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[indent][color=silver][sub][b]IC 286.08.16[/b] // Petrichor-8 System, Frontier Planet Alora // Approaching planet's surface.
1421 hours // [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Csqz48hBBM]♫ Rockin' Tunes for Diving Into Hell ♫[/url][/sub][/color]
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[color=silver] Two decades on and the waiting remained the worst part. Theodore Howser clutched a dataslate in his hands and tried not to stare at its timer as the minutes to drop ticked away ever so slowly. Five minutes before they'd wade into hell once more. He tabbed back over to a readout of his mech's pre-battle checkup: Hydraulic fluid was topped off, the SmartWorks system was in standby, the X-66 was purring like a pussy cat. All greens across the board. Just like the last time he'd checked it. And the time before that.

[color=white]"This boat go any quicker?"[/color] Theo wondered aloud, trying to hide his impatience behind a lopsided grin.

Time slowed down the harder one focused on it, he knew. Better to find something to distract himself for their remaining minutes aboard the Galea or he'd go stir crazy. He could work on his combat playlist, maybe? Theo flipped over to it on the dataslate, and a long list of songs appeared before him. It was an eclectic mess of old favorites, recommendations from friends and the works of local talent. 

It was a small thing, but he liked to remember the cultures these Aberrant invasions were crushing underfoot. That wasn't just a gray mess of dead buildings down there: people [i]lived[/i] there. They went to school, played in their regional soccer league, ate bad food at dive bars. And they made music. Aloran compositions mixed traditional horns and drums with more retro-modernist sounds, like synthesizers. One particular song Theo had found was recorded by refugees that escaped the initial invasion. They used the mechanical cries of Aberrant monsters as part of the music, modifying it to produce a truly terrifying noise.

He didn't spend long on the playlist. It was already a cumbersome beast, and shuffling a couple of tracks around wasn't going to improve it all that much. Maybe he could work on a crossword...

The sound of someone speaking drew his eyes up from his slate. One of the Constellations was introducing himself. Douglas 'Rigel' Eorman was his name, and he was here with his partner to oversee the first deployment of their younger colleagues. They both had old, prestigious names, though only the latter really carried himself like nobility. Rigel looked like a frat guy that had aged fifty years, with his rippling muscles and oversized sunglasses. His rank indicated a martial prowess that his demeanor made hard to believe; at least he'd be fun at the after party.

Antares, the partner, showed nothing but open disgust for Eorman. Unlike Rigel's zany antics, Antares carried himself with the usual air of superiority Theo had come to expect from older Constellations. They were taught from birth that their powers made them special- made them [i]better[/i] than baseline humanity. Such abilities came with the responsibility to fight and die against the ever-present Aberrant threat. 

It always rubbed him the wrong way, if Theo was honest. Service shouldn't be born on a foundation of glory-seeking warrior families.

[color=white][i]"Our focus is to develop the talents we've brought along with us, and field test equipment that has just exited the experimental stage of development."[/i][/color] Solignis said, his eyes tracking over Theo- no, the woman seated next to him.

Teddy wasn't entirely sure how to react to her presence, at first. When the two had first met, he was ashamed to admit he'd flinched at the sight of biomechanical steel fused with human flesh. The same swarm tech he'd seen tear apart countless friends had been surgically attached to person barely older than his teenage nieces.

Even looking at her now, he felt a heat rising in his throat. This kind of thing didn't just happen. The Aberrants didn't leave human beings alive long enough to experiment on them. No, some fuckjob in a lab coat decided to play God. Equipment. That was the word Solignis had used to describe her.

[color=white]"You ever notice how they all walk the same?"[/color] Teddy asked in a low voice, tapping Aissi on the shoulder. He kept his face dead as a door nail to avoid making a scene. [color=white]"Legs all the way outstretched, struttin' so long they might fall over any second. Makes their whole upper body jostle around like a, uh, like a rooster."[/color]

Teddy placed his arms on his sides like he had a stubby pair of wings. [color=white]"Y'know, bawk bawk."[/color]
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