❝ ── WASTELAND, BABY !

[vaell]

ＭＩＮＡ ＰＡＲＥＫＨ.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaviation warrant officer two. | conclave military. | tagged: kai.
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indentas expected, mateo's office was located within the heart of the district. his own base was surrounded by others just like it. she knew that most of these complexes that were home to particular command centers boasted other facilities such as training grounds or office buildings designated for commissioned officers, just like where they would be expecting to seek out mateo now. she and kai had no troubles in gaining access to the grounds of the base after showing those manning the guard booth their respective identification cards. although mina wasn't as acquainted to the area, at-least kai knew his way around; he must have visited this particular base a fair amount of times to know where mateo's office was located off the top of his head. fortunately for them they were able to secure a parking space near the office building so they wouldn't need to walk very far. when kai turned the engine of the car off after parking, she went on to unbuckle her seatbelt, slipping her phone back into the pocket of her jacket. it was a blessing she wasn't being pestered any further by her younger brother or even by her mother. at kai's comment, mina glanced over to him. she had to agree; they've dealt with enough insanity today that witnessing mateo losing it over his overtime work might just be enough to make them spiral as well. "for real," she huffed, drawing her own door open as he also made to step out of the car. honestly though at this point seeing kai's older brother running across a lawn or something might not even faze them. thus far, they've been surprised with general alarie's rather unexpected offer and they've had to deal with hayrmor's irritable mood back at the hangar. as for whether or not she'd been to mateo's old office or his new one before though, mina wasn't even so sure. if the architecture of these buildings weren't so damn similar in design then she might've been able to pinpoint whether or not she'd visited this particular office building. when the two of them headed out of the parking lot, kai was quick to reach the door before she had the chance to, practically running so that he could open it for her. his display elicited an amused smile from mina who in turn matched his own demeanor of exaggerated pomp. "why, thank you. so considerate." in this same dramatic fashion, she tipped her head to him before stepping into the building.
indentalmost immediately mina was glad that she'd kept her jacket over her shoulders for the inside of the property was relatively chilly in comparison to outside thanks to the air conditioning. she eyed the area before her as she came into step beside kai. while the premises appeared to be much like a ghost town now, there were signs of activity having transpired in the building prior to their visit. the indications of a busy workday could be spotted by the utility carts hanging about in the hallway or by the boxes of paperwork set beside some of the closed doors. and if the quiet of the building wasn't enough to signal to them that not many people were still hanging about their offices at this hour then it was the fact that down the corridor most of the windows displayed to them dimmed lights. only a few doors were still open at this hour, the cracked open entrances letting a sliver of light peek out into the hallway from the inside of the offices. only the sounds of some voices within these spaces interrupted the otherwise silent office building. mina glanced over to kai at his passing observation. "i know right? jesus, you know it's bad when you're about to be solely motivated to become a commissioned officer just because you'd get an office space to yourself." she let out a soft chuckle, consciously trying not to be too disruptive in the event that someone might snap at them on their way to mateo's own office. they didn't want to get their heads bitten off before they could even reach kai's older brother and she'd already received her fair share of scolding from hayrmor earlier. her boyfriend was right though; it was so silent in here and subsequently so peaceful a result. she would too much prefer hanging about an office space rather than her own house. while most people who become commissioned officers don't typically rise to such a position very early on in their careers, she had to wonder if any other people found solace in having their own space separate from their living circumstances. she was pretty sure that having access to a place like this would take a lot of unwanted conflict off both her and kai's backs respectively. honestly, she couldn't help but think back to the comment kai made earlier when they were driving over to the valor base; her younger brother was about two ranks below the position their fathers held and he was only in his early twenties. it's not a common occurrence that people can ascend the military ladder like that at such a young age. usually when it comes to those sorts of cases a person must be performing at an unparalleled skill level or they probably have some sort of a foothold in terms of military connections or mutuals, someone willing to vouch for their promotion. maybe it could be as simple as they have opportunities presented to them. ishaan himself held an office in this district too albeit a building designated to the airforce. a part of her has consistently portrayed her brother as someone who always got what he wanted all the while putting in the bare minimum of effort but that was mostly because she was always finding herself needing to work extra hard just to get any semblance of approval from her superiors. she knew that in reality though he did devote a lot of time to the military, and enough to be considered by the promotion board it seemed. she couldn't explain it but it just seemed like things came naturally to ishaan, like he was the one blessed with the natural talent, the natural inclination toward piloting. for him, his responsibilities and his duties weren't so much chores as they were something he genuinely enjoyed carrying out. that could be a part of why he seemed so effortlessly perfect. hell, becoming a major general is no small feat and even she knew that. in the airforce, that ranking in particular refers to individuals who can demonstrate a high aptitude for both leadership and management over the span of their careers. they're people highly involved with the administrative and operation level of this particular branch of military. mina didn't think that he had much career experience to begin with, or at-least not to the extent that mateo does. ishaan was competition enough though. he only got where he was by being immaculate. he ran a perfect physical fitness test and she could even remember him spending extra time from home to help out some of his friends to raise their own pft scores well above passing. he went out of his way to not only better himself but others. it's not exactly surprising he ended up ranking as high as he presently does -- honestly, the whole situation is just strange in mina's eyes because of the fact he's her younger brother. he wasn't supposed to be outdoing her in everything already and yet he did. he quite literally graduated his military occupational specialty schooling as the top aviation student and even from the get-go he excelled in boot camp. the airforce's enlisted rank and promotion system is generally deemed to be quite slow when compared to other branches of the military but ishaan proved to make an exception to this common assumption. when he was apart of his previous unit, her brother often volunteered for special duty. she had no idea whether or not this was a part of how he climbed the ranks so quickly, considering that these duties tend to be challenging and thus have the possibility of even slowing your chances of a promotion. maybe in the long-run it did it him some wonders. anyhow, his captain had been impressed enough by all of his on-paper and in-person feats that he got submitted for board. obviously, his records and files at hand were stellar and must have stunned the hell out of the executive and legislative branch. ishaan was well on track in his commando training by the time that he'd been nominated for the promotion too; the program is notorious for being intense but he seemed to have been handling it well at the time.
indentwhile she knew mateo was enrolled in the commando corps, being apart of general amabele's shadow squad, she supposed that it must have boiled down to the experience he has garnered over the years in contrast with what staggering prospectives of potential that ishaan held. while kai's brother had no lack of proficiency in the field, it could have been one of those situations where the board particularly felt it would benefit one party more so than the other to be inheriting the rank of major general, or at-least in the long run. while its true burn-out could occur especially at ishaan's age, its sometimes the risk that many superiors take with those they deem to be consistently outperforming their peers or for those who display a certain magnitude of military capability or knowledge. even though mina was well aware her brother had been exceeding in terms of his military life, she just never expected him to have such a sudden burst of progress. all of a sudden he was someone expected to participate in morale events and to serve as a face for the airforce. she couldn't imagine her brother hosting morale days on base or doing squadron or wing visits. it was hard for her to even wrap her head around the fact that he had control over a majcom, a subdivision of command only below nafs. while major generals can serve in a variety of high-level command positions, she knew that he himself worked as a joint force commander. while technically she could ask ishaan for some tips to help her out with her own position, its never been a topic she's brought up to him. while mina was fine discussing her struggles with kai, things tended to be a bit different when it came to her family. she has never openly sought out any advice from her brother nor her father, solely because she felt like it would only solidify her position as the least adept airman in her family. she didn't want to be ridiculed nor did she want anyone's pity either, and ishaan would be the type to give her the latter, she just knew it. he wasn't outright arrogant but she had a feeling he saw himself as holding some degree of importance over her. at that rank and at that age though, how could he not? the type of dumb advice he'd probably give her would be something like 'do more than just your job' anyway. she already knew about his volunteering pursuits and whatnot and she honestly didn't think that would do much to improve her own current standings. it could have worked for him but that doesn't mean it would work for her. it's not easy becoming the most well-rounded pilot that the airforce wants. its tricky business. at the lower ranks they want you to focus on your speciality of work by completing training requirements and such but how can you juggle that and special activities that somehow put your face out there? she personally couldn't do it for her own sanity. mina just didn't understand why you would have to go out of your way to do trivial tasks if you were already proficient as a pilot. it made no sense. why could a person not just have outstanding technical skill? she supposed it was an answer she would not receive. regardless, its why she felt so bad for mateo; he's older than her brother and he has a much longer track-record in the field. she knew that she personally would feel quite disgruntled about the matter if someone less experienced came along only to rob her of a well-earned promotion. she didn't really know whether or not he claimed to be bothered by it but come on, who wouldn't be? even she was bothered by it and she wasn't the one who had been vying for that particular position. the whole situation only made her resent ishaan some more. its easy to cultivate those sort of feelings when your own struggle is mostly unknown to others. now, true, that's how she wanted it to be, but at the same time masking her problems in the military only made things worse. nobody really suspected her to be terribly discontent. sometimes upset, sure, but not to the point of hating her job. it was complicated because how can someone so perfect as her brother understand what its like to not be the star of the show? his entire life has been filled with successes and hardly any losses. he's never experienced those struggles so how could he show her any genuine empathy? she was sure that once a failure finally hit him he might just explode or something.
indentat the end of the hallway, she and kai eventually came to a halt before one of the many designated office rooms. she eyed the door. this must be mateo's. unlike some of the other people still present in the building, there was no light coming out of his own room to indicate that he was still inside. curiously, mina followed behind kai as he led their way into the dark office. she blinked a few times to try and get her eyes to adjust to the change in lighting within because the hallway was much brighter than where mateo was supposedly still working. as different aspects of the room became more clear to her, she was quick to catch on to how different mateo's own office was in comparison to someone like general alarie's. that was only expected, although still, she anticipated things to be a bit more..striking, perhaps. it seemed like an accommodation for someone much below his own ranking. the room was clearly occupied by others before mateo and it seemed he had done his best to make an attempt in sprucing the place up although not much helped to distract her from the aging assets of the room. mina observed the haphazard arrangement of papers stacked atop a desk against one of the windows in the space. she noticed that a few of the cabinets lining the walls of his office were cracked open, exposing to them the arrays of files held within. she had to admit, his office had very little space. it was crammed with a ton of different things laying about like paperwork or emptied water bottles and she didn't even blame him for it. he was probably exceedingly busy. just looking around made her feel stressed and she didn't have an ounce of his responsibilities. all the perks of having an office aside, its a bit intimidating to think of all the pressure and stress a commissioned officer has to take on. they have to plan, organize, lead and manage operations so it makes sense why anyone's office might be looking like a hot mess; all of these people have a lot on their plate, and that was putting it simply. she could only imagine how many other rooms look similar to mateo's own. mina's eyes flickered over to the dim light emitted from the small lamps situated atop his desk, serving to be the only current light source in the room. where the hell is mateo amidst all this chaos, though..? you'd think his room was empty and that he'd packed up and gone home by now judging by the fact that the main lights in the room weren't in use and because it was rather quiet in there. when her eyes swept over the room again, this time a couch right beside one of the walls caught her attention. or more so, the figure lounging atop it.
indentah.
indentwhen the two of them entered his office, mateo's blood eagle was quick to notice them. perched atop a small coffee table in front of the couch mateo was currently laying on, the bird was picking away at what remained of a sandwich. mateo himself, well..she noticed he had his computer atop his lap but it didn't take a genius to realize he was actually asleep right now. his arm was draped across his face and he was very clearly not actually scrolling through his computer. the blood eagle though, whom was still very much awake, turned to eye the two of them before creeping forward to the edge of the table, squawking at them as if unsure of their intents. she chuckled quietly at kai's own remark toward the rather distrustful creature before her eyes followed his gesture toward the sight of a slumbering mateo. she smiled at his jest. "aw come on, i was really looking forward to messing with him for a second there. this would seriously be the perfect opportunity. i guess to be fair though, if prudence didn't manage to scratch us up first then we'd probably get gutted by mateo as soon as he noticed we drew all over his face," she joked, her gaze shifting between kai's brother and his blood eagle as kai began to make his way over to the desk across the space, folder in hand. as quiet as her boyfriend was trying to be for a second, the effort didn't last very long. when he couldn't find any viable space to set the folder something else seemed to have caught his eye. she watched as kai practically darted over toward a table near one of the windows. "oh, god," she quickly caught onto what he had spotted; it was mateo's own plasma sword encased in a glass display. mina came a step further into the room as her boyfriend opened up the container, his brother's weapon now beginning to capture her own interest as well. once kai got a grip on the plasma sword, he turned around with a grin spread across his face, igniting the weapon but a mere second later. when the plasma sword came to life, the pale amethyst of the glowing blade easily washed over a portion of mateo's office in the same soft hue. she couldn't help but also grin at the sight of kai now beginning to swivel the blade around in his hand, the hum of the weapon amplifying whenever kai moved it through the air. "jesus, how the hell is mateo sleeping through this?..actually, wait, pass it to me for a second-" before she could even finish her sentence, kai suddenly fell still along with the plasma sword, causing her words to quickly die on her tongue. mina turned her gaze to see what her boyfriend had noticed. it was the sight of his older brother beginning to wake from where he was positioned on the couch. she looked back to see kai scrambling to return the deactivated plasma sword back to where it belonged before coming to her side in an attempt to appear as though he hadn't been snooping around. she had to hold back her laughter at his display, giving him a light nudge in the arm. it was probably a good thing mateo was coming to consciousness for if he hadn't stirred they probably would've been dancing across the room with his plasma sword, taking turns at wielding the glowing blade only to end up slicing his desk in half or something ridiculous.
indentmina absently rubbed the side of her arm as mateo continued to wake. clearly, he didn't notice them in his office just yet. she felt kinda bad for coming in unannounced like they had but how were they supposed to know that mateo would be asleep? she and kai stood there in silence until mateo finally glanced over their way. his startled demeanor didn't surprise her. if the first thing she saw after waking up was two people ominously standing in the darkness staring at her then she too would've reacted much the same. she gave him a sheepish smile as he tried to orientate himself with what was going on around him. "hey, mateo. it's good to see you too. sorry about the scare," she chuckled, shuffling away from the door beside kai. her eyes briefly flickered up to the ceiling to see that they had in-fact moved from beneath the vent. no wonder it had felt so much colder in his office. kai tossed the folder they'd received from general alarie over to mateo, giving him just enough time to properly catch it. his older brother slowly began to move from his position atop of the couch, setting his computer onto the coffee table before beginning to rise up. the exchange between him and kai took a few moments. for a second mateo had to take some time to process just what file kai was referring to in particular, allowing a moment of awkward silence to ensue. it probably didn't help that mateo just woke up and barely had time to clear his mind first but eventually he caught onto what they were talking about. his mention of the rebel break-in out in the dixon wasteland was enough to pique her interest again though. she had no idea of what this break-in entailed of although the sound of general amabele executing some wastelanders near that very fort was curious enough. she supposed it made sense why he didn't have time to go retrieve the file from general alarie after all. she herself was much more hesitant to participate in bad-mouthing mateo's general but she supposed he has spent enough time under him that he's allowed to criticize him, even if it's in private. personally, she wasn't sure she could even speak on that whole execution ordeal. general amabele had to have a good reason for slaughtering those people, right? he's a general and he has the right to do such a thing but surely it's not as simple as mateo is making it out to be? again, it's not up for her to decide considering she hardly knows the details but still. as much as she detests people like hayrmor, things are different when it comes to people in much higher positions than she. mina tends to automatically and perhaps to a fault defend their behavior for whatever reason. maybe it just didn't make sense to her why he would choose to randomly slaughter a group of wastelanders on no actual solid grounds. she could see how regardless doing such a thing would not help an already on-edge area of the wasteland but still. whatever the case, it's not like it she had to concern herself very much with the matter nor did she want to question mateo about what was going on. he seemed quite frazzled and surely prodding him further about general amabele or the break-in would only exasperate him. mina watched as mateo located the switch to the overhead lights, a slight smile tugging at her mouth over his remark about general amabele. the sudden light in the room made her blink a few times. she'd grown so accustomed to the dim lighting that the brightness of the overheads were suddenly foreign to her. kai's brother made his way over to his desk so that he could set the file down in front of him. beside her, kai asked the very question she had been wondering for quite some time now. what is in that file?
indentshe nearly mirrored her boyfriend's grimace at mateo's seemingly serious response until he quickly reassured them he was only joking. apparently, it was just some paperwork concerning the black hand. she wasn't exactly surprised all things considered. upon his next inquiry, though, mina exchanged a glance with kai. "well," she started, unable to keep some degree of eagerness from seeping through her otherwise level voice, "actually, yeah. something kinda out of the blue happened. general alarie's intern led us to his office instead of her just taking from the file from us at the visitor center, which isn't even the weirdest part of the whole situation. i mean, we talked with general alarie for a little bit after giving him the file, which is fine and all, but before we were about to leave his office he asked us about the inauguration dinner that's coming up. he was wondering if we would be coming along with our families." mina sighed. "which, obviously, yeah, we'll probably be forced to go and all that but he knew a lot about the..well, the situation between our two families." while she knew she didn't directly cause the rift between their two families she still felt like it was somehow awkward addressing it with mateo present. obviously he didn't hate her or seem to harbor any bad feelings towards her because of ishaan's rise to power - that's not the kind of person that mateo is - but it was hard not to feel a bit shameful about it all regardless. "it doesn't surprise me 'cause he's colleagues with my father and eugene but still. anyway, it was just really weird, mateo. i don't even mean that in a bad way. basically, he told us that he wanted to help us move forward in our careers." that simple explanation alone would be enough to tell him that general alarie had expressed some sort of an interest in their respective careers and their futures in the military. since when do you hear about a general offering a helping hand to some young warrant officers? it was exceedingly strange, especially for the both of them, considering that they're both rather discontent with their current positions. she wasn't complaining of course. mina understood why he was trying to help them out after all. general alarie had explained quite well what his motivations were and she honestly commended him for it. it went beyond just trying to solve some feuds that he had to deal with in his line of work. he wanted a better future for conclave youth. it takes a lot for someone possessing as high a position as himself to go out of his way and try to give them some sort of a boost in their otherwise stalled careers. she appreciated his effort no matter where they might end up because of it. no one has ever approached her with such an offer. after a moment, mina smiled. "so yeah, you could say that our trip to the capital complex was quite interesting. and the inauguration dinner business he was talking about?" she looked to kai in the event that he wanted to fill mateo in on what general alarie had proposed to them about discussing different prospects at the dinner. maybe he even wanted to talk about their own theories surrounding his invitation to them, such as the possibility of them being involved in taking down the odawa syndicate. she'd left a lot of the details out but the mere idea of the two of them potentially having a kickstart to their careers would surely prove to be enough news for mateo. since general alarie and his commando squadron were designated to deal with the black hand several months ago it only made sense that he might have been assigned to lead the charge against the syndicate given his experience in that field.
indentshe glanced back over to kai's older brother where he sat at his desk. "to answer your question though, i've been doing alright. i can't say much has changed besides our encounter with general alarie earlier. but it's nice to see you again. i hope you've been doing well, all things considered." she was doing her best to avoid intentionally speaking of the situation revolving around ishaan. if it was enough to make her annoyed then surely it would only dampen his own mood regardless of what he claimed to feel about it. family feuds aside, she was curious to know his own opinion over the matter with general alarie, though. mina and kai both had distinctively different opinions over the matter, especially at first. while she was much more susceptible to seeing the good in their situation and for what may come in the future, admittedly almost in a naive sort of way, kai had been more on the fence about it all. he helped remind her that they needed to keep their wits about them and she appreciated that about him. in general it was hard to discern whether or not the general had an ulterior motive but what would he gain from giving them an opportunity? mina herself couldn't think of anything. he wasn't doing this to get some sort of a benefit of his own, and how could he manage to lead them astray with such a direct proposal? regardless, if they got the opportunity in the end and their hopes weren't raised for nothing then mina couldn't see anything about general alarie's approach that could harm their careers in any way. at-least by trying to take his word they might be able to gain some new experience out in the wasteland no matter what role they played out there. there wasn't much they could lose, or at-least not from her perspective. kai's brother though, he might have a different outlook on this. or maybe he shared similar sentiments as they. it's hard to say but he has more experience with these sort of authority figures so maybe it would be helpful to get his own opinion about the matter. "anyway, i dunno. that whole general alarie situation definitely took me off guard. i don't think either of us want to get our hopes up too high incase there is a let-down but at the same time, it has the potential to be a once in a lifetime chance since you know how it is right now with our jobs. i mean, what do you think of general alarie's offer, mateo?"

