CYBERNETIC | Wings of Fire RP

[koi.fish]

✦ ──────── 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧
they/she • 8 • sky/night • barracks, city • tags: reaper, okapi, noctis

Many unsavoury tasks tended to fall upon Merlin's overworked shoulders in their pursuit of saving up to leave, and today happened to be yet another such case. With the growing civil unrest, one of the higher ranking guards tasked them with evaluating his subordinate's work on the changing field. 'Just take notes on how they react in a situation and report back'. It sounded easy enough on the surface, however the thought of being stuck with two soldiers equipped with state of the art cybernetics wasn't quite as pleasant as the pay. Though, refusing the order would surely guarantee an even worse time.

With a small sigh, Merlin tentatively stepped into the communal bunk of the soldiers she was to evaluate. "Uh... Hello, sorry, I was told to join your group for a field evaluation…” they trailed off, a gaze with eyes slightly widened cast to anywhere but the two… oh. Three soldiers. Including the rookie who had already gained quite the reputation for his questionable attitude. Merlin flashed the trio a nervous smile, unsure where to position the corners of her mouth against her teeth. At the very least it looked like they were already heading out; getting things over and done with should be easier without having to awkwardly sit around while they prepared themselves.

✦ ───── 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧
he/him • 8 • sea • outskirts, city • tags: open (sleet, leo, dart, and adder mentioned)

A scowl made its away across Leviathan’s snout as he gently snipped away at the carcass’ tendons, separating the skin from the flesh with cuts as smooth as he could make. The ruckus from a ways within the city rang past and into the city’s outskirts where he burrowed himself away; another lowlife making a scene as a result of their own mistakes no doubt. The SeaWing paid them no mind, it would only disrupt the taxidermy process, and ruining a specimen as unique as this would cost him immensely, though he wouldn’t mind keeping it for himself either. Or perhaps he could even add a few limbs here and there, pitch the mistakes as signs of evolution’s work and sell it for a greater price. He doubted it would work─he had sales to make to a group of wealthy dragons in a few hours and covering up shoddy work would take some time after all.

[AGGUA!]

Temper | 13 | SkyWing | Alley, City | Tags: Rift

Temper snorted. "Nah, blue flame's all mine. Some sort of genetic thing. Means my brother can't breathe fire, though." Trailing off, she studied the scrap of metal in the SeaWing's talons. She faintly realized she'd forgotten at all to open a dialogue about what she was actually here to do, but now it came back in full force at the mention of a note. "The Author? Wonder if that's the dragon that reached out to me," Temper mused. She heard a faint barking behind her, turning to look over her shoulder. A pair of chromed-up strangers were lurking outside the Eyeless Cave they'd just departed, muttering and pointing in the direction her and Rift had just gone. She recognized one of them as the dragon that she'd sized up earlier. That... Probably isn't good.
Surveying her surroundings quickly, Temper nodded in agreement. "This way," she beckoned. Now it was her turn to steer, tugging the SeaWing along by his arm as she left the beaten path. The throng of low lives thinned out as she squeezed herself into a narrow crack between two worn-down buildings. Poor Rift. The confined space decidedly did not suit his bulk, but Temper begrudgingly ducked behind a large trash can and dragged him with. It was darker here, out of the way of cybernetic lights and flashing parts. Blinking owlishly, Temper huddled down as compactly as she could. "Can you read it like this?" she asked. "We should probably make it quick."

Reaper | 18 | Night/Ice/Sand | Barracks, City | Tags: Okapi, Noctis, Merlin

Following after Okapi, Reaper took notice of how Noctis' eyes flashed back to his thermal cameras. It was an interesting implant, one he'd considered before. Both of his counterparts had eye modifications, as did many of the soldiers. He'd just never bothered, for some reason.
"I know you won't," Reaper encouraged, addressing the younger hybrid. "This should be pretty standard stuff. Usually when we get reports like these we gotta go out and retrieve the ones responsible, put em' in holding for a few days. This seems like a minor offense, so I doubt any of them will to be transferred anywhere." Reaper wasn't entirely sure what happened during holding, actually. Sometimes criminals they captured were shipped off somewhere else. Other times they came back reformed and ready to join society. It wasn't his place to ask for details; all he needed to know was that it helped to keep the City peaceful and orderly.
Arriving at launch, Reaper could see Merlin already waiting for the group. Merlin wasn't so bad. They were sometimes tasked with doing less-than-pleasant work, but it was necessary. "Mornin', Merlin," Reaper greeted. It had been a while since they'd had a field eval, so he supposed they were due for one. "It's all good. We'll lead and you can follow. Wouldn't want any thugs causing you problems." He belatedly wondered if Noctis' company was cause for the evaluation. If all went well, it would be a good thing for everyone involved. "You wanna lead, Okapi?"

