Futuristic A Tale of Valkyries

[cremora]

The order had been made to move out. Had it really been an hour already? Gretta didn't think so, but it wasn't her job to think apparently. Just obey. She sighed, having only just gotten the Faraqi's name before the order had been issued. What was with these Valkyries and their hastiness to death? The veterinarian retracted her hand from Yann's just in time for a series of eight shortwave radios to be thrust into her arms. Kharnac, a man who emitted every bit a much authority as Odin sans the eeriness, had given them to her and given her reigning orders to assemble the group. Oh boy.


Gretta shoved the radios into the oversized pockets of her winter coat and sighed again. Damn my unfortunate bad luck. She watched the second in command duck away, leaving her to her own devices. Fuck me and the ORPOD that I rode in on. Gretta handed one of the radios to Yann ( @Coin ), seeing as how he was next to her already. "You heard die mann, ja? Let us go now," she said before climbing up onto a nearby table. Being as short as she was, it was difficult to be authoritative without the imposing stature that had accompanied Odin and Kharnac. "You heard die mann, ja!?" she repeated, for everyone to hear this time.


"I kann only fit six people in mein ORPOD. Yann Tawfeek, Kristof von Essen, and die mann vith die fleish-Hund are vith me. Zose who vere told to follow Kharnac haff to follow me. Und you must haff eine dis!" Gretta thrust another of the shortwave radios up for the group to see. "Take one from die table und head topside. Follow die ORPOD und stick close!" When she had finished her brief orders, Gretta spread the radios onto the table and turned to Yann. "You said you vere eine inventor, ja? I may just haff to take you up on die offer for maintenance. Mein ORPOD ist... Sensitive. You'll see. Follow me."


Gretta weaved her way through the remaining people, emerging from the womb of the Valkyries base and back into the winter winds. She had forgotten the cold in the midst of the rabble below, but now... Exposed as she was, the chill cut to the bone. She pushed the ache out of her thoughts and trotted over to the ORPOD, unlocking the door. She had just put her foot inside when she caught sight of Kristof making his way towards the man who had the wolf. "Kristof! ( @Strom ) Ve haff been given orders! Go back und get die volf-mann, den get inside. Ve leave now."


The veterinarian ducked into her Operations Residential POD and turned on the Projection Dome before sliding into its seat. The hologram HUD and screen displays lit up brightly, the only remaining thing to the ORPOD's arsenal that was not on its last leg. Gretta had made sure she knew how to keep up on the dome's maintenance. It was part of her livelihood, after all. "Engines, on. Ventilation, on. Internal systems, off. Luxury systems, off," she mumbled as her fingers danced over the displays. As she adjusted the power to rev the engines to life, the ORPOD shuddered, coughed, and died.


"Nein, nein, nein!" Gretta cursed, her feet kicking frustratedly. She dropped the power from every system and put it into the engines, damning the entire system to hell if it didn't kick to life. The engine grumbled, coughed again, then roared to life, shaking the cabin of the machine ever so slightly. The engine could not fully engage until the door was closed and had been rotated to the reverse side, but that the machine was running at all was a gods-send. "Let's get zis show on die road, ja?" she muttered, adrenaline starting to course through her veins.

 

[SeaTea]

Mason was surprised at the flurry of movement that overtook both the veteran Valkyries and the new recruits with the order to march out to... wherever they intended to go. He would have scoffed at being called out as 'the one with the glasses' but he figured that would just have to come with the territory for now as he took a long long at the one called Kharnac, wondering where the man and his leader Odin would be ordering them to go.


"Ah, no rest for the weary I see. Probably for the best," he turned to the woman that he had tried to start a conversation with "Well Senorita, shall we move before we are left behind?" @Emiya Shin He hoped that she would fall in quickly, because there was almost not time to get a word in as he saw veteran Valkyries move to crank up the rusting Frames and begin to move away from the remaining group. He turned away from the screeching metal that were the Frames movement to see a blonde woman with one heck of an accent speaking on what they were told to carry into the tunnels. He of course knew of communication devices like these, but nowhere near this make and model, at least none that he had encountered in his time in the military. He wondered how truly old they were as he took one for his own and clasped it to to the strap of his backpack next to his mouth for ease of use. With the model 1 brace on his arm, the Komodo slung around his shoulder to rest on his hip, and his old Remington still snugly fit into a crevice of his backpack, Mason jogged quickly toward the tunnel entrance where the pod was positioned, trying to put out of mind where Odin and the rest of the recruits had vanished to.


