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

[idkmybfforin]

Why do you have feathers and a shell?

[YOU ARE A VERY STRANGE TURTLE, SIR.]

[walking_nuke]

[... Oh for fuck's sake didn't he just say this wasn't a shell—]

... It's paint. I don't got feathers.

I HAVE NEVER USED THIS ICON BEFORE

[idkmybfforin]

[Derp.]

Unyu.

That is glorious. XD

[walking_nuke]

[Hey Okuu, the rest of that design looks familiar too, doesn't it?]

Oh for fuck's sake, you don't even know what paint is?

:D

[idkmybfforin]

[Her feathers immediately fluff up at the suggestion.]

Of course I do! And that's a cloud, there, too.

[Point. Pointpoint. She knows what a mushroom cloud looks like!]

[walking_nuke]

[Looking back up at her again.]

Okay, on'at, you're right. But not on'a "feathers."

[She ought to know! It's quite like the one everyone saw back on Thanksgiving. Only without all the screams.]

[idkmybfforin]

[Man, don't remind her.]

What are they supposed to be, then?

[Though a snatch of noise that wasn't either of them talking catches her attention for a moment. The hellraven looks back over her shoulder at something, somewhat suspicious.

Those shambling humans were sneaky. And they didn't even taste good. Or probably didn't; Utsuho had had quite enough retching after eating those aggressive, broken-skinned humans after the cloud and destruction had swept over Mayfield.

She's kind of picky now. But only kind of.]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin's keeping his eyes and ears open, too—it's characteristically quiet here at the construction yard, where there should at least be drone workers doing their daily routine. That none of them are here must mean the drone workers have been taken by the outbreak.]

[Maybe Okuu's fireball just earlier roasted a number of them? But for now—]

You know what missiles are?

[idkmybfforin]

[Utsuho faces Balin properly again, only to tilt her head.]

I don't know that word.

[Though she'd recognize the concept!

Just. Spoken languages are hard.]

[walking_nuke]

[Well, shit. How's he gonna explain that? Balin runs a hand through his hair as he looks off to the side for a moment.]

Ahright ... okay, do you know what a rocket is?

[Best to exhaust that option first.]

[idkmybfforin]

[The hellraven's head stays tilted.]

What's it look like? Is there fire?

[walking_nuke]

Sorta. Rockets usually look like a tube with a cone on one end, an'ey got an engine'at burns fuel on'a other. So yeah, there's a kind of fire.

[Balin gestures with his hands to try and illustrate this.]

[idkmybfforin]

Why does the fire go at the end?

[WASTE OF PERFECTLY GOOD FIRE.]

[walking_nuke]

Because a rocket's'a self-propelled flyin' machine. It burns fuel to keep flying.

But a lotta rockets're used as weapons. Remember my explosives? Imagine puttin' somethin' like'at in'a cone end. Then you got a big-ass self-propelled exploding arrow.

[idkmybfforin]

[...she's trying to comprehend this, she really is.

Okuu understood arrows! Kinda. She had seen arrowhead-shaped danmaku before, too.]

Why not use danmaku? Or something like danmaku, since it's supposed to hurt and danmaku doesn't. [Relatively. Pepper spray won't kill you either, for example!]

[walking_nuke]

[Balin's reply is pretty simple.]

Non-lethal weapons usually don't win wars.

[Though that word ... that's a new one on him.]

What's "danmacoo," anyway?

[idkmybfforin]

[Oh, oh, example time!

Utsuho extends both her arms out to the sides and back a little--a humming soundaccompanies the gesture. Then she sweeps her hands forwards as the sound seems to break--and large, very large red-and-white fireballs roll away from her palms to fly at Balin.

The miniature suns might be absurdly large, but they have a small hitbox don't do much real damage. Feel unpleasantly warm, yes, but so long as one stays away from the properly burning core, mostly harmless.

Mostly.

As long as Balin holds his nerve and doesn't move; she had aimed those to miss him with the dangerous part.]

[walking_nuke]

[You know something bad's about to happen when Utsuho gets her "8D" on.]

[But he wasn't expecting huge-ass suns. Or at least—they look like churning suns, but they aren't burning his retinas when he looks up at them.]

[But he's going to treat them like he treated the plasma and fire she was shooting everywhere back in March—he dashes forward and throws himself at the ground, tumbling away from the wave of sun-bullets.]

[NOPE, NO GRAZE POINTS TODAY]

[idkmybfforin]

...unyu?

[The suns...anticlimactically, just fizzle and disintegrate out of existence when they hit the ground.]

...you didn't need to move that much.

[She's peering down at Balin again, almost quizzical this time.]

I wasn't going to hit you, you know.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin was just about to give Utsuho an earful, too—but her reaction—combined with the way those big-ass suns harmlessly sputter out upon impact—is enough to let him know that he overestimated what it was she was doing.]

[But even so ...]

You dropped me from like two stories up! You think I'm gonna just let you do somethin' to me without explainin' it first?

[idkmybfforin]

You bounced. [SHE BELIEVES IN BALIN'S ABILITY TO NOT DIE.]

Didn't you hear me before? Virginia would be sad if you got hurt, or died.

[walking_nuke]

[Still linefacing.]

I did hear. An' I might have'is armor, but I don't got my helmet. If I smacked my head into somethin' just 'cause you dropped me I woulda been hurt. Or dead.

1/2

[idkmybfforin]

[Blink. Bliiiiink.]

Oh.

2/2

[idkmybfforin]

[And another for good measure.]

Sorry.

[walking_nuke]

[She apologized?]

[She apologized.]

[... Maybe it's just because of his association with Virginia, but this is like a complete 180 from hearing her dismissively stating that humans die all the time and there'll always be more.]

[So he just stares dumbfoundedly at her.]