❝ ── WASTELAND, BABY !

[vaell]

xxxＥＤＷＩＮ ＡＬＢＲＥＣＨＴ.

xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxxxxxxxxxxxentertainer / stage name 'floyd'. | the rebellion. aka 'vuledo'. | tagged: constance.
xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
indentit was painful to have to acknowledge the fact that headquarters was beginning to grow impulsive -- and constance could see their command beginning to fall into this descent of recklessness just as clearly as he could, whether or not they wanted to deem it as true. being foolhardy does much more damage than it does any good and if they become even more restless as a result of the recent failure at themus, edwin could only see the rebellion racking up more and more losses than successes. admittedly, yes, he understood why they were becoming so fidgety; the conclave was still amassing undeterred support from their followers and their organization was seeing no decline in numbers or in power. more and more people are interested in enlisting in the army if only because of the notoriety the conclave military has garnered over time. hell, more people are interested in the conclave military than they are in the government in general. people who commit 'great' acts of service to the conclave by sentencing other organizations to their doom or committing some other atrocious large-scale crime are often labelled war heroes and their followers are not the type to object. they praise these people and many individuals seek to join their rankings in hopes of one day seeing themselves carved as a statue outside of the capitol building, even despite the fact that he himself was sure that you could really only obtain such a so-called honor by inflicting serious horror onto the wasteland or otherwise considerably furthering the conclaves twisted ideals through force. he supposed that was the point of it all, though. theres nothing great about being a common soldier although a lot of people tend to get on their high horse, even about holding that position and such a notion isn't even shocking either. anyones ego would be boosted if they were protected in a suit of power armor and had an automatic rifle or alike accessible at their side. the arrogance toward wastelanders just comes naturally after that, after that sort of a soldier begins to draw the line between what defines them and what defines your average wastelander. most of the time the general population of the wasteland gets grouped into the same category, usually consisting of what traits a capital citizen might sneer about from their comfortable abodes; they're seen as unclean, vile, untameable, barbarian, thieving, lying, untrustworthy, lacking intelligence..the list could go on. its not like edwin didn't do the same to those affiliated with the conclave. its just a natural thought pattern. to him, they're the untrustworthy ones, condescending, frequently abusing their power, uppity and born with silver spoons in their mouths. now that list could go on for just as long as one referring to wastelanders from a capital citizens point of view. obviously he's aware of the fact that not every single person involved in the conclave seeks to go out of their way and harm others apart from what orders they might be given, but the divide that blood purity has created in society often has a way of making him fall back into his own habits of despising each individual involved with the conclave regardless of their actions.
indentthat concept itself - blood purity - was a social construct created by the government to help cultivate more division between the population. tainted-bloods, half-bloods, pure-bloods? the value that the conclave places on blood purity really doesn't do much to help soothe the tensions between wastelanders and capital citizens, it only fuels that fire further. it creates the space to make more ignorant remarks and it fuels the distaste between the two groups of people. its ridiculous that any of those terms even exist to begin with. its more ridiculous that they even matter. obviously your average wastelander doesn't pay as much attention to blood purity as someone in the capital might but they were still sucked into the notion that pure-bloods are not like them and that they are somehow seen as superior to them. its why theres so much conflict when it comes to blood purity in general. obviously, the conclave deems pure-bloods as the ideal individual, if you will -- essentially a person born to two people involved in the conclave. not much surprise there. to put it simply, usually that means they're wealthy or at-least have more than what a wastelander might. and then of course a half-blood breeds just about the same scorn as do tainted-bloods. you're neither of the two groups so where do you stand? in most cases both sides of the coin don't even want to welcome you, most likely. pure-bloods are much more welcoming to pure-bloods than they are someone who isn't fully possessing a conclave lineage. regardless, its been the cause of even more divide and that sort of a construct can't be easily eradicated, if ever. its something that the conclave has put into motion for so long now that even trying to remove the concept of blood purity from the equation things would still be rocky and entirely the same. and individually speaking, he doubted that every conclave-associated person felt the same way about wastelanders, and alike for them -- its just that when certain traits are assigned to groups of people and these notions are held by a large portion of the population, you tend to fall into the belief that everyone feels the same way about said group. its extreme stereotyping at best. honestly being involved in the rebellion has taught him to think a bit further beyond what is most apparent about people in general. once you can understand that the people who seem to despise wastelanders have been born into a society where that is the norm, where they are forcefully subjected to propaganda, then you can begin to discern your personal opinions from the truth of the matter. boiling their situations down to what environmental, societal and familial factors they might've grown up around tends to help put things into perspective for him. it doesn't justify any cruel behavior but at-least he could understand why some people think or act they way they do, and unfortunately it all stems from the government's lies. its why dismantling the organization is so important. they needed something incriminating enough to open the eyes of their followers. what they didn't need to be doing was continuing to attempt fort break-ins when the scale of success to failure is one pitifully dismal, missions often leading to rebellion deaths.
indentthere's no viable way for them to go completely unscathed from any situation of course, no matter what sort of a mission might be in mind, but there can be ways to minimize the toll on their own side. thats really the best they could do, at-least for the sake of the general population inhabiting the wasteland. like constance had said earlier, the destruction of fort snow did bring them a lot of assets in terms of resources and supplies but the burning down of that base has prompted the conclave to deploy military taskforces to retrieve any stolen federal property. evidently, they're not just going to sit around while other groups successfully make attacks on them, although thats no surprise. dismantling the conclave has been a fine line to tread for the rebellion and it always will be -- its more of a matter of how they do things and for what purpose that matters the most, of course. if things were much simpler then they wouldn't have to worry about the consequences of destroying and raiding a base of its supplies but thats just not the case. it always interesting to think about the benefits and the risks of their actions, though. or at-least to edwin it was. there are some situations where its blatantly obvious that the risk is not worth the attempt, such as with today at themus, and there are other situations where its harder to tell whether or not they've actually come out with the upper-hand or just restricted themselves further in terms of future endeavors, again for example with what transpired at fort snow. its the way that things have always been though. theres no avoiding risk nor is there any anticipating failure, not unless its painfully obvious of course. and whatever course of action the rebellion does intend to take in the future, things are bound to stir violence at some point or other, especially when people like declan are still involved in the organization. its hard for headquarters to cater to everyones opinions and ideas about how a situation should be approached but he knew that their command tends to easily cave when theres mounting pressure. declan has already pushed enough of his views onto them that he's been able to convince people his methods are the most reasonable way in which they can actually strike at the conclave. while that in and of itself is up for debate, he supposed it made sense that they heeded to declan's words a lot of the time, especially if he is making himself out to be one of the most important players within their organization. now, aside from declan, most of the people involved in the rebellion have joined for the right cause. you know, things beyond just plain-out revenge and a thirst for blood. theres a common goal shared between the individuals in this group and thats the idea of unity, respect and ultimately an end to the conclaves reign and the country-wide horrors it has inflicted upon the wasteland since being established. while declan may be okay with risking some rebel lives, thats just not the case for most people. just because you support a cause and you're heavily active in it, it doesn't mean its right for people in positions of leadership to send you to your imminent death. those who died at themus today would be remembered and people would pay tribute to them for their sacrifice but in the end everyone moves along. theres no time to linger and maybe thats a part of it all, this insensitivity to death, as if people are just numbers. there's no problem about moving past certain events although only when its done in a healthy manner. if you keep witnessing death after death and pushing on and on without even giving yourself anytime to grieve for these people, your colleagues, your friends, strangers -- it starts to take a toll on you mentally. it sentences you to a numbness. perhaps edwin himself had long ago reached that stage before he should've. he wasn't even so sure. he felt terrible and yet also nothing. it was a strange, disconcerting feeling to say the least and it doesn't help when headquarters seems be feeding into declan's plans for vengeance against the conclave.
indentif they ended up losing access to the conclaves forts because of concerns about security with the file on the loose and all, it'd be detrimental to not only edwin and constance and their role within the organization but to the rebellion as a whole. in order for them to obtain federal files or paperwork, they'd need to resort to different methods, and you can imagine what those might be considering that going undercover is probably one of the most low-key ways of striking against the conclave. everything deviating from that cannot escape confrontation or some form of violence. that's when declan will make some wild proposition, although of course it won't seem insane all things considered. if they have to change their tactics then thats what they have to do and headquarters will adjust appropriately. if the two of them were going to try and rebuke any future plans declan might propose that are needlessly violent, then they'd definitely need to have some solid reasonings to back their own arguments. luckily, they do for the most part. he can get quite argumentative but neither edwin or constance tend to back down from these sorts of things. its no surprise that they don't, either. they've had to assert their own positions multiple times and they're no strangers to sometimes being the only people to actually object to another's point of view. much of declan's advancements in the rebellion thus far have been without much protest simply due to the fact that again, headquarters and many other rebels have been growing antsy and it seems that listening to that man, as manipulative as he can be, appears to be like the only option for them to make tangible progress against the conclave. for him, the impulsivity of headquarters is a good thing. it allows him to get his own ideals green-lighted because he knows how to work them and what they want. edwin understood how declan's ways might seem like the best bet to satisfy their need to ramp up efforts against the conclave, being as vehement as the man can be. and yes, strangely enough declan is someone to preach that fort break-ins are completely pointless even despite the fact that his own plans rely on the patrol and transportation routes revealed by stolen base files. his entire argument was contradictory and yet somehow it didn't baffle edwin in the slightest. its the sort of thing you have to expect from someone like him. regardless, whether or not the man cared for the rebellion and its purpose, he was hurting their image. its important that they can appeal to the general population, both wastelander and capital citizens alike, and its hard to do that when their cause is being dragged through the mud by some people solely out for blood. declan doesn't really mind falling into the lies of what the conclave claim the rebellion is like. after all, to him the rebellion is just a vehicle for dealing out his own retributions. when you are that enveloped in your own hatred you tend not to care very much for how your actions may impact others. he couldn't say why nobody has put a stop to his behavior but he supposed it all just circled back to desperation. he appeared to be one of the few options they still had to spare and apparently headquarters believed his methods were effective. edwin couldn't argue with the fact that his ambushes tend to work out but at what cost? all of his future plans involve a lot more bloodshed than what constance and edwin are willing to barter and surely other people had to agree with them too.
indentedwin finished off the remainder of his soup following his accusation toward danny. admittedly, some exhaustion was starting to hit him now. today has been a pretty heavy day in terms of both what has occurred as well as what might occur. even though the two of them were sure that more violent acts were going to be proposed sometime in the future, ones that affected bystanders more-so than even them or the conclave, constance had a point when she mentioned that their actions right now were already starting to impact the general population. the deal with that general today -- his decision was on something of a whim. an accusation with no solid footing and yet still, those people had been executed in broad daylight. it just goes to show that it doesn't take very much to impact others unknowingly. their increasingly more direct confrontations with the conclave, including fort snow, didn't exactly elicit an extreme response from the conclave but it didn't mean they just brushed it off and went on without a second thought. obviously, there aren't any particular missions or taskforces actively pursuing the complete eradication of their organization. they would know if there was for they would be unable to sleep without one eye open. but still. if suspected assistance toward the rebellion is enough to cause a general to give the go to a firing squad then imagine how the future might look. they weren't even at their worst right now in terms of pushing the conclave. that means that when they were, things would get ugly. with mass carnage comes mass unrest and a lot of hell will break loose in the event that they strike at the wrong people or at the wrong place or at the wrong time. its going to be hard to even try and rein declan in but they could not afford for him to do something that might put the rebellion at the forefront spot of the conclaves' scope. they didn't want to be their targets, they didn't want all of their technology and assets and weaponry to be focused solely on destroying their group. not only would they be unable to carry out tasks as per usual but their lives would be on the line every single day. its going to be hard to get any progress done with the conclave on their asses, and that's a big part of why edwin didn't understand declan. perhaps he just wasn't one to look into the future, at what his actions may cause. it sounded about right. he's more of a in-the-moment type of guy who loves instant gratification and to hell with what might follow. edwin just couldn't stop thinking about it all. he didn't want to risk everything that the cause has worked so hard to garner over all of these years, not over some foolish decisions at that. what took him out of his silent pondering was the sound of mikey's disbelief at his side. edwin caught the sight of the older man looking from each of their bowls and to his own. it appeared he was finally coming to the realization that his soup was the odd one out but before he could even get a word in, danny was on the defense. called it. danny is a strange man. he's predictable and yet at the same time, not at all. while the older man can be a dolt its not uncommon to see him drop in random tidbits of wisdom at times. its what made danny so..well, danny. and judging by his body language, it seemed constance's earlier comment was now coming to light; they were about to witness a brawl between danny and mikey sometime soon, weren't they? or more specifically, right now it seemed like he first was about to be duking it out with the older man himself.
indent"well then, its a good thing we aren't in the old days anymore then because it looks like i still got my tongue, and you're still lyin' to mikey," he retorted to the man's sudden outburst of denial with a snort, giving the other man beside him a slight shrug as he peered into his distinctly different soup. "damn though, danny. i'm surprised you're giving me that much credit. i mean, to infiltrate the rebellion for this long without breaking character around you fools? please, any undercover conclave agent would've already snapped and tried to strangle you by now. that and if you're such a high profile target then shouldn't you have been taken out by now? y'know, a little something in your soup to knock you out and then bam- hm, that gets me thinking..that sounds kinda like how you did mikey dirty just now-" danny was quick to turn his attention over to constance in an attempt to continue talking his way out of the situation. by the gods, he had to give it to him. he had a way of making a conversation do a complete one-eighty from what it had initially been about, especially when he's the target of the discussion. they've gone from soup to conclave spies, for crying out loud! the man is actually kind-of a genius for how easily he can redirect a conversation to get himself off the hook. edwin now looked to constance just as danny did, trying not to give in to what laughter he felt beginning to rise up in his chest, although he was unable to resist the urge as soon as they laughed. honestly, he was going to take all of danny's spiel as some sort of a twisted compliment. his suits were actually quite wrinkle-free although most of the time he had to improvise when it came to the actual ironing of the garments. it really depends on where they were staying although if they didn't have access to electricity, he had a few different ways to keep his suits so spiffy, apparently just as crease-free as the elites of conclave society. for one, depending on what resources were available to them - if they were lacking the access to electricity in particular - edwin often sought to use a pot or baking tray to act some sort of a makeshift iron. basically, all you need to do is just heat up the pot or tray and treat it just like some sort of an ironing board or table. you place the garment flat on the surface and lay it out, lightly moisten the fabric with some water and light whatever source was going to heat up the kitchenware. you just keep repeating that process until the clothing is crease-free. he supposed it was a lot less glamorous than simply giving your garments over to a presser, someone who will do the work for you. despite the fact that he and constance were humored by danny's actions, not the same could be said for mikey however. edwin glanced over at him to see that he was scowling, and he felt his laughter mellowing out as the confrontation began to ensue between the two men. it appeared that danny wouldn't be able to keep mikey off his trail as he seemed to have intended. technically edwin had started this drama between the two of them although sooner or later the man would've found out that danny duped him. besides, it was nice to be able to focus on something a little bit more light-hearted right now. as much as the two like to get themselves into ridiculous arguments, he knew they were never dead serious about the matter.
indentedwin quickly diverted his attention over to danny, noticing that both him and mikey were suddenly standing up from their positions at the table. his eyes shifted between the two of them warily. and here it comes. the beginnings of danny's rant was nothing short of what he'd expected to come from the man; he was demanding respect and claiming to be a survivor and trying to appeal to mikey all at the same time. it was insanity, and because of it a wide grin was now beginning to spread across his face as the older man scrambled to make up just about any excuse he could to get himself free from the chances of engaging in a brawl with mikey. of course he had to mention that eating old soup builds up your immune system. he could tell that mikey wasn't buying in to danny's attempts of trying to make it out that it wasn't a bad thing that he had taken the older soup. that forced danny to change his methods. gods, now he was demanding appreciation. edwin had to snort. the man really enjoyed going on his tangents about how menacing he was to society, how wanted he was by the conclave. now, he'd love to see him out on the battlefield scaring off some conclave officers, perhaps mowing down one of his larger opponents with his acclaimed sharp agility and quick wits. although to be fair, edwin imagined they might actually flee from danny the moment he begun opening his big mouth. unfortunately for him, his new approach to the situation wasn't exactly working either, for now mikey was stalking around the table and danny was dancing away from him. danny bumped into another table in his efforts to evade mikey. he took a brief moment to look at the old phonograph sitting atop it before reaching over to increase the output level of the cartridge. edwin threw a glance over to constance the moment that danny straightened up, ambling his way on over to the pair as mikey eyed him suspiciously. he could recognize the song that was playing in the background now; 'who's sorry now' by connie francis. edwin raised a brow at the older man's proclamation although constance was quick to comment the same thing that was on his mind. danny seemed to be related to just about every famous gunslinger or every singer, apparently; it all just depended on what he needed to utilize for context. he eyed the man's fidgety body language; every now and then danny threw a look back over to mikey before turning his attention back toward them. danny was doing his best to try and escape from what confrontation mikey sought with him although he was clearly still quite alert in the event that he might get jumped by mikey. to be fair danny was doing a pretty good job of maneuvering his way out of this situation. the older man was something of an expert when it came to untangling himself from nasty situations. usually, he seems to try utilizing multiple different tactics; perhaps he first tries to subtly change the course of the conversation or maybe he appeals to you and if neither of those two work and he's still in a pickle, then its time to flee. granted he gets on the defense really quickly just like how he did earlier but its hilarious. maybe not so much when he's prowling around at conclave forts while they're performing there but still, you get the point. here its harmless, while there...maybe not so much. constance and edwin are no strangers to having to reel danny in from unpleasant situations because he decided to try and fool someone or do something alike. they've saved his big ass a lot but the man never seems to be deterred by what quarrels happen to arise from his interactions with conclave officers. he supposed that not being intimidated by those involved in the conclave was a good thing although again danny tended to get a little too relaxed around them. edwin couldn't recall a single instance where things didn't go awry with danny out and about terrorizing the officers at a base.
indentdanny was quick to redirect their attention back onto him again. dancing. now that was one way to get out of things. he had to admit the sight of the older man trying to pull constance from where they sat the table was quite amusing, partially because edwin wasn't the one being terrorized just yet and partially because constance already looked like she were over his antics. strangely enough danny's attempts to convince constance to join him turned into something of a more genuine truth about their current circumstances. damn, he actually kinda hit the nail on that one too; they'd been sitting around engulfed in what dejection they faced from the loss of their colleagues and even how bleak their future might look. while its important to debate what might come to pass, danny was right; they had to make sure to lift their spirits too, for they could honor the passing of those at themus without crumbling in on themselves. edwin couldn't help but smile lightly at danny's attempt to raise the mood, even if he had initially only intended to escape from mikey's wrath. still sitting behind constance, edwin decided to spur her onward to join danny. "well, you heard the man, constance! vive la révolution!" he cackled, watching as they finally decided to get up and humor danny. with the two of them now moving closer to the table with the phonogram, he noticed that mikey could only watch in irritation since he now had no way to get into a scuffle with the man without bringing constance into the fold. edwin's amusement only lasted for so long, though. it didn't take very much time until mikey had turned his sights toward him. "wait- what?" he groaned, getting to his feet as soon as the man were upon him, urging him from his seat. "ack. good enough balance for one person, not for two, man!" regardless of his protests, though, mikey was quick to pull him away from the table that they'd been occupying for the past while now. for being so clumsy on his feet he was still able to tug edwin about, and now he could understand why danny had been so fierce in his attempts to run from mikey's clutches. honestly edwin was pretty sure he got the short end of the stick right now considering that mikey himself admitted he was still kinda hammered. by the gods, they'd just gotten up and he was already trying to keep the older man steady, his hands firmly planted on mikey's shoulders rather than simply being draped atop them. edwin was trying to keep him as stable as possible and to be honest he was more focused on trying not to topple over should mikey fumble and bring him down with him or something. sure they weren't moving very fast due to the nature of slow dancing but they must look pretty goofy right now. mikey would sometimes slip up and edwin would be there to try and right him. the entertainer could hear the dim sound of the music being emitted from the instrument beneath the chatter coming from danny and constance as well. he looked to mikey. "well, are we showing those two how entertainers dance? because right now, it looks like you're gonna stumble--"
indent"shush!" mikey urged, trying to make the effort not to trip over his own feet, "we sure ain't gonna be the ones looking like we know what we're doin' if you keep telling me where to step or somethin'! i've got this, see?!" he noticed the man look to danny and constance from the corner of his eye, as if he to note whether or not the two of them were checking out their amazing dance moves. edwin scowled. as if he and mikey had created any proper rhythm to begin with. his time spent with the older man didn't last long however, fortunately enough for him. the sound of constance's voice made edwin's head swivel toward the noise, only to see her and danny swaying closer to them until constance declared she was coming in -- the entertainer quickly let loose of mikey, allowing him to stumble backwards into danny after being bumped aside by constance. "my hero, finally!" edwin joked, bringing his hands to their hips as their own hands went to his shoulders. he wasn't surprised about how easy it had been to knock mikey from him and into danny -- the man had been swaying and not the type that requires a rhythm. by now danny and mikey were probably trustworthy enough not to strangle each-other. their moments of goofiness tend to dissipate pretty quickly considering how close they are to one another. he returned constance's smile. "mhm..yeah, i owe you for that. somehow mikey made it feel like we were on the dance floor for hours rather than a few minutes. it was practically beginning to be a workout trying to keep him from ramming into me," he chuckled, throwing a glance over to the disgruntled pair in question before looking back down to constance. "heh. true. they'll sort it out pretty quickly knowing them." granted he could still hear them going back and forth amidst the sound of the phonogram right now but they'd come to their senses eventually. apart from the four of them, the dining hall was empty -- he could only assume that most of their band had already retired to go and get some rest after getting something to eat. all things considered, today was by no means an easy ride. they'd started the day off at a conclave fort and they performed there for a good while before immediately packing up and hitting the road to arcadia so that they could try and make contact with their themus colleagues. obviously, that portion of the plan didn't work out. they had to endure a lockdown, smuggle two desperate wastelanders out of the city and drop them off at mountmend. only after all of that could they head over to the outpost and even there they still had to suffer some more, hearing the confirmation of the situation at themus from maven herself. he supposed it was all starting to wear at him. his exhaustion has been tucked away at the back of his mind similarly to how the phonogram was humming lightly in the background right now -- although considering that they were now distracted from their more immediate grievances, he felt a sluggish heaviness starting to come upon him. the lanterns were now dimmed and the general activity about the place was starting to taper off the further they descended into the night. lots of rebels don't have the most typical of sleep schedules but even then the activity has been slowing around here. nobody was making any moves to go ahead and browse through the supply restock areas due to the fact that travel is a bit more than unstable right now. nobody's going to be heading out in the morning since they would have to lay low for who knows how long now. the next few weeks were something of a mystery to all of them. edwin supposed it depended on what moves the conclave made next -- they were already quite wound up by the disappearance of this file and if it stayed out of their grasp for much longer, who knows what would come next? they had to play it safe for now and that meant doing anything but strutting around the dixon wasteland.
indentconstance wasn't insanely shorter than him although when she leaned her head against his clavicle, he was able to lightly rest his own face against the side of her head. when she spoke up again, her words didn't take him off guard; he was honestly curious about much the same. and as expected, it didn't take long for the to of them to ponder what outcomes might present themselves following the lost file once again. considering this occurrence affected them a lot more than they might've expected, they had no choice but to discuss these matters. "well, when you put it like that our resumes do look a little lacking," he snorted. entertainers who couldn't even perform? gods, it was frustrating how easily the conclave could tear away one of their most vital access points just because somehow that file managed to leave the hands of their passed colleagues. edwin moved slowly with the tune of the phonogram even despite the grumblings of danny and mike in the background. "i guess if worse comes to worse we might have to go out of comfort zone a little. like you said, we could become involved with smuggling missions. technically speaking, that sort of a mission might just be our most secure option somehow. i mean hell we've already managed to practice that skill today and it looks like we still got it. but yeah i'd say fort break-ins are probably out of the picture considering the fact that we're not even interested in participating in the first place and because we have an idea that things are probably going to get a lot more riskier if declan does end up convincing headquarters to follow his approach." during their time in the rebellion, constance and edwin have both done their fair share of different tasks before. they've accompanied dregs to certain checkpoints, they've been involved in fort break-ins and they've smuggled rebels out of high risk areas. fort break-ins already had a reputation of being dangerous but like constance mentioned even aiding dregs might become more difficult. that damned syndicate. the entertainer had to repress a shudder at their comment about the dregs. "i know..its awful and actually quite disturbing. none of the treatment they receive is fair, either. dregs are already targets of the conclave because they're no longer needed by them but to also be targeted by the odawa syndicate? i mean damn, can anyone ever get a break? i swear there's always someone somewhere trying to eradicate something or other. you know me, though, constance. i never pass up helping a dreg out. and honestly? i know that things are getting more difficult to maneuver and whatnot but if that's our excuse then we're never going to get anywhere. the syndicate, they set up traps and they ambush parties conclave or not just to get their hands on any androids or technology they can only to whisk it all away to gods knows where, all after murdering the humans accompanying the androids, of course. i guess going back to your actual question, well..its up for debate. we have to be of some use if forts face some long lockdown periods putting us out of our line of work. too bad our skills aren't super interchangeable. i don't know though, how do you feel about amping up what risk we might just face? i mean would you even want to be involved in accompanying a dreg? i don't want to be put into danger anymore than the next person but if we don't have much choice..i'd rather not end up being apart of some band that plays as we all get decimated on the battlefield or something. pfft, maybe we really should just barter off mikey and danny to some bandit slavers after all. at-least then we wouldn't be broke."
indentnot far from them, he could hear mikey suddenly pipe up. he was probably jostling danny around over what he heard come from edwin's mouth."now, hold on there a second. danny? danny! do you hear what these two fools are saying over there?"
indentwithin a matter of seconds, mikey had shuffled over beside the pair, urging danny alongside him just as he had done to edwin earlier when he tried to get him to dance with him. edwin watched them from the corner of his eye. "what? is it our turn to have done something wrong? i thought you guys were still on the soup topic." of course mikey had to overhear his last comment. now things would go from danny being pitted against mikey to constance and edwin needing to defend themselves. he paused in his steps, drawing his hands back from constances' hips to turn and face the two with a scowl. mikey exchanged a glance with danny when they managed to finally get their attention. "the soup?! please, thats a topic of the past now. me and danny? we're still just as close as ever, just like nothing ever happened. that's the lesson in life you oughta learn. verbally or physically duke it out real quick and be done with it! and thats just what we did, no thanks to y'all. forget that, though! what the hell are you buffoons talkin' about? it's not like we ain't in the same room or anything! now, if we're on the topic of bandit slavers..well, i'll be the first to warn you two that me and danny? yeah, we've been through our fair share of struggles, alright? you guys wouldn't be even be able to stomach what we've been through. and this man right here?" one of his hands roughly patted danny's shoulder, "he's a damn survivor, i tell you! just like me. and there's no easy way to get rid of us survivors, you hear? maybe we'll be the ones to try and sell you lot, what about that? ever thought about how we could turn around and try to do the same thing as y'all?" edwin had to raise a brow as the older man spoke, briefly glancing to constance. the two of them had been joking but it wasn't unlike the two older men to take their words out of context just to go onto some sort of a rant. maybe they really just did it so that they could argue with constance and edwin. he wasn't so sure. either way, it was pretty entertaining all things considered. plus it indicated that the two were suddenly back on good terms again. "really. first of all, we didn't mean it and second of all, the hell kind of experiences you or danny got with bandit slavers? err..well, on second thought, actually, i don't even wanna know." now mentioning that would only bring up a whole plethora of absurd stories just so that they could try to prove their point and he'd much rather not stand around having to listen to the two of them go on one of their infamous spiels. danny and mikey tended to get like this when they were around each-other and he supposed it didn't help that mikey was becoming hungover from his earlier drinking and danny was already riled up from the earlier incident with the soup. "you two gotta calm down, i mean how the hell are you both so ready to argue at this time of the night? i'll give this though, its actually a bit impressive if anything." this elicited a smug crossing of the arms from mikey. "yeah, yeah. its not our fault you guys can't handle it though. i mean hell, you'd think that anybody in this day and age can get away with saying whatever they want with no repercussions or consequences by the way you two are running your mouths sometimes! back in the day, you'd never be able to get away with saying something like that, especially not around people like us! you're lucky things have changed or else you guys would need to learn that some people just ain't to be messed with, not unless you want a bullet through your damn heads! i mean, danny, seriously, what do you say?! it ain't right for some bozos to be talking about us like that behind our backs, is it?!" edwin had to snort at their display right now. theres never a dull moment with the two of them. one second you're enjoying the peace and quiet and the next you're being accused of something or other. and of course they just had to bring up the whole back-in-the-day speech. he should've seen that one coming.
indentedwin only shook his head in amusement at mikey's words, taking a step around the two of them so that he could head back over to the table they'd originally been presiding at, lightly nudging constances' arm as cue for them to ditch the two morons right now. as he ambled away he already knew the two of them had grimaces upon their faces judging by the incoherent grumbling he could now hear. "say one thing and we put our necks on the line, huh?" he joked to constance, reaching over to retrieve his now-empty soup bowl from the table. he picked up his glass of water so that he could finish its contents off with a quick chug before it too was now void of any liquid. he supposed they might as well start cleaning up their table -- he noticed that danny and mikey hadn't finished their soups but honestly he didn't care how long they decided to stay up lounging about here. after a moment, he turned his gaze back over to constance again. "and hey, i know we keep talking about what might happen if we fully loose access to forts and stuff, but can you imagine if we don't? what kind of steps will the conclave even take in trying to limit outside access onto their bases? do you think it'll start slowly and get increasingly more and more restrictive? i think its likely they'll probably cut any unnecessary staff first and then if the situation with that file doesn't get any better, then maybe they'll fully forbid individuals outside of the conclave from being allowed to step within a fort. that's when we'd be in trouble, i guess. i hope it doesn't come to that. right now, its more important than ever that we can have some sort of a foothold on the conclave's affairs even if its just federal files and paperwork like base reports. i mean, hell, if we can't get our hands on that stuff, we won't have up to date information pertaining to patrol and transportation routes. now that will put us at a quick disadvantage." of course, there are ways to predict certain routes that the conclave might utilize for transportation and whatnot just based off of historical patterns but that's no sure way to look at it all. they couldn't really risk just showing up somewhere to ambush a convoy only for nothing to show along the road they only suspected they might take. guesses and approximations wouldn't cut it, not in their line of work. the fact that all they could really do was hope their situation wouldn't become even more dismal made him feel a new type of powerless. their ability to keep pursuing their usual missions undercover at forts was at risk right now and they couldn't do a single thing about it. knowing their luck, they'd probably for real end up having to do some fort break-ins. the rebellion has always been aware of the fact that these sort of operations rely heavily on the conclave's jurisdictions surrounding security and alike but its easy to forget that when you're always travelling to a different base to perform a gig. you get so caught up in it all that you might not even realize how easily all of this could be stripped from you. edwin wasn't the type to be arrogant or anything but their work was critical to the rebellion, especially right now. it seemed that somehow the events that happened at themus only caused more suffering for their cause, more uncertainties and more nervousness. go figure.
indentedwin headed over toward the kitchen area so that he could deposit his used cutlery and dishes into a racks of utensils needing to be washed. he felt himself growing rather tired and now that they'd been goofing around with danny and mikey that only exacerbated his exhaustion further. with a huff, he glanced back over to constance. "say, how are you feeling? i don't know about you, but i think today is starting to get to me. that or the insanity in here is finally taking its toll on me, although i can't tell if its normal to feel that way from being around those two for so long or if its genuine tiredness." he threw a wary glance over his shoulder to see the two menaces in question now beginning to scarf down some of their soup. well, danny was, at-least. edwin was pretty sure that mikey had just given up on his soup altogether and at this point the older man didn't even care enough to get a proper second bowl. they were probably going to head over to where the two of them were standing at the kitchen area so that they could too set away their used soup bowls soon enough. he had no idea whether or not the two older men were actually deciding to call it a night or not or if they were only hanging about to annoy constance and edwin so now that they were beginning to pack up, so were they. he sighed. "with all the crap we've been through, we deserve some actual rest. who knows what the rest of this week is even going to hold for us. i mean, just talking about what this means for us, for our band and for the damn rebellion itself is mentally draining enough. i wish we'd been able to get our hands on that file. the conclave is so desperate and seeing them like this..gods, to think we would've had something of great importance to them in our possession if we'd successfully retrieved it. its so damn frustrating. and now that we don't even have the file we're just suffering as a result of its disappearance. we literally got no upper-hand from that break-in, none at all..it put a lot on the line. i guess headquarters knew that, though. it was a make or break type of situation and obviously it didn't work in our favor. don't you feel like it'd be easy to argue against declan's points, knowing these sorts of factors? it just seems so logical to think this way and yet a lot of people don't, simply because they're blinded by the quickest and most obvious option, and that would be striking against the conclave as directly as possible. if we do that, we're gonna jeopardize a lot more than just our ability to perform at bases. it'll get even worse than permanent lockdowns at forts. i don't know, just..ugh." he really couldn't go on much longer for his brain was moving rapidly just thinking about it all -- how can one day produce so much bad fortune? all of their newfound miseries were stemming from one single break-in attempt. he supposed it showed to be a good reason as to why they need to be more careful in the future; look how much can be threatened just because they'd attempted something and it happened to go even further awry than they'd ever imagined? that file was somewhere out in the wasteland and wherever it was, the conclave was going to have a hard time finding it, thats for sure. its why they had to expect the worst, too. with the likelihood of the conclave retrieving the file once again being considerably low, they needed to prepare and take the extra precautions now as to how they should move in the future, hence why constance had asked him about what he thinks they might need to take up should they be unable to perform their usual duties. it may appear to an outsider that they are being overly fretful right now but all of their concerns are necessary. if not, they'd be left in a daze the moment the conclave decides that they need their security to be at its maximum level. they couldn't afford to be panicking or unsure of what they need to be doing. they have to have a clear mind as well as a back-up to what their current circumstances offered. edwin felt that the two of them were doing a pretty good job of discussing things so far though. of course headquarters ultimately dictates what moves they make but it was nice to have some sort of an idea formulated as to where their attention might be focused in the near future. regardless, right now, calling it a night or not was up to constance. he'd be able to manage keeping himself awake for the next while if they wanted to continue their discussions, and he'd be just as willing to go and get some rest too. edwin didn't really mind.

