Kwartz, in an uncharacteristic fashion, seemed relatively unnerved by the event, but only when he looked towards Serai and back out when Longshanks had left. There was alot that the man had expected but among the hazardous and equally terrifying capabilities, this was not one of them. A feeling unfamiliar to Kwartz seemed to boil underneath his being that cheek muscles on the right side of his face twitch momentarily. The realization of the scenario and its outcome all making sense and lining up in his brain at an unnatural speed. It was all contrived by that bastard. He was forced to get up out of his comfortable bed, into this battlefield by some primeval demon a$$~%*%.
The portions of his mind he had suppressed for most occurrences rose; there would be retribution. He could care less that multiple men and women were sacrificial lambs to the slaughter today. It was the fact they died with no purpose and thus wasted effort, the mistake being Longshanks included him in such. His eyes went to the still beating heart of Cancer as his irises stayed Jade. He wondered if the Demons would like surprises?
Truthfully, that s@!@ right there with Longshanks is why that a%@!+$@ is terrifying. At least you might have thought there Solace while dead, then he comes around speaking in Sierra's voice, fully manipulating it. The worse part is he KNOWS what he is doing is unnerving and that it is TERRIBLY effective.
This went by quickly in reality. Kwartz shrugged.
" Well, that's new. We know how we got misinformation now. That and Longshanks is quite the arrogant creature. Odd. It was as if he purposely showed us he could do so. "
Loki Kilo Three filed in after Serai, " Hey, Don't try and get around not paying for that Ice Cream.. My sweet tooth is insatiable. "
Audric shouldered his equipment and followed the rest inside. Still shaken up that he, an Occams, survived such a terrible event. That it was all a ruse by the Longshanks and it also explains why Cancer and Rattlejack were present. Treating us like lambs to slaughter... It was mortifying...
"I never said I would, you simply implied it on your own terms. While you did do good out there,..." she pauses thinking a momentime as if her mind had taken to a different thought. She checks her gun reloading it prior to shouldering it like the others, "now's not the time"
Internal conflicting thoughts race through her mind asending Serai remains silent. With a roll of her neck she successfully cracks it with a sigh, continuing forward following Owens.
Kwartz seemed disappointed, scratching his head wildly. The thinking didnt help either as the relatively relaxed individual sighed in frustration. " Haaaaaa, I swear, so difficult. And I was made to believe aggression was the better approach in these kinds of things. Nope, waste of time too. Can't even get a simple reward out of the FUBAR situation. I bet if November asked he would get Ice Cream. I shouldn't have gotten outta bed this morning. "
Kwartz would pause occasionally covering entry and exits as they moved, he never lost focus, but his mind was working on two tracks. " Then when is it a good time? "
Bob follows the others inside while covering the rear. Hoping Longshanks does not return and we can get the hell out of here.
The dropship arrives as Echo Two radios them in.
Nathan enters into the dropship last, lugging the heart of Cancer.
"What the hell is that?" asked the pilot.
"A heart." says Nathan.
"What?" says the pilot, "I don't want that thing in here bleeding all over the place."
"Shame." says Owens as he closes the drop door.
--------------------------------------
You arrive to a circus of activity. Owens and Echo Two are escorted away from you all immediately and Grandmaster Abraham leads you all into a holding room to await debriefing and questioning he tells you.
You stay there for at least two hours before Richard Langley busts in the door.
"Good news everyone! You've all been chosen for genetic experimentation! Yay!" says Langley as he waves his arms above his head.
"We're going to try to make you into "super" super soldiers. It's all very exciting."
"Aside from that scrap of good news, I'm afraid I also have some bad news, but with some more good news too!"
"Let's start with the good!"
"For starters, you Occams are getting your R14 three years ahead of schedule. Yayyyyyy."
"Also, we're guessing the chance this procedure kills you is only about 35ish percent, solid odds."
"And now for the bad news. Now that we've genetically modified you in a non standard way, none of the houses want you. Tough break."
"...So we're putting you in November."
"Owens has decided to take you on, out of the kindness of his heart I might add, and not, because, he hypothetically asked me to perform this modification on you and then put you in November. That would be rude."
"I'm also not acting without permission from the council and putting you in November so that in all likelihood you will die and cover up anything I'm doing, and if you happen to live then you get to serve as a prime example of the work I did when I show it off. Win-Win."
"Hypothetically. Of course."
Then Langley raises a gun that clearly has a syringe attached to it.
"You get some Cancer!" he screams out as he shoots Bob in the chest, "You get some Cancer!" as he moves to Mendez, who had started to run, "You get some Cancer! GOD I LOVE MY JOB!"
--------------------------------
The next thing you remember is waking up in the infirmary ward next to the other survivors.
Langley walks by and notices you all coming around, "OH good! You're all awake! The council was very disappointed to learn a crazed madman had burst into your holding room and shot you all."
"There's an investigation pending, you know. I hope they find that bastard who did this all to you."
"Fortunately, you've all healed exceptionally quickly, what a lucky coincidence!"
