Bound By Blood [Casual - High-Casual] IC

[Glacier Knight]

"Master Arcara, may I fill your glass once more before we land? The Upper Crust is in our sites, only twenty or so more minutes to go.."

The pretty flight attendant stood anxoiusly in the spacious aisle; it wasn't really an aisle though, as the private jet only had a few seats. Plenty of space to roam around in, for such a tiny air-craft. She tugged nervously at the hem of her uniform as a radiant young man, who was previously staring dreamily out the plane's window, swirled around to face her. His eyes were warm and understanding, and he began to laugh.

"Ah Kelcie, this is the fourth time you've slipped up and called me master again." Jean's shook his head in a carefree manner, like an owner whose dog kept rolling around in the grass instead of sitting; too adorable to get upset with. "You're still new, so i'll let it slide, but call me master again and i'll have to cut your wages" He gave Kelcie a playful wink, and she nodded, cheeks flushing.

"Sorry sir, i will-"

"Kelcie! Jean is just fine." He said exasperatedly, and without warning grabbed her hand and stared deep into her glance with his hazel eyes.

"I know you're a paid worker, and I know we come from very different backgrounds, but please, do not belittle yourself! I'm Jean-Claude, and you are Kelcie. we are both human, are we not?"

The sudden intensity and honesty of her boss caused Kelcie to blush even more, but she did manage to give a shaky nod. Jean-Claude smiled and rubbed her hand for comfort.

"Just because I have more money does not make me better than you, or your master! You work for me, that is all. So," he finished, giving an honest smile and a pat on the hand before releasing "Call me Jean. And if I could have some more of that lovely Pinot Noir, I'd be quite content!"

The flustered maid finally had calmed down, and managed to give Jean a sincere smile. As she hastily ventured to the kitchen in the back, she blushed once more as he called out, "Oh, and help yourself to some as well my dear! It's quite the elegant flavor!"
____________________________________________

After landing in the Upper Crust of the Coalition of Sigma, Jean-Claude burst through the doors of the jet in a childishly dramatic fashion, Spreading his arms wide and taking in a deep breath of the unfamiliar air. He gave a content sigh, and beamed as he took in the scene that lay before him; He was hundreds of feet in the air, on a raised runway. He was actually on a whole mess of elevated tarmacs, brightly colored and glossy.

Skyscrapers completely covered the sky around him, except for a tiny opening to his left, where he could see the winter sun perching right over the horizon. It seemed as though a thick forest was located outside the Upper Crust.... Jean-Claude duly noted to check it out later on in his CoS adventure. But for now, he stuck to admiring the city; Hundreds of feet below him, pristine streets, with roads paved in a stone that gave off a light blue glow. However, Jean couldn't make out any people walking about. His surprise settled down as his gaze lifted up towards the sky, around his level and above. The buildings were all connected by translucent bridges, stretching here and there, making patterns in the sky. There Jean-Claude saw the Sigmians in their natural habitat, the richest of the lot strutting happily above the ground, chatting and walking freely and leisurely. He smiled, and suddenly burst into a beaming fit, getting excited from the lovely atmosphere. This place.. now this was a city. His own roaming grounds were quite nice by his standards though, need he ever forget it... but Jean-Claude was instantly attracted to his surroundings, totally engrossed and addicted to the "New-Factor" of it all.

His moment of scanning his new stomping grounds was cut off by a tap on the shoulder, and when Jean-Claude turned he was greeted by a stoic man clad in a red and grey servant uniform. "Sir Aracara, I welcome you to the Upper Crust. I trust your flight was well." He spoke with gravel in his throat, and Jean-Claude could instantly read this man's life: Born into a lower rank, forced to work hard and tedious hours as a slave to get by in life. Life was cruel and tried to erode him with harsh gusts of acid, but he did not waver. He grew cold and hard throughout his tasks, and grew a particular loathing for the people he had to pamper. Jean-Claude shook his head and gave his trade-mark grin,

"Thank you very much sir, but I think you and me both know you'd rather lick a Sabre-Bear's arse than hear about a "rich little brat's" luxurious flight." Jean's grin grew wider as the man's face suddenly went into incredulous shock, and considered his reach to be a bull's-eye. "Don't worry, I won't droll on about the luxuries you could only dream of. That would be quite rude, and you already despise my kind. Could you please show me to where I am to stay during my visit?"