[vaell]

ＪＵＬＩＡＮ　ＭＯＲＥＮＯ.

xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa wastelander / future rebel. | unaffiliated. | tagged: valentina.
xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
indentjulian was grinning at the sight of the now-illuminated boulder, their lantern washing the length of the rock over in a warm hue of gold. the glow it casted upon their immediate vicinity also allowed for him to peer out at what was laid ahead of them, edges of the dark of night now being licked away at by a flickering lamplight. he could easily see the remainders of what once must have been a solid row of iron fencing sat directly behind the boulder, and a few acres beyond that, he was able to make out the remains of collapsed buildings and machinery. valentina was quick to identify their location. boyer site work and development. the two of them have never travelled out to the pre-war construction site before considering they really had no need to be venturing this far out into the unmarked wasteland for no viable reason but he could remember it well enough from spoken word or from seeing its name etched onto maps. julian could only assume they were a ways off from the main-roads now and thus a considerable distance from both arcadia and laurel oaks, which happened to be one of the few things he could take reassurance in right now. and obviously as long as they kept out of the boundaries of the construction site they'd probably be safe but even still, he felt a little uneasy at the sight of the ruins of buildings and machinery from where he and valentina lingered about its outskirts. he knew that they weren't going to be able to stumble upon some magically ideal and safe location to set up camp for the night, but it didn't make him any more excited about the time they'd need to spend out here in the open right beside the eerily desolate construction site. "yeah well, i guess i'm officially going to be sleeping with one eye open tonight," he grumbled. his enthused demeanor regarding their discovery of a potential source of shelter was quick to die out but thats not a surprise. there's not much to be able to be exuberant about when the feeling of paranoia starts trickling in again every passing minute. that's just how its like out here. and no matter where they ended up settling, julian's current frame of mind would not have changed. he was so alert right now that he could easily shake the tiredness from both his mind and his limbs, hardly needing to even fight against any grogginess trying to invade his senses. although they were now well immersed into the thick of night, he was much more awake than he had been back at laurel oaks when they were packing up. he was sure that after eating whatever they might catch he'd grow more weary with exhaustion but right now that was not the case. well, assuming they even catch anything in the first place, that is. his eyes briefly darted around their surroundings in a sporadic manner although for the most part his attempts to see into the darkness was futile considering that the human eye has a hard time discerning much beyond a certain point especially in the dead of night. the same cannot be said for the nocturnal creatures of the wasteland, though. many different predators have excellent night vision due to a reflective surface behind their retina, the tapetum lucidum. the thin layer allows light to reflect back into a creatures eyes after its already passed through which gives them two chances to amass an adequate amount of light. where they as humans struggled with seeing perception of edges, movement, and silhouettes in the dim light, nocturnal creatures are at no disadvantage there. he supposed the list of reasons as to why travelling the wasteland during the nighttime is risky only grew and grew in size the more you thought about it. out here they had the odds stacked against them while most inhabitants that lurked around these areas - wastelander or not - tended to have some sort of a foothold on their environment, one that gives them the immediate advantage over an opponent. he and valentina weren't doomed so long as they played their cards right however. they were probably most vulnerable when they would be either hunting, eating or sleeping although even that just sounds like every passing moment they'd have to endure anyhow. he'd rather not get jumped in his sleep and wake up to pure calamity racking their campsite but at this point julian was preparing himself to be ready for anything. maybe he and valentina would need to sleep on a shift schedule if they thought it would be safer that way, taking turns of one of them staying awake while the other slept. he wasn't so sure.
indentjulian watched as his cousin dismounted mars, promptly taking the stallion by the reins in order to lead them closer to the boulder. as they approached the massive rock, he was quick to notice that the height of the boulder itself was staggering, much more so up close. it easily towered over the two cousins, giving them a considerable amount of coverage for what its worth. they could at-least be assured that their fire wouldn't need to take the brunt of a strong breeze due to the shielding the massive rock provided. generally speaking its just better to rely on and utilize whatever natural elements you can while you're out in the wilderness considering that most buildings are either overrun by ghouls or bandits or any other unscrupulous individuals of the like. to purposefully walk into an abandoned building unprepared would be something of a death wish, hence why they were keeping well outside the bounds of the construction site. at-least this way they weren't in imminent danger although nonetheless they would still need to be quite heedful of their surroundings. as soon as they came to a halt, julian was next to dismount mars, his hands immediately going up to lightly grasp the stock of his shotgun slung across his chest as his feet finally made contact with the ground below. admittedly, her proposal to check out the area they were currently situated at on the map made him a bit concerned, only because a part of him wanted to remain blissfully ignorant about what ominous places might be marked nearby on the parchment, but they had to map everything out eventually. "guess that works," he mildly agreed, shuffling around mars to join valentina where she was still sorting through the contents of their saddlebags. it didn't take her too long to procure the map out from all of their belongings. as she unfolded the map, he edged closer toward her in order to take a peek at its contents as well. when valentina held it out in front of her, their lantern casted a wavering glow to flutter about the map, lighting it up decently enough so that he could see that the parchment was heavily creased with distinct lines from where they've folded it into a smaller size countless upon countless times before. as expected, the document itself bore signs of obvious wear and exposure from the elements, its edges lightly torn and its surface both faded and lightly stained. considering that they had originally bought it from a mapmaker in arcadia some time back, they couldn't expect the map to be up to date aside from the more prominent of locations such as cities or the construction area. the permanence of settlements happened to be one of the most fluctuating components when it came to referring to handmade maps; various different places can easily turn abandoned or become infested with bandits and thus would need to be retracted from the map. they didn't really have the ability to constantly get an updated version of the map of the southwestern dixon wasteland hence why several places had been crossed out by hand. his eyes wandered the map for boyer site work and development, just as valentina's did. the map outlined everything that they would need to know or be aware of regardless of its lack-of detailing. settlements, towns, unique landmarks, abandoned sites..everything. it will serve to be quite useful to them as they maneuver their way from their current position in the unmarked portions of the wasteland and to where they suspected the freedmen were. when valentina firstly located laurel oaks, julian faintly nodded his head, his eyes jumping to where her finger landed on the document. her fingertip was surrounded by a small ring of red which surrounded the dot she was now obscuring from sight. now to travel northwest, to find boyer site work and development..his eyes trailed in that direction but his cousin was quick to find their current position even before he could once again. she jutted her finger against the marking just a ways off from laurel oaks. "hmm.." one of his hands came up to the side of the map so that he could gently tug the parchment a bit more straight in order for them to have a much more clear view of the hand-written points of the map. the lines in the map lessened as he helped to hold it somewhat taut.
indenthis eyes strayed from the marking of the construction site and to what was in closest proximity to them. a few villages had been crossed out while many still-existing towns and settlements still dotted the area. most notably sat an abandoned conclave military camp just south of boyer site work and development -- how it came to be forsaken was a story almost engraved into his mind; he and valentina had gotten the news relayed to them from their parents, about how some soldiers thought it was a bright idea to snatch some sharpclaw eggs from a nest. obviously, it ended up biting them in the ass. more than that even. the military camp was subsequently attacked by two huge sharpclaws during the middle of the night and he supposed the rest was history. what do you expect when a pair of enormous reptiles come mowing through an assortment of tents and vehicles looking for vengeance? a ton of conclave personnel and soldiers had been killed by the beasts and evidently to this day the conclave had not taken action against the sharpclaws, for an entire clan of the creatures ended up infesting the military camp. considering the scale of such an event, its no wonder that particular encampment has become something all travellers are sure to be cautious of. you don't want to find yourself stumbling upon the bivouac let alone entering the territory the sharpclaws have declared as their own. anyone would be mauled before having a second thought about it, no matter of what claims a person might be making of going in there to retrieve some of the damaged conclave property left behind or even an attempt to go in there and put an end to the beasts. its true that sharpclaws rarely attack unless provoked and that they don't tend to seek out human prey but it didn't make julian any less wary of even being in the same vicinity as multiple of them. regardless the abandoned military camp was a destination they would be sure not to cross. the other more menacing of locations marked on the map also happened to be the rock quarry west of arcadia. any place home to a dangerous creature was one that they would instantly be trying to steer clear of -- in this case in particular, a nightstalker just happened to be the beast to haunt the quarry. not even much is known about these creatures in the first place purely due to how hard it is to study them in their natural habitat. he supposed it made sense that the predator had taken up residence in the quarry's open-pit mine since nightstalkers tend to favor occupying dark, enclosed spaces such as old tunnels, mines or sewers. the beast has been there for decades, inspiring fear in the locals since before valentina or julian were even born. they're known to be hostile toward conclave aerial ships to some degree, hence why old rumors have circulated for years that it was the very beast that brought down the airship later to become the bustling city of arcadia. julian could buy that. what else could explain the event anyhow? well technically that topic could become a whole other spiel but forget it, it was just easier to buy into what everyone else claimed was the most logical explanation for the destruction of the infamous airship. nightstalkers are much more durable of creatures than sharpclaws are given the sheer size of them; showering them with bullets will not yield the same result as it might to a shrieker or a sharpclaw whom could be eliminated by extermination parties. julian could only imagine the network of tunnels nightstalkers have underground. they burrow far beneath the earth and they can strike when their opponent is least assuming thanks to their hidden positions beneath ground. its a part of what made them so sinister, their ability to remain hidden from sight. you can't even anticipate a nightstalker attack from below nor would you have any time to react. he had to resist a shudder at the thought of a nightstalker ambush. evidently, the quarry was another location they'd need to avoid.
indentjulian's attention was again caught by the movement of valentina's hand; now she was pointing to a few dots on the northwestern section of the map. it looked like thats where they would be headed. "captiva, saint george and blountstown..got it. at-least we aren't running around looking for some elusive band of people, otherwise this would've been hell. if anyone has an idea though, some bartender has definitely gotta know something about the freedmens' whereabouts," he had to agree with her; it made the most sense to focus on the towns rather than the settlements located northwest, and surely they'd be able to get some information on the exact location of the freedmen by asking around. valentina held up the map for a few more seconds before beginning to fold it in its usual creases. julian's hand fell from the parchment. now things were going to get a bit more irksome considering they still had yet to eat. hopefully they wouldn't wind up empty-handed -- he wasn't going to be picky considering that the likelihood of them stumbling upon any creature of some substance seemed to be rather bleak. besides it's not necessarily easy to take down larger creatures, even in broad daylight. spotting and shooting in the dark is a difficult task, one that many hunters must adjust to. typically speaking, rodents and insects tend to be very susceptible to being hunted due to the fact many of these creatures are often much more active during these hours of the day. so technically, there are opportunities if you happen to target the right areas. of course he would prefer a wild boar over any other vermin just like valentina had mentioned earlier but right now they couldn't be too selective. hopefully they'd get lucky though. right now they'd need to set up camp before anything else however. "yeah, that sounds good to me," julian slung his shotgun across his back once again, keeping in mind the fact that they would need to trade in their guns for bows instead. the thought of them firing off a few rounds and disrupting the stark quiet of the wasteland at night was a ridiculous enough image. he promptly stepped toward mars, heeding to his cousins suggestion that he begin unpacking some of the items they'd need to utilize for the night. she produced some matches from mars' saddlebags before unhooking the lantern from his saddle, causing the light within to briefly sway about before she set it soundly on the ground. their small area was generally pretty well lit up by the source of light although beyond the lanterns glow things were still quite uncertain. the mention of their sand-cats was enough to elicit a groan of annoyance from him. gideon and morris have been bound up in their saddlebags for almost the entirety of the day and every time he had checked up on them, they looked none too happy to be disturbed. "why do i have to be the one to risk getting my face clawed off?" despite his complaints however, he knew better than to try and start arguing with valentina over something so insignificant right now. still, that didn't mean he wanted to be the one to dish out some food to their rather disgruntled sand-cats. julian reached over to untie one of their pots and one of their pans from the rings located at the rear of the saddle, easily undoing the knots he'd made earlier with some spare rope. it wasn't their first time erecting a campsite out in the wasteland so a lot of the steps they had to take weren't necessarily new aside from the fact that usually they weren't carrying all of their belongings with them. as he begun setting down the pot and the pan he'd collected from mars near the base of the boulder, valentina had already set off to find them some kindling for their fire. while she was temporarily locating what they'd need to kickstart their fire, julian was quick to round about back over to mars, now seeking to free their bedrolls from where they were securely tied onto the back of mars' saddle. once he freed them with a huff, he lightly tossed the two of them onto the ground within the limits of the lanterns light, causing some sand to stir up from the earth. the two bedrolls were quite compactly rolled up right now due to the fact they'd been storing them on mars. julian momentarily leaned down so that he could unfold the sleeping bags, rolling the lengths of the material down until they were both flat on the ground. one might say that sleeping in the middle of the wilderness in a bedroll isn't that safe nor is it comfortable but honestly? he could work with the latter. he and valentina usually slept on tattered mattresses with springs poking through the seams anyhow so this was - in his opinion - something of an upgrade. true the creatures of the night stalking about is much more of a downside since they no longer have the walls of their home to protect them but he supposed you just have to see the best in your situation. julian rose back up to his feet after finishing the task, snatching up the pouch valentina had referred to earlier. curiously, he drew it open, peering an eye into its innards. as expected, several pieces of beef jerky were within. the sight nearly made his stomach growl with hunger. it most definitely was not enough to feed either him or valentina but still, just the sight of food alone right now was too much.
indentwith a rather distinct scowl now on his face, he ambled his way back over to their saddlebags with the pouch in hand. even before opening up the damn saddlebags he already knew those two greedy little bastards were going to scarf the jerky down in a matter of seconds. julian drew back the cover to see a rather irked pair of sand-cats staring back up at him with their large eyes. reluctantly, he held up the pouch of jerky for gideon and morris to spot, the action causing their ears to swivel forward in interest. morris inched upward from the depths of the saddlebag, gingerly sniffing at the bottom the pouch. as soon as the rascal caught onto the scent of food, one of its forepaws went up to grasp at the side of the pouch, claws lightly digging into the material to pull it toward them and from julian. for a brief moment he decided to exert some weight on his own end to create a bit of a tug-of-war between him and the sand-cat but he let up as soon as morris let out a low squeak of warning. "gods, alright!" he exclaimed in something of a whisper, peering into the saddlebag to see morris holding the pouch for both him and gideon to access. morris' long, flexible tail lightly lashed from where he sat huddled among all of their belongings. julian grumbled incoherently over the two sand-cats beginning to rummage within the pouch with a ravenous hunger -- he hadn't even realized that valentina had already emerged from the darkness with an armful of twigs and pampas grass, not until he heard her quip. "ha, so kind of you to check in on me. i am in-fact still alive although morris almost lashed out on me for withholding the jerky for like one second, so i guess that tells you just how hungry they are. that, or just plain out annoyed. probably both. either way it looks like you won't be getting your ass beat by some conclave goons all alone. hm..well actually, now that i think about it, maybe it would be better just to get taken out by our sand-cats before we really get our crap rocked or something." julian snorted, eyeing the two of their sand-cats. despite the fact that morris and gideon are a little ill-tempered, sand-cats are actually quite the useful asset to the life of a wastelander. they're utilized as weather detectors, although in the wild they're quite non-confrontational, shy, if anything and rather harmless. they usually flee at any attacks for if another creature lunges at them, they'll find themselves in a rather bad situation considering their rather low torpor. he doubted gideon and morris would back down from a challenge though. they'd probably be the ones to scare off some huge ass predator and make it out alive. honestly they might just be the exception to the rule that sand-cats are easy prey for many predators. a lot of sand-cats can be trusted to be roaming about, following their owner or even riding on a persons shoulder but again their sand-cats did not seem to abide by the usual rules of their species. julian knew too well just how flighty gideon was -- the damn sand-cat loved to run off whenever they were out in the wasteland. its why they kept him in the saddlebag in the first place considering they didn't really have a cage for him. he could remember quite well various instances in which he was forced to bolt after a fleeing gideon because valentina was preoccupied with tracking down an animal, although that was way back when they were first discovering his enjoyment of running away from them. morris on the other hand - well, he didn't exactly partake in gideon's bouts of running away. he was much the opposite. while it's great that he does not try and run away into the wilderness, it can be quite annoying to try and locate an indolent little creature. usually their sand-cats accompany them on trips to the marketplace and morris has the bad habit of finding a little alcove of a stall or some space on a dangling basket half-full of merchandise and staying there to curl up and rest. there have been occasions where he and valentina have walked away from a vendor after they've dealt their business with them and it took him a solid few minutes to realize morris hadn't even followed along with them at all. the critter just finds it easy to get comfortable in strange places he supposed. keeping the sand-cat on his shoulder didn't much help either because he hates not being able to poke about his immediate environment; he'll usually hop off even from that height, nimble as he is. either way their sand-cats' strange behavior made them both nuisances so he and valentina learned quickly to keep them in the saddlebags. gideon and morris both get lost too easily and in different ways and its honestly just too stressful. regardless, what gideon and morris did unfortunately have in common happened to be a rather grouchy nature. julian was pretty sure that even if they weren't hungry, they'd still be annoyed with him.
indentthe two of their sand-cats were terrors most of the time but truthfully he was more than glad they had them in their lives. sand-cats often warn people about incoming weather conditions through a mixture of different motions or growls -- hence why its important to always keep them close so that if they alert you of anything, you can seek shelter as needed. you can be able to differentiate between what a sand-cat might be indicating of the weather depending on what its doing. for example, in the event of acid rain a sand-cat will likely emit a high pitched chirping-like sound while barking up at the sky. in contrast, if theres a brewing lightning storm, they might make a low toned growl-like sound while flattening their ears and wagging their tail. its no wonder why they're found so frequently in settlements -- they're not just there to be a cute little creature to look at, although he was sure some people possessed them for that reason alone and if he had to guess, it'd be bastards who don't actually require weather warnings and who else could that be but those fortunate enough to be living within the security of the capital. julian brought the cover of the saddlebag back down over the two sand-cats who were now beginning to grapple over their food. they were far too preoccupied with the jerky to even notice him close the saddlebag up. every now and then he'd hear a quiet squeak of disagreement between the two but other than that they weren't behaving too out of hand, as in trying to completely steal all of the jerky from the other. he threw a glance over at his cousin to see what progress she'd made thus far. it appeared that she was still watching over the flames to ensure they wouldn't die out immediately. he decided to detach their spit from the leather clasps of their saddlebags considering that they would need it if they were going to properly cook whatever they might catch. he could only hope it wouldn't be some insect. julian looked back over to valentina before approaching her and the developing fire, leaning down to erect the spit atop the growing flames so that they wouldn't have to be bothered to do so later. "looks like the fire is doing pretty well, so thats good. it'll probably be steady in a minute or two. i'll grab our bows so that we can set out," he back-tracked over to where he had just been at mars' side and paused near the rear of the saddle. they had bow scabbards hung on the stallions saddle although it didn't hinder mars considering that the placement of the scabbards allowed for their weight to be offset properly whenever they mounted. julian first took valentina's own bow and arrow, taking a step back toward her so that they weren't more than a few feet away from each-other and so that he would first catch her attention. "here, catch," he carefully tossed the bow over to his cousin followed by a quiver filled with a decent amount of arrows. they'd split their share between the two of them so they had roughly the same amount of arrows at their respective disposals. julian detached his own bow from the bow scabbard on mars' saddle. since he'd purchased the weapon locally at the marketplace some time back, the bow was carved from red elm wood while the bowstrings were made from animal sinew. he decided he might as well keep his shotgun slung across his back -- besides, its better to be safe than sorry, even if he wasn't planning on using it for the actual hunting process. he shouldered his own quiver, made up primarily of leather and wood as well as other natural materials. the shafts of the arrows held within had been made from strong, lightweight wood, which were also sourced locally from an arcadian vendor. "oh, and you can take the lantern 'cause you're already right there beside it anyway." at-least they'd have the fire to utilize as a way to get back to their camp. plus, the fire would also help stave off any curious creatures from poking around where their animals and their stuff was all set up. its not like they'd be venturing very far in the first place but still. speaking of which, it appeared that valentina's attempt to cultivate the small flame was successful after all. pampas grass is highly flammable so they were lucky to be able to have such a strong agent for their campfire -- the flames were now much steadier, crackling against the moderate night breeze as they engulfed the kindling greedily. "bravo, what an impressive fire-building session! anyways, can we go already? just looking at the jerky earlier was killing me. i bet you gideon and morris are a bit more content now having ate some form of sustenance. i can't even hear them bickering over the jerky anymore so thats a good sign. huh; maybe it was wrong of me to trust them to even be able to properly share but hey, i think they did okay. when i was watching them that is. whatever, thats beside the point- lets just go and get this over with already. since we don't want to breach the boundaries of the construction site, we might as well head straight on from the boulder. there's some old farm machinery laying about nearby here so at-least we might be able to conjure up some semblance of stealth to our approaches. y'know, use what we can as cover and whatnot while we scout the area given how flat and open the land is."
indentthe pair of cousins were definitely going to have to endure their fair share of obstacles regardless of whether or not they went out to hunt or if they set up a trap. it might prove difficult to properly track any creatures down because of the fact they had to bring their lantern along with them considering that an animal might spot the light but they really didn't have a choice in the matter unless they wanted to be stuck trekking along in the dark. they'd have to be mindful of where they step, too. now that they had a better understanding of where they were thanks to their map at-least they were aware of what areas not to venture to and what directions to avoid, not that they'd be heading that far from their campfire in the first place. as long as they didn't wind up intruding on the marked territory of some predator, they shouldn't be at as high of a risk of getting mauled or something. of course they'd still have to be alert for any random attacks but they were far better off if they avoided any obvious territorial markings. since he'd instructed valentina to take the lantern, julian would have to be the one to stay close to her as they roamed about. either way he didn't want to wander too far from the glow of the lantern in the event that he gets ambushed by some pesky little critter in the dead of night. julian squinted into the pitch of darkness so that he could relocate the outlines of some abandoned farm machinery just a little ways off from the construction site. the tractor had to be just on the edge of some old farmland -- which meant that he and valentina would have a pretty good chance of finding some animals lurking about there. foxes in particular can be found living on the outskirts of farmlands. "you see that collapsed tractor over there?" he motioned over toward where he was looking in the near distance, bow in hand. the two of them wouldn't have to stray very far from their campsite in order to try and track down some creatures within that area. "i'd bet theres gotta be burrows out there home to some foxes; i mean hell, maybe we might even end up stumbling upon a badgers burrow. either way i'd be happy. at-least finding a den would be a sign that they're occupying the area. plus a fox or a badger? far better than eating some insects." considering that the creatures are nocturnal, he was sure that they were out and about rather than sleeping in their dens but the signs of burrows would indicate they were preoccupying that immediate area. foxes often store food in their burrows, digging them out in sand and soil, while badgers themselves find food underground. they dig tunnels and caves and use grass or leaves for bedding, or whatever natural material they can get their claws on. if they did find one of the creatures in their homes they'd need to be careful because usually when building dens animals make sure that there is more than one viable entrance in the case of danger, meaning they might be able to flee from valentina and julian pretty easily. "i'll follow you out there and watch your back. we just have to try not to startle any nearby critters as we make our way over to the tractor."
indentwith the pair set out from the familiarity of the boulder, julian made sure to move slowly and quietly. a large part of hunting is the ability to try and find an area to hunt without firstly spooking the game away. all wild animals have incredibly keen senses and survival instincts. to get close to them on their turf, they'd have to be stealthy enough to slide in under those senses undetected. being quiet is a key part of this process. they're forced to slow down, think, and watch before they move. they have to walk slowly and softly as well as speak as quietly as possible considering that the human voice can carry quite the distance in the wilderness. being quiet does two things; it keeps from scaring off any potential animals, and it helps the hunter hear the creatures. its easier to hear all the sounds around you if you're silent, perhaps like an opossum gobbling on an insect from its position atop a bare tree, or a rodent shuffling through the underwoods. he tried to minimize the sound of any dry brush crunching beneath his soles as best he could -- the sound of a loud crunching march of a person tromping along through the area would instantly alert some animals to their presence. as much as hunting is pitched as being a super action-packed, adrenaline-fuelled adventure, its actually very much of the opposite. while these moments do exist in hunting, the majority of the time you'll be sitting quietly, watching, listening and waiting. it takes a lot of skill to build up your patience and your willingness to wait it out and thats what makes a good hunter. he and valentina are no strangers to this game. its why they've been able to make a living off their hunting skills for the most part. establishing the right mindset - the ability to sit in the woods quietly for hours on end while still being focused enough to detect any creatures before they detect you - can be difficult for some people. its why hunting is not for everyone. he supposed a lot of his own enjoyment for it stems from the fact that he and valentina have been involved in this sort of a lifestyle since forever but genuinely theres just something about hunting that soothes his mind. whenever they're having a rough week, going out into the woods to hunt always gives him some sense of calm despite it all. it slows everything down; you get to watch the natural world all around you, listen to the sounds of animals chirping, look out for critters scurrying about. if you can appreciate the smaller components of hunting then it makes it much more easier to enjoy the wait of searching out game. by doing this, appreciating the process, eventually the creature you're hunting will appear and then the long-awaited adrenaline rush can begin. it didn't take the two cousins long to cover some ground. the tractor itself was just across the way from the boulder, situated on the outskirts of some abandoned farmland. when he threw a glance over his shoulder he could still see their fire burning visibly in range, the bright glow of the flames breaking the dark of night. now that they were approaching the machinery, he could see that the equipment was tainted with the orange-brown of rust, the iron oxide crawling across the tractors surface. moss clung to its tires, coloring the grooves with a wilted brown. the machinery itself was overgrown with weeds and thicket, the fuel tanks and compression release valves invaded by the encroaching environment as it say there and decayed with time. its probably been stripped of a few parts unseen to the eye but the tractor was still largely in-tact from a non-mechanical viewpoint. their lantern swayed lightly as the pair finally came up on the tractor. julian was quick to crouch down beside valentina behind its cover. he reached a hand back to his quiver in order to draw out a singular arrow. typically, when it comes to hunting, you have to wait until you're totally certain no game will show up and then give it another thirty minutes before you officially decide to move areas. it can make things a bit of a struggle when you're growing hungry but thats just the way it was.
indentjulian peered around one side of the tractor curiously, eyeing the long-abandoned homestead sitting off in the distance of the large boundaries of farmland. "foxes usually borrow under any sort of shelter like trees or groups of small boulders, right? we might just be in luck 'cause of all the potential areas they might be using for cover around here," he whispered, placing an arrow lightly atop his bow in an idle position. often times if you stumble across an animals burrow it is possible to also find feathers or bones littering the area surrounding the den as they store their food in the cache-hole within. you can usually judge whether or not its a fox den by inspecting the size of the hole and any distinct smell it may carry. the hollowed out chambers at the end of the entrance tunnels are usually between three and ten feet but from the outside its not as easy to tell. many foxes make dirt mounts in front of the entrance of their dens to discourage predators, too. luckily for them they didn't need to camp out at a burrow. so long as they saw one nearby, they would know that some foxes are in the area. julian turned to valentina, briefly looking past her and to their surroundings. "we should take a quick look around, try and find signs of a den or even just locate a fox or a different creature if it just so happens. how about you go search that underbrush just a few feet away from us, try and spot any rodents or prey the foxes might be attracted to? i'll check out the shrubs on the edge of the field over here to see if any of them are hiding in there. also, it might be best if we set the lantern down here so that we can both head back over here. just make sure not to go too far if you do find anything 'cause i'd rather not wind up alone in the dead of night." its important that they search the areas in close proximity to the tractor. they needed to look in places where a fox would be able to hunt with stealth, like the shrubs he'd need to be attending to. its also vital to locate their likely food sources, hence why he'd suggested his cousin go after the underbrush not too far from their current position; those sorts of areas are frequented by mice, rabbits or other rodents that foxes hunt on a regular basis. they'd need to search these areas thoroughly and if possible, find a fox den to confirm the presence of the animal amongst them. they're canines so they mark their territories -- it won't be hard for valentina or julian to detect the aroma to confirm their target. plus, foxes usually leave some holes scattered about for a stealthy escape so that would be another indicator that they were occupying this area. they bed down in whatever tall grass, thicket or brush piles they can too, and although these places aren't exactly dens, they're still maintained by foxes as hiding places. the animals often even maintain numerous dens just so that they can move around periodically throughout their range avoiding both predators and any detection. julian shuffled a few steps around the tractor so that he could get a better view of the dead shrubs sitting on the edge of the field. "okay, lets head out," he whispered, parting ways from the tractor and his cousin so that he could begin to stalk over to the shrubbery. he was careful not to rush over there, occasionally pausing in his tracks if he felt like he was about to be making too much noise just passing across the way. in his hands, he now nocked an arrow, lightly grasping the bow string. he kept a relaxed, calm grip with his bow hand, careful in the event that he needed to ready and draw his bow. it was hard to make things out in the darkness of the night but he wasn't completely lost considering his eyes have started to grow somewhat used to being submerged in pitch for so long. the lantern left at the tractor provided a bit of help although his back was now turned to it anyhow. julian paused right before a patch of weeds, lowering to his knees a bit so that he was more fully crouched. he eyed the shrubbery warily. right now there was no signs of movement from within but he'd just gotten over here.
indentjulian held his bow loosely at his waist, trying to discern what was going on in the dead bushes if anything at all. he wondered how valentina was making out, if she had spotted any rodents roaming around the area or not. for a second, he could've sworn he saw something in the corner of his eye but it was hard to tell. he even did a double-take. there could be a plethora of different creatures roaming around the area, insects and rodents alike. he wouldn't be surprised if they did manage to come across one of them. its just a matter of holding out for something better -- if worse came to worse, then they'd just have to be content with grilling some insect to eat. he slightly shuffled over to inspect the bushes from another angle, still being quite alert considering he wasn't sure if he had seen something out in the darkness or not. mostly, he was pretty sure it was just paranoia but still. julian raised his bow a little, aiming it more directly toward the shrubbery obscured by the shadows of the night. abruptly, though, he felt a quick, sharp nip at his exposed ankle. julian bit back a gasp, his body suddenly stiffening before he nearly jumped at the feeling, instinctually whirling around to face whatever was attacking him. "what the hell-" he hissed beneath his breath, thrusting the direction of his arrow toward the ground since thats where he'd been bit. where was it..? it had to some sort of a bug..ah, there! it was an ant, slightly mutated for it was just smaller than the size of his palm. they're not exactly serious threats or anything unless they're swarming you so its not that big of a deal, but god, they're nuisances! their exoskeletons can shrug off most kinds of blunt trauma but they were still quite vulnerable to firearms and sharp weapons. their mandibles are enough to give a sharp nip if they please it, just as demonstrated. in a flurry of movement from within the pockets of his jacket he was quick to drop his bow for his dagger, and in one fell swoop he stabbed the blade into the body of the creature with a light huff. he twisted the dagger in just for good measure. what a damn little bastard. julian had nearly cried out beyond a whisper and given away his position because of the bug. with a grunt, he drew the dagger out from the insect and stepped on it once for good measure. he used the sleeve of his jacket to clean off what traces of guts had been left behind before stowing it back away. he grimaced at the sight of bugs dead carcass, gingerly plucking it off the ground as he rose up to his feet. he tried not to be too irritated by it all. whatever motions he'd made just now had the possibility of scaring off whatever creatures were in the direct area, judging by the sudden sounds of scurrying-- wait.
indenthe spun around toward the dead bushes, left with the sight of some animal quickly fleeing away. shoot. he could only catch sight of what must have been a tail as it scurried off in the opposite direction of him, dodging under the protection of the blanket of night that was over the wasteland. he tried to watch where it went but he gave up after a brief moment. it seemed to have been rounding back around where the tractor was, perhaps past it..maybe it was a fox heading over toward valentina was scouting the area. gods, hopefully she'd be able to stumble across the fleeing critter or even better, it might just unknowingly lead her to its den or other hiding spot. julian slowly made his way back over to the rusty old farm machinery, abandoning his position at the thistles and weeds. he held his bow and arrow in one hand and the moderately sized dead ant in the other. "valentina?" he hissed out into the night quietly, aimlessly looking in the direction he had told her to go investigate earlier. "watch out, i think i just spooked off some critter and i think i saw it run over your way! it could be a fox after all, i'm not sure. we might be able to track it to a den if you can't get a stable shot on it!" he reentered the familiar glow of their lantern, the small portion of space lit up beside the tractor. he dropped the ant down on the ground. its limbs drooped limply. at-least they'd have that if they managed to lose their trail on the foxes. he could only hope that valentina would spot the suspected fox in time.