"I'll go get Abraham, he wanted to see you as soon as you woke. I'll be back soon, don't go anywhere!"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Everything was blurry and out of focus... No. Wait a minute, No it wasn't. Kwartz couldn't even make himself forget. It all went to s&@*. ALL OF IT. He had expected life from this point on to be nothing but cake and donuts, but he was sorely disappointed. Clearly in a past life he had stepped on a Badger's den by mistake, and when the mother Badger came out, pissed right in her eye. It was the only thing that could explain this bad luck.
Langley had rewarded them with a new experience. One only they likely would go through and it seemed he survived. They were experimented on and introduced to Black Company. Any prestige he was thinking of gaining and coasting on went down the toilet. The prospect leveraging that to approach desirables in open conversation to create a favorable outcome was dashed. Just his luck. Though, it wasn't all bad. At least he was alive for now and he wanted to use that heart anyway. Kwartz tested his hand grip and fingers. Seemed the same. Eventually leaning up into a sitting position.
The Now-Former Loki looked around the room, seeing who else might of recovered. He remembered Langley mentioning a percentage for failure immediately seeing if Audric and Serai might have been among the survivors. With a sigh and a double handed motion running them from his forehead and through his hair, Kwartz voiced his mind. " Well, This sucks. " ' Yup, I'm not allowed to have nice things '
Bob smiles while he waits in the holding room.
"We f@@#ing made it out alive. Amazing! I can't wait to get some sleep and relax after that s%$$."
A while later Langley bursts through the door. He seems excited and starts talking fast.
'Wait! What? Experimentation sounds deadly. The R14 early part is nice. Oh! Only 35 percent chance of death. F@#+! Now any change of survival is gone. November is cool and all but I am not looking forward to joining a suicide squad. F%#+!'
"Ow! F@%&! Here I was thinking I hated Cancer before." Bob says as he starts to drift out of consciousness.
..........
Bob slowly shakes his head trying to wake up. Laughing a little as he hears Langley's cover story. 'Doesn't sound to far off. Describes him pretty well. Bastard!'
Bob sits up and looks to see who else survived the process. Other beds are stirring but he can't see who they are yet. The only one he can tell for sure made it is one of the Loki's who is also sitting up.
Serai enters the room and sits awaiting the debriefing patiently replacing her ear buds back into her ears to drown out the noise around her. Shifting in her seat for comfort she dozed off, coming to only as Langley enters the room. Still groggy for the next few moments she quickly became aware as 'good news' was brought up. Hopeful, she removed her ear buds...
"You get some cancer!..." she watched as he made his way around the room, "You get some cancer!..." realizing she was next she looked up at Langley and nodded silently..."You get some canc-..."
Coming to once more only left her in more of a daze as her sense of time felt off. Looking about she noticed the others waking but instead laid there still for a moment longer staring up at the ceiling.
"You get come cancer!" Followed by a robotic WOOOOOOO noise from Audric's throat.
Awaking he finds his electrical voice box is causing him some discomfort. Taking it off he then mouths "s+!*." Except he didn't just mouth it. His own original voice rings out in the room. He looks around slowly to the others... "It works..." Insinuating cancer and his voice in one line.
Kwartz continued to cup his head, dulled eyes catching there being life in a few of the others before falling back, landing on the 'bed' arms splayed out. " I just wanted some Ice Cream. Was that too much to ask? I don't even look good in Black dammit. "
After about thirty minutes Langley returns with the large form of Abraham.
"You've all healed quickly, that's good." says Abraham.
"First, Langley has informed us of your decision to join Black Company as opposed to being reassigned."
"I can't say as I'm not against it, some green squads could use some gone to hell veterancy, but you all must have seen some things out there. I can understand that, wanting to be a part of November after those horrors."
"We'll get Nathan to come see you at some point before you're released."
"Now... Reports given to us by Echo Two and Owens are concerning."
"Firstly, the acquisition of Cancer's Heart, which Langley has been observing these past few days. This obviously is self evident. Estimations by Langley states that if Cancer isn't dead, a 7% probability that he is, that he will take several weeks if not months to return to full strength. Owens has even received an honorary position on the council for this."
"And secondly, the report that Priority Threat #1 was somehow able to emulate the voice of Skadi Sierra."
"The council has heard events as they unfolded for Owens and Echo Two. But we're interested in what happened over on the Loki Nest."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bob waits for his turn to speak.
