first sortie.

[unbr8kable]

[Six hours previous, everything had been so much simpler. The Eta cohort had made it to live combat training, out in one of the few areas the Tenno had claimed back from the invaders. Xia had been vibrating the whole day, grinning wide as she suited up in the boring steel training mech (hers would be blue, she decided, or maybe black, with bold red stripes on the limbs) and deployed to the field, not even cracking on Wimperson, the Support (not his real name, but it may as well have been).

The Heralds didn't come up on radar until they were practically on top of the trainees. Maybe if there'd been more lead time, it would've been less of a shitshow, but who the hell knows.

The grimy details aren't important, but they aren't great. Damage to all suits, with two damaged beyond repair; the Leader froze under pressure, the Shadow couldn't keep up with the speedy Heralds. Wimperson actually came through. Johnson the Medic went down right there, in front of them.

Xia and Jacob have only just gotten out of their debriefing, another unexpected first for the day.

She and Jacob did good, Xia knows. They kept their heads, were barely hurt, they moved together well. "You'll make a good team," Corporal Kuwahara tells them before turning towards the medical ward to check on Johnson's surgery. "Go get some rest."

But no, rest is pretty much the opposite of what they need right now, Xia thinks. She turns to Jacob, giving her best attempt at a normal expression.]

Wanna get out of here?

Comments

[crossmyheartandhope]

What? No!

I'd put like. Swords, and some dead aliens. And maybe a crow.

[Shhh, he hasn't been on the roof trying to teach the crows the Tiki Room theme in his downtime at all.]

[unbr8kable]

Why a crow? And wouldn't it get distracted by the swords?

[crossmyheartandhope]

Why not a crow? They're supposed to be smart, right?

You could teach it not to get distracted.

[unbr8kable]

But they're shiny. No one can get distracted from that.

[crossmyheartandhope]

What if they were black swords? Like the way they make knives sometimes?

[unbr8kable]

Like that carbon fiber stuff? I want one! There should be at least two of them in our crest or whatever. What if you had a suit that was made of them...

[crossmyheartandhope]

That'd be just as cool as the needles. A whole suit's a little big to put on a coat of arms, though.

[unbr8kable]

Oh, I meant for a suit for me! Or whoever, I guess. It'd be pretty badass.

[crossmyheartandhope]

You could just charge through - just swing your arms, and there go the aliens.

[unbr8kable]

Exactly! Saves so much trouble! For you, you could have sword arms for your ninja moves and stuff.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Sword arms would be pretty handy.

[unbr8kable]

Har har har... Let's not even get started down that path.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[This is a perfectly innocent grin. Hands up in a placating sort of manner.]

Okay, okay. That path's marked "do not enter."

[unbr8kable]

...

....

[she...thinks she is successfully placated???]

Good. Save the old man jokes for the old men!

[crossmyheartandhope]

Comes of hanging out with Yoshioka, I guess. It just kinda creeps in.

[unbr8kable]

That's why you've gotta be careful! Constant vigilance! Don't get old before your time!

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Gives a sloppy little mock-salute.]

Consider my vigilance constant.

[unbr8kable]

[sticks out her tongue, but can't help but smile a bit]

That's more like it.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Anyway - [Nudges at her.] -really, what're we drinking?

Otherwise we're just gonna be walking in circles all night.

[unbr8kable]

[nudges back]

Gentleman's choice. Prove out that youthful exuberance.

[crossmyheartandhope]

You say that like there's any chance I'll pick anything but the place that does parfaits.

[unbr8kable]

Maybe I thought I'd be nice, for once.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Griiiin.]

Then let's go to the place that does parfaits!

[unbr8kable]

Okay, okay. If we must.

[she sticks out her tongue, turning parfait-wards]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Parfait-wards we go, then. This particular place is even farther from the Tenno building, through a warren of streets riddled with low-hanging electric wires, flashy pachinko parlours, and arcades lined with claw-catcher machines.]

[Most of the restaurants are closed, but there's one lone ramen place with lights still on in the windows.]