'They are efficient if nothing else.' He thought as he passed by the large mobile pod that was just now being kicked on. He would make no attempt to climb in unless ordered to; he preferred walking anyway, and he rather not be caught in a metal surgical pod in case of electrical failure. Not that he wouldn't help if such a thing happened, but he was sure the woman that piloted it had it well in hand. He moved to the front of the pod and began moving forward, stopping slightly ahead as he turned to await his new comrades-in-arms, if they title could even apply.


"A grand journey for us all aye? Safe travels and steady shots to us all." He addressed no one in particular as he listened to his voice echo off the walls of the cavern. He began to notice how his eyes began to sting and feel heavy with exhaustion as he had little sleep in the frigid tundra outside the bunker, but he did his best to ignore it, and started to hum an old cadence as the movement of the other recruits picked up.

 

[Soviet Panda]

Connor kept his gun pointed down, not really trusting himself with not shooting his comrades by accident. Someone had told him what the gun was, but he had forgotten what they had to say. All he could remember was that it started with an M. Well, guess he had to name it himself. The Mauler sounded about right. Yeah, that had a ring to it. You were just shot by the Mauler. Perfect.


Suddenly, a large and bulky device was chucked at him. Managing to catch it, he recalls what was said while he wasn't really paying attention. Walky-talkies? My god they were going old school. Well, guess you had to make do with what you find in an old and decrepit bunker in the middle of a frozen nowhere. And he even remembered seeing how it was worked.


The orders were to follow the lady with the ORPOD, so follow he did. He was even going to climb aboard before realizing that it was packed as it was and he would only make it worse. So, he was stuck walking with a man that was humming something he did nit know. Well, might as well start getting to know these people. And why not start with this young man?


"I'm Connor. Connor McKinley." he said out of the blue, reaching across with one hand, the other still holding onto his gun, towards the Hrothlander.

 

[SeaTea]

Mason was still letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the tunnel, no doubt about to be ruined by any lights pulling off the ORPOD when he heard a fairly deep voice call out, "I'm Connor. Connor McKinley." and Mason saw from the corner of his eye a fairly large, and heavily built man with an astounding amount of facial hair offering a hand toward him. @Beowulf


Mason did not want to find out what this guy looked like peeved, and it was always good to get the sense of camraderie up, so he plastered on a half-grin as he took Connor's hand firmly and shook quickly. "A pleasure Connor Mckinley, I go by Mason MacGregor Von Tejas. Name's a bit ridiculous I know, but my family lines take their history very seriously, los bastardos locos, todos ellos." Mason allowed for a hard cough to clear his lungs, which he turned away from Connor before doing so, before he continued Ah, pardon my tongue, another gift of my upbringing in the American Republic."


Mason hoped that the man was not one of those Neo-Euro's that had a demo pack up where the sun don't shine about him being American, he had meet more than his fair share getting to the Baltic. For goodness sake he was set out to join an insurgent group that was hell bent on fighting the major powers, and he STILL got cross-eyes when he let slip he was from the Americas. That didn't matter he thought, he probably looked odd there for a second.


"A fine state we're all in, aye? Traversing through the dark earth with nothing but our guns and shiny metal," He made a nodding gesture to the ORPOD "to keep us company. Not that we didn't all want this, at least, I hope we all wanted this, otherwise temperaments would be all over the place."


'You're babbling you idiot, stop babbling, you already have enough head trauma to pass for an amnesiac patient.'


Mason allowed himself to look embarrassed as he continued to address Connor "Apologies mi camarada, I think the ice and cold is getting to my head. Enough about me then, how about yourself my good man?" Mason offered a half-smile that he hoped appeared disarming, because he didn't really want to get singled out as crazy or a blabber mouth when all he really was just... very cold.

 

[Strom]

Ever the quick one to snap to orders, Kristof made quick work of arming himself and grabbing some accessories for his firearms before doing what Gretta had asked. He pocketed the suppressors and rifle bandolier-sling, took one brief look back at the congregation of men and women, then shook his head slightly and ascended the stairs. He had barely been in earshot when the orders were given, but he heard them and did his due diligence.


When topside, Kristof had hard work spotting the Hrothlandr ( @KamiKahzy ) Gretta had mentioned, at first unable to see him in the whirlwind of fog and snow. But, after a moment of scanning the tents, he saw the notable absence of one and made way for there. Kristof briefly glanced askance at the remaining camp, its abrupt emptiness unnerving. He pushed the feeling aside, unwilling to let superstition get the better of him. Kristof made headway through the snow to where the Hrothlandr had broken down his campsite. To his dismay, the blonde wolf-man was not at his site.


