(a Spleonkey collab)

[center][h3]The Wastes[/h3][/center]


Hours flew by as Seeker Cordelia and the NIS operative, Oscar West, made their way around Reiters army base. They hadn't spent much time conversing on the way as both had been studying various information regarding the case. Near the command center of the facility was the beating heart of the NIS, where various reports on the case that were nothing but smoke and shadow were constantly thrown in both Cordelia and Oscar's face. Sifting through it was arduous indeed but the realization that there wasn't much that the Union could do from behind its borders dominated the situation. At least they had some detailed maps.

It was time for them to venture into the wastes.

It was a large room that the two were in, bristling with television screens and the constant hum of computers. Nearly Dominating this were voices from the mass of officers, discussing everything from operative positions to lunch plans. Oscar sat lazily at a large brown table. His feet propped up upon its corner. In his hands were two precise photos of the immediate area, along with seven more lower quality, zoomed out wide shots. 

"They had to be flying pretty low to get these pics." Oscar said, almost disappointed before continuing "I was really hoping that they woulda stayed at a higher altitude so as not to spook that Lyssa gal, but I guess it's too late now." 

"I doubt spooking her is something we need to worry about." Cordelia grimly commented as she looked at the photos. Clearly shown in the pictures was the very top of some massive buried Pre-Cataclysm building. The objective of Lyssa's mission was almost definitely inside. If that was all the photos showed Cordelia would have been elated.

"I'm concerned about this" She pointed at one of the fifteen beaten up vehicles that had been parked near the building. "Since it means someone beat us to her." She bit her lower lip as she mulled that thought over.  After a moment she muttered "What the hell did these sisters get themselves into?"

Oscar leaned over to examine the vehicles, "Huh." he said inquisitively before getting comfortable again. "So someone beat us to her. But if she hadn't responded in almost a week, you'd figure them vehicles wouldn't be there. I bet she killed em'." 

"Or" Cordelia said, "They are simply busy raiding that building after killing her. Which means are incredibly unlucky since I'd guess those vehicles could carry at least thirty men. Probably more." She let out a long sigh. "It must be nice being so optimistic."

"Better than being negative all the time." Oscar replied, "And thirty men bad. Especially for your folks right?" He said with a grin. Before either could continue, an officer made his way to them. "I am sorry to interrupt, but another recon flight sighted a pretty strong dust storm rolling towards that site." He took a deep breath, "That unfortunately rules out aerial insertion."

Oscar nodded at the man and turned to Cordelia, "Well, unless your people have shit that can see through a dust storm, it looks like we are in for a drive." 

"Let's drive." Cordelia agreed. "You don't want to see just how much damage a sandstorm can cause to a gunship's engines." She rose to her feet, a chirping sound from her pocket drawing her attention downwards. She pulled her comlink out, a groan escaping her lips when she looked at the displayed name of the caller. "Keeper Fytch" She said for Oscar's benefit. "Do I even want to accept this call?"

"Is it that prick I walked by back at the capitol?" Oscar gave a smug look, "Although that guy seemed like he'd be a fun drunk." 

"Really?" Cordelia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I figure a drunk Fytch would just pull the stick out of his ass and start beating people with it."

Oscar let out a loud laugh before nodding at her, "Yeah, I could see that. But you might want to take that call. I'll go get our ride ready, just pop out when you're ready."

"Oh no." Cordelia said as she moved to follow him. "If one of us has to suffer through that man's rant, then both of us will." She answered the call, setting the comlink to speaker mode so Oscar could listen in.

"And here I thought we had a no strings attached relationship. I guess I'd have to meet your family sooner than later." Oscar said, before shooting a quick wink.

Cordelia's brows shot up, but before she could respond Fytch was already launching into his rant. "I would have thought you'd have shown some restraint after that stunt you pulled at the Congressional Library." Fytch all but yelled. "But I no sooner return to headquarters to find that you have been sticking your nose into top secret files you have no business putting it into. You'd better stay far away, cause the next time I see you I'll have your head mounted on a pike!"

"Man, what a dick." Oscar whispered, but intentionally loud enough for Fytch to make out.

"Wait? Who's that?! Do you have your comlink on speaker mode?" Fytch demanded.

"That's besides the point." Cordelia calmly said. "Those files I accessed are related to Seeker Marissa's murder. And might I point out that I was fully justified in blowing up the Congressional Library."

"I already closed that case!" Fytch pointed ignored her comment about the library. "You get your ass back here right now before-"

"Oops. Must have lost the signal." Cordelia said, shooting Oscar an innocent smile. "So... do you want to get going before Fytch decides to send a gunship after us?"