[vaermina]

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


indentjulian's ant was not exactly valentina's definition of ideal bait but they did not really have any other options right now. the fox had been nicked by her arrow and had no intention of leaving its dens on its own accord now that it was aware of danger nearby. it wouldn't hurt to try their luck with the ant. she gave her cousin a brief nod in response before she watched as he began to carefully approach the entrance of the fox's burrow with the dead ant in hand. she could not help but allow her muscles to tense in uncertain apprehension. valentina was hoping that the fox's injuries - however small they may be - were enough to occupy its attention from its surroundings. she knew that her arrow hadn't dealt it a fatal blow so it was foolish to hope that the fox was all out of order but she was praying that julian was at-least successful in placing the bait. they'd be screwed if the fox happened to notice his presence because there's no telling what it would do. would it flee out of some other entrance? would it dig itself deeper into the earth and remain there all night? given the length and sheer depth of fox burrows, it'd be easy for the fox to slip away without the two cousins even realizing it had fled into the night. luckily for them, foxes have a pretty expansive diet and insects happen to be on the menu. she did not think the fox would be repulsed by the ant although julian's scent could potentially sway its interest. however, it hadn't been able to collect the prey it had caught earlier so there was also a good chance that it might take the risk. dammit. valentina hated the uncertainty that came with hunting sometimes. she liked knowing that they already had their catch in the bag before they even had the chance to shoot the damn thing. it was difficult to tell whether or not they were going to be able to even successfully catch this stupid fox. her eyes remained glued to her cousin as he set up the bait before he finally returned to where she was standing. valentina nodded in silent agreement before following his lead. the two cousins retreated a few steps backwards so they could seek cover behind some dead shrubbery. it wasn't exactly what she would call a shrouded spot but it was better than standing out in the open. foxes have keen eyes so it's not difficult for them to see when it's nighttime. the fox could easily spot them from the entrance of its burrow if they continued to stand out in the open.
indent"i found a dead bird a few moments ago that could've been one of its kills. it looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry so i can imagine that it's desperate for something tangible," she responded quietly to julian's pondering. valentina was hoping that the fox would take the bait. it was difficult to tell whether or not it would. some post-war animals are significantly smarter than their pre-war counterparts but considering that foxes in this region of the wasteland have not undergone any drastic mutations because of the nuclear war, valentina did not think they had much to worry about. the only thing she found slightly concerning was their large ears. their hearing has become quite magnified so valentina could only hope that the fox has not detected them snooping around. they've been pretty careful to avoid stepping on dry brush and piles of twigs thus far. and standing so still within the undergrowth made valentina realize that the humidity of the night was causing her clothes to begin sticking uncomfortably to her body, as well. the raging heat of daylight has since dwindled into a warm, shallow dankness that made your temples sweat and your hair grow damp. it was something that wastelanders have grown accustomed to. it was always hot in the dixon wasteland. sure, it got considerably cooler at night but it was by no means freezing. it has not snowed in this region for years despite the fact that shifting weather had been common in this area during pre-war times. rain only came when those nasty radiation storms rolled in and they harmed the environment more than they helped it. the temperature rarely dipped below eighty degrees on most days, even during the 'cold' season. valentina knew that most regions of the country deal with this type of weather apart from a few select areas up north where it's always snowing. their sandcats were able to alert them of most incoming treacherous weather but such elements were usually spontaneous and random. massive storms like hurricanes and the like were rare for their region considering they lived further inland but valentina has heard of entire towns and settlements being completely decimated along the coasts because of the sheer destruction those storms brought. she could imagine that the world's current state probably did not help limit the strength of these storms either. it made sense that post-war weather would be far more paramount than anything pre-war society experienced. she was sure that everything back then was much more tamed and civilized. valentina's knowledge of the nuclear war that destroyed society was about the same as any other wastelander's. all she knew was that nasty tensions and a perilous conflict between some of the largest superpowers across the globe eventually led to total nuclear annihilation. her father told her that it wasn't just one or two nuclear bombs that destroyed the world; allies of said superpowers also unleased their fury to support their alliances, which led to dozens of nuclear bombs decimating the planet. it was common knowledge that those who lived within conclave society hailed from families who had fled into the vaults prior to the nukes destroying earth. valentina did not know much about the vaults, either. she knew that they had been built to shelter those with enough wealth and influence to weasel their way inside. the rest of society had been left to fend for themselves. valentina couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to experience that type of horror. people driving to work, children learning in classrooms, families enjoying a day at the beach, workers just trying to get through another shift; it must have been like any other day until the world was suddenly ravaged by fire and anarchy. governments and international law across the world collapsed, leaving those did not die in the nuclear fallout to fend for themselves. valentina could imagine that murder, robbery and theft were common in the years following society's downfall. people probably killed each other for food, shelter and supplies. they most likely pillaged and stole to keep themselves alive. society hasn't much improved since then.
indentthere was movement at the opening of the burrow.
indenta small black nose appeared beyond the dipping slope of the den's entrance. valentina felt herself stiffen up at the sight of the curious creature. it looked like julian's ant was worthy enough to attract its attention. it was probably hungry from losing its dinner. either way, she didn't care to know why it had decided to scope out the bait. before she could draw an arrow, julian beat her to the punch by aiming his own bow at the burrow's entrance. she resisted the urge to scowl at her cousin. it was an almost immediate reflex, something she had a habit of doing whenever he drew the first arrow at an unsuspecting kill. if there was one thing about valentina, it was that she struggled to cooperate with others and work effectively as a team. she was bad at teamwork and often wanted to take the reins of any given situation. it could be something as simple as following one of her own plans to being the one to take down an animal during a hunt. she could not quite explain why she always felt that way, a stubborn refusal to allow anyone but herself to be the one to spearhead a task. it was just something that she's struggled with since she was a child. valentina was by no means a follower. at times, that mindset was helpful when it came to efficiently getting things done but it also led to issues for obvious reasons. she figured this was not exactly the best moment to pick a quarrel with julian over who should be the one to shoot the fox so instead, she resorted to drawing a backup arrow. it wasn't necessary. a few seconds passed before julian killed the creature with a single arrow to the chest after it crawled out of the burrow's entrance. it was a swift and painless death; not even a yelp escaped the fox. a soft thump emitted from the burrow's entrance as the fox collapsed. she lowered her bow. a few seconds of silence passed.
indent"heh, looks like it."
indentvalentina followed julian back over to the burrow. the light from the lantern washed the fox in gold as they approached. at-least it didn't suffer any. "i'll take it the fox. and yeah, we probably should just man up and cook the ant as well. insects don't taste great but it's better than wasting it all. we're gonna need all the strength we can get from our kills. nice shot, by the way. it looks like you managed to take it out quickly." she shouldered her bow before reaching down to scoop the fox up by its hindlegs. it dangled lifelessly in her hand, a single arrow protruding from its chest. it was a relatively decent-sized creature. it was not particularly plump or bony but it would probably be able to feed the two of them well enough. if they really wanted a feast, they'd have to shoot down something bigger like a deer but valentina doubted there were any in the area. white-tailed deer are primarily nocturnal but she didn't think any would be lingering near the abandoned construction site when there's probably a handful of predators like feral ghouls and the like residing within. they were lucky that they were even able to catch this damn fox.
indentthe creak of their lantern broke the silence of the night as the two cousins began to head back towards their camp. she felt her boots sink into the thick sand underneath them as they walked. they weren't hunting anymore so it's not like they had to go about trying to shuffle in silence but it was best to try and remain as quiet as possible. she did not want to accidentally attract any predators or hostile humans. the fox's den was located near the old tractor so it was easy to retrace their steps and find the outline of their fire against the towering boulder. valentina couldn't help but risk a brief glance over her shoulder. it was strange how they were surrounded by nothing but miles of barren farmland. there were hardly any trees in the area so cover was hard to come by. once upon a time, these had been flourishing crop fields but they have since been reduced to nothing but dead grasslands. big bluestem, switchgrass, blue grama, indiangrass, hemp; there were hardly any plants out here that were emerald in color. the ground was rough with small rocks, tall grass and dry weeds. sometimes, one could even spot the remains of a dried out stream amongst the brush. it was difficult to imagine any creature surviving out here but she supposed that they really had no choice but to adapt to the harsh conditions.
indentthe fox continued to swing in her grip. the woman glanced at her cousin when he spoke up. it was impossible for her to resist a small smile when he referred to the ant as his. it was quick to go away when he mentioned taking turns sleeping tonight. admittedly, valentina wasn't very keen on staying up any later than she had to. she was exhausted and, quite frankly, wanted to get all the sleep she could before they had to resume their journey. however, they would be vulnerable to attacks if the two of them fell asleep. they wouldn't be able to spot incoming threats and properly defend themselves if they were both knocked out cold. it was not an appealing thought to have to stay awake for certain durations throughout the night but what could be done about it? it was just something they had to endure. safety is never guaranteed out in the wasteland to begin with. they could get attacked by a hungry predator or held at gunpoint by a thieving bandit. hell, they might get picked up by a couple of conclave goons if a patrol happened to stumble upon their campsite. she just hoped they would be able to get enough sleep to be at-least semi-alert once the sun rose. they've had a long day today so there was no guarantee they wouldn't wake up exhausted from both the previous day's exertion and their choppy sleeping schedule. the woman sighed. "well, i'm not really much of a fan of staying up any longer than i have to but i guess we don't really have a choice, huh? i mean, it's safer to take turns by keeping watch, especially when we're so close to that abandoned construction site. our fire will definitely raise some smoke once it burns out near dawn so it might be a good idea that one of us is awake when that happens so we can cover it up before it attracts any attention. " smoke from dwindling fires can be seen for many miles when you're on flat ground such as plains and grasslands. it wouldn't be that difficult for a conclave patrol from miles away to notice the presence of their campsite once dawn arrived. she wasn't sure what precautions they were taking right now to try and locate the missing file but judging by arcadia's swift lockdown, all major highways and traveling routes will probably be swamped by conclave patrols and checkpoints come morning. valentina and julian wouldn't survive an encounter with a conclave patrol if they happened to pat them down and find the tape.
indenttheir campsite remained undisturbed. the fire was still crackling away. mars stood rather sluggishly by the boulder, head lowered slightly and tail flicking away any gnats that tried to bother him. julian dropped his ant in the sand as valentina approached the fire with the fox. she held it up to the light. she supposed it'll do for now. they did not have time to go trapezing all over the wasteland to try and find a bigger kill. they'll just have to try and divide what they could between the two of them. she accepted the carving knife from julian. "thanks." she was quick to remove the arrow from its chest before she began the process of skinning it. julian had managed to get in a clean shot which meant that if she skinned it correctly, they could possibly save the pelt and sell it for later. undamaged animal hides can fetch you a pretty penny if you can find the right buyer. if anything, they might stumble upon a trading caravan that they could sell to without having to risk a market visit. she was sure they'll run into plenty of left horn company caravans while traveling to the badlands. they're one of the largest trading companies in the united states. she and julian have done business with them before. their caravans can be stumbled upon on the roads or in major cities but they've been known to stop at settlements and small towns from time to time. every time valentina saw one of their caravans, they were usually well-guarded and the traders involved with the caravans always boasted a pretty unique inventory. it was common knowledge that traveling traders are often targets of bandit-led attacks which is probably why the left horn caravan company has taken some precautions in protecting their assets. she did not know a lot about them other than the fact their founder has become a source of controversy in recent years for allegedly being involved with the conclave. it wouldn't surprise her if the rumors proved true. it seems like the government wanted to stick their hands in any sort of rising business or economic venture that popped up throughout the wasteland. that was not something that appealed to wastelanders; plenty refuse to do business with anyone they suspect is affiliated with the conclave. it was a sentiment that valentina could understand. she did not understand why the conclave was so interested in interfering with their way of life out here. wastelanders are treated so poorly by a majority of the conclave's followers over ideologies like blood purity and pure pretension that you'd think the government would want nothing to do with them.
indentvalentina quickly retreated over to mars so she could fish out a pair of leather gloves. it wasn't much protection but it would help keep her hands from getting bloody and reduce the risk of potentially catching some sort of illness from the fox carcass. she lowered the fox and knife onto the ground so she could slip on the gloves before grabbing a hold of them again. she moved back towards the fire. the knife's rusty blade reflected the orange flames of their campfire. she was going to use the case skinning method. it was easier to do that with small kills and it's not like they were going to tan the fox's skin or freeze it up in storage. she held the fox upside down by its hindfeet so she could begin the process of skinning it. the woman started by skinning out the front feet. she pushed the tip of the knife through the front of the pad before running the blade up the back of its leg and to the armpit. she was careful to make the cut from the inside of its skin. after splitting the skin, she peeled it back around the leg and foot bones until she had skinned it out to the last knuckle before cutting through the joint. it wasn't a particularly difficult task. valentina has skinned hundreds of animals before of various sizes. it was a bit tedious since she had to only use one hand but it wasn't a deal-breaker. it was easier to skin the fox at certain body parts than others, too. she had to be cautious when her blade neared the fox's skull since the hide had begun to bind up again once she got to the ears. she skinned them down as much as possible before she cut the cartilage off right where it connected to the skull. valentina was careful when she began to pull its hide downwards. they hadn't killed this fox for its pelt but it wouldn't hurt to try and be as gentle as possible to preserve the fur's quality. it could be made into something quite nice clothing-wise or utilized as some sort of house decoration. eventually, the woman made another cut through its skin so she was able to pull its pelt cleanly off its body. she huffed. jesus. it was a messy process, that's for sure. she glanced over at julian when he spoke. she slid her bow off her shoulders and rose to her feet so she could hand it to her cousin, careful not to accidentally drop the fox or its pelt. "well, i just finished skinning it and i think the pelt looks pretty good so i don't think i accidentally ruined it. we might be able to sell it. and yeah, some spices sounds good. here, i'm gonna hang this fox skin off of mars to try and stretch it out to dry. we don't have the necessary materials on us to make sure it doesn't become all weird-looking so i guess we just gotta try and be resourceful. while you're over there grabbing spices and i'm dealing with the fox pelt, you can also grab all the components of our spit and set it up over the fire. here, you can take the fox too to set it up on the spit rod once it's together." they've done this so many times before she figured he wouldn't have any trouble setting up the spit and getting the fox on the spit rod by himself. it'd give him something to do rather than just stand there with a bunch of spices in hand.
indentwith the pair now focused on their respective tasks, valentina approached mars so she could try and deal with the fox pelt. they did not have the right tools on them to make sure the fox pelt did not become botched but she supposed there's no harm in trying to preserve it. they had just killed the fox so they did not need to worry about anything like degradation. the weather of the dixon wasteland did them no favors when it came to causing animal pelts to decay. it was common for hair to slip out within an hour of death, particularly when the fur was exposed to direct sunlight. she guessed they did not really need to worry about any of that considering it was night-time. having handed julian the skinned fox, she was now able to use the carving knife to cut away any strips of fat or excess tissue still clinging to the fox's skin. cornmeal or sawdust rubbed into the flesh side of the pelt and brushed off helps remove oil and fat but they didn't have any on them. she just hoped she was able to cut off enough excess fat and tissue that it did not end up spoiling the pelt later on. they did not have any wooden stretchers on them, either so all she could really do was hang the fox pelt from mars' saddle and hope for the best. they used to have one in their front yard until it broke one evening. valentina had always swore they would buy another one but they never did. dammit. as long as they remembered to turn the fox pelt every so often or so, they should be good. the pelt could become dry and brittle if they neglected to turn it. she wasn't sure how it was going to turn out since it wasn't technically stretched out but there was little that could be done about it. the woman used her hand to brush away any dirt or grime that was clinging to the fox's fur. fox pelts can drop in quality during their breeding season. it was late january so they were pretty much lucked out on that but she was still hoping they could try and get a decent price for this pelt. and that's only if it did cure properly while hanging from mars' saddle. no trapper is going to buy a messed up pelt. she and julian have managed to sell a plethora of animal furs over the years that have given them a good sum of caps but they've also dealt with plenty of failures concerning the curing process. sometimes, animal pelts just don't turn out as good as you want them to. they don't dry out properly or you forget to turn them over or surrounding conditions ruin the pelt entirely. whatever. they had killed the fox for its meat and not for its pelt but it wouldn't hurt to try and use everything the creature had to offer them. the two cousins tried to be as resourceful as possible when it came to their kills, and that meant using everything - from the bones to the fur to the meat that clung to their kills' hides. when you live out in the wasteland and your next meal is not guaranteed, you have to live by that sort of code. they have to be resourceful.
indentvalentina peeled off her gloves before fetching one of their canteens so she could clean the mitts with some water. she was careful not to use too much but she didn't want to just shove them back into the saddlebags when they were coated with the fox's blood and fur. she also made sure to clean off the carving knife so they could use it again. after shoving the gloves back into one of the saddlebags and risking a brief glance at their dozing sandcats, she approached the fire again. "how's it coming along? i tried to stretch out the fox pelt as much as i could but considering we don't have a stretching board or anything else proper... well, i guess we just gotta see how it turns out in the morning. we're gonna be taking shifts throughout the night anyway so one of us is gonna need to turn it so the pelt doesn't become brittle." julian was as experienced in hunting as she was so he didn't need to hear a whole spiel about it. the woman lowered herself back down in the cool sand to sit crisscrossed near the burning campfire. valentina could feel exhaustion begin to creep into her bones. hell, she's been tired. today's been so long and chaotic it almost felt like it was never going to end.
indentone of her hands reached into her pocket to feel for the elusive tape. a part of her still found it hard to accept they were in this absolutely insane situation. she never would have thought they would even leave laurel oaks and the surrounding area, nevertheless go on some sort of dangerous and long journey to deliver an enigmatic tape to an equally enigmatic organization. after their parents' died, valentina had quickly begun to feel like she was going to be stuck living in that house forever. she was going to find herself trapped in a vicious cycle where she promised herself she was going to find herself and her calling but it was never going to happen, and she was just going to continue to live a fruitless and uneventful existence until she died. this tape changed everything. she couldn't help but wonder why it was so important, too. as far as they knew, it was some sort of coroner's report for a conclave official but why the hell did the rebellion care so much about that? according to the labels on the tape, it was a report for a former director named melanie garcia but valentina had heard back in december from arcadia's town criers that the woman had died of natural causes. why was the rebellion so engrossed with the circumstances of her death? there had to be something beneath the surface they did not know about. that had to be it or else those rebels wouldn't have gone to the lengths they had went to to retrieve it from that fort. that group of rebels died just to get their hands on this tape. they had risked their lives for their cause. valentina's mother had always told her to stay away from the rebellion because of that. she had often told her that while the rebellion's plight is admirable, they were fighting a battle that they simply could not win. her mother had been afraid that valentina might end up getting arrested or worse if she was caught sniffing around. that mindset was common amongst wastelanders. a lot of them commend and praise the rebellion while others are wary of them simply because of the consequences that could befall on you if you're suspected to be involved with the resistance. nobody wanted to be ripped away from their families and locked up in some conclave prison with a bunch of violent bandits and other undesirables. people were afraid of what could happen to them if they helped the rebellion which is why her mother had been so against valentina and julian becoming involved with the group in any shape or form. she was probably rolling in her grave right now but what were they supposed to do? just reject that dying rebel's wishes? leave the tape on his corpse and let that group's demise be all for nothing? it seemed awfully cruel to do such a thing. valentina was well aware of the fact that they could end up either arrested or killed for carrying this tape on them but who else was going to deliver it to the rebellion?
indent"can you believe how everything was so normal and routine this morning and now we're stumbling around in complete darkness with this tape?" she questioned julian. "i was beginning to think we were never gonna leave this area of the dixon wasteland up until today. now we have to travel all the way up north to the badlands to try and find wherever the hell the rebellion's headquarters are at. you always hear about how the badlands is probably the least populated region in the country so i can imagine that trying to find their headquarters is going to be hell unless we manage to stumble upon the freedom trail. jesus christ, the freedom trail in and of itself is gonna be a whole other ballgame." she ran her fingers through the sand. "i wish our parents' were still around, you know? i mean, my ma would have been fighting us tooth and nail about seeking out the rebellion but sometimes i wish we could just get a sliver of their wisdom again. i never really listened to them back when they were alive but now that i'm older and they're gone... well, you know. i don't know. today has just been long." she and julian have done fairly well for themselves since their parents' died but that did not mean she did not miss them. right now, it felt like they were walking into the maws of danger but what other choice did they have? they've done a good job to stay out of trouble and out of the conclave's line of sight but obviously, that sense of safety isn't going to last long now that they were in possession of stolen government property. her mother would have been mortified by their actions but valentina could not say she had any regrets when it came to taking the file. they just had to deliver it to the rebellion now and hope they did not end up falling into conclave custody. that, or something much more gruesome. it appeared to valentina that tensions between the conclave and wastelander society are only getting worse. that massacre outside the gates of arcadia proved it. that general had little to no viable evidence or reason to kill all those people and yet he did anyway on mere suspicion. she already knew that he was not going to be held accountable for his rash cruelty, either. the conclave was slowly going more accustomed to using violence to get their way. she could not imagine she and julian would meet a pretty fate if they were caught red-handed with the stolen file. if the conclave happened to discover their identities, they'd be labelled as wanted fugitives. they'd have to watch their backs every second of the day to make sure they weren't getting tailed by a conclave patrol or some wastelanders who were eager to turn them in for a solid reward. in a lot of cases, you can trust your fellow wasteland citizens to help you out of tricky situations involving the government like that caravan party earlier but there's also plenty of people out there who had no qualms stabbing other people in the back if there's a reward involved. there's wastelanders out there who wouldn't hesitate to turn valentina and julian in to the authorities if there was a financial promise involved. you can't just trust anybody who you cross paths with anymore. they were lucky that caravan group in arcadia were actually decent people because she couldn't even imagine what would have happened had that party ratted them out at the checkpoint. from here on out, they're going to have to calculate their every move and be cautious in who they decide to trust.