Kristof cursed under his breath and increased his step when Gretta’s voice called out again, the group on the move per Kharnac’s orders. He turned back towards the entrance of the bunker to see if Kharnac had come topside, but was surprised to see the Hrothlandr instead. How had he missed him earlier? He broached the Hrothlandr and put a hand up in salutation. "Herr Gespenst! Ve are leaving und your vanted in die ORPOD. Gazer your Hund und let's go. Die fight vaits for no one." With the orders issued down to him, Kristof had fulfilled his duty. He waved the Hrothlandr in the direction of the ORPOD and made his way there himself.


The door was already open when he broached it, allowing him to step inside without delay. He grabbed his weapons from the rack below his bunk, climbed to his bed and laid his firearms out on his lap, sliding the magazines out for each one respectively. Both appeared as pristine as the day he got them, so he slipped the pistol into its holster and clipped the new bandolier-sling to his rifle. Before Gretta could close the pod doors, Kristof hopped down and exited, shouting to those who had come topside already, "Die pod is of no use to me, I vill valk to die front lines.”


He looked over towards where an emerging group held a young woman ( @Emiya Shin ) and added, “A feuer-gefechte is no place for a child. It vill be safer for you in die pod." The last thing any of the Velkyries needed was to have an inexperienced youth running into harm’s way or injuring one of their own in a panic. It would be safer to have the liabilities near the back.


Kristof looked towards where the group had gathered, waiting for the second set of mysterious doors to open and let them proceed. While the group waited for Kharnac’s reappearance, Kristof recalled a tune that had appeared in the history books from his childhood. It had stuck with him since then, and it came back to him now. “Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts, Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Wir kämpfen für Deutschland, Wir kämpfen..." His voice rose and fell, and eventually trailed off, carried away with the harsh winter breeze.

 

[Emiya Shin]

[shigure Moriyama]


[baltic Region - "Valhalla"]





In interaction and response: @SwiftThunder, @Strom,





"Perdón Senorita, um, pardon, but you wouldn't happen to know the caliber of bullet for that weapon of yours?"


The man with the worn rifle and spectacles approached Shigure and asked. The black-haired girl turned at the grizzled man and looked at him with a puzzled expression.


"Um..." Shigure responded, embarrassingly. "I... I don't think so. Perhaps you can---"


The conversation was quickly cut off when Kharnac, one of the veteran members of the Valkyries, shouted at the recruits and started rounding up everyone to his attention, stating that he is going to split the crowd into two groups. Shigure waited for the result, until Kharnac spoke her features, as well as the man with the spectacles, telling them to follow him into the old tunnels. Only a handful of people were chosen, and the rest was subsequently ordered to follow Odin, who was long gone from the bunker they were in.


"Ah, no rest for the weary I see. Probably for the best." The four-eyed man remarked, before turning to Shigure once more. "Well Senorita, shall we move before we are left behind?"


"Yeah... I guess." The cobalt-eyed girl responded weakly to the man with a Latin accent.


This is it. Shigure, and a handful of the others were tasked to follow Kharnac into the old tunnels. Initially, she expected that she was going to be ordered by Kharnac to follow Odin, while never expecting that she will be chosen to join the smaller band of people instead.


("So, why did I get chosen to go into the tunnels? I really wonder what do I have, aside that I know how to lie and stuff, plus being a degree holder. Eh...")


The girl wondered as she followed the spec-eyed man's footsteps, before meeting the NEF blonde woman who spoke to her previously along with other group members. From there, the woman blared orders to everyone with thick European accent, as if she was given orders to lead the ragtag group. Shigure barely understood her words, knowing that she has to equip herself with a radio communication device and telling to stick close with her vehicle named as ORPOD.


Once the briefing was done, Shigure approached the table where the communication device was strewn about. The degree holder looked at the radio devices in awe, mostly that it was so ancient that Shigure wondered how they actually lasted through the tests of time.


("Wow. Walkie-talkies. Valkyries, you have my salutations when it comes to antique techs.")


Shigure examined the bulky, black rectangular shaped device. The walkie-talkie was pre-configured, and to make radio contacts, all she has to do is to press the radio button and speak through it. With the walkie-talkie in hand, Shigure once again head out to the cold, went back to her tent, and secured her backpack. Realized that she may get left behind, Shigure jogged to the entrance, her boots in the freezing snow, while preventing herself from sweating.




The black-haired girl eventually made it to the tunnel's entrance in time, as the group and the ORPOD are prepared to head deep into the tunnels. While she was regaining her breath, a battle-hardened, tall NEF man (Kristof) who just exited the ORPOD, spoke to the group, stating that the ORPOD has no use for him. His next sentence however...