[vaermina]

ＫＡＩＲＯＳ 'ＫＡＩ' ＬＯＵＫＡＮＩＳxxx
I.xcis malex II.xthe conclave militaryx III. an android deployment & utilization warrant 2 officer


indentkai watched as his bot vanished into the depths of the open paneling. "that's a good question. lemme know if you find the answer to it," he joked lightly when she asked him how does one even goes about trying to navigate such a tricky situation. "i'd like to think they wouldn't recall every single recruiter out there but i dunno. i guess it's better to be safe than sorry in situations like these." kai had no idea what route his superiors were going to take. it's bad enough that wastelanders have begun to display aggression towards androids and those who oversaw their deployment. now they have to worry about an organization like the odawa syndicate targeting them? it was frustrating but he was not sure what could be done about android hysteria in general. it has become a serious socio-cultural problem. it was like a disease that raddled the common folk. they're fearful of what they cannot understand. wastelanders are simple folk who have lived for centuries in a country where technology was practically nonexistent. before the conclave was established, universal forms of applied sciences were nothing but a foreign concept for said people. wastelanders have become transfixed on the simplicity of their ways. kai did not blame them but their lack of education, receptibility and open-mindedness has hindered their ability to understand technology. their biggest problems in life happen to be keeping a sustainable farm or finding ways to feed and defend themselves in the unforgiving wasteland. their problems are straightforward so it makes them candid people. when you throw in the concept of robots and androids who look and function exactly like humans apart from the fact they were not carried in a woman's womb? it sends wastelanders into a spiral. it's natural to be apprehensive of something you cannot understand but wastelanders aren't just uneasy about it. they become aggressive, hysterical, feverish and neurotic. they just simply cannot wrap their heads around such advanced ideas. it's why rumors of wastelanders being kidnapped and turned into androids are such a common misconception across the country. the general population has no idea how organic androids are made so the federal government kidnapping people and somehow turning them into artificial beings is the most logical explanation they can come up with. it has certainly made people fearful of the conclave. it was agitating because kai knew that there was no easy way to handle it all. how on earth are they expected to open people's minds when they live in such varying societies? people born in the capital city experience a very different childhood than those born in the wasteland. the way they've lived, the way they grew up, the way they've experienced life; it's all so vastly divergent. communication between two groups of people who have nothing in common and have completely different agendas and ways of thinking is not an easy task, either. there was no easy way to navigate this situation. the conclave had no intentions of halting android production permanently but it's obvious they can't go around rashly deploying androids in areas brimming with robotic hysteria. one wrong move can trigger a ripple of violence and unease. wastelanders thought androids were monsters, creatures of dispassionate habits and vacant souls. to a certain extent, they are but the newer the prototype, the more advanced they are in terms of personality and disposition. those who want to enroll in the android utilization branch must take extensive courses and training to understand the theory of human-robot interaction and the basics of androids. a lot of research goes into androids, in general; the research of new theoretical models, robot utility, artificial intelligence, 'robotiquette', how an android interacts with the world around it. there was so much to it all that wastelanders just don't understand it. kai knew it was unrealistic to expect them to ever understand.
indenthmph. "yeah, there's just no easy way to handle it. i guess it's only expected given how the world is right now. i mean, all those people living out there in the wasteland have never been introduced to such advanced forms of technology before so i guess it's just a given. anyway, it's fine. don't worry about it." it was just one of those situations that has no easy answers. it's difficult to change people's opinions when said opinions are grounded in fear. no amount of explanation or debate would educate a wastelander on the history and functionings of androids, either. hell, it was hard to even convince some people involved with the conclave on the benefits of newfangled machinery. his branch has always been rather secretive with their work and for good reason, too. some people would absolutely lose it if they knew of some of the things that went on in those laboratories. he wouldn't say any of it was unethical but those who are wary of artificial intelligence would surely be spooked at some of the conclusions they've come to while experimenting with androids. there have been moments with some of the newest prototypes where they would commit autonomous actions not wired in their neurological codes. these prototypes were just used for trial runs; nothing was expected to come out of them other than the fact they were utilized for experimentation and research. his uncle told him that a few months ago, the council had approved of a series of tests where organic models were to be left in a room together after reaching fifty percent completion in their social science courses. in the past year or so, all models of androids expected to interact with the general public must undergo extensive courses regarding the various spheres of human activity and socialization. it includes but is not limited to cognitive-neuroscience, psychology, sociology and anthropology. it helps them better merge into the world of humanity. the study of androids independently interacting with each other, though is highly understudied which is why more resources have been pooled into such experiments lately. well, they had been, anyway. as far as kai knew, his branch's efforts to study how autonomous models interact with one another while not under human jurisdiction came to a complete halt about three months ago. his uncle told him that such a decision was made following alarming behavior displayed by two organic models who had been left alone with each other in a secure interview room. the room itself had little to nothing inside of it apart from stimulation activities like books, paper, pencils and a radio. several bioengineers had been tasked with observing them throughout a period of three hours. as expected, the engineers quickly grew bored when the androids displayed little to no unique behavior; they had resorted to playing a game of cards to pass the time. it was only thirty minutes later that one of the engineers realized that the radio inside the room was having issues. the music was going in and out at various frequencies. at first, they had brushed it off as a technological issue until one of the engineers realized that the androids themselves were controlling the radio frequencies to communicate with each other. they hadn't even been touching the radio when doing so. all they had been doing was messing with the radio's frequencies but it was obvious that whatever they were doing, they had understood each other and were communicating in a way that humans simply cannot understand. it had freaked out the engineers so badly that they immediately shut down the two androids. they were still trying to figure out how exactly those two prototypes managed to do such a thing. it was not in their code nor systems to commit actions like that. they had no idea how they had been able to manipulate the radio without physically messing with it, too. everything they had done was something of a self-directed nature. of course, they want androids to be independent but creating their own language by messing with other forms of technology is, admittedly, pretty alarming. androids have natural language processing and natural-language generations systems to help them communicate with humans so why do they feel the need to alter the technology around them to communicate with one another in secret? it was one of the biggest criticisms of androids in general. people were afraid of artificial intelligence becoming uncontrollable. kai did not think that would ever be an issue but he knew that it was a fine line to tread regardless. they're trying to give androids as much autonomy as possible; it was only expected that issues arose from it. hell, maybe kai was not taking that issue as seriously as he should be.
indentkai's eyes followed mina's as the monitor screens in the cockpit suddenly grew void of the intense warnings signs. it was not long after that the bot trudged out of the cables and sought the stability of kai's forearm. he allowed it to shuffle on his arm again before it worked to screw the panels back on. well, that's it. he assumed by the lack of red light shining from the monitor screens that the bot had managed to fix whatever the pygmy gopher messed with. he supposed they were lucky that the fix was manageable. you'd be surprised how damaging pygmy gophers can be. he looked to mina as she approached before he sighed. "agreed. maybe we'll get lucky and he'll swallow a fly on accident. five minutes of lecturing and fifteen minutes of him on the ground choking is something i think i can tolerate," he joked as the bot on his arm switched over to mina's. it did not take a genius to know that captain hayrmor would not take the news of the warped weapons system kindly. kai could hear the lecture already. bits and pieces about negligence, safety, precautions, yeah, yeah. what else is new? the captain's behavior was expected from someone of his standing but it somehow just felt repetitive. how many times are people going to be scolded over mistakes? nobody is asking for their ship to malfunction. he knew that people have to be held responsible for their mistakes but it felt ludicrous to get upset with someone over a blunder. kai is well aware of the fact that mina's case could have endangered her life out in the wasteland but did hayrmor truly care about her safety or was he just irritated at the fact he felt like he had an incompetent pilot apart of his squadron? mina was by no means an inadequate flyer but perhaps hayrmor thought she was. did he have some sort of vendetta against her? kai wasn't sure. he has not witnessed the captain interacting with other pilots before so it was hard to say but it did not look very favorable right now. hell, maybe he was just trying to make up excuses for his girlfriend. he had a habit of doing that, agreeing with her on nearly everything. kai wholeheartedly supported and trusted those who were close to him. it was the type of behavior that invited manipulation although there was really nobody in his life with that sort of status who would do such a thing. mina could deserve a harsh scolding from a superior and kai would still think it was unfair. a part of him remained stuck on the belief that everyone was out to get him and his girlfriend, despite how unrealistic it was for everyone to have a grudge against two nobodies.
indentthe young man followed his girlfriend back into the cockpit. as soon as they neared the edge of the ship's frame, they were greeted by the sight of hayrmor stalking the area below. kai eyed him suspiciously. well, isn't that just convenient. was he waiting for mina to finish her inspection or...? he returned the woman's slight grimace although most it stemmed from her explanation on how to safely exit the gunship. "just reversed? what does that even mean? i barely managed to get up here in one piece to begin with," he snorted. how on earth mina tolerated climbing into this ship everyday, he had no idea. would it really kill these people to add in a ladder? some stairs, maybe? he supposed it got easier the more you do it. several grumbles of protests escaped the warrant officer before he followed mina's lead. kai navigated his way out of the cockpit itself before turning around to face the ship's innards. he glanced over his shoulder warily before carefully lowering himself down the length of the aircraft's slender nose. he kept looking down to confirm his pathway before one of his feet made contact with a slender turret. okay, halfway there. his wary reflection on the ship's glossy surface looked back at him. similar to mina, he used the jutting gun to hop down onto the stained pavement below. he winced at the slight pain that ran up his shins once his feet made contact with the hard ground. he hardly had time to recover from his descent before he realized captain hayrmor was heading towards them. oh, great. he was not prepared for whatever was about to come spewing out of the older man's mouth.
indentadmittedly, having no involvement in the discussion at hand made him feel like his presence was rather inopportune. there was really nothing he could say to help contribute because what could he say? he was not enrolled in the air force so he had no jurisdiction here. all he could really do was be quiet and let the conversation at hand unfold. his eyes flickered to mina when her composure began to slightly cripple underneath her captain's increasingly captious gaze. kai did not know what was more uncomfortable here; mina becoming backed up in an invisible corner by her own explanations or hayrmor mentally probing every single word she spoke to try and confirm their cogency. did he have no ounce of trust in his own pilots? he knew that a scolding was inevitable from the older man but there was just something about captain hayrmor that rubbed him the wrong way. it was hard to explain. maybe kai just despised all authority figures. maybe he has long since convinced himself that none of them truly care about their subordinates, and they all just enjoy abusing their power for the hell of it. who cares about warrant officers, anyway? who gives a damn about enrolled soldiers? it was irritating how nobody respected each other out of human decency anymore. your worth is defined by your ranking, your accomplishments, your work ethic. sure, it's reasonable to give people praise when they deserve it but it almost felt like if you're not contributing to the conclave's growth and expansion, you're not worthy of approbation. kai felt that if everyone was contributing to the best of their abilities, that should be enough but trying to garner some form of assent from your superiors can be impossible sometimes. and if you're not someone with a high ranking? forget about it. he was tired of being treated like he was subpar and he was tired of seeing it happen to others like him. of course, there was the possibility that captain hayrmor's opprobrium came from a place of concern but did it? did it really? it was difficult to believe that when the man is so fault-finding to begin with. maybe tough love is warranted in these type of situations but kai was not exactly familiar with tough love to begin with. that was not a thing with his family. if you screw up, you're attacked because you made a mistake. his parents did not gently chide him over slip-ups before calmly explaining what he should have done instead. it doesn't matter if it was a genuine accident or not. there was nothing endearing about it.
indentmina's ship had not sustained any sort of permanent or long-lasting damage because of the pygmy gopher's infiltration but that did not stop the captain from loading his gun of disapproval anyway. he was quick to pounce on her for negligence. kai had begun to fiddle with one of the silver rings on his fingers although his gaze remained on the two air force personnel in front of him. retaking a course from the academy? kai had to swallow his dismay before it infiltrated his features. hayrmor was certainly not sparing mina any of his discontent but what about her co-pilot? did mina not say to him that syndi had been the one tinkering with the ship's panels to begin with? he could have swore she mentioned something similar to the captain, as well but the older man had not bothered to reflect on that bit of information. was her co-pilot just not going to be held accountable because she was physically absent right now? was it not unfair that mina was the only one taking the brunt of the gopher's meddling? hayrmor preached about being held accountable for your actions but where was that energy for mina's co-pilot? his girlfriend hadn't been the one messing with the panels in the first place. it was ridiculous how commissioned officers can place the blame of an unfortunate situation on someone who was not even responsible for causing the disruption in the first place. sure, mina and her co-pilot could have been more careful but it was an accident.
indentkai's features remained relatively neutral throughout their conversation although he had struggled to keep a straight face when mina reminded her captain that the ship was in perfect condition. he had no idea why her simple reminder made him want to cackle out loud; maybe it was because her comment agitated hayrmor. the warrant officer had to resist the urge to scowl when the older man told them he wanted them out of here in ten minutes. and who says i have to listen to you? if anything, kai was tempted to stick around just to see the captain's reaction. maybe he'll steal a few assistance bots in the process, accidentally trigger one of the military bots guarding the hangar to blow something up. jesus, i need to relax. that antagonistic mindset was probably why kai was in such a slump career wise. it was difficult for him to follow orders when he felt he was being disrespected. he despised being in a position where other people could walk all over him or treat him like he was nothing. kai was the type of person to take everything personally, including the nonchalant condescension so many superiors possess nowadays. it was difficult for him to tell the difference between constructive criticism versus a personal attack. hayrmor's reaction could be seen as perfectly reasonable by everyone around them but kai did not think so. perhaps he thought the way he did because as a warrant officer himself, he's been in situations like mina's where he's been chewed out by superiors for honest mistakes. he supposed that even accidents must have blame put onto them but that didn't mean it was fair. similar to his girlfriend, he watched the captain's retreating form with an icy glare before glancing at mina. "nah, i noticed that too. he was preachin' about responsibility and consequences but didn't even mention anything about talking to your co-pilot. i guess he's an all-talk-in-the-hangar-and-bully-the-warrant-officer-present type of guy than actually going out of his way to handle issues maturely by making sure everyone involved receives the same spiel. he's just a jackass," kai agreed. at this point, hayrmor was just doing too much. threatening to force mina to retake an academic course from years ago? really? kai felt that mina understood the gravity of how that situation with the gopher could have gone horribly wrong. it's kind of hard for anyone not to when the captain made his displeasure so abundantly clear.
indentkai followed mina's lead as she led him back over to the ship. the two bots she had set on the ground watched them curiously. he copied the woman's movements by offering one of his arms to the opposite assistance bot. it was quick to take him up on his offer. once the robots were secure, the couple returned to the nose of the ship so they could reunite the two bots with their buddies. he eyed the four robots before smiling wryly when mina mentioned the ten minutes. shiver me timbers. "oh, well, i guess that means we gotta run the hell out of here before the ten minutes are up and your captain rolls in with the firing squad. unfortunately for him, we're roaches that can't be taken out so easily. we can dodge hundreds of bullets with ease," he joked before he paused. "anyway, yeah, let's head over to mateo so we can drop off his crap real quick." he could tell that it has gotten dark outside but it wasn't terribly late. besides, kai did not want to go home right now. despite the circumstances with captain hayrmor and the warped weapon systems, he was happy to be with mina and he had no idea when they'll be able to sneak off together again to drive around the capital. it was difficult for them to see each other on a regular basis nowadays due to their families' feud. kai himself would get absolutely chewed out if his parents knew he was with mina right now.
indentnight had fallen across the capital city by the time the couple left the hangar. the pristine light that washed the inside of the building in ivory was only able to crawl a certain distance beyond its open doors before it was overrun by gloom. kai and mina's shadows stretched across the smooth concrete underfoot as they left the hangar and returned to the parking lot. cicadas and crickets sounded from amongst the sea of grass that bordered the runways. in the distance, the caterwauling of honking vehicles wafted from the city's roadways. kai could see the glint of the capital's skyline from here. he unlocked the car as they approached it. "in all seriousness, i'm sorry you had to face the brunt of hayrmor's scolding when you weren't even the one messing with the panel to begin with. it's like us warrant officers can never catch a break. we get yelled at just for breathing at this point." he opened the car door before slipping into the driver's seat. there was little kai could say to help the situation. he was sure mina was feeling disgruntled right now and he did not want to linger on the topic if she was uninterested in talking about it further. the last thing he wanted to do was make her agitated. he waited until she got in the passenger seat herself before he buckled up and stuck the keys in the ignition. "hey, just think of the look that's gonna be on hayrmor's face if that whole thing with general alarie works out. can you imagine how he's gonna feel knowing one of his own warrant officers got selected by a general as prestigious as alarie? if we're lucky, alarie might send his own captain over to the hangar to work out the details. i doubt it because those sort of processes are carried out by the little guys but y'know." alarie's captain, adira huxley, has about as much of a reputation as her own general. she was a woman renowned for her staggering height and strength. she had to be around six foot five. kai has seen plenty of pictures of her standing next to general alarie and the man's head only came a few centimeters above her shoulder. he never looked disturbed or discontent standing next to her, though which is something that could not be said by a lot of the men who are around her. it did not take a genius to know that there are plenty of diffident men out there threatened by women who are taller than them. captain huxley's hardiness made her a formidable foe in battle, as well. she was like a tank that can mow down dozens of opponents and still remain standing. the woman had a boastful track record regarding the extermination of high-priority military targets, to and she has mastered the art of electrical spear wielding, a weapon that requires not only an agility of the feet but a quick mind, as well. electrical spears are renowned for being quite extraordinary weapons since you can fend off multiple opponents at once if you play your cards right. one of captain huxley's most aspiring feats involved her killing several notorious bandits known as the swindler sisters a few years back. their gruesome demises had quickly spread like wildfire throughout the military. just like their name entails, the swindler sisters were five siblings of various ages who had turned to a life of crime and notoriety at a young age. their infamous feats landed them as high-priority targets of the conclave. captain huxley had killed two of them by stabbing them directly through their eye-sockets and out the other side of their skulls; one sister she had strangled to death with the retractable whip attached to one of her electrical gauntlets. the last two she had killed by pushing them in an old swimming pool and electrifying the water by activating the faulty wiring in the pool's light with her spear. after that, the woman was viewed as a menace by not only bandits but the average wastelander, as well for she often took charge of public situations out in the wasteland when general alarie cannot. the mere image of someone like hayrmor having to deal with someone like captain huxley should not be as amusing as it is. the woman would walk all over him. if anything, captain huxley's reputation helped general alarie. of course, hayrmor could be petty and refuse to allow mina to transfer out west but that would not be wise on his part. there's nothing saying he can't turn down general alarie's request but would literally anyone recommend it? of course not. hayrmor may be a commissioned officer but captains do not have the esteem and respect that generals do. you can easily slaughter your own career by getting on a general's bad side, no matter what branch they may be enrolled in. if someone as prestigious as a general asks you to do something, you do it with no questions asked. you may think you have options in the matter but you don't. it made kai feel smug to know that hayrmor could potentially find himself in that position.
indenttheir departure from the parking lot was brisk. they had to manually check in with the security guards operating the hangar's guard house before the silver gates protecting the private area were opened. his car's headlights washed their surroundings ahead of them in yellow before he carefully pulled out of the hangar's grounds and navigated their way back onto the open road. his brother was currently located in a base on the other side of the district, so it'd be a few minutes before they got there. if kai's memory served him right, mateo has been dabbling in overtime quite a lot in the past few months. kai looked briefly to his girlfriend before one of his hands reached over to give her own a quick squeeze in reassurance. "if you ever wanna talk about, well, all the crap that involves hayrmor i'm always here for you. the guy's a total jerk. i'm glad i could finally see your new ship, though. pygmy gopher aside, it looks great." he was not quite sure if she wanted to linger on the topic or not, hence his carefulness about pursuing the conversation further. despite his bashfulness with his own emotions, he was constantly trying to analyze people and pick up on their moods to deem if what he said next might trigger a negative reaction. it's probably why kai had a self-inflated ego about being able to read people and understand their feelings; it's become something of a conscious habit for him. he wasn't sure if it was out of courtesy towards the person he was with or if he was just trying to spare himself from being verbally attacked. in this situation, though, he genuinely did not want to accidentally increase mina's sourness about the whole ordeal in general. "also, you don't have a specific time you need to be home, right? i'll drop you off after we see mateo but i don't want your parents tryna start crap with you. i know it's not even that late since it just got dark outside but y'know how irritating our parents' are."