[vaermina]

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


indentkai began to creep around mateo's office as mina spoke with his brother. it was obvious that his office has become cluttered as a result of a hectic work schedule. papers had yet to be filed and stored properly, folders were protruding from rusty filing cabinets, sticky notes plastered against the walls and furniture with small reminders and meeting times scribbled on their colorful surfaces. layers of dust covered the surfaces of some of the room's untouched shelves. there was a large glass case propped up in the corner of the room that held his brother's power armor set. kai's reflection stared back at him as he stopped in front of it. similar to other commissioned officers, mateo's power armor had a unique appearance. it had a color scheme as black as the night with a curved helm, wide breastplate and form-fitting base structure. his military identification number and name was plastered in white on the breastplate, right next to the insignia of the shadow squad. it was fascinating to kai how sets of power armor are never the same. the conclave has produced so many models with various modifications and customizations that it was easy to craft a suit that's unique to your character. unfortunately, the mass production of power armor over the years has led to an overabundance and it was easy for men and women outside of the conclave to get their hands on a set or two. bandits in particular were notorious for looting power armor off of dead bodies or ambushed transportation convoys. a lot of them liked to modify their sets with the bones and intestines of their victims, and a few even add twisted wire and scrap metal to their suits' frames to try and help reinforce it. bandits lack the proper materials and accessories needed to frequently update, repair and restore their power armor, though so it was common for their suits to degrade and become practically useless over a short period of time. in kai's opinion, it was a lot of work to properly manage a suit of power armor. you need a power armor station in order to properly work on your suit without accidentally ruining it in the process, and those are only available at military bases or other conclave-operated facilities. in some cases, a certified armorer is the only one who can repair a suit that has damage that is not easily fixable via a power armor station. kai did not have his own set of power armor. to be honest, he found them much too bulky. it was too much work to not only maneuver the set but to enter it, as well. he knew that there were other versions of power armor that were more convenient for the wearer but in order to have such mobility, you need to sacrifice the protection that traditional power armor offers. and honestly? kai did not even consider those sets as power armor. in his mind, power armor is only power armor if it encompasses the traditional features. nevertheless, power armor has become a symbol of the conclave, something that people from all walks of life recognize as an affiliation to the federal government.
indentthere were dozens of picture frames - small ones, really - nailed to the walls. a lot of them were personal pictures of mateo's immediate and extended family. some of them were newspaper clippings of philip's latest professional conferences with the public or trimmed magazine pages featuring xander's newest hollywood achievements. it was common for mateo to trophy his brothers' achievements. there were dozens of framed articles detailing philip's ventures in the bureau as deputy director; most of it was articles written about his public announcements regarding the bureau's focuses on domestic crimes. there were also plenty of framed reviews of xander's work on television alongside some magazine articles of his less problematic public appearances. kai had to resist the urge to snort at that. he supposed that framing your brother's drunken escapades and shameful scandals amongst a wall of positive achievements defeats the purpose of it all. kai supposed it wouldn't even matter. xander is so unabashed that no amount of ridicule or embarrassment could change his ways. he's a supercilious and pompous man who is completely unbridled and unmanageable. kai was not close with xander. the older man was far too similar to their mother for his comfort. it was difficult for kai to rationalize his feelings about that. was his growing dislike for xander over the years because of who he was as a person or simply because of who he reminded kai of? xander possessed a nasty temper, sure but he was harmless on his own. kai doubted he could hurt someone beyond using whatever leverage and influence he had in the entertainment industry to thwart somebody's career. he did that sort of thing well. xander was not a danger when it came to any sort of physical level but he loved getting others in trouble. he loved ratting people out, and had always taken a certain sort of glee in getting kai into trouble with their parents back when he lived in the loukanis household. a part of kai knew that xander has probably grown into the person he was because of their mother's guidance and their troubled childhood but it did nothing to quell his growing disdain for the older man. it almost felt like kai couldn't see past xander's exterior front, even if it was a subtle cry for help. it's not uncommon for actors and actresses to lash out in adulthood and display questioning behavior because of dark upbringings but it was impossible for kai to not see xander as just another version of their mother: a selfish, imperious, histrionic, and mean-spirited person.
indent"yeah, he mentioned something about us joining him at his table at the inauguration dinner in-case we wanted to hear out a proposal of his concerning the possibility of us progressing forward in our careers." kai turned away from the wall to face mateo and mina. "we're thinking he might be alluding to something regarding a possible deployment out west to deal with the odawa syndicate. i mean, he's been recently assigned by the president's cabinet to deal with that whole mess so it makes sense considering he was the one who helped bring down the black hand last year."
indenta pensive look had formed on his brother's face as he listened to the two warrant officers speak. he crossed his arms over his chest before he finally responded. "well, i'm glad to hear you've been doing alright, mina. i'm about the same. and as for general alarie, well..." he smiled slightly. "i think your encounter with him at the capitol and his offer is rather interesting."
indent"interesting? that's all you gotta say about that entire spiel? that's your oh-so-sacred wisdom?"
indent"will you shut up and let me speak more than one sentence before you start going weird?" mateo retorted, albeit light-heartedly. "anyway, i think i have to agree with you, mina. that does sound like a once in a lifetime sort of offer."
indent"you don't think it's weird?" pressed kai.
indentmateo shrugged. "i mean, i guess it's a bit peculiar from a professional point of view for him to allude to career opportunities with the two of you directly instead of going through your superiors and the proper paperwork but it's not particularly weird behavior, at-least not from general alarie. i've worked with him for years now and he's just an amicable person. a people's person, you know? some of his finest commandos were just enlisted soldiers several years back and now enjoy the perks of commissioned officers because of opportunities presented to them by general alarie. that's just something he does - he takes people under his wing and helps them find their footing if he sees potential in them. you know, rather than let them become swallowed up by the system that can be rather unfair when it comes to giving everyone equal chances for advancement."
indentkai watched as mateo's blood eagle continued to peck at the remains of his sandwich on the coffee table. "i guess."
indent"i know it seems rather suspicious but i wouldn't brood too much about it," mateo said. "if any other general would have offered you something like this, i would be on edge myself but general alarie is a different story. it's hard to explain but he's not like eugene or your father, mina." he glanced at the young woman briefly. "i mean, you two probably already know that just by seeing the difference in the way they act when compared to general alarie's demeanor. at the very least, i think you two should hear him out if he sticks with his word. it's not everyday that warrant officers are approached by a general, nevertheless one who has general alarie's influence. i don't think he has ill-intentions at all. you have to remember that general alarie has been friends with our families for many years now, probably since the two of you were little. he's been around you two since you were kids, even if it's only been in brief passing. he might see potential in you two that your own superiors haven't bothered opening their eyes to. hell, i see it. maybe you two need a change of scenery, something new and stimulating to focus on. a possible deployment out west to deal with the odawa syndicate could be it. true, warrant officers don't have a lot of influence or power in the military but the syndicate is presenting a type of threat that we've never had to deal with before. the conclave is going to be walking into this conflict blind before we get a proper handle on things, and everyone's contribution to the fight is important. general alarie may recognize and award your guys' input."
indenta somewhat sheepish grumble sounded from kai at his brother's compliment. he supposed he was right. it was unfair to write alarie off as some sort of scam when the man has been acquainted with the loukanis and parekh family for years now. what did he have to gain by offering them this sort of chance? it's not like kai and mina wielded any sort of major influence or control in the military. they were warrant officers, overshadowed by thousands of high-ranking officials. they had nothing to offer a man like general alarie. kai had no reason to be so suspicious but it just seemed too good to be true. were there truly men and women in the military who weren't so caught up in their own careers that they wanted to help people who had nothing to offer them in return? kai was convinced that there is no such thing as selflessness in the world nowadays. people aren't going to go out of there way to help others unless they can benefit from it. but was it really fair for kai to subject people to his cynicism? the rational part of him knew that not everyone is the same but it was difficult to not think that way. he's experienced his own fair share of poor treatment by his superiors, and he saw the way hayrmor spoke to mina in the aircraft hangar earlier. it was just hard for kai to try and understand general alarie's intentions, no matter how genuine they appeared to be.
indentmateo seemed to recognize some of his doubts. "maybe one of the issues here isn't necessarily general alarie himself but the possible proposal he might offer the two of you. it's not really about the context of it all but his intentions and forethoughts. honestly? i don't think there's really much behind it other than the fact he's genuinely interested in helping further the career of many conclave youths. have you heard ever heard about that one project called the steps forward program? the one that's always playing ads on tv and talking about how you can call their number to look at potential career opportunities and scholarship offers? he's one of the sponsors for that program. i went to one of their conventions last year. also? i don't think everyone who has influence has bad intentions, and it's probably not wise to let your suspicions towards commissioned officers in general cloud your judgment. you're never going to get anywhere if you suspect the worst from people. not everyone is out to get you. yeah, there's plenty of people in the military who aren't going to bother being kind and helpful towards their subordinates but there's also plenty of people who act just the opposite. it all just comes down to trial and error sometimes. if it doesn't work out? well, then it doesn't work out and you learn from it. if it does, though? you're not going to regret hearing him out."
indent"yeah, i guess. i know it's not good to be cynical all the time." it was self-sabotage, really but everything his brother was saying made perfect sense. general alarie has a history of reaching out to help struggling conclave youth so why did it all just feel too good to be true? kai supposed he just wasn't used to this. he wasn't used to anyone with a superior ranking taking interest in someone like him and mina. why does general alarie waste his time on people like them? kai shrugged. "it's all just weird, i think. i wouldn't expect a general - nevertheless one that has alarie's influence - to care so much about people like us."
indentmateo smiled, if not somewhat sympathetically. "i can see why you would think that. honestly, i think the divide that's between commissioned officers and lower tiers has just continued to grow within the past few decade. from what i've seen and experienced, men and women are becoming more keen to make a name for themselves rather than help the conclave establish law and order. don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being ambitious but the military shouldn't be an outlet to try and achieve stardom through. that's not the point, and it's not what we're trying to achieve here. erm, bottom line is, i think you two should consider general alarie's offer and at-least hear him out. there's no harm in keeping yourselves open to new opportunities. a simple transfer out west could be just what you need. and if general alarie doesn't see potential in you two, maybe another high-ranking officer out west would. general alarie's offer could indirectly introduce you to more outlets that could eventually lead to promotion. you'd be dealing with a whole different plethora of officers from all across the country. it'd be a nice change from the blokes you have to deal with here at the capital city." he checked his watch. "anyway, i'm also starting to think it might be time to head out before the janitors start rioting. you two should probably start heading back home, too, unless there's something else on your minds?"

[vaell]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa wastelander / future rebel. | unaffiliated. | tagged: valentina.
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indentjulian eyed the limp fox in his cousins hands for a moment, the arrow once wedged between his chest having been carefully removed already. right now would probably not be the best time to begin bragging over what a good shot that was, but he was tempted. from what he could tell, there was a chance that they could still salvage the pelt of the animal, and if he knew anyone who could properly skin any beast it'd be valentina. with his clean shot and her own proficiency in skinning they could actually find themselves a few caps richer. alongside that, they did bring some other personal belongings to sell from their settlement. technically the idea of trying to get some more caps should be the least of their concerns, but after a lifetime to trying to stay afloat in this world, it's almost impossible to try and prioritize your own safety. they needed to survive and that meant all the grittiness that came with it. just because they weren't in a financial crisis right now thanks to their encounter with zio, julian himself knew far too well that you should never get too comfortable with your current position. he was the type of person to unconsciously stay a few steps ahead, and a part of this mentality came as a result of he and valentina's circumstances. they needed to think of all the possible risks they might be taking these next few days, taking note of any measures that they could possibly prevent that may lead to their demises. he wasn't entirely certain what kind of precautions were being taken by the conclave outside of arcadia and its immediate area, but he could guess that this search for the file he and his cousin had found wasn't necessarily going to get any better. it was far more likely that the conclave would seek to impose some more restrictions upon the wasteland. in a way, the file being gone from their clutches was more than enough of an excuse for the conclave to actually exercise their power over the wasteland. there's nothing small about the waste -- its intimidating to people who don't understand its way of life outside of perfectly paved roads and a lack of hardship, and its people are not easily tousled about nor are they few in number. the inhabitants of the wasteland are numerous and thats a part of why the conclave has found it so hard to try and control them. so while julian knew the commotion about this file was likely not going to die down anytime soon so long as it were outside of the conclaves grasp, he also knew that the conclave had the opportunity to use this situation to their advantage and exert their sheer military strength against those who are resistant to them as needed. regardless, trust doesn't come easy out here. you like to assume nobody has any bad intentions but any naive thinking like that will get you killed. he and valentina would need to play it extremely safe from here on out; let things settle down for awhile, see if the conclaves interest in the file lessens or only grows in desperation. if he and valentina ever wanted to be free of their nervousness around any area that harbored even a light conclave presence, then they'd better start hoping this file wasn't as relevant as this initial commotion is making itself out to be. there was a slight possibility the conclave would play it down - besides, if they continued putting so much emphasis on how much they needed this file back no matter the cost, it would show some form of weakness, wouldn't it? the conclave decreed that they don't even barter for hostages between enemy factions anymore. are they really going to let a singular missing file run them into the dirt?
indenthe watched as valentina stepped past him so that she could go and retrieve one of the pairs of leather gloves they'd brought along. it was better to be safe than sorry he supposed; the idea of catching an illness right now while they were trying to make an escape was not quite appealing to him. knowing the two of them though they'd somehow make it out alive, but it just wasn't worth running the risk since that could hinder their whole plan and all. she didn't take long to return back to their campfire, knife in hand and fox in the other. he'd seen valentina work with their kills so often that he didn't even need to guess just how she was going to approach skinning the fox. efficiency was usually of their upmost interest. so with that being said julian decided he may as well loiter around until she finish. he was drawn toward their campfire given the coolness of the night; and as he drew closer to the flames, he could feel the heat washing over his skin, fending away the chilliness in the air. a silence hung heavy in the air despite the crackling of their kindling. it may have even been eerie had they not been busying themselves - he was sure that he could make out the chirps of insects every now and then too, the nightlife of the wasteland becoming more active during these late hours. the flames, reaching their way upward toward the sky, sent red sparks to dance along the breeze that passed through. their fire cast a muted golden glow on valentina as she worked, shadows distorting whenever she worked the knife along the fox one way or the other. he watched as the rusted blade tore through a joint, the fox still dangling upside down in valentina's hand. the critter was definitely of the smaller sort but they'd been lucky to track it regardless. although at the time he wasn't hoping on it, he knew that the chance of them resorting to eating some insects was going to be the most likely outcome of their hunting. he figured it would happen eventually, depending on just how long they'd be out in the waste and where. his cousin was now already advancing her knife to the skull of the creature the next time his eyes deviated from their fire and back to her. she was cutting the cartilage away from where it was connected to the skull, having skinned down the ears well enough beforehand. now she was able to begin pulling its hide downward after a fair amount of time of splitting and peeling the skin away from the bones. he almost began to wonder when the last time they ate happened to be. he knew he gave the sand-cats some food for the night but he was sure that he and his cousin barely had a chance to stop and eat any food since they left for arcadia. night had long settled over the wasteland by now. at one point while they were out tracking the fox the ant did become progressively more appealing considering how hungry he was growing.
indenta final tear to the foxes skin allowed his cousin to cleanly pull the critters pelt off its body. nothing about the process of skinning an animal was exactly neat or tidy, but what can you do. valentina took up his offer to relieve her of her bow, handing it over to him after she slid it off from her shoulders. his eyes flickered to the pelt in her opposite hand. "looks good," he commented, taking her bow in his own hands. "i guess we were thinking the same thing. we might run into a trading caravan, who knows. i can imagine it'll probably sell. someone will be interested. clothing, decoration. whatever." as his cousin spoke, he simultaneously made to store her bow back onto mars' saddle, just adjacent to his own. he gave her a couple mumbles of agreement to signify that he was still listening as he opened up one of their saddlebags to see what kind of spices he could find. his hand shifted through their clutter until he could grasp the familiar outline of a small container. pre-war society had access to different sorts of spices, ones in which they now had to substitute local flora for, considering the lack of international commerce and relations. theres plenty of substitutes for what once was. in fact the spices that they have depend on what species of plants may have mutated from pre-war gardens and the species that did manage to survive. the vast majority of plant species were wiped out which ended up eliminating conventional spice production - but he and valentina, they either obtained their own spices from a spice caravan or as a result of their own self-harvesting, which was a bit more of an uncommon occurrence all things considered. everything is derived from roots, stems, barks, leaves or flowers. theres mutated asters, different types of roots and weeds. he wasn't particularly well versed in the specifics but they did have a fair selection of salt, pepper and an assortment of other spices that would substitute alternatives such as paprika or turmeric but its not like they had a whole wide supply to choose from either. julian plucked the container out from the saddlebag, as well as another pair of old leather gloves they brought along so that he could slip them on for handling the meat. as he was retrieving the spices, he didn't miss valentina's suggestion that he should also collect the components of their spit so that it could be set up over their fire, even if he admittedly wasn't paying full attention to what she was saying. so, with his free hand he detached their spit from where he'd once clasped it onto their saddlebags. he made sure to pick out some twine for securing the fox onto the spit as well. the man then glanced over his shoulder and toward valentina. it seemed to be a good time for him to head back over to her so that she could hang up that fox skin to stretch while they busy themselves with some other tasks in the meantime. "yeah sure, i'll take the fox. you do that." spit and spices in hand, julian stepped back over toward the fire and to where his cousin was standing, freeing up one of his hands to take the skinned creature from her as she offered it to him. he supposed it would be best if he set down the spit and their spices so that he could first season the fox before getting it on the spit rod. the man knelt down for convenience sake, his hand beginning to unscrew the metal lid of their spice container. he was close enough to the fire that he could practically feel its heat radiating onto him once again. he dipped his fingers inside of the container and took a pinch of the mixed spices. they usually season a lot of their meats similarly - its not like they could be picky - although it did depend on the particular creature for the sake of taste. julian began sprinkling the different spices onto the fox, careful not to be using up too much of their supply, rotating the creature as he went. he made sure that there was still a decent amount scattered along the meat for the benefit of flavor, although he was sure at this point he could eat just about anything and it'd taste good. making sure to evenly season the fox didn't take very long; he would need to spend some more time adjusting their spit however before advancing on to cooking the fox.
indentas valentina was tending to the fox pelt and just how they would go about hanging it to stretch, julian himself was beginning to set up their spit assembly. as he skewered the fox onto the spit rod, he needed to make sure to properly balance the fox so that it could be turned easily to ensure that all sides of the meat received the same amount of heat from their fire. he adjusted the spit rod to be level with the fox, aiming to have the rod pass through its center of gravity. julian slipped one of the two holding forks onto the spit and then inserted the spit through the middle of the meat. he pushed the prongs into the fox and then secured the second fork onto the spit. once successfully spearing the fox onto the rod, he made sure that it was compact and well-fastened so that it wouldn't slip around the spit as it turned. he made sure to tie some twine he'd brought along with the spit in order to completely secure the fox onto the rod, bundling its legs to the rod in particular. next, he sought to properly place and tighten the holding forks on the spit. depending on what you're trying to roast, you have to take a different approach to the situation. game is often trussed with skewers and string to hold their wings and legs in place whereas creatures such as larger birds are spitted head to tail, with the spit running through the body cavity of the creature, similarly as to what he was doing with the fox. now he could successfully attach the spit rod atop their campfire. while making a point to steer clear of the mounting flames of their fire, he used an open palm to gently roll the spit back and forth in his hand. it seemed to be rolling smoothly, which meant the meat was secure and well balanced after all. if the fox had been sliding or rolling awkwardly, he would have had to remount it and retie it. pleased enough with his work, julian rubbed his hands together before pulling off the gloves he'd slipped on earlier. they weren't particularly dirty; he'd really only handled the fox briefly along with some of their spices. with a huff, julian used the back of his hand to wipe off some sweat beginning to form at his temples given the fact that he'd been working so near to the heat of the fire and for a considerable amount of time now. it wasn't exactly sweltering by any means but he was still working up a sweat. he wondered how valentina was making out with the fox pelt. he knew that if they wanted to successfully sell it, they'd need to make sure to take some degree of care when handling it. neglecting it would only cause it to turn brittle and that wouldn't be very beneficial nor would it be in their interests. it was going to be an interesting task to try and stretch it, though. it's not like they had any wooden stretchers on them or anything, although they did once have one before it eventually broke with time. julian shifted so that he was sitting in front of the fire. they would have to rotate the fox every now and then for an even cooking of the creature but for now keeping an eye on it would be the best. he could hear his cousin shuffling around behind him. she was most likely done attending to the foxes pelt at this point, so he wasn't surprised to see her eventually rejoin him back at the fire. julian glanced up toward her. "i'd say it's going pretty good." they'd finally be able to enjoy some food soon enough and even get some rest, judging by the progress they've made thus far. when she mentioned the fox pelt, he cast his gaze over his shoulder towards mars. it appeared she'd done her best to try and hang the fox pelt from mars' saddle - and honestly, what else could they have done? they had to use what they could given their current situation. he almost would have protested about having to turn the pelt if it weren't for the fact they were already planning on taking shifts of rest throughout the night. "fair enough. i guess that works. imagine if we woke up to it looking like--well, what'd you say earlier? all weird-looking?" he snorted, rubbing his hands together in his lap as the fire steadily warmed them. "nah, it'll be fine. if there's one thing we can handle its that." his cousin lowered herself to the ground to settle down just as he had already done.
indentafter reaching forward to slowly rotate the fox on the spit for a minute or so, julian returned back to his prior position, although this time he let his back hit the sand below him. he looked up into the darkened sky. if you ever told julian he'd been caught in the middle of a situation with some major implications regarding the conclave, he would have just laughed. inherently, he is an adventurous person. he's never liked just lounging about in one place for too long all day - but this? this was out of his comfort zone, even if he didn't outwardly show it. hell, it would be for most people, having to pack up from your own residence on such short notice while trying to evade any conclave personnel. they've never involved themselves with the rebellion or any organized group necessarily; they've always steered clear of getting themselves into any obvious trouble. maybe they figured they would go their whole lives without resorting to that lifestyle. it only made sense after all. lots of wastelanders are skeptical of merely being associated with the rebellion. it can cost you your life, so he understood why the vast majority were avoidant. its not like their own parents were any different for the most part either. he could recall his aunt being quite clear that sticking their noses in that sort of business would only bring them a great deal of problems. it was no surprise his own mother shared some similar sentiments. the sisters, they were similar, and yet not at all. he knew it wasn't uncommon for valentina to seek out his mother for things like advice; she'd honestly treated her like a daughter, even. while his mother was a follower of the akir she wasn't as persistent on traditional values nor did she emphasize the goddess moira above all else. his mother often left small material items at the shrines of argus og or oisin out of respect. julian had been closer with his mother than his father and he knew how much she had loved valentina. she loved hearing about whatever she had to say, whether it be about her last hunting expedition or the first thing that came to her mind. it's not really surprising that julian saw valentina more as a sister than as a cousin. a part of him wished he could go back in time and entertain the spiels his mother had for him or even the advice she once tried to offer him. julian crossed his hands behind his head as he lay next to the fire. he supposed that he couldn't go on in life if all he did was regret the past or want to go back. there was simply no room for extended mourning, mourning that lasts over the span of a few weeks. his attention flickered over to valentina, the flames of their campfire licking at the night sky. "this is the sort of situation i told myself i'd never be in," he admitted. "i mean it feels like we've been warned not to do something like this our whole lives. like, i know it was the right thing to do but this much change? in one day? if i'm being honest, it doesn't even feel quite real. maybe reality hasn't hit me just yet, and i'm pretending this is another one of our outings in the waste. except, well, the part where we have to travel way up north to the badlands kinda shatters the illusion. guess that's not really going back home, is it?" he looked back up to the sky. it's not like any of their journey has been easy so far, and this was just the start. he had no idea how convoluted things would get once dawn broke the next day. they could expect an increased conclave effort but even he didn't know the extent to which they would go to retrieve this file. "and the freedom trail? don't even get me started. how the hell are we seriously even going to- nevermind. it's just bizarre that this happened to us, i guess." with a grunt, julian used his elbows to hoist himself back up into a seated position. he reached over to begin idly turning the spit once again, the flames hot beneath their now-cooking fox. a bittersweet smile formed upon his face at the mention of their parents. it looked like he wasn't the only one thinking about them lately after all.
indent"tell me about it," he agreed. "i think i'd be fine with hearing your ma trying to scold us right about now. hell, if she knew what we were doing with this file and all that..it'd be game over. i can already picture our graves." julian let out a light chuckle, watching as the meat browned on their spit rod. "i know what you mean, though. it would be nice to have some kinda guidance or something but it feels like we're just going into this without knowing a thing." that's how life has been for valentina and julian since the death of their parents anyway, so he supposed it wasn't much different now. they've learnt to adapt as time went on and they knew that they only really had each-other to depend on after their passings. "you know what, though? even though my ma was nervous about this kinda stuff with the rebellion and all, i feel like she'd be proud of us, in way. i kinda always thought she just went along with your ma about that stuff, cause y'know she's got a pretty large personality. she's never really been afraid to tell us what is or isn't, especially when it comes to this rebel business, and my ma was always just..i don't know, more open to stuff. i think if she saw us now she'd probably laugh, because how typical is it that we wound up in this kinda situation. she would've said something about how she saw this coming from this start or something." he shook his head in amusement. his mother was one of the kindest people he had ever met. it's hard to sustain that sort of an outlook on life when you're trapped under the grim reality of what life out in the wasteland is, and he genuinely commended her for it. he and valentina's parents have been through so much crap in their time that he was surprised she even bothered trying to be so optimistic about everything up until her very death. the whole situation revolving around their parents and their deaths..he didn't like facing it all too often. it's a part of himself that he has chosen to try and bury, at-least as some sort of a defense mechanism, otherwise he was sure he'd be a wreck more often than not. it's been so long since he's opened up about his feelings over what happened to them and it was likely going to stay that way. reflecting on them and their memory was better than facing the violent way they died. julian looked over to valentina again. this whole situation was kind of a mess. at the time, he did feel confident in their decision. they'd taken the file off that dying rebel and hadn't even thought twice about it. it's not like they had a ton of time to stand around and loiter and think about the potential consequences of their actions but did they make a mistake? he really couldn't tell. it felt better feeling out how valentina was taking their whole predicament. he often took some comfort in her words if he himself was feeling unsure about something or even a bit nervous. even when they were younger, it was like she always knew how they would make it to the other side of a problem, just how they would endure. she always presented herself as a strong person and he deeply admired that about her and always will. it takes strength to be able to keep braving any situation without letting yourself fall apart or give up. truthfully, he didn't know what the hell he would do without her. julian hesitantly cleared his throat, shifting the topic from their parents now. "anyway, though..we did the right thing, right? i mean, taking the file. like, we couldn't just ignore the fact those people died for it but..? what if your ma was right? what if we're getting ourselves into a deep pile of crap that we don't want to be a part of?"
indentmaybe he was more nervous right now than he let on. it was hard to tell, even for himself. they spend so much time just living in the moment that they never really have the chance to ponder about what they're doing. maybe that's a part of why he felt so skeptical right now. they've never been wanted by the conclave in their lives nor have they deviated from their regular day-to-day schedule much even in the past few months, and now all of that was reversed. he didn't know that he would ever miss the monotony of life, but maybe he actually would. it's probably better than being hunted down for a file that you indirectly stole. it wasn't so much that the pressure of their situation was getting to him but rather what could happen. if they made the wrong move, trusted the wrong people, everything could go south. he supposed thats why it would be better for them to lay low for some time, avoid any potential threats. if they were ever identified in having stolen the file, things would probably become ten times as worse. he couldn't imagine having to constantly duck around just so that he wouldn't be recognized and turned in for some outrageous reward. would they be hunted by the military personally, or would they soon land themselves a bounty on their heads? he had no idea how much of a threat they were perceived to be. julian didn't really want their entire lives to lead up to just being some criminals that have to keep their lives on the down-low; they'd worked their entire lives and for what? would it be for nothing after all? there was a determination in him to not allow for that to even be true for the slightest moment. he was sure that if they were going to be tracked somehow, he and valentina could survive it. they've lived through things worse than some people who were enlisted in the military. they knew the wasteland better than any singular person in the conclave army and he knew that for a fact. they had ways to rely on the environment around them, and what did the conclave have when their technologies would fail them? surely, the two of them could face what comes their way. it didn't make him any less wary about being targeted by the conclave but at-least they weren't necessarily doomed from the get-go. those conclave personnel, they're human too. they make mistakes and the same errors that any wastelander could, even if they were conditioned to years of military training. if anyone was planning to catch valentina and julian, they were going to be in for a rocky ride. julian watched as the fox made another turn around the spit as he rotated it. it seemed like they weren't going to be running on empty stomachs for much longer after all, judging by the sight of the roasted fox. "well, it looks like the fox is cooking well. you wanna grab some of the plates and utensils we brought along on mars? oh, and our carving knife too. i think its about nearly ready to be taken off the spit. i'm starving."

