GAMA: Episode 2 "Last in Line" [IC] [OPEN]

[Razzgriz]

"Oh..." Rei said acknowledging John's answer of just being transferred from panama and she followed the young man's gaze as he tried to find the driver to refer to. Her tears started to dry the more she looked around carrying a 'dead' laptop to her chest and her eyes started to become a brighter shade of white to recover from the salty tears that streamed down her cheeks. When the young woman was still in high school she was not aware of people usually starting their conversations with a greeting and their name then she blinked a couple times looking at John's hand.

"My name's Rei" The young woman answered shaking the young man's hand with a gentle grip across the palm and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Rei..huh well that's a nice name." he said feeling relieved that she didn't leave him hanging on the handshake. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue and offered it to her. However he felt the moment was ruined a bit when he saw the crate responsible for his headaches. "So Rei what has you so down today?" he asked using his smile to hide the fact that he was debating with himself on if he really wanted to know. " Also do you know where i can get any medicine for these headaches I've been getting?"

[Qeno]

Rei..huh well that's a nice name. he said feeling relieved that she didn't leave him hanging on the handshake. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue and offered it to her. However he felt the moment was ruined a bit when he saw the crate responsible for his headaches. So Rei what has you so down today? he asked using his smile to hide the fact that he was debating with himself on if he really wanted to know. " Also do you know where i can get any medicine for these headaches I've been getting?

"My computer broke down after I disconnected it from my 'VALK' so I can't use both at least until I can recover the operating system and the data. Both machines kept me alive ever since I left my hometown to join GAMA and the trip from New Mexico to here" Rei explained then showed John the gaping hole on the bottom of her laptop to reveal the innards of the desiccated corpse completely fried with the exception of the one surviving hard drive. "I'm also new here, not even a month here and I am thinking of joining the Valkyries in their war against the walking dead" She added.

[Kassaran]

"Allison, you mean? She was just being a bitch is all, like usual." The girl shrugged, jumping into the car with a thud, stomach still empty with hunger as she left the restaurant, filled with people who either didn't want her there, or people whom she didn't know. At least Josh was familiar to her.

"Hey, wanna' head somewhere ourselves, I mean, we could hang out, or . . . Oh! Hey! We could go and see about upgrading my VALK?"

"Wha-?" Joshua's eyes widened at the sudden (and rather rude in his opinion) insult towards Fisher, sure she had left looking not too happy about whatever had happened, but he didn't see her as one to be irrational," I- I don't know about that, maybe she just really needed to get something? Well, anyways-"

He stopped and looked at his new passenger, the girl, Davenport, she had openly called one of her fellow teammates quite a dishonorable and inhumane word, but why? In the end they were all fighting to achieve the same end right? He continued," Umm, yeah, sure, we can talk about your VALK. I think I found a decent alternative to your already equipped cannons, I've got plans to update my own nineties into one-oh-five slingers. With the newest shipment of parts and supplies in from the Ah-yu-en-zee, we'll be able to upgrade most of the internal pieces with relatively no loss to our own given set of spares. On that note, I think we can do the same to your own VALK's main guns. However, your chassis is considerably smaller than the Cobra so we'd have to either go with a single cannon or a lot more external bracing and a new suspension for the weapons altogether. A hefty project mind you, but one that could easily be completed in the course of a few days with my crew and yours working on it. As for your own VALK's power-plants, if we're updating the weaponry, I'd generally suggest using rail-guns, but since the design I'm employing on my own VALK is for a two hundred ton behemoth, and not your own VALK, I'd be going with a slightly more compact hyper-coil barrel design to employ."

Shifting his position in the SUV to withdraw his data-pad from a pocket in his pants, he moved over next to Anna and began to run through all the different specs he'd been working on pertaining to the conversation and of course the subject at hand," As for close-in defense systems, I've discovered that a few thirty millimeter High Explosive Phosphorous rounds into a swarm of infected makes mincemeat of them quite nicely, and given that the Phosphorous cores would turn most body armor into slag at the ranges employed, we're talking you'd have the collateral be quite literally their burning bones firing off and penetrating multiple others around them. High density rounds however such as with Iridium cored slugs seen here," he pulled up the respective diagram, his fingers moving quickly across the holographic projection screen," would be much more effective on lower class infected and with much more precision, I'd recommend carrying a larger amount of these in your close-in protective systems in case we're having to cover some civvies or what-not."

Turning to the girl, his own eyes practically lit up with excitement over his own designs, he addressed her properly," so, what do you think of it all? I've got tons more in store, but most of it, unfortunately is mostly to be applied to my own VALK, but buddy-control systems might allow higher fire efficiency ratings in the field."

[Razzgriz]

"My computer broke down after I disconnected it from my 'VALK' so I can't use both at least until I can recover the operating system and the data. Both machines kept me alive ever since I left my hometown to join GAMA and the trip from New Mexico to here" Rei explained then showed John the gaping hole on the bottom of her laptop to reveal the innards of the desiccated corpse completely fried with the exception of the one surviving hard drive. "I'm also new here, not even a month here and I am thinking of joining the Valkyries in their war against the walking dead" She added.

John reverted his eyes back up at Rei taking a moment from looking at the computer as he acknowledged her goal and smiled. "Not even a month you say? Also I've never been to New Mexico, what is it like?" he said as he went back to studying the gaping hole in the computer. He then began digging around in his pocket for his wallet and pulled it out counting the money he had in it. " Also what do you plan to do about it now? If you are going to try and get it repaired or even get a new one i don't mind helping, it's the least i can do for my first friend here." he said regrettingly as one drop of sweat rushed across his forehead as he only counted 100 dollars hoping the price tag wouldn't be to high.

[Qeno]

"My computer broke down after I disconnected it from my 'VALK' so I can't use both at least until I can recover the operating system and the data. Both machines kept me alive ever since I left my hometown to join GAMA and the trip from New Mexico to here" Rei explained then showed John the gaping hole on the bottom of her laptop to reveal the innards of the desiccated corpse completely fried with the exception of the one surviving hard drive. "I'm also new here, not even a month here and I am thinking of joining the Valkyries in their war against the walking dead" She added.

John reverted his eyes back up at Rei taking a moment from looking at the computer as he acknowledged her goal and smiled. "Not even a month you say? Also I've never been to New Mexico, what is it like?" he said as he went back to studying the gaping hole in the computer. He then began digging around in his pocket for his wallet and pulled it out counting the money he had in it. " Also what do you plan to do about it now? If you are going to try and get it repaired or even get a new one i don't mind helping, it's the least i can do for my first friend here." he said regrettingly as one drop of sweat rushed across his forehead as he only counted 100 dollars hoping the price tag wouldn't be to high.

"It's a desert pretty much, It can get very hot during the day especially during the summer and it can get very cold at night. If I could go back home I would be able to get a better computer from my father's room but that's thousands of miles away from here but maybe I could get some of my friends to help me out too..." Rei said trying to figure out the odds of them picking up a functioning computer especially in a country filled to the brim of death at every corner.

