop them from finding him, unfortunately. Rather, they found Sumire, who then found him, though not before volunteering him for an expedition to investigate some strange creatures in the nearby forest- with hopes that that would shine some insight on the case of the disappearing people. Jin of course, made a big show of grumbling, but agreed to go along anyway- he wouldn't let Sumire go off without him, nor did he trust her safety in the rickety rust buckets the people of Tu Zin called 'cars'. The Kyoshi, for all intents in purposes, was basically as good as new, save the booster, which Jin had disabled for the time being- the damage it would cause to the engine was a bit too extreme to be easily repaired out in Tu Zin, nor did they have the fuel for it anyway. Cleaned, patched up, and topped off, in no small part thanks to the generous amount of spare parts granted by Sumire cashing in the enormous amounts of goodwill she'd earned in just that week. ”Don't listen to her, Mire's a barnacle on my boat.” Jin retorted to Feyi as he heaved one last case of supplies onto the rack on top of his car and securing it all with cables, having conveniently missed all of Sumire and Feyi's previous conversation, save for her calling him an idiot. Sumire responded by sticking her tongue out at him. Somehow, Jin was in his element here, preparing for an expedition- it was not unlike what he was used to for work, though granted their vehicles and supplies were considerably lower tech than he was used to. His dust poncho billowed lightly in the wind, the high collar of his shirt hiding the snarky grin he shot the two women speaking below him. Settled against the hood of the Kyoshi was his rifle and a chunky heavy pistol- courtesy of Feyi and Tu Zin, as well as a pair of helmets, one red, its shattered faceplate replaced, one white, bunny ears repaired and whole. "Yo! Reman!" Jin drawled as he slid off the top of the Kyoshi, using a blast of air from his palms to slow his descent. "Packing always starts before dawn, otherwise we're wasting daylight." he replied, though not without Sumire elbowing him for his troubles. "You say that like you weren't sleeping on the bench while I was packing half of the cargo." Sumire whined. "Perks of having a passenger princess, I guess- besides, you had no trouble lending me out to every neighbor all week." Jin remarked, shooting a wry grin at Reman as they waited for the others. "Get settled Reman, we're still waiting on the others." "Funny. I sure don't feel like a princess..."