Oscar laughed before shaking his head, "I think we will make a great couple." He said before turning towards the door. "You got everything you need?"

"Well I'm not missing anything worth having my head put on a pike over." Cordelia said after a moment. "Though if you've got any explosives I'll take them off of your hands."

"Heh." Oscar simply replied, "Well, I don't have any in our ride but right down that hall there is the armory." He pointed to his left. "There's definitely something to fill that explosive apatite of yours."

"Be right back!" Cordelia headed towards the armory with a bounce in her step. Ten minutes later she returned with a grenade launcher strapped to her back, several grenades attached to her belt, and a satchel full of explosives. The grin spread across her face was reminiscent of a child given free run of a toy store.

Oscar just stared at her, "I think I'm in love." he said under his breath. "Alright lass, lets get a move on." Oscar said, motioning towards the door in the most gentlemanly fashion he could muster.

As the two exited the structure, "There she is." Oscar said, motioning ahead of them. There sat what was the love child of a tank, utility truck and a bull dozer. 

"Ok. That is pretty sweet." Cordelia said. 

"Huh?" Oscar said raising an eyebrow. "Oh that thing? That's not it." He turned to the Truck, "You gonna move your shit?" he shouted. After a few moments a man pulled his way into the cab and started the motor. As the truck pulled away, a lone [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b1/86/07/b18607fed888f6597121eead043de32c.jpg]Car[/url]was sitting there. "There's my baby." 

"Way to crush a girl's dreams." Cordelia said. "Will that even make it out of town?"

Oscar frowned before muttering under his breath, "You'll be lucky if you make it out of town." He snapped upright and motioned towards the car, "Oh don't worry, she has more than enough power for what you need. Just be careful of the shifter" He narrowed his gaze at her, "it gets a little crazy sometimes."

"I'll leave the driving to you." Cordelia said as she approached the vehicle. "Honestly I doubt I could drive a car anyways. Not unless its similar to how our dust jumpers operate."

"You thought I'd let you drive?" Oscar laughed before crawling into it. The passenger handle had broken long ago, forcing him to push the door open from the inside. "It's a work in progress." he said, trying to justify it.

"It can be in progress so long as it works" Cordelia dryly stated as she climbed in. "We need to come back with something of substance unless you like the idea of my head adorning the end of a pike."

"Oh, I'm sure your head on a pike wouldn't be bad, so long as it was my pike." Oscar shot her a dirty look, before gripping the steering wheel and turning the key. As the vehicle burst into life, a thunderous roar deafened those nearby. 

"Ah. So is the decapitated, maimed, or simply dead woman that's your type?" Cordelia asked. A look of worry spread across her face as the car started up. "Is it supposed to make those sounds?"

Oscar pinched the bridge of his nose, "The Pike is my... Er.. and the head is your... Oh never mind." he said before placing his right hand on her leg, "Oops." he said before pulling it back and onto the shifter. "And yes, It is supposed to make this sound." he said grinning.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're odd Oscar?" Cordelia asked. Her comlink chirped at her again. "What know?" She asked as she pulled the device out. She paled as she caught sight of the caller. She immediately accepted the call and placed the device up to her ear.

"Odd." Oscar said softly before looking over to her. "Should I keep quiet this time around?"

"Yes sir" Cordelia said into the comlink. She glanced at Oscar and gave him a small nod of her head. "Of course sir. Yes- I.. um... I understand sir." She pulled the device away from her head and pressed a button on it. "He... uh... wants to talk to both of us." She said to Oscar.

Oscar shrugged, "Sure, lets hear it. You oughta turn it up a bit this time."

Cordelia pressed another button on her comlink before saying "I've got you on speaker phone sir."

"Very good." An older man said through the comlink. "I've been lead to believe the two of you are investigating Seeker Marissa's murder. Seeker Cordelia and... Agent....?"

"He asking me? Oh. Hey there. I'm Oscar of the Union NIS." Oscar said.

"Oscar? I don't believe we've met before. I'm Rylan Cameron. Acting Libarium of Librarios."

"Rylan Cameron." Oscar said, "I always thought his voice was going to be little deeper." He looked over to Cordelia and then the road. "Well, Mr. Cameron, what can we do for you?"

"I'm glad you asked." The Libarium said. "I've been informed that you two accessed files about Seeker Marissa's sister, Lyssa."