“A feuer-gefechte is no place for a child. It vill be safer for you in die pod."


The man with a large scar on his left eye spoke to the group, his right eye focused on Shigure. The city-girl simply smiled at him, as she continued to endure the chilling winds. The valiant man eventually started humming a song, and eventually sang it with a patriotic tone. Shigure soon picked herself up, and headed to the ORPOD's opened doors.


"If you insist, Sir. I thank you for your kindness. I'll find a way to repay your efforts."


As per her traditions, Shigure gave her deepest gratitude to the soldier, before giving a bow to him. She entered the ORPOD afterwards. Inside the spherical vehicle, Shigure felt quite relieved as the unforgiving chill winds were no longer assaulting her. She placed down her backpack and her assault rifle on the ground, before sitting in one of the vacant chairs nearby, relaxing herself. Eventhough the ORPOD lacked a heater, it offered shelter from the brutal winds outside, and coupled with her citygirl physique, it was testing her endurance. As Shigure started to feel comfortable, the thoughts once again started rolling in.


("Well. Here I am, in some frozen wasteland, going to do something... probably unimaginable.")

 

[Soviet Panda]

"You think the ice and cold is getting to your head?" Connor asked in mock amazement. "I got the damned stuff growing on my beard." he said, gesturing to his beard, which had thawed slightly in the bunker but had quickly refrozen in the open air. "And I'm bald as an egg to boot."


"But since you asked about me," he continued, "I'm from Australia. Aussie-Zealand territory. Good place, really. Warmer then it is here. Used to be a construction worker, I built the few buildings we got on land and tore many other abandoned ones. Fun job destroying the structural integraty of a buildig. I had to climb into one of those houses once with another charge because one of them didn't do the job right. Eeriest feeling, walking through a building being held up by one concrete beam."


Then another man walked up, this time with a very German accent. "And that's a German if I ever heard of one. Where is..." he said. That was when he spotted the man. Blonde, one eyed, and tall. Probably should step lightly around that one. He looked like he could wrap Connor into a knot no problem.

 

[Coin]

Pah. The "Al'Faraq" was what Kharnac had referred to Yann as -- how ignorant. One quick census through the crowd and one could easily maintain that the scrapper was indeed the only Al'Faraqi in the body of recruits and Valkyries, however, the labeling didn't help Yann shrug the bearing weight of his lesser life behind him. Yann ran the top of his wrist squarely against the gruff facial hair that was accumulating on his chin and made for the table with the black handheld radios per Kharnac's and Gretta's orders.


"Yeah, I heard 'em, Gretta (@cremora)." Yann called back out to the Euro woman and clipped the ancient device to his backpack, "I'll be right behind you."





While Yann and Cerberus trailed behind Gretta heading for the ORPOD, the scrapper took a moment to investigate the radio he'd just picked up. The concept of shortwave radios were not foreign to Yann, as he'd spent plenty of time scraping gore and brain out of shattered power helmets to crack at their housed communication devices. The only thing Yann wasn't used to was the sheer size of the radio he had been given. Why waste so much space and material constructing such a simple device? Yann simply shook his head at the ancient device and climbed aboard the ORPOD following the respective owners.


"Cerb! Sar!" Yann called out to his mechanical beast of burden once aboard.


The robotic canine cocked its head and whirred before testing the step with a front paw, then clamored aboard the pod with less precision than Yann would have liked. The scrapper muttered something foreign under his breath and pointed at a nook between a tall fridge and the door in which Cerberus immediately responded obediently by settling down at the aforementioned location. As the pod struggled to roar to life, Yann noted that the thrusters of the machine sounded as if they were in serious need of repair. He'd be sure to have a look at it should he nor the vehicle were riddled with bullets in the coming future.


Once inside, Yann was keen to notice that he and Gretta were not alone inside the pod. An oriental-looking woman (@Emiya Shin) had already made residence in one of the chairs inside. The scrapper acknowledged her presence politely with a nod before seating himself across the table.


"Letting the soldiers do the soldiering, hmm?" Yann teased, setting his excess gear down and making sure his newly acquired handgun was in an accessible location. "I don't blame you. It's better than being shot at, that I can assure you."





After letting out an airy chuckle, he tapped the table twice and inwardly cursed at himself before extending his hand in greeting, "Ah, manners. I am Yann Tawfeek, a mere scrapper and inventor hailing from Al'Faraq."