"We started to clear the building. We fought through a lot of dogs as we made our way down. On our way he heard that Skadi Sierra had died. Skadi Bravo reported Longshanks arrival. We were ordered to retreat. Then somehow Rattlejack joined the party. This surprised me because we had heard from Skadi Echo he was 2 hours away. We lost most of our men by the time we made it to the ground floor. We saw a group of Titus under attack. We rushed forward and helped. Killing dogs and a scorpion. Unfortunately a lobber appeared from the adjacent building and surprised us all. Attacking the Titus with grenades. The acid caused a chain reaction that killed the entire group of Titus and the lobber. The Loki heard the explosion and rush down the side of the building and joined us. We made our way toward where we believed the extraction zone was. Not seeing it from the streets, the Loki's decided we would clear a building and go to the roof to get our bearings. Inside we found dogs and scavengers. We lost a few more Occams and one was to a freeze grenade trap. We made it to the roof and lost another man to a toad. We killed it and located the Longitus squad nearby. We went back to the streets and killed more dogs. All of a sudden we came across November standing in a courtyard and he gave us a sign to stop. Then Cancer burst from a building and attacked him. We shot Cancer and then ran towards evac zone. We finally made it and not long afterwards November appears carrying, what turns out to be, the heart of Cancer. The odd thing is all the dogs staying back and basically hissing at him but not attacking. Then we all hear a woman crying for help. Some saying it sounds like Skadi Sierra. Lonngshanks then shows up on the building next to us. We quickly notice the voice we are hearing is coming from him. November shoots at him and it starts laughing as it runs off. We finally make it back and then get shot in the holding room. Here we are."
Kwartz looked at the large dark man and raised his eyebrows, turning his body into a slightly more upright position.
" Well I must be pretty special. To be able to personally meet THREE of the Grandmasters. Master Abraham you are quite intimidating. Now let me see here and look at my Homework, apologize for the mess. "
Kwartz said sarcastically as he mimes out assembling scattered sheets of paper with writing on them, racking them into a organized pile and looking at them with satisfaction... in the air.
" Ah, see, here it is. Right here. I'll start from the top " he cleared his throat Dramatically before attempting the same level of enthusiasm as he was known for.
" Mission Started relatively stable. Lima and I assumed short and mid range responsibilities while Juliett Three handled Long range sniping. We attempted to relieve the teams of Occams and Titus of as many hostiles as possible. Lima killed four Mortemcursor; Juliett Three, A Mortemcursor and Loricatus; Myself two Mortemcursor. "
" Then complications arised as you know, Sierra was confirmed dead and Longshanks was on the prowl. At around the same time Rattlejack appeared relatively close to the building being used as the Loki's Nest and radiated sonic waves which disabled not only communications but also the rail platform systems. I advise you check on Skadi Echo as likely they have suffered a similar fate as Sierra. There was misinformation and in light of recent developments that makes the most sense. "
Kwartz made the motion of flipping a page and reorganizing it.
" Ah, now where was I? Ah Right. Suddenly Rattlejack. With our comms burnt out I luckily had a Hardline and took a Dog's Blade for back-up. Figuring out the last coordinates for evac, I lead the Loki to regroup with Occams Oscar Nine inside. We ran down the building to their last known location. Traveled down a few floors then a huge explosion shook the building. We elected to rush down the outside of the building to see what happened. Apparently a Titus squad was expired. "
Kwartz reach for a glass of water on a steel tray and took a few gulps. Talking was tiring.
" The Squad count of Occams Oscar Nine was seven at the time. Lima decided to take command and we went North. Occams Anthony had expired. We met up with November on route. Weapons platforms restarted once sufficient distance from Rattlejack; communications fried. November engaged Cancer with our party. Assuming his relative capabilities the Party continued onward. Reached a building at Local 192. Traversed the building finding remnants of Scavengers. Occams Lemon expired to Ice Grenade. Occams Johnstone expired to Heartbreaker-toting Scavenger female. Reached the top. Occams Pablo expired to Toad Loricatus. Lima killed three Mortemcursor; Juliett Three, A Mortemcursor; Myself two Mortemcursor; Occams Bob Quoor the Loricatus. "
" On the roof located evac site. Spotted Longitus Echo being pursued by Mortemcursor horde. Descended building with caution and moved to regroup with Longitus Echo at Evac. Attacked by offshoot of Mortemcursor. No casualties, Occams Mendez recommended honors for capability. Juliett Three killed two Mortemcursor; Myself four Mortemcursor; Occams Bob Quoor one Mortemcursor; Occams Mendez two Mortemcursor; Lima and Occams Audric assisted. "
Kwartz flipping through what you assume was three pages of imaginary paper before reaching the 'end'.
" Reached the Evac zone, November returning with still beating Cancer Heart. Contact with Longshanks made on nearby building. demonstration of learned speaking capabilities or mocking evolution. Longshanks rebuffed while still using Sierra's voice. Voice patterns used resembled screaming in pain and begging. Mission Ended. All members of Loki accounted for, 3 members of Occams Oscar Nine remained. Obvious Mission Failure. "
Kwartz looked back up at Langley and Abraham, " Oh, Then I got shot by some a$+!#%* bastard. Now Im here. So, Master Abraham, can you do me a favor? I think that I deserve Ice Cream and I had promised Fluer if we made it out alive I would buy her some; to celebrate. Can you authorize that get delivered over to here soon? I rather not look completely foolish after all of this. "
Kwartz made the plainest face imaginable at that.
Abraham nods his head, "This information is mostly corroborated by Echo Two. We will make note of Rattlejack's apparent capabilities."
"I'll report to the council and return if they have any more questions, in the meantime the council believes given the attack on you and the trap-like nature of the mission, there may in fact be someone within Jotunheim actively trying to cause our downfall. This would be unprecedented and it's why we're going to be assigning you, Richard, to try to locate this potential rogue operative."