The servant gave a quick shake of the head and centered himself, and then grunted, quickly moving to a pale green bridge that crossed over to a Skyscraper. Jean-Claude gave a satisfied sigh as he had to pick his pace up to catch up to his embarrassed new friend. I know its somewhat mean to play with people, but its incredibly fun to surprise them like that! he said to himself, absentmindedly gazing around once more as he made his way through the crowds of the Wealthy. I hope I didn't ruin his pride though, Jean pondered sincerely. I should be honest with the man, he's a hard-working soul after all.

After passing through the insides of buildings, some quite extravagant (Jean-Claude made sure to memorize the way back to the spa-center with the 50 story inside waterfall), They had finally reached their destination, a solid crimson Skyscraper with the words "The Red-Hawk's Perch" located conveniently over the bridge. Jean grew even more amazed as he entered, and took notice of the posh furniture and atmosphere. The designs were unlike anything he has seen, for while the United Front's rich submersed themselves in traditional and classical ambiance, the Coalition seemed to relish in the bold and outlandish. scrawny and twisted trees spurt from the floors and walls, and a mist hung throughout the whole floor. It seemed as though Jean was really in a dense woods, though forestland usually does not include wide screen plasmatating tv screens, registration desks that doubled as exotic aquariums, and floating bulbs of light. The furniture was all a deep dark brown, and seemed quite fuzzy. Jean took the time to lie back and feel the cool textures, and he concluded it was like lounging upon trained Alpine-Thunderwolves. He gave a dreamy sigh, and closed his eyes... but quickly opened them as he remembered someone was waiting on him, and already thought negatively of his kind.

"Sorry my friend! I got a little distracted." Jean-Claude deeply apologized as he quickly made his way over to the servant, who was starting at the man. He seemed to be trying to read Jean, to discover more about him through the body language. Jean-Claude couldn't help but smile, as this was his most gifted talent, and said "I'm not like the usual snobs, aren't I?"

The man simply nodded, trying not to give anymore away. "Here is the key to your floor, Sir Aracara. Please enjoy the splendor of the Upper Crust." he said, with as much control as he could. But, Jean threw him for another curve-ball; the charming youth firmly hugged the statue of a man. The latter was suddenly quite in an awkward position, as the embrace lasted for almost a minute. Finally his captor realeased him, giving a gracious smile, and the servant was too speechless to say anything. The man simply left, and went back to his duties.

Later that night, Jonathan Niklaus was dumb-founded to find a hand sized pouch of blood rubies in his left pocket as he changed for bed. Inside was also a small note that said "Cheers~". That night was spent drinking and contemplating all he had thought about "the scummy piles of rich people" he had known for so long.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ____________

Jean-Claude felt like the king of the world once he reached the highest floor of the Red-Hawk's Perch. When the elevators opened he once more felt the cool breeze of outside, and as he stepped out Jean gazed at his massive quarters. For the most part, he has what was basically the roof of the whole skyscraper, though roof is quite a dull and rudimentary term. This was a mythical forest, with the trees growing inside the building finally finding freedom, and poking out from below. The area was split into three different levels; the forest was all around him until he took a couple of steps upwards to find, to his utter delight, a rocky spa bath system. soft warm steam rolled off the pools of water and fell to the woods below, making them misty. He continued on the short path through the spa to take a few more steps, and this was where Jean's adventure came to an end; A small but completely stylish condo was furnished on the edge of the Hawk's Perch. He stepped in and plopped his single bag down, and once again appreciated just how splendid and masterfully crafted the accommodations were. He could never forget how everyday people could only dream of this wealth and glamor, and yet he lived theirs and his dream every day.

This suddenly put a sad twist on things. Jean was quick to change emotions, and his eyes fluttered without warning, slowly misting. Why did he deserve all this? Did he? His father and mother worked hard to build up the Aracara wealth, and he has done his fair share with the business side of the company. He couldn't even count how many times he had saved an important deal with his quick wits and honest charm. Yet.... why were their people like Kelcie? The servant who hated his owners? And everyone else in the world who lived in horrible conditions? Jean quietly sunk onto the single bed, a water bed to be precise. He laughed darkly at that. Some people didn't even have beds, and he was going to sleep wonderfully on a cloud of water. Why? Why was the world full of poor people?