[vaell]

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaviation warrant officer two. | conclave military. | tagged: kai.
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indentwhen kai made a brief comment about the odawa syndicate and their potential to be deployed out west, mina tried her best to gauge his older brother's attitude toward their situation. if there was anybody who could offer them some sound advice or guidance as to how they should feel about general alarie's offer, it would probably be mateo. not only does he have more experience than they both do in terms of both a military career and in having an idea of the character of some higher ranking officials, he also tends to see things in a much less convoluted way than both kai or mina do. maybe what she sought from him was an outsiders perspective after all. she can firmly say that she has never been offered an opportunity like this in her life before, and its hard to be able to discern whether or not someone is setting you up for failure or not. the conclave military can be a dog-eat-dog type of world, although what could a general gain from stepping on two warrant officers? it's not like he could necessarily advance his own career that way, forget the fact that he is already standing at the top of the food chain. at-least by asking mateo for his own opinion over the matter they'd get some more direction as to how to feel. meanwhile mina wasn't even going to bother bringing their encounter up with general alarie to ishaan. if general alarie's proposal ended up being a sham or he left them hanging after all then she would look like a complete moron for even believing for a second that anyone would extend a helping hand to someone of their ranking. why would she ever want to confide in her brother about this if there was a chance he'd only see her high hopes as wishful thinking? if things did end up working out in her and kai's favor however, then that'd be a different story. aside from the day-to-day conversations that any pair of siblings have, she and her brother share something of a surface level relationship, or at-least that's how mina perceives their connection. he can open up to her all he wants but she often doesn't reciprocate. mina likes to keep her affairs to herself for the most part - its not like most things she's involved in weigh of any high importance anyway - the reason stemming mostly from her own insecurity. ishaan's achievements in life seem so large and impossible, and for her to talk about her own journey in her military career? whatever she does sounds like nothing in comparison. that was the thing with her brother, he always had a way of making her feel inferior, even if it happened to be unintentional. its often in the small things he does. ishaan enjoys sharing his airborne ventures with her, he likes filling her in on even the boring details of his day, and that's the way he has always been too. piloting seems to be one of the few things they have left in common these days and he tries to connect with mina in that way because he probably thinks that she enjoys hearing what he has to say. unfortunately, mina has constructed the narrative in her own mind that he really only intends to gloat to her, as thats how it has felt to her ever since his promotion. lately it seems that every other day he has something new and exciting to show or tell her. it was infuriating to her that he could not process just how selfish he was being either. did he not understand how hard she was trying to cope with her own less than ideal circumstances, and how hearing about the latest aircraft model in development actually wasn't as interesting to her as he may think?
indentdespite her best efforts though, it appeared that mateo was a bit harder to read right off the bat than she'd expected. and after his rather short response to them mina was almost tempted to react in a similar manner as kai. it wouldn't be like mateo to just give them a lame take on their situation though, so she wasn't necessarily surprised when he did move past kai's retort to expand further on his thoughts. there was nothing particularly comforting about hearing how there was some degree of peculiarity about the way that general alarie delivered the proposal to them, but at-least mateo was being honest, and besides, that wasn't even his main takeaway. what really mattered most was the fact that kai's brother had a bit more insight into general alarie's disposition than they did, considering he has worked with the man for quite some time now. at-least he didn't have a reputation of being some bastard, she supposed, or else her and kai would have already had some semblance of knowing to steer clear from his offer. sometimes it hard to believe that people like general alarie actually exist within the conclave military, let alone anywhere else. the disbelief that anyone could be harboring good intentions is likely a part of why they're not so quick to budge in their wary stance towards the older man's offer. she's seen many different types of people come and go throughout her career but more often than not most soldiers enlisted possess a competitive desire to reach their peak potential. mina really wouldn't have guessed that generosity or helpfulness had the place in their line of work, not after all the experiences she has had or the people she's encountered. those in her or kai's position most often recognize how faulted the system can be when it comes to advancement into a higher ranking but that sort of a thought process tends to get lost in translation at the higher rungs of the military. these same people with rows of medals adorned to their chests will tell you that it's about working hard and collecting the fruits of your labor but in reality, it's not always just as simple or as clean-cut as that. superiors hold grudges, deem a person unfit for progression and sometimes thats blockade enough. mina stole a brief glance over to kai, curious to know what he was making of mateo's take on general alarie's proposal. she remembered that her boyfriend expressed some degree of skepticism over their situation earlier back when they were still at the capitol complex. she didn't blame him for it. her mind had immediately jumped into eagerness which only meant her own thought process was clouded by an overwhelming desire to take any chance she could possibly grasp at should it get her out of her current position. as much as kai might have seen his own opinion regarding the matter as being overly wary, she was still thankful for him expressing his own thoughts despite being vastly different from her own. it almost seemed like both of them displayed the exact opposite extremes of each-other, neither being particularly beneficial in navigating their potential future endeavors. a smile touched her lips when mateo looked her way. at-least she was beginning to feel a bit more reassured having talked some of this through, and besides it's not like mateo himself seemed to be perturbed by general alarie doing such a thing. she and kai were really just stressing over something that seemed to be in character of the man in the first place; apparently graciousness was a trait that general alarie did not have a lack of. she couldn't just forget that the man knew their families too, even if kai and mina themselves weren't as familiar with general alarie to begin with. it's not like he was being overly out of the blue by offering them such an opportunity. it would be different if they were complete strangers to begin with.
indentbesides, mateo was right. the syndicate presented a different kind of threat to the conclave and it was important that everyone contributed to this conflict however they could. mina supposed they were just used to feeling insignificant in the grand scheme of things and to suddenly have someone of importance displaying some form of interest in them was just strange. and despite his entire spiel, mateo's compliment to the two of them didn't go unnoticed by mina either. she couldn't remember a time where he wasn't actively supporting her and kai either to be honest. still, the woman was trying to wrap her head around her initial thoughts and now mateo's feedback as well. it was all just a lot to process. "that would make sense," mina agreed, albeit with a bit of hesitation given the contemplation clouding her voice. "or at-least more than general alarie just throwing us some empty bait." she added. mina was the type of person that gained some more confidence over any given matter should she be presented with solid, concrete reasoning to make sense of a situation. if general alarie's offer tied into the impending conflict with the syndicate and if this sort of generous behavior wasn't particularly out of character for him, then how could she argue with any of the points that mateo brought up? the only way they could see this entire situation in a negative light would be if they themselves planted a seed of doubt within his proposal. and maybe that was the entire problem here to begin with. it seemed that mateo had caught on to that at-least, given how neither she or kai have voiced any degree of certainty in the general's offer thus far. mina couldn't help but downcast her eyes as mateo addressed their true issue with what was going on with general alarie and his proposal, her gaze landing on mateo's blood eagle where it was still perched atop of his coffee table, idly pecking away at what was left of his sandwich. more often than not, suspecting the worst of people or doubting their intentions only causes more complications for yourself. rarely does it actually shield you from danger. she watched the large avian as it hardly batted an eye to the three of them as they engaged in conversation. when the man made a mention of the steps forward program, she returned her attention away from the bird. the ads for that program play on television so frequently that it would be nearly impossible not to know what mateo was referring to. interestingly enough, general alarie was supposedly a sponsor for that program. mina supposed that lined up with the sort of interest the man had in conclave youth as a whole. maybe she just didn't expect someone of such prominent authority to bother themselves in trying to help the future of the conclave progress. mina usually doesn't anticipate much from anyone though, so the bar was so low that it was practically in hell to begin with anyhow.
indentmuch like kai, mina still had this feeling like their situation was strange even after what mateo had to say. maybe she would never get used to being lent a helping hand, let alone being acknowledged by someone who had no reason to even reach out to her and kai. his brother was right in that they would leave the situation unharmed regardless though. should it work out, then great, being involved in the conflict in the west was beyond the scope of what she ever dreamt she might get herself involved with in her lifetime. and if things don't end up going their way? like mateo said, all they can do is learn from it. it was hard to even try and understand just why general alarie would even be willing to deceive a pair of nobodies in the vast sea of extraordinary people that made up the conclave military anyhow. what would be a driving motivation for such a scheme, besides putting their hopes out? mina released a short sigh. it was better she not close in on herself in an attempt to try and unwind whatever mysteries and complications her mind was brewing for her. "you're probably right, mateo. jesus, if this whole thing somehow works out a change of scenery would be brilliant." mina highly doubted that being transferred out of the capital would do more harm than it would any good. she honestly wasn't sure what could possibly be as underwhelming or even worse than what she was currently doing day-to-day anyway. she was at that point where just about any option felt better than what she currently was dealing with, like anything was welcome should it have the potential of being a catalyst for change in her life. after a short pause, her demeanor shifted to something a bit more solemn. even if she wasn't going to say it outright, having someone to listen to their concerns and actually give them some solid feedback was something she very much appreciated. it's not like she was going to find that kind of a person to confide in back at her home or anywhere else. "and bottom line noted, by the way. it doesn't hurt to at-least hear him out. seriously, thank you for your advice. i'm glad you could give us some perspective on general alarie and what you make of all this." the woman smiled, glancing over to kai. it's difficult to try and shake the feeling that anything about his proposal isn't purely just peculiar but that's only because she would never have expected such an offer from someone like him. "you can bet we'd probably be running around like some chickens with their heads cut off for the next few days if we had to keep this to ourselves anyway." jokes aside, it was probably starting to get late and she doubted that mateo would want to stick around here for much longer. he was probably exhausted. hell, they'd caught him asleep on a couch not too long ago. in response to the older man's final inquiry, she pursed her lips in thought. "i mean, i feel like that whole general alarie business has been the only thing taking up space rent-free in my brain all day. i don't even have the capacity to think of anything else right now. and plus, i don't wanna keep you loitering around here for too long and i'm sure kai doesn't want to either," she glanced over to her boyfriend. "if we stick around any longer i feel like we might just head down the path of an entirely new tangent. and i guess that my brother was asking about me earlier, too. when i'd be back home or whatever. you know ishaan, always so attentive." mina rolled her eyes in good humor. "it was nice to see you though, mateo. i'm glad you're doing alright. and hey, tell darlene and the kids i said hi."
indentonce the pair bid farewell to kai's brother and seen themselves out from his office, the same quiet which hung heavy in the air when they first arrived inside the building seemed to promptly seep back in. mina didn't even need to check the time to know that most people would have packed up and left their offices for the night. standing back out in the hallway, you would almost never guess that mateo's office was cluttered with the detritus of his hard work. there had been files, reports, documents and manila folders everywhere the eye could see, a majority of his paperwork no doubt pertaining to his position within the shadow squad. now the only thing that stretched out before them was the long corridor leading to the entrance of the building. mina fell into step beside kai as they began to walk the length of the hallway, given that mateo's own office space was located at the far end of said corridor. unlike earlier, she noted that the majority of the windows in the hallway were now dimmed. mina almost didn't want to disturb the carefully established quietude of the building. "well? it was nice seeing mateo again," she prompted as they began to tread down the hall, walking in step beside kai. "i guess it's a good thing that we dropped that folder off for your brother after all. otherwise who knows whether or not alarie would have reached out so soon." it seemed that with the loukanis and parekh families' feud right now, along her and kai's current dissatisfaction in their careers, the timing for some change was just right. if general alarie's support could help them gain some sort of solid footing in their attempt to climb the military ladder then she definitely wasn't going to be turning him down. and while mina still wasn't one-hundred percent sold on what general alarie was offering them - it still seemed too good to be true - she knew that it would be wise to try and adopt a more open attitude when it came to their theoretical futures like mateo had so stressed. they probably shouldn't go around just expecting nothing to go their way or else that would be the kind of energy the universe would in all likelihood return back to them. so for once she decided to let herself have some small portion of hope, be it even a sliver. they deserved someone to be taking interest in them for once in their life. it seemed like everyone else has had their moment in the spotlight, so it was about time for them to begin making their own debut in their careers. when the pair finally approached the set of double doors at the front of the office building, mina pushed one open in order for them to pass through, making sure to hold it open for kai as they transitioned back into the gloom that awaited them outside.
indentoutside, the evening air seemed much more welcoming than the cold air on blast within the office building. mina's eyes skimmed the parking lot before them, the setting sun casting long shadows across the pavement, slanted rays of sunlight painting the horizon of the sky with a warm orange tinge. the city around them was still aglow with bright lights, and beyond the guard booths guarding the premises wafted in the sound of cars and the activity of those whom inhabited the capital. "its so dark out already," she mumbled to herself. a part of her was feeling some kind of denial in seeing the day come to a close. it was either that or the dread she was feeling in even entertaining the thought of heading back home. it always felt this way, like her time spent with kai went by incredibly fast, like she could blink and it would all be over. meanwhile any other day time moves by like a snail. if it weren't for the fact that they really shouldn't be keeping company with each-other - their parents would probably have their necks if they knew - then the two of them wouldn't have to be restricted in seeing one another as much. honestly though, not much has seemed to be able to stop kai and mina though. they've been finding ways to sneak out of their houses since they were teenagers so this wasn't much out of the ordinary to begin with. her eyes flickered up toward the dark of the sky as they began to leave the entranceway of the building, observing the blackness encasing their surroundings before turning her attention toward the man at her side. they were walking close enough to each-other that she could give him a slight nudge of her elbow in his ribs. "you know, its not too late for us to book it, catch a ride in my gunship and be rid of this city forever," a grin spread across her face. "think about it, we'll become for-hire mercenaries and have some mysterious aliases or something. then our parents would regret demeaning our supposedly low standings in the military. what do you say, is the life of a cutthroat to your calling?" obviously she wasn't being serious but the idea of separating from her family was something that was becoming an increasingly desirable notion to be able to obtain each and every day. she was chuckling now although her humor was rather quick to taper off. maybe she was being too dramatic about the events complicating their lives but she just wished things could for once be considered fair for her and kai. it almost felt like she was unable to recall the last time she could catch a break from anything, be it work or her family. everything was a whole lot simpler when she was with her boyfriend though. they seemed to understand each-other in a way that words could not capture; he's the only person she's ever shared that sort of a connection with, the only person she could share a space with that was wholly without judgement. before he could unlock his car and they could circle around to situate themselves back inside the vehicle, mina caught his hand. "wait," they were standing before the hood of his convertible, half shrouded in shadows. after a beat, the woman released his hand, closing the small gap of space between the two of them. she slipped her arms around his torso, slowly moving the palms of her hands up his back before they came to rest at his shoulder blades. without so much of a word she pressed the side of her face against his chest. if mina knew any better she'd say that her breathing slowed in his presence, took on a sort of calmness she didn't even know possible. there was something strangely intimate and comforting about embracing him in an emptied parking lot deep within the district. it was like the world around them stilled, if even just for a moment, and it was just the two of them. she wouldn't have chosen to pull away from him did she have a choice. in fact, she held him gently, like she didn't want to shatter what felt like a precious moment of security in being so close to him. she didn't even notice if a minute might have passed or even longer before she slightly tilted her head upward to meet his gaze. "i miss seeing you, you know. promise we try and do this more often? forget alarie and hayrmor and trips to your brothers office. we don't have to run errands all day the next time we see each-other- i just want to be with you." her words were still mostly comprehensible if only slightly muffled due to the fact her face was pressed against his upper body. the woman gave his frame a brief squeeze in her arms before reluctantly pulling her body away from his own, momentarily holding him at an arms length before her hands returned back to her sides once more. despite how busy their day had been, she was sure that this was going to be the highlight of her week regardless.
indentmina cast a glance around the rather desolate parking lot surrounding them. "also, it looks like i could use a ride home. you haven't seen any charming gentleman around here who could help me out, have you?" she smiled, a playful lilt evident in her tone.