[vaermina]

ＣＯＮＳＴＡＮＣＥ ＡＤＬＥＲxxx
I.xdemigirlx II.xthe rebellionx III. an entertainer known as dahlia


indentconstance ignored mikey and danny's scuffling. she remained quiet as edwin spoke, her eyes lingering on the stone wall a few feet away. "nobody wants to willingly put themselves in a dangerous situation but if we don't help dregs, who will? they didn't ask to be put in the positions they're in. they can't seek shelter with the conclave because the government wants to destroy them and they aren't guaranteed protection in wastelander society because ordinary citizens are afraid of them. they're outcasts no matter where they go. human, ghoul, android; nobody deserves to experience that sort of loneliness in a world that's already so divided." constance did not like the idea of walking into an ambush anymore than the next rebel but what are they supposed to do? they're used to taking risks. granted, they try to minimize the threat of death as much as possible but are they really going to let the odawa syndicate intimidate them? the theory of technology and just how far it should go is not something constance was interested in debating. the conclave will continue to dabble in their experiments no matter how unscrupulous it seemed to wastelanders. there was nothing they could do about it. the rebellion does not actively try and hinder the conclave's advances in technology like the syndicate does because what's the point? they're going to do whatever they want. luckily, dregs are not a common sight in the wasteland. they were not mass produced like some of the android prototypes you see today. the very nature of their assembly had required singularity, after all. nevertheless, constance could not say she felt shaken with the syndicate's rise to power within the past several months. the demiwoman swore that it felt like a new faction was coming to light every year at this point. anything can happen when there's a gap of power in a certain region or enough people gather with a sinister goal in mind. constance grew up in new california so she should know. that state is practically crawling with factions competing for regional power and followers. messalina's legion, the red rangers, the disciples of eden, various bandit gangs; the list goes on and on. the cruelty, insanity and overall demented morals presented by some of these groups makes it hard to trust anyone outside of the rebellion. she and edwin are always careful with who they interact with outside of their organization. it was a natural instinct but something crucial for them due to their occupations as rebels. there are very few people they could count on outside of the resistance; most of said individuals are usually allies of the rebellion. they are not directly involved in its workings but instead provide aid and assistance whenever and wherever they can. she and edwin have interacted with a lot of these said allies. one of the most prominent ones she could recall was the large cathedral of saint dismas - located on the border of the badlands and the odawa desert - who often aided the resistance in times of dire strife. the nuns who run it are benevolent people who not only help the surrounding area but try and help the rebellion by giving them supplies, tending to their injured and misleading prying conclave patrols out of the area. they hold their vows sacred by pledging to help the poor and helpless. it was only natural that such people would become involved in the resistance. their caravan has made plenty of stops at the cathedral within the past few years. while constance enjoyed talking to the nuns and getting their perspectives on recent events, the cathedral held other secrets that interested her. years ago, the entertainer noticed the presence of a bandaged man who would often linger inside the chapel. and if he was not inside the bethel, he was prowling within the church's stony bell tower. his head and arms were covered in white bandages, his torso donning what appeared like a worn bulletproof vest. the only part of him that could be seen were his eyes - eyes of piercing arctic that were tugged all around by burnt flesh. his ghostly presence had intrigued constance so much that she had dragged edwin along with her when they stopped at saint dismas one time to question the abbess. abbess cintreon told her that the man was called abel whitlock, and he had once been a powerful bandit of heinous capacity before he was crucified and nearly burnt alive by his leader for failing to recognize the upcoming signs of a military ambush. the event was known today as the ambush of misty belle, where general eugene loukanis took a large group of wulfgang's followers by surprise on an abandoned estate in the commonwealth. most of the bandits were either killed while defending their position inside the estate's manor or they were hunted down by soldiers in vehicles and on horseback as they tried to flee. before the battle, abel had been a loyal servant to the bandit king and feared for his prowess and ability to detect weaknesses in any sort of opposing army. unfortunately, those skills hadn't been enough to save his hide.
indentabbess cintreon had told constance that while the man was once a questionable character, he has found god and it was not up to them to deem whether or not he was suitable for salvation. he has paid for his crimes in the mortal world; it would be up to the lord to judge him in his final hour. constance had no idea what to feel about that. they had certainly been intrigued by the man but never approached him, for he had always been alone and carried an air of solitude about him. according to abbess cintreon, he protected the nuns at the cathedral from any dangers that might come crawling out of the wasteland as well as helped them with their mission to aid the surrounding countryside. she testified that he had a good soul but had lost his way for many years. constance remembered how dubious they had felt about that whole ordeal. the fact the cathedral was being prowled by a man who had once been a high-priority target for the conclave had sent them through a loop. abel whitlock has probably killed, maimed and butchered more people than some of the most prominent military leaders. and yet, he now spent his days in an old church in the middle of the wasteland with a bunch of pacifistic sisters. it was strange to constance how morality and virtue worked. it's so easy to say that people are unable to change their ways but that's not always the case. people change everyday; they decide they want something new or something better and they pursue it. they decide that what they're doing with their lives may be harmful or not productive enough and they change it. constance supposed it all just boiled down to accountability and whether or not some people deserve to move on with their lives when they have caused so much pain to other people. that's the whole issue with bandits attempting to turn their lives around. constance believed in second chances as much as the next person but do criminals deserve to live out the rest of their lives peacefully when they've murdered dozens upon dozens of people? they didn't know. there was such a gray lining with everything nowadays. constance has done some pretty messed up things themselves but it's not like the demiwoman has murdered anybody for fun. they've had to attack people to defend themselves but murder just to murder? never and they've never been apart of a bandit gang. sure, they've robbed people and swung at people and maybe ran someone over once or twice with a horse but killing people? maiming people? burning villages to the ground? of course not! hell, maybe constance would be a hypocrite for debating on who deserves salvation when they've done a plethora of questionable actions themselves. of course, none of it was as extreme as the actions committed by bandits. bandits do not often get second choices, either. if they manage to make themselves known as a threat to the conclave, the military hunts them down and destroys them. some of the most feared bandit gangs that once prowled the country like the skinner gang and ten knives met their demises this way. the conclave rarely allows criminals to face redemption to begin with. the only reason certain groups like wulfgang have not faced total annihilation is because they have grown far too large to be wiped out singlehandedly like those smaller gangs. groups like wulfgang often forced smaller gangs to join their ranks, too as well as participate in the slave trade so it's no surprise they have grown so out of control in recent years.
indentconstance could not help but smile when edwin agreed with her joke about the slavers. unfortunately, danny and mikey caught wind of it real quickly. the demiwoman frowned when the two men approached them. she lifted her head to look at them. uh oh. it was impossible for her to keep a straight face when mikey instantly launched into a tangent. danny nodded vigorously to the younger man's words. he nearly swayed forward when mikey patted him roughly on the shoulder. "yeah, yeah! we're survivors! we're the children of the united states, the flesh and blood of lady liberty! bandits scram when they see us! weren't you two not listening to me earlier? i'm a wanted man! i'm a menace! i'm an animal! i'm a terror! they can't enslave me because i'll enslave them, you hear? they'll be kissing the very ground i walk on."
indent"i thought you were just wanted by the conclave?"
indent"erm, yeah, i am! but you know how it is out there! when the conclave tries to go after a menace like me, that attracts the attention of all the criminals. they don't like a challenge, ya know? they think i'm gonna steal their spotlight. the bandit king? oh! lemme tell you the story of how i was nearly convinced to challenge him to a du-"
indenthe was interrupted by edwin, who was quick to backtrack on his inquiry about their experiences with bandit slavers. constance could not help but roll their eyes when mikey jumped to the defense. good ole danny and mikey. were they surprised by their behavior right now? not at all. the two of them are notorious for their spiels and stories. it's what made them both entertaining and irritating. danny only continued to nod vigorously to mikey's statements. "exactly! i mean, what ever happened to treating your elders with respect? i've been disrespected more times by this crew than i've had in my entire life! you know what? you know what?! we need an organization that helps ensure us elderly folk are getting fair treatment in this country. i'm sick of the ageism! mikey's right, too; back in the day, the youth would respect the elderly! do you know that asian cultures treat their elders with the upmost respect? i know china helped bomb the world into a nuclear apocalypse but their hearts were right in other places!"
indentedwin stepped away from her and around the two older men, an obvious signal he was abandoning them to their dramatic spiels. constance followed after him as danny and mikey grumbled in protest. constance laughed at his joke. "yeah, i probably shouldn't have mentioned the slavers to begin with. it was tasteless on my part," she said as she followed edwin's lead with the bowls. danny and mikey's ridiculousness aside, bandits enslaving innocent people is a very real threat and constance shouldn't be making jokes about it. she headed over to the kitchen area to dispose herself of the utensils and bowl. she looked over at the other entertainer when he spoke again. constance pursed her lips briefly. "i'm not too sure. i mean, i guess it depends on the severity and importance of that file, you know? we've stolen hundreds of files and paperwork from them before but they've never gone to such extreme lengths to get it all back. this time is different, though so i think it's hard to say what exactly they might do in retaliation. what you said may be the route they choose to go down, though. i can imagine they might cut some of the maintenance staff who are of wastelander heritage; janitors, maids, custodians, doormen. some of them probably have access to the database chambers because of their cleaning duties so i can imagine some suspicion might fall upon them. uhm... i know there's a lot of forts that employ wastelanders in their kitchens and bar areas so they might get cut, as well. and some of those bases that have horse stables for officers and soldiers who like to go on horseback instead driving in a vehicle? i've met some stablehands who were born in the wasteland. you'd think they'd cut people like us first because all those other people actually help around their forts but y'know how stingy the government is." live entertainment is something that most conclave soldiers and personnel enjoy. they like to drink and play card games and engage in banter with one another while there's a band or entertainment up on stage. most of the large military forts across the country employ entertainers to perform in their bases' mess halls as a way to lift up the spirits and energy of their followers. and despite the conclave's views on blood purity, most of said entertainers are of wastelander heritage. it's cheaper to hire wastelanders than the singers and performers of new hollywood. constance could not say she was surprised by that. the conclave refused to treat wastelanders with basic human decency and respect but they'll gladly take advantage of them when it suits them. she supposed she couldn't be agitated by their scheming nature when it helped her and edwin's ventures. it was always such a trip performing at military bases. not only do they have to actually entertain the soldiers present but they also have to try and weasel their way into gaining access to important files without accidentally exposing themselves as rebels. constance had found a way to achieve that with ease. she wore revealing dresses and flashy clothing to try and catch the eye of some of the bases' most important military personnel. she had done that earlier with captain ridel. constance could not say she particularly enjoyed showing herself off for it reminded her of her younger days in new california but as long as she was helping further the rebellion's fight, she could handle the self-loathing. a garish dress and ditzy persona can get a woman far with imperious and self-important military men. they like to show off with a bumptious personality so when you throw the potential for them to be dragging around some eye candy? they won't hesitate to pounce on the opportunity. sometimes, the commanding officer would be a woman and if constance was lucky, the women would show interest regardless of their genders. other times, she wasn't so lucky. still, constance would take advantage of their eagerness by allowing them to show her around - their tours often included their own offices so when they'd leave her inside of these rooms for a brief amount of time in order to handle some unexpected interruption, constance would rummage through their desks and file cabinets to try and get her hands on something good. records of soldiers' deployments and discharges, cargo transportation routes and convoy protection details, written communications between two military bases, documentation about potential rebel and faction threats in the area. none of it was particularly mind-shattering stuff; that type of documentation is usually stored in their computer database chambers. nevertheless, it was still helpful and constance was always careful to cover up the evidence of her snooping.
indentconstance's attempts to gain some sort of favorable notoriety with the head commanders of these bases came in handy for more reasons than you think. they could take advantage of their brief connection with them to weasel danny out of trouble like they had done earlier today. one would think that danny would learn to cut back on all the schemes with the amount of times he's found himself in sticky situations but he never seemed to learn. his earlier stratagem was a common one but it all just depended on the people he decided to target. groups of drunk soldiers playing card games or dice usually got hit with the ploy he had attempted this afternoon. sometimes, danny would target couples lounging about the mess hall so he could unveil his infamous 'troubled lovers card set' scam. constance only knew what danny has begrudgingly explained to them about the game's mechanics so in other words, they knew little to nothing about it at all. he claimed it was similar to tarot cards but he drew in the powers of astrology and spirituality and... well, something like that. either way, he always managed to land himself into trouble when he played the card game with couples at military forts. he'd make them agitated by claiming one of them was unfaithful or hiding some sort of secret. to constance, it seemed like his goal was to rile them up and make them argue with each other so he could try and take their wallets or drinks. they were unsure if he's ever been successful with that ruse but they knew there has been plenty of times where he wasn't victorious and would need someone to swoop in and save him. it was impossible to recount how many times constance has had to save him from getting pummeled into the ground. and unfortunately for constance, it was difficult to try and calm down the couples who danny had tried to steal from. if it wasn't danny hiding behind them and claiming it was a sin for them to accuse a man of god like himself of theft, it was constance struggling how to approach the situation. it was not like they could utilize their carnality like how they do with lone men. constance did not want to get killed alongside danny because the woman thought they were flirting with her man or something. luckily, constance has learned how to avoid those type of situations from their many jobs of restaurant serving. it's always better to try and put more attention on the woman when interacting with couples because it helped limit suspicion that you may be trying to flirt with the man. constance could say with confidence that they have never been attracted to any man who willingly serves the conclave but how would anyone else know that? the dresses they wore while performing probably did not help, either. how was it their fault that some of these women like to roll around with men who have no qualms eyeing other women, too? morons. plenty of conclave women have treated constance poorly because they thought the demiwoman was a strumpet. if they weren't being treated like an object by the men, they were treated like they were a harlot by the women. but in general, you have to be careful when interacting with conclave personnel. some of them are far too unstable for any person's comfort. danny has a knack for weaseling himself out of bad situations but he had no perception of people to begin with. he could be a shameless flirt when he wanted to be but there was a time and place for everything. constance supported his romantic endeavors as much as anyone else in their band but flirting with men who are affiliated with the conclave is like sailing into dangerous waters. and flirting with men who were obviously in relationships no matter how lighthearted he was being? constance was worried that danny might put himself into a harmful situation one day because not every man is going to react kindly to another man flirting with them. you can't trust everyone to be open-minded and tolerant. jesus, constance felt like they spent most of their time in those bases just worrying about what trouble danny and mikey might get into. luckily, mikey was passed out in their wagon most of the time so they did not need to worry about him being put in a shallow grave for trying to swindle some moron.
indentconstance sighed. "i don't know. i feel like a lot of things should be clear and cut with the rebellion but they just aren't. people are getting restless; they've been growing restless for a long time now. the conclave has been growing in numbers and strength while we're been getting nowhere. the massacre of valdosta has everyone on edge, too because they're afraid that we might end up like the black hand so they want to try and strike back at the conclave before that can happen. we don't have the resources or numbers to cripple the conclave like that but... well, i don't know. it's just a nasty situation: the break-in, our dead colleagues, the missing file, declan, the consequences of all this." she rubbed her hands together briefly. "anyway, yeah, today's been a long day. maybe we should try and wind down for the night. it's not gonna do us any good to stay up the entire night." she hooked her arm with edwin's before she began to lead him over to where the cots were set up. the basement had two bathrooms; one for women and one for men. like most bathrooms of the wasteland, the showers did not work so there were buckets and rags you have to use to wash yourself with.
indentthe entertainer released their grip on edwin's arm when they heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind. constance did not even need to ponder to immediately recognize that it was mikey and danny who were catching up to them. "what, are ya'll goin' to sleep already?" mikey complained.
indent"well, we certainly want to relax. do you know what that means, mikey? relax? r-e-l-a-"
indent"hey, i've won a spelling bee before so don't you think i'm a fool or nothin'! i was eight years old and won against the braithwine's gal!" mikey interrupted. "see, there's been some heavy disrespect comin' from you two tonight and i don't like it! danny! danny, what do you think?"
indentthe four rebels slowed down as they neared the corner of the basement dedicated for resting. there were several dozen cots set up for people to sleep on. most of the lanterns had been dimmed for those who had decided to hit the hay. some people were still awake, polishing their weapons or reading a book in the dim light of the basement. constance easily recognized some of their bandmates amidst those lounging about. she slowed when danny and mikey pushed past them. she came to a stop before glancing dubiously at edwin.
indent"mikey's right. we've been nothing but disrespected all day! we demand respect! we demand it! i mean, who else is gonna save all of ya'lls hides the next time we're attacked by bandits?" danny said.
indent"anyone but you, i'm assuming."
indentdanny spluttered. "now, hold on! that just ain't true and ain't what's gonna happen! how many times do i gotta remind you two that i've spent over a decade of my younger years fighting bandits? i know everything about them! do ya'll not remember that one time i told you about the time i volunteered to participate in fletch's slaughterhouse out west? ah, what am i saying, of course not. nobody listens to danny appleton. nobody cares about danny appleton. nobody loves danny app-"
indent"will you people pipe it down? some of us are trying to sleep. jesus christ," a voice growled from one of the cots. it was impossible for constance to resist the small smile that grew on their lips at the expression on danny's face. the old man threw his hands up in the air. "see? see?! now, you two know i ain't the type of man to brag about my august achievements in life but can an old man just get a little appreciation nowadays?"
indentmikey nodded smugly in agreement. "exactly! nobody appreciates us elders. we have so much wisdom to give but when we try to give it, ya'll ignore us! we could give ya'll lifesaving tips if you bothered to listen to us in the first place. tips that could save ya'lls lives out there! danny! danny, you were givin' me tips earlier about how to fend off an attacker by going for their ankles. edwin, constance! you better listen 'cause it ain't like ya'll are grand fighters to begin with. not like my man danny over here."
indentoh, lord. here we go again. constance crossed her arms over her chest. at mikey's urging, danny scrambled to locate a melee weapon before picking up a small pole that lay next to an empty cot. "right, right! see, it's all about timing," he began, straightening himself up. a regal look came about his features as he held the pole to his chest. "if you ain't good on your feet, you're not gonna last very long against an opponent. you gotta be like a hawk, you see? you need to find a way to counterattack them. actually, hold on, i gotta stretch. my limbs ain't like what they used to be." constance watched as he lifted his arms in the air to extend his muscles before doing the same with his legs. "now! you gotta sweep your attacker off of their feet and onto their back to get the upper hand over them. it ain't easy so you gotta be strong and agile like me. i recommend using a blunt weapon like this pole to help. see? it's kind of flexible, too-"
indentas soon as danny began to bend the flexible pole, it went catapulting out of his hands. it went careening directly into nick, who was lying on a cot directly next to the old man. the teenager yelped in surprise. it sounded more like a squawk of surprise than pain. he twisted around on the cot, glaring at a very startled danny. it was impossible for constance to hold in their laughter. "oh my god, can you stop already? why do you always do this? you could've seriously whacked me with that thing!" nick snapped.
indent"hey! that ain't no way to talk to your elders!" danny retorted. "jesus, a man can't make one mistake around here without being labeled as a killer! nobody appreciates an old fart, huh? okay, maybe i can't wield a pole as well as i used to but i still got a lot of life lessons to give! i've fought more bandits than all of you fools combined! those criminals fear me just as much as the conclave does! i'm a terror, i tell you! bandits, conclave officers, predators; they run away when they see me. i'm wanted in every state! the rebellion has a hard time tryna keep me out of everyone's clutches, ya hear? why, i got so many stories to tell ya'll but none of you guys ever wanna hear them! here, gimme the pole, let me try again-"
indentnick scowled, holding the pole close to his chest as danny reached over to take it. "no way! you're gonna give me or someone else a concussion if you try and wield it again. and why are you tryna convince everyone you're some bandit-stopping hero? last time we got attacked by a group of bandits, you tried to shoot at them with the shotgun and the force of its recoil sent you flying back from the driver's seat and into constance and edwin."
indentbefore danny could jump the teenager, constance stepped away from edwin to break them up. "yeah, yeah, we know, danny. you're the toughest man out there and distantly related to every celebrity and king and queen of england there ever was. forget about the pole. let's just all relax and get ready to wind down for the night. i mean it. if you and mikey and whoever keeps going on and on, you're gonna be sleeping in the stables with the horses tonight."
indentshe took the pole from nick to kick it underneath his cot so it was unreachable. danny grumbled as he sauntered over to an empty bed. "yeah, and don't you forget it! nobody messes with danny appleton!" nick glared at his retreating form before looking up at constance and edwin. "oh, fairfax and khalil fetched your guys' suitcases that has all your things from the wagon. they brought the kennel in, too so all our sandcats and bulbdogs are inside."
indentthe two men had set constance and edwin's belongings on two empty cots close to the bathrooms. constance abandoned mikey and danny to their hushed conversation as they led edwin over to their suitcases. the entertainer perked up when they noticed their sandcat and bulbdog, chantal and lily, were lying on one of the cots. chantal's silver coat stood out against the dark blankets of the portable bed. she was chewing on her tail while lily lay passed out next to her. constance reached down to rub her large ears in greeting once they approached the cot. "jesus, danny and mikey are gonna get us all kicked out of an outpost someday by their inability to read a room. anyway, i'm surprised our animals aren't annoyed by us keeping them in the kennel all day but i guess they've gotten used to it by now." their band owned quite the assortment of animals. they had multiple horses as well as over a dozen sandcats and bulbdogs. obviously, they couldn't have all the small creatures wandering about in the wagons given how cramped the spaces are to begin with. they kept them in the kennel for their own safety unless someone in the crew wanted to snatch their own pet specifically. chantal looked up at them briefly before going back to chewing on her tail. anyway. constance opened up their suitcase. each and every person in their crew had their own valise with a bunch of personal belongings inside for when they stop at outposts for the night. most of the items inside were basic necessities like extra sets of clothing, a hairbrush, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, a toothbrush and toothpaste, essential medications and whatever else one routinely needs. constance took out a set of pajamas along with a hairbrush and some shower essentials. they could not wait to get out of this dress. sure, it was pretty but it wasn't exactly constance's everyday style. they adored old fashion. ponchos, headbands, moccasins, flowy dresses, chain belts, bubble sleeves, vests, colorful print, kaftans, berets, leather boots, bell-bottomed jeans; they loved it all. of course, they still liked shiny heels and sparkly dresses but not as everyday wear. constance's diversity in fashion reflected not only their interest in different eras but cultures, as well. the demiwoman appreciated the plethora of traditions and customs practiced by certain groups all across the united states. they liked to broaden their perspective about different cultures through learning, application and education. constance was careful to never reduce a culture to a fashion statement or use sacred items as an aesthetic. cultural sensitivity is important. it's paramount to listen to people's stories, understand the implications behind your interest and use it to broaden your worldview while appreciating what so many people deem as salient. it's that type of open-mindedness that helps you in the long run. human beings could learn a lot from each other if half of them weren't so narrowminded. they could educate each other, blood purity and whatever nonsense aside. it was a shame that the conclave despised and disowned anyone who did not fit into their requirements of an ideal united states citizen. what may be seen as normal or customary in wastelander society might be frowned upon in conclave society. their followers were often judgmental of anything they deemed out of the ordinary.
indentconstance looked over at edwin as she began to gather her stuff in her arms. "i think i'm gonna wash myself with a washcloth real quick and get ready for bed before someone steals the lady's room. you?"

[vaell]

ＭＩＮＡ ＰＡＲＥＫＨ.

xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaviation warrant officer two. | conclave military. | tagged: kai.
xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
indent"ha. we're roaches, alright. hayrmor's got his work cut out for him if he thinks he can take us out so easily," mina said with a chuckle, glancing over toward where her captain had retreated to the technology hubs at the sides of the hangar. the walls were lit up with holographic displays for whomever was still present in the hangar and tinkering with the models of their ships. although his back was turned to them, she had a feeling that the vexation on his features had not yet disappeared since their encounter. even though kai and mina were joking around just now about the ten minute ordeal, the idea of him keeping track of the precise second in which their so-called allotted time in the hangar expired was not even that far-fetched. he's a stern man, and the type to prefer punctuality and discipline, to which mina would not necessarily deem as inherently bad traits, although over the years she has learnt that hayrmor expects his squadron to somehow be on the same level as tactical echelons or something. even that doesn't seem like a bad thing, considering it sounds like he might think highly of his pilots and thus be trying to help them progress in their careers by pushing them to the next level, but in truth at this ranking it was more unfair than it was helpful to subject them to the same expectations you'd see under administered under a general. she wasn't sure if it stemmed from his own personal desire to try and formulate a squadron that he could boast about to his co-workers or if it was just that he enjoyed putting under-qualified personnel through the ringer. maybe he had some sort of a negative experience before he was a captain and now he wanted other people to relive his own crappy youth. either way, whether it be his style of command or his actions as an individual, he didn't garner much admiration or respect from mina. the way hayrmor acts makes him come off as condescending if not somewhat chiding. she could just be looking too much into the situations she's had to endure under his command but surely trying to punish her so severely just now over something that ended up being harmless was a bit extreme, was it not? honestly she might have said it would've been reasonable for him to be upset with her if it weren't for the fact that he had not even mentioned sydni or her involvement in the complication once. mina hadn't been looking to throw her co-pilot under the bus or even to be pinning the blame on her so its not like she was mentioning her name every five seconds while she told hayrmor the situation at hand but still, for all hayrmor likes to preach about safety and regulating everyone to the same standards he sure missed the mark on that one. whatever, though. she wasn't going to try and make sydni approach him to confess that she had been the reason the pygmy gopher breached the gunship in the first place but it did rub mina the wrong way that the woman would likely do nothing to try and even out what should be their punishment. the bar was pretty low expectation-wise and she wasn't anticipating much from her co-pilot if anything at all. she has known sydni long enough to know that she wouldn't want to own up to something if she didn't have to. plus, it was probably better off not to bring too much attention to the subject anyway. she didn't want to make their incident a huge spectacle with hayrmor by bringing it up for no reason and drawing even further attention to their recklessness. it was much better to sweep what had happened under the rug than it was to further address it with her captain. the whole situation felt like something of a rookie mistake so naturally, she felt some degree of embarrassment about it all, especially after being scolded as if she didn't know the difference between proper basic flight maneuvers. she'd say give it a week or two and he'd forget about it but thats just not hayrmor's personality. he's the sort of person to bring up a mistake like this whenever he wants to try and hit a nerve or something. mina reverted her attention back toward the reflective surface of her ship before her and kai were to leave it behind. despite it all, she was glad that she'd been able to finally show kai her new aircraft. it's been getting harder for them to actually sneak off to see each-other considering the watchful eyes of their bickering parents' and the complications that arose from their respective work schedules. if she had more time, she'd offer to show him some of the gadgets allocated in the control center of the cockpit but clearly with hayrmor on their asses that wasn't going to happen, not today at-least.
indentwhen the duo departed from where her gunship was stationed inside the hangar, the four assistance bots they'd left behind began to waddle around the nose of the ship, impatient for hayrmor to come and collect them. the harsh lighting inside of the building easily contrasted against the pitch of night awaiting her and kai outside; honestly, it felt like this afternoon had gone by much too fast. she supposed it was inevitable to feel some kind of dejection come the end of day but still. it was like neither of them could win when it came to their jobs or when it came to their private lives, for something was always obscenely unfair, like a captain or their parents or a crappy situation in their respective lines of work. she didn't even know when she'd be able to sneak out to see kai again. she ended up being rather lucky today, in that he decided to come over and neither of her parents nor her brother were home at the time and how often that did occur? not very. mina pulled her jacket closer to her body as they headed down the concrete runway from the hangar and back to the parking lot. the sounds of the city at night was like a low hum in the distance, traffic carrying from the roadways and to the relatively quiet grounds of the military hangars and the airbase. kai's voice cut into some of that silence as they approached his vehicle. she glanced over to him as he talked, she herself rounding about around the front of the convertible so that she could access the opposite door and slide into the passengers seat. mina had to give him an appreciative smile, for at-least he too could see she was not entirely in the wrong, although it was followed by a slight shrug. she didn't really mind what had transpired back at the hangar. admittedly she was a bit put off by hayrmor's scolding but she was more intent on criticizing his cruel behavior than she was on shying away from that sort of a conversation. "nah, don't worry about it. when i tell you i'm used to it, i mean it. i should've warned you before we even headed over to the hangar that we'd probably have to face an incoming lecture. i hope it wasn't too awkward for you or anything. you kinda just had to stand there while he tried to find some more ways to make the situation even more worse than it already was," she brought the seatbelt across her chest, buckling up as he stuck the keys into the ignition. she drew her phone out from the pocket of her jacket so that it was now sitting idly in her lap. kai's next words were enough to elicit a huff of amusement from her. "my god, i wish i could see the look on hayrmor's face the second he might get the news about my potential transfer out west. i don't know if he'd be mortified because i, of all people, happened to be selected by general alarie or if he'd be super happy about it because it would mean finally getting me out of his sight. pfft. either way he's probably going to be close to passing out 'cause of how lousy he thinks i am in the first place. obviously though, alarie sees something in us, kai. all of these other people doubting us are just prohibiting us from moving up in the chain 'cause they're petty, and for what? it's about time we finally get recognized." technically, hayrmor had the power to decline alarie's request for a transfer although obviously he would be putting his own name and career at something of a risk. typically when a general orders someone to do something, they do it no further questions asked. her captain was likely going to be backed into a corner by it all, considering he had no easy way out -- it was either he allowed mina to transfer even despite the fact he may not be in favor of such a thing, or he dare to turn down a request from general alarie and put his own career on the line, which she very much doubted he was the type of person to try and do considering all the emphasis he put on his position as a captain. either way hayrmor was evidently in a bit of a pickle and she was glad that he had to suffer in such a way. he'd likely have to comply to alarie's request even despite his own strange vendetta against her, which would probably only make him more sour. good. hopefully she wouldn't have to put up with the man for much longer after they eventually headed out west. surely something would have to change after they got redeployed -- if they utilized the situation to the best of their advantage, maybe they could see a shift in their ranking sometime in the near future. it'd be the best outcome if everything went as planned she supposed.
indentit wasn't long before they exited from the parking lot, checking in the with the security guards operating at the hangar's guard house before they were allowed to pass through the gates that closed off the private area, now able to head back onto the open road. mina herself wasn't sure about the whereabouts of what base in particular mateo might be occupying right now but all things considered, it probably wouldn't take the pair very long to get there since a lot of the forts in the area tend to be conglomerated near one another regardless of placement in the district. she glanced over at him as he spoke again. "i know. thank you," she gave his hand a brief squeeze in return as it came upon her own. "its too bad i couldn't show you some more of the gunships functionalities though. next time for sure. like i said, its a big step-up from the last aircraft i had although i guess thats pretty obvious considering i got to ditch the propellers this time around." mina smiled at him. "and hayrmor today? well, what do you expect from someone who thinks the world of himself, right? its like somehow all of these people forget that they were once in our shoes, too. he didn't just become captain out of nowhere, i mean even if he did ascend the ranks quickly its not like he's never been considered a nobody in his life before, you get what i mean? i dunno. really, my theory is that he's just an insecure bastard who finds some kind of pleasure or meaning in his life through making things harder for others. its just pathetic when you think about it. i mean, there are people like general alarie who don't spit upon every single person below them and then there are people like hayrmor who think being a captain makes them a top-dog or something. the latter is much more common to encounter i guess. hell, i know we've both have been through our fair share of crap when it comes to our supervisors. like you said before, it's as if we can never catch a break. the idea of running off to enlist in the coast guard somehow just gets more and more appealing by the day, and thats when you know you're getting desperate." she snorted. as the smallest branch in the conclave military, the coast guard has lost a lot of its importance ever since the nukes dropped. she wasn't even sure what duties they presided over besides guarding or navigating some ships safely along the east and west coast. theres not much they can do since international commerce was practically obliterated post-nukes. she supposed they're probably tasked with protecting marine life too, although she wasn't so sure how much of that could even be found in the oceans in the first place anyway. its been a longstanding joke that enlisting in that branch is akin to wasting your days away making little to no progress in your own career as a soldier but hey, at-least those people were unbothered. she doubted that they were dealing with extended difficulties of ranking up and out of their lower positions nor were they dealing with the adverse reactions of wastelanders to new technology. realistically it wasn't the pathway for her but it was becoming tempting. the woman grumbled at his next inquiry, the mention of her parents enough to reassert her attention on the fact that they might not be the most happy with her if she did end up coming home super late. "ugh. don't remind me. you know how strict my parents are in the first place, they'll probably start crap regardless..i'm actually surprised they haven't checked in on me yet. that being said though, no, no specific time. although then again they're the type of people to act like i should be able to read their minds if they did want me home by a certain time. i should be fine so long as we head back over to my place after checking in with mateo. hopefully your parents didn't give you some sort of a stupid curfew?" it wasn't even that late out but with kai and mina's parents, its not exactly easy to stay out all night and expect to get no backlash for it.
indentat this point, she was more than just hoping that alarie would live up to his promise to her and kai, for then not only would a whole array of new opportunities be presented to them but they'd also be able to get away from their families for awhile. for the first time they'd actually be deployed together out in the wasteland, thrown into a whole new world that they'd never quite experienced before. mina is used to carrying out rather mundane tasks, such as supply runs or practicing in mock tactical environments via a holoprojector simulated environment. to be able to actually apply her knowledge and put her skills to the test? it was something that they've been waiting for and it felt like they needed to latch onto this opportunity lest it escape them. hell, even if they were going to be sentenced to patrolling some security routing out west, at-least they'd be able to have some involvement in taking down the odawa syndicate as well as a change of scenery for once. at the same time, though, she doubted the likelihood of that. why would alarie send them out west just so that they would be keep carrying out the same boring crap that they normally would in the capital? the way he talked about it earlier, it sounded like he wanted to help set them on a new path for their respective careers, drive them forward, not keep them at a stand-still only in another part of the country. whatever the case she was eager to find out more about what he planned for the two of them -- its been the first instance in her career that she's ever been approached by a general of such prominence, let alone for something like a deployment offer. she honestly didn't expect such an interaction to ever occur in the first place although alarie's discussion with them helped her understand why he was helping them out anyhow. he didn't have to and yet he was; the man wanted to ensure a better future for the youth of the conclave military and thats what he was doing by offering them a helpful hand. he knew that they were better utilized out on active deployment than they were sitting around in the capital doing not much else than the usual day-to-day affairs they had to endure as warrant officers. somehow alarie was more aware about the stagnant ranks the military presented than her parents were. they were more the sort of people who believed that you needed to work hard to get where you want, and if you aren't where you want to be then clearly you're not working hard enough, you're slacking off or you don't care. thats the exact mentality that has been ingrained in her -- its not about whether or not you're just being held back, its about what you're doing to elevate your own career. and sure, to an extent that is true and its hard to object to such a proposal although the only time that it makes sense is in theory. when you try and apply that logic to the real world, you're met with a whole plethora of different variables that can hinder your performance or your ability to progress to where you want to be. be it someone like hayrmor who just seemed to enjoy stalling people at certain rankings or the feeling of complacency you start to possess after having tried for so long to push forward without any tangible results. either way, hopefully her and kai would be able to secure their spots out west, begin a new chapter in their careers.
indentfrom the corner of her eye, she noticed that the lock-screen of her phone had suddenly lit up with a notification, almost in perfect succession to kai's earlier inquiry. it was enough to catch her attention. her eyes trailed down to where her phone sat in her lap. she picked it up with one hand to see who was trying to bother her right now. her eyes narrowed at the name above the text message -- it was ishaan. the message itself? hey when are you gonna be home???? i brought some takeout from the cafe down the road from work if ur hungry
indentso he was already back home by now. reluctantly, she unlocked her phone so that she could reply back to him. it was better that she just answer him now instead of ignore his messages for he'd probably end up spamming her if she left him hanging for too long. so, she tapped out her reply on her phone.
indentuhhhh idk give me like 30 min or smth
indenther fingers stalled on the mobile keyboard for a moment. dont wait up on me tho lol i can eat later idc
indentafter a moment or two passed, she received his new reply; okk well wya anyway? mom and dad are home rn too
indentjust leaving the hangar cuz i went in to mess with some stuff on my gunship that was a lie. he didn't have to know that she'd made a slip-up during a supply run, let alone that she had needed to do an engine overhaul because of it.
indentlmao hurry up then
indentok byeeeeeeeeee
indentmina exited out of the app before she briefly glanced over to kai. "well, speak of the devil. ishaan is already on my ass. says he's got food or something. i bet you my mom told him to text me," she turned her head so that she could observe the passing landscape as they drove. the sight of the hangars belonging to the large conclave airbase located on the outskirts of the potomac river had long been abandoned behind them already along with the other military operating bases at that location. "honestly i just wish all of that crap that went down between our families didn't have to happen. even i can vouch for mateo; he deserved that promotion far more than ishaan. my brother does the bare minimum and somehow always gets what he wants. you know how he is. plus, he doesn't even have that much experience under his belt in the first place. i just feel bad, you know? i mean either way one of our families would've became bitter while the other got on their high-horse about it all but its so unfair to your brother. now ishaan is seen as some sort of a prodigy and its all i ever hear about too. not to mention the fact that we can't really even do anything about how our parents act toward each-other. its so out of our control, but whats new i guess." she could see how petty the entire situation regarding mateo and ishaan was but somehow everyone else in their own families were blind to it. its not exactly a new occurrence as these sort of feuds tend to pop up from different elite families - she knew this because her parents themselves were quick to gossip about others right where mina could hear - although she supposed she never batted an eye at any of it until it started to affect her. it affected her relationship with kai, and whether any of them were aware of it or not, her relationship with her brother and her parents. upper conclave society has an easy way of cultivating a culture of toxicity in terms of both familial and social affairs and unfortunately not many people born to these sorts of families are immune to such. its probably apart of the reason why the conclave can produce such highly competent and hardened soldiers who go on to become commissioned officers, for if a person is already lacking empathy or care then they don't have much to loose should they choose to join the ranks of the military. any individual can be shaped into a weapon although some people tend to be much more malleable than others are depending on their prior experiences in life. most people who can't handle immense pressure are weeded out during the rigorous mandated training that it takes to even enlist in the first place. "speaking of our parents, if everything goes according to plan i guess you could say alarie's offer actually gives us more than just one opportunity. not only do we get the chance to help take down the odawa syndicate, but we actually get to spend some time away from those insufferable bastards for awhile, or at-least physically. its going to be strangely liberating," she tucked her phone away into her jacket once again, assuming that ishaan wouldn't try to reach out again and bug her any further. "but watch, i say this now, and a week into deployment we're going to be missing the typical old capital streets." mina chuckled in amusement at the thought. honestly, she didn't expect to grow tired of the desert that quickly but there was a chance she was over-glorifying what experiences they'd have out there in her mind right now. besides, it wasn't going to be easy work being on active deployment and admittedly they aren't really used to that. it might actually even suck at some points but thats the fun of it all she supposed. she couldn't see herself particularly missing the presence of her family, though. she had a feeling that life would only be able to improve - probably tenfold - when she didn't have to actually see them on a day-to-day basis. the capital itself, though, she might miss.
indentmina eyed the fortified buildings beginning to appear around them; it was easy to tell that they'd travelled to the other side of the district judging by the distinctly militaristic area made up mainly of operational bases. it made sense that mateo was working over here; the large airbase across the district was home to multiple hangars and its where most of the airforce personnel in the capital operated out of. air traffic tends to take up a lot of space regardless of how you look at it so the other bases not dedicated to the airforce installed in that particular area are a lot more sparse than they are over here. she observed the sturdy chainlink fencing guarding the perimeters of the different bases, catching sight of the silver gateways sealing them off from the public unless authorized by those operating the guard houses. most of these bases are home to different branches of the military although technically speaking, bases in close radius to one another are often of the same affiliation. she didn't find herself heading out to this side of the district very often for her own work was in the hangars, not in an office, considering she was a warrant officer and all. she knew that ishaan operated out here when he wasn't on active deployment however, like how many high-ranking commissioned officers tend to do. most people who go onto active duty leave their offices vacant for some time before their return back to the capital. after a moment, mina turned her gaze back over to kai. "i'm guessing we're about there? hopefully your brother isn't too dead inside right now 'cause damn, even ishaan's back home. has mateo been working overtime a lot lately or something?" its not particularly too late out right now but after a long day of work, you'd suspect someone might just be exhausted beyond the average tiredness that draws on you at this hour. she didn't want to take up too much of his brothers time, either, aside from dropping off the file since one would assume that anybody was not exactly going to be in the most jovial of moods should people be pestering them by sticking around all night. her eyes shifted to the passing buildings once again -- they were likely to pull up to any one of these bases. mina hasn't actually seen mateo in a hot minute either, so she was actually looking forward to it. it'd be nice to find out how he was doing, all things considered. she was most certainly not going to bring up anything regarding ishaan or the promotion, though. she herself didn't even enjoying talking about that subject.