Jean-Claude suddenly heard a bleep, and at once checked his small phone device, rubbing mist from his eyes. It was a message, from Kelcie. "Made it safely off the runway, and we are heading back to the Aracara Estate. I hope you enjoy your vacation, Jean. I will miss your kindness and pure heart. P.S, the Pinot Noir was indeed..... Elegant "

And suddenly he was laughing again, a beam on his face. God, I go through the phases like a budding girl, he chuckled to himself shamelessly. It was then he was broken from the sudden dreary mood. Yes, life was unfair. Yes, he probably did not deserve all this. However, it was here, and Jean-Claude would take it. And when he did, he would make sure that the people would get its fair share. Everyone would be happy.
__________________________________________________ _______

Jean-Claude did not notice that he had fallen asleep (the flight must have hampered him more than he had suspected). He gave a weary yawn, and then checked out the window. The sun painted the Upper Crust in a brilliant spectrum of pink and orange, as it began to sink. The Sky-scarpers must have been built especially for this, because they reflected the like and added their own colors to the mix. Jean was showered in a spectrum of natural shades, and this made him smile. Even though technology had taken a spot in this land, Mother Nature had once again found a way to sneak in and grace the land with her majesty. He checked his wrist watch, and decided that he was energized enough to go on the town- why not? He knew for a fact this place would never sleep, and there were many things to discover. There was a particular place he had in mind though, as Jean smoothly changed outfits. The name "Stratos" came to mind, in the voice of his stern father, as he adjusted his collar and tightened his belt. A quick glance in the mirror, and he was quite pleased. ...except the hair. Jean-Claude fervently ran into the bathroom, with his trusty custom-made gel, and styled his hair by memory in his favorite manner (It looks similar to this, but a tad shorter). A quick approval from himself, and then off he went, camera and journal as well as wallet in hand as he scurried through his personal forest. As he descnded down the elevator, his father's words bubbled slowly up into his stream of thought.

"There is a bar, quite famous, named Stratos. Make sure you visit often, there you can find the consul of judges. Remember, stay sharp and be careful. I'm sure the higher forces are nervous that a United Front tycoon has arrived at their home base. But get as much information as you can.... the outcome of the war depends on it."

Jean-Claude was so absorbed in thought he completely forgot to flirt with the insanely attractive auburn beauty that entered from the sixty-fourth floor.

[Gemini Saga]

Even though it was a day-off for all Brotherhood members, some recruits were in a line listening to some talk. They wanted to visit family, friends, love, but they couldn't since their leader requested their presence. All frustrated started to talk.

"Why are we here? Isn't it a day off?"
"I have to visit my girl!!!"
"Come on, we should flee from here"

Suddenly, all recruits heard footstep. It was their trainer, Cassius. All recruits entered in near mystical silence after seeing him stopping on their front. The recruits sweated a bit.

"So, recruits... What a nice day for training, huh?"

The recruits didn't answer. They feared that any kind of reaction would unleash the rage of an almost 2m bear-like human being with a giant mechanical arm and send they to underworld before any war. One recruit whispered in a low voice, but enough to Cassius to hear.

"What the fuck are we doing here, stupid viking?"

Cassius walked slowly around the recruits.

"You know what is the best part about today? Is that no one wil use the training field. That means that I, no, we will make a full close-combat training. You may think, why we need to know close combat since most of you will be fihting with your stupid mechas and useless guns. But nothing never works as you wish on the battlefield, and this is one of the pillars of knowledge of a good soldier. Let's suppose thatyou run out of ammunition or the reactor of your toy ends. Then there's a front of 100 armed soldiers on your front, ready to make from you a swiss cheese. What will you do? Surrender? _Cassius howls_ NEVER!!! I'll show you what you should do! YOU, STUPID FACE, COME HERE!!!"

The recruit that was talking before answered with a certain fear.

"M-me?"

"Is there anyone else here with a stupi face? Stop goofing and come here!!!"

