DEPLOYMENT 19: Mech Warrior

[walking_nuke]

[ACTION - A JUNE 8 (847 Goldberg, Morning, OPEN TO ALL)]

[On the morning right before the Blackwing Project virus is unleashed, Balin gets his own package in the mail, sitting right by the mailbox. He picks it up to take a look at it, realizing quickly just how heavy it is, and setting it back down again just a few steps onto the driveway.]

[If it's this heavy, it's got to be some kind of hardware he had back on the front lines ... but the town's already given him back his Series 3 shotgun, which means—]

[Balin promptly starts opening the package right then and there, tearing it open almost like a kid on Christmas. Then he puts on what's inside—pieces of armored plate and underlayers, fitting right over his usual PT uniform. Boots excepted, of course—he swaps those out with the armored ones in the package.]


[Neighbors or passerby on the street might see him putting it on—and of course, so will the housemates, since he'll be going back inside the house to take care of a few last things before heading off to work.]

[ACTION - B JUNE 8 (Anywhere in Mayfield, Late Morning to Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[Balin's feeling a lot more like his usual self now that he has his Mech Armor suit back, and it shows. He's wearing it everywhere he goes today, whether it's working at the construction yard or on his daily physical training regimen. For anyone who's met him before—especially back during the memory corruption—Balin carries himself in a more confident way as he goes about his business.]

[ACTION - C JUNE 9 (Anywhere in Mayfield, Morning to Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[When the Blackwing virus shows itself, though, it's back to business.]

[He'd heard Ciel's phone call about it, but this time, he's not going to trust Caesar to the battle nun's care. With more of his hardware and Logos Abilities in his possession than last year, Balin's a lot more confident in his ability to hold ground against something so infectious. This kind of thing is, after all, exactly why he spent so much time trying to make homebrew Claymore mines.]

[But while he does have a number of usable prototypes on hand, neither he nor Quinn have had the time to work out a control system for selectively detonating the mines from a single location. He also doesn't have the blasting supplies on hand, which means ...]

[Balin's decided to take a risk while the outbreak is in its relatively early stages to try and get blasting caps and supplies from the construction yard for rigging up to the makeshift mines he'd built at the house. He's almost certain that the town's going to turn into a war zone very quickly, which is why he's armed, armored, and dangerous. Care to prove him right?]

[ACTION - D JUNE 10-11 (Goldberg Street, Morning to Evening, OPEN TO ALL)]

[The Blackwing zombies may retain enough tactical skill to set up ambushes and traps, but Balin's not about to be shown up by the undead. For the infected, Goldberg Street is a deathtrap—Balin's set up the house with the rough homebrew claymore designs he'd been building and experimenting with for the past few weeks.]

[Whether you're a survivor or an infected, you might occasionally hear the sound of a Claymore detonating every now and then if you're in the area. Or you might spot Balin using his Logos Abilities and firearms to clean up the streets. And he's probably not alone in fighting them.]

[PHONE JUNE 12 (Afternoon)]

[Once it's clear that the virus has burned itself out, Balin's going to see Quinn about finishing up the perimeter defense project properly. This time though, he's going to phone ahead.]

Yo, Quinn? I gotta speak with you on somethin'. You free?

Comments

Action D: June 10-11

[the_end_run]

[The explosion had her heading over to Goldberg Street, taking out any zombies she saw along the way. She could take them on, but she had to be sure not to get too careless and fall into any of their traps.]

Reinforcements have arrived!

[walking_nuke]

[Following that explosion are a series of gunshots. And when she can get within view of the street, she'll see Balin in full battle gear, in the middle of a firefight with some of the infected. He's ducking behind a vehicle pockmarked with bullet holes, popping up every few seconds to return fire from different angles behind the car.]

[It looks like he just recently lured a gaggle of them into a trap of his own, because directly in front of 847 Goldberg there's a fan-shaped crater. Out in the street in front of the house there's a few twitching undead casualties of one of his homemade claymore mines. They must have been pretty close when the mine went off, because things are kind of a bloody mess over there.]

[Don't trip on the steel balls everywhere.]

[the_end_run]

[At least it looks like he knows what he's doing. Joining the fray, Shepard fire off a few rounds and, using a piece of metal that's close to the ground, slams a zombie right into the jaw effectively ripping off that part of its flesh. She'll do her best to fight her way over to Balin, taking extra care to not let those things touch her.]

[walking_nuke]

[Hearing a different kind of gunshot in the distance catches Balin's attention. He takes a moment to lean around the side of the car to see where they're coming from exactly.]

[Is it Virginia? No, those big revolvers of hers don't sound like that—]

[A shot pinging off of the side of the car, too close to his face for comfort, causes Balin to duck back behind it again.]

Fuckin'—!

[After a beat, Balin pops up from behind the other side of the car with his Tabula manifest, tossing a bolt of Lightning at one of the closer zombies that had targeted him.]