[crowface]

Okapi | 15 | Sandwing | Barracks, City -> City Skyline | tags: Noctis, Reaper, Merlin

Okapi tensed up at the evaluator's presence. I wonder if this has anything to do with my last mess up. Like Reaper had said, they had premier parts for a reason, but premier was just another word for expensive. His chief of operations had given him quite the lecture when he was conscious enough in the infirmary to comprehend it. Okapi sent a silent prayer to each of the three moons for an easy case, like a minor scuffle or perhaps even a confused old dragon. He wasn't sure what would happen to his job status if he received yet another demerit.
The evaluator in question looked a bit strung out, like their workload was taking a toll on their body. That could either greatly help their case if the dragon was the type to step back when tired, or complicate things if they were high strung. The added stress was enough to make Okapi want to bolt. A rookie AND an evaluator. What are the odds? "I'm good to lead." He turned and nodded at Reaper, then the other two. "Let's hit the skies."

[Maniacal_Ferret]

Adder "When in doubt, look intelligent."
Male (he/him) // Sandwing // Chosen // 14 Years old
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Location: Wandering the streets // Mentions: Dart, Leo, Sleet // Tags: Dart, Leo, Sleet

indentationIt seemed that they did want his help after all. His wings twitched as he stood beside the Icewing, Sleet, was it? Adder didn't say anything, he though the little purple dragon had sad something along those lines, but Adder avoided using names unless he must. But in this city, call out Icewing and an infinite amount of heads would turn. The dragons all gave their permission for him to help and Adder places his talons on the guards chest. Adder, with the help of Sleet and the purple dragon who he did not know the name of yet, heaved the massive guard off of Leo, he thought the others had said. Adder held his tail carefully away from the other dragons. The converting was on but still he didn't trust it not to fail. He still had to be careful and cautious.
indentationAfter freeing Leo, Adder stepped back to give the three some space. They obviously knew each other and the Sandwing didn't want to intrude in their conversation, so he stayed quiet. "We shouldn't leave him here. We should do something, if he's seen your face then he will know and tell others and you will be hunted. Well, more than you are already." Adder was speaking more to himself then to the others. It was what he would do if he were in their predicament. Adder glanced around, looking for somewhere they could stash the guard, they might just have to kill him, he would surely tell the others about these dragons, but the guard hadn't seen Adder, and he would like to keep it that way. Adder eyed the others. "If you have no more need of me, I will take my leave. Make sure you deal with the guard accordingly, you don't want him to go blabbing his mouth." Adder said the last directly to the dragon who had been crushed, Leo.
indentationThese back alleys were seldom unoccupied, gangs, thieves, and others of the like, but then again, were they any better? Adder shook his head to himself. There would be other dragons arriving in this alley way it wasn't as it belonged to the three dragons. Adder was sure others stayed here quite often, it wouldn't be long before the guards found out about what had taken place.

Dart Frog (Dart) "Wisdom comes from experience, but experience often comes from a lack of wisdom."
Female (she/her) // Rainwing/Sandwing // Citizen // 6 Years old
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Location: Backstreets of City // Mentions: Adder, Leo, Sleet // Tags: Adder, Leo, Sleet