[vaermina]

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


indenta soft laugh sounded from valentina when her cousin mentioned their mothers. "you're probably right. i mean, i can't say i'm surprised we ended up in this situation." julian had summed it up about perfectly. valentina's mother had a big personality, and she had never been one to shy away from conversation or confrontation. it had been easy for her to overshadow the opinions of other people with her fiery personality. valentina and her mother probably had such a strained relationship due to their equal vehemence. looking back at it all, valentina's father had been much more even-tempered and laidback than her mother. he was never overbearing or fault-finding towards her. her father had been a meditator of sorts between her and her mother, a man desperately clawing at the collars of two furious dogs to keep them from tearing each other apart. it was he who had tried to calm the vicious flames before they ended up sprouting into a firestorm. valentina could not imagine how that must have felt like for him. mothers and daughters were supposed to share an inherent tenderness that changed and defined the world around them. they were supposed to share a togetherness that never quite borders on codependency; a complex relationship that twists and weaves with strife, love, forgiveness and growth. valentina and her mother never had that. it had been constant bickering, constant snapping, constant arguments. valentina had never wanted to listen or conform to her mother's standards and her mother had refused to let her commit such defiance so easily. her father had yearned for an untroubled family but got the exact opposite instead. how must that feel like, to watch the people you love the most constantly quarreling? she often wondered what that must have been like for her father. he had been such a solid foundation for valentina to lean on but he must have listened to her mother's woe just as much as he did valentina's. he had been their rock, something that valentina never really realized until after he was gone. a father's love for their child extends beyond the cracks of childhood and seaps into the roots of adulthood. it's something one fails to register until they reach their fiftieth birthday or look upon the fresh face of their own newborn child. her father had been lighthearted, humorous and waggish but he had never downplayed her frustrations. he listened to her. he took the time to try and figure out why she snapped at her mother or refused to apologize after some petty argument. he always took everything with a grain of salt, and he never jumped to unfair conclusions. her mother used to claim that her father babied her and never had the guts to discipline her but that hadn't been the case. her father had his moments of firmness; he hadn't been the type of person to sugarcoat things. when valentina was in the wrong, he never hesitated to express that. nevertheless, his resolutions were never grueling. valentina was positive that she'd never meet anyone like that ever again but could a stranger truly live up to the memories and impact of one's parents and family? valentina doubted it. all she could do now was cherish the moments she had shared with her father and what he had taught her growing up. all those recollections of sitting around a neighborhood bonfire and singing some lousy wastelander tune, trapezing throughout the countryside while embarked in an educational hunting lesson, sitting excitedly in bed at night to await an upcoming bedtime story or wandering through the markets of arcadia in search of an interesting stall. god, she missed that. what was that, exactly? youth? childhood? innocence? how long do children of the wasteland remain innocent, anyway? she didn't know but it was an elusive concept.
indentvalentina stole a quick glance at her cousin. they've never talked about the day their parents' died. of course, they often reminisce and look back upon who their parents' were as people or the memories they had of them but they've never discussed their gruesome demises. why would they? they both witnessed it. they had to bury the bodies themselves, create tombstones and akir totems signifying the vast afterlife that awaited their parents' for their religious reverences. it was easier to avoid walking down that road again, no matter how good it may do them to unravel the trauma associated with their parents' deaths. android hysteria is only getting worse, too. their parents' were not the first wastelanders to succumb to the phenomenon and they certainly won't be the last. the conclave won't halt production on androids. why would they? they don't care if wastelanders are the ones suffering because of their creations. they don't care about 'tainted-bloods', the people who are doomed from birth because of the very world they're born into. why does it matter if a handful of them die because of the conclave's recklessness? valentina does not understand androids very well and she knew that a majority of the wasteland population doesn't either. there's just some things in this life that are best left alone and artificial intelligence is one of them. the conclave is so concerned with whether or not they're able to create something that they haven't paused to reflect on whether or not they should. androids don't have souls. they're intelligent, dangerous, resourceful and perspicacious but they're soulless. how could anyone create something like that? creatures who act and sometimes appear like humans but lack a fear of death and alleged deities? everyone's afraid of something in this world, a trait that made every human - no matter how different they may be - similar in the end. valentina doubted that androids are afraid of anything. hell, she couldn't even recall the last time she's seen an android. they used to be quite the common sight during her childhood. her father had often pointed them out whenever they would visit arcadia. the conclave used to use them as military recruiters of some sorts to help boost the military's ranks and convince wastelanders to join them. when tensions and paranoia begin to rise because of androids, though, most of said recruiters were recalled. people have become afraid of androids because they don't understand them. they're afraid of living amongst such creatures; they're afraid of becoming one of said creatures. there was something incredibly unnerving about the conclave playing god. no, valentina was not religious but that did not mean she approved of the conclave's scientific escapades. there are just some territories that are better left unexplored. when you grow too ambitious and successful, you become sloppy and arrogant and that's exactly what's going on with the conclave and their creations. they don't care about android hysteria and the many lives lost to it because it does not directly affect them. their people aren't dying from it so why should they give a damn? if anything, valentina was expecting a revival in the usage of androids within the next couple months. the conclave wouldn't waste millions of dollars and resources into creating the damn things just to shelf them for the next few decades. she knew that the conclave still used them in private because why the hell would they not use them in private? there are rumors of android usage in conclave prisons and jails where they're used for interrogation and other menacing means. and in return, the phenomenon of android hysteria was only going to grow worse. wastelanders are going to be terrorized by delusions of sinister creatures hiding in the shadows of city alleyways or hysterical thoughts that their neighbors are androids in disguise. crazed madmen are just going to continue opening fire into packed marketplaces or taking people hostage in clinics and temples and the conclave won't do anything about it. instead of trying to heal the problem at its source, they'll continue to kill hostage-men with snipers and arrest people who act erratically out of fear. hell, the only reason that androids are an uncommon sight nowadays is because the conclave does not want wastelanders to attack and injure their creations. valentina and julian will never get closure over the deaths of their parents' and that was just something they were going to have to accept. there was nothing they could do to prevent such a tragedy from befalling another family, either. trauma tends to be a collective experience out here in the wasteland. there's a seventy percent chance that a random stranger has experienced the same exact things you have, both good and bad.
indent"we did the right thing, julian. i mean, don't get me wrong, we've definitely gotten ourselves into a deep pile of crap by doing so but what else we were supposed to do? just stand there and ignore that dying man's wishes? i don't know anything about the rebellion or how they operate but there's something... different about this file." she reached into her pocket to briefly toy around with the tape. "i'm sure that the rebellion steals information from the conclave all the time but has anything they've ever stolen amounted to an entire city and its surrounding area going into an extensive lockdown just to look for the stolen stuff? i think there's something special about this tape. i don't know what but it's something the rebellion took a huge risk for." she stared into the fire. "either way, we can't go back to laurel oaks now. the entire settlement will be swarming with conclave goons by dawn. they're gonna have patrols, checkpoints and tolls throughout this entire area within the coming days. i don't know what's going to happen from here on out but we'll be okay. we always find a way to make things work out for us in the end. we just have to be light on our feet, keep a quick wit about us and gauge intentions carefully. those people in that caravan were kind enough to help us out earlier today but that doesn't mean every traveler will be as empathetic as them. hell, there's a lot of people out here who won't hesitate to sell us out for a good amount of caps. i can imagine the conclave will put a pretty price on our heads if they find out we took the file." the cousins could not afford to suffer from second thoughts right now. they have to stick to the plan. any doubts, hesitation or incertitude can cost them their lives, especially if they're going to have elite soldiers on their tails soon. and of course, valentina was terrified. how could she not be? she was frightened and she was unsure but she wasn't going to admit that to julian. she had to keep a levelled head. she could not fall victim to her fear. fear is an invitation for mistakes and mishaps and they can't afford that right now. admittedly, valentina telling julian they're going to be okay is a bit of a stretch given the circumstances but it was better to be confident in themselves than allow uncertainty to cloud their judgement.
indent"sure, i'll get the stuff." valentina stood up from her spot near the fire. she brushed the sand and twigs off of her pants before she trekked over to mars. it didn't take long for her to find the small leather pouch that julian had shoved most of their utensils in, along with a clean carving knife to cut up the cooked fox. she made sure to grab two glass plates while she was at it before heading back over to the fire. the flames continued to crackle and snap. "hmm, it smells good." they had used whatever spices were in their possession to help give it some flavor so hopefully it tasted as good as it smelled. granted, they did not have any particularly expensive spices or sauces in hand but it didn't matter. still, cooking this fox on a spit reminded her of when their parents' took her and julian to try some barbecue in arcadia when they were children. there had been some sort of festival going on in the city that was dedicated to honoring the akir, and a traveling griller had set up a stand within the marketplace to sell barbecue to the hungry townspeople. their parents' had bought them each a plate of sliced pork carved from a smoked pig the griller had cooking on a spit behind his stand. she remembered the man telling her father that it was coated with the finest cherry balsamic sauce, citrus glaze and brandy fig sauce, condiments that he had bought off of a conclave-associated seller. yeah, no kidding. you're not going to find peach rosemary sauce or sichuan peanut and roasted chili vinaigrette for cheap out here. wasteland vendors don't typically sell exotic or rarer types of sauces and spice out here and if they do, it's going to cost you an arm and a leg. the only reason valentina knew the names of such condiments was because her mother had loved to cook, and she had dreamt of being able to expand her cooking skills.
indentvalentina lowered everything that was in her arms onto the ground. turning to face the fire, she rubbed her hands on her pants before she moved closer to the flames. careful not to accidentally burn herself, she lifted the fox by its spit before moving it towards the plates she had set up on the ground. the fox was not huge so it's not like they needed some sort of massive surface to carve it on. she proceeded to remove the spit, wires and any other bindings from the fox before she grabbed a hold of the carving knife. carefully, valentina began to cut away the crisp skin from the fox. she made sure to place the crackling skin on the plates in-case julian wanted some. she knew that some hunters like to wait for a bit until they carve their meals but considering it was getting late and she and julian were pressed for time, she decided to go ahead with it. it was an easy enough process; slice down along the backbone, slice horizontally across the top of the ribs, cut away a hindleg or two, slice the meat across the grain to create a handful of neat, boneless portions. large animals tend to be more difficult and much more time-consuming to cook on a spit so they were lucky that the fox took little to no time preparation-wise. as soon as valentina finished carving off most of the fox's edible portions and divided them between the two plates, she picked up the spit again and placed it back over the fire. she had no idea what the hell they were going to do with the rest of the carcass. they couldn't leave it on the spit all night. the smell of roasted flesh and cooked bones could attract predators to their campsite. they've dealt with enough today, thank you very much. she supposed they could always dump it over the construction site's fencing before they decide to settle down for the night.
indentshe handed julian his plate, along with some utensils to boot. "here." she took a seat next to him with her own plate in hand. she crossed her legs in an attempt to make herself comfortable in the sand. behind them, she could hear the soft nickering of mars as well as the distant shrieks and howls of nocturnal creatures. their fire continued to climb into the night sky. she threw a glance at julian before taking a bite out of a chunk of stripped meat. "so..." valentina was not against enjoying moments of silence but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't unnerved by the quietness out here. it was so easy to get lost in the wariness that you're surrounded by the shadowy prowls of wasteland animals, lurking in the dark just beyond the light of their campfire. there was nothing but barren fields, abandoned farmland and uneven terrain for miles. how could anyone not be daunted by the mere thought of that? valentina did not want to just sit here and listen to the wasteland's nighttime cries. it was eerie, and she did not want to suffer from a restless sleep. "about the rebellion. what do you think their headquarters are like? i mean, they have to have a headquarters of sorts, right? i can imagine they need a central location to communicate from. we know that such a place exists up in the badlands. by the gods, i can't even begin to speculate what must be lurking in the badlands. hell, there could be animals we've never even discovered up there, you know? out of every region in the country, the conclave has yet to invade the badlands and dot it with a bunch of military forts and restricted encampments. there's gotta be a reason for that, right? they must deem it too dangerous to invade which means we're gonna have to be especially careful considering we lack everything that most conclave soldiers possess. i mean, they have all the technology, resources and numbers in the world so what could be stopping them from expanding?" the badlands is the most dangerous region of the united states. it's deemed less inhabitable than the odawa desert, which is saying a lot considering most of the ladder is just composed of sand dunes and scorched earth. and to be honest, valentina was unsure of the reason for that. she supposed that a lack of dense population and extensive technological and urban establishment before the great war only catalyzed the region into something of a barren, desolate graveyard after the nukes dropped. valentina could only imagine that an absence of human presence for so many years allowed the region's creatures to multiply in overwhelming numbers. none of them were being hunted, after all. her father once told her that the badlands is covered in not only vast canyons and high buttes but miles upon miles of endless grass plains. she wouldn't be surprised if the conclave had difficulty exploring the region due to the great plains. it's easy to get lost when there's no landmarks or any sort of definite monuments to help you decipher where the hell you're going. can the conclave even use their fancy technology out there? she doubted it. it was common knowledge that most conclave patrols and envoys vanish when they try and reach the heart of the badlands. valentina was almost positive that most of them end up lost and perish due to a lack of supplies or fall victim to ambushes from irradiated animals and sinister bandits. the conclave relies on their technology to conquer and control the united states. when you take that away from them? they have no idea how to survive out here. she was sure that they could use their aircrafts to try and slowly subjugate the land west of the mississippi river but what was the point if they were forced to use just one type of transportation? the badlands was just a monster in and of itself. the conclave has been searching for the rebellion's nerve center for decades within the region and with no apparent success, either. wherever the rebellion was hiding out, they've chosen a good spot for she was sure that it was no easy task trying to invade the federal government. valentina just hoped that she and julian would be able to find them, and that this elusive freedom trail would not accidentally land them into a pool of trouble.

[vaell]