 

[KamiKahzy]

Juri didn't have long to wait before Odin began barking orders to those gathered in the bunker. He had delegated a task to his subordinate, the one called 'Traitor' in his native tongue. Kharnac called out names or descriptions of those that were to follow him, and Juri found himself among those called. The young man hiked up his gear and started to move in Kharnac's direction down the old tunnels, but he was stopped when he heard the small euro girl cry out in what he guessed was her first attempt at authority. She had been given some old radios, which she held up for all to see before placing them on a central table in the bunker. Juri watched the girl run off up the stairs for a moment, silently wondering if she'd last more than a week when open combat broke out.


Juri grabbed one of the radios off the table and clicked the button once. The steady static emitting from the speaker was enough to satisfy him, so he clipped it to the strap of his backpack next to his face. He had used similar models plenty of times on his hunting trips so the technology was no mystery to him. But before he could even think about following Kharnac down the tunnels with the older frames he was intercepted by another European, this one appearing more military than the rest of the rabble. The man mentioned something about following the euro girl to her ORPOD, whatever that was, and accompany her down into the old tunnels behind Kharnac. Juri didn't really see a problem with this, so he merely nodded in acknowledgement before falling in behind the NEF military man. Juri figured this one would last long enough to be useful to the cause, perhaps even someone he could rely on in the future. Only time would tell.


As he crested the stairs Juri pulled his hood back up to stave off the wind and cold. He looked around for this "ORPOD" he was supposed to find and sure enough there was a giant mechanical sphere just starting to sputter to life. Seeing nothing else pod-like in the snow Juri made his way towards the machine with Venn at his heels. However, as he approached the ORPOD he noticed the Al-Faraqi and his mechanical dog stepping inside, and Juri wasn't sure sticking Venn inside an enclosed space with the robo-dog was a good idea. So instead of immediately climbing in he instead told Venn to stay before he stepped up and poked his head inside. "Euro girl, we walk outside. Stay close, ja?" Juri looked to Yann and the other passenger, some young looking thing of Asian descent, and without a word leaped backwards from the ledge and ran a few steps so as not to stumble from the momentum. Juri then called Venn with a high pitched whistle, who bounded over promptly with his tongue lolling out. The two began walking with the other men keeping up with the ORPOD, supposedly moving towards this new hatch where the ORPOD could descend on it's own.


It was only now that Juri had the time to properly look over the people he would be fighting alongside in the days to come. There was the euro man from before, whose styled hair and scarred face spoke of an officer's life with the NEF. The man had clearly seen combat before, and Juri hoped that experience would aid him and the others when things became tough. But then the man began to sing and Juri's opinion dropped that much more. If he had time to sing he had time to be alert, and considering the urgency of Odin's exodus from the bunker Juri guessed they would need a tight vigil right now. There was also another man who stood almost as tall as Juri, built with muscle and hailing from some Hispanic country Juri couldn't be bothered to place. This one sang and talked even more than the euro officer, and he carried himself like he was on a leisurely hike through the woods. Juri doubted he would be able to control the heavy shotgun he had grabbed from the armory that he had slung over his back like a school bag. But at the very least a shotgun didn't need much accuracy, so his clear lack of professionalism wouldn't be a problem. And finally there was an Aussie of great size. This one was built like a mountain and carried a belt fed rifle almost as long as he was tall. Even if the man had never fired a gun before Juri felt he could learn quickly, and he certainly had the mass to handle such a heavy piece of hardware.


Thinking back on the ones inside the ORPOD Juri had to wonder about their chances for survival. The Al-Faraqi wasn't exactly a fighter but at least he had that mechanical beast to assist him. Juri thought that Venn would be able to track better in the cold than the robot, but it didn't need food and water to operate either. As for the women he had seen, neither appeared to be fighters of any kind. The Asian one was barely old enough to be considered a woman, and the other was almost as skinny as he was. Neither looked like they had seen combat, so Juri hoped that their skills were something they could use to survive and endure.


Juri shook his head a few times and looked forward as they continued to move. "Three weeks," he muttered to himself, not expecting anyone to hear the dour statement except for him.

 

[Nine]

Kris Alkaev

​

A booming voice had once again interrupted Kris’ depth of though as she sat inspecting the components of her new old rifle. She glanced up to find that it belonged to a man – Kharnac was the name she had caught earlier. She listened attentively as he claimed a number of other rebels along with herself and directed them all to follow an odd, oblong vehicle through a tunnel. The time had come and Kris had been singled out. She felt altogether excited and nervous, electricity coursing through her veins. Nodding at her acknowledgement, she looked back down to her disassembled rifle and threw it together in the blink of an eye, a pile of spare parts transforming into a well-oiled rifle under her expert hands in mere seconds. She stood and hefted it over her shoulder.