Her thoughts were swirling around in her befuddled mind and she added "I would at least try to get it repaired then go to my friends if there is no other way. Regardless thank you for offering your help"

[The BranRiech]

Hearing Joshua go off on all the frantically relayed details almost made Anna's head hurt from all the terms being flung at her from every angle. She only picked up on a few things that he was saying, mostly on the buddy system, but still needed the details that she didn't pick up. With a calm motion, the young pilot took her hand and patted Joshua's shoulder. "Hey, c-could you maybe go over that a bit slower? I really didn't catch much of that, and what I did get wasn't that much."

She looked a bit ashamed, but also unamused.

[Razzgriz]

"It's a desert pretty much, It can get very hot during the day especially during the summer and it can get very cold at night. If I could go back home I would be able to get a better computer from my father's room but that's thousands of miles away from here but maybe I could get some of my friends to help me out too..." Rei said trying to figure out the odds of them picking up a functioning computer especially in a country filled to the brim of death at every corner.

Her thoughts were swirling around in her befuddled mind and she added "I would at least try to get it repaired then go to my friends if there is no other way. Regardless thank you for offering your help"

No problem, like I said its the least i can do. he stated letting out a light sigh of relief. Quickly putting up his wallet he took another look at the computer wondering how simply disconnecting the computer could damage it so badly. As he studied it more he could feel the price tag rising in the back of his mind t the point that he didn't want to think about it anymore. " Well if you plan on fixing it do you want to head to a repair shop now? Because if it makes you this sad not having it, its not wise to leave you or it in this shape? he said smiling again as he thought it comforted her. " By the way, you mentioned your father, is he the one who made this one? If so that's pretty cool." he added as he waited to see if she wanted to go or not.

[Qeno]

No problem, like I said its the least i can do. he stated letting out a light sigh of relief. Quickly putting up his wallet he took another look at the computer wondering how simply disconnecting the computer could damage it so badly. As he studied it more he could feel the price tag rising in the back of his mind t the point that he didn't want to think about it anymore. " Well if you plan on fixing it do you want to head to a repair shop now? Because if it makes you this sad not having it, its not wise to leave you or it in this shape? he said smiling again as he thought it comforted her. " By the way, you mentioned your father, is he the one who made this one? If so that's pretty cool." he added as he waited to see if she wanted to go or not.

"He did and I am surprised that such a computer could do so much especially when it's been helping me operate such a large machine. I want to at least get this laptop fixed so that I can move forward and possibly regain access to the operating system that made the 'magic' happen" Rei said as she followed John hopefully towards the repair shop. She was convinced that something happened beyond her own knowledge that kept the mobile bunker moving and fighting against VALKs that could easily tear it apart.

[Kassaran]

Hearing Joshua go off on all the frantically relayed details almost made Anna's head hurt from all the terms being flung at her from every angle. She only picked up on a few things that he was saying, mostly on the buddy system, but still needed the details that she didn't pick up. With a calm motion, the young pilot took her hand and patted Joshua's shoulder. "Hey, c-could you maybe go over that a bit slower? I really didn't catch much of that, and what I did get wasn't that much."

She looked a bit ashamed, but also unamused.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Joshua flushed red, slightly frustrated with himself for not considering his passenger, but speaking to the driver on the front he gave him the orders to the driver to take them back to the base and then turned back to talk to Anna further," right. Well, the first thing was guns. You don't have a lot of room for bigger guns on that little VALK of yours there, but I do think we could manage to fit a single stationary hundred and five millimeter cannon along the top central area of your VALK, kind of give it like a large... erm, horn? I'm not really too certain what it would be called, but fitting multiple bracing points along the spine of your VALK, as well as emergency release points would allow you to wield it in battle with two off-set ammunition racks. how does that sound?"

Giving a look out the window of the SUV as it sped back along the road out of town and towards the base, he smiled at the sight of the clouds overhead and remembered a day long lost to time, a day like this one, only, many years before, many years when he had been younger, and outside of GAMA. Back when his mother had still been alive and the threat of the infected hadn't been quite so imminently present.

[Xing]

Lorelei shifted her attention to her tablet momentarily as she checked the status of the other items that were on her to do list for the day. The VALK was finished with its construction, the revamped ANGEL was borderline finished, and when she brought up Gilbert's status it showed that he was in the motor pool. Undoubtedly going out for the night, which left her plenty of time to help Dr. Grossman.

"I think there's an opening in my schedule to assist you." Dr. Jarnefeldt replied as she turned off the tablet screen and looked up to her colleague. "Though given her condition, I think it's fair to say that this operation might take a while Dr. Grossman."

"Ah that it will but I think if we enter theatre at eight o'clock we'll be able to wrap up about three and it won't be fun but we'll be able to cycle some work now that there's two of us and my assistants aren't completely useless. As for the matter of recovery, well I think you’ll be very impressed with what my girl can take.
Oh God it just struck me I’ve not taken care of everything have I? Her parental report is coming up soon and I’ll have to break this gently before they get the raw facts. I do have time though if I get them tomorrow so that’s fine, sorry Lorelei got lost in thought there.”

Casually brushing off his musings on deception Grossman rolled back and forth on the sides of his feet and glancing about like an impatient child with a stupid grin.
“Sooo.” He said “Whatcha wanna do till then?”

"Well there are a couple more items that need to be attended to in order to finish my son's replacement VALK." Dr. Jarnefeldt shrugged. "Unfortunately Proteus felt it was necessary to not only destroy what was perhaps my best VALK, but try and take my son away from me. And I'm sure you and I both know that we just cant have that can we? But as far as what needs to be done, I've still got a few fine tuning adjustments to make on the VALK's interface and in order to pilot it Gilbert's gonna need some entirely new nanites to handle it. So pick your poison."

"I take that as a yes then?" Gregory said taking a seat. "I really need to learn to shut my damn mouth don't I?" Gregory ordered an apple snapps and a burger in his best German. "Entschuldigung Gilbert, ich..." he quickly realized he was still speaking German "Przepraszam Gilbert , I.... damn it, I can't even remember which language I'm suppose to be apologizing in. Sorry Gilbert, I just spent so much time around smartasses in my childhood I tend to forget not everyone's like that."

"Perfectly alright Greg. But yes feel free to join us." Gilbert answered. He looked over to Will who looked like he was entirely lost. Undoubtedly about Allison. Gilbert wanted to help him by going after her, but he couldn't just leave the restaurant right now. He had organized the whole trip. What kind of person leaves a party they decided to have? He crossed his arms as if he was thinking on what to do. On one hand, this was Allison, she's done stuff like this ever since he's known her. But on the other hand, Gilbert had promised Will that Allison would be coming with them.

Gilbert looked over to William as if to get his attention. As Gilbert stared straight at Will, he motioned with his head towards the door. It may mean that Will would be leaving the group, but that was up to him to decide which was more important.