ＪＵＬＩＡＮ　ＭＯＲＥＮＯ.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa wastelander / future rebel. | unaffiliated. | tagged: valentina.
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indentjulian briefly watched valentina from the corner of his eye before looking away. he pressed his lips together as she spoke. incandescent sparks from their campfire crackled in the night air, a sound that reminded him of times that were once much more stable, safe and peaceful than what could be said about their current predicament. he could almost feel himself relax against the textured sand beneath his back. it was so much easier to imagine that they were out here purely in the pursuit of hunting rather than possibly being hunted. the notion of the latter wasn't something that put him at any ease but at-least he had the comfort of memories - though long-past - just barely in reach. he could have sworn that it was just a few days ago that he and valentina were stepping down their old battered porch to head over to their neighbors for a late night get-together with the rest of the community living in their settlement. that evening the dark sky had been painted in shades of vermillion and apricot as the day transitioned between sunset and nighttime. it almost felt like for one night everything was alright. they could all collectively put their troubles and griefs aside, along with the gruelling tasks that demanded their attention throughout the daytime, and come together to simply exist. just being able to relax for but a mere moment and take in the company of the people around you, to create one single memory that stood out like a drop of color in the endless monotone of your week was a luxury they could often hardly afford. he remembered they brought along a rabbit that they'd tracked only a few days prior to contribute to the relatively limited selection of cuisine they could all share together over the warmth of a small campfire. maybe now he could begin to feel what was once a cherished recollection to him turning bittersweet the more he rolled it over in his head, dissected it. in all likelihood they would never see the faces that were once so familiar to them again. showing their faces back at laurel oaks was almost certainly a death-wish for them, but also potentially for the people they'd lived alongside for so long. that's the problem with memories when you have so few good ones to recall; they're vivid, often overwhelming at times and simultaneously so elusive that you can never quite fully grasp them again, those same feelings you once experienced. while valentina made him feel a bit more confident in their decision to take the tape, he remained laying there in an almost contemplative silence. either way you look at it, even if they had chosen not to aid the dying rebel, they would've have to grapple with the question of what on that tape costed the rebels their lives. regardless of what valentina or julian did, they would've had to face some sort of a shift in their lives. they must have been the first people who stumbled upon the dead bodies and because of that, their lives were going to be intertwined with whatever had happened that day and not by choice but by coincidence. julian was starting to think that if they'd happened to get preoccupied this morning with something that set them late in heading over to the marketplace of arcadia, they would never have to be dealing with this in the first place. considering when the lockdown went into effect while they were browsing the market, he could guess that conclave personnel had made contact with the dead rebels not long after they'd evacuated the area and in the process noted the missing file, since that is what they would have went to retrieve. otherwise, the conclave probably wouldn't give a damn about a few lost lives not of their own. but it was too late for any what-if's now. they had to worry about the present and keeping themselves alive and off the radar of any hostiles that may manifest throughout their journey.
indenthe appreciated his cousins attempt at transparency over their situation, though. for anyone in their shoes not to be a bit unsure about the choice they had to make was practically impossible to begin with. there was no clear cut way to reason what they should've done. they made their decision and they should at-least try and see it through at this point. it wasn't in either of their natures to simply watch as that mans life slipped away from him, desperate for them to acknowledge his final dying wishes. julian was positive that this file belonged in the hands of the rebellion more than it ever would in the conclaves. whatever knowledge or information was stored inside of it must be significant to the rebel cause somehow. he supposed that just about anything the rebellion could get their hands on from the conclave to begin with was important enough to try and keep out of the governments possession. he could bet that if news travelled back to the rebellion about the deaths of their colleagues by now, then so did the panicked nature of the conclave. hopefully that would be evidence enough that their mission wasn't necessarily coming to a halt just yet. the file was still floating about in the world - although to be fair, from the perspective of a rebel, he could only imagine just how bleak the situation was looking for them. not only did they lose multiple lives today, but the conclave was now noticeably agitated and for all they know the file could've been nabbed from the body of one of those decaying rebels by a vulture or a crow or any other vermin sniffing around. nobody knew that a pair of wastelanders were in possession of the file. he just figured the sooner they figured out how to navigate their journey to the freedom trail, the better. they needed to get this file into the hands of someone who knew just what to do with it and what it meant for the future of their society. if he and valentina could keep conclave interaction to a minimum all the while staying on top of their toes, then the two of them stood a fair chance. like his cousin so mentioned, within the next few days they could expect the presence of checkpoints, tolls and patrols encroaching on this entire area so long as the conclave doesn't get what they want. he wasn't even sure where their efforts would end if they didn't facilitate a timely retrieval of the file. every single outcome ends with heightened security and an increased military presence in prominent cities or towns, however. neither him or valentina could risk buckling under the pressure of their own fear when the possibility of slipping up and making a mistake was so dangerous. perhaps thats why he felt content with his cousins reply, even if some aspects of her reasoning were something of a stretch. they were going to be okay in the end, and they had to believe that. they had no other choice but to. there was no more room for panicking like he'd done back in arcadia, scrambling to find someone to help get them out of the mess they landed themselves in. that was something he was going to have to keep reminding himself. as much as julian is an adaptable individual who knows how to use his surroundings to his advantage, he does struggle with containing his fight or flight reaction, especially when considering that growing up in the waste has taught him to rely on his survival instincts more than anything else. its hard to stifle that kind of an ingrained reaction. back in the arcadia market earlier all he knew was that if he and his cousin didn't get the hell out of there, they'd be done for. he'd been willing to expose himself in the process and perhaps even risk it all because at-least then they stood a chance. if they didn't do anything at all they would've been caught with the file on them and subsequently questioned without a doubt considering that they did not escort themselves to one of the arcadia gateways. in his mind he knew that they had a slim chance of being able to hitch a ride with someone, but more often than not, you can find wastelander solidarity in situations like those, ones in which the conclave is exerting sudden unnecessary and unannounced authority. it would be naive to say you can trust every single person you encounter but sometimes you just have to believe in the fact that people are willing to help you, so long as it doesn't outright put their own necks at risk. obviously taking refuge in the caravan of those wastelanders was a selfish act as much as it was a desperate one, for if things had gone awry at the gates of arcadia he and valentina could have put more than just themselves at risk. but again, there it was, that chance. things worked out and he couldn't complain about it.
indentmoving forward it was more important than ever to maintain some degree of distrust among those who they would encounter. during the lockdown at arcadia, it wasn't common knowledge that someone or something had fled with conclave property. but surely after the events of today, coupled with the possibility that the conclave wasn't going to get their way in due time, the dynamic would shift and despite being unidentified as of right now, the conclave could declare a public search for what was missing. once that happens, people you perceive as friendly should be seen as very much the opposite so. it isn't a surprise so many people with good intentions turn on their fellow wastelanders in order to either put some caps in their hands or to gain some kind of self-perceived recognition from the conclave. many wastelanders' circumstances having growing up in a place so erratic and dangerous has shaped them and the majority of people wouldn't mind finding themselves a few caps richer if all they had to do was sell out two nobodies like julian and valentina. he didn't know what the conclave had up their sleeves, but one of he and valentina's main priorities right now needed to be keeping themselves from being identified to begin with. if they could at-least do that, they might manage to evade a lot of the issues they might face down the line. for how long they could keep themselves unknown to the conclave was a mystery. julian knew that nobody witnessed them back at the rebel massacre, not that he knew of, but his natural hesitancy when it came to the conclave and their technologies made him wary about their security even right now. the conclave is without a doubt long strides ahead of the wastelander population in terms of reproducing a pre-war standard of living and beyond, and julian himself was hardly familiarized with what most capital citizens would deem the most basic type of technology. how any of it worked and functioned was never a priority in his life, and trying to wrap your brain around something you barely ever interact with is difficult in and of itself. he didn't know the full extent as to how extensively powerful conclave technologies were but given the fact they've been able to construct androids and the like, he and his cousin needed more than just good fortune on their side. who knows what kind of specialized machinery the military has access to. he and valentina, they had their understanding of the land and how to navigate it and manipulate their situations to their benefit but they've also never actively been on the run from seasoned soldiers. they could make up for the disadvantages they had when it came to dealing with the conclave but this was foreign to julian. it felt like they were entering brand new territory and while he knew they had their wits and experiences to rely on, he just couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated for what might be coming their way. it was difficult to suppress his nervousness and he was sure that valentina probably caught onto that by now too. his whole life he has tried to keep out of trouble, from drawing unwanted attention to him or his family in the hopes they could continue living as they were, to be able to live without the fear of the conclave or other hostiles at their door. maybe the two of them could just never escape the inescapable. picking up the file from that dying rebel could just be the catalyst for their lives, but it also could be their very downfall. he knew this, and because of that, he knew just how carefully they needed to proceed and how important it would soon be to keep their tracks hidden. ultimately, he trusted valentina's judgement in what they've done so far and what they were going to do. he knew that they had their differences in how they approached situations sometimes but he had to remind himself that keeping an open and clear mind was going to be something vital to their survival as well. they weren't going to have time to bicker over much if they wanted to get out of this predicament alive, so setting things aside was going to be a necessity sometimes. he supposed that may end up being easier said than done.
indentwhen his cousin rose up from her spot near the fire, julian pushed himself back up onto his elbows with a grunt. it was probably a good idea to sit upright so that he wouldn't risk the chance of dozing off and waking up to an irritated valentina trying to remind him that he was the one who initially brought up the whole night shift plan. too bad he was just getting comfortable as well. he eased himself forward until he was facing the fire, tucking his arms in against his body. so preoccupied by his own thoughts he nearly forgot about the lingering chill that loomed in the air every now and then whenever a slight breeze would roll in their way. julian turned his head to look over to mars, where his cousin was now retrieving the utensils they needed in order to carve the fox and eat it. forget letting the meat rest and waiting to carve the creature; he was nearly about to go fetch that ant and start eating it raw at this point. everything felt so inexplicably harrowing right now, the hunger gnawing at his stomach, the chill that kept running up his spine from the cold, the fatigue wearing at his very bones. at this point remaining conscious was becoming a troublesome task. the invitation to lay his head back down against the cool sand was almost too tempting, but his body wasn't going to let him try and sleep without eating, not while he was watching the fox on the spit, the aroma of seasoned meat becoming more obvious the more he thought about his growing hunger. julian was certainly depleted of most of his energy at this point and he could guess that valentina didn't feel too much different than he did. there was no way to tell how long they've been awake today nor how long its been since they've last ate. in the heat of the moment, its easy to put your needs on the back-burner. on the other hand however, its much harder to do so when you have nothing else to think about. the pleasant sensation of heat emanating from the fire didn't do much to help him focus on staying awake, either. the sensation almost lulled him back into a half-awake state. it was only when he heard valentina's comment that he tried to pull himself out from under the blanket of weariness that seemed to lay over his shoulders. he ran a hand across his temple and back through his hair, though his gaze remained upon the cooking meat she referred to. "yeah," he mumbled. it smelled so good that he felt like this was going to be like dining on some sort of a delicacy shipped right out of a restaurant nestled in the capital. earlier when he prepared the fox before setting it on the spit, its not like he'd used any fancy spices or anything. in fact, a lot of it was as basic as local resources come. its not everyday that you come across a seasoning that differs from your regular old selection on hand. sure, once you've tried the more expensive type of condiments common to conclave dishes, returning back to plain old sauces or spices makes them pale in comparison. he could actually count the number of times he'd consumed things that were beyond the realm of what wastelanders are accustomed to on one of his hands. on the rare occasion of festivals or celebrations you might just find yourself trying some exotic spice you don't even know the name of. that was typically the case for valentina or julian's expansion of their palettes. although they typically rely on spice caravans to obtain their own seasonings for their foods, self-harvesting was something he wished they could indulge in more often. considering the barrenness of the land around them, its more difficult to go out with the intents of gathering your own roots or leaves or plants than it is to save up a few caps for the next time the caravan was in arcadia. it was something left behind of his mother, this exploration into local flora. throughout her life she possessed a unique relationship with the world. through the akir she sought guidance and learnt of mercy and justice and compassion and religion was very much a driving force in her understanding of the happenings around her. he always found a great strength in the woman, that growing up in the waste had not filed her down to adopting a one-track mind, only thinking of survival and death and hardship. to be able to retain your own interests and have a set of hobbies and passions distinct to your character? he once thought his mother as far too involved in the spiritual realm, even at times absent-minded or downright ruminative. she always seemed like she was in another sort of world than the one he lived in, because how could she still be the person she was without everything tearing her apart? now he understands that in and of itself is true endurance and survival. in a world this cruel its hard to be good. its so much easier to just let yourself succumb to whatever is eating you alive. he only wished that he could have reflected on these things when she was still alive. since her death he's had enough time to reconstruct the faces of her and his father over and over again and the small, insignificant little things they used to do all the time. with absence he has come to understand his mother more. there was always going to be regret in julian for what he did and did not do back when his parents were alive. she used to have this necklace, an amulet of sorts - in fact, he was sure they'd probably fished it out of their floorboards along with their other trinkets when they were packing everything up - one that had the symbol of argus og etched into its surface. she wore it in the belief that it protected her, the wearer, from the evils of the world. he wanted to keep it on his person as a memory of her but for some reason it was just too hard to face, because what the hell was all of this for if she was dead anyway? at this point, julian didn't know if he was placing his strife with the akir themselves or with his mother. it all just felt like one sick, twisted joke at the end of the day.
indentbringing his attention back to what his cousin was doing, he observed her as she removed the bindings from the fox with the skillful ease only a hunter could possibly possess. the fox nearly looked as delicious as it smelled, the meat now thoroughly cooked by the heat of their fire. the one good thing about their catch today was the fact that they didn't have to wait an obscene amount of time just for the creature to cook; if they'd been dealing with a larger animal, things would be moving a lot slower right now. when his cousin began to slice away the crisp skin from the fox, julian couldn't help but reach his hand over to snatch up one of the pieces she was now leaving on a plate. he wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity of getting a taste for the fox already even if that risked his hand getting swatted away by his cousin. beginning to munch on the skin was like a prelude to what was going to come. don't get him wrong, it was nothing satiating, but gods, when it touched his tongue he almost felt ecstatic. the flavor of the spices that soaked into the tender meat of the fox lingered on the crispy exterior, and it was no surprise his salivary glands nearly sprung to action in response. he practically inhaled the piece of skin and it was gone in an instant. "mm..man, this is good." he could be speaking purely from a place of hunger - at things point most things half-edible were becoming appealing to him - but to be fair, they also did a pretty damn good job of preparing the fox, so he was going to give them both some credit this time. carving the rest of the fox up wasn't going to pose to be a tedious task for valentina either; she's handled so many different diverse numbers of animals that she could make quick work of a small fox. once she separated the edible portions from the creature, she divided them between the two plates still available and returned the spit back to its place over the fire. he figured they'd be able to dispose of the carcass someplace else in order to keep the smell of freshly roasted fox from entering the nostrils of some hungry predators. one of the many things he did not want to wake up to also happened to be a large, menacing creature who found its way over to valentina and julian's campsite over the smell of cooked fox. when his cousin returned, he eagerly took the plate and utensils from her. "thanks," he set the plate of food down on his lap, wasting no time in picking up the utensils at hand. julian stabbed a chunk of the still warm meat with a fork before taking a bite of it. he wasn't surprised that it tasted so good. in all likelihood, he was going to have wolfed down his portion within the next fifteen minutes. probably not the healthiest thing to do on an empty stomach, but he couldn't care less right now. he almost didn't even care about anything else right now but consuming his food, because now that he had a taste, it was like an overwhelming kind of satisfaction. you get used to staving off your hunger but considering the large gap of time that passed since earlier this morning? there was almost no way around feeling hungry. it didn't even matter that fox meat tended to be chewy and tough in nature no matter which way you cooked it. it wasn't much of a problem for him right now. being very much invested in the moment and the sensation of all the different tastes dancing across his tongue, he barely noticed that valentina was trying to disturb the silence amidst them. from the corner of his eye he caught her glance mid-bite into another chunk of meat, unperturbed. "what?" he urged her. if julian hadn't been so immersed in the moment, he probably would've made an attempt to break the unnerving silence that otherwise filled the air too. right now, though? that was a problem future julian could deal with. he chewed his food as he listened to valentina go on. "the rebellion's headquarters..hmm, let me think. its probably filled with conclave junk that they raided and refurbished or something. they have to have some form of communication systems or networking to be able to actually function as a group, right? honestly i wouldn't even be surprised if they had some conclave-tier technicians or something, people who know what they're doing, reusing and reinventing technologies that they can claim as their own. don't know what the hell it could possibly look like on the outside, though. if they've gone undetected this long there's gotta be some kind of a catch. it's hidden out of conclave sight..nobody has ever leaked their whereabouts..erm, this is honestly starting to look a lot more grim now that we're discussing this." if the conclave couldn't uncover the rebellion's headquarters, how were a pair of random wastelanders going to? maybe their knack for recognizing discreet landmarks could get them somewhere, aid them in their journey. they possess knowledge that those affiliated with the conclave do not, even despite the fact the badlands was a whole other beast in and of itself.
indentthe mere thought of what horrors could be found lurking around the badlands was enough to make him shift uncomfortably where he sat, now suspiciously sending a glance out to the dark surrounding them. "come on val, cut it out," he groaned. "i'd rather not be talking about how downright dangerous and sketchy it is out there. hell, right now our current situation is bad enough, and we're gonna have to actually face who knows what in the badlands." to be fair though, it was a discussion worth having. not only should they both be on the same page of what they're going to be up against but they should also be considering how to actually keep their skin on their backs in the process. "yeah i mean, at-least the conclave presence is minimal up there. somehow that seems like both a bad thing and a good thing for us, but you know. i'm starting to think that maybe we won't be the only ones nervous about trekking through there though. can you just imagine some pair of elite soldiers with their tails tucked between their legs because they ran into some grisly beast? hell if we're lucky, maybe they'll get abducted by some cannibal cult instead of us. i highly doubt any soldier actually gets formally educated into recognizing the territorial signs of any malicious group or the evidence of a big old lycan cooped up in some nearby den. that, and what are the odds we are dealing with people who've been involved out in the badlands to begin with? true, we don't have all that fancy crap that conclave soldiers have but i think its fair to say we can beat them in that area of expertise. we can at-least keep our noses out of trouble by avoiding the signs early on, right? he popped another piece of the fox meat into his mouth. their experience evened the playing ground a little bit, even despite it all. julian didn't even want to know the answer as to why the conclave halted their expansion at the badlands though. even considering how wild and untameable such an area may be, it was just not in the nature of the conclave to back down so easily. he supposed that maybe they'd find out first-hand what made the badlands so menacing. in that respect, they wouldn't be the only ones, though. he wasn't even sure if conclave technology was even reliable out in the heart of the badlands to begin with. while he and valentina weren't necessarily possessing the greatest of advantages over their possible pursuers, it was better than feeling like they stood absolutely no chance against them. it didn't take away the fear he felt surrounding the mere notion of heading headfirst into the badlands though, where various different mutations of creatures must have expanded over the years as a result of a lack of human inhabitance in the region and where surely the sheer amount of a single species probably simultaneously propagated over time too. no, there was almost nothing they could take comfort in besides the fact that the conclave was at an inherent disadvantage when it came to their usual navigating techniques. from what he's heard from his family, bits and pieces of conversation every now and then, the badlands is home to canyons and great stretches of grass plains. the landscape itself was probably a factor in why the conclave has faced issues in exploring the region to begin with. julian pierced one of the remaining pieces of meat he still had on his plate before bringing it to his mouth.
indentthey had a lot to contemplate right now, and while looking into the future was important, so would be constructing the next steps they would have to take in their journey. he could recall back to when he and his cousin were examining the northwestern section of their map. there were a few settlements and towns over in that area, and they'd been able to narrow their trek down to the towns specifically. considering that the freedmen were rumored to be circulating about it would only make sense they stopped at either captiva, saint george or blountstown. miramar and bristol, two nearby settlements, would be their last resorts if they'd somehow missed the mark though. after a moment of staring into the fire, he glanced over to valentina again. "so, how are you feeling about finding the freedmen? you think we should still try and head over to the closest saloon to try and catch wind of them? we shouldn't have much trouble trying to locate them, but i guess we'd have a better chance if we tried a bartender." the services of the freedmen are requested so extensively that they shouldn't find themselves being too hung up on figuring out how to seek them out. visiting a saloon would be smart though considering the amount of traveler influx at such an establishment. he could only hope that the rumors that the freedmen truly assisted people in finding the freedom trail and even offered aid to the rebellion's cause was true. for once let the alleged accusations of the conclave be something that may actually help them in their journey. otherwise, they wouldn't have much of a starting point. it's hard to look for something when you don't even know where to begin in the slightest. mainly, the part he was conflicted about was just how they could introduce the idea of the freedom trail into the conversation. isn't it kind of a taboo to some degree? maybe in the moment it'd feel a whole lot less daunting to inquire about it but right now everything seemed like some grand task that they would have to take on. "do you think things will even work out with them? the freedmen? it doesn't seem like just anyone would hand out free knowledge about the freedom trail to begin with. we're probably going to have to earn the information in some way, or at-least exchange something in return for it. nothing ever comes for free, does it?" it was an odd concept, trading in material goods for spoken knowledge but he was just going to have to put that aside. right now, they could use any scraps of information they could get. hell, maybe they could lend their assistance to the freedmen somehow else. they were hunters after all, and they could hold their own. all he knew was that things don't just come all bundled up in a nice little red bow for you in this life. he wouldn't blame the freedmen if they were hesitant in giving out that information anyway. to be fair though, you have to think of all the morons who probably tried to track the freedom trail just based off whatever piece of information people like the freedmen may have been able to provide. there's not many people who have the wit to decipher the rest of the journey let alone make it a quarter through the trek. he wasn't opposed to lending a hand to the freedmen though or taking up any bargain they may try and propose to them. he and valentina needed someplace to start and they weren't going to get anywhere other than landing themselves a nice prison or death sentence so long as they just shuffled around on their feet doing nothing at all. whenever julian hadn't been speaking, he was either eating and listening to valentina or contemplating just how they were going to survive this, so it wasn't really shocking when he looked down to notice a now empty plate, the juices from the meat the only evidence there had once been any food there to begin with. he probably would've been irritated that he ate everything so fast was he not feeling a lot more satisfied than he was just earlier in the hour, though.
indentsetting down his plate beside him on top of the grainy sand, he slowly eased himself back up and onto his feet. julian had been sitting down and lounging around for so long now that he probably could've teetered off balance if he wasn't focused, but luckily he spared himself the humiliation and managed to keep upright. with a hand, he dusted his back off to rid any stray twigs or grains of sand that lingered on his jacket. once valentina finished her share of the fox, it was probably in their best interests to begin winding down for the evening and figuring out how they were going to schedule their shifts throughout the night. as tired as they were from today, they needed to be recharged in time for tomorrow so that they could stay on top of their game. it would be a nightmare to try and stay awake the next day if they didn't get some rest. julian quickly retrieved their lantern from where they'd last left it before returning back over to where he once sat in front of the fire. "i might as well go toss the carcass right now. i don't wanna forget about it and then have a ton of predators at our doorstep in the middle of the night," he reached down in order to pick up what was left of the dead body of the fox, all the edible portions and meat having been trimmed off of it already. "by the way, i'm thinking that for tonight we try and divide our sleep into like, two to three hour increments, unless you have any opposition to that. i guess it sounds kind of hellish but i'm open to other plans if you have any. i'm guessing neither of us could stay up for another four hours right now but on the other hand, less than two hours of sleep at a time would be horrendous too." julian took a step around their campfire, the sound of their lantern creaking amidst the otherwise quiet night air. "as for whose taking that first shift.." he was tempted to just call dibs on it right away and scurry off, but he might as well see how valentina herself was feeling. it would make more sense that whichever of them felt more game to staying awake would volunteer, after all. it would be bad if either of them happened to fall asleep at the same time as the person designated to sleep at that moment. "..well, i dunno i guess. that's up to you. how do you feel? i don't mind staying up for another two or so hours now that i ate. i feel a bit better. but if you're gonna offer, i'm not about to say no to some sleep either. either way, all i'm saying is, once i come back you better not have fallen asleep." he snorted. they were on the outskirts of the abandoned construction site right now but he wasn't about to just toss the carcass over the fencing right beside their own campsite. he would make sure to head out a little bit before properly ridding of it, just for safe measure. at-least they already had their bedrolls set up since they first arrived at the boulder. he shifted his gaze toward their fire. it was definitely not as strong as it was earlier in the night, but that was a given considering the fact there was no wood around here. their fire needed constant attention and kindling to actually be able to sustain itself and not die out. "i guess we'll have a few tasks to keep ourselves preoccupied with during the night. don't forget we have to turn that fox pelt every now. anyway, i'll be back in a second. if you suddenly see the lantern extinguish..well, it was nice knowing you. at-least bury me somewhere that's not crawling with beasts."