Langley nods to Abraham, "I will be beyond thorough, Mr.Albright."
"As for your other request" says Abraham, "I'll see what I can do."
As Abraham leaves, Langley turns back to you all, "Did you all hear that?"
"I'm the inside man, assigned to find the inside man! I AM the f&*%ing law!" Langley laughs.
Kwartz placed a hand on his chin as he rested elbow on his knee. Looking to Langley with genuine respect at the audacity in which he spoke.
" Y'know I can't say you're wrong. You somehow got away with... whatever you just did. And we lived so I suppose it was a good gamble. What now though? All of us are here with, whatever combination of Cancer cells you made. Thanks for that by the way. I truthfully planned on doing something with it but mine involved eating. I wonder how that would have gone. "
Kwartz tilted his head, " I'm sure you are going to take painstaking efforts to 'find' the 'culprit'. That isnt really important. The thing is Doc, i don't feel any different. How are we supposed to know it worked or what should we really expect. Not really sure if Demon genes were meant to interact with human physiology. And how are we supposed to keep up training, as you said no one will want to have us anymore. And Nathan Owens, while a legend for sure can't really train anyone like me or Fluer. "
"All solid questions my young shovel-faced Novemberite."
"The answer you're seeking is; Who gives a damn!?!?!?!?"
"Did it work!? Maybe! Did it not? Who gives a damn!?!?!?"
"Do you require more training? One would assume not since you survived this whole ordeal. But, what if it was pure luck? Who gives a damn!?!?!?!?"
"What if you all melt and turn into demonic slushie goo in the next 24 hours?"
"Well, first I'd have to quarantine off this area, there would be some paperwork involved, I'd have to figure out what poison the inside man used on you when he shot you -- But really, who gives a damn!?!?!?!?"
"SCIENCE! Is for the bold!" Langley waves his hands about enthusiastically.
---------------------------------------
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He then comes and sits on Kwartz bed, "The reality of anything we do when it comes to something like this is we don't have the answers."
"I can't guarantee your safety, I can't guarantee this worked, I can't guarantee you won't all turn into little mini-cancers, let's hope not on that last one."
"But the reality is as much progress as we all like to pretend we're making, this is a long losing war, and unless something changes, we won't be here in another century."
"Cancer, Longshanks, even your standard Mortemcursor, they're all out there evolving right now. Maybe not in a way we can see, maybe not even in a way that has any meaningful effect until 20 years from now, but they're changing."
"We've hit a point where better weapons and armor are only going to do so much more. This little modification you've undergone is a hailmary of sorts. If it works, we've got something really tangible that we can utilize. Something to make the monsters afraid, they've been hunting us for so long, but what if we can hunt them?"
"We do what we do because the reality is your deaths, mine, they pale in comparison to what could one day be gained."
"We're not taking back s!+% as long as we're filling up 10 year old boys with adrenaline and aggression and handing them a pistol and a prayer."
Langley pats your leg, "Take some time to relax here in the infirm, the Hardline can leave nasty wounds when put in the chest, I'll sign your release tomorrow."
Audric spends the rest of the day making different pitches and tones with his voice, rather noisily...
When Langley leaves there is a bit of silence, well, at least from Kwartz, Audric was testing his old voice out. " Good to see you can talk like you again, I had to hold back the old Steven Hawking Jokes. " a smirk would crest the right side of his mouth.
Kwartz watches Audric for a whole hour before he gets bored and goes into a thinking fit. " That big man better keep his end of the bargain. This is all kinds of f!@#ed up. And dammit, Langley shot us in the chest... What a dick. "
The rest seemed solemn, which weirded him out. When he was in his own room, quiet and thinking was the norm. Out in the open however, it was much different, the whiteness of the room didn't make the situation any better. The situation was different, he knew that, but he wasnt looking forward to how much effort he'd have to put out from this point. He was looking to how this would effect him for better or worse.
So, taking on the same silence/contemplation as the rest, Kwartz grabbed the sheet from the bed, held on to one corner and proceeded to roll himself into a cocoon of blankets and sheets before leaping into the bed a slamming into the pillow to rest.
About an hour later a figure walks into view of you all carrying an enormous tray filled with various sorts of frozen items.
"Let it be known that this is the weirdest thing I've ever done." comes the voice of Nathan Owens behind the large tray.
"No one believes that for a second." comes an unfamiliar voice from behind Owens. As the large man comes into view he gives a small laugh and pats Owens on the back which nearly sends him crashing into the floor, and Owens visibly has to struggle to stay upright and not drop the tray he is carrying.
Seeing the man closer he is enormous, not like Abraham whose stature was that of pure muscle and bulk, impressive in its own right as it was.
But this man was not only an apparent slab of musculature but also you could tell his body belied a surprising amount of agility and speed as well.
It occurs to you that none of you have ever seen him before, though you are able to guess who he might be by the emblazoned "Shelly" on his right pectoral armor plate.
Accompanying the two men is a tiny blonde woman, her body a complete oddity to behold as her musculature appeared entirely unnatural. Smaller than Owens or Shelly by several magnitudes, you had no doubt that her lean body somehow had more strength than the two men combined.