[Vancon]

Now that Triela had returned back at base, she parked her new ride, a sleek, white, motorcycle next to her VALK, She went and looked for the commander. She had but a simple request, which was simply to ask if she could move her VALK around the hangar so that she could put her new bike into the storage compartment of her mech. It was mainly so that she would have an extra ride if she ran out of power or if her VALK took some serious damage, which was inevitable when someone enters GAMA.

After quite a bit of walking, she came to a stop outside the commander's door and asked permission to enter.

[Razzgriz]

No problem, like I said its the least i can do. he stated letting out a light sigh of relief. Quickly putting up his wallet he took another look at the computer wondering how simply disconnecting the computer could damage it so badly. As he studied it more he could feel the price tag rising in the back of his mind t the point that he didn't want to think about it anymore. " Well if you plan on fixing it do you want to head to a repair shop now? Because if it makes you this sad not having it, its not wise to leave you or it in this shape? he said smiling again as he thought it comforted her. " By the way, you mentioned your father, is he the one who made this one? If so that's pretty cool." he added as he waited to see if she wanted to go or not.

"He did and I am surprised that such a computer could do so much especially when it's been helping me operate such a large machine. I want to at least get this laptop fixed so that I can move forward and possibly regain access to the operating system that made the 'magic' happen" Rei said as she followed John hopefully towards the repair shop. She was convinced that something happened beyond her own knowledge that kept the mobile bunker moving and fighting against VALKs that could easily tear it apart.

When Rei started to follow him, he unconsciously took the lead as they waled down the hallway. It wasn't long before he finally came to his senses and realized he had no idea how to get to the repair shop or anywhere for that matter. " Sorry, I forgot i'm new here so if you know where the repair shop is, i will follow you. he said motioning his hand for her to take the lead." By the way, you said the computer's operating system made Magic right? Well I know not real magic, but what kind of magic did it create for you if you don't mind me asking? He said stretching and yawning as he waited for her to take the lead.

[Xing]

Kaya was just sliding more 7.62x51mm cartridges in to the magazine of the EBR seemingly unaware of Charlotte's activities. Further analysis would reveal a pair of wires sneaking out from underneath her ear muffs. It was her music player that she was listening to loudly, but not loud enough to impair her hearing. She slipped in the twentieth round, filling the magazine, and then proceeded to place it in to the Enhanced Battle Rifle. She cradled the rifle, wrapping her non-shooting arm to let the foregrip in a sniping stance to steady her rifle. She carefully squeezed the tripper, unloading the magazine on to a fresh target, in two extremely tight groupings that seemed like just two giant holes in the center of the head, and where the heart would be. She unloaded the magazine and set it on her table before setting the M14 EBR on the table as well.

When the girl had finished her second attempt at the target, Charlotte was a bit conflicted about it. While yes it did have similar grouping patterns and she was now going for the head, the problem was that she wasn't sure what the girl was going for in terms of her target practice. She had a decent placement... If she was fighting humans. But Valkyries were primarily supposed to be fighting the undead and the only way that Charlotte had found to be a tried and true way to kill them was by letting their brain out to breathe. With that in mind, putting rounds in to the target's chest only wastes valuable resources.

Charlotte felt that she couldn't let the girl continue to go on uneducated. She walked over to the cart that the girl had loaded all of her weapons on, grabbed a P226, and walked into the girl's range stanchion, quickly making the space feel a bit more cramped. With the push of a button she swapped the targets. She raised her right arm, took aim, and quickly but carefully unloaded the entire magazine into the target's head. The grouping was admittedly not quite as close as what was being done with the M14's, but that was to be expected from the smaller weapon and the rounds all still hit their mark in the target's head. She proudly popped the mag out of the pistol and it clattered down on the table in front of her. After a moment of silence, Charlotte cocked her head around to look at the girl still beside her with a combination of disappointment and smugness not unlike an older sister would look at her younger siblings when they messed up.

[Qeno]

When Rei started to follow him, he unconsciously took the lead as they waled down the hallway. It wasn't long before he finally came to his senses and realized he had no idea how to get to the repair shop or anywhere for that matter. " Sorry, I forgot i'm new here so if you know where the repair shop is, i will follow you. he said motioning his hand for her to take the lead." By the way, you said the computer's operating system made Magic right? Well I know not real magic, but what kind of magic did it create for you if you don't mind me asking? He said stretching and yawning as he waited for her to take the lead.

"It allowed me to operate my machine without getting a bad headache just by turning it on and it would store the data required to use the weapons mounted to the machine so that when I needed to use them I would be able to use the weapons." Rei explained as she started to take the lead but even she didn't know where the repair shop was and began to lead her partner on a giant circle through the middle of the base then towards the outer perimeter.

[Ulvenes]

When the girl had finished her second attempt at the target, Charlotte was a bit conflicted about it. While yes it did have similar grouping patterns and she was now going for the head, the problem was that she wasn't sure what the girl was going for in terms of her target practice. She had a decent placement... If she was fighting humans. But Valkyries were primarily supposed to be fighting the undead and the only way that Charlotte had found to be a tried and true way to kill them was by letting their brain out to breathe. With that in mind, putting rounds in to the target's chest only wastes valuable resources.

Charlotte felt that she couldn't let the girl continue to go on uneducated. She walked over to the cart that the girl had loaded all of her weapons on, grabbed a P226, and walked into the girl's range stanchion, quickly making the space feel a bit more cramped. With the push of a button she swapped the targets. She raised her right arm, took aim, and quickly but carefully unloaded the entire magazine into the target's head. The grouping was admittedly not quite as close as what was being done with the M14's, but that was to be expected from the smaller weapon and the rounds all still hit their mark in the target's head. She proudly popped the mag out of the pistol and it clattered down on the table in front of her. After a moment of silence, Charlotte cocked her head around to look at the girl still beside her with a combination of disappointment and smugness not unlike an older sister would look at her younger siblings when they messed up.

Kaya sighed as she was shoved off to the side only for the girl to take up one of her chosen weapons and fire in to a target that she was going to use. She simply leaned against the concrete pillar that acted as a divider between the stations. Kaya folded her arms and simply stared at the ground, waiting for the girl to be done. All was not lost however, as she still had her music. One by one she watched the 9mm bullets fall to the ground smoking, she enjoyed the ringing sound the brass made when it hit the ground and imagined it every time one did. Then she noticed the magazine fall to the ground, Finally.. She must be done now. Kaya thought to herself and pulled her ear muffs then hung them around her neck and looked at the girl, "What're you trying to prove? I'm just trying to get a feel for which weapon has a good feel to it." She demanded with an irritated tone in her voice.

[The Carlisle]

Will looked and stared at the door when Gil gestured to it. His mind was deep in thought. After a few seconds, Will looked back to Gil. He nodded to him, got up from his chair, and left the restaurant.