The recruit stepped forward with a mix of panic and anger. The other recruits tried to hid their laughters because a single reaction could make them wish being dead. Cassius threw a machine gun at the recruit.

"Now kids, imagine the situation I told you. This stupid youngster will shoot me to death with that potent weapon. I only have my coat, while on the battlefield you may have your special bulletproof cloth, unless you were idiot and lost it and then you're dead. Now stupid, shoot me. Here on my arm, or my face. Can you do it?"

The recruit trembles and don't shoot.

"Look, recruits! This stupid here is a coward MWAHAHAHA!!! He can't even pull the trigger!!! You are allowed to laugh if you want."

All other recruits mock him and laugh. The mocked one then pulls the trigger and a shower of bullets fly in Cassius' direction, but he covers himself in his coat and runs quickly at the recruit, punching the recruit's abdomen. The recruit falls on floor in near catatonic state.

"This is what you should do. Remember recruits, you aren't on war to save yor lives, but all your beloved ones. The peace can only be brought if you know what you are doing, and to bring it, sometimes you need to act without thinking too much. But you need to think. Think not on the results of your act to you, but to the ones you care about. I think I already told why I have just one arm, and that exemplifies well."

A thunder is heard.

"Well recruits, it seems that it's going to rain, so I'll observe your training against some upper-class soldiers masters of combat from far. Soldiers, just make sure they won't die, and good the soldier from land down under with turbo suit isn't here since he killed three on the last session. The training stars now!!! No day off for us battlers!!!"

__________________________________________________ ____

Cassius goes to a room that can't rain and observes his recruits training. He took pride on all soldiers he trained. While they were killing each other, he remembered of his childhood and started to drink. An officer appeared and greeted him while he was drinking.

"Good afternoom, sir!!!"

"Howdy, friend!"

"Sir, I thought the superiors had forbid you from drinking."

"They did."

"So, sorry to ask, but why are you drinking?"

"Because I want to."

"But sir, they..."

"If they don't want me to drink, tell them to take the bottle fom my hand. Besides, today is a special day. We must celebrate! And there isn't a better way to celebrate than drinking! Am I wrong, officer?"

"No, sir."

"Want to join me on the celebration?"

"I do sir, but tonight is day off and the nurse and I..."

"HAHAHAHA!!! These youngsters of today!!! Alcohol actualy helps on that!"

"I'm sure it's not what you are thinking, sir..."

"It WILL be, friend!!! Although it's hard in these unstable times. At least your girl is at your side. Mine is doing something extremely important for this nation, and I'm not even supposed to tell who she is."

"I understand sir, but the nurse is my sister and we were going to visit our mother..."

"HAHAHA!!! Ok, go with peace, friend! And if you see Tobias around, tell him to stop by here and drink a bit. He seems very stressed and I'd like to talk with him a bit."

"I will, sir!"

[King Serperior]