[the_end_run]

[Shepard replaced a clip in her pistol just as the Lightning attack fried a zombie. Slightly shocked, she quickly snapped out of it and proceeded to swap her pistol for something a little more heavy; a shot gun. Pumping a few bullets into the zombies and mangling some of them beyond recognition, she finally reached Balin at the car. One target zombie attempted to claw her as she ran the final short distance, only for her to slide underneath, aim upwards and blow it's head off. Picking herself off the ground, she jumped over the car and yelled at him:]

Nice shot! Got room behind this vehicle for one more?

1/2

[walking_nuke]

[Those gunshots sounded like they were getting closer—though now there's another weapon being used. Either way, it's got to be someone else fighting the zombies. Maybe he can give them some cover—at least that's what he was thinking right before Shepard jumped over the car.]

D; late sunday

[answerer_sword]

[What Balin sees unfold before his eyes is probably a strange sight. One zombie, or at least, something that resembles a zombie more than a human, has turned against its supposed comrades and is incapacitating and then immolating them.]

[After finishing its latest kill, it turns toward Balin.]

Who...?

[walking_nuke]

[If this were on the battlefield back home, Balin might have mistaken it for a Spy pretending to be a Machina—but not here. He's not letting his guard down, but he can't help but be slack-jawed at the site of a zombie setting other zombies on fire. Especially when it turns about to speak to him.]

You can talk?

[... Maybe it's actually not one of the infected? Either way, he keeps his sidearm firmly held in both hands.]

[answerer_sword]

Yes...I...can. For...now.

[But sooner or later, that ability, along with the rest of her sentience, would slip away.]

[walking_nuke]

[Something seems really familiar about this not-yet-zombie ... but the details are hard to place right away.]

... Who are you?

[He feels like he's gonna regret asking that, but he already has a feeling this is someone he knows.]

[answerer_sword]

Bazett...Fraga...McRemitz.

C

[idkmybfforin]

[There's the brief sound of very, very large wings somewhere behind Balin as he makes his way to the construction site. Okuu had been sneaky! Somewhat.

But now she was close enough to attempt to grab and lift him up by the shoulders, which she does. Or at least tries to.]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin hears the wingflap and starts to glance behind him—but he's a mite too late for that, and gets scooped up rather handily by Utsuho in mid-jog.]

Whoa—!

[Balin feels like he's falling forward for the few moments it takes for Utsuho to get him airborne, and his legs continue pedaling in the air for a second or two out of inertia.]

[This whole thing probably looks like a mouse getting caught by an owl or a hawk.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho keeps right on flying after grabbing her target with a few heavy downstrokes to carry her above the rooftops.]

Where are you going?

[walking_nuke]

[Wait a second that's—what the fuck is this bird doing? Balin tries to look up at her after she asks that question ... and he's kind of hoping that Yatagarasu eye of hers doesn't try to melt his head off.]

I'm goin' to'a construction yard.

[A beat.]

Virginia put you up to'is?

[Because he can't comprehend Utsuho playing Air Taxi for him of all people. He's rather glad to have his armor back now, because if she were to drop him from this height that would suck otherwise.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Said eye is a bit on the unpleasantly warm side, but is at least not doing any head-melting.]

No. But Virginia will be sad if you die or get hurt, so there.

[A pause.]

...and where is that?

C, at ze house

[commentboxtroll]

[Everyone else preparing to fight zombies? Not Caesar. Caesar's been napping on the couch this whole time along with Bonaparte the Second, his cat, curled up on his chest. Either he's unaware of the problem or simply uncaring towards it, because he doesn't look like he's intending to wake up again anytime this afternoon.]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin's been busy gathering what workable prototype designs he had on hand, glancing over to where Caesar's chilling.]

Were you like'at when we dropped you off at'a Church last year?

[commentboxtroll]

[Aaand now someone's talking at him. He doesn't even bother opening his eyes before replying.]

...mm? You mean when we had that undead problem?

[walking_nuke]

Yeah.

[It's almost like Caesar wouldn't care if he were bitten by a zombie or not ...]

[Maybe Zombie Caesar would just nap during the entire incident.]

[commentboxtroll]

[Now he'll open his eyes and squint at Balin.]

No. I think that mostly just irritated me. Why?

[laziest zombie ever]

phone

[technohippie]

Yeah man! I'm at the usual place. Swing on by, I ain't got much goin' on.

[Not much besides setting up one of the harmless confetti-filled versions of the mines in the yard to have it go off when Balin comes over, oh ho ho ho.]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin has no idea.]

Ahright, sounds good. I'll be over in fifteen.

[technohippie]

[Well, Quinn will be waiting. A remote in one hand, a beer in the other (and one set our for Balin nearby). He'll wait juuuust as Balin is walking past the mine hidden near the driveway to hit the button. Instead of an explosion and the spreading of shrapnel, there's a puff of gas and a spray of confetti.]

Surprise.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin never sees it coming.]

Wha—

[And the other half of this tag continues here!]