\\\\ TEAM A \
NUMBER 6 | NUMBER 16 | NUMBER 18 | NUMBER 22 | NUMBER 114
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Asmodeus had been the first to arrive, he duly waited for his beloved siblings. He whistled a tune, and had a one-sided conversation with the guard whom had clearly been instructed not to converse with the 'children'.
Dostya arrived second, hauling with her an oversized autocannon she had gotten from the armory. This she leans against a wall next to the gate before she sits down to wait for the other 3 to arrive.
"Sup Blink. How are your cybernetics holding up?" A genuine smile plastered onto Asmodeus' features, seeing the hulking mass that is Weaver was always a sight for sore eyes. He gave her a short wave,
"Hey Dostya, the ol' kicker still works, and the one in my brain seems to be alright." he replied, tapping his temple,
"Might have to trouble you after this mission to take a little look afterwards."“Sure I’ll take a look, it’s not like I’ll have anywhere else to be once they drag us back here.” She was pretty sure she had no other commitments. She’d made a calendar she could see just by thinking about it specifically set up to track appointments with staff and it showed no pending appointments. Because she’d forgotten to update it for months now.
“At least I don’t think I need to be anywhere” She shrugs. It would all work itself out in the end, with only minor frustration on the staffs behalf if she was supposed to be doing something.
"Awesome." he replied,
"I would discuss a general plan or stratagem for these A-Class hunters but, I'd prefer waiting on our lovely siblings to arrive before doing so."One of those other siblings was number 114, or Pinpoint, or Chloe, depending on who you were. She thought it was a little funny that there was an almost 100 number difference between her and the nearest sibling on her team. At the same time though, there were no loose cannons on her time. Dostya might give her the shivers if she thought about her for too long, but she only really had to worry about the Hydra.
She turned the corner and there was Asmodeus and the looming figure of Dostya.
"Hey, Asmodeus, hey, Dostya." Chloe said bluntly. She was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. As soon as she did, she felt her heart nervously flutter. Scared of death- as always. It hadn't happened yet, though.
"Chloe!" he exclaimed, glad that she was on this mission aswell.
"... or do you prefer Pinpoint?" he continued, a playful smirk on his face. Pinpoint's abilities provided unbelivable cover, to Asmodeus' it was a relief to see a person who covered his weaknesses on this mission with him.
"I prefer Chloe, thanks." Chloe responded. Someone spoke up from behind her and the sharpshooter turned around to see Lilith approach.
"Well, well, well. Look at all of you, already here. No one told you the cool kids arrive late?" Lilith said, as she smirked at her team, already waiting by the gate. She hadn't exactly gotten to know them, despite being her so-called "siblings" yet she was somewhat aware of their abilities.
Blink was their speed demon and with an almost tolerable attitude since she enjoyed the fact that he would always speak his mind no matter who was listening. That was a virtue, in her book. Weaver on the other hand, was probably one of the few Children that Lilith actually admired. She was always amazed by her creations as well as the fact that it took three months for the staff to figure out that she had hacked her collar, something which could definitely prove useful when the time to break out of that damn facility came. Pinpoint hadn't been someone Eve had a particular knowledge of nor -she believes- had ever actually interacted. All she knew was that she was probably the greatest sharpshooter in the history of humanity and while that was admirable, Psyker couldn't see how it would help the cause.
"Now, I did my best to arrive last but it seems that we're actually still waiting for the broodmother and please, for all that is divine, don't tell her I called her that." Lilith added as she looked around, maybe Gladys was hiding somewhere or behind one of her... creations. While she definitely had an interesting ability, it really made her stomach turn, the way her skin came off and all.
"What, no greetings Lilith?", he smirked, acknoledging her presence,
"Don't be such a stranger. Converse with us more, we're kinda, but not really, siblings after all, right?" Asmodeus mentally noted that the team about to be assembled could be surprisingly adept at taking down Hunters, be it experience or by their very abilities. He still worried about the mission at hand, but this team is excellent for A-Class Hunters.
“I always thought of us as half-Siblings. Eve, big alien Eve not little sister Eve, is all our mom in a way.” Dostya had been staring blankly at the wall for about 20 seconds, her mind filled with several possible incremental improvements she could make to Blink's cybernetics, but finally managed to tear control of her thoughts away from her muse in order to abruptly rejoined the conversation and subsequently realized three more of her siblings had arrived at the gate.
“Oh, and hello there you three”"Hello to you too, dear," Gladys chuckled. She glided towards the group at a sedate pace, smiling fondly at Dostya. Those absent-minded moments of hers were always so endearing - like an oversized puppy being startled from its sleep.