Location: The Brotherhood main base
Minutes after the speech, Tobias walked to the Complex. There were some things he had to do before he could give Scarlette the day she deserved. God knows she must think he's an aweful father.
After taking the elevator to the top floor of the 15 story Complex, Tobias stepped into his office. The office was extremely large and spacious. The walls were covered in maps of past battles, diagrams of differing mechs that have been captured over the years, and other charts of items from the past. That was the problem. There was only items that pointed to the past. If a spy were to sneak into the office, the most recent thing he would find was from almost three years ago. Nothing was up-to-date.....at least that's how it appeared on the outside.
From the moment that Tobias stepped on the elevator, hundreds of sensors and identification markers were being activated and searched for. By the time the elevator reached the second floor, there was no doubt that Tobias was actually Tobias. As he stepped into the office, he was met by the sudden appearance of a bare-chested Native American man. However, this was no ordinary man. He had a Black Panther's head, His arms and hands were in the form of an Eagle's talons, his legs and feet were like a Bison's. The man, if you could call him that, walked forward until he stood face-to-face with Tobias.
"Hello, Master Tobias. I assume you are ready to hear the reports?"
"Thank you, Chimera. Has there been anything of intrest that needs to be taken care of right away?"
Chimera nodded and stepped back to begin pacing.
"Though the UI have, yet again, changed their codes, we have heard snatches of talk coming from their end. It appears that a patrol of Raptor-Class mechs were destroyed along the UI-UF border."
"That is interesting. How soon do you think the decoding will be completed?"
"If I focus all of my processing on that task, I should be completed in about five hours."
"Good, good. Any word from our spies in the CoS? Have they managed to achieve access to this mysterious "Bunker 3"?"
Chimera shook his head.
"No, but he has been promoted to the outermost checkpoint of said facility. However, because of this he is watched even more closely."
"Ok, keep me posted on that. What else?"
"Only one last thing: Our last patrol has managed to capture a Goliath-Class mech. There were six casualities, but it was a success. They should be at the landing zone in two more hours. It'll take them two more to get here. I'll have a team of scientists to analyze the mech and try to reverse engineer it."
Tobias nodded. That Goliate-Class mech has been sought out for almost a year now. It had taken months to figure out when the mech would be sent to the ammo and refueling station and months more to work out a plan. Though the casualities hurt, it was enevitable that they would happen.
"Ok, Chimera, keep me posted on that as well. Alert me on my implants if something happens. Until then, I'll leave everything to you for a few hours."
Chimera's body faded away as the hologram projectors were turned off. When Tobias first met Chimera, he was trapped in the Chimera-Class mech that he stole when he escaped the UI all those years ago. The two quickly became friends and found that they had similar wants and dreams.
-----------------------------------
As Tobias exited the Complex he walked to the training room that Liam and Chimera designed for keeping the edges of one's mind and body sharp. Once he entered, he saw Liam and Scarlette talking and laughing.
"There you are, Scar! I was just about to ask Liam her to search for you. He seems to have some sixth sense when searching for you. Anyway, Scar, I know I have been too busy to be around often, so I am here to spend some time here with you to make it up a little."
--------------------------------------------
Location: The Stratos Bar
Five men and women of various ages were sitting in a private corner of the bar talking about the new arrival that appeared recently.
"Look, if it were up to me, I'd have shot down that scumbag out of the sky!" said Virgil (Age-89; Male)
"I wouldn't have even let him have the chance to be flown here. Seriously, this could cause problems." replied Gera (Age-76; Female)
"Look, you two, I voted that we let him come here because we may have to have a hostage. We'll have the UF by their..." said Simon (Age-35; Male) before being interupted by his fellow counsil member, Jared (Age-50; Male).
"There will me no shootings or hostages. This man came here by our own goodwill. I am tired of this conflict."
"Speak of the devil, there's the man right there!" exclaimed Celeste (age-44; Female) as she pointed at the door. Sure enough, Jean walked into the Stratos like he owned the place.....

[Maxim6]

High in the skies of the Canadian countryside, a simple pilot could be found in his cockpit, focusing intently on the mission that was laid out in front of him.

This is it...people are counting on me for this. If I screw this up, lives may be put in danger. I cannot afford to mess this up, or else everything I have fought for will be at risk. Only one shot, I better make it count...

The pilot put his hand on the trigger, he would have to aim this shot just right. He hesitated a bit, until his targeting computer locked onto the target. In a flash, he pressed the button and two air-to-land missiles screamed out of the aircraft, dubbed the Blue Eagle by it's owner, heading towards the land below. Before the enemy troops could react, the missiles landed, and all of them were blown to smithereens.

At least, they would be were they actually human.

"Excellent shot Archer." a voice came from the dashboard. A small television screen showed a woman in uniform, the control tower for the local base "According to our sensors, the enemy outpost just got blown to smithereens. 77% fatality rate, 87% injury rate, 2% structural integrity remaining."

"Not bad." the pilot said. "The bombers would be able to clean up the rest easily. Where's my next destination?"

"Home, this is it for your training drills today Lieutenant. After you get home, you are to report to dinner as normal. Also, a letter came in for you that you may want to check out."

"Thanks, Kiro out."

As Kiro started flying back to base, he breathed a sigh of relief, and drifted onto his own memories. His earlier inner monologue was a tool he had discovered to increase performance. He reasoned that if he treated every shot as of the utmost importance, then he would do better and hit his target more often. However, when the threat was over, he often got lost in his own thoughts.