The streets were still busy with people going home or on the night out. Finding Allison wouldn't be easy. He had no idea where she would go. He figured a girl like Allison wouldn't want to hang about in crowd. No, she would go somewhere isolated and quiet. He guessed he would start there, searching all of the places away from all the commotion. Will started on his search, weaving through the crowd intent on finding her.

[The BranRiech]

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Joshua flushed red, slightly frustrated with himself for not considering his passenger, but speaking to the driver on the front he gave him the orders to the driver to take them back to the base and then turned back to talk to Anna further," right. Well, the first thing was guns. You don't have a lot of room for bigger guns on that little VALK of yours there, but I do think we could manage to fit a single stationary hundred and five millimeter cannon along the top central area of your VALK, kind of give it like a large... erm, horn? I'm not really too certain what it would be called, but fitting multiple bracing points along the spine of your VALK, as well as emergency release points would allow you to wield it in battle with two off-set ammunition racks. how does that sound?"

Giving a look out the window of the SUV as it sped back along the road out of town and towards the base, he smiled at the sight of the clouds overhead and remembered a day long lost to time, a day like this one, only, many years before, many years when he had been younger, and outside of GAMA. Back when his mother had still been alive and the threat of the infected hadn't been quite so imminently present.

Anna chuckled. Turning her VALK into a unicorn of sorts, except if the horn of a unicorn shot armor piercing shells that fucked shit up. Of course, unicorns would be alot more badass if they shot explosive shells that fucked shit up, but they didn't, and that sucked. Hell, they didn't even exist, or wouldn't until they put a giant gun on her VALK. "Mmm, well let's see, I've got the two arm-mounted lasers, which work, but not very well, then the two cannons on the shoulders that are good for dealing with infected, but not much in the way of dealing with other VALKs, so a large cannon right on the top seems ideal, unless there's something else that's better of course."

[Kassaran]

Anna chuckled. Turning her VALK into a unicorn of sorts, except if the horn of a unicorn shot armor piercing shells that fucked shit up. Of course, unicorns would be a lot more badass if they shot explosive shells that fucked shit up, but they didn't, and that sucked. Hell, they didn't even exist, or wouldn't until they put a giant gun on her VALK. "Mmm, well let's see, I've got the two arm-mounted lasers, which work, but not very well, then the two cannons on the shoulders that are good for dealing with infected, but not much in the way of dealing with other VALKs, so a large cannon right on the top seems ideal, unless there's something else that's better of course."

"Well, the arms on your VALK are moreover suited to simply being anti-infected tools. If we remove the lasers, then the power-plants for them can be re-purposed instead for making that little sucker much faster. It also might allow us to lighten the general load altogether." Joshua smiled and waited for the girl's response.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

"Ah that it will but I think if we enter theatre at eight o'clock we'll be able to wrap up about three and it won't be fun but we'll be able to cycle some work now that there's two of us and my assistants aren't completely useless. As for the matter of recovery, well I think you’ll be very impressed with what my girl can take.
Oh God it just struck me I’ve not taken care of everything have I? Her parental report is coming up soon and I’ll have to break this gently before they get the raw facts. I do have time though if I get them tomorrow so that’s fine, sorry Lorelei got lost in thought there.”

Casually brushing off his musings on deception Grossman rolled back and forth on the sides of his feet and glancing about like an impatient child with a stupid grin.
“Sooo.” He said “Whatcha wanna do till then?”

"Well there are a couple more items that need to be attended to in order to finish my son's replacement VALK." Dr. Jarnefeldt shrugged. "Unfortunately Proteus felt it was necessary to not only destroy what was perhaps my best VALK, but try and take my son away from me. And I'm sure you and I both know that we just cant have that can we? But as far as what needs to be done, I've still got a few fine tuning adjustments to make on the VALK's interface and in order to pilot it Gilbert's gonna need some entirely new nanites to handle it. So pick your poison."

"I take that as a yes then?" Gregory said taking a seat. "I really need to learn to shut my damn mouth don't I?" Gregory ordered an apple snapps and a burger in his best German. "Entschuldigung Gilbert, ich..." he quickly realized he was still speaking German "Przepraszam Gilbert , I.... damn it, I can't even remember which language I'm suppose to be apologizing in. Sorry Gilbert, I just spent so much time around smartasses in my childhood I tend to forget not everyone's like that."

"Perfectly alright Greg. But yes feel free to join us." Gilbert answered. He looked over to Will who looked like he was entirely lost. Undoubtedly about Allison. Gilbert wanted to help him by going after her, but he couldn't just leave the restaurant right now. He had organized the whole trip. What kind of person leaves a party they decided to have? He crossed his arms as if he was thinking on what to do. On one hand, this was Allison, she's done stuff like this ever since he's known her. But on the other hand, Gilbert had promised Will that Allison would be coming with them.

Gilbert looked over to William as if to get his attention. As Gilbert stared straight at Will, he motioned with his head towards the door. It may mean that Will would be leaving the group, but that was up to him to decide which was more important.

"Thanks Gilbert." Gregory said "Say why did you guys have all those empty chairs. I mean your party was originally only 5 people and you had eight chairs. I know for a fact you guys didn't talk to me about this little excursion so you couldn't have been waiting for us. So why did you have three....empty......." He suddenly remembered Allison showing him the sets of dog tags. "Wait...three empty chairs with Allison that makes four, or the size of your average combat team-we are a bunch of idiots" he said looking at the table.

[The BranRiech]

"Well, the arms on your VALK are moreover suited to simply being anti-infected tools. If we remove the lasers, then the power-plants for them can be re-purposed instead for making that little sucker much faster. It also might allow us to lighten the general load altogether." Joshua smiled and waited for the girl's response.

"You're like a redneck talking trucks." Anna giggled, listening as Josh rambled on. She had the experience in school a lot, hearing the rednecks sitting in the parking lot after school, yammering on about engines this, or HEMI that, whatever that even meant. "Mmm, now how about this? We remove one of the lasers, maybe place a melee weapon on the arm we take the laser off of, and then we still save a lot of power for something else, either speed, or another heavy weapon."

Anna shrugged, and looked off into the distance, watching the passing landscape.

[Monfrox]

Allison's feet carried her along a lightly tread, yet familiar path. There was a part of town that rarely anyone ever came, and no one lived near. A secluded place where people rested eternally. Their souls had moved on, all but one. One restless, darkened soul. That soul belonged to one who had endured much hardship in her time. Perhaps enough to last the rest of her life. She was still young, and yet was aged by the things she'd done and seen. She was the only one there at this particular moment. She held her bouquets as she walked on until she came to a section dedicated to those who lost their lives in the line of duty. She stood in the middle, looking at three headstones. Slowly, she took her dog tags off and held them in her hand as she laid a bouquet at each grave. "I'm sorry I'm late...I should've worn something nicer..." She said aloud to no one.

Allison knelt down and studied the names engraved on the stones. She lowered her head in silence that surrounded her as she held a fist, wrapped with the chain of the dog tags, to her forehead and closed her eyes...