As she was still donning white, there was little doubt who this was even to the Occams amongst the group.
The three arrive at the end of everyone's beds and they look around at you all, a mixture of amusement, curiosity and sadness on their faces.
Audric stands and salutes the three arrivals, but then quickly falls back to the bed woozy.
"Permission to rest sir?"
Kwartz had dozed off, finally in his comfort zone, when the door come flying open and the bombardment of voices entered the room. He rolled over in his caterpillar sheet cocoon, his eyes meeting the owners of said noise. He had mixed feelings, but the urge to eat was that much more powerful.
Summoning up the entire well of power blessed to him by the Lazy Gods, Kwartz inched his way to the end of the bed. Then using his mighty ingenuity, scrunched his body up to bring the legs over into a seating position and touched down wrapped feet to the tile. He even posed for a second as in triumph before returning to some strange wobbly posture as his eyes lay upon the frozen confectioneries before him.
However when he noticed there were more than the two voices he expected, the appearance of the other members filled him with dread a dark cast reflected in his expression when a certain feminine voice crested the crowd. His teacher and pretty much, Surrogate Devil, Em'fire.
He looked them in the eye and yawn before struggling somewhat to move an arm through the bindings to get at his prizes.
" So, can't lie, I didn't expect you to actually do it. As for a last meal situation this isn't too bad. OoooooUuuuh Sherbet! "
Kwartz finally reaching for the delight with the hand, eventually the other is free as well though noticeably the lower body is still tightly bound. To which Kwartz hopped slightly looking over all the selections. he avoids direct eye contact with Em'fire. he took on a semi-sarcastic/peppy voice.
" Well, you all look a little down? I'm ecstatic to introduce to you the new members of your November Suicide Squad! Making sure your death-prone missions get done right! Or We'll Die trying, Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back! If you weren't aware, I'm Kwartz, pleasure to meet you. Though I do have another request, do we have different shades of Black? "
His expression returning to normal, though a small hint of satisfaction happening when he began eating a few scoops.
" Hey, go ahead and have some.. I'm not completely an ass not to share. The only thing to make this moment complete is if Master Em'fire was is a Maid outfit. Something to ask in another life I suppose. Ahh Wow, Macadamia like I was saying the gunship, you remembered Owens. "
Reaching for the cone and licking it too. He especially didn't make contact with Em'fire at that remark.
Em'Fire covers the distance between herself and Kwartz's bed in a moment at the mention of her in a maid outfit and slaps him soundly across the face.
Several teeth are dislodged and make their way across the room and onto various other's bed and Kwartz' mouth wells with blood.
"Hey now, you promised you'd behave when we agreed to take you along." says Shelly as he reaches down and picks Em'Fire up by the waist with a single hand.
"Forgive Em", he continues "she's been on edge ever since the incident, you all probably don't know but our little spitfire here is forbidden from leaving Jotunheim until further notice and she's been cranky."
Kwartz feels aside from the pain of the damage inflicted by Em'Fire, his gums expand internally and begin to have teeth slowly reform inside the now loose sockets.
"Which is b!**++*!!" says Madison, "You know that Longshanks wouldn't use fear tactics against us unless he wanted to keep me and the rest of Skadi locked up."
"And you'll remember that Shelly and I agreed with you at the meeting, other council members disagree."
"Dont start that again!" Says Adam, "You remember the last time you started calling me Shelly?"
"Nathan broke your jaw?" Says Em'Fire.
"How did you know about that." Adam asks surprised.
"Albright told me" she says.
"What an ass."
"Don't worry about it.... Shelly." says Nathan.
"How did we ever end up with names like this anyways?" Adam asks.
"I asked Brautigan once", said Em'Fire, "He said he just let Rubric pick whatever it wanted."
"Wow. Of course."
"So there you go, don't be upset Shelly." Owen says.
"I'm serious!" Adam yells as he slams his foot down, cracking tiles.
You hear the distant voice of Langley call out, "You're fixing that!"
"F&!* you Richard!" Adam yells.
"Kiss my ass, Shelly!"
"I'll come over there!"
"I practically raised your scrawny chicken legged ass since you were born. Come on over here, and I'll beat you like the father you never had!"
"We're not taking Richard drinking tonight." Adam says flatly.
"Don't be that way." you hear Langley call back.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bob watches the newcomers with both fear and awe. Trying to think of what to say to them.
That is resolved quickly by a Loki, who is now known to be Kwartz. He starts talking and mentions Em'Fire in a maid outfit. Bob smiles at the mental image and tries his best not to laugh.
Then Em'Fire goes up to Kwartz, smacking him, and Bob see's some teeth fly through the air. At this Bob can't help it and starts laugh out loud. Knowing it is a bad idea.
Bob finally starts to quit laughing and hears something about not drinking tonight.
'Worst idea I've heard today. That includes Kawrtz bringing up Em'Fire in a maid outfits in her presence.'