A petite German-looking girl turned from speaking with Kharnac and began to relay orders herself. This was the girl she was to follow. Kris snatched a radio stealthily as she ran outside the bunker towards her small encampment. She packed quickly, disassembling and boxing all of her small machines and equipment – packing it tightly into a small storage compartment built into the bottom of her frame. Having finished most of the priority work on her frame’s systems, Kris was comfortable taking it through a tunnel, provided there was no combat to be thought of.


She climbed up and into the cockpit and kicked the beast to life with a sequence of switches, timed and ordered perfectly to initiate ignition. Her small reactor hummed slowly to life and the frame spun up smoothly. The arms of her mechanic monstrosity were still mostly useless, dead weight – but the legs Kris had designed herself. They worked flawlessly as they carried her through the snow, plowing forward effortlessly. She guided herself up next to the ORPOD, tuning her radio before setting it beside her, and opened the visor of her cockpit, leaning out as her frame continued forward at a slow pace.


Kris spotted a gaunt, blonde-haired Hrothlander (@KamiKahzy) and called out to him, “Эй!” She shook her head and consciously shifted to her practiced English. “Hello! This is the company following Kharnac, yes?” She beamed down at the young man with a girlish grin.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Venn heard the frame before Juri did, and barked menacingly at it as Juri had taught him to do. He turned and saw the frame approaching the group, a hulking piece of servos and steel that looked like it was cobbled together from rusted scrap. As the frame grew closer Juri silenced Venn by patting the wolf's head reassuringly, letting him know the frame was of no threat to them. Juri wasn't sure he liked what he saw with this frame, considering it's slap-dash appearance and what appeared to be malfunctioning arms. But the thing walked smoothly enough, and Juri guessed this thing was hand built by the operator. If that was true then at the very least their squad now had a frame mechanic that knew how to get a frame mobile on their own. That alone could be a valuable asset to their survival, so Juri hoped that the operator was one who could take care of themselves in a fight.


And that's why Juri's hopes were dashed when he saw the cockpit open and a young girl of Russian heritage (@Nine) stuck her head out the side in greeting. She looked young, no older than 16 or so, and certainly didn't look like she had been in a fight in her life. Her face was too pretty for that, too flawless. Not only that but her eyes spoke volumes about her lack of experience, they still had the youthful twinkle of the innocent sparkling within. Juri gazed up at the girl nonplussed, mentally calculating her chances at survival out here in the real world. If she was smart and stayed in her frame she'd maybe last long enough to become useful. But if she was just another headstrong youth Juri figured two weeks would be generous for one such as her.


Juri stared at the girl for a while as these thoughts passed through his mind, allowing an awkward silence to hang between the two of them. After he'd concluded his internal calculations Juri simply nodded at the girl and uttered a curt, "Ja," before turning around and waiting once more for the secret hatch to open. Juri decided not to dwell on the girl any further, she'd either prove herself useful or dead soon enough.


Venn however stared up at the girl curiously, head cocked to the side in thought. How could something small come out of something big like that big metal thing? It just didn't make sense. But the girl seemed nice, and Venn wondered if she had food on her. Food would be good, it had been a while since they'd last eaten.

 

[Emiya Shin]

[shigure Moriyama]


[baltic Region - The Old Tunnels' Entrance]

Response: @Coin


Mentioned: Juri (KamiKahzy)

​

Minutes later after sitting inside the ORPOD, its engines rattled and spluttered as it struggled to keep running. Shigure was somewhat worried by the noises coming out from the spherical vehicle that she was in, hoping that it will not break down once they are inside the tunnels. At this moment however, she was reminded about her biggest weakness: claustrophobia. Shigure quickly cut her thoughts, trying to calm herself and keep negativity at bay. Then, she heard someone entering the ORPOD, with first thing that comes to her sight was a four-legged mechanical hound. Shigure remembered spotting it back in the Valhalla bunker, but she did not paid much attention on it.


"Cerb! Sar!"





Shigure turned to the one who commanded the robotic hound, a man with dark brown hair and other noticeable Al-Faraqi features. It was certain that he was the Al-Faraqi Kharnac once ordered to join the ragtag team. After getting into the ORPOD and presumably ordering his mechanical hound to sit at a nook between a fridge and a door nearby, the slightly grizzled man turned to Shigure and nodded to her, before taking a spot and sat himself across the table. The black haired girl lightly smiled at him in response.