OCTOBER 20TH, 2074
1656 HOURS
MAMAYEV KURGAN, VOLGOGRAD
EASTERN EUROPE DARK SECTOR, RUSSIAN RED ZONE
OPERATION BLACK EYE
STANDBY SUPPORT UNIT "TEAM OUTLAW"

The area was eerily silent in it's evening. Volgograd had become a massive hive on infected when the world went to shit, and it was no surprise who's job it was to help clean up. However, assigned to the Cleanup Crew, was a support unit made up of 4 VALKs. Rumors were circulating that there were attacks recently on GAMA forces during clean up operations, from some new "religious nut-job cult" as they put it. So far, those attacks were few and far between in the recent years, and were mainly hit and run instances. They said that they were there one minute, gone the next. Though, these attacks rarely produced even a slightly worrying number of casualties. Many lived to tell about their close shaves with their new adversaries.

The entirety of Eastern Europe, from along the borders of countries like Belarus, Serbia, and Romania, had gone completely dark and was teeming with infected. The European Union did not condone the use of nuclear missiles on it's own soil like the United States had, and as a result the region became strong in infected numbers. The UN, which was based out of the only stable country in the hemisphere, had issued a grand campaign to GAMA. It's goal was to eradicate the infected in the Eastern parts and push them back for some breathing room and to buy time to come up with a better way to deal with infected. The first of these Operations went along smoothly, and the borders of infected territory were slowly being pushed back without much hassle. Now, it was moved into Russia, and the campaign was coming to a close.

"This is Outlaw 1. All Outlaws, radio check."

"Outlaw 2, radio check."

"Outlaw 3, radio check!"

"Outlaw 4, radio check."

"Team Outlaw, radios check out. Begin the operation."

The 4 VALKs stood center to about 30 others. It was a mish-mash of units from earlier in the campaign, and looked more like a ragtag band of machines just wandering through to try and find a friendly base. These other VALKs were lightly armed, though. Geared more towards killing infected without causing too much collateral damage; they carried a 25mm GAU-12/U Equalizer cannon and a 40mm L/60 Bofors gun. Both were heavily modified to fit into a more conventional housing which allowed the VALKs to carry them like rifles on their arms. However, they were squirt guns compared to the 90mm and 100mm machine guns that the Outlaws were armed with. Still, this was the first time any GAMA forces had pushed this far into Russia. Everything beyond was new territory.

"Hey, Weaver? When ya gonna pop the question to Ally?" A high-pitched voice broke Team Outlaw's radio silence.

"All in due time, Julie." A male voice replied.

"Aw c'mon! Hey, did you pop anything else with Ally yet?" The tone turned mischievous, and a certain someone was glad they didn't have a video feed for communication.

"What?! No! No. I did not do anything like that." The male took an immediate defensive tone, earning a giggle from the other girl.

"Are you suuuuuuure?" She asked.

"Will you two knock it off?! We are in the middle of a mission here. God, you two are tangling up the whole comm system." A third cut in.

"You're no fun, Mandy." Julie said back.

"But she is right." Allison said, smiling to herself as she was glad the others couldn't see her bright red cheeks. "Now let's get back in the game."

"Yes, Sergeant Fisher." Julie replied.

Allison giggled to herself as she went. Juliet Hunter was always the comic relief of the team. Bright and spunky, she always had something to say about something. Her blonde hair was always cut short, and she was also the shortest of the team under the only boy. Juliet was their hard-hitting support, geared more towards fast movements and recovery. She was the pillar of morale for the 4 of them, and always had a smile on her face.

Their sniper was quite the opposite. Amanda Buster was the team sniper, with her VALK designed to be able to be locked down for more accurate shooting. Her main weapon was a 75mm long rifle with shells designed to pierce heavy armor. She was always an iffy girl, and only slightly taller than Juliet, which was about the only thing she had up on her. She was always short-tempered and easily irritated, though that was usually part of her tough girl act.

Then, there was the standard all-rounded assault. A sort of Jack-of-all-trades VALK that could easily fill in either position, but not be specifically assigned to it, piloted by a young man named Charles Weaver. Charles, or Char as Allison liked to call him, was the only boy of the team of four. While most would kill to be in that situation, Charles was having a difficult time and found himself to be the group's voice of reason whenever things got heated. It was no secret that he and Allison were an item. Both spent so much time with each other that people said they were attached at the hip. Wherever Allison went, Charles was sure to be with her. The two lovebirds were quite enjoying of each others company, as Charles could always make Allison smile whenever he wanted.

Allison Fisher herself was in her own VALK that was built more for support artillery while still maintaining it's basic ability to fight in close quarters by allowing it to perform wicked kicks. It's dual 240mm cannons could reach out and punch through armor at distances that their rifles couldn't, and could hit targets behind cover. It was also able to stabilize itself for continuous and accurate firing, but she hated using that position. Her other teammates poked fun at her calling it the "Doggy Style". Still, they didn't complain about it's advantages. She was also equipped with an experimental beam rifle that GAMA had been working on

The 4 had been idling, as they were not assigned to engage and eliminate the infected. Their mission was to provide the Cleanup Crew with added fire support should these "cultist wack-jobs" show up to harass them again like they've been doing in India, Japan, Africa, and the Pacific. The job was going well. The Cleanup Crew was making headway as they waited for the more massive hordes to try to rush in before putting them through the meat grinder they made with their gatling cannons. "A cake walk" as one of the pilots put it.

"Hey, Lessner! Get a load of this waste of ammo!" One of the pilots said as he spun his 25 up and aimed it at a small grouping of infected. The cannon rotated to being firing, but the sound of a shot rang out from somewhere else. A round punched through the VALK's cockpit. It fell onto it's back and lay motionless.

"Dawson? Dawson?!" The other pilot tried to reach his comrade, but he too was shot through the cockpit. Precise shots rang out from the East.

"Support Unit! We are under heavy fire and are taking casualties! Requesting assistance, over!" A frantic commander said over the comm link.

"That's us, Outlaws! Mandy, see if you can flush them out. Char, Julie, you're with me. Engage on sight."

"Roger that, Sarn't!" They replied as the team moved out.

It seemed very straight-forward. Hunter-killer. Amanda made her shots and radioed the positions of the enemy VALK sniper that moved, allowing Allison and Char to take them out. The enemy snipers were eliminated within minutes.

"Looks like you got 'em all!" Julie said, excited about their victory.

"Don't start celebrating yet. Something tells me that they aren't done yet." Char replied.

"What makes you say that?"

"They deployed snipers and directly targeted the Cleanup Crew. This isn't like the other hit and run attacks. They were waiting for us. More than likely they have their own support units."

"So what do we do?"

"I got this." Allison said. "Cleanup Crew, this is Outlaw Actual. Snipers are no longer a factor but we believe that this isn't over. Consolidate your forces and fall back. As of right now, your objective is on hold until we've cleared the area, over."