Kwartz's neck turned along with the impact of the strike, the world blurring at the speed of which his perception changed. He saw some of his favorite teeth scatter and shatter against various surfaces, a pity considering his tendency to keep immaculate care of them. He grabbed upon the area, sucking in the blood and pain audibly. The worse part would come later as, much to his expectation, such a weaker wound seemed to be healing much faster considering it was not fatal.
With a bruised cheek but a relatively fine ego, Kwartz covered his mouth and had to enunciate particularly well in his injured state.
" One, Ooooooowwwwwwwwwww. Two, Master has soft hands. Three, did I mention that hurt... alot? Agghhh, Well you know what they say, Us Lokis have to be at least a bit masochistic. It just seems like Master Em'fire couldn't wait to reward me with her sweet embrace. Ohhh, this is gunna suck. "
Kwartz swallowed more blood, sucking on his cheeks. His eyesight went all around the group.
" Sssss aaahhh, okay. Now, you're saying that Master Em'fire doesn't get to leave so any missions will be blind. Great. And you are telling us this because we are special right? Well less so considering now I'm invalid. "
A low gurgled chuckle drones from the Former-Loki's throat.
" Y'know it's funny. I've always did just enough in her training so that I could succeed but never quite achieve exemplary performance. That way I didn't have to do much work but at the same time not suffer some horrible fate for being inadequate. That way I got to enjoy seeing her and suffering another harsh, painful, grueling experience time and time again. Master knows she's easy on the eyes and I'm not the most... endearing person. I'm doomed to be alone anyway so I didn't see the point of trying looking towards anyone else... save a certain select few.... or one. And that's not happening. Joke's on me though, I chose Black Company and I'll be damned if I don't die at least doing something worthwhile. "
He places another scoop of Sherbet into his mouth and winces from the cold touching his gums, " Y'know... the Salty blood doesn't make this half bad... "
Still laying there, Serai quietly listened as the transactions of conflict went on between, "mainly", the two. "Kwartz, just shut up and listen before she beats you further..." Serai interjects. Now sitting up taking full advantage of the bed and down time she looked to the others. "Forgive the rudeness of my interruption, I was hoping to be able to take full advantage of some peace and quiet free from the pouting before we have to return to the battlefield." She adds directing it towards her superiors this time. The soreness in her chest reminded her of her earlier days of training, momentarily a daydream she'd had before the outbreak.
Kwartz sighed, swallowing down the ice cream with delight and coughing fits. " It seems that milady tires of the presence of our esteemed guests. Whatever thy will be Princess. As to Mistress Em'fire I propose we reschedule our 'Master and Student Funtime' to a convenient day, in the evening at your place of choice? She really does need her rest. "
Kwartz said is a faux-proper voice. This immediately disintegrated, " Hey, if you are gunna be a killjoy you better eat some of this stuff I got us. I paid for it in teeth and pain. Grimm has died, at least commemorate his sacrifice. You aren't business all the time, stop trying to act like it. "
"we each have our own way of commemorating those fallen," She continues her usual cold dead stare in Kwartz's direction. "We lost many and gained little. We made it out with our lives and the will of the deceased to continue in their stead as more take their place. Only few I knew personally enough to know by name, or "a" name. We are programmed like machines with with underlining factor being that we are human with personalized will. That aside however, I simply wanted to use my down time effectively. On the battlefield it's survival, there is no time for me to think about anything else, there is no rest or we could die next."
She then gets up and retrieves her own desert. "thank you" returning to her bed she covers back up and quietly eats. She hadn't spoken this much in what felt like weeks, but were only days. "By the way Kwartz... "She motions a portion, then encircles the entirety of her face, "You have something, here." signifying his entire face in the process jokingly.
"Glad to see robo cop made it too" she adds in nodding at Audric.
"Honestly... i'm surprised any Occams survived..." Audric notes to Serai. He then grabs his own cream that is also ice and eats rather loudly, as if testing his vocal cords while they were cold.
Kwarz raises an eyebrow and if not for the mouth-pain would smile.. or at least smirk. " Well I guess you are right Fluer, but I'm working on it. I did the whole knight's romance b&&~@!++. It's your turn to pay for the meal next time. "
turning to Audric, " Hey, we made sure as many of you got out of there. Our Loki Support was top notch. Just imagine, Lima wanted to sacrifice more of you for some Ice grenade hunt. The few who died were either unlucky or caught unawares. Look at Mendez, he made it on skill alone, not luck. Lemon just drew a bad hand on the other end. "
Em'Fire visibly struggles against Adam as Kwartz talks about slacking off in her regime.
"Let me down Shelly!" she yells frustrated.
"I'm not a murderer." he responds back.
"Who's killing anyone? I just want to kick him for being a s!++." she says back.
"Yeah... I think your kicks kill people Em." says Owens.
"Richard!? What was Em's kick force on the last test you did?" asks Shelly.
"150,000 Newtons standing force."
"What is that in pound force though?" asks Shelly annoyed.
"Like 31,500. Ish." responds Langley.
"And what's it take to break a human neck?" asks Owens.
"For like a standard Occams? Like 1500 pound force."
"No kicking." says Shelly.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Kwartz sighs and sits down.