"Letting the soldiers do the soldiering, hmm?" The Al-Faraqi teased Shigure at his first sentence, before placing his gear down on a suitable spot nearby. "I don't blame you. It's better than being shot at, that I can assure you."


The man chuckled afterwards, which Shigure somewhat followed along and chuckled lightly as well. The cobalt-eyed girl with a braid continued to observe the Al-Faraqi's actions, as he eventually introduced himself.


"Ah, manners. I am Yann Tawfeek, a mere scrapper and inventor hailing from Al'Faraq."


Shigure once again smiled lightly to the Al-Faraqi named Yann. Though at this time, the blonde man with his arctic wolf took a look at the ORPOD and its occupants inside, before leaving a message that they will walk outside, and eventually left the ORPOD. After that, the girl with a braid introduced herself.


"Hello. I'm Shigure Moriyama..." She did brief pause, thinking on how to introduce herself. "... a degree holder in telecommunications from the UANA." She lets out a quick laugh afterwards.


"Which... I don't think it'll help much for the next few hours..." Shigure spoke this part in a relatively low volume.


Shigure stopped here. She do have some questions in mind, primarily about the caliber thingy that the Latin man with glasses asked her earlier on, before ordered by Kharnac to go to the entrance of the old tunnels. Or she could go on about Yann's mechanical hound, which attracted Shigure's interest. For now, she lets Yann to speak out first, before doing anything else.

 

[KamiKahzy]

GM Post

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The cold wind of the north blew without mercy, threatening to rend skin from bones if left exposed to it's might. The gales howled and rushed around the recruits as they waiting, biting into some while glancing off others that were lucky enough to have shelter inside their metal chassis. Luckily they didn't have long to wait before an almighty groan was heard and the distinct whine of pneumatic pressure being released sounded above the weather. Two plastic caution lamps rose up from the snow, blaring their yellow light to herald the opening of the tunnel that was promised. A large rectangular section of the ground, about 10 meters wide, descended into the snow before their very eyes. The snow that had sat calmly on it's surface slid forward into the dark, falling into the unknown beyond the recruit's vision. The newly formed ramp ground and groaned from old age, crying it's protest at being awoken from it's frozen tomb. Yet the ramp lowered despite it's grumblings, and within minutes the path leading into the old tunnels was revealed to the recruits waiting outside it's maw. The tunnels within were dark as pitch, and gave no hint at any end to the gloom. As the ramp hit it's mark and thudded to a stop, a light suddenly flickered to life inside the tunnel. The glow was faint, but even outside the tunnel it was clear the light came from three separate sources.


Kharnac and the other Valkyries waited within.

 

[SeaTea]

Mason observed the decayed metal door open with his eyes closed, willing the sound of metal scratching to go away and relieve him of the pressure in his ears. He stared into the long dark tunnel, and could not help but think he about staring into an abyss as he could not see any type of ending to the tunnel, that was until he saw the quick appearance of the light sources from within the tunnel itself. He took a deep breath as he turned to address his fellow recruits.


"Well, looks like the path has been opened to the true believers eh? I'll happily go first, just so their's no argument about volunteers as there always are. Well, then let's go change the world; win us some hearts and minds, ha HA!" @Nine @Coin @Beowulf @Strom @cremora @Emiya Shin.


Mason's exaggerated ending laugh echoed a bit more loudly than he expected and before he knew it, Mason felt something slightly heavy strike his shoulder; his eyes shot up to the ceiling and scanned it with the small torch he carried, letting his gaze linger for a few more seconds before he lowered his eyes to the dark tunnel that would be their pathway. Mason was then very acutely aware of the stare's that were now boring into the back of his head, and simply sighed with resignation. Mason turned back to the group and simply held out a hand out toward the tunnel that opened up, asking an obvious question about moving out and quickly made UAR military hand signals for 'Squadron, forward advance' as he figured any former military and the Valkyries could work out what he signed relatively easily. He said nothing more as he slowly began to walk backwards to ensure that his message had been received and then turned back around, seemingly comfortable in keeping a point position, setting a steady walking pace for the time being.


Mason did not truly know what could be waiting for them all at the end of this tunnel, but he supposed there was only one way to find out as he moved; he soon fell into old patrol habit as he steadily kept eyes on his feet to see anything that he could be stepping on with his torch projected out in front of him. His right arm fell into place on the handle of his assault shotgun and used his left to load a belt of pellet rounds and screwed the barrel extension into place; his model 1 brace was also still stiff so he began to try and loosen it up by shifting and flexing his arm. One could never know when bullets would start flying, and he would be ready for anything.