I wonder, if I stopped being so good at this, would they reassign me to the mechanic department? Nah, probably not. They'd sooner send me back to the factories. On the bright side, at least I'd see my father again...

__________________________
Eventually, he arrived back at the base. His plane slowly drifted down towards the runway. It touched down, but jerked slightly to the left immediately after landing. Kiro was able to get it under control, but muttered "I really need to get that fixed". He got out of his plane and headed towards the mailbox to receive the letter. I wonder if it's the Board of Directors. I hope I get approved this time.

The Board of Directors was a council of nine people from the upper echelons of CoS society who oversaw ID card registration among other administrative purposes. If someone wanted to get to one of the higher layers of society, they'd have to fill out a long and complicated form stating their reasons for deserving the privilege. Since those in the slums and factories were often illiterate, there were few applicants to the higher levels and even fewer that were accepted. Kiro was lucky in many respects because of his mother teaching him how to write as well as the fortunate turn of events. Currently, he was trying to get into the Bunker Class 3, primarily because that would give him a much easier time of being accepted into the Middle Class layer, but also because he had heard rumors of weapons being built there that could potentially turn the cold war into the Coalition's favor.

He made his way to the Mail depot and grabbed the letter. Indeed, it was from the Board of Directors. Kiro, shaking a bit from anticipation, opened the letter and read it. Unlike the last few letters, this one was written by hand.

Dear Loyal Soldier of the Coalition,

We have read your request to Bunker Level 3 and have considered it in our minds. Indeed, your military exploits have been impressive. However, after careful consideration your request has been denied. Also, we wish to request that you abstain from sending us any more Authorization Forms, as we have gotten three of them from you in the last six months alone. Please consider rising in the ranks more before proceeding.

We appreciate your patience.

-Board of Directors.

*Sigh* "Again I've been denied what's rightfully mine." Kiro muttered to himself. He then asked for another form from the attendant working there, and started heading towards the mess hall for some dinner.

[UllarWarlord]

Success! Well, tentative success. Boomer had created a tentative beta version of the 'Barrel of Monkeys'. He was so excited, he forgot to inform Kathleen as he ran out of his quarters, after placing the explosive in a secure container, of course. Safety first. He went in search of Tobias himself, hoping that he would approve the continued construction of these explosives; Boomer saw no reason why he wouldn't, but he knew that the beauracracy of the Brotherhood was strict. Stricter than it needed to be, anyway. He may have a full memory of the Brotherhood's headquarters (and where everything was), but Tobias was a constantly moving person. However, Boomer was observant. He saw Tobias searching for a person with a certain urgency, an urgency that suggested that it was a family member. Naturally, it must be Scarlett. Also, Boomer had noticed the general direction of where Scarlett retreated from meetings. There was only one thing of interest in that direction: the Virtual Training Grounds. He headed in that direction. He ran so fast, he ran smack into Scarlett's hindquarters. He fell to the ground, managing to catch his explosive before it hit the ground. Even in one of his secure containers, no telling what could happen. He looked up at the three rather important people in the Brotherhood, and not knowing what to do, he presented the container to Tobias, telling him, "I made a new bomb!"

-------------

Kathleen finally got some rest. The little monster had finally stopped blowing things up. Maybe he wizened up a bit. She thought of her father Jared, of her old life, as she drowsily dropped off...

[Stephanie96]

Scarlett smiled when Liam said he'd be there.
"I'm glad you'll be there, it should be really fun!" She was actually a little bit more excited to be the birthday girl. She was about to ask Liam if he'd save a dance for her when her father voice boomed out from behind her.

"There you are, Scar! I was just about to ask Liam her to search for you. He seems to have some sixth sense when searching for you. Anyway, Scar, I know I have been too busy to be around often, so I am here to spend some time here with you to make it up a little."

"Save me!" She mouthed at Liam, jokingly, before spinning on her heels and beaming at her father. "Hey, daddy! Actually, I ran into Liam, not the other way around. I was going to do a bit of training and he was on his way out. Spending some time with you sounds brilliant. I'm going to have to go and get ready soon, though, so what did you have in mi-"

Suddenly, Scarlett felt hereslf thrown as something collided with her. She crashed into Liam and heard whoever had crashed into her make a loud declaration.