[vaermina]

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


indent"i bet. i appreciate the two of you thinking i'm wise enough to give you advice," kai's brother joked. "for real, though, i'm glad i could be of some help to you guys. it never hurts to ask for the opinions or guidance of others, especially when it comes to trying to navigate a career in this s- erm, environment." mateo cleared his throat before he smiled, if not somewhat gingerly. "anyway, yeah, it'd probably be best if we called it a night. i always enjoy talking to you two but i think i might start having a conversation with the wall or prudence over there if i have to read through one more email. but it was good to see you too, mina. it's been too long since we last talked and i hope alarie's offer works out. you have a lot of potential, and i know you're gonna do great things in this world. both of you are," he added, his attention shifting to kai. he laughed when something of a self-conscious huff escaped the younger man. "oh i'm sorry, i didn't realize i was embarrassing you. it must be humiliating to have people point out your capability, huh?"
indent"it's not that. i do-"
indent"i'm just messing with you, kai," his brother laughed, his tone lighthearted. mateo stepped towards him, his arms reaching out to pull kai into a gentle embrace. "i was serious about alarie's offer, though. i hope that it goes the way you want it to go. it would be a nice change of scenery, and it'll help you get some experience under your belt for further career advancement." despite kai's aversion to sudden contact, there was something comforting about being so close to mateo. he wasn't sure if it was the familiar scent of his cologne or the safety net kai felt when he was with his elder brother but the other man radiated stability. when kai shifted through the memories of his unstable childhood, mateo stood in place of what was supposed to be their parents. mateo's decision to raise his brothers was an unselfish and altruistic one but incredibly inequitable, as well. it was nearly impossible for kai to not feel some level of guilt over it. no child should have to experience the cruel incapability of their parents in such a way. mateo damaged a good chunk of his inner child by taking on the responsibilities of raising three younger siblings at such a young age, and kai did not need to grill his brother to understand that. it did him no good to feel remorse over something that was not his fault but kai could not imagine what it must feel like to be in that situation. an unloved kid raising his equally spurned siblings. despite the circumstances, though, kai was grateful for what mateo has done for him. he was grateful that he even had mateo in his life. he tried to express that to the best of his abilities although kai has never been proficient at showing such demonstrative emotions. hell, he could barely control his own emotions, nevertheless display them in a healthy and coherent manner.
indent"thanks, mateo. i appreciate that. i hope it works out, too. i mean, could you imagine mina and i fighting against a bunch of deranged heretics garbed in stolen conclave armor?" he joked, although he sounded a bit more unsettled than he would have liked to. despite mateo's insightful input, it was difficult for kai to shake off that general feeling of unease. why did he feel this way? his brother's counseling was sagacious and shrewd but kai just found it difficult to believe anyone of higher standing would want to help people like him and mina. he's never met anyone like general alarie before. he's encountered plenty of haughty and coldly disparaging superiors like captain hayrmor and he's met plenty of supervisors who choose to conform to impassive dispositions and refuse to create genuine, warm bonds with their subordinates. there are not a lot of men and women out there like general alarie who care enough to break the cycle of falling into a hypercritical, high-handed and supercilious mindset once you reach a certain ranking in the military. it's hard to look at authenticity in a positive light when you're so used to apathy or hardheartedness from your superiors. kai was trying not to be skeptical about it but it was hard. he supposed there are benefits of showing kindness towards your subordinates. it's easier to interact with them and gain their trust and respect if you're not pushing them around so why do so many high-ranking officials act the way they do?
indent"well, i'm not sure about all of that," mateo chuckled, releasing his grip on kai. "either way, i'll see you later, yeah? i love you and text me when you get home. don't leave here driving like a jackass, okay? traffic can be terrible at this hour."
indentthe hallway of the sullen building remained unperturbed as the couple left mateo's office. a majority of the hallway's windows were now dimmed, blinds closed and doors locked to indicate their dwellers have returned home for the evening. the brazen overhead fluorescent lighting flickered and buzzed, a sign that the bulbs within needed to be replaced. kai fell into place besides mina as they headed towards the exit, the sounds of their soles against the worn tile underfoot prominent to the ears. "yeah, we really did luck out with that." kai's doubts aside, perhaps alarie's offer and help is just what they need to help progress their careers. it was easy to brood and doubt but what about the positivity of the situation? kai and mina could benefit greatly from being stationed out west, no matter how miniscule their part may be in taking down the odawa syndicate. they'd be apart of something great, something that would help further cement the conclave's goals to reestablish democracy and order across a divided united states. hell, they need to eradicate groups like the odawa syndicate. they've tried to bargain and barter with the extremists but they refuse to submit and comply with the law. nobody is above jurisprudence, and kai wanted to help get that message across. how can they ever hope to create a peaceful and blossoming society if people like the odawa syndicate seek to eliminate the resources and technology that is so dire in making that dream come true? the odawa syndicate cannot murder military and government personnel and steal federal property all because of their heretical and overzealous 'beliefs'. it made them no better than the average bandit gang. bandits hoards like wulfgang can proclaim they do what they do in order to appease their sinister gods but does that make their actions morally and legally right? of course not. if groups like the odawa syndicate and wulfgang won't conform and obey the conclave's stipulations and system of law peacefully, they needed to be put down and that's just how it is. they cannot hope to create an ideal way of life in this post-war hellhole if those groups continue to wreck havoc and chaos across the country. people need to learn that they cannot just break the law and act as delinquents of society because they don't like authority. human beings need order. the human race needed a structured way of life or else bedlam and turmoil break loose. kai wanted to be apart of something big; he wanted to help civilize this country. kai was no different than the average capital-born citizen. he saw the potential for them all to live great lives molded after the post-war lifestyle but bigger and better. they could utilize and build upon prime technology and create a perfect utopia that is bigger and better than anything post-war society dreamed about. a majority of the country's citizens do not have to live in the dirt and amongst ruined houses while fighting and hunting beasts of the wasteland in order to survive. the torn and ruined clothing, the sweltering shacks, the hunting and gathering lifestyles, the basic economy that was based on trading and creating, the lack of a technological presence that's trapped a majority of the united states population in a primeval way of life. wastelanders do not experience what capital-born citizens experience, and that's the problem here. they could never hope to be united if wastelanders continue to reject modernism, and that unity would never be possible if groups like the odawa syndicate continue to thrive and grow.
indentthe couple was greeted by the warm touch of the evening's humidity once they left the office building. the parking lot appeared relatively desolate; whatever cars had been sitting in the lot upon their arrival were now gone. the parking lot's light poles flickered and buzzed, drawing the attention of moths and other addled insects. the surface of kai's car shone like glowing rubies underneath the unstable lighting as the couple approached it. he glanced at his girlfriend when he felt the slight nudge of her elbow in his ribs. he grinned at her joke. "us becoming mercenaries? can you imagine? in my head i envision us as being this mysterious, dark and incomprehensible couple known for their battle prowess and impeccable kill streaks but knowing our luck, nobody would hire us in the first place. we're not wanted by our parents and we're not wanted by wasteland society... yeah, seems about right." obviously, they were just joking around but there was something oddly alluring about escaping the confines of their life in the capital city and running off into the wild. hell, just getting away from their families in general would be enough for him.
indentwait.
indentkai paused when mina grabbed a hold of his hand. he stopped before he could unlock his car. his girlfriend was quick to close the small gap of space between them, her arms moving to slip around his torso so her hands could move up the length of his back. she pressed the side of her face against his chest. her affection was unexpected but not necessarily precipitous. after a few seconds, kai responded by snaking his arms around her slender frame and lightly leaning the side of his face against her head. the two of them stood there in silence, the sound of nighttime insects and the distant beeping of nighttime traffic filling the air. it wasn't until she looked up to meet his gaze did she speak. he sighed, his tone coming out surprisingly somber despite having acted relatively easygoing all day. "i promise. i miss seeing you, too. it's such bullcrap that we have to sneak around like this because of everything that went down between our families. it's not fair but i guess that just comes with the package of being us." it's no secret that conclave upper society is a harsh backlog of petty family rivalries, meaningless gossip and ugly social struggles. families constantly crawl over one another in a pointless race to reach the top of the civic hierarchy. they fight for promotions, awards, recognition and power in their respective ranks and they don't care how low they must stoop in order to achieve such influence. they want wealth, competency and authority and such values do not come to you unless you possess a unique standing that has been chiseled and shaped by you and you only. kai and mina's relationship should not have to suffer because of what happened between their families. honestly, kai would not be surprised if mina's parents had felt dubious towards him even before their families began feuding. kai was overshadowed by three older brothers who were experiencing progressive and rewarding careers in the military, federal government and entertainment industry. he was trying to garner some distinction for himself in a military branch that is notorious for not only harboring small numbers but attracting harsh religious and moral criticism. at the moment, kai had nothing going for him. why the hell would mina's parents approve of someone like him? to be fair, kai had never attempted to bond with her parents but such a decision was indirectly influenced by his own family trauma. as a child, he remembered being distinctly wary and leery of being around her parents because it had been difficult for him to not somewhat relate them to his own. their mothers were practically the same in terms of personality; vicious, hateful, picky and nasty women who had nothing better to do than pick on those around them. both of their fathers possessed reserved and somewhat brooding mannerisms, a similarity that immediately made kai tentative to be near mina's father as a child. he remembered being vigilant for any danger or harm that might come his way, his eyes always seeking warning signs that something disastrous were to come. he had been unable to look mina's father in the eyes; kai remembered looking at his shoes or at the floor when he talked to the older man. he had been frightened of saying the wrong thing and triggering a negative reaction. of course, it didn't take long for kai to realize that apart from possessing the same detached persona, adhar and eugene were not really alike at all but kai did not think that anyone could compare to his father. he's never met anyone who harbored such an angry and deteriorating state of mind hidden behind a veil of apathy and indifference. he was leaderly and dominant yet so unpardonable and merciless. the iniquitous actions and malicious words of kai's own mother did little to surpass what his father was capable of. his father did not have to bully and provoke people to establish dominance; his mere presence and unspeakable actions out in the wasteland did enough to solidify his haunting reputation.
indentperhaps that's what drove kai's mother insane. despite her hefty position in the government, nobody viewed her the same way they did her husband but who would? true, his mother was dangerous but not in the way she wanted to be. people viewed his parents differently because his father did not need to stoop to petty gossip and social qualms to create carnage. his violence was bruises and spilt blood, not rumors and hearsay. and if anything, the feud between their parents' had been coming for a long time. his mother has been pushing her luck for quite some time now. between her taking secret joy in the struggles that have befallen mina's mother in terms of her directorial position and his mother showing a bit too much sincerity towards mina's father - something that she often did with other men in an attempt to fulfill the holes of her own empty and loveless marriage - everything had been bound to go downhill very fast. one could argue that his mother could have been leading the degradation but that was just classical behavior from her. she pushed other people's boundaries, did things to purposely create enmity. if it wasn't her brewing the pot, it was her invading men's comfort zones in order to receive the affection or attention her husband neglected from her. of course, she never got it because who the hell in their right mind would respond to the advances of a woman married to someone like his father? she had no respect for not only herself but other people. she'll gladly make passes at married men without caring how they or their spouses might feel. when kai was a child, he remembered her always jumping at the opportunity to take him to mina's house - something that mateo was usually responsible for - and he never understood why until years later when he realized that every time she brought him over, it was usually because mina's father was home and her mother wasn't. it had always been when kai's own father was out of town, too, usually up in the northern commonwealth. obviously, nothing ever happened but it made his skin crawl to think about how his mother was so desperate for genuine love from a man that she would cross obvious boundaries to try and achieve it. that desperation almost reminded kai of himself, something he absolutely hated.
indenthe sighed. "i just wish things were different. that our parents' weren't so..." petty? selfish? small-minded? that was too much to ask of them. their parents' would never end their feud, be it because of their pride or inflated self-images. if anything, kai imagined it was their mothers' fueling this fire more than anybody else. kai's own father - while certainly insulted at having one of his own kin passed up on a promotion - seemed less aggrieved about the social reckoning that came from this conflict. he knew his father did not think that mateo or ishaan had the diabolical will to last more than a few years out in the wasteland and from what kai has overheard of his father's hushed office conversations, he seemed more than convinced that mateo and ishaan will perish from the horrors of this world and someone much more callous and capable will take their places. his mother, on the other end, did not handle such 'disrespect' lightly and has somehow become much more intolerable following the mateo and ishaan situation. and honestly, his mother has never been a fair player to begin with. she was a harsh and critical woman, one who loves to participate in gossip and one who loves to witness the struggles of others. she was mean, spiteful, loud and obnoxious. she wanted everyone's attention, and she often picked fights and started arguments just to receive such attention. his mother wanted to be the most beautiful, the most intelligent and the most confided figure in everyone's lives. she hated feeling like she wasn't good enough or she was in second place. she wanted to be the best at everything, which led her to accumulate jealousy and resentment as easily as a pot of moon water. she was never at peace with her surroundings, and kai was not sure why that was. he knew that his mother was as much a victim as he when it came to the grueling demands of conclave society and their personal household woes but it was difficult to view her as such when she acted the way she did. she was two-faced, argumentative and perfidious and kai knew she would never come down from her high horse and see how unfair this whole feud was between the loukanis and parekh families. to try and make peace with mina's parents would be like submission in her eyes, and his mother refused to put herself in such a position. she's too prideful to admit when she's taken something too far. truly, it was bizarre to kai how quickly his mother turned on other people. she was a backstabber and she had no qualms using her political power to make the lives of other people hell. he knew his mother would not see things the way kai does and he doubted mina's parents would, either. why would anyone listen to them? that's exactly why they had to stick with each other. they can't depend on a lot of people. he smiled slightly when his girlfriend stepped away from him. "'fraid not. well, that depends. you have i-need-a-ride-home gas money?" he joked. "heh, i'm only kidding. come on, let's get you home."

indentthe faded streetlamps that dotted the sidewalks along the outskirts of mina's home flickered and winked as kai's car came to a stop. he parked on the corner of her street, right along the edge of the sloping curb. it was the same spot he had parked when he came to pick her up earlier. he turned off the ignition to avoid drawing attention to his car's blinding headlights. the parekh residence is not the only house on this street but it was difficult to view the block's long line of extravagant homes when they were hidden from view by tall iron fencing and gnarled hedges. and apart from a passing car or two, mina's street was relatively quiet. the drive back to her house had been about the same. they hadn't spoke much but it had been a peaceful silence, one that was brought on naturally and not by any undue awkwardness or discomfort. with the engine now turned off, kai turned in his seat to face her, his face skewed by shadows. "you know, suspicions aside, i really do hope that alarie's offer works out," he said quietly. "we need a change of scenery. well, a change of everything, really. everything that's been happening lately - it's all just so stupid." he picked at the center console. it didn't matter how many times they established it - the situation going on between their families was unfair. it was impossible not to feel the effects of it, and any felt disturbances going on in their relationship was never a good thing for kai. he's always been sensitive to change. he was a thin-skinned person, one who found it difficult to ignore his insecurities and self-doubts. he was hyperaware of anything and everything that could possibly affect he and mina's relationship. in reality, kai supposed he was just scared of being left behind. he was wary of being abandoned. he remembered when he and mina first entered the military that he had been nervous of her leaving him behind; he had been wary that she would achieve success like ishaan's and enter an entirely new threshold without him. granted, kai does want her to succeed but it was difficult for him to rationalize between his own selfishness versus his wishes for his loved ones to triumph in life. he liked to think that he wouldn't hold grudges against his loved ones for succeeding as he fails but he wasn't sure. he guessed he was just terrified of being forgotten. hell, he remembered being anxious when his eldest brother mateo married, moved out and started his own family. he had been spiteful towards his wife and children because he had been afraid of his brother abandoning him, just like their parents had done. his brother had people in his life who demanded his attention more and kai hadn't liked that but kai has never been good at sharing people to begin with. his relationships with other people were usually intense and strong, and he had a bad habit of idealizing people and then despising them the next. like his mother, he started arguments or created tension just to assure himself that the other person wasn't going to leave him, even if it did have the opposite effect. there was a reason that kai struggled to make friends throughout his childhood. he was volatile, emotional and envious. he couldn't keep track of his own emotions at times. one moment he was riding through a wave of warm stability and the next, he was attacked by a sudden onslaught of random irritation. and at times, he often felt bad for the crap he put other people through. he just didn't want to be alone. he did not want to be forgotten while everyone else achieves their potential. it's so easy for people to toss you aside and ignore your existence, kin or not. his desires to be seen and upheld is probably why he tried to connect with others so often, or went out of his way to keep those he cared about close. at times, it was easy to look back at his behavior and laugh about it - such as his infamous airship knowledge phase - but at the time, he had only been trying to consume as much aviation content as he could in order to have something in 'common' with mina. teenage kai had been so certain that they would grow apart if they did not have common interests. he remembered being nervous that a late text from mina meant that something was off, or that a few days of them not talking to one another meant that she had suddenly grown to hate him. where the hell such notions came from, he had no idea. kai was just driven to questionable actions due to his shifting self-image and doubts. he's felt more secure in himself as of late but when he was younger, that hadn't always been the case and he had often plagued himself with constant hair dying, piercings and even experimenting with makeup at an attempt to console his unstable aspirations and individuality. jesus. it was a good thing that hair dye wasn't a pain in the ass to remove because kai doubted he would have been allowed to enroll in the military with a streak of blue in his hair and eyelids painted in black eyeshadow.
indenthe looked up at mina again, his hand moving from the center console in order to grab one of her own. "you'll text me, yeah? even if alarie's offer doesn't work out and we don't see each other at the inauguration dinner, we can always plan to do something on the down-low soon. it doesn't matter what we do."

[vaell]

ＭＩＮＡ ＰＡＲＥＫＨ.