"Yes sir" Cordelia said. "But you see-"

"Let me finish young lady." While he didn't sound pleased, the Librarium certainly didn't sound angry either. "This matter, regarding Seeker Marissa's murder and Lyssa's... disappearance concerns me greatly. On its own I would take Marissa's death to be an attack on me personally. Combine the two and... well. Let's just say Lyssa's currently on a mission I personally gave her and I fear that Marissa's death is somehow linked to it."

Oscar frowned, "You just gotta understand that she was very important to President Gibson.  But was she involved with that mission?"

"I do understand." The Librarium answered. "I intend to visit Gibson to discuss this once we end this call. But let me assure you that Marissa was not involved in the mission in any official capacity. I admit, however, that I wouldn't put it past her to learn about it on her own. She is - was - an extremely resourceful woman."

"What exactly is this mission?" Cordelia asked.

"That is not something I am willing to discuss except in person. This is a top secret matter, one that I will not risk over comlinks."

"Look, Rylan, There's been a pretty high profile death, and something that struck home with my people. So why not just spill out what's going on. We are going to find out regardless but you might have information that could save us a lot of time." Oscar stated.

"Yes. You will find out." The Librarium agreed. "Because you will have Lyssa brief you. I would do it myself, but I fear our lines of communication are not entirely secure. When you find Lyssa tell her that her Uncle Chris wants her to tell you about the project. Then tell her you will buy her drinks when you return to town. Take note of the words town and drinks. Make sure to remember that and don't even think about writing it down."

Cordelia, who had pulled out her notepad and had a pen in hand, gave Oscar a sheepish look before putting the notepad away.

"Seeker Cordelia" The Librarium continued. "I am hereby giving you direct orders. You are to locate Seeker Lyssa and aid her in completing her mission. This is your top priority. In the... unlikely event that she is dead you are to search the area for any and all technical information you can find and return it to me personally. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Cordelia answered.

"Now then Agent... Oscar." The Librarium continued. "I realize that you are not obligated to follow my orders, but I would like to request that you provide Seekers Cordelia and Lyssa with whatever aid you can. I would also like to request that you not disclose any information that the two of you come across with anyone save myself and your own president. I am, of course, more than willing to compensate you for your time and discretion."

"Yeah I can do that." Oscar replied simply. "Sure thing."

"Excellent." The Librarium said. "I'll make sure to set aside some assets to provide support should you need it, though you'll need to wait till that sand storm has passed before we can send you any aid. I'll have a Falcon gunship ready to pick the three of you up, along with any... technical documents. Is there anything I can do to help you out right now?"

Oscar looked over to Cordelia, "Well, with the crazy smile this lass gave me earlier, we might need an airdrop with some explosives." he said playfully.

"I'll look into having a care package sent to you later."

Cordelia coughed a few times before adding "If you could keep Keeper Fytch off of my ass that'd be great."

"Fytch?" The Librarium asked. "Oh. He just submitted his report." He mumbled a few words to himself before clearly asking "What the hell did you do to piss him off this much?"

"Nah, There wasn't any issues. Just a misunderstanding." Oscar said before shooting Cordelia another wink. 

"If you say so. I'll make sure he's too busy to bother you either way. I am not at all pleased with the quality of his work in regards to Marissa." The Librarium said. "And that reminds me... knowing Lyssa she'll-"

"The hell?" Cordelia asked. "My comlink just dropped the call. For real this time."

"Well shit." Oscar said. "Guess we are on our own at this point." He pointed ahead at a large stone pillar at least fifty feet tall, "We are now out of Union territory. Welcome to the wastes."

============================================


It felt like hours as Cordelia and Oscar made their way across the blasted terrain. Ancient structures faintly dotted the largely flat and barren lands.

"We should be there sometime soon." Oscar said before parking near the very top floors of a long sunken sky scraper. "I need to stretch my legs and fuel this beast up." He said while petting the dashboard.

"Do you really think we'll find her still alive?" Cordelia asked as she opened the car door and stepped out. She reached towards the sky as she stretched her arms and back.

Oscar followed suit and gave a few stretches of his own. "Honestly. I don't know. I've encountered your Arc operatives before and they seemed tough enough." He walked to the back of the car and pulled out one of the many canisters of fuel. "This won't take too long." He said, "But in all honesty, what do you expect us to find when we get there?"

"A woman who has been violated numerous times before being murdered and an ancient ruin occupied by a small army of raiders." Cordelia said. "The Librarium seemed certain she was still alive, but then again I doubt he saw the pictures of those fifteen cars around the ruins. Each of those could easily carry four men. So we're looking at what... seventy men?"