"Roger that. We'll pull back until you-" The radio transmission cut to static mid-sentence.

"Say again?" Allison asked.

The commander's voice was usurped by a shocked subordinate's exclamation. "The LT's been hit! They're everywhere!"

"What?"

Char turned back. "They used their snipers as bait to lure us away from the Cleanup Crew. Cheeky bastards! Come on, we've got to move!"

Team Outlaw doubled back to cover the other squad as Amanda repositioned her VALK. "I count fifteen, maybe sixteen hostiles. They're hounding our guys. You need to get down there now!"

"Roger that, Mandy. Target the enemy and take them out. Julie, get in their face. Char, you take the left flank. I'll take the right. Let's go! Diamond formation!"

"Right! Here I come~!" Juliet announced as she drew a 90mm bullpup machinegun and opened fire at the enemy VALK ranks at close range. She went about her business of jumping up to avoid fire and then landing on top of her opponent to fire down at the others.

Allison and Char split and went to the sides where they saw the Proteus VALKs raining hellfire on the Cleanup Crew, who's low caliber weapons were not enough to punch through their armor effectively. They engaged them and took them off guard for the first few kills before they adjusted their fire. The team was working well as Amanda sat back at the middle point and picked off lone targets. It wasn't until about halfway through that she started getting low on ammunition.

"Ally, I'm running low on ammo. Switching tactics." Mandy said as she moved up.

Off in the distance, she was unaware of a new enemy that had snuck up. "Command, we seem to have a situation. The enemy has support units and they're destroying our forces." The pilot of the enemy VALK said.

"Eliminate them. Purge the heretics that resist us, and then the ones that kill our converted."

"Yes, command." The pilot said.

Amanda ran her VALK forward to catch up with her comrades. "Ally, I only have a few shots left. We're going to have to wrap this up soon if we're gonna-" She was interrupted when a 180mm shell took out her VALK's leg. "Agh, dammit! I'm hit!"

Allison turned around. "Amanda, what's your situation?"

"My leg's fucked up! I can't move!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!"

Allison retreated to see to Amanda. As she came into view of her friend, she watched another 180mm strike through the side of the torso. The result caused the VALK to explode.

Allison's VALK stood there as she sat in her cockpit, dumbfounded. "M-Mandy?" She asked, hoping that she'd get a response. The husk of her comrades VALK did not move, nor did any reply come to Allison.

"Ally! Get back here! We can't hold them off without you!" Char shouted as he continued to engage.

Allison didn't want to, but she knew the mission came before personal feelings. She turned around and met up with her team. "Gimme a sitrep, Char!" She said, her voice lightly laced with anguish.

"We're running low on ammo, but not targets. They're still targeting the Cleanup Crew, and we can't push them off. The acting commander of the Cleanup Crew radioed for emergency extraction, but they said it's going to take them about five minutes to get here."

"Jesus H. Christ, where are they sending them out from; Ramstein? Nothing takes five minutes!"

"Apparently, yes. Until then we've got to hold them off and-" Char stopped as he looked at his motion tracker. "Oh shit, we've got company on the right side! They're trying to make a push!"

"I've got these guys!" Juliet butted in as she leapt off another enemy. "Leave them to me! You just worry about the others!" Without any chance for either of them to voice protest, she landed directly in the middle of the enemy formation. Needless to say, they were surprised to see them. She drew her VALKs experimental beam saber and began to cut the formation down to size.

Allison and Char kept the heaviest fire off the Cleanup Crew and were still working on whittling down the enemy. It was a while longer before Char noticed something. "Juliet's VALK just went offline..." He said solemnly.

Allison slammed her fist on her controls. "DAMMIT!" She said, frustrated with the extraction team's inability to get here fast enough.

"Ally, look at me." Char said, hoping to calm her down. "We're gonna get through this. We just need to keep level-headed. The extraction team will be here soon, I know it." However, the extraction team had been running late. Allison looked over to Char's VALK and felt secure in his assurance. Then, in a split-second, that assurance was gone. Two rounds struck his VALK: One took out his leg, and the other grazed his cockpit.

"Char...? Char!?" There was no response. Allison gripped her controls as she saw red and turned to the nearest enemy VALK. Growling like an animal, her red eyes wild and full of rage, she mashed the fire button and watched as her should cannons blew the top half of the VALK away completely and the bottom half staggered to the ground before blowing up as well. Then, she turned and switched, firing her beam rifle through the center of another VALK and killing it instantly. She turned back and switched again and used her 60mm Vulcan head cannons to rip into another who tried to get the drop on her. It was riddled with shells before falling over.

Fuck not letting personal feelings get in the way of the mission; Allison was livid. She began using extreme prejudice to take out her enemies in anyway she could as she screamed an unholy raging cry. Hell hath no fury like a woman's. Period. Allison destroyed everything that she found until the enemy retreated. Once she eliminated the last VALK in the vicinity, she slowly came to. Her mood swung from anger to despair. She knew Char's VALK was disabled, but he could still be alive.

Leave No Man Behind
Allison set her VALK down and popped open the cockpit as she grabbed her katana and G36K. She hopped out and sprinted as fast as she ever had in her life to Char's VALK. The area that was blown open from the shell grazing was crawling with infected. "CHAR!" Allison cried as she opened fire on the one's that stuck out. Once her magazine was empty, she dropped the rifle and climbed up onto the top. She drew her blade and rushed in, cutting the infected to bloody ribbons. She didn't stop until she reached the cockpit.

"Char I-" She stopped and gasped loudly. There, the cockpit had been torn open and so had Charles. The controls and seat were coated in his blood as he lay there with his chest and abdomen bloodied. Allison had tears streaming down her cheeks as she dropped her sword and jumped into the cockpit.

"Char? Char you're gonna be okay." She said, her voice trembling like her hands. "Can you hear me? Please, say something. Char!" Allison waited and waited, but so far nothing. She couldn't hear in her subdermal comm link that the extraction team had arrived and was looking for her. She laid her forehead against his and was about to start sobbing before he moved.

"A...Alli...son?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"Char! Char, look at me, you're gonna be fine. You hear me? You're gonna be just fine!" Allison replied.

"No...no I'm not..."

"Wh-what are you saying? Of course you are! I'm gonna get you out of here, I promise!"

"No...no you're not..."

"Char, please don't say things like that. Your'e scaring me."

"Ally...I'm infected..."

Allison blinked as she looked at her lover. Char's body had been ripped open and was bleeding everywhere. His arm also looked like it had been bitten into.

"You were...the light of my life...you know that? You were the one...I wanted to spend....the rest of my days with..."

Allison couldn't help but cry her heart out before him as she listened to him.

"You know...what you have to do..." He said, taking out his standard Colt Python revolver and handing it up to her. "Please...for us..."

Allison slowly clasped her hand around the revolver, knowing exactly what Char was asking. Still, knowing didn't take away the pain of what she was about to do.