indentationDart glared at her brother from where she was pulling the mountain of a dragon off of him, with aid from Sleet, and a Sandwing that showed up. From his nervousness, she wasn't worried about him, though she did wander what was up with his tail, most would be only too happy to use it, herself included being half Sandwing as she was. She turned her attention back to her brother. "How many times do I have to tell you," the massive dragon rolled off of Leo, Not to call me 'kid? Have you forgotten how many times I have had to save your sorry tail?" She rolled her eyes and huffed, looking down to fix her hood and wristbands. She did not look up when she heard the Sandwing speak. He said it quietly and she wondered if he was even talking to them, or her.
indentationEither way he had a very good point. "Hey scavenger brains," Dart directed this at Leo, "The Sandwing is right. We need to do something with him. We can't just leave him to wake up. If he saw your face, Leo, then they will hunt you down, more than they already do. I say we kill him and be done with it." She smacked Leo playfully with one of her wings. "I don't think Sleet or I will be able to save your miserable scales when a group of guards come for you." She grinned at Leo and then shot a wink at Sleet. As the Sandwing asked if they needed him anymore, Dart shrugged. "Do what you want, Sandwing, but thanks for helping this idiot." She gave him a small nod, but nothing more.

[broner]

Rift | 17 | SeaWing | Alley, City | tags: Temper
Huffing in surprise as he was yanked further into the dark, Rift wrinkled his nose at the smell. "Yeah," he confirmed, blinking a few times to adjust. "The writing's real small, though. Let's see..." In a hasty scrawl, two things were jotted on the scrap of paper. One: Look for the taleweaver, and two, don't come back.
"Well, that's cryptic," Rift sighed, stowing the note next to the other one in his pouch. He scratched his gills absentmindedly. "Don't suppose you know what this taleweaver business is about, Temper?"

Sleet | 14 | Ice/Sea/Sky | Backstreets, City | tags: Leo, Adder, Dart
Sleet rolled his eyes. He always thought Dart and Leo were too relaxed; Sleet, for one, knew what would happen if he were captured again, and he wasn't about to sit around and let that happen. It was Leo's mess anyway, and Sleet was a few lies short of a saint. "Whatever," he said gruffly. "See you two around. Need to get this chrome fixed or I'm scrap metal." As if on cue, his shoulder spasmed, and he clapped his talon over it instinctually. The hybrid scowled again, gripping at the implant as though he could repair it through sheer pressure.
Taking his leave, Sleet folded his wings in and crouched back into the alley. The hybrid ran cold, but this place was more drafty than usual. He had an acquaintance who owed him a favor, and it was time to cash in. Here's hoping I can make it that far.

[koi.fish]

✦ ──────── 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧
they/she • 8 • sky/night • barracks, city > city skyline • tags: reaper, okapi, noctis

”Oh- Yeah- Morning! And thanks haha… I’m sure nothing will escalate too far, though,” Merlin scrambled to reply with another poor attempt at a casual smile, not expecting niceties from any of the soldiers. Though the offer of keeping them safe on the job was very much appreciated and had somewhat eased their nerves; Reaper’s intimidating mein was still rather prevalent in their perception of him, but the few occasions that they’d run into him whilst running errands left them grateful that he was part of the group they’d been assigned to at the very least. They were somewhat familiar with Okapi, having seen him around a couple of times, but their familiarity stopped at the odd sight of his around the base─conversation with him or how he’d act was still a complete mystery, though not as much of a mystery as the rookie they’d heard so much about.

As Okapi agreed to his position on the case, Merlin shuffled behind as silently as possible, noticing how tensed the SandWing appeared. Dealing with the fallout of him being further aggravated was a job they were less than qualified and even less than financially compensated for after all.

[AGGUA!]

Temper | 13 | SkyWing | Alley, City | Tags: Rift (Adder mention)

Temper waited impatiently while Rift scanned over the note, claws tapping on the grimy stone ground. When he held up the note for Temper to examine, she let out a puff of blue flame--which narrowly avoided burning the paper, for effs sake--and read the same two bullet points that he had. "Uh," she blurted, "I've never heard of it. 'The Taleweaver.' Sounds like a title, though. Maybe a NightWing? Or some sort of animus object?" Peering out from over the sill of the garbage bin, it didn't appear like anyone had followed them. She didn't see the patrons from earlier, at least.
"Either way, I guess the Eyeless Cave's out," she muttered. "Didn't that guy give you another note? I saw you fiddling with it earlier. Does it have anything useful on it?" Like maybe where we can find the others? The Eyeless Cave was no longer a viable meeting place, and Temper knew that they still had, at the very least, a SandWing they needed to contact.