"And you thought I had issues. Automatically assuming she had taken in more than her body could stand." Oscar replied. "I'm sure she is alive. Like I said, those Arc people are pretty tough." He began shaking the canister as if to get every last drop out. "And I'm not sure if you've noticed but the amount of soldiers you estimate keeps going up." 

"Not sure why you are worried about it. You got a small army of your own right here." Oscar said, flexing his right arm muscle at her.

"You intend to arm wrestle seventy-five raiders into submission?" She asked dryly.

"If that's what it takes to defeat one hundred fifty men, or what ever number you'll come up with next." he said with a smile. "You hungry?" 

"What's on the menu?" She answered with a smile of her own. "I never did see you packing any food."

He rose a brow, "You don't keep dry foods around? Try this standard Union ration number four." he continued before pushing the empty fuel canister into its place. From behind the canisters he pulled two small metal boxes. He placed both on the back of his car and opened them. Inside was small strips of salted meat and dry plant roots. "Here, Enjoy. Oh, here." he said, handing her a water canteen.

Taking the offered items, Cordelia made a face as she sniffed the plant roots. She took a bite out of one of the roots, only to rush to drink some water. "You actually feed your soldiers this?" She asked. "You sure this isn't like prisoner rations or something?"

"Hey, It's in good shape for being about ten days old." he replied.

"Uh huh." Cordelia sounded entirely unpersuaded. She bit into the piece of meat, a grimace on her face as she chewed into it. "For some reason I don't believe you."

"So does that mean you like it?" He chuckled, "For most people, they love it once the taste of it isn't in your mouth."

"So basically when they aren't eating it? Makes sense."

"Basically." he simply stated. "Well, I assume your boyfriend enjoys your profession?"

"Hah!" Cordelia took another small bite out of her meat, which she was beginning to think was not actually meat, before giving him a real response. "Not a lot of seekers have the luxury of finding a significant other. At least until they land a comfortable position as a permanent attachment to a city or something."

Oscar gently brushed his vest off, "Well, it's not like you have to get attached to a city to get attached to a person." He chuckled, "So, where are you from? why did you decide to go the route of [i]Seeker[/i] Instead of an Arc chick."

"Born and raised in the Bastion Atheneum, so I suppose that makes us childhood neighbors." Cordelia gave Oscar a mock salute. "Anyways I couldn't be an ARC 'chick'" She raised an eyebrow at Oscar, "even if I wanted. Its a pretty exclusive group. And its very combat oriented, something that I don't excel at. At least if we are excluding explosives."

"So they send a lady like your self into the wilds, one that aint good at fighting? At least you'll get by with your looks." Oscar smiled, "These ARC chicks are exclusive you say? I've met a couple before, one was a complete bitch. Just sayin'."

"Have you met any of the ARC..." She had to think for a moment, "bros? I sort of figured you'd be at home with them."

"Honestly? Nah, I haven't. At least I don't think so. It never seemed like a profession that they'd go around hollering 'hey! i'm a commando guy!" He laughed. "Are most keepers dicks?"

"Uh..." Obviously caught off guard by the sudden change of topic it took Cordelia a moment to answer. "No. You spoke to Walker on my comlink, didn't you? He's a pretty cool guy. Most of them are actually fairly laid back, though I've noticed that each Atheneum seems to have a core group of pompous stick-up-the-butt keepers."

"I had no idea wheeler was a keeper too. Heh." He said, taking the last bite of his meal. "Did you ever have the option to be a keeper?"

"A position as a keeper was never explicitly offered" Cordelia answered, "but I could have found one had I wanted to. My parents were both seekers though, and I felt like I would have betrayed them somehow if I switched teams on them. Keepers have boring jobs anyways."

"Maybe that's why many are pompous, stick up the ass's. Boredom can be so... boring." Oscar replied, "What about when you're older? you plan on settling in to one of those jobs?"

"I haven't really thought about it." Cordelia said after a moment. "I might take up a job as a keeper, or maybe I'll just settle into some town and observe as a permanently attached seeker." She shrugged. "I always figured I'd decide once I reached that crossroad."

Oscar piqued his brow, "I can't really picture you settling into a small town, you'd be the next wheeler." He paused before reaching into his vest and pulling out a half empty pack of cigarettes, "Want one?" he asked before lighting his own but was quick to gaze over her shoulder. "Shit. dust storm coming our way. Guess we better make this Op quick." 

He motioned towards the car before sliding into it and making sure the door was opened for Cordelia.

"You know," Cordelia said as she climbed into the car, "that those are going to be the death of you one day."

"Until that day comes, I aint stopping." He smirked while starting the car. He didn't sit for long before taking off towards the last known place of the Arc commando known as Lyssa.