"I love you, Char." She cried. "And I always will. No matter what." She said as she leaned in and kissed him on his pale lips. After a few seconds, she pulled back and sat up.

Char smiled at her to try to put her at ease. "No matter what...you have to rid this world...of this plague..." He coughed. "Make it a place...where people can...live again..."

"I promise you I won't quit until every last infected it burned. I promise..." She said back, slowly raising the sights of the revolver to meet her eye. The gun shook in her hand, prompting her to grab on with the other to help steady it to aim at his Char's head. A million things were racing through her mind. Memories of them spending the happiest times together. With their team. Their first kiss. All the training they went through together. Their first meeting. She slowly squeezed until the gun kicked back from recoil. The shot rang out louder than Allison had ever heard in all her life. There was a stillness in the air after that shot, and it was only broken by her. Allison cried out to the sky in agony as the extraction team stood outside.

I Want Love
After a few moments, Allison climbed out of the VALK with Char's bloody body in her arms and tears flowing down her face. She walked to the APC and saw two other figures covered in a black tarp lying inside. She lay the third on the bench opposite to her and then took one of the dog tags off each of the bodies before taking her place as the fourth and the only one uncovered. She cried the whole way back.

When they arrived back at base, there was a funeral service for the fallen. Allison stood in front of the middle casket of three in the first row. She looked down at the revolver she still had, before walking up and laying it inside the casket. "I'm sorry..." She said before walking back. The Honor Guard gave a 21 gun salute to TAPS after the eulogy was read. The Honor Guard commander gave Allison a black folded Gama flag with the casings fired from the salute tucked inside. She was the last one to leave after the bodies were put to rest in their graves.

When she returned, the base commander told her that he was reassigning her to New Mexico. She didn't care to respond with anything but "Yes sir" in a monotone with a stone-faced expression. The reassignment to the place she came to Ramstein from was not only to hopefully get her into a better recovery environment, but also for the reason of rotating her into a new team. This meant stripping her of her rank as Sergeant, as only team leaders were given ranks. The base commander didn't want to say it out loud, but he knew that Allison was in no position to lead right now.

After she was done, she returned to the three graves with three bouquets of flowers. Zinnias, Forget-Me-Not's, and purple hyacinths. She laid one at each grave before wrapping the dog tags around one of her hands and clenching it into a fist. She crouched down on one knee and held the fist up to her forehead before bowing it. For the last time that day, she cried...

OCTOBER 20TH, 2076
RAMSTEIN BASE
PRESENT DAY

Allison slowly opened her misty eyes. The clouds above had darkened slightly and rain began to fall. It started slow, and turned into a drizzle. It was a soft pour of rain from a grey sky. Tears slowly streaked down Allison's cheeks as she looked up at the graves. "I swear on your memory - they won't rest, while I'm alive." She said before standing up. The rain pattered onto her face and blended with the tears she silently cried. After a while, she put her dog tags back on and turned to walk back to where she had parked the SUV she drove into town, hoping that everyone might be done eating.

[Towers]

"Ah that it will but I think if we enter theatre at eight o'clock we'll be able to wrap up about three and it won't be fun but we'll be able to cycle some work now that there's two of us and my assistants aren't completely useless. As for the matter of recovery, well I think you’ll be very impressed with what my girl can take.
Oh God it just struck me I’ve not taken care of everything have I? Her parental report is coming up soon and I’ll have to break this gently before they get the raw facts. I do have time though if I get them tomorrow so that’s fine, sorry Lorelei got lost in thought there.”

Casually brushing off his musings on deception Grossman rolled back and forth on the sides of his feet and glancing about like an impatient child with a stupid grin.
“Sooo.” He said “Whatcha wanna do till then?”

"Well there are a couple more items that need to be attended to in order to finish my son's replacement VALK." Dr. Jarnefeldt shrugged. "Unfortunately Proteus felt it was necessary to not only destroy what was perhaps my best VALK, but try and take my son away from me. And I'm sure you and I both know that we just cant have that can we? But as far as what needs to be done, I've still got a few fine tuning adjustments to make on the VALK's interface and in order to pilot it Gilbert's gonna need some entirely new nanites to handle it. So pick your poison."

“I can do interface work.” He confirmed with a nod “Play with it, get the reaction times down to with any luck. We can chat about lighter matters, now I’ve never been here before so you should probably lead the way.”
While technically none of what he had just said was untrue Grossman had memorised the base layout ages ago from messages and floor plans Erica had sent him, but Lorelei didn’t need to know that, so Grossman just indicated his arm politely toward the interior.

[Xing]

“I can do interface work.” He confirmed with a nod “Play with it, get the reaction times down to with any luck. We can chat about lighter matters, now I’ve never been here before so you should probably lead the way.”
While technically none of what he had just said was untrue Grossman had memorised the base layout ages ago from messages and floor plans Erica had sent him, but Lorelei didn’t need to know that, so Grossman just indicated his arm politely toward the interior.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping to do." Dr. Jarnefeldt said as she stepped past her colleague. "Surprises happen all to often on the battlefield, and the faster one can react the less of a chance that such surprise attacks would succeed. Don't you agree?" Dr. Jarnefeldt asked.

She led Dr. Grossman to a separate hangar that she had commandeered and subsequently locked down for the Guardian's construction. Was it a gross abuse of her position as head of Gama R&D? Perhaps. Was it necessary, given that there was a mole lurking around and her son's safety is on the line? Well she had no doubt in her mind on the answer to that question. As they approached the hangar, a lone guard saluted and stepped aside to allow them inside. No doubt he recognized her by now given how many times she had been in that hangar in the past few days. Inside the Valk stood inactive in the center of the hangar and close by underneath sat the revamped ANGEL system she had been working on putting in. "I thought the matte black color scheme would help make it a bit harder to identify on night ops." Dr. Jarnefeldt said matter of factly as she introduced the VALK to Dr. Grossman. "The system that I've been tweaking is the patented neural interface that I developed. This VALK was designed to move at higher speeds and increase the general acrobatic maneuverability while in the air, so not only does it require shorter user interface response time but shorter reaction times from the user themselves."

"Thanks Gilbert." Gregory said "Say why did you guys have all those empty chairs. I mean your party was originally only 5 people and you had eight chairs. I know for a fact you guys didn't talk to me about this little excursion so you couldn't have been waiting for us. So why did you have three....empty......." He suddenly remembered Allison showing him the sets of dog tags. "Wait...three empty chairs with Allison that makes four, or the size of your average combat team-we are a bunch of idiots" he said looking at the table.