"I made a bomb!"

"Dammit, Boomer!" She rolled her eyes.

[ShowdownVD]

I frowned as I heard the declaration, stating the inevitable: That the little bomb monkey made yet another bomb. But he had succeeded at one thing.

He pushed Scarlett right into my arms.

I smiled and helped her stand. I looked over at Tobias and drew back my hood and unzipped my jacket. I simply stood there as the other three talked. I knew my place, and it was not to speak unless spoken to or if my input was needed.

[Raven Rise]

Salazar had been standing outside Tobias' office for quite some time. Probably discussing plans with Chimera, Salazar thought to himself. Although he had been around Tobias for longe than anyone could remember, Salazar didn't fully trust Chimera. He felt that he was always hiding something. Or maybe it was because he was a spymaster. That, or maybe Salazar was just being a little harsh against the odd-one-out, but either way, he never told anybody his thoughts about Chimera, and never let them show in his actions. As long as he doesn't do anything suspicious, Salazar reasoned. As Salazar contemplated, the doors to Tobias' office blew open ad the General bounded past Salazar, to fast for him to be noticed. Probably lost in his own thoughts... Well, at least I know where they're going. Salazar began to walk towards the simulator room. In a matte of moments he walked through the doors to see Scarlett and Liam, along with Boomer on the floor explaining about a new bomb, and Tobias jovially greeting his daughter. After the finished exchanging hellos, Salazar walked towards te group and asked, "Do you mind if I barge in?"

[Madotsuki]

Hours... earlier.

Bah, Luke thought to himself. Who needs a day off? If my plans work as they should, I'll be on the verge of a new breakthrough for the Brotherhood! Luke clapped his hands loudly, wrapped in his fantasies, and startled several nearby members who had already begun retreating to their homes. Slightly embarrased, Luke decided to regress briskly as well.

Luke twisted his way through the crowds, finally arriving at a nearby building. The walls were aged, crumbling, and the lawn was overgrown. These issues did not pass over Luke. I'll have drones fix it all up for me, he thought, as soon as I have the time for trivial bullshit. But Luke didn't have such time. Today was the day. The day that would finally provide him with the necessary ingredient for future iterations of "The Day," the day that Luke would return to complete the task he had always been meant to do. The day Luke would finally triumph, and earn his place in the history of the Brotherhood, and of hum-

"Bah!" cried Luke. He had gotten ahead of himself. The future would have to wait. Luke looked at the distance between himself and the door. It hadn't grown shorter in the past 30 seconds; a thankfully easy error to correct. Luke opened the door and jumped inside, throwing the door with a slam and bolting to his garage at the earliest opportunity. "It's here..." Luke muttered to himself. "It's finally here." He halted in front of his cluttered, haphazard desk, and sifted through a pile of blueprints and tools. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for.

It was a small wheeled car, not much bigger than an RC toy. It was coated in stainless steel, with tight plastic sealing any holes. Luke went over his blueprints, reading his brief description:

brainfuck 1440 - The latest in automated hacking and pirating hardware (possibly by virtue of being the sole member), the brainfuck comes equipped with advanced auto-targetting to move itself to, if not THE desired computer, a DESIRABLE one. It automatically locks on to wireless signals, such as those emitted by high-tech mechs (like Toby's). Waterproof and durable, the brainfuck is persistent enough to always arrive at the most advanced location around, and without any troublesome user input at all! Equipped with both wireless connectivity features AND a multitude of wire plugs, the brainfuck is capable of stealing code from (and hypothetically uploading code TO but I don't need that for Toby's mech) any target!

"Brilliant, if I do say so myself," muttered Luke to himself. He swiped his blueprint and tossed it to the side, carefully going over the plan once again.

1. PRESS BUTTON
2. LAPTOP GOES ON
3. ROBOT GIVES YOU THE CHIMERA'S CODE
4. YOU COPY IT AND BUILD MORE
5. BROTHERHOOD IS UNSTOPPABLE EVERYONE LOVES YOU GOOD JOB

Not the most cohesive set of goals. Luke made yet another mental note reminding himself not to think up ideas (or, at least, not sketch them out) at three in the morning. Nevertheless, Luke was proud. This'll show Tobias to not trust him with Chimera! The CoS cut Luke's experiments short, being the bureaucratic, imperfect humans they are, but the Brotherhood will not get in his way! Chortling to himself, Luke hovered his finger over the one button on the drone, savored the moment, and pushed it.