" Master Adam, I appreciate what you are doing. Master Em'fire has always hated me and for good reason. After I say this you can let her go. "
Kwartz breathed in deeply and sighed.
" Listen, this will likely be the last time we see each other so I'm gunna summon up the resolve I have to get this out. Y'know, without all the sarcasm. As of now, at least to her and as always, I've been Trash. Basically a big amount of potential that was wasted because I didn't apply myself. Why was someone like me able to make things so easily unlike Fluer instead? It would have fit her much better. But I didn't and chose to be lesser than what I was. "
" It was selfish, I know. I'll explain something however, I did it trying to be what you wanted, meeting expectations you set forward. But I knew I would never have the mindset and devotion you have as a person. I could have become a Skadi, sure but without the drive it would have ended in disaster. All I can offer is that I'm sorry I was such a big disappointment to you and now I'm lower than Trash and dead to rights. You always knew that. At least let me die the way I want to. To do something for us proactively.. And if I don't die after whatever hell they send me through, it will be from your teaching. So please don't make everyone's lives harder through training, it might just make more of me. or force us to have no Skadi at all. You don't want that. "
Kwartz closed his mouth and brought down his hand and looked to them.
Adam lowers Em'Fire slowly to the ground after Kwartz' words and she turns to Serai, "Private Fluer, take care of yourself on the field of battle. Do what Nathan tells you, when he tells you and hopefully you'll make it through."
"I am disappointed that you chose to leave my ranks, but I know that Owens is receiving a fine soldier. I hope you can help to erase the stigma behind his squadron."
Em'Fire turns to the remaining Occams, "I hope the same for you three as well. Occams don't survive what you all did easily, I'm sure you're among some of the best. Keep my girl safe, won't you?"
And with that she turns and heads for the exit.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The remaining masters looks to one another, and Shelly shrugs.
"Anyways, I know Occams don't get the luxury to train under a master like the rest of you all, but I wanted to come in and see you all personally."
"We heard the reports of what went on there, Owens was there himself. You're an impressive bunch, I hope to see more of you. Hear more of you."
"If anyone could use some soldiers of merit it's Nathan."
Shelly salutes the three Occams, "You can rest now by the way." he says to Audric.
"Oh also, I convinced Watanabe to upgrade your armory levels." he says to his Occams, "You've got the same clearance now as our Loki friends here."
The Shelly follows after Em'Fire, leaving Nathan alone with you all.
Of the distance you hear Langley, "The floor, Shelly!"
"Damn it Dick, later!"
Nathan looks amongst you all and takes a seat on a chair, "So.....?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Looking to Nathan, "I have a deep respect for Em'fire. Her advice has gotten me this far, and as such you have my all on the battlefield Sir". Being formal was basic instinct for Serai in most situations as training drilled it into your head over the years.
Kwartz starts fiddling with his lack of teeth that seemed to grow in painfully. " Soo .... what? I just found out this stuff really works. Got my teeth back almost. What's the plan bossman? While I wallow in my infinite shame, Em'fire just hates my guts. "
Nathan shrugs, "I wouldn't worry about it too much."
"Em may be a bit abrasive at times with her own, but she really loves all her children. Sometimes she just has a hard time showing it. Besides that, she found out some news today that I'm sure is weighing on her."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Anyways, Black Company isn't much of one for plans until we know what we're doing."
"..... "
"Richard told me, in not so many words what he did to you all. I can't say I'm not a little interested to see the results. Though I must warn you all to keep any changes that come from what you've undergone as under wraps as you can."
"The Council is very controlling when it comes to genetic engineering. If your operation was discovered there's no telling what might become of you."
"Other than that I don't have much to say. I want you all to take care of one another though. If I ever give any advice to anyone who joins Black Company it's this, treat your companions as family."
"Unfortunately, with the years of division between squads alone, let alone houses, this advice is pretty much universally ignored."
"I want you all to break that trend. I don't know your personal relationships before this point, but from now on, you're brothers and sisters true and true. Act like it, and I promise you can survive out there."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Kwartz gave Owens a nod, fiddling with him mouth as he sucked in the blood, draining it to make way for the new residents. He stuck a creamsicle in his mouth once his first two treats were done.
" Well, don't have to worry about that with us, While I might have seemed all that cruel, Audric, Serai and I were all from the same graduating squad. We were pretty chummy before all of the caste stuff hit too hard. Didn't hurt that some of our personalities hit it of pretty well. "
" I might have to object to the brother and sisters thing. I might be fine with some heavy mom-play but other faux-incest play is a little strange even for me. When it comes to having their back though? I'll do it every time. "
He lazed back leg waving up and down as he crossed his legs.
" I already complement Fluer's sniping prowess with faster reactions. While Audric seems capable of making sure a target is down. Mendez is fearless and a good shock trooper, Bob can switch between melee and close range. With Lima as a Lotus Expert, I have full confidence we will at least have half of us live. I fully expect to break Black Company's reputation Master Owens. It's just the opportunity to do so. I guess my evaluation of you on the dropship was spot on, if I didn't know better I would have thought that was a secret recruitment drive. "
"We hope to make you proud sir."