"Wait. Are you trying to say that she left those spots reserved for a past team of hers Gregory?" Gilbert interrogated as he stiffened up in his chair and leaned forward on the table. "Could that really have been what it was? I mean its possible, but I've lost teammates as well through the years. I just didn't see her as someone that would take something like that too hard. You guys have seen how she acts. Either way I need to make a call really quick, I think I know where Will should be going." Gilbert dismissed himself from the table and pulled out his communicator. He went through the list of available contacts and found the one for a certain Mr. William Kruger. He hit the call button and waited for the young man to pick up. With his mind racing like it was each half second felt like an eternity, and the repetitive ring of the telecom line only added to it. Gilbert hardly even waited for Will to say hello. Once he heard the click of William picking up the other end, Gilbert started right into what he wanted to tell him. "Will. It's Gilbert. I think I know where you should be headed." He paused for a moment, just long enough for Will to understand what he had just said. "Go check the cemetery. It may seem odd, but I have a gut feeling you might find her there."

[The Carlisle]

Will was walking through a wooded park area when his communicator started ringing. He checked to see that it was Gil calling. He picked up the call to hear what he had to say. Will's eyes widened a bit on hearing his suggestion. "The cemetery?" he said, confused. He shrugged. "Not what I would think but I'll trust your gut," he said, "Thanks Gil." And with that he hung up the comm.

Will turned and started walking towards the cemetery. His mind was the cemetery. Why would Allison be there? I mean, it was isolated and quiet, but it was quite the dreary place. He figured she wasn't the type to hang around those depressing places. Maybe it was something else.

A gust of wind blew by, setting off a wind chime. Will looked at the clanging chime as he walked. It reminded him of something.

His eyes widened a bit. His pace went to a half-jog. His face showed shock from the realization. "No...." he said. The chime reminded him of how the dog tags Allison wore would sometimes clang together. Those dog tags, he remembered them and what they meant. The dogtags... cemetery... could it be?... His pace went up to a full jog.

Will slowed down as he approached the cemetery. He walked in, looking around for the black-haired girl. The graveyard was sizable for a small town like this. Generations of soldiers and civilians must be buried here. He turned the corner of a mausoleum and froze. There was Allison, kneeling before three graves with flowers. He backed himself behind the mausoleum, but peaked around to see her. Will's heart sank. It was a miserable scene. Looking at Allison like this depressed him. He wanted to do something, but his body remained unmoved, frozen in doubt and fear. All he did was watch. The scene provoked a thought in Will's head, sending him reeling back behind the mausoleum, though he remained quiet. He imagined himself in Allison's place, kneeling before two graves. His heart ached and tears started forming in his eyes. "No. Don't think of that. Don't think of that. Don't think of that." he said in his head. He silently took a breathe and wiped away the tears. The heartache remained, although lessened in intensity.

Will's ears perked up when he heard Allison. He peaked around the corner again to see her walking away from the graves. He felt a drop on his head as the few drops of rain started falling. By the time, Allison was out of sight, the cemetery was being drenched with rain. Will, unbothered, walked up to the graves with flowers.

"Juliet Hunter... Amanda Buster..... Charles Weaver...." he said, reading the names off the graves. He knew these names. They were on the dog tags Allison wore. He knelt down on one leg before the grave of Charles. He looked at it for a while, a feeling of shame growing deep inside of him. He looked away from the grave and out to the dark skies. His thoughts were on Allison.... Allison, and the shame.

---

Will walked slowly back to the SUV, too lost in thought to care about the rain. He opened the passenger seat of the SUV and got inside, noticing Allison but not reacting to her. He looked at the dashboard, solemn and dripping wet from the rain. A few seconds of silence passed before he got the will to speak.

"I saw the graves. Lovely flowers. Must be nice to have someone give you flowers after you pass. It's a shame that the rain will wash them away...." he said in a somber tone. He curled up his legs and wrapped his arms tightly around them.

"I'm sorry.... I'm so, so sorry for ruining this evening for you..." he said, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

“I can do interface work.” He confirmed with a nod “Play with it, get the reaction times down to with any luck. We can chat about lighter matters, now I’ve never been here before so you should probably lead the way.”
While technically none of what he had just said was untrue Grossman had memorised the base layout ages ago from messages and floor plans Erica had sent him, but Lorelei didn’t need to know that, so Grossman just indicated his arm politely toward the interior.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping to do." Dr. Jarnefeldt said as she stepped past her colleague. "Surprises happen all to often on the battlefield, and the faster one can react the less of a chance that such surprise attacks would succeed. Don't you agree?" Dr. Jarnefeldt asked.

She led Dr. Grossman to a separate hangar that she had commandeered and subsequently locked down for the Guardian's construction. Was it a gross abuse of her position as head of Gama R&D? Perhaps. Was it necessary, given that there was a mole lurking around and her son's safety is on the line? Well she had no doubt in her mind on the answer to that question. As they approached the hangar, a lone guard saluted and stepped aside to allow them inside. No doubt he recognized her by now given how many times she had been in that hangar in the past few days. Inside the Valk stood inactive in the center of the hangar and close by underneath sat the revamped ANGEL system she had been working on putting in. "I thought the matte black color scheme would help make it a bit harder to identify on night ops." Dr. Jarnefeldt said matter of factly as she introduced the VALK to Dr. Grossman. "The system that I've been tweaking is the patented neural interface that I developed. This VALK was designed to move at higher speeds and increase the general acrobatic maneuverability while in the air, so not only does it require shorter user interface response time but shorter reaction times from the user themselves."

"Thanks Gilbert." Gregory said "Say why did you guys have all those empty chairs. I mean your party was originally only 5 people and you had eight chairs. I know for a fact you guys didn't talk to me about this little excursion so you couldn't have been waiting for us. So why did you have three....empty......." He suddenly remembered Allison showing him the sets of dog tags. "Wait...three empty chairs with Allison that makes four, or the size of your average combat team-we are a bunch of idiots" he said looking at the table.

"Wait. Are you trying to say that she left those spots reserved for a past team of hers Gregory?" Gilbert interrogated as he stiffened up in his chair and leaned forward on the table. "Could that really have been what it was? I mean its possible, but I've lost teammates as well through the years. I just didn't see her as someone that would take something like that too hard. You guys have seen how she acts. Either way I need to make a call really quick, I think I know where Will should be going." Gilbert dismissed himself from the table and pulled out his communicator. He went through the list of available contacts and found the one for a certain Mr. William Kruger. He hit the call button and waited for the young man to pick up. With his mind racing like it was each half second felt like an eternity, and the repetitive ring of the telecom line only added to it. Gilbert hardly even waited for Will to say hello. Once he heard the click of William picking up the other end, Gilbert started right into what he wanted to tell him. "Will. It's Gilbert. I think I know where you should be headed." He paused for a moment, just long enough for Will to understand what he had just said. "Go check the cemetery. It may seem odd, but I have a gut feeling you might find her there."

Gregory sighed. The more he talked to and learned about the other original members, the more he pitied them. As shitty as his childhood had been at least he could say he still had a childhood. Allison, Charlotte, and the others only seemed to know training and combat. He honestly believed that the three people she had saved the seats for were her only friends. And he couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like being his mothers personal guinea pig like Gilbert was. He waited with the others until Gilbert got back. "Hey Gilbert, Thanks for setting this up."