Immediately the brainfuck whirred to life, scurrying around to sense the room. It stopped briefly, its dull blue lights glowing behind their plastic covers. Suddenly, it sped off, out through the door. "YES!" shouted Luke, running after it. But Luke's happiness didn't last for long, as the drone flew across the rockbed.

"That... that's the opposite direction..."

Luke went back into his house, trodding into his study. A quick glance at the map affirmed Luke's sudden fear: the drone was headed to Asia.

"FUCK!" Luke banged on the desk. Had he really made such a stupid mistake? Did he... did he really set the sensitivity that high? Perhaps it would have been easier to build in a remote contr-

No. There are some things it's okay to back down on, but hypocrisy is never allowed. Why should Luke be more deserving of human input into his drones than anyone else? Luke was no less flawed than the others he lived with. Besides, retreading remote controls... how does THAT speed along the future? Luke resigned himself for today, and got up to go find a couch to sink into.

[Arsenal]

January 3, REDACTED - 07:18
REDACTED - Brotherhood of Blood Headquarters

Isabel returned to the armory to return the unused ammunition that she'd taken for the live fire exercise, setting the unused paint ammunition and paint-stained padding onto the counter, where one of the staff picked it up to stow away. The clerk waved her off with a smile, a gesture she returned with the tip of her hat. Returning outside she could already see that the appointed "Green" and "Yellow" teams were already moving to enter the training area for the combat simulation. Even with the roll of thunder echoing through the field, the infantry marched onwards, not even a little rain was going to get in their way.

The new recruits vanished from her sight and she went on her way, wondering what to do with the rest of her day, since they had been given the rest of it off after this morning's drill. The rain started to fall, dripping against her coat and hat, but Isabel didn't mind the water at all. Shifting the rifle she carried under her coat, she tied the belt of her dustcoat a little tighter and went onwards to find the nearest shelter against the wet weather. She pushed the doors of one of the buildings open and let herself inside, taking her hat off and shaking it a few times to throw the remaining water droplets off.

Placing her headwear back in place and brushing some errant drops of water from her coat, she turned to look back outside, pushing the door open to see just how heavily the rain was falling. It didn't look like it would let up soon, but Isabel was going to wait it out anyway.

"Excuse me Private," called a voice from behind her, "I need to get through there."

Isabel turned to see an officer behind her, she stepped aside, but quickly corrected him, "I'm not a private, I just work liaison with the Brotherhood, and they're still training me anyway."

"Training? Then shouldn't you be outside?" The officer pointed past Isabel towards the rain-soaked fields beyond the doors.

"Fortunately, no, I'm working under Commander Seabaum's unit, we finished before it started to pour."

The officer understood and dipped his head, he pushed the door open, a rush of cold air wafting in through the doorway, "Nice to meet you Miss, enjoy your day off."

"You too," she bid farewell to the officer, but what he had said about soldiers outside training had garnered her curiosity. She wondered about the mentioned trainees and decided that, since she was going to wait for the rain to stop, she'd get a better look at what else she could expect to see. She'd only met fellow infantrymen, but she'd heard tales that men of many talents lended their loyalty to the Brotherhood. She wanted to see just how many of these tales held truth.

Wandering through the halls, she found room after room devoid of activity or inhabitants; on this cold, rainy day when the men had been given time off, most of them surely had gone off to celebrate or stay home. Entering a room suited for observation, Isabel approached the window opposite to look outside. Many recruits were outside fighting one another, sparring in hand-to-hand. She placed her hand on the cold pane, completely unaware of the other presence in the room.

Turning around, Isabel's eyes opened wide for a moment when she saw a large man watching the recruits with a drink in hand. She placed her hand over her heart to calm herself, "My apologies sir, I did not know you were in here."

She looked at the man for a moment more, he was large, definitely over six feet in height and with an immense build. It took her a moment to recognize the figure, she'd heard talk of him among her fellow recruits before, "Wait a moment, sir... are you Cassius?"