Bob looks Nathan in the eyes. "Sir, I can understand you having issues with the division between squads and houses. Problem is that, to do what we do, it is needed."
"Having a family is great. You put forth more effort to save them. We could possibly make it work for the other houses but not Occams. We die to fast to form serious bonds like that. It would be a distraction in the field. Which could get others killed or cripple them emotionally."
Bob stops to take a drink before continuing. "Of course we are trained not to be overly affected by such things but we are still human. ' Well mostly I think! Not so sure with Cancer running through us.' Us in your company can try to work on the cooperation as family aspect. It will be hard, if not impossible, to influence the rest of the squads and houses. We are in Black Company which is either hated or disregarded as the Suicide Squad."
"Sir, the only way to change this is as Loki Kwartz just said 'break Black Company's reputation'. This can only be done if we accomplish amazing things and live for a long time afterwards. Looks like I will still be doing what I was born to do. Everything in my power to keep others alive."
Bob then looks into the eyes of everyone in the room. "I will do my best to keep all of you alive and help to turn this war around."
Bob nods to everyone, takes another drink, and waits for what Owens has to say.
"I only ask you all give it an honest effort."
"I assume you will all be ready tomorrow to resume duty."
"I don't train those in Black Company, those who join me either no longer have the skills needed to acquire more, such as surviving Longitus, or are failed members of other houses."
"There is a concept that you only can learn from those who are better than you. This is mostly true, but there is also the saying that when your opponent or teacher is so far beyond your own talents you can't learn anything."
"Im not one to tour my own accolades at all, but suffice to say the latter is usually true of everyone under my command."
"Tomorrow we'll see if maybe I can't make myself a teacher."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Bob?..." Serai interrupts, "Occam or not we all are alive due to other people's sacrifices, and we all will continue to sacrifice. Occam or not, none of you were ever burdens and thus have my respect. We fight for survival together. Never assume I expect your life to be so frail and lesser than my own. We are a unit, I have your backs as much as you have mine."
"Of course, Sir."
Bob looks at Serai. "Fluer, right? I understand that and thank you. I appreciate the thought and respect. Yes we are fighting for survival together. Thing is we all have a place in this war. I know mine and have no problem with it. If it will not cost the lives of others or the mission, you would do what you can to save me. If it came between me and the mission or someone like Kwartz, you had better choose them! Their usefulness in the war effort far outstrip mine. Once the war ends hopefully this way of thinking can change. Until then we continue on as needed."
Kwartz kicks up his feet and mentions among the good talks, " I'm not that altruistic. I'm alot more practical, when Lima wanted to possibly sacrifice more of the Occams for Grenades I went against it because it was unnecessary. Survival was the key. I ain't going to purposely sabotage people to die but If I have to make a choice I will. But be happy that Master Emfire sees you all higher than me so, win-win? Nothing redeeming here. "
" Get Fluer and those select few back, Not die with ammo come back in serviceable piece. Repeat until dead. Bob, I don't really know you so no hard feelings if I don't get too attached at the beginning. I'll keep the Dogs off you good enough. "
He closed his eyes, " Let's see what the teach has in store for us later on. Probably will be a cake-walk in comparison. "
"don't misunderstand Bob, I always will stick to the mission. But as Kwartz said, unnecessary deaths and throwing that "place" card are various ways of looking at the situation at hand that I stray away from. Like a chess board we all have different values on the battlefield, but the pawns are just as valuable if used and positioned correctly..." finishing her portion of ice cream she looks to each of her new team, her face as cold as her treat. "I learned from someone, once upon a time, that by acknowledging the skill of others I can grow as an individual. For Occams, you were truly beneficial and essential to our survival. Know that if you die that it had better not be without a fight. You have already shown me your progress on the field and I no longer expect any less of any of you..." her glare shifts more towards Kwartz. "especially your lazy ass... we both know your potential exceeds expectation. We lost many lives this week, but I'd like to think we also retrieved a miracle and have room for a comeback to take as many in place of those fallen." Serai shifts for comfort in her bed. Letting this all seemingly sink in for a few moments before continuing she stretches from a seated position. "that aside, it is a pleasure to be serving with each of you." she ended with a tone she'd meant to be more appropriate given the speech she'd just concluded. Still being something she was far from good at she reclines, resting her head on her pillow still awake and listening for a time but also done with trying to overcompensate for her excruciating delivery of anything charismatic. Not being her forté really threw her, herself, off and before giving herself an aneurysm, she'd preserve further thoughts on the matter for another time.
Kwartz makes a handpuppet silently mimicking Fluer's words as she berates him for his work ethic.
" Yeah Yeah, I'll start trying. I tend to work better if there is a reward at the end. Just don't make it something that stops coming and you might get me to actually achieve something. "
"Your reward is not dying, that should be enough of a stepping stone to motivate you, after all... Being alive is the only way you get to have ice cream."
" Already passed that marker big guy. Going into this is a death sentence every time anyway. You should know that. I don't work that way. I need a focus or there's nothing. I didn't get this far on fighting spirit alone. " He hummed to himself.
" Something that'll make me rival Emfire. That'd be nice. "