Reaper | 18 | Night/Ice/Sand | City Skyline, City | Tags: Okapi, Noctis, Merlin

Reaper picked up on Okapi's tension, no stranger to reading his body language after having worked with him for so long. They were both veterans in the business by now, so evaluations didn't scare him much. But Okapi's more recent slip-up was a cause for alarm that he'd totally forgotten about, outside of taking a rookie along. Still. Reaper could vouch for him regardless of what happened. Merlin wouldn't intentionally put in a bad word, either. At least, the hybrid didn't think so. "It should be an easy cut and dry case, from what the reports were saying. We'll follow your lead, Okapi. Let's make this easy for all of us." Reaper wasn't one to sugarcoat things or intentionally lie to boost morale, but it wouldn't hurt to put some wind under everyone's wings. Their party seemed stressed and unhappy at having been woken up early to handle business none of them frankly wanted to, but they could handle it. Reaper stepped in line at Okapi's right, unfurling his wings and lurching into the sky after him. "The trouble's out east!" he called out to the company. Gesturing back to Okapi, Reaper yelled, "Should give you time to check your thrusters!"

[ItsAsher0]

✦ 𝙽𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚜 | 7 1/2 | Ice/Night | Barracks, City | Tags: Reaper, Okapi, Merlin✦

Noctis fought off a flinch at the field evaluator. His gaze diverted to the floor as he adjusted his wings and stance. This could be troublesome, knowing his attitude was most likely well known; one slip up and he could lose his rank. It did take him a while to get into this rank, considering his aggression. He sighed. Noctis was slowly working on fixing his.. issues. He gave a subtle nod to Merlin, no words said. Considering he had missed half the situation lost in his thoughts, he thought it was better to just play somewhat calm as he stood by, careful of messing anything up.

He was a bit distracted, seemingly looking around at various areas around them. He was obscure, his voice a bit scratchy as he decided he needed to show he could be- somewhat, not as violent as usual, As he looked to Merlin. "I'm- Noctis." He immediately went quiet. Greetings weren't Noctis' forte, but he at least got some sort of introduction before the trip.

[broner]

Rift | 17 | SeaWing | Alley, City | tags: Temper
Rift narrowly snatched the note away from the flame before it caught. "Uh, so, this one here's mostly just a history lesson. I mean, I'm not exactly the sharpest claw here, but I knew about most of that already. You can take a look though, if you want." He held the other page out, then remembered that Temper probably couldn't see. "Take this. We aren't getting anywhere standing around, so we should probably hit the road. We're s'posed to have a SandWing contact, but I don't have any leads." Another scratch to his gills, he realized he was developing another nervous habit.
If the Taleweaver was really a NightWing, he was plumb out of luck. Rift had grown up without ever staying in one place for too long--that's what mercs did, after all, doing what needed done. He'd only met one or two NightWings his entire life, and they never did seem all that welcoming. In all honesty, he had no idea where to even start.

[koi.fish]

✦ ──────── 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧
they/she • 8 • sky/night • barracks, city > city skyline • tags: reaper, okapi, noctis

Merlin nodded at Reaper’s statement regarding the case before almost leaping out of their scales when they heard an unfamiliar voice introduce itself. The hybrid, or Noctis as he’d mentioned, had his gaze silently trained on them. Considering he was a soldier and all, they figured his social skills were likely a product of his service rather than an act of malice, however Noctis’ reputation was enough for a sliver of doubt to worm its way into their thoughts. Nevertheless, it was all the more reason to be polite back.“I’m Merlin. Um… I’ll just be taking notes so… uh, I won’t be getting in your way or anything…” they replied with an apologetic look before immediately regretting speaking more than had been spoken to them. Everyone was already on edge, no doubt from her presence, surely they didn’t need another reminder of the threat of a report back to their higher ups, plus Merlin couldn’t even assure the trio about the nature of the evaluation without lying as she hadn’t been informed herself. Do the work, don’t ask questions; the motto had somehow come back to bite them. There was nothing to be done about it now─if Reaper was correct, everything should go smoothly.

Following suit of the older dragons, she secured her satchel to her chest before taking flight a ways behind them, producing a notebook and pen from the satchel. ‘Quickly and effectively establishes location.’ They scribbled the words onto the page against the wind whistling past them; a promising start if they said so themself.