[vaermina]

ＶＡＬＥＮＴＩＮＡ ＫＡＬＡＪＩＡＮxxx
I.xcis femalex II.xno affiliationsx III. a wastelander


indentvalentina laughed at julian's snort. "i'm not so sure about that. i think gideon and morris would make us suffer in our final moments far more than some conclave goons would," she joked. admittedly, the two sandcats are a handful. if it's not gideon trying to run away, it's morris deciding to wander off and take a nap in the closest comfortable location. they both have naturally testy personalities which is why the two cousins often joke about gideon and morris attacking them. they have lashed out at them before so could they really call it a joke if it's actually happened? despite their irritability, gideon and morris were quite useful when it came to detecting dangerous weather. valentina was unsure how sandcats are able to tell when bad weather is brewing but it certainly helped out wastelanders. they don't have access to technology that could warn them of an approaching band of acid rain or a brewing dust storm. she knew that a lot of conclave soldiers carry around sandcats but it was more for their companionship than anything else. they don't need sandcats to alert them of nasty weather. are we surprised? the conclave's worries do not fall into the same category as the average wastelander's. the federal government and its followers sit comfortable and congenial in the capital city while hell and anarchy ravaged the rest of the wasteland. the capital is something of an enigma to people like valentina and julian. you hear all about it when you're growing up. it was a massive city modeled to appear exactly like how it was before the nukes hit. none of it was composed of sweltering, iron shack buildings or run down homes from the pre-war era. it was a utopia of glory and splendor. it was difficult for valentina to create a mental image in her head of what exactly that was supposed to look like. all she's known is the barren countryside of the dixon wasteland and the feculent towns and settlements that dot its landscape. she had no idea what the capital city looked like because she could not imagine a city that's not composed of crumbling buildings, prowling thieves, drunk wastelanders, hungry strays and unbearably crowded markets with vendors screaming their prices at the top of their lungs. she's been told by travelers that the capital city itself is surrounded by miles upon miles of towering walls and watchtowers to keep people like them from breaching it. if capital residents want to travel outside of the city, they have to either fly by plane or be accompanied by an armored convoy of some sorts. it was too dangerous for ordinary citizens to go trapezing through the wasteland by themselves but according to valentina's sources, that's not really a problem to begin with. those who are not affiliated with the military don't really venture beyond the capital's walls. why would they when they have everything they need in the capital city? she wondered if it got boring. wouldn't it grow tedious to stay in the same place for so many years? she supposed it's not like they really have a choice. there are not a lot of places similar to the capital city. she supposed the closest thing to it would be new hollywood but her knowledge of the municipality is also pretty limited. it was like washington as in it's been remodeled to appear exactly like how it was before the nukes dropped. it was supposed to be the symbol of the country's entertainment business. it had hundreds of stores, restaurants, theaters, nightclubs, bars and entertainment studios. the wealthy and luxurious entertainment stars of the conclave reside there alongside its also recovered and reestablished neighbor, beverly hills. as far as valentina knew, a lot of the regions surrounding new hollywood have been claimed and cleaned up by the conclave so they could house their entertainment industry. new hollywood was supposed to be as well-kept as the capital but with an opulent and sumptuous atmosphere to match. valentina and julian would probably burst into flames if they set foot on its streets looking the way they do. she couldn't imagine it. she's heard about the stars of new hollywood from newspapers and town criers. she could not fathom spending thousands of dollars - the conclave did not share the same currency as wastelander society - on sheeny dresses and sleek suits. celebrities don't recycle clothing, either so they're only going to wear an outfit once or twice before leaving it to rot in their closets. could you imagine?! they waste money on tasteless outfits and large mansions and massive tabs and shiny cars and for what? what do you gain from being so irresponsible? she supposed since they're not out here in the wasteland fighting predators and hunting to survive, they don't really care about responsibility to begin with. honestly, valentina was glad she hadn't been born into the conclave. she could not imagine being so publicly shameless and flagrant about your spending habits when millions of wastelanders struggle to feed their families. she supposed that if she had been born into the conclave, though, that wouldn't matter because she wouldn't feel any sort of empathy for wastelanders to begin with.
indentthe only source of entertainment and pomp for wastelanders would probably be the strip of las vegas but valentina doubted it competed with the refinement of the capital city and new hollywood. it was the country's central hub for nightlife and gambling. the strip is open for everyone but at the same time, it's not. you have to pass a credit check in order to access the neon-colored stretch. you have to present over two thousand caps to be allowed inside its gates - the credit check was different for conclave followers but the exchange rate was about the same. it was ridiculous because who the hell has two thousand caps just lying around? she guessed that was the genius of it all. not everyone can afford that credit check so it helps limit the number of hoodlums and ruffians that may want to enter the strip and cause trouble. and unlike new hollywood, the strip was not run exclusively by the conclave; several powerful crime families dating back all the way to the pre-war era do. they seem like puppeteers to valentina. they control the strip's economy and environment while maintaining a reputation of secrecy. she's heard that there's been plenty of violent and troubling instances at the strip despite its pre-screening measures, though. bar fights that would turn deadly, gamblers swinging on each other, soldiers getting drunk and attacking other people, ladies of the night being found dead in hotel rooms. valentina was curious of the strip's glamour itself but she could imagine that its setting was about the same as any other chaotic wastelander-run city. town criers have said for years that the conclave has made conscious efforts to establish themselves in the strip with little to no success. it was difficult for them to get an upper-hand over the area when the strip has been around far longer than the government itself. the strip's long-term and temporary occupants did not want the conclave cracking down on them with stricter regional laws, high taxes and an increased military presence. who would? it was obvious to valentina that the strip needed some form of better law enforcement but the government's attempts to be that constabulary are not it. she's heard that the crime families who run the strip have begun to slowly incorporate military bots they've scavenged from the wasteland to oversee the strip's riff-raff. it sounded like their presence seemed to be helping things a bit as most wastelanders are afraid of robots, especially the massive ones created for warfare. she's also heard that's been plenty of complaints about it, too. the robots were ruthless as in they handled trouble with deadly efficiency. they had no morals nor any sort of free thinking like a human police officer or soldier. she's read of a few instances in the arcadia newspaper where a few drunkards ended up with broken necks for attempting to disturb the peace. valentina supposed that was one way to handle drunks. the crime families don't have to worry about spending money on human law enforcement because they can just use bots to kill people who are disturbing their operations. it was grim to think about but it certainly got the job done.
indentdrunkards and robots aside, maybe one day she and julian could visit the strip. they wouldn't be passing it on their journey to the badlands unless they decided to take a not-so-obvious trip over there but valentina wanted to see its casinos and nightclubs, even if it was just a one time visit. what am i even saying? valentina was acting like she and julian could even afford the credit check. they could barely reach one hundred caps before they were forced to spend some of it. there was no way in hell they would ever be able to afford a two thousand credit check. well, one could dream.
indentthe flames took to her kindling fairly well. the woman's features became self-congratulatory as she watched the crackling fire. they'll need to make sure it doesn't die out. there was no wood around here to keep it well-fed so it was a fire that required constant attention. hopefully it doesn't burn out while they're gone. she glanced at her cousin when he made to fetch their bows. she caught it cleanly when he tossed it to her. "thanks." valentina eyed the weapon carefully. she had a composite bow made of sinew, red elm wood and horn. small carvings had been etched into its slender limbs over the years. it was quite old but handy and valentina saw no reason to replace it unless something were to happen to it. the bow was her preferred method of hunting. it's more quiet than firearms but it's a challenge as well. you have to be precise with your arrow because if you fail to shoot your prey in a fatal area, you can injure it instead and just cause it to suffer needlessly. valentina was not that type of hunter; she liked to use everything from her kills. the pelt, bones, meat. it was pointless to waste anything when everything on an animal can be harvested for usage. anyway, an arrow will not puncture heavy muscle mass or bone so you have to try and shoot an animal in a lethal area like the throat or head. valentina tended to use bows when hunting smaller creatures but she's hunted larger prey with a bow before. the doe they sold to zio had been killed with an arrow although its skinny hide and lack of muscle probably helped with that. they just have to be cautious right now with how they choose to go about their hunting. gunshots will echo across the already quiet plains and she did not want to accidentally lure a hungry animal right to their campsite. and either way, they need to exercise caution. she huffed in annoyance when julian began to rush her. "can you relax? i'm coming, i'm coming." she stood up from the fire before shouldering her quiver of arrows. she still had her rifle and shotgun slung across her back. valentina picked up their lantern. "yeah, looking around the old farm machinery might be a good idea. let's go." she paused when julian motioned towards the collapsed tractor she had noticed earlier. it sat only a yard or two from their campsite. foxes usually prefer forested regions over grasslands but she supposed they can't be picky when they live in a place like the dixon wasteland. foxes will make their homes in tree stumps, underground, within hedges; it all just depends. the creatures are crepuscularity animals, too. they like to venture for food during the brief periods of dusk and dawn. they might get lucky since the sun set not even an hour ago. "let's check out that tractor then. there's gotta be something that's made a den either nearby it or even inside it. i think i'm gonna tie the lantern to one of my belt loops. i'm not about to go strolling around unable to properly shoot my bow."
indentthe distant shrieks of animals sounded from the depths of the wasteland as the two cousins set off from their campsite. mars raised his head to watch them leave before he began to gingerly nose the ground for some fresh vegetation. valentina felt the hair on the back of her neck rise in natural apprehension. obviously, she was wary. it was dangerous to venture into the waste at night. there were no sources of light out here to help them see in the gloom. it was usually pitch black unless the moon was out. day or night, hunting can be a trivial task. it requires patience, stealth, tact and wit. valentina and julian have lost plenty of game but they've managed to successfully hunt just as many. you have to be slow but not so sluggishly that you end up missing your prey before you even find it. if you try and rush the process, you could potentially lose your target. right now, they were hunting in flat grasslands so they did not need to worry about stepping on a bunch of twigs and dry branches but it's crucial to note your surroundings. the snap of a stick may seem fleeting in the moment but it could alert wary creatures of your approach. a deer will become alert at the sound but won't flee unless it sees or smells you. luckily, there was hardly a breeze tonight so they did not need to worry about an animal catching their scent. valentina and julian try to stay downwind on gusty days so their scents were not blowing directly into the nostrils of their prey. of course, there's other ways to help hide your scent while hunting. you can buy cover scent lotions in city markets that will significantly hinder your scent. there's other ways to ensure a successful hunt, too but it varies between what you're trying to catch. large animals like deer don't typically stay in one place for too long hence the cousins' ventures whenever they would have to track down said creatures. animals leave trails wherever they go that are easy for hunters to pick up on. dung, fresh kills, territory markings, prints, tufts of fur. it's a bit more difficult to hunt in the dixon wasteland, though. the dry soil does not pick up on prints very well and the lack of natural landmarks like trees can make it impossible to figure out if an animal has marked the area as its domain. they have to rely on what they know of the surrounding region to gouge animal patterns and where their prey may have stalked off to when they lose its trail. water sources tend to be a good indicator of wildlife. there are few lakes and rivers in the region so a lot of them tend to either travel or nest near water supplies. it all just boils down to how willing you are to put in the time and effort. she supposed you also have to be a pretty patient and enduring person. and hunting to eat versus hunting for a pelt? they're two totally different processes. you can use any sort of weapon to kill an animal if you're just looking to harvest its meat for supper. granted, she wouldn't use a rifle unless you want to either scare or lure everything in the vicinity towards you but that depended on the time of day as well as where you're located. if you want to kill an animal for its pelt, you have to be careful with your weapon of choice. a rifle could easily damage the pelt. who's going to want a ruined skin? people use animal fur for clothing, house decorations and a plethora of other aesthetic reasons. nobody is going to buy a skin that's been ruined. sometimes, it depended on the bullets but valentina preferred to use a bow when hunting for an animal skin. a good shot in the throat can render them a swift death without ruining the fur. tonight, though, they were hunting for food so the end quality of the animal's skin did not matter.
indentvalentina eyed the tractor cautiously as they approached it. rust had settled over its chipped surface like an orange blanket. she couldn't even tell what color it had once been. olive green? cerulean? hoary? it was overrun by weeds and thickets; brambles and burr have invaded its inner mechanics. it almost looked like the wasteland was attempting to swallow it whole and claim it as just another pre-war skeleton amongst the brush. the lantern tied to her belt lightly clinked as she came to a halt in front of the old tractor. "yeah," she murmured in agreement. there had to be some fox dens around here. honestly, she would prefer a fox over a badger. badgers are notoriously fearless and won't hesitate to attack if they feel like they're in danger. valentina would prefer not to spend the rest of the night having to run away from one, thank you very much. she glanced at julian when he suggested they should split up to check for any signs of scuttering prey. the woman nodded in silent agreement before untying the lantern and setting it down on the hard earth. it wouldn't be that hard to detect signs of fox activity. the creatures are smelly and leave obvious signs of their infestation through trampled plants, burrows, dug up holes, droppings and the bloody remains of their kills. they have a natural fear of people and tend to run away if they sense one nearby. they're only aggressive if they're rabid or captured and handled. she just hoped they could snag one with a decent amount of meat on its bones, too. the sizes of foxes depends on the species. gray foxes weigh less than eight pounds while red foxes can weigh up to thirty. she's never heard anything about a specific mutated fox before but she knew that even animals who do not look physically altered by radiation are still affected by it. ordinary creatures can still be a bit bigger or faster than their pre-war counterparts. hell, even mars was a bit large for a horse which is why he did not appear entirely affected by all the weight he was carrying right now.
indentvalentina began to approach the sea of undergrowth that lined the edge of the clearing. her shadow from the lantern stretched before her like a stranger. the woman placed her hand around the bow's grip so it was positioned between her thumb and index finger. she gently folded her remaining fingers around the grip before turning her knuckles about forty five degrees. she reached over her shoulder for an arrow from her quiver, quickly nocking it into place. she tried her best to move as quietly as possible. there was a good chance she could accidentally step on a dry twig or something and alert whatever's nearby of her presence. it was difficult to see the further she stepped away from the lantern but it wasn't unbearable. she knew it was better to not go near the underbrush with the lantern, too for the sudden spark of light would definitely scare any prey hiding nearby.
indentshe stopped once she neared the undergrowth. the thicket was sparse and not at all condensed so it was easy to see through it. she lowered herself to her knees to get a better look. she was trying to see if there was any signs of fox activity or any indications of ventures committed by other animals. pawprints, tufts of fur, territorial markings, that sort of thing. she couldn't see much of anything, really. the underbrush looked undisturbed. she noticed that a lot of the brambles had thorns, as well so if something had been through here, there would be pieces of fur to indicate so. the longer she remained crouching, though, the more she began to smell something putrid. valentina wrinkled her nose in disgust. jesus christ. as a hunter, she could recognize that smell anywhere.
indenta dead animal is nearby.
indentvalentina rose to her feet before she began to stalk the edges of the sparse thicket, eyes peeled for the source of the smell. it did not take her long to find it. lying only a few centimeters away from the shrubbery were two animal carcasses. the lantern washed the carcasses in pale yellow. with her bow still in hand, valentina stopped before the scene. she scowled at the stench. she recognized one of the carcasses as a meadow vole; the other looked like it was some sort of bird, probably a wren or meadowlark. the vole was in the second stage of decomposition, hence the nasty smell wafting from it. well, whatever was left of it. the vole had been torn apart and left to rot underneath the wasteland sun. it was obvious that some creature had taken a few good bites out of it. it's been dead for probably around three days. the bird on the other hand appeared relatively fresh. there were obvious puncture wounds on its body that leaked blood and stained its feathers. it had to be an eastern meadowlark. they liked to nest on the ground in prairies and grasslands, along with pastures and hayfields. considering they technically were on the edge of some farmland, too, she guessed that worked out. the fact the vole and bird were in such close proximity to each other was interesting to valentina. foxes do not usually leave their prey out in the open. they bring it back to their dens to store or eat. it made her wonder if these two carcasses were even killed by a fox to begin with. foxes have been known to eat carrion so perhaps a fox could have caught the bird before stumbling upon the dead vole? maybe something frightened it and caused it to abandon both the decaying rodent and its fresh kill? that could be it. the teeth marks that decorated the bird's body were not thick so it had to be some small predator. a large one wouldn't really go after a tiny bird to begin with unless it was desperate. foxes don't kill for fun, either. if they find a large enough food source like a chicken coop, they'll kill all the birds because they plan to take what they don't initially eat back to their dens to store. if valentina had to guess, the fox who killed the bird was frightened off by something and had plans to come back and retrieve it. it's only been dead for an hour or two. it would be useful bait given its freshness but she wasn't sure if she should just pick it up with her bare hands. diseases and the like spread by wasteland creatures are common and she wasn't about to catch something by being rash.
indentit was only when she heard the sound of julian's hiss from across the clearing did her attention snap back to the tractor. his warning instantly caused her to grow alert but it was too late. a shadow pelted out from underneath the tractor. at first, it looked like it was heading directly towards her but decided to take a last minute detour and rush to the left. valentina did not hesitate to shoot her arrow. the slender figure turned right as her arrow flew past its head. a squeak sounded in the night before the creature vanished into the darkness. a curse escaped her. "dammit!" she growled under her breath. she had missed a headshot by only a few centimeters. judging by the animal's form and speed, it was definitely a fox of some kind. it must have been hiding in the grass, waiting for the two cousins to move on so it could retrieve its dead bird. not only had they managed to frighten it off but valentina failed to shoot it when she had ample opportunity to. stupid, stupid, stupid. she moved over to the tractor to retrieve her fallen arrow. it was buried in the sand. she nocked it again before retreating back to the lantern. julian was already there waiting for her. she eyed the ant near his feet curiously. it looked like he had managed to catch something. hell, they'll probably be stuck eating that thing considering she had messed up their chances to get the fox. "agh, i missed it! it was coming directly towards me and then took a turn once it realized i was standing there. i think it was just focused on trying to get away from where you were at but my arrow missed its shot completely." she scowled. she remained quiet despite her anger but it was impossible for her to hide her agitation. valentina was the type of person who despised failure. she hated not getting the results she wanted and she hated when things went out of plan or did not go her way. having been a hunter for so many years, it was difficult for her not to get irritated whenever she missed a kill. she knew she shouldn't get mad over it. the odds were not in their favors to begin with considering it was dark outside but it was so easy to beat yourself up over stuff like this as a wastelander. a hunter failing to catch a meal could easily mean going to bed hungry. she couldn't imagine how that must feel like for people who had families to feed. but admittedly, valentina could relate to some of that. she was the eldest out of her and julian so after their parents died, she felt like a lot of responsibility had suddenly fallen upon her shoulders. their parents had died a couple of years ago so it was not like they were children when it happened but it was only natural for the eldest to feel a certain sense of responsibility when the head figures of the family fall. julian was by no means a blundering idiot to begin with so it wasn't like she had to constantly watch over him to ensure his safety but... it was difficult to explain. valentina felt that she was just constantly on survival mode. when are they going to eat next? are they going to be attacked by something or someone? are they in a safe environment? can they relax for a minute and not have to worry about a sudden ambush? "anyway, i guess we could try and track it? it couldn't have gone far. we always have the ant to eat if all else fails. good job on killing it, by the way. god, i really wi-" she cut herself off. realization dawned upon her. "actually... you know what? i heard a yelp come from the fox when i shot at it so i must have at-least nicked the damn thing with my arrow. here, let's go see and if it left any sort of blood trail. it might lead us to its den." she bent down to pick up the lantern and retie it around her waist so julian could carry his ant. she had no idea why but she was feeling oddly determined to catch that fox. she knew they shouldn't be wandering all about the wasteland at this hour but she refused to give up so easily.
indentvalentina led julian back over to the thicket. the fox had vanished in this general vicinity. the light from the lantern washed the underbrush in gold as she began to look for signs of its whereabouts. it only took her a minute or two to locate tufts of orange fur caught in the thorns of the undergrowth. "look there! it must have ran through here. come on, let's follow the trail of fur and see if it leads us to anything good. be careful; there's a lot of thorns." they were wearing pretty sturdy boots and clothing so she did not anticipate any cuts but it was better to be safe than sorry. if she had to guess, the fox had fled back to its den. it might be hard to lure it out but she had a few ideas. they could use some of julian's ant as bait to coax it out of its burrow or they could try and flush it out instead. she was not sure what they could use to force it to flee from its den. they could use the matches she still had on her person to light some dry brush on fire and toss it inside its den but she was unsure how effective that would be. the fox would either flee out of its den's many entrances or it would be unfazed by the flames depending on how strong they were. they tend to dig pretty deep tunnels so some small, alit brush might not even faze it. it might be best for them to try and lure it out. luckily for them, the fox's pelt had snagged on practically every thorn in the vicinity. it had made a clear cut trail. ironically, it was luring them a bit closer to their campsite. it looked like the fox had decided to burrow within the tractor's vicinity.
indenteventually, the harsh thicket gave away to dry bushes and undergrowth. the trail of fur abruptly ended. instead, valentina made out the sight of pawprints in the sand. they were hardly there but they belonged to a fox, alright. the prints made a short trail in the sand before vanishing into what looked like a medium-sized hole underground. the opening itself was surrounded by dead bushes and vegetation. the two cousins stopped a short length away so the light of their lantern did not touch the entrance and alert the fox inside of their presence. the fox had definitely vanished inside its burrow. she wondered if she had managed to wound it in any way. her arrow had not lodged into its flesh but she had definitely managed to nick it somehow. she could imagine that would hinder its ability to properly detect its surroundings. not to mention, there could be other foxes inside that den. foxes typically live in packs and while it's not rare to find one on its lonesome, they like to stick together. the only reason that fox had been by itself is because they typically hunt alone. they must be in its territory, too so there were definitely other burrows and dens around here. could there be more foxes in other dens nearby? she wasn't sure but they had to focus on this one. more importantly, how the hell they're going to lure it outside of its den. foxes can dig pretty deep so there was no way in hell they could just release an arrow down the main tunnel and hope for the best. they also had to consider the fact that there could be multiple entrances leading into the den. the fox had plenty of chances to escape if it thought it were in danger. she looked to julian. "well, we found the bastard. it's definitely hiding inside its den right now, nursing whatever scratch my arrow gave it. hmm... we can't exactly flush it out of its den since we lack the proper materials for that. there also might be multiple entrances to its den and there's only two of us so it's not like we can be waiting for it to flee from five different tunnels. my guess? we could try and use some of the ant you caught to lure it out of its den. one of us may be able to get close enough to place the bait outside the entrance since i think it might be preoccupied with whatever injury my arrow gave it. it could smell our scent on it but i don't really see any other options unless we wanna sit here all night and wait for it to come out on its own. what do you think?" she asked, her tone a mere whisper now. of course, they could always abandon the hunt and choose to eat the ant instead but valentina was not too happy with that suggestion. insects are difficult to eat. their exoskeletons take up most of their forms so it was hard to try and access some of the more tender and digestible parts of their bodies. naturally, the only ants you can really eat out here are the mutated ones and their bodies have been significantly altered due to radiation the past three centuries. they were similar to their pre-war counterparts in physical appearance but when it came to their inner anatomy, it was different. don't ask her why because she had no idea. her father once told her it was something about energy storage and muscles and their need to adapt to a land that was no longer as easy to survive in. either way, insect meat often tastes like straight up vinegar unless you have spices and whatnot to help give it some flavor. they don't really have a bunch of spices hanging around apart from the few they had on mars so valentina was not too excited about the possibility of having to eat the ant. she supposed they would have no choice if they were unable to catch the fox, though.