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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaviation warrant officer two. | conclave military. | tagged: kai.
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indentover the course of the ride back to her house, mina felt herself settle into a particularly somber state. in fact, it was almost no surprise that when they actually pulled up to her residence just seeing the building sparked some form of dread in her. it's not like she was expecting to head in the door and be pounced on by her younger brother or her mother for being out so late - it's not necessarily unusual for mina to be out of the house for most hours of the day anyhow, and by now her family had become long used to her lack-of presence - but the idea of having to sit down at their dinner table and humor any ounce of small talk was almost unbearable. ishaan had made it pretty clear he was looking forward to eating some late night supper with her so she probably wasn't getting off the hook in that regard. and while she knew ishaan and her mother were home, if she had to guess her father was probably still out at his office. he seemed to make it a habit to draw out the duration of time acceptable for him to be away from their house, similar to mina. it took her a long time to realize how strange that was in actuality, and perhaps thats because they were both often avoidant of what awaited them back at their house. there was actually very little she knew about her father aside from his astounding military career. at this point it was hard to tell whether or not that was because he shared so little to begin with or if she just never expressed enough interest. it was hard to imagine the latter being true though. when she was younger and visited her father's office she would always be in awe over the sheer amount of distinctions and medals he had hung up in the room, like he were collecting them one by one in a private display. if you look beyond the impressive collection of hardware he possessed, the other thing you would immediately notice in his office would be the amount of pictures he has framed. on his desk, a sleek chestnut piece with two underside cabinets suspended from the mainframe, sat a family picture they'd taken when she and ishaan were much younger. it was one of those classic pictures where they were all standing there in their handpicked poses with smiles so forced there was no way anyone could mistake the image as candid. the other was of him and a few old friends, a picture obviously taken in the context of the military; you could draw that much simply from the uniforms they donned, the dust stirred up behind them from the roar of aircraft engines. and mina, when she was younger - she always wanted to know more. she wanted to know the story behind certain things, be it an image or an award he'd been granted. it almost felt like a game to try and extract that sort of information out of him sometimes, considering that her father is not known for being the most forthright individual. maybe in that sense she was still treating him in a professional manner rather than a personal one; looking back on it, uncovering his experiences in the military all seemed a bit shallow to some degree. the memories you make in the field or training alongside your companions who soon enough become your best friends, its not something that anyone can dumb down enough for a kid's comprehension. regardless, he managed to satisfy her at the time with his short, to the point explanations. it's sort of sad to admit it but she still worships him like that, like some idolized person she's only heard of on news broadcasts through passing mention, or on the television, being interviewed for his latest military endeavors. she could never be certain but the man photographed in those images on his desk just seemed to be so much different than the person she knew to be adhar parekh, too. maybe those were better times for him. she couldn't imagine him trying to replicate the happiness he always seemed to exude when he was fresh off a flight from the wasteland back at home. all that joy died with him whenever he stepped foot back into the capital, like the very air he breathed here was enough to suck the life out of him. when she was a teenager she was even bitter about his attitude at one point, convinced that he hardly cared for her and ishaan beyond a superficial level. she'd long come to the conclusion he was a hollow, sad man. it wasn't obvious to her then but she didn't have the right to pass that judgement onto him. in fact, even if that were the truth, she wouldn't even be nearly as upset as she once would have been. nowadays, her ties with her family felt like transient, weak bonds. mina felt like she was the sole perpetrator of this distance inducing process; there was no need for her to feel close to her family, nor did she want to be reliant on them emotionally or otherwise. ever since childhood she's lived in a pseudo reality of a close knit family but that was all so far removed from the truth. she supposed that as long as they maintained the appearance of such though her mother wouldn't blow a fuse. that had to be worth something.
indentanyway, it was all very strange. her father assumed the role of a commanding, stoic man while in the presence of his subordinates and his colleagues but at home, it was like he was reduced to a shell of who he presented himself to be. in all selfishness, it disappointed her greatly. there was no evidence of any severe aura radiating from him, or at-least not whenever her mother was around. its like she depleted the man of whatever strength he had left prior to meeting her after a lifetime of a long, strenuous career in the airforce. there were times where she wished he stood up to her mother's antics more often instead of backing down so easily in an attempt to smooth over whatever argument they were having. there was never any part in him that wanted to defy her or her wishes, and she supposed that was the ugliness of it all. her mother took advantage of her father, knowing he was once head over heels in love with her, willing to do absolutely anything for her. he loved that woman more than he loved life itself and she was so very aware of this. it made so much sense that he let her step all over him in any given situation. she was the one person in the world that he cared about and his love for her took its own toll. nowadays you wouldn't guess that had once been the case, but clearly she still held a great deal of power over him in that sense. he would never stop loving her no matter what she did and that was the root issue of everything in the end. its the reason why he has received some of mina's misdirected anger before, too. sometimes it felt like he would never stick up for her, automatically presuming that her mother was in the right in any given situation. it hurt to know that the one person she looked up to so much - who even sympathized with her struggles every now and then - was so quick to turn his back on her whenever the timing was right. these were the type of occurrences that solidified mina's detached understanding of her familial bonds. her mother's new position within the government only wedged another screw into the woman's on-edge behavior too; all the stress she recently acquired since taking up that job has done her more harm than it has good, and it reflected on their family as well. since then, mina could almost swear that she's been more miserable than ever despite how much she claimed to be ready to take on such a role. the woman has spent most of her career being a part of the conclave's intelligence committee but never has she undergone as much scrutiny as she has since becoming the former director garcia's replacement. the selection process to begin with wasn't an easy journey but luckily her clean records and polygraph tests worked in her favor, aiding her in leading to her eventual instalment. her mother's joy in that department didn't last long of course, and what she once was so keen on having eventually turned into a burden. any person with a brain could tell she was constantly all over the place, overwhelmed by any little inconvenience thrown her way all thanks to the disgusting amount of pressure that inevitably came with her new position. she was simply terrified of making a mistake, vulnerable due to the unexpected opening of the position to begin with. mina and ishaan seem to face a lot of their mother's irritability but when they don't, it falls onto her father whose already dealing with a multitude of other things on his plate. and lately, if it weren't her mother's job wearing her down, then it was the converse of their current troubles in upper conclave society, that being the pathetic feud they shared with kai's family. she couldn't say her mother ever looked upon her and kai's relationship with a smile and full on stamp of approval, but now? anyone who dared to try and doubt ishaan's capabilities may as well be dead to her. unfortunately for both kai and mina, her mother doesn't really care whether or not kai himself shares the same animosity that his mother does. the contempt mina's mother bore for the loukanis bunch directly translated into her distaste for mina's boyfriend, increased by almost ten-fold nowadays. he was simply caught in the crossfire, guilty by association - or rather kinship - in her mothers eyes. although her mother's behavior regarding their relationship wasn't anything new, mina noticed the woman had become strangely interested in knowing her whereabouts or what she was up to. she probably hoped to catch her hanging out with kai just so that she could finally give her a bunch of crap for it. honestly though, almost anyone could probably suspect that when she wasn't actively at work, she was probably with kai. there was almost no alternative. even though nobody said it they all must know she wasn't abiding to their whole anti-loukanis rule by now. her mother and kai's own were both catty in their own respects, and the truth was, mina didn't think that her and kai should be feeling the negative effects of ishaan's promotion as much as they were. in fact, his involvement in the matter as unsolicited as it was rubbed her the wrong way. it felt like everything her brother did seemed to interfere with her own life one way or another. blaming ishaan for all her tribulations was so much easier than inspecting the bigger picture too, like how this messy feud between their families seemed to have been impending for quite some time now. its just that ishaan's promotion was finally the tipping point that gave their families the opportunity to seize the moment and have some form of justification in actually outwardly hating one another. it was the perfect excuse to stir things up and keep them heated for as long as need be. a pointless conflict, as most issues between prestigious families in the conclave tend to be in the pursuit of power and dominance.
indentmina unbuckled her seatbelt, turning to face kai as he simultaneously shifted toward her. she settled closer to the center console, a smile now crossing her features as she met his gaze. a part of her was surprised to hear that he was embracing alarie's proposal, at-least to some extent, although this feeling was quickly overshadowed by the creeping excitement that now entered her hushed tone. "me too," she agreed, sending a fleeting glance over her shoulder, back to her house before looking at kai again. "i mean it makes me feel a bit better knowing mateo doesn't think we're being totally duped. and to be honest, alarie's timing couldn't be any better than right now. literally everything has been total bullcrap since ishaan got lucky with his stupid promotion." while most people would be cheering on their siblings in light of such a grand achievement, being a good person was just not mina's forte, at-least not when it came to being happy for her brother and his evident success. a part of her has always been like this, even before she enlisted in the military. she used to be hyper-competitive when it came to academic success and anything that denied her from the validation she received from achieving high grades would surely lead to a breakdown of some sort. there has always been a hint of unrealistic perfectionism driving mina forward and so when she does face failure of any kind, it typically deters her very quickly. more recently, the repeated denials to her promotion requests have been just enough to slowly dwindle away whatever dream she had of ever lugging herself out of the warrant officer tier. it's no wonder that her aversion to things that could potentially let her or her parents down have manifested through her early adulthood - she tends to try and dodge anything that could land a blow to her own self-esteem, even if it means a lost opportunity. however, she was so eager to take on general alarie's promising offer to begin with because it was one of the few good things that have happened to her unprovoked in a very long time, and she was going to do anything to see his proposal through. being deployed elsewhere was not only going to open up doors for them in terms of their careers, but it would also help them take back some control over their relationship. the fact their families were able to dictate their freedoms simply through a mutual hatred felt more frustrating than being stuck in the capital did. she couldn't recall her parents ever placing a strain on her relationship with her boyfriend - even her mother's passive disapproval was never enough of an issue to worry her - but lately it felt like she was being smothered by what has transpired between their families. maybe if they were not kai loukanis and mina parekh then this whole occurrence would have been virtually nothing, but unfortunately for them, prominent upper conclave families do not often let bygones be bygones. sure, when she was a teenager there were times where she got grounded on multiple occasions - usually because she got caught coming home from meeting up with kai someplace between where they both lived - and she had faced repercussions, like her phone being taken away and whatnot, but that wasn't because she had been with kai. it's because she was sneaking out. nowadays though she would probably get put on full blast for meeting up with him beneath her mother's nose, more so than just leaving the house on her own notice. that sort of stuff happened a lot in her childhood though. her mother could be quite strict and constricting with the rules she implemented in her home and expected others to uphold these principles or face the consequences. it's probably a part of where the expectation of academic success came into play to begin with. regardless though she always hated whenever her mother decided to be a jerk about that kind of stuff. she could definitely see kai at school the weekend after but sometimes there was just no way she could give him an explanation for her sudden disappearances. it probably wasn't the most fun to be on his side of things because after hanging out with someone you usually expect them to continue talking to you rather than just falling off the face of the earth. it just rubs you the wrong way, like perhaps you did something wrong. that was always far from the truth though. luckily, after the first time this sort of thing happened she tried to make it clear to kai that this situation was going to be normal. as a teenager she very much had the same sort of restrictions a younger child might face in that sense but she was just so used to it that it didn't matter. the worst part about parents who try to be as strict as possible is the amount of rebellion that slowly builds up within a child. going against her mothers wishes in just about any way imaginable without her knowledge became second nature at some point. her mother could be unpredictable at times depending on her mood too, so that probably didn't help much in assuring kai that most times she did not return his texts or calls, it was because of her mother.
indentmina felt the warmth of his hand suddenly envelop one of her own. her eyes flickered back up to his own. "i will, the woman squeezed his hand in promise. "and i'm gonna hold you to that offer too. this crap probably isn't going to blow over anytime soon, so we're just gonna have to get used to it and find a way to get through it, like we always do. we're going to be okay," she released his hand, leaning forward to close the distance between them from across the console to give him a final kiss. mina ran a light hand over the side of his cheek to briefly cup his face. "today was fun. thank you," she searched his features, and after a moment passed, she slowly shifted back in her seat, collecting her phone from where it sat on her lap. lingering much longer probably wouldn't do her any good considering that it was starting to get late. the woman proceeded to open up the car door, carefully stepping out from his vehicle and onto the curb he parked beside. "hey, love you. and i promise i'll text." mina gently shut the car door, giving kai a smile as she turned to begin heading down the sidewalk. he parked at the edge of the street just as he did earlier when he picked her up, so thankfully the chances of anyone spotting them happened to be quite low. she shrugged her jacket closer to her body, a night breeze chilling the air as she approached the fenced gateway into her house. hedges bordered either side of the tall iron fencing. once she slipped within, she made sure to securely close the entrance behind her with a creak.
indentbefore her, a meticulous pathway led up to the doors of her house, a trail that gently curved around a stone waterfall display before briefly reconnecting. at the end of this path sat a prominent set of doors, rounded with an arch at the top, standing directly under a covered porch-like structure. a set of outdoor lights had already been turned on, illuminating some of the dark panelling on the sides of the house and its nearby surroundings. after a moment, mina began stepping down the pathway, taking it at her leisure as she observed the slow drops of water dripping down from the bowl of the waterfall basin and into the water beneath. on either side of her the sound of bugs chirping from within the greenery of carefully trimmed hedges became a gentle hum in the night, creating a natural tune with the shiver of leaves whenever a breeze would pass through. everything around her felt so undisturbed that for a moment she could even fool herself into thinking everything was fine.

[vaermina]

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


indent"yeah, you might be right," valentina mused. "it's gotta be somewhere out of sight if it's located in the badlands. that region is full of plains and grasslands, right? so... a bunker, maybe? i've never heard of a bunker being large enough to operate something as grand scale as a faction, though. just families and the like. i would say maybe an old pre-war mine or a cluster of caves but i have no idea how they'd navigate something like that, especially since places like those tend to be occupied by animals that like the dark. there's no viable way to get electricity in a cave, too, unless you have a generator but i remember your pa saying once that it's a bad idea to run a generator in an enclosed space." the location of the rebellion's headquarters has always been under lock and key. it's a tightlipped subject, one that mystifies and baffles everyone everywhere. it's hard to believe that an organization like the rebellion - one that was undeniably large and teeming with numbers underneath its veiled surface - could have an established headquarters that just remains, well, undetected. how could the rebellion manage such a thing, especially when they have to constantly evade the ever scrutinizing eyes and iron wrath of the federal government? it was impossible to try and rationalize it but julian was probably right about the technology part. judging by the tape they found, it was obvious enough that the rebellion had to have some form of technology to decipher what could be on the file. stolen computers, perhaps? they hear about rebels ambushing conclave convoys all the time so the group had to have a significant amount of stolen weapons and armor on their persons, as well. it could explain why the conclave has continued to grow and advance with their own fields of technology. valentina assumed that the more difficult the product, the harder it is to copy it and twist it for your own needs when its database and beginning layers have been modified for one purpose and one purpose only. still, the fact the rebellion has managed to evade federal persecution was both admirable and frightening because if the conclave - the most advanced organization in the country - cannot find them than how the hell are two average wastelanders going to? it unnerved valentina to think that this could all be for nothing if they fail to locate the rebellion's headquarters. valentina felt that she and julian were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. if they fail to deliver this tape to the rebellion than that group of rebels would have died for no reason. their deaths would be in vain and that very notion was enough to make her mouth grow dry. there's not a lot of people in this world who would die for a good cause. it was not inherent selfishness, really but rather a natural instinct to survive. who wants to die? who wants to die young over something that may or may not be worth it in the end? why would you want to give up years and years of life and family and love for something as shaky as that? it was a risk that may not even be worth it in the end. not many are willing to take that leap but those rebels did. they died for a cause they vehemently believed in, no matter how dubious its success in the end might be. of course, valentina was sure they had not been actively seeking out such a grim demise but they must have known the risks of entering a highly guarded military fort and they must have accepted the perils associated with such a task. death must be like a second mother for the rebels; always standing nearby, patiently waiting to welcome them home after a long and tiresome day. with the tape now on their persons, valentina and julian could very much suffer the same end as those rebels. it didn't matter if they were not directly affiliated with the revolution itself. they were harboring stolen government property and that was a federal crime.
indentvalentina snorted at her cousin's groan of protest. she was tempted to swat at him and accuse him of being a big baby but given the situation at hand, his wariness was appropriate. "yeah, that's true. they have their technology that could keep them safe and alert them of incoming threats but said technology doesn't help much if it fails to work out in the middle of nowhere. i'm sure they're taught the basics of wasteland fauna but not when it comes to anything else. and you know what? when you think about it, new animals could be appearing in the badlands every week and the conclave has no idea about it due to their lack of presence in the area. it's like a surprise is just waiting for them." the badlands has earned its sinister reputation. its predator influx, harsh terrain and often unnavigable territories has made it a difficult region to explore, nevertheless search for hidden rebel hideouts. she was sure that the conclave possesses the technology to scout the region but the wasteland is unpredictable. no amount of gadgets and contraptions can anticipate the next move of a wild beast or incoming radiation storm. she was sure that conclave soldiers receive a fair amount of education on what could possibly be waiting for them out in the wasteland but it's impossible for them to remain educated on the ever changing whims of the country's aggressive animal species', constantly evolving and transforming due to the radiation around them. hell, it was sometimes difficult for even the two cousins to predict an animal's next move. animals are constantly adapting to their environment and most of the animals you have to worry about are ones that are altered by radiation. they're bigger, meaner and more intelligent than the average creature. not to mention, humans have begun to copy the same mannerisms, especially those who have resorted to more feral means such as cannibalistic cults. there are so many groups who share the same practices that it would be impossible to recognize the signs of a nearby camp or crossing given how each group's procedures might differ. the unpredictability is what constantly throws the conclave into a disadvantage. they have no control in such a wild and lawless region. the wasteland is changing so consistently that the government fails to keep their followers informed on new dangers forming in the wild. the conclave has such a strong presence in the dixon wasteland that it's easy for their soldiers to keep in contact with one another and receive aid from nearby forts but the same could not be said for the badlands, a region untouched by the government save a few bases scattered on its borders. and despite their expertise in navigation, valentina and julian needed to be careful. they've lived in the dixon wasteland nearly all their lives. they're going to be walking straight into an unknown environment, with new creatures and terrain to boot. they cannot afford to get too cocky about their skills. one slip, one mistake and letting their guard down could cost them their lives. they have to be aware of everything around them. valentina took another bite from her meal. "still, we gotta be careful. before you say it, yeah, i know that's obvious but we're just as unprepared as those conclave goons when it comes to the badlands. we've never been there before so we have no idea what type of animals or terrain we could face. will it be difficult to track? find suitable shelter in the grasslands? detect animals before they detect us when we're traveling down a canyon path? unlike the conclave's followers, we're survivalists but their soldiers are better equipped than we are in terms of weapons and armor so an animal attack could still be fatal for us." sure, she was stressing the obvious but valentina had no idea how clear she could make it be.
indent"the freedmen? yeah, i think a saloon would be our best bet." valentina continued to feast on her platter, her hunger apparent enough that she didn't mind wolfing down whatever remained on her plate. behind them, mars dozed on his feet, head hung slightly to the ground yet ears perked for any sounds of approaching danger. the woman shrugged at her cousin's question. "i don't know. i mean, given the freedmen's reputation, you'd think they would help us out, y'know? but directing people to the rebels would be enough for prosecution in the government's eyes and i'm sure they're wary of that, just like every other wastelander out here. if anything, they might want us to help out with something in exchange for information but i dunno. they have a solid and principled reputation so i don't think they'd turn us away. and honestly, what other choice do we have? i don't know about you but i have no clue where to even start in terms of finding the damn freedom trail." the freedmen are known for their virtue, after all. they help the common people when their own government will not. valentina would not mind if they asked her and julian for a favor in exchange for what they know about the freedom trail. as with everything in this life, nothing comes easy but that was a given. not to mention, she's heard that the freedmen have begun to struggle in recent years due to a lack of suitable members. there's an overwhelming demand for their services but not many people involved in the group itself in order to carry out and adhere to such stipulations. valentina had no idea if that was because of the growing scrutiny the freedmen are facing by the government or what but if anyone would be willing to help them out, it had to be them. the freedmen lend their services to the countryside without the expectations of being paid. they help build settlements, exterminate animals, guard villages, and rescue kidnapped civilians from bandit camps without awaiting honorary attributes. they're ordinary folk who take up arms to defend their communities and help them grow because they cannot trust their own government and military to protect them from the threats that invade their borders. it'd make sense for a group like the freedmen to support the rebellion, even if said support was more on the subtle side. no matter who you ask about the revolution, it's always a hush-hush type of subject. it's dangerous to speak about the rebellion, especially in the presence of other people. it's so easy to incriminate yourself without even meaning to. would the freedmen want something in exchange for their knowledge, like julian mentioned? will they only speak about the freedom trail in closed quarters? hell, what if they refuse to talk about it? what would they do then? valentina had no idea how to find the freedom trail. it was such an enigmatic subject that people doubt its very existence. she's heard stories of people dying trying to follow the trail; many wastelanders end up getting lost and succumbing to the perils of the wasteland before they even find the rebels. animal attacks, dangerous weather, hazardous terrain, gnarly cults and bandit gangs, conclave goons catching up to them. what does the freedom trail even consist of? she's heard that a lot of it consists of wild trails, complex puzzles, safehouses and the like but whether or not any of that was true is hard to say. people like to spread rumors and they especially love to fabricate tales about the rebellion due to the group's natural obscurity. it's easy to paint a picture when your imagination is not clouded by logic and facts.
indentby the time the two cousins finished their conversation, their plates were wiped clean. jesus christ. it's so easy to just sit and run your mouth and forget how much food your shoveling down your throat. valentina stood up from her spot in the sand the same time as julian did, her hands reaching out to brush off any snagged twigs and underbrush. she made sure to grab their cleared plates while she was at it, too. there was no water source nearby that they could use to clean them off and while she was disgruntled at the idea of having to use their flasks, she'd rather have the plates washed than let them sit and attract predators. true, they hadn't left anything succulent on their plates but it's not uncommon for animals to be so hungry this time of year that any inviting smell piques their interest. besides, why would they want to store dirty plates with their clean ones? she snorted when julian reached down to retrieve the fox carcass. "yeah, please get rid of it before we end up getting mauled in our sleep." with the plates and utensils now in hand, valentina headed over to a slumbering mars. the light from their lantern cast a series of gloomy shadows across the sand. she set the plates carefully atop mars' saddle so she could begin to search for one of their canteens. the sound of julian's voice across the fire elicited a slight head turn from the young woman. she was silent as he spoke, her lips pursed briefly in thought before she began to slowly nod. "yeah, two to three hour increments sounds good with me. we don't wanna fall into a deep sleep or else we'd be too groggy to function." valentina was not very keen on the idea of waking up throughout the night but what other choice do they have? they aren't sleeping in the comfort of their own home anymore. they were lying underneath the stars, surrounded by a heavy darkness that could be harboring all sorts of danger. they'd be foolish to fall asleep without at-least one staying up to keep watch. she shrugged as she found one of their canteens, quickly popping it open so she could run some water down the surfaces of their plates and utensils and rid them of their grease. "i mean, if you wanna claim the first shift, i'm not gonna fight you about it. i'm more than happy to get some sleep." valentina did not have a preference about it. was she tired? yes. was she going to leap at the chance of getting some sleep if julian was offering to stay up first? yes, she was. "don't take too long then," she quipped back at his snort. "and if you start dozing off before the hours are up just wake me up and i'll take over. i don't want you to be leaning against your shotgun or something and accidentally blow your foot off. if that happens, your rebel name is gonna be julian one-foot." she laughed to herself. she stored the plates and utensils in their original spot now that they were clean. "with the way you're talking, though, you're gonna get sniped before you even come back from disposing the carcass. take your shotgun with you. i know that thing's loud as hell but i'd rather you have something that could easily take down a bigger beast than some measly arrows. just be careful, okay?"
indentthere were two sleeping bags tied to the back of mars' saddle for the cousins to use. they were in subpar condition from years of exposure and wear but they'll do. valentina unstrapped them from the stallion before she set them down near the campfire, the glow of their lantern dwindling from the corner of her eye as julian lumbered off to dispose of the fox carcass. she began to unroll the sleeping bags, careful not to snag the material on any sticks or get too close to the fire. the flames crackled and snapped as they hungrily ate whatever remained of the fire's fuel. the flames were growing smaller; the light of the campfire was receding. we're gonna need to keep a supply of brush at hand. they couldn't afford to lose their fire as the night wears on. it was not only a good source of heat but a source of light and viable protection against whatever may be lurking in the hills beyond their campsite. it's not like they had a bunch of fuel for the fire to begin with, too. trees are sparse in this area of the dixon wasteland and whatever trees could be found have long since been cut down by the surrounding settlers. they have no access to large logs or branches so brush and undergrowth is the best they could do.
indentdead vegetation and curls of thick thorns crunched underneath valentina's boots as she stepped away from their sleeping bags and began to prod the surrounding thickets for anything they could use for the fire. as expected, there was very little of anything sustainable. she was only able to find big clumps of dried weeds, tough sagebrush and brittle fourwing saltbush. sagebrush and the like is a fine tinder but it burns quickly, hence the need to constantly fuel the campfire with more every so often. firewood is a better alternative but due to how difficult it can be to acquire wood in this area, they really had no choice. she supposed there's a reason that lumber is always in high demand around here. there's plenty of traders and sellers in arcadia who sell firewood and the like and she was sure they earn a pretty penny from their sales due to the shortage in these parts. valentina remembered their parents' often investing in firewood in order to keep their home warm during unusual periods of freezing cold. unfortunately, they have long since run out of their supply back in laurel oaks. the two cousins couldn't afford to constantly purchase firewood after their parents died. with demand on the rise, it's no surprise that sellers are increasing their prices and firewood is most expensive during the winter season. hell, it's not like icy temperatures are common down here due to the irradiated climate but the weather can be unpredictable at most.
indentby the time valentina gathered a suitable amount of dried foliage for their fire, julian had returned to the campsite. she set the pile down onto the sand before she lowered herself down onto one of the sleeping bags. she began to undo the laces of her boots, casting a glance at her cousin. "i got some more tinder for the fire. it should be enough to last us throughout the night but we'll have to constantly feed it unless we want it to die out. and like you said earlier, we gotta keep that fox pelt in mind so we don't forget to turn it." she slid her boots off and set them down in the sand next to her. she reached up behind her to begin undoing her one singular braid. "how are you feeling, anyway? if you don't think you're up for the first shift, i could do it instead."