 

[KamiKahzy]

GM Post

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The three sets of lights lighting the dark tunnel emanated from the three frames the Valkyries had taken from the bunker before. They stood idle, waiting for more of the recruits to walk forward into the dark. At first only one did, boldly stepping forward into the unknown and attempting to take point like a true amateur (@SwiftThunder). He did not get very far though before one of the frames honked an emergency horn, causing the man to jolt to a stop before he wandered too far from the group. The other recruits soon followed, making their way towards the small section of the tunnel illuminated by the frames.


The tunnel itself was old, that much was certain. The style of the stonework suggested something from before the great wars, possibly 50 years before they began. Two sets of tracks ran the length of the tunnel, a remnant of it's prior purpose before the time of winter. The tracks were old as well, but due to the cold, subterranean surroundings they were remarkably well preserved. One might believe they could bear the weight of a fully loaded train despite being over 100 years old. But as there were no locomotives in sight, this theory would remain untested.


When the recruits had gathered in front of the Valkyries' frames a hatch on the ol' 75 opened upwards. From the hatch crawled Kharnac, who proceeded to speak loudly over the sound of the frame's engines. "We move forward through the tunnels, our destination lies a days march ahead. We will not stop, so if you have to rest then climb a frame and try to get cozy." Kharnac pointed with one hand that held a pair of binoculars, drawing attention behind the crowd of recruits. "That ORPOD should have a bunk or two, so discuss it with Gretta if you need them." Kharnac took one final look over the crowd to see if there were any that did not understand their goal. Seeing no obvious signs of confusion, Kharnac took his other arm and pointed down the tunnel with a stiff, military knife hand. "Move out!" He barked, before descending into the frame once again, shutting the hatch behind him. The frames lurched to life, turning to their intended destination and beginning to march down the tunnel as best they could. Their first steps into a long and, hopefully, successful campaign against the corruption of the world.


It would be a long journey however, and Kharnac hoped the other recruits would start to build a rapport with one another. They would need teamwork above all else if they wished to survive this campaign.

 

[Soviet Panda]

The first thing Connor did, was climb onto one of those ancient lifter frames. A small nook rather promising to at least sit down on, and he'd be damned if he walked the entire way on foot. As it turned out, if he was careful, curled up into a ball, and pressed against the side of the mech as much as he could, he could fit rather comfortably. "Guess this'll do since the ORPOD's full." a said, a grin splitting his face as he imagined. A bald and bearded and large man, with a large gun hanging at his side, wedged into a small spot like a cork. "There should be another spot on the other lifter." he called out to one of the others that were walking and not in the ORPOD. "It's only a bit of a squeeze."

 

[SeaTea]

Mason adjusted his equipment as he felt fairly isolated right now. He knew he was being stupid, everyone was a consummate professional, or at least played up to one, and he doubted they would have cared what he did as long as nothing happened to them. Still, Mason felt a bit of trepidation as he listened in to Kharnac. Hearing about a day's march without rest stops, Mason simply sighed under his breath, he assumed that they of course needed to get somewhere quick in order to get this whole insurgent thing rolling, but he didn't guess the mission would also be to strain the new recruits to such a point, mostly those who were not use to such a walk. He saw the large bearded man he had talk to, Connor that was the name, scramble aboard one of the lifters, and Mason quickly realized he was one of the only ones still on the ground.


Mason dashed to the younger looking of the two frames and began scrambling up the legs with practice, he would have called out his thanks to the old Kharnac, but the guy had already disappeared into one of the frames. Mason foun a spot where he would not easily slide off, the whole Frame tipping over not withstanding, and settled into the rusted and slightly hot steel with a sigh of contentment, glad to be sitting on something even slightly warm. He glanced over to Connor as they began to move, and shouted to make himself known over the roar of the ancient lifter engines and the ORPOD.


@Beowulf "This right here, this is how you travel in style. Not in lighter than air ships, not armored personnel carriers with environmental seals, but with great lumbering hulks of a bygone age, traveling dozens if not soon to be hundreds of meters beneath the surface where the possibility of cave-in's is tantalizingly high. I tell you good sir, and all of you in that comfy pod," he gestured back to the ORPOD, not even sure if he could be heard from in there. @KamiKahzy @Nine @Emiya Shin @Coin "You think you know traveling, but you really don't know it until you travel by military means, heh!" Mason tried to settle himself back further onto the warming metal and enjoyed his current position out of the cold. He only hoped the thing wouldn't spark and overheat in a matter of seconds, that would be all kinds of trouble."