[vaell]

xxxＥＤＷＩＮ ＡＬＢＲＥＣＨＴ.

xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxxxxxxxxxxxentertainer / stage name 'floyd'. | the rebellion. aka 'vuledo'. | tagged: constance.
xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
indenthe had to chuckle in amusement over constances words; truly, you'd think that the conclave would want to keep around the workers they hire for the general maintenance of their bases over some performers who are only there to be a source of entertainment for their soldiers for the night, although the opposite is true -- in a strange way, it just made sense for their values to be so warped. edwin couldn't complain, though, not when that sort of a collective mindset inherently benefitted he and constance's true purpose at their forts in the first place. without a doubt their line of work was still definitely hanging in the balance right now but you can make the fair assumption that the first people to be put under scrutiny would be the individuals directly employed by the conclave on a regular basis, staff such as custodians or janitors. he wasn't so sure as to what extent the conclave would go to protect their information and data following the loss of the file from themus but it was better to doubt the current security of the rebellions access to bases. further down the line - like they had discussed earlier - they might just find themselves taking on a different role within the organization, or at-least temporarily. its not like they could do much with their instruments and fancy outfits and music theory abilities outside of the conclaves desire for a lively atmosphere in their bases. its a shame because the two of them have perfected the craft of slithering their way into conclave affairs while going undetected by the command figures at such forts -- their tactics seamlessly blend to make the entire process come together. while constance handles working the top military personnel at the base - as much as he personally hates to see how she must wiggle her way past their defenses in order to ultimately gain access to their offices - he was the one to try and burn as much time as possible with said military personnel. it would be disastrous in and of itself if constance was caught casually snooping about their office, maybe glancing around at some papers scattered about, let alone absolutely rummaging through their file cabinets and desk drawers, hence why the responsibility of keeping whomever it was out of that room for the longest time possible fell upon edwin. it's not particularly hard to get them to leave constance alone in their offices in the first place, either. usually all of their soldiers are already rowdy as it is, drinking or playing card games or stimulating their brains in some sort of way, so an unexpected interruption to the tour someone might be giving constance would be enough to attract their immediate attention, so much so that they'd have no choice but to attend to it. if you can't divert the conclave official from the office in the first place then you're in some trouble considering that would make constance's own pursuits in that room quickly ineffective. you can't do much under the watchful eye of another, can you? how one goes about it all, it really depends on the situation. on the odd occasion, sometimes danny's antics actually align with their undercover work. it usually involves a bunch of riled up soldiers and edwin doing his best to deescalate the situation, which just so happens to involve a lot of engaging with whomever might be the top authority at the base. you have to try and save danny's ass and that task usually isn't that easy; if edwin can, he'll milk as much out if it as possible to give constance some more time in their office. that might mean letting danny dig himself a little further in his grave but regardless the man was still alive to this day so it didn't necessarily ever back-fire that harshly on them. essentially, you could think of edwin as the person to distract others from what was truly going on beneath their noses. typically, its the most common role he took on during their attempts to get their hands on some information from conclave bases. it wouldn't do them much good for constance to successfully gain access to any information they might want to get their hands on only for the commander of the base to be present the entire time. sometimes juggling the task of running their performances and attending to the true reasons as to why they're at the base in the first place can be a bit tricky but fortunately they're used to the stress of the environment. its hard not to get acclimated to the obstreperous crowds when their visits to conclave bases always have something new in store for them; whether it be danny digging himself an early grave or the general insufferableness of the soldiers, there's always something.
indentlike his own, her next statement was a bit more solemn, eliciting a sigh from edwin himself. "yeah..i guess you could say fear makes a fool out of everyone after all." without the proper resources or strength to equally combat the conclave - to even stand a chance against them - it always felt like the odds were stacked against them. he supposed thats a part of what made their fight so remarkable to this country though, standing up against a power much more influential than their own. however, seeing other organizations get annihilated by the conclave the minute they deem them too much a pest doesn't particularly raise anyones spirits nor does it garner much confidence. when you consider an event such as the massacre of valdosta, the idea of ending up like the black hand makes people want to crush the conclave and just be done with it already in order to avoid mass eradication on their part. people want to take action before the rebellion faces a blow from the conclave, no matter how well they've been doing not to attract any mass attention from them. its only natural such a response arises from some people within the rebellion, too. because edwin himself is involved in the more low-key methods that the rebellion takes toward the conclave, his mind doesn't linger on these sorts of thoughts for very often, for he knows that they're making progress - if only inch by inch, even - and with what they have done, they're lucky the conclave hasn't begun to take them more seriously as a threat. sure, right now the conclaves tactics of trying to turn people away from the true ideologies of the revolution have taken effect but its not like the rebellion has launched multiple large-scale armed attacks on their forts in a succession or anything either so he had a feeling that currently, the conclave didn't take them too seriously. which was obviously perfect for them; of course they need to establish themselves as being threat enough, but they couldn't take for granted what opportunities presented themselves at the fact that the conclave wasn't constantly tracking their members down nor were they trying to eradicate all of their outposts from the wasteland. regardless the entire situation is quite tricky to navigate, as its only rational to grow frustrated with their lack-of obvious successes toward the conclave, yet on the flip-side falling into that sort of a mindset and staying in it only ends up funnelling their energy toward trying to strike a blow against the conclave rather than focusing on actually dismantling the government from within. when constance hooked their arm through edwin's own, he found himself feeling glad that she agreed with him about getting some rest soon; not only have they been unable to change out of their wear from their earlier performance, but they'd also been unable to catch a break for most of the day. "sounds like a plan to me. i dunno about those two bozos, but i'm not about to be running on four hours of sleep or something tomorrow," before the two of them took their leave from the kitchen, he threw a glance over his shoulder at danny and mikey while they were still loitering around the table they'd been eating at earlier. edwin wouldn't be surprised if danny and mikey either stayed up much later than they or if the two of them somehow passed out before they did. there was no in-between with them, and considering how unpredictable they can be, he wasn't about to try and guess which of those two options tonight might be.
indentit hardly took a few seconds of them heading over to where the cots were set up before the sound of two sets of feet were drawing closer behind them. constance released his arm at the obvious sound of mikey and danny coming up on them. gods, we better brace ourselves. considering they just got put on the spot earlier for talking about them behind their backs, he was growing wary about what they'd need to deal with next when it came to those two. hell, they were literally just about to jump each-other earlier and now they were back to being best pals. edwin has never seen two people be as erratic in behavior as mikey and danny and the two of them only seem to somehow just magnify the others rather menacing tendencies. the sound of mikey's complaint didn't surprise edwin in the least -- in fact, he had to keep back the urge from making a comment about it to constance. of course the two of them weren't excited about the idea of sleep. constance spelling out the word relax was enough to make mikey cut them off in a matter of seconds though. he had to refrain from shooting a glance over his shoulder at the pair for he could tell they were starting to get worked up again, especially now that mikey was trying to bring danny back into the fold. "good lord, the disrespect, huh? here we go again," he sighed in a light-hearted manner. apparently they'd somehow been showing those two bozos a lack of respect all night which they claimed to so allegedly deserve, although if edwin could recall, all they did was make a slight remark once -- and well, technically edwin had put danny on the spot earlier but thats beside the point. if it wasn't edwin and constance trying to make sure that either danny or mikey weren't getting in any trouble, it was them having to deal with their rather interesting attempts at a lecture or their proclamations about something like ageism. ah, what a classic. they usually hear that spiel at-least once a day. honestly, at this point he would think that there was something wrong with danny or mikey if they didn't manage to find a way to try and inflict their insanity on the two of them. by the time they finally slowed down to enter the different corner of the basement, they'd somehow managed to make it through the short trip with no more outbursts from either of the two behind them. similarly to the rest of the basement, the lanterns were dimmed although for some, the flame was extinguished entirely. regardless the room still had a faint golden glow cast upon it, enough so that they could see what was going on and navigate their way around all of the cots set up where many people were currently either dozing off or lounging about and simply relaxing. among the other rebels whom were temporarily staying at the outpost as well, various of their own band members had already taken to getting some rest. he personally was probably going to try and read a little bit before he went to bed. it usually helps him go to sleep quicker for some reason. hopefully he wouldn't be terrorized by either mikey or danny while he was trying to mind his business, though. at that point he was pretty sure he'd just call it quits and entirely go to sleep so that they would stop being nuisances.
indentwhen danny and mikey pushed past the two of them, he came to a halt beside constance, exchanging their wary glance. now it was danny's turn to speak up again, and of course he was back at it with the demanding of respect. what did he expect? while the older man was trying to be taken quite seriously in his efforts, for some reason constance's comment regarding who would save them if they got jumped by bandits gave edwin the urge to cackle although he did his best to keep a straight face or else he knew that mikey or danny would immediately come after his ass. danny was quick to splutter at their reaction. now it was constance's turn to interrupt their rambling, because you already know its getting bad when danny starts talking about how nobody listens, cares or loves him and all that; if he had to guess, that tangent probably would have ultimately segued into something about how nobody is properly respecting their elders these days. gods, for all danny talked about spending his younger years fighting bandits, you'd think he'd be crowned some sort of a bandit king himself, forget having to kill the current monarch of wulfgang to even achieve that rank. the man has allegedly done it all and seen it all. at this rate he probably even has a story about encountering some cannibal from the ten knives bandit group despite standing right there in front of them, clearly not dead as he would be if that situation were true. interestingly enough, that specific group of bandits have died down in notoriety over the years, or at-least those going under that particular name. after the execution of their current leader at the time, a brutal woman called eve, their group seemed to have thinned out, or at-least they weren't causing as much of a ruckus anymore. he wondered if that was simply because of the fact that nobody has been able to fill her role properly since her death. hell, even he knew the things people once said about the former leader of ten knives and none of them were pleasant -- although at the same time, isn't there always some out there a little bit more crueller, a little bit more demented no matter how bad it all is? edwin could only assume that perhaps a lack of proper leadership might be why most of their members ended up resorting to joining the ranks of larger bandit groups such as wulfgang or splitting off altogether to rebirth the ten knives name anew. it makes sense, all things considered. what he did know for certain about this bandit group was that if any victims were left behind in eve's wake, they were severely disfigured and likely to be completely suffering both mentally and physically for the rest of their lives. in general, there is a lot of insanity going on out in new california and bandits have no qualms adding fuel to that fire; the ten knives group were known to take wastelander settlements for their own and their attacks were concentrated upon prominent farmlands and their workers. clearly, the conclave had enough of a problem with this that finally a strike against a large estate known as wealdstone farm spurred them to take action. it must have been close to a decade ago, give or take a year or two for he could remember hearing a lot of quiet conversation regarding the ten knives group whenever he happened to stop at a particular city or settlement no matter the region. their questionable behavior easily spread around the country due to their spread-out attacks and largely elusive hideouts. he wasn't even sure if the conclave had actually fully eradicated what remained of that group to this day or not. he doubted they would have ever grown as large as wulfgang but they were prominent enough to be seen as an actual threat. if its not the raids, extorting, or murders already being a problem to wastelanders and farmers alike then you can bet repeatedly and successfully attacking something the conclave actually has concern for will earn you a spot atop their target list. he wasn't even sure how they might have went about it. edwin himself knew very little about their past leader and the groups true intents so the problem was probably addressed by some sort of an intelligence group within the conclave's military. you'd need to study a group like that for awhile, amass some information before you even know what you're dealing with. while large bandit groups are already a terror enough in his eyes, the more evasive and moderately-sized bands were even more concerning. you don't know as much about their motivations or inner workings. its just a whole other world of unknowns. obviously eve had been taken out by some conclave officials although he's never exactly heard a story about how it all went down being quite the same. sure, they all generally follow the same storyline but theres always some slight alteration. either way there was no arguing about whether or not she died at the hands of the conclave but how they got to her or how they even doled out punishment to her was beyond him and subsequently the wastelander communities who suffered at her hand and never got complete detailed-oriented closure as to what transpired. its not like you could expect the conclave to care though. most people are just glad the conclave took eve out period. the ten knives might have been one of the first bandit gangs to terrorize farmers but they most certainly would not be the last. if anything the groups movement toward the agricultural industry sent off a chain-reaction; many other bandit groups have since tried to monopolize off eve's tactics, meaning that the conclave is presently still having some trouble fending off bandit groups from ransacking and terrorizing estates.
indentfrom one of the cots in the area, a new voice sounded out. edwin was actually a bit shocked that it even took that long for someone to finally pipe up and tell them to shut the hell up. he would've done it himself if he didn't know that danny would probably add that to the long list of disrespects that edwin and constance have showed to them today, initiating yet another tangent. nah, he was not about to be the person to trigger danny or mikey's confrontational urges only to be jumped by everyone else in this corner of the basement trying to sleep. he noticed that danny looked rather peeved by the comment and not a second later, the older man threw his hands up in the air as if this situation only further proved his earlier point. the fact that he was even claiming not to be the sort of man to boast about his alleged achievements was already a lie but edwin decided it was better to keep his mouth shut; besides, mikey ended up joining in his spiel right away anyhow. he was quick to agree with danny's own sympathies. no big surprise there. edwin huffed in amusement at their sudden display, watching as danny scrambled to find some sort of a weapon upon mikey's urgings. their antics never failed to disappoint. he had a feeling this one might just end with them getting something thrown at their heads, though, judging by the fact that this area was intended for actual sleeping, after all. after a moment, it seemed that danny managed to find a small pole next to an empty cot. oh no. the older man straightened himself up first, a look of regality dawning across his features as the pole was held to his chest. his speech was briefly interrupted by the fact that he needed to stretch his limbs out first. the performer eyed danny warily as he lifted his arms in the air in order to properly extend his muscles, shortly followed by his legs. danny immediately reeled their attention back in again when he returned to his explanation. this was some sort of a demonstration that nobody had actually asked for, although mikey and danny seemed to believe it was crucial for edwin and constance to witness, as if they were out there fighting some conclave soldiers all the time or something themselves. he was pretty sure that at any second someone was going to snap on them. however, edwin didn't even have a chance to comment on danny's questionable statements regarding his strength and agility and whatnot by the time he had made a mistake.
indentthe second danny bent the flexible pole, it was flung from his hands and straight into nick whom occupied the cot beside the old man; edwin's eyes followed the path it took toward him. when he was hit, he let out something of a yelp of surprise. "jesus," edwin muttered beneath a chuckle, watching as the teenager turned himself around to glare down a rather surprised danny. the performer was speechless as to how chaos-inducing danny and mikey were, although then again at this hour it just seemed to make sense. nick then snapped at danny and the man had no troubles trying to defend himself once again, back at it with the elders and respect and bandits and the conclave and how he was feared by literally every single entity in the damn wasteland yet again. when danny reached over to take the pole from nick so that he could try to demonstrate once again, the teenager immediately pulled the object toward his chest so that the older man could not take it from him. he laughed at the mention of danny being sent into he and constance due to the shotgun's recoil -- now that about summed up danny's career of trying to fend off bandits or whatever miscreants he claimed to be sought after by. he could have sworn that the older man was about to get riled up over the mention of that particular moment, and if constance hadn't stepped in to break the two of them up, ewin was pretty sure that danny would have been scrambling to deny the teenager's remark. he watched as a grumbling danny then made his way over to an empty bed after the pole was kicked out of reach beneath nick's cot. mikey and danny being obnoxious aside, at-least nick was able to inform them that they had gotten their suitcases brought in for them earlier. khalil and fairfax probably decided to bring them in when they were back outside checking in with mikey and danny earlier. he quickly fell in step beside constance as they led him over toward the two empty cots over near the bathrooms. the sight of chantal and lily atop constance's cot didn't surprise him -- lily was entirely passed out, while chantal was chewing on her tail. a light smile touched his features at the sight of the two creatures. after constance, the performer gingerly held out a hand toward lily in greeting before giving her a light rub on the side of the head. the sight of her pets was enough to draw his attention toward his own cot. well, that's not surprising. both richard and bernard were already curled up beside each-other in a slumber at the bottom of the portable bed. he shifted his gaze back over to constance when she spoke. "that, or they're gonna get their heads bit off by someone," he joked. danny and mikey seemed painfully oblivious as to how many people were trying to get rest right now. usually coming to this corner of the basement did not exactly mean signing up for a random demonstration as performed by danny appleton. the man took a step over toward his own suitcase as constance began opening up her own. "yeah, seems like they're cut out for life on the road as performers, huh? i mean richard and bernard look like they're both knocked out already. they're not annoyed right now but if i woke them from their slumber, they'd probably be none too happy." edwin sorted through some of his belongings in order to retrieve a change of clothing for the night as well as some shower essentials and a book. he gently set down the weathered copy of mary shelley's frankenstein on his cot before turning to face constance with his own supplies in his arms. whenever edwin could, he enjoyed spending some time to read. there's not a huge selection to pick from in the first place considering what they had access to but he didn't mind doing re-reads. usually when you go over a text again you pick up a lot of things you miss the first time around anyhow. "i think i'm gonna do about the same. hopefully we don't come back to see danny and mikey trying to devise some crazy re-enactment to prove just how fearsome of warriors they still are," he laughed, stepping away from them to go ahead and head over toward the mens washroom. all things considered, it was going to be nice to finally get out of this suit. they didn't really have time to change or anything earlier given how they had to head over to arcadia right away so they've been stuck in what they'd usually wear for performances for quite some time now.
indentwhen edwin and constance each respectively emerged after having washed up and changed into some pajamas, he was surprised to be met with a strange amount of quietude from this corner of the basement. immediately, he sent a dubious glance over toward mikey and danny. they were somehow keeping down their voices while they spoke to one another, sitting on the edge of one of their cots. he was sure that type of silence wasn't going to last long. honestly he thought they might've just passed out while he and constance were getting ready for bed but apparently not. edwin ambled back over to his own cot, returning some of his belongings back into his suitcase before bringing himself atop the portable bed. he was careful not to disrupt either of the two dozing creatures that lay near his feet. the performer picked up the book he'd been planning to read, running a thumb down its torn spine before opening up its contents. generally, the condition of any old novel is pretty tattered although it wasn't like it was impossible to properly read. granted, a few of the pages were missing although thats only inevitable as time wore at its integrity. you can fill in what happened for the most part. he's read frankenstein before but it was always a nice classic to go back to. when he opened it up, the first page was only faintly lit up by the burning glow of the dimmed lanterns around the area -- it was a bit difficult to clearly make out the contents although he has read in the dark enough times that its not too much of a trouble for him. he skimmed past the preface so that he could get started on the first letter in the book since frankenstein is an epistolary text. before fully beginning to delve into the novel itself though, edwin looked over to constance and held the novel up in his hand from where he laid on his back atop the cot. "check it out," he whispered, making an obvious effort not to annoy the others around them while still trying to be audible enough for them to hear, "frankenstein. hey, if you wanna read something i think i brought along a copy of-"
indent"hey, will you two keep it down over there?" unfortunately for edwin and constance, it didn't take long for their reappearances to attract the attention of a certain duo once again. he had no idea who but one of them gave them a quiet hiss of warning. edwin turned his head toward where older men were situated. a scowl had already crossed his face before he even looked toward the two. "really, guys? just 'cause someone told you to keep it down earlier doesn't mean that you need to get mad at every single little noise now. i mean, what do you think, constance? isn't that just y'know, a little bit extreme?" he rested the novel on his lap, slightly tilting it downward. he didn't even have the chance to read a single page in to the first letter before he got interrupted. edwin supposed he shouldn't be surprised nor should he have expected to be able to go very long before being terrorized by the two. he heard a grumble of annoyance from mikey in particular over from where the two of them sat. "psh. nah, it ain't extreme at all. some people are tryna get some rest you know. its you lot that are the extremes ones, starting to babble on over there when everyone else is enjoying some peace and quiet!" edwin rolled his eyes, once again shifting his attention back toward his book. at-least in the dim glow of the lanterns they wouldn't be able to spot his exasperation over their ridiculousness right now. after all, they were the ones who'd been engaged in conversation well before he and constance even came back anyhow so it just made them hypocrites. plus he had done his best to be quiet earlier; it's not like edwin announced to the whole damn basement that he was reading a book. with a sigh, his eyes landed upon the first sentences of the opening letter and it felt like only a moment passed before danny was the next person to speak up. "hey, what are you reading over there?" edwin let out a huff of annoyance, once again temporarily abandoning where he was at on the page. "good lord. frankenstein. you know, mary shelley?"
indent"why- of course! i find it a bit disrespectful that you even insinuated that i might not know-"
indent"oh come on. i wasn't saying that, you're just taking everything out of context right now. shouldn't you two be getting some rest or something?" edwin did his best to reassert his focus back onto the words atop the imperfect page but clearly this wasn't going very far. mikey let out something of a scoff at his inquiry. "we plan on it the second y'all stop talking over there. sheesh, talk about a disturbance." he didn't have to look over to know that danny was now nodding his head in agreement. "exactly! and now you're getting on your high-horse over there about the damn modern prometheus! you two know well i'm a man well-read in literature and i can tell ya a lot of things about that novel. some young scientist bringing life to a creature? no good. none at all. kinda like them androids the conclave create. speaking of which, did you know that the creature actually ends up murdering-"
indent"hold on. first of all, you do realize that you guys are talking way more than constance and i already, right? you keep telling us to be quiet but then you just keep bringing up other stuff. and yeah, i'm aware. don't mention it about the android stuff. you know, some people actually perceive the creature and victor as symbols of like, god and adam. something about how god punished his creation, adam, for disobedience, just like how victor rejected the creature and abandoned his responsibility for it. anyhow, i've already read this book so you can't try and spoil it for me, danny. good try though." the older man subsequently sputtered at edwin's words. the performer drew away the book once again, except this time he allowed its contents to close. he probably wasn't going to be able to make any actual progress in terms of reading tonight, clearly. "now that is a hefty accusation there yet again. by the gods, now you've done this to me twice in a day! first the soup and now spoiling a book! you're accusing me of trying to ruin the book for you? i don't take that much delight in spoiling things for other people. i mean what do you take me as, someone with such..malicious intents!? i was just trying to make a comment about what happens in the novel, thats all! its like no one can respect anyone around here anymore! and you're labelling me the bad guy? me? i'm not the bad guy here. you know what, i'm starting to feel like the creature. a little misunderstood, you know? victor was always making him out to be some sort of a horrific, monstrous creation, when in reality, all he wanted was some damn respect and love! just an ounce, even! he could've gotten it, too, if humans weren't so stuck up in their own wa-"
indent"please, shut up already!" someone groaned from one of the nearby cots, interrupting danny's progressive rambling. edwin himself had no problems with being quiet but it was hard not to reply to danny or mikey when they were being so persistent. "mhm. that's what you two get for trying to stir some trouble. now go to sleep. both of you. or else you will be sleeping in the stables tonight like constance said."
indent"well- you know what? you know what!? you two are starting to remind me of victor right now, talking about we might be sleeping in the damned stables with the horses. arrogant and single-minded!" danny's words were enough to make edwin run his hands across his face in exhaustion. he let out another huff. "huh? arrogant and single-minded? now where did you get that idea from? you two are causing a ruckus, so what do you expect?"
indent"erm..well. you know, just the way you two- ah, forget it!" strangely enough, danny cut himself off, as if he were the one growing exasperated from their discussion. edwin didn't mind, so long as he kept quiet from here on out and minded his own business. apparently nobody can read a book in peace let alone offer someone else a book, too. he slowly drew the novel back up from where he'd shut it closed atop his torso. maybe he would be able to read after all. the performer sent a glance over to constance. he was nervous that danny and mikey might just pipe up again if he spoke but hopefully he'd shut them down for now. "so dramatic and for what," he ran a finger along the lightly ripped edge of the first page of the chapter. "what i was saying was, there's a copy of the picture of dorian gray at the top of my suitcase if reading is up your alley right now. honestly though, as fair warning you're probably going to become a quick target of danny and mikey if you do decide to pick it up." the performer turned his gaze back toward the novel, keen on actually being able to start reading. he wasn't sure how long the silence was going to last so it was best that he take advantage of it now while he could. near his feet, he could feel his sand-cat stir a little bit, slightly shifting in what position it was sleeping in. edwin was on his back so he lifted the novel just a ways above his face so that he could start reading. before the chapters even began, the book was split up into different letters that a character named walton wrote to his sister. edwin contently let his eyes begin roaming along the lines of the words. a part of him was bit distracted, admittedly, so sometimes he did lose track of where he was on the page but it didn't take long for him to retrace where he was previously at. he supposed that the conversations that he and constance had earlier were still hovering about his brain; its hard to move on from such heavy topics, so it made sense that when he finally had some downtime he was still plagued by what had transpired today. for some reason or other, edwin was just bugged by what consequences have arisen from the aftermath of their failed break-in at themus more than anything else right now. every now and then he'd shift atop the cot in order to read the novel from a different angle as a result of his restlessness, trying to somehow become more focused. he was still interested in reading right now, it was just hard to explain how he even felt in the first place. sure, the light-hearted banter of mikey and danny earlier helped their situation out a little bit but at the end of the day, its hard to get away from your own worries or doubts when you're left to your own thoughts. regardless of his struggle, though, after some reading he'd finally gotten to the first chapter where victor would begin his narration, telling the reader about his background and early childhood and-
indent"wait, i just remembered-- hey, constance, edwin? you guys do know that the way victor actually found the parts to make the creature in the first place was practically by grave-digg-"
indentnope, i can't do it anymore. it took the performer only a few seconds to finally internally snap at the sound of danny's sudden interruption of the basements fleetingly established silence. edwin shut the book closed for a second and final time, promptly dropping it down to the floor beside his cot. the novel lightly hit the floor before he flipped onto his side to face away from the general direction of both mikey and danny. he pulled the blankets up to the side of his face in an attempt to block out whatever they were beginning to go on about, tightly closing his eyes shut with a grumble of annoyance. "goodnight constance. and nick, if you're still awake, you have my full permission and encouragement to fetch that pole again and throw it at danny or mikey's heads if they keep on blabbering. think of it as pay-back for earlier or something." he spoke amidst the ramblings of the pair of morons in the background although edwin himself was practically muttering at this point.

[vaermina]

ＫＡＩＲＯＳ 'ＫＡＩ' ＬＯＵＫＡＮＩＳxxx
I.xcis malex II.xthe conclave militaryx III. an android deployment & utilization warrant 2 officer


indentmina was right. once upon a time, hayrmor had been a warrant officer himself. he had most likely dealt with snappy superiors and crippling expectations like the rest of them so why does he act the way he does? kai guessed that was the million dollar question. not everyone heals from the poor treatment they have received from others and once they are in a suitable position to do so, they just end up regurgitating that same behavior onto other people. kai did not understand it. wouldn't you want to try and break that vicious cycle so younger people did not have to experience what you went through? some people believe that others must suffer like they did. pain transforms you but kai did not think it did anything inherently beneficial. if there's a chance that others can avoid suffering like you did, wouldn't you want to try and help them? kai did not understand why some people were so intent on making everyone else hurt. sure, kai sometimes struggled himself to not dump his issues and emotions upon other people but he wasn't out here purposely targeting people because he felt miserable inside. "right? i mean, what the hell do coast guard officers even target their subordinates for? failure to properly navigate a rowboat? they don't do a whole lot to begin with so i can imagine it's a breeze." seriously, though, what is the coast guard even responsible for? he knew that they guard and navigate ships safely along the country's coastlines but what threats are they looking out for? it's not like international threats are a thing anymore. honestly, he shouldn't be criticizing them when his own branch isn't doing too hot right now. the coast guard is setting sail on nice waters while kai and his fellow android personnel are getting their asses beat by wastelanders with missing teeth and hunched backs. he shrugged. "yeah, no, i feel you with that because my mother is the same. and nah, i don't really have a curfew." it was strange how mina and kai have gone through such similar yet different experiences in their households. their parents' have shown little care for them but mina's parents still seemed to hold a certain amount of strictness towards her. his parents were not really like that. they had expectations for their children in terms of upholding the family name and not making them look like fools in front of the rest of the conclave elites but when it came to curfews, they could care less. kai was pretty sure he could abandon his life here in the capital city and run off into the wasteland and his parents wouldn't care. kai has spent a good portion of his life in the houses of other people. he'd spend days on end with a friend just to avoid going home because when he does go home, he's instantly jumped by the hurricane that is his mother. at this point, he doesn't even bother to question why. she constantly needed attention and she constantly needed to argue with someone. she's probably going to jump him as soon as he gets home regardless due to their argument earlier. his mother never liked ending a conversation feeling like she did not have the last word. kai was used to it. his mother frustrated him more than anything in this world. she was hardly tolerable. he wouldn't exactly say she was not an intimidating woman due to the sheer power she held as speaker of the house but compared to his father, she was nothing. kai could handle her because she did not frighten him. did she make him want to run away into the wilderness and never be seen or heard from again? yes but she did not intimidate him into submission. she knew that, though which is why she often dragged her husband into her crap in order to gain control over her children. she knew that her sons were afraid of their father so she used that to her advantage.
indenthe looked over at mina when she spoke again, this time announcing that her brother had just texted her. he couldn't help but snort when she said her mother probably forced him to text her. "i know. the fact he's younger than us and he's already a major general makes me wanna drive right into the potomac river. i guess we ain't doing too hot to begin with but it just feels unfair to mateo. he's older than ishaan and he's put more time and effort into his career. he says to me all the time he's not bothered by it and i know he'll get promoted eventually but that still doesn't make it right. i mean, seriously, mina. have you ever heard of a guy in his early twenties becoming a major general? that's a rank that people don't reach until they're in their thirties or even forties. our fathers are in their fifties and ishaan is only like, what, two ranks below them? how does that even make sense?" should kai be telling mina that her brother deserved his promotion and had a natural talent for what he does? probably but kai isn't a liar so no, he's not going to say that. this whole situation was stupid and beyond unfair. kai supposed that he felt a sliver of jealousy himself towards ishaan because of his fast-moving career but the fact he had stole that promotion from mateo is what really got him irritated. kai did not like seeing his brother struggle or get stepped on. mateo had a complex relationship with all three of his younger brothers. the loukanis family struggled with the ultimate form of parentification as in mateo had to step up from a young age and raise his brothers because their parents refused to their jobs. he had been forced to take care of them not only physically but provide emotional support and guidance. and when kai said he did everything for them, he meant everything; cooking, cleaning, taking them and picking them up from school and school-related events, shopping. he had helped them with their studies and gave them advice as they grew up and faced fundamental childhood roadblocks. mateo had learned how to copy their parents' signatures so he could sign their paperwork and whenever they were sick, he would be the one to take them to the doctor. he had to take a job as a teenager to earn some extra cash on the side so he wasn't begging their parents to cough up some money to support them. he also protected them as best as he could from their father's rage and their mother had begun to emotionally depend on him for many years until she decided to randomly despise him out of the blue. he had lost his own childhood and early adulthood by stepping in and filling in the humongous void their parents left when they decided to vehemently focus on their own careers instead of their family. he had no choice in the matter because what was he to do? let his siblings rot in their own filth and neglect? in many ways, kai saw mateo more as a father than a brother. he had done everything a father was supposed to do. other people would probably see that as bizarre but that's how parentification worked. your true parents are nothing but strangers to you. and while things were different now, he still frequently checked up on his siblings. it often made kai somber to reflect on mateo's life as a whole. he had a wife of his own now and two daughters so he was a considerably happy man but there had to be some sort of trauma there, right? he had raised his three brothers and received no form of gratitude from their parents for it. in fact, their mother hated him just because she was a vile woman and their father was just, well... eugene loukanis, he guessed. kai knew that the military was not going to promote mateo based on who had it worse growing up. sympathy had no role when it came to rankings. ishaan could be more capable and adept than mateo but kai refused to believe that. "oh yeah, we're definitely gonna be missing the capital. we go from the luxury of paved roads to nothing but miles upon miles of desert and radiated scorpions," he joked. "honestly though, it's definitely gonna be liberating if everything works out with that. that'd be the best thing about it. heh, you know your home life sucks ass when you're more grateful about getting away from your family than getting the opportunity to help take down a dangerous faction."
indentkai slowed down when he realized he was beginning to speed. "yeah, we're nearly there. and that's what i'm guessing. he doesn't live at my family's estate anymore so i don't really know what's going on with him a lot like i used to but his wife told me that he's been working late hours recently." if there's one thing undeniable about his older brothers, it's that they're hard-working people. well, mateo and philip mostly. xander gets everything he wants without having to lift a single finger but what else is new? the only reason mateo and philip have reached the positions they have is because they've worked for it. their parents have done nothing to help them. mateo's career aside, philip was the deputy director of the federal bureau of investigation; he helped oversee all domestic investigative and intelligence activities. it suited him because he was a principled person. he was level-headed, rational and cold but assertive, intense and determined at the same time. when philip has his teeth buried into a case, he does not let go. his tenacity often boiled into ruthlessness, something that he shared with their father. giving up is just simply not in his dna which is why most of the criminals philip goes after often end up behind bars. he and the rest of his bureau have jurisdiction over violations of more than two hundred categories of federal crimes. his brother valued public safety in its domestic state. he fought public corruption at all levels, major white-collar crime, significant violent crime and worked with other bureaus such as the bureau of intelligence and research when it came to handling domestic terrorists such as bandits. the federal bureau of investigation does not have military divisions and platoons like the bureau of intelligence and research so collaboration and teamwork must often be coordinated between the two agencies when it came to handling prominent bandit threats as the bureau of investigation has foremost power when it comes to domestic terrorism. foreign terrorism and cyberattacks are no longer a threat for obvious reasons but cyberattacks committed against the conclave by groups such as the rebellion and enemy factions are also handled by his brother's bureau. none of the attacks are particularly strong or threatening due to the fact the conclave is the most advanced organization in the country but any sort of cyber criminal activity must be handled by the bureau of investigation regardless of their intensity. philip took it all very seriously which is why he had such a good reputation amongst government personnel. kai was not particularly close to the man as their personality differences and overall fights as youngsters prohibited it but he admired philip's zeal and passion. his brother was stubborn and did not give up, especially when it came to crimes such as murder. he was an advocate for victim's rights, especially when said victims happened to be of conclave blood. kai knew that within recent months, philip has been in an ongoing struggle with the crime families who run the strip of las vegas. he spoke about it around two months ago when him and kai visited mateo and his wife for dinner at their apartment - xander did not show up despite claiming he would be there. philip had told them at the dinner table that he was trying to get one of the strip's most prominent criminals, giovanni agnello, behind bars. agnello was a peculiar case because the crime families were relatively downlow with their operations. they knew that it was in their best interests to avoid a conclave crackdown. agnello did not seem to get the drift. he was notoriously public with his charisma and has been linked to multiple wastelander, bandit and conclave figures over the years. kai's brother claimed that agnello was involved in the underground slave trade ran by wulfgang and supported by many other bandit groups across the country. he said that there's been pictures of agnello posing with notorious bandit figures in the casino his family runs on the strip, which made him almost one hundred percent certain that agnello was involved in their schemes somehow. he claimed that agnello was targeting and selling his family's enemies to these bandit slavers as multiple people who have come forward against the agnello name have gone missing within the past year or two.
indentphilip had also seemed certain that agnello was giving these bandits free access to the strip so they could gamble and drink to their heart's desires. in return, these bandit groups helped him pull off crimes and other schemes that would be difficult for his family to get away with on their own. kai supposed that all made sense although he remembered sharing an uncertain look with mateo and his wife when philip began to rant how he was also positive that agnello was going to try and use the strip's military bots - robots who acted as policemen and helped control the rough crowds - to take over the strip in his family's name. philip had been on a tangent that night, claiming that the military bots had been originally suggested and implemented by the agnello family so despite all the crime families agreeing to use the bots as policemen, the agnello family must have some sort of unique control over the robots to begin with. a total takeover would be easy if they had the original codes and could overwrite the bots' loyalties to the other families. whether or not any of that was true, kai had no idea. philip had been insane that night. kai could just imagine him tossing and turning every night because of agnello. and when he thought of philip and giovanni agnello, he couldn't help but picture the two of them being like that cartoon called tom and jerry where the cat and mouse are both chasing each other with hammers and knives and god knows what else. maybe it was a good thing kai was enrolled in the android utilization branch. true, it was currently in a pitiful state but he could not imagine losing sleep every night because you're haunted by the actions of some bastard you've never even met. philip appeared so wrapped up in enacting vengeance sometimes that kai almost felt sorry for him.
indentmateo's office was located in the valor commando corps base. it was located deep within the district, nestled quaintly amongst a few other bases just like it. kai and mina had to show their identification cards to the security officers manning the guard booth before they were allowed to enter its grounds. the valor commando corps base was similar to any other base around here. as its name suggested, it was mainly utilized by the commando corps but personnel from other military branches are allowed to roam its hallways, as well. it had not only a command center but a training ground, a proving ground, barracks, an intelligence facility, a vehicle repair facility, and an office building for commissioned officers. some of the base's facilities like the command center were used to help provide support for mobile commando squadrons; its training grounds were utilized to help train men and women seeking to enroll in the commando corps. like most bases, it had a variety of facilities to help assist the daily lives and duties of military personnel. kai chose a parking space relatively close to the office building so he and his girlfriend did not have to walk very far. he's been here plenty of times before so he knew where mateo's office was located. he turned off the car's engine after putting the vehicle into park. "you've been in his office before, right? or was that the old one? eh, whatever, let's go. hopefully we won't find him losing his mind and running across one of the lawns or something because of overtime. i think we've dealt with enough insanity for one day." he opened up his door before stepping out of the car. he made sure to grab the file that general alarie had given him earlier. commissioned officers typically have their own offices at select bases designated for their particularly branches. of course, generals like alarie and their fathers reside in the capitol complex but everyone else is situated at scattered bases throughout the district. once they left the parking lot and neared the office building, he practically ran to reach the door before mina so he could open it for her. "after you," he said with a tone of false pomp.
indentthe office building was quiet. too quiet. they were greeted by a sudden blast of cold air from the air conditioning unit as they stepped inside. kai eyed their surroundings skeptically. a long corridor spanned before them; it ran down the length of the building. there had to be over a few dozen offices in here. he could tell that most of their occupants have gone home for the night due to the fact most of the windows in the hallway that peeked into their offices were dim. there were a few doors open where the light from inside peeked through and washed the floor in gold. the soft lull of conversation could be heard wafting from said offices. for the most part, though, the place looked pretty empty. judging by several abandoned utility carts out in the hallway and boxes of paperwork perched next to some closed doors, it had been a pretty hectic workday. kai fell into step beside mina as they began to tread down the hallway. "jesus, we need to kick our asses into gear and become commissioned officers so we can get ourselves some offices to sleep in at night. this place is so dead, i'd take it over living in my house any day." he glanced at their passing reflections in the office windows. some officers had their blinds closed while others had left them open. it's no surprise that commissioned officers are granted offices as soon as they're promoted. they are tasked with leading, training and guiding the professional and survival developments of their enlisted soldiers. they're the key influencers and planners over their subordinates so it was crucial that they have their own office spaces to help them manage everyday tasks. kai could imagine that it was no easy task trying to coordinate entire squadrons, platoons, divisions, units and whatever else. his brother mateo was a brigadier general so he commanded a brigade of around four thousand troops. he reported to general cosimo amabele, as his brother was enrolled in the commando corps underneath general amabele's commando unit known as the shadow squad. it was difficult to explain. generals command units and plan their operations in the field but more often than not, their jurisdiction just happens to fall under a certain geographical region. his father had central command and jurisdiction over the northern commonwealth due to his legion's constant warfare with wulfgang. on the other hand, general amabele's dominion fell over southern new california. it was a bit different with certain branches like the air force since air force personnel don't stay in one area for too long but he knew there was a whole system worked out to keep generals from clashing with one another over who has jurisdiction in a certain territory. each branch was similar when it came to rankings but different when it came to how things actually worked in the field. in the commando corps, generals have control over units that sometimes consist of over sixty thousand soldiers. they can't do it alone which is why they have support from lower commissioned officers. and in the commando corps, the rankings are a bit warped as in generals can choose a specific senior commanding officer to be what is essentially their righthand man or woman; these people are referred to as captains despite being significantly higher in status, power and influence than captains of the army, air force and the android utilization branch. as a brigadier general, his brother helped when it came to the deployment, training and tasks carried out by general amabele's men. he commanded his own section of the unit alongside several other commissioned officers who served underneath general amabele. and given general amabele's reputation, kai already knew they were about to walk into something peculiar. it was strange to know that someone like his brother reported to someone like cosimo amabele - a man who is notoriously vengeful, merciless and despotic. mateo's office was located at the end of the hallway, right before a flight of stairs that led up to the next level. kai did not even bother knocking on the door.
indentthe couple was greeted by gloominess as soon as they entered the office space.
indentkai had to narrow his eyes in order to make out their surroundings. mateo's office space was by no means as elaborate or grandeur as general alarie's. if anything, it seemed rather subpar for someone of his ranking. it was obvious that mateo was not the first man to set up shop in here. the walls appeared rather gray with age, the tile floor speckled with faded stains and small cracks. the large crimson rug his brother had attempted to throw over the floor to cover up such wear did little to help. an old steel desk was pushed up against one of the outward facing windows; it was covered in papers, files and documents. there were a lot of file cabinets and the likes lining the walls of the room. some of the drawers were open, spilling forth a few of their contents. there was absolutely no space whatsoever to be found in mateo's office. every nook and cranny had something tucked within it. half-consumed water bottles, untouched coffee mugs, various office supplies, notes with scribbled reminders on them, dusty lamps, paperwork, files, documents, reports, certifications, endless archives of the shadow squad's duties, tasks and expectations. the office lights above had been turned off; the only source of light in the entire room was coming from the small lamps on mateo's desk. they've been in his office for less than two minutes and kai was already beginning to feel stressed out by the clutter.
indentspeaking of mateo...
indentthere was a couch pressed up against one of the walls. his brother was stretched across its cushions, lying directly on his back. at first, kai thought he was looking through the computer on his lap but it took him a few seconds to realize that the older man was asleep. he had his laptop resting on his thighs but one of his arms was draped across his face, signaling he had fallen asleep. figures. perched on the small coffee table directly in front of the couch was mateo's blood eagle prudence. the bird was pecking at the remains of what looked like a turkey sandwich. her head swiveled towards the couple when they entered the room. a squawk sounded from the bird as she stalked near the edge of the table, eyeing the two of them suspiciously. kai could not help but scowl at her obvious signs of reservation. "hey, why are you eyeballing me? we know each other." he observed her warily before looking back over at the slumbering mateo. he glanced at mina before motioning towards his brother. "pfft, get a load of this guy. you and i get pummeled over the smallest of things as warrant officers but mister brigadier general over here is sleeping on the job. i would say we should draw a bunch of crap on his face with permanent marker if i wasn't afraid prudence was gonna claw our faces off if we get too close." kai supposed he couldn't give mateo too much crap over it. technically, he wasn't working a regular schedule right now since he was doing overtime. it's not like he was sleeping in his office while a bunch of interns, enlisted soldiers and whoever else banged on his door. honestly, kai had no idea what his workdays looked like. kai did know that following his promotion pass, there was a lot of pressure for him to amp up his ardor from not only their parents but from his colleagues as well. darlene told kai a few weeks ago that general amabele was particularly vexed with mateo since he had considered mateo's failure to score that promotion a bad look on the shadow squad. general amabele had personally recommended him to the promotion board. as far as kai knew, he had been screened and greenlit as eligible for promotion by the board but it fell flat once the list went on to the executive and legislative branch for approval. promotions for commissioned officers are tricky the further you climb in the rankings. brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals and then customary generals must be handpicked by the executive branch, nominated by political bodies from a list and then voted on in order to achieve their next ranking. he could see why general amabele would be agitated that mateo was passed up considering such important people had gone over his achievements, records and files to see if he was qualified or not. it wasn't mateo's fault, though but general amabele sure made it out to be. he was embarrassed that mateo - one of his own subordinates - was undermined by a man who was much younger than him and had far less military experience. kai could imagine that mateo was taking overtime to try and help smooth out the friction between him and his commanding general by helping him get things done with his commando unit.
indentcareful not to make too much noise, kai walked over to mateo's desk with the folder in hand. he frowned when he realized there was nowhere to place it at. it would easily get lost in the contents of his desk and kai was unsure how important the paperwork inside the folder was. he huffed before turning around to glance at their surroundings. "you see an- oh! hey! look at this!" kai forgot about the folder instantly. the young man practically hauled ass over to one of the small tables propped up near the windows. a display case harboring his brother's plasma sword was pushed up against the foggy glass of the windows. kai set the folder down so he could open it. the weapon's hilt shimmered like liquid silver in the faint lighting of the office space. kai picked it up with one hand. it felt light. crafted and engineered for duality and agility, it's only customary that plasma swords are not bulky nor somehow strenuous to wield. each plasma sword is different from the last in both saber color and hilt design. plasma swords can be activated by toggling the activation switch so while anyone can use them, you could easily hurt yourself if you don't know how to properly wield one. nevertheless, they're weapons of grand destruction. their wielders can not only deflect and liquefy incoming ammo but can cut through practically anything; be it steel, stone or flesh. kai has always liked mateo's plasma sword because its colors were easy on the eyes. his was the color of pale amethyst, bordered by a white sheen. purple plasma swords are rare within the conclave. kai was not sure why but that's just how it is. kai turned towards mina with a grin. "hey, check it out." he ignited mateo's plasma sword. a portion of the office was suddenly washed in faded purple as the weapon hummed to life. the warrant officer mimicked the sword's hums as he twirled it around, careful not to accidentally slice himself or his girlfriend open. he could feel the heat radiating from its glowing blade. kai, mateo and philip were taught how to wield plasma swords by a professional solis-certified instructor - most of the government's elites are taught by such individuals. they also received some training from their father's captain, octavius elnen. it's difficult to learn how to wield plasma swords. it can take years for someone without certified training to master it. it's not easy to learn how to deflect bullets given the sheer amount of vivacity it takes. you can very easily slice your own limb off if you're not careful; there were probably hundreds of tainted-bloods out there with missing limbs from plasma swords. he knew that plasma swords are highly sought after by individuals outside of the conclave, too. people will scavenge them off of soldiers' bodies just like they do with power armor.
indentkai's glee was cut short when mateo suddenly stirred on the couch. he immediately deactivated the plasma sword and scrambled to put it back into its case as his brother came to. a groan sounded from the older man. kai stalked back over to mina to try and play off his snooping. mateo removed his arm from his face before stretching out his legs, computer still perched precariously on his lap. he did not notice kai and mina until he glanced over in their general direction. their quiet presences were enough to elicit a jolt from the older man. "jesus- wha-" he cursed before he immediately leaned up on the couch. it took him a moment to process what was going on. "oh, you two ar- uhm, hey. hey, hey!" he scrambled to compose himself while also trying to play off his nap. "sorry, i was just closing my eyes for a bit. i wasn't sleeping, i was just relaxi- oh! mina! i should have known that tweedle dee here would go and see you. it's nice to see you again," he smiled at her, albeit rather crookedly due to just waking up. much like his younger brother, mateo oftentimes found it difficult to stay on one topic. "we haven't spoken in a while. yo- god, you guys look like those two twins from the shining when you stand there ominously in the gloom. it's kind of creeping me out. you should move away from the door, too; you guys are standing underneath the vent and it's always cold as hell in this office. say, when'd you two come in?" he sounded groggy.
indentkai followed mateo's instructions and nudged his girlfriend a few steps away from the door. it was cold standing underneath the open vent. "we came in hours ago. we were watching you sleep," kai joked. "nah, we literally walked in less than five minutes ago. here's the stupid folder from alarie." he tossed it in his brother's direction. mateo just barely managed to catch it in time. he cleared his throat before he removed his computer from his lap, putting it onto the coffee table. he rose unsteadily to his feet. a few incoherent mumbles escaped him. "file? oh... wait. what file? from general alarie?"
indentthere were a few seconds of awkward silence. "yeah... the file from general alarie. remember? you were gonna go today but then got caught up with work?"
indentanother few seconds of silence. "hu- oh yeah! now i remember. ah, sorry, today's been chaotic. thanks for getting it for me, i appreciate it. i was gonna tag along myself but then there was some rebel break-in out in the dixon wasteland today at fort themus and then general amabele decided to take a detour and execute an entire group of wastelanders outside of the city of arcadia only a few miles away from that very fort. i mean, can you believe it? not only is the entire area on lockdown but now we're looking at potential tainted-blood and pure-blood skirmishes due to heightened tensions because of general amabele's actions. i don't know about you two but that doesn't sound like a very smart move to me. of course, general amabele doesn't want to hear it. he just maims and destroys anyone who doesn't cooperate with him. i guess it makes sense. you don't get the nickname 'the crusader' for nothing, huh? anyway, i'll shut up now. i don't want to bore or overwhelm you two with all that. i should probably shut up anyway considering if anyone hears me talking crap, general amabele will gladly take a nice walk down kick-mateo-louakanis's-ass lane. i should be grateful it was you two who walked in on me napping and not him because he would have thrown a grenade on the couch and sent me flying into the high heavens." with the file in hand, mateo moved away from the couch to turn on one of the over head lights. it was obvious that mateo and kai were related. similar to kai, mateo had blonde hair - albeit a different shade - along with light-colored eyes. his complexion was a bit more tan, though and he had inherited their father's stocky build. there was a deep scar indented into his bottom lip and chin from when he and their father had gotten into a scuffle many years ago. his nose was a bit crooked after it failed to heal properly following a similar skirmish. he had a kind face but it was marred by hints of exhaustion. his frown lines seemed accented somehow, as if he's been grimacing nonstop lately. his hair was frazzled from his awkward sleeping position on the couch. he wore a uniform similar to general alarie's although his had far less medals and bore the insignia of the shadow squad. there was a layer of cold sweat coating his forehead.
indenthis brother stumbled over to his desk. he pushed aside some of the paperwork so he could set the file down. kai was tempted to ask more about his issues with general amabele but he did not think that was a good idea. his brother was either going to go on a tangent or lash out based on how tense he looked right now, and kai and mina have dealt with enough craziness today as it is. mateo was not really the type of person to dump his issues on other people, either. he usually stopped himself before he could do so. kai eyed the folder curiously. "what's in the file?"
indent"that's for me to know and you to never find out," mateo responded. for a moment, he sounded serious until he smiled at kai's grimace. "i'm joking with you. it's just some paperwork about the black hand and whatever remains of their followers. it's all boring stuff, nothing exciting." the older man leaned back against his desk before he wiped away some of the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his forearm. "anyway, did you enjoy your trip to the oh-so-lovely capital complex? anything interesting happen when you met with general alarie? given the fact you two are still standing here unharmed, i guess you managed to avoid accidentally running into adhar and eugene. i would have missed you both terribly if i heard there were two murders on capitol floor three," he joked. interestingly enough, mateo always called his and kai's father by his first name. he was obviously far more disconnected from their parents than kai but in hindsight, it made sense. he was the eldest of the loukanis children and thus, suffered far more than the rest of them. he certainly did not act like it though. he took other people's feelings into account despite his own troubles. he has always been such a prominent figure in kai's life that it was almost impossible for kai to reflect on the fact he was his own person. and in classic little brother fashion, kai had been a menace on mateo's ass when he was a kid. if he needed a ride somewhere, he would always bother mateo because his parents never bothered to take him anywhere when he was younger. he could still vividly remember when he had managed to convince mateo to take both him and mina to the park when they were children when they were unable to get rides from their parents'. when they arrived, kai had demanded that mateo leave them alone since they were grown enough to be on their lonesome. of course, he hadn't actually left them by themselves but instead lingered on the outskirts of the park to make sure neither kai nor mina got thrown into the trunk of some stranger's car. kai had always demanded that mateo leave him and mina alone to do whatever as children but he'd usually come sulking back when he realized they needed money for a food vendor or bubblegum machine. kai had been embarrassed to be around his older brother in public when he was a kid because he had felt like he needed some independence; it was just ordinary kid behavior. obviously, he didn't feel that way anymore but he did not see mateo as much as he used to considering the older man had his own family now. he had offered kai a place to stay when he moved into his apartment with his family but kai had declined. he didn't want to be a burden. mateo deserved to have his own life with his wife and kids without having to worry about looking over his younger brothers. he's done that enough the past twenty years or so. "also, how have you been doing, mina? forgive me, i should have asked that earlier."

[vaell]

ＪＵＬＩＡＮ　ＭＯＲＥＮＯ.

xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa wastelander / future rebel. | unaffiliated. | tagged: valentina.
xxxxxxxx─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
indentfrom where he stood within the lantern's ring of illumination, julian could hear the alarmed squeak of an animal closely followed by the sound of valentina's frustration, indicating that she must not have gotten a clear shot on the fleeing fox. he quietly cursed beneath his breath as his eyes searched the darkness beyond the tractor. he couldn't blame her for missing the target; even the most experienced of hunters find it hard to wedge an arrow into an animal during the dead of night when faced with such low visibility levels. that, coupled with the fact that he informed her last minute of the creature heading over her way. if she had managed to land a shot on that nimble critter, he would've been quite impressed. julian supposed that at-least now they have some sort of a confirmation that there definitely was an animal creeping about the outskirts of this abandoned farmland, though. before their encounter with the fox, they'd been searching the area solely based on what knowledge they had of what species inhabit which sort of environments, although it's not like they were certain that there was truly anything roaming the area in the first place. julian held his bow at his waist, an arrow idly nocked as he continued to peer out into the darkness for any signs of valentina's return. he could only hope she wouldn't take it to heart; he knew his cousin had the tendency to be hard on herself when it comes to these sort of things, much unlike himself. whereas she may not be so quick to shrug off failure, for some reason julian found it much easier to brush off a mistake and move along in the hopes of making up for what he might've squandered. he's not exempt from the initial disappointment of losing potential game but he was fortunate enough to be able to possess something of a unflappable nature about it all. of course, it was still frustrating that they didn't get the catch instantly, for the gods know they're probably both growing rather famished at this point. neither of them wanted to resort to having to eat the ant that nipped at him earlier either, and knowing that they could've caught a creature that would've satisfied them a lot more so than a bug..? he felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. admittedly though julian had been the one to scare the animal away - although that was technically thanks to the ant - so regardless its not like it was her fault.
indentwhen valentina reappeared into the dim circle of light back at the tractor, he couldn't say he was surprised when he noticed a scowl cross her face as she explained what had happened. he sighed, momentarily looking past the woman's shoulder to where the creature must have fled before once again meeting her gaze. "its okay val, its really not a big deal-- well, it is when you consider what we might want to be eating but- dammit, never-mind. you know what i mean. forget that. the fact that you even reacted quick enough to spot it just shows how alert you are. considering that i pretty much gave you a last minute warning i'm not surprised it got away. that, paired with the dark of the night? it was gonna be a tough shot. you tried your best though," julian had a feeling that there was a bit more she wanted to say regarding the matter but hopefully his reassurances wouldn't be for naught. the only reason why he himself wasn't feeling a bit more stressed out about the creature being scared off was because of the fact that they had his ant as back-up. sure, bugs usually don't taste good nor are they fun to cook but they're a much better option than going to bed starving. valentina naturally assumed a lot of responsibility for things like this and he commended her for it but this time around, they just needed to keep their minds clear and move on to their next task. luckily it certainly seemed like she was ready to do that. he gave her a light nod of agreement when she suggested they try and track the fox down. in-fact, he was about to say something when she suddenly cut herself off. the man eyed his cousin warily as something seemed to have dawned upon her -- they might be able to follow a blood trail to its den. huh, good point. after all, julian did hear the sound of a small yelp earlier so that must indicate that his cousin did in-fact graze the fox. he couldn't help but smile in light of their growing determination to hunt the creature down; they had the opportunity to go after it, so they might as well. "sounds like a plan to me." as his cousin reached down to retrieve their lantern so that she could secure it around her waist, he himself bent down to gingerly pick up the lifeless mutated ant laying at his feet. he readjusted his grip on the bug so that he was carrying it in one hand by its rather large thorax; it suffered a clean puncture from his dagger although it was slightly crumpled in on itself from being briefly squished by the sole of his boot. while they probably shouldn't be prolonging their time away from their campsite he knew that they had a fair chance of successfully being able to hunt down that fox so that they could eat something decent tonight. they'd be unwise not to go after the creature, especially after they've already encountered it. finding animals to hunt in the first place can be tricky depending on what area you're traversing about but they'd managed to do it, even if for now the fox took the initiative to temporarily escape from the two of them.
indentjulian followed valentina's lead as they headed back over toward the thicket, abandoning their position at the tractor. the dense growth of bushes and shrubs were lit up by the dim glow of their lantern. his eyes roamed over the thick coppice as his cousin too began to look for signs of the whereabouts of what the fox might've left in its path. he cautiously stepped around some of the withering shrubbery, slightly bending over to get a better look for any traces the fox might've left behind. valentina was much quicker than he was to spot some evidence of the creatures trail -- upon her words, his eyes flickered over to where she was inspecting the thicket. he shuffled over to her side a little bit so that he too could see just what she had discovered. he narrowed his eyes. it looked like the fox had unknowingly left behind a trail after all. orange tufts of fur appeared to have been caught in the thorns of the undergrowth, small clusters torn from its sleek pelt as it darted through prickled limbs in an attempt to flee from him and valentina. "huh, yeah. you're right, it definitely looks like that fox bolted through here. the little bastard," it seemed that they were fortunate enough not to lose the animal after all. if he had to guess, the creature probably fled back to its den or darted off to hide in nearby foliage to try and wait them out before proceeding with its night. now it was aware that they were tracking it, too, or at-least that they had been prowling the general area. the two of them would need to be extra careful not to alert the fox of their presence considering it was already startled from its brief encounter with them. julian nodded lightly in acknowledge to her comment regarding the thorns before they began following the trail of fur. an ant had already managed to try and nip at his exposed ankle earlier and he was not about to be getting more scratched up by some plants, thank you very much. if the fox really did mean to make its way back over to its den, then the animal was doing them a favor. their dens can be quite hard to spot, and foxes tend to be excellent at sneaking in and out of them. usually their burrows are home to tunnels that lead to multiple dug-out areas too. they often happen to make a den in areas with dense vegetation or under a large tree or any group of boulders. contrary to popular belief, too, foxes utilize their dens to raise their young, flee from harsh weather, and to store food, but very rarely use their burrows to actually sleep inside of. considering it was also nighttime now, the activity levels of these creatures are much more prominent of course and he very much doubted that the fox would want to keep itself holed up in its den unless it had a serious injury. this is the prime time for their own hours of catching and feasting on some other prey like rodents so the fox would definitely not be willing to stick out the entire night just hiding from them. that made things a bit more easier when it came to the prospect of potentially luring the fox from its den. there are several ways to go about trying to get the fox out from its burrow but considering what resources they had available to them, their own options as to how to go about this whole situation appeared to be quite limited. they don't have a trap on their persons right now so they can't try and conceal and bait a trap -- but what they could was try and lure the fox with bait alone and then take their chances at piercing the fox at the right moment when it chose to reveal itself.
indentthe fox had left them an obvious trail of the path it hurriedly took; they didn't have much trouble trying to discern where the creature had ran off to. it appeared that they were actually coming closer to their campsite than they were straying from it too. that was helpful. its not like they wanted to trek too far into the wasteland only to lose their way completely or get ambushed by a predator much more fierce than just a mere ant. that being said, the fox must have burrowed within the vicinity of the tractor. the thicket was soon to turn into undergrowth and dry bushes where the trail of fur they'd been following ended. julian scanned the ground beneath their feet just as valentina did. he could make out what seemed to be some paw-prints in the sand, just fresh enough to be visible to the cousins. the two followed these prints until they stumbled upon an opening in the ground, bordered by dead bushes and vegetation. bingo. he peered into the entrance of the den from where they stood a fair length away. they didn't want to accidentally alert the fox of their presence, hence why they made sure to keep themselves and their lantern a short distance away. the fox had most definitely disappeared within the burrow. he couldn't say how many other foxes might too be in the den right now but at-least they knew there was one. it might even be slightly injured from where valentina's arrow flew by it which would only help them some more in their pursuits of trying to lure the creature out of its den. it might just have a hard time trying to properly pay attention to its surroundings if it were focused on a nick it received. he glanced back over to valentina before briefly bringing the ant to his nose so that he could sniff it. foxes have excellent hearing and sense of smell due to the fact they depend on these two senses when locating prey. usually when it comes to foxes in particular, its ideal to utilize bait that has a rather strong smell. they had pretty limited options here though. "well, it doesn't exactly have a super distinct scent but i guess foxes have more enhanced smelling than us anyway. it'd be better if we had some sort of a pungent meat but its not like we can go running around just trying to hunt down bait," he shouldered his bow alongside his quiver for a moment. "the fact that my scent is already on the ant probably won't help much but what other choice do we have?" he eyed the bug in his hands before poking a finger against its limp head, causing it to slightly droop. "lets do it, though, try and use the ant as bait to lure the fox out of its den. it might take a little bit of time for the fox to show, or maybe not very long at all. who knows. i swear though, we better not be out here until sunrise. stupid ant. stupid fox." he grumbled. her suggestion was really the only method he could think of that might be able to work right now; place the ant on the step of its entrance without making it too obvious and then hopefully with time the fox would show itself. if the fox had been struck even a little by valentina's arrow earlier he doubted that it would have been enough to render the creature completely out of service right now; if anything, the potential wound probably wouldn't hinder its ability to actually physically function. it would just make it a bit distracted is all. "i'll go put it over at the entrance now." worst case scenario, the fox reappears from its hole and quickly snags their ant back into its den to store it in its cache hole. he doubted that would happen so long as he and valentina were quite alert but you never know. they didn't want to lose their one source of food right now either. with his bow already on his back, julian began to slowly move from valentina's side, leaving both her and the lantern to come up toward the entrance of the den. hopefully the fox truly was nursing to its injury for if it spotted him now they'd have to forsake the hunt whether they liked it or not; fox dens have multiple different entrances and once the animal is aware that its being hunted, its not going to put itself in harms way. they'll lose the fox quite quickly should it decide to emerge from another entrance only to scurry off to some foliage. he took a cautious step toward the entrance of the burrow. he needed to be as silent and as quick as possible so that he could get back over to valentina before his movement might be spotted or in the event that he might be heard. again, foxes have strong noses which they use to sniff out food sources, so hopefully the odor of the ant would be enough to catch its immediate attention. as with most hunting forms though, observation and preparation and important aspect for a successful hunt -- they'd have to be ready to shoot the creature the moment they see it fully emerge from its den. julian slightly bent down so that he could set the dead arthropod just outside the dug-out entrance of the burrow. a moment barely passed before he was already back-tracking his own steps away from the den, careful not to step on any small twigs or leaves dotting the ground nearby the burrow as he made his way back over to his cousins side. julian drew his bow from his back, ensuring he nocked an arrow again. "come on, we gotta properly position ourselves to make sure we can get a good shot on the damn thing without it spotting us first," he made sure to take a few steps back from where they were already standing, opting to use some nearby dead bushes an appropriate length from the side of the burrow as some form of cover. the man slowly knelt down so that the vegetation would help obscure him a little bit rather than being out in plain sight for the fox to see. at-least their lantern's range of light didn't put them at any risk for being discovered immediately. the boundaries of its ring only washed them and some of the bush over in a hue of gold. foxes won't approach bait if they're aware that humans are close to it, so its better they position themselves a fair length away from its den. if the two of them happened to notice the creature approaching the lure, they'd need to make sure not to alert it of their presences before they could manage to get a proper shot on it. for now, staying still and waiting was their only option.
indenthe briefly glanced over to his cousin now that they'd settled. "i wonder if the fox had to abandon any of its prey when i startled it," he mused, making sure to keep his voice down. their bait would appeal a lot more to the animal should it have not yet gotten a kill of its own tonight. foxes tend to have a rather diverse diet. they catch rodents, birds, rabbits, reptiles, and they even eat carrion. he wasn't surprised that they'd managed to even find the creature around here. foxes can be found on farmland interspersed with other woodland - even if the area was as barren as where they currently were - and they usually thrive on the abundance of mice that can be found around an area like this. "i can imagine it was probably on the prowl for something or other. we might've disturbed its hunt, so maybe its eager to get its paws on some food, like our ant, y'know?" he turned his gaze back over to the burrow, eyes settling on the dark entrance. he could imagine the creature might be a bit antsy to go hunt some prey despite any injury it might've received from valentina's arrow. taking that into consideration, there had to be a much higher chance of the fox reappearing to inspect the ant before trying to haul it into its den. generally speaking, foxes in this region of the wasteland haven't undergone any major cosmetic mutations when compared to their pre-war counterparts. their general appearances have remained largely the same aside from the fact their ears were a little bit larger. he remembered that his father once told him that the more notably larger ears of the post-war foxes helps them release heat, a vital adaptation for higher temperatures. plus, they have some magnified hearing abilities as well. mostly, though, their larger ears are intended to act as a cooling mechanism to help prevent overheating while maintaining the foxes body temperature within set boundaries. perhaps another slight variation might be that foxes don't tend to sport lustrous pelts most of the time either; they often possess thinner fur with a lack of sheen. it was hard for him to even imagine the creatures possessing a shiny sleek coat in the first place. all of a sudden, a shift of movement at the opening of the burrow caught his eye. his breath nearly stilled.
indentthere it was.
indentjulian felt his muscles stiffen at the sight of the creature sniffing about the entrance of its hole, although he forced them to relax. its a lot harder to properly shoot an arrow if you're all tensed up. he just didn't want to mess up, not when they were already this close. they'd lost the creature once and he knew that they'd both be feeling more than irked if they managed to screw up again. he observed the fox closely from where he was kneeling; he could see its long snout peeking out from within the darkness of the burrow. it felt like forever before the fox became a bit more daring. from their position behind the withered bush he watched it curiously inch forward, nose now taking in the scent of the mutated ant plopped right outside the entrance of its burrow. whether or not it was realizing that the ant had been contaminated by his own touch, it was hard to say. right now it didn't seem like it was taking that as something of a deterrent, even if it had noticed. surely by now the fox would have lost interest if it deemed the ant to be untrustworthy. because of this fact alone he could imagine that the creature was intent on dragging some food back into its burrow at this point -- who knows how long it has been out stalking the wasteland for some small mammals to feast on. with time, he could see more than just the muzzle of the critter. immediately, julian took the liberty of aiming his bow toward the creature. "i got it, i got," he whispered to valentina. "keep a shot on it just in-case i miss, though." now he could spot the fox stepping out from its cover within the den. julian could tell that the fox was quite small in size, sporting a light body which allowed it to be quick on its feet. it had a long, bushy tail and dull rusty fur. its muzzle, ears and paws were a black color instead of the red which most of its pelt was comprised of. he couldn't spot any obvious injuries but he had no time to inspect the creature much more beyond a quick observation. within seconds, the fox was advancing on the ant, and just like that, he knew they had to act. there was no better time than there was now when it was so interested in prodding its nose against the exoskeleton of the mutated ant. considering his bow string was already drawn taut by him, all he needed to do was release the arrow straight toward the chest of the fox. when hunting, theres generally two primary areas where a shot should be placed; either the head kill zone or the chest kill zone. these areas accommodate vital organs and major blood vessels which, when damaged by projectile impact, can achieve a rapid humane death. he felt a rush of adrenaline enter his body as his arrow zipped straight through the air and pierced the creature just as he intended. this sort of a projectile impact was enough to render the fox unconscious almost immediately or shortly after the arrow entered its body. generally, the preferred shot placement is the chest kill zone because it provides a much larger target area than the head does, which reduces the likelihood of wounding. animal movement can be unpredictable and any sudden head movement coinciding with the timing of the arrow being shot may cause an undesirable result too. since he and valentina were positioned so that they had a little bit of a side view of the creature, he managed to pierce the fox near the middle of the chest just behind the shoulder joint. he made sure to try and aim there because the area is large and it also contains vital organs such as the heart or the lungs. as hunters they always need to be cautious not to allow the animal to suffer more than it needs to. he let out a sharp exhale at the body of the creature going limp, glancing over to valentina."looks like we're not just eating ant tonight after all."
indentjulian made his way back over to the burrow. he hardly needed to inspect the fox to know that his arrow had made a clean shot considering that the animal hardly made a yelp at the entrance of the arrows shaft going into its body. "i'm gonna take the ant with us, you mind taking the fox? i know its not exactly the most pleasant of things but we could always try and cook the ant too just in-case we want to have some form of food on us if we get hungry while we're heading around to find the freedmen. i'm starving, though. lets just get the hell back to the campsite and get this fox on a spit." he slightly bent down so that he could once again scoop his ant up from the ground. the bait hadn't been moved from where he'd initially dumped it at the entrance of the den. the fox really only had the chance to nudge it a few times before he'd taken the shot. once he picked it up he rose back to his full height. it wasn't going to be hard for the two of them to make their way back over to their campsite, considering that they had landmarks such as the tractor to help them retrace their steps. speaking of which, the fox had only led them closer to the old farming machinery, which meant that they didn't have to go very far to spot the outline of the rusty tractor. while they weren't exactly hunting anything anymore, they still needed to make sure they weren't going around making as much noise as they possibly could. there was still the potential of predators and other threats that might make themselves known should they not be careful enough. julian eyed the darkness warily as they passed by the old tractor. fortunately for them, not far off in the distance he could still spot the flames of their fire steadily burning. whew. he wasn't sure how long they'd been out hunting but it was nice to see that the fire was still quite active. there wasn't exactly a harsh wind right now either and even if there was, the boulder probably would have taken the brunt of the breeze. he looked over to his cousin, the slight sway of their lantern casting shadows across her face as they headed toward their campsite. "hey, i'd say we're doing pretty good for ourselves so far. we got the campsite all set up, found a somewhat ideal location to hunt, and now we got ourselves a fox and my ant. soon we can even sleep -- and speaking of which, i was thinking, do you want to try and take turns sleeping tonight, kind of like shifts? you sleep while i stay awake, and then while i sleep, you stay awake? that way we won't be totally vulnerable to any attacks, you know?" he definitely did not want to wake up to a ransacked campsite or to them being jumped by something or other. they probably wouldn't have the best rest if they chose to do that method but at-least they would be getting in some hours of sleep that way. the more sleep they lose, the less alert they would be the next day and that wasn't something that they could afford, not when they might just have the conclave on their asses soon enough.
indentwhen they arrived back to their campsite, it seemed that they'd returned to it the same as it had been left before; undisturbed. as they approached, julian dropped his ant down a few feet away from the fire. he briefly held his hands over the flames for a moment to rid himself of some of the chill of the night before heading over toward mars to fetch some of their knives and their cutlery so that they could prepare their catch to be cooked and later eaten. julian and valentina always made sure to properly utilize as much of their catches as possible, reducing what waste they could. not only have they adapted to that lifestyle as a result of their circumstances but it was much more sustainable than needlessly throwing away what they could be using. this process could entail of utilizing the pelt, the meat, the bones, everything. he drew out some plates for later and set them near their pans before locating the small pouch of cutlery they had within mars' saddlebags. fox meat can be quite tough although its not like they had time to tenderize it overnight in some salt water or something. he turned back around to hand valentina one of their carving knives. "here you go. for the fox," hopefully she wouldn't mind taking on the responsibility of skinning and properly dividing the portions of the fox up. they could try to work away at the exoskeleton of the ant at another time. its difficult to try and gain access to the digestible parts of an ants body but its not impossible. regardless, its not like they'd be cooking the ant right away, for they didn't want the meat to spoil. utilizing the ant for some food was more or less a way for them to have some extra nourishment on them during their journey just in-case, no matter how nasty it happened to taste. when he faced mars again, he tucked the pouch back into one of their horses saddlebags. he was careful not to disturb either gideon or morris, for both of them seemed to have finally tired themselves out after eating that jerky earlier. he couldn't say he was surprised; its been a long day for them and they haven't been able to stretch their legs very much either. drawing an arm back over his shoulder, he reached for his bow and arrows so that he could secure both of them back into one of their bow scabbards. he made to sure to keep his shotgun slung across himself even despite returning his other weapon back to mars. julian closed the flap of the open saddlebag before he ambled back over to where valentina was at near their fire. he eyed the weaponry his cousin was still carrying before he even considered lowering himself to the ground so that he could finally take some time to lounge about. he offered out a hand toward her so that she could hand him her bow. "gimme your bow and your arrows, i'll put 'em back on mars. how are you doing with the fox? if you want, i can grab anything you might need from mars while i'm over there too, like some spices maybe."

[vaermina]

ＣＯＮＳＴＡＮＣＥ ＡＤＬＥＲxxx
I.xdemigirlx II.xthe rebellionx III. an entertainer known as dahlia


indentthe basement had fallen into a state of peaceful tranquility by the time constance and edwin emerged from the bathrooms. with a pile of clothing in her arms, constance headed back over to her cot. she had changed into a set of long-sleeve ivory pajamas. she had pulled her wet hair up into a clip and practically rubbed her face raw trying to wash off all the makeup she had put on earlier for their performance. and while she was in the bathroom, she had peeled off the layers of artificial skin that covered her prosthetics so she could unclip the imagery devices and recharge them. to be honest, constance was surprised to see that danny and mikey were currently talking amongst themselves. she would have thought the two of them would be putting on some sort of show or another dramatic demonstration by now. she had no idea why but they always seem so keen to prove some sort of point, no matter how far-fetched it was. neither of them were competent warriors nor very good gunslingers but danny remained adamant that he was by far one of the rebellion's best soldiers. it was classic danny appleton behavior. obviously, he could not win a fight against a towering conclave officer but constance knew that if he had to defend himself or their crew, he would try his best to put on a brave front. she was sure that mikey would do the same but you can never really tell with him. danny had joined their crew because he had already been apart of the rebellion by the time constance and edwin formed their band. mikey on the other hand had just been a common vagabond and conman they picked up after constance rescued him from nearly getting his skull crushed in underneath a soldier's boot. his morals were a bit skewed but he was by no means a foul person. if anything, he was like constance's pet project since she's spent the last few years trying to detox him from a life of scamming and trickery. similar to danny, he possessed little to no talent when it came to musical instruments so some of their bandmates were confused on why they let him stick around but constance would be lying if she said she was not fond of him. his talents lay with less rigid ventures, too. he's helped them scrap up caps before by scamming conclave personnel when the caravan was faced with low funds. personally, constance wanted him to drop all of that behavior but she did not mind the occasional fraud targeting conclave soldiers. it didn't help when mikey blew half of their caps on booze but it was probably a good thing that he was passed out drunk in the wagons whenever they were performing because it was already a pain in the ass trying to keep danny out of harm's way. she could only imagine what terrifying schemes mikey would try and pull if he was left on his lonesome in a fort mess hall. combined with danny's efforts? oh, lord. there'd be a battle in the mess hall between just the two of them and a legion of conclave soldiers.
indentconstance sat down on the edge of their cot, chantal and lily still curled up in their original positions. they shoved some of their clothing and jewelry back into their suitcase before taking another look at the surrounding cots. it was difficult to reflect upon the fact that their colleagues who had broken into fort themus were not here with them. of course, constance wished they had that file maven was talking about but they wished that their colleagues had survived the skirmish more than anything. nobody deserves to die the way they did. rebels were becoming increasingly high-strung and afraid they were going to end up perishing in similar ways. they were afraid that the conclave was going to descend upon them the way they had descended upon the black hand last year. if there's one thing that is certain when it comes to the united states government and military, it's that they know how to handle threats. bandit gangs and opposing factions who rise to power and prove themselves to be a hinderance towards the conclave's goals are exterminated. before the fall of the black hand, one would usually see those instances occur when it came to bandit groups. constance grew up in new california so they remembered hearing about the horrors committed by the bandit gang known as ten knives years ago before their leader ended up perishing in conclave custody. the vile woman known as eve had been a menace to farmers and ranchers all across the massive state but her reign of terror did not last long when she began to cross powerful conclave families. and when you happen to rile up the top dogs, the people with influence and wealth? it never ends well. ten knives was not the only bandit gang to be exterminated by the conclave and they surely won't be the last. the only reason certain bandit groups like wulfgang have proven to a challenge to eliminate is because they rose to power around the same time that the conclave was established. by the time the government and military were secure enough to begin stretching westward, wulfgang was already sitting high and mighty up in coney island. the massacre of valdosta, however, marked the first time in conclave history that multiple military branches worked together to eliminate another non-bandit organization entirely. it hadn't been some small operation where a military squadron raided a bandit camp and captured or killed most of those residing within. it had been a brutal assault that ended with a burning city and hundreds dead or arrested. constance could vividly recall the moment they had found out about the massacre. them, edwin and some of their crewmates had been inside a bar trying to wrestle mikey away from his drink so they could head out when the radio's music station was interrupted by the national emergency alert system warning citizens of the wasteland to avoid the surrounding area of valdosta. they had been holed up in some small town in the dixon wasteland when they first heard about it, hence the warning for civilians in the surrounding region to heed caution against traveling military personnel. the eerie silence that settled upon the bar's occupants as they listened to the emergency alert system was something that constance would remember for years to come. pictures of the massacre became available to the public in the following weeks via newspapers. black hand mercenaries hung from poles to be eaten by buzzards underneath the wasteland sun, bodies strewn everywhere, men and women killed by either gunfire or explosions. the assault had been led by general roman alarie and his commando corps unit but assistance had poured in from the air force, the android utilization branch, the army and sniper platoons. those who weren't killed by gunfire were killed in airstrikes and those who attempted to flee the city were shot dead by sniper platoons stationed on the outskirts of valdosta. the president of the black hand had been found dead in his office before conclave personnel had a chance to breach his doors; he had decided to turn his weapon on himself before he could be terrorized by whatever the government had in mind for him. the black hand had once been a pretty large organization, established well before the return of a national power. their mercenaries had been employed in every corner of the country. and once they began to fall out of line and steal government property, the conclave did not hesitate to unleash their wrath upon them. many people proclaimed that the smoke from valdosta's burning buildings could be seen for miles, and that there were still skeletons strewn about the area.
indentadmittedly, it had been like a game of cat and mouse for many years between the conclave and the black hand. the black hand had begun to refuse to conform to national law. skirmishes would erupt between conclave personnel and black hand mercenaries due to the rising tensions; what started as simple brawls quickly boiled into murder when the black hand began to take a more aggressive approach against conclave divisions snooping around their encampments and claimed towns. the black hand would often steal government property like power armor, guns and plasma swords - such heists even included more extreme possessions like vehicles and military bots. it wasn't until the black hand began to sell stolen power armor and weapons to bandit groups like wulfgang that the conclave took action. they had actively supported and helped fuel some of the conclave's most grievous enemies and that had been the final straw. the massacre of valdosta had permanently destroyed the black hand. most - if not all - of the organization's leaders died that day so the group itself quickly fell apart once their central leadership was wiped out. the conclave had laid down the law that day and made it pretty clear that anyone or anything who attempted to disrupt their operations would violently perish. it did not matter if it was a bandit gang or some organization like the black hand. to constance, it appeared like the conclave had learned from its mistakes concerning wulfgang's rise to power. they weren't going to let any faction or bandit gang grow out of control again. it's why the rebellion has becoming increasingly restless concerning their operations and their uncertain future. would they suffer some brutal end like the black hand? should they try and strike at the conclave first to reduce those chances? constance was almost positive they did not have the strength or numbers to go against the conclave military but fear makes people mad. they don't think rationally.
indentafter moving her suitcase onto the floor, constance climbed into her portable bed. it creaked underneath her weight. she plopped her head down onto her pillow before glancing over at edwin when he spoke. he had a book in hand - frankenstein, to be exact. unfortunately, his whisper was enough to draw the attention of danny and mikey again. lord. this again? she scowled at mikey's grumble. "peace and quiet? i just know you aren't trying to lecture us on proper etiquette as if you weren't about to turn into whirlwind nellie a few moments ago over some old soup."
indent"now that just ain't fair! you can't compare poisoned soup to that. i was angry - rightfully so - over nearly dying! how am i in the wrong?"
indent"oh, jesus christ," constance huffed. they grabbed a hold of chantal, placing the silver sandcat upon their chest. constance began to play with the creature's paws, making it appear like she was dancing. the sandcat only blinked in response. she was a fairly lenient sandcat, one that had little to no temper at all. if anything, she could be a bit dopey. they allowed the sandcat to slide off of them when it became clear she was growing bored with constance's childlike behavior.
indentas expected, danny was quick to initiate another stretch of conversation. constance could not help but smile slightly when he and edwin went on a tangent about frankenstein and the book's plot. as expected, edwin sounded sophisticated in his analysis of the novel's symbolism; he actually understood what the author was trying to convey with the story of victor and his heinous creation. danny on the other hand? constance did not even want to know what he thought about frankenstein. it was in danny's nature to make something as simple as a novel complicated. obviously, older literature can be pretty draining to dissect but danny was not an analytic person when it came to literary devices. it was interesting to watch him read something written in the nineteenth century because he was going to interpret everything wrong. it was impossible for constance to hold in her laugh when someone interrupted danny's ranting. "oh, yes, the sorrowful tale of danny appleton. a man who is just so misunderstood by his peers. it's a tale for the ages." while danny had a talent for talking himself out of tricky situations, it sometimes backfired with the old man talking himself into a corner. it usually ended with danny cutting himself off before he could grow tongue-tied. why on earth danny and mikey were so against going to sleep right now, constance had no idea. well, mikey's been asleep for a good portion of the day so he probably wasn't tired but constance and edwin weren't going to stay up just to entertain their whims. they had a long week ahead of them. constance grinned when edwin warned her that she might become a target if she tried to read herself. she leaned up to briefly filter through the contents of her suitcase in order to locate one of her own books. "nah, i got a copy of something with me i can read for a little bit: emma by jane austen. you've read it before, right? if not this one than definitely pride and prejudice or mansfield park, those are pretty popular. thank you for offering, though. it's not easy putting your neck on the line when it comes to the possibility of getting jumped by those two over there," she teased. the picture of dorian gray was an interesting read but constance tended to drift towards romance novels herself. jane austen's emma was a favorite of her's and something of a comfort novel, in all honesty. it did not have a particularly exciting plot full of action and violence but she enjoyed reading the exploits of the novel's protagonist emma as she dealt with the fluctuating demands of social class and her own precocious nature with thwarted romances and matchmaking ventures gone wrong in the early nineteenth century. emma was spoiled and imaginative and prideful which led to most of her relationships being of an altering nature. constance had no idea why she enjoyed reading it so much. it was not nearly as tense or intimate as pride and prejudice but there was just something about it that constance liked. hell, maybe she just liked to picture herself as some sort of vain and high-spirited aristocrat with no troubles in the world but running around the english countryside and attempting to meddle in the lives of others. constance liked reading jane austen novels in general. most of her novels and writings critiqued the portrayal of women in eighteenth century sentimental and gothic novels. she had not been afraid to rely on parody, irony and free indirect speech to explore the lives of women who were forced to pursue marriage as a way to economically and socially advance in the world.
indentit was strange to read pre-war versus post-war works because the nuclear apocalypse has destroyed the human race in more than one aspect. society was set back a few hundred years after the nukes scorched the world into ruin. modernization was halted indefinitely and people were forced to adapt to a new way of life where everyday comforts like technology were no longer available. those who did not perish in the years following the nuclear fallout were faced with indescribable challenges. common luxuries like grocery and retail stores, vehicles, steady sources of income and stable neighborhoods were no longer a thing. people were forced to learn how to hunt and defend themselves to survive as society fell into chaos. for the past three hundred years or so, everyone's prerogative was to just try and survive. nobody was particularly concerned about art and literature or progressing society through those channels. when constance read books written by pre-war authors, it just seemed... different. everything back then seemed so different from how it is now. obviously things were different but they were talking about how people delved into the world of creative freedom. concepts and movements like romanticism and realism took the world by storm at one point but nowadays? people don't care about anything if they can't eat it or sell it. most wastelanders can't read or write so a lot of novels produced nowadays are by conclave bigots with no real talent or passion for literature itself. society has grown strangely traditional as in creative freedom and critical thinking aren't really explored anymore. people just don't care about literary movements or social theories. constance could not blame them. why would you care about anthropogony when you're trying to defend your farm against bandits and animals? it was only expected for humanity to regress into a closed mindset when avenues of artistic freedom and expression are no longer valued. people are just struggling to survive in a horrible world.
indentdanny's sudden exclamation was enough to cause edwin to snap his book shut and roll over onto his side. his comment towards nick elicited something of a groggy acknowledgement from the tired teenager. the demiwoman smiled slightly at edwin's grumbling. "goodnight edwin. sleep well." constance did not blame edwin for giving up. she was a bit wary of being attacked herself for reading but when she hesitantly opened up her book, danny and mikey were silent. were they finally going to sleep? probably not but one could dream. she doubted that even the great self-proclaimed literacy critic that is danny appleton has read jane austen. she could not picture him sitting down to read sense and sensibility. he'd probably go on some sort of tangent on how love is overrated to begin with.
indentthere was a lantern perched on an old table nearby that gave constance some reading light. they were on chapter forty three, rereading the infamous box hill picnic scene where emma mortified the good-natured miss bates and end up being privately scolded by mister knightley. and while constance wanted to finish the chapter before going to sleep, they could not deny the fact they were very tired from the grueling events of today. they had no idea what the next few days might have in store for them. could they be looking at a huge crackdown on rebel activities in the months to come? they've already begun to experience the effects of the break-in at fort snow. much like edwin, constance was wary that people like declan were going to utilize the disaster at fort themus for their own gain. their colleagues who perished today were going to be used as pawns for declan's schemes. it was frustrating to know what was to come. constance and edwin could only do so much to make their voices heard, too. they had seniority on their sides but what use would that be when going against someone like declan? constance and edwin are by no means shy when it came to expressing their opinions but that doesn't make it any less difficult to argue with pigheaded people.
indentconstance looked over at edwin. his back was turned towards her. he was probably asleep already. judging by the sounds of soft snorting around them, a lot of people had drifted off into slumber. constance closed her book before setting it on the ground beside the cot. she pursed her lips before staring up at the grimy basement ceiling. it was always strange to sleep on a cot. usually, they spent most of their nights camped out in the wasteland when they were unable to reach an outpost or base in time. she was sure that her bandmates were glad to be sleeping in an outpost for the night. constance was notorious for never giving people space, especially at night. she would often curl up next to her bandmates so that when they woke up the next morning, they were greeted by the sight of her practically in their faces. constance did not want to be a bother but it was difficult for her to not be around other people in close proximity. her early years were so up and down with long periods of loneliness and isolation that she despised being alone. she was a naturally sociable person but she tended to cling to anyone significant to her. that's what she had done when she first met edwin. not only did he treat her with respect but he was a good person with a significant amount of empathy and moral standing. it was difficult to find people like that in the wasteland nowadays.
indentwith a soft sigh, constance rolled over onto their side. they were careful not to accidentally crush lily and chantal. they could no longer hear the soft grumblings of danny and mikey over from where they sat. they had probably decided to wind down for the night, too. good. at-least they wouldn't have to worry about danny and mikey trying to prank them or something while they were asleep. constance pulled the blanket over her before shifting again with another sigh, their eyes flickering close in hopes for a restful night's sleep.