It's nice to see someone's not worried about the mission. From around her neck, her Grandchild chittered excitedly with its pincers, echoing the sentiment for her. The little darlings were always so
clear about their feelings. Or hers. It was hard to tell the difference, sometimes.
She tipped her head towards Asmodeus, offering an approving nod at his words.
"And of course we're all siblings - by now, at least." Her hands swept out imperiously as she gestured around them - at the hangar, the guards and each other.
"All matters of blood aside, we've all grown up under this roof, and scraped through this accursed war together. That sort of thing makes us all siblings.""Now that's a cute concept." Lilith whispered, sarcastically. Being siblings and all was only a label, hell some of them like #10 or that Institute mole, Nile, were an actual threat.
The guard, at least, did not appreciate being considered related to the children around him. The children for their part ignored this and got down to the business of pre-mission chatter.
"And big sis makes it into the stage." he said with his back resting against the wall, his eyes trailing Gladys' grandchild,
"Now this reunion is endearingly fun, but now that everyone's accounted for let's get to brass tacks. anyone have any thoughts on some general strategy?""I'm sure you all are amazing Hunter killers in your time, but I myself have had limited experience with all of you guys. Course I have some idea of your powers, I've read files, or had the few scant mission here and there." he continued, making lingering eye contact with each of them,
"Now, I'd like to know what kinks in your abilities you all have, better to know now than later. Ah, feel free to ask about mine."A few moments of deliberation passes before Asmodeus spoke up once more,
"I'm sure it won't be necessary, but with my speed I'm able to scale up walls. This extends to being able to get up on those charming hunters, much easier than most.""I can pretty much do anything really, my ability is quite versatile, I can support, attack, defend, maybe all at the same time. They aren't exactly a deadly threat -for me at least- but they aren't the easiest to kill either so I'd say that we need to separate them and take them down instead of letting them use their pack mentality against us. Plus, we cannot afford to let any of them get close to civilians or go too wild since we'll be actually fighting in the city." Lilith added to what Blink started.
A battleplan was a great idea and since they all worked together for the first time, it would be wise to get accustomed to each other's abilities.
"I should make one thing clear though. I will not accept any civilian casualties, we see anyone left behind or anyone in need and we help. And if you don't, I will. Those poor souls are in the middle of something they can't grasp and they don't even have a chance. Hell, we are their chance actually. And some of our so-called siblings treat lives like... like theirs are so much more worthy. So much more important. It disgusts me and as long as I can do something, I won't let a single life be lost.Lilith didn't notice that her fist was shaking or the fact that the look on her face had turned from her usual bitchy one to something far more serious and determined, maybe closer to her true self.
Chloe nodded in agreement, keeping her eyes on Lilith.
A morose expression placated Asmodeus for a second before being washed away by his usual smirk,
"I'm certain the Institute will double down on keeping the area secure while we handle the mess. If push comes to shove, I'll handle extracting civilians, I can get them out the fastest, and come back quickly. Course' that means I'd have to leave you guys without a fifth for a moment or two." he continued, his face turning stern
"However Lilith, under no circumstances should you break formation. We need to remember these are 'A-Class' Hunters, not your run of the mill Hydra. Adding one Hunter on another teammates back endangers their lives. It's fine- admirable even, for you to care for civilian safety, but that does not mean you are allowed to risk our lives in tandem. Trading life for life isn't heroic, this isn't a fairytale, if anyone of us die it just means the Institute will double down on experimentation to replace a child.""Look at you, acting all high and mighty, a leader in disguise. I'm sorry but I've had enough people tell me what to do for two lifetimes, got that, Blink?" Lilith replied coldly, her usual demeanor returning with a slight smirk. Unless Asmodeus had the ability to control her collar, he had no leverage on her, she couldn't care less if they all became Hunter food.
Or did she?
"I just wanna make it out alive, I'm no leader." he retorted simply, his shoulders lifting slightly,
"Let's say instead of 'telling you what to do', it's more of taking the most logical course of action.""With that said, if the worst does come, and there IS a civilian, someone who can handle the load needs to cover for me for the minute I'm gone." Asmodeus' crossed his arms, leaning against the interior. His pale gaze landed directly on Weaver as he addressed her,
"Dostya, I'm sorry, but should the need arise I would have to delegate that responsibility to you."Gladys threw a conflicted look at Lilith’s face, torn between concern and pity at the girl’s loss of composure.
It’s not as though any of them would treat us as worthy without our powers, dear. You know that, right? We’re just tame Hydra to them. It hurt to see her so distraught, not least from the pangs of familiarity, but Lilith would work through that phase eventually. It wasn’t as though a
civilian would mourn them if they died.
“I’ll delegate the extraction to you, then,” she offered. “As magnanimous as that sounds, I can’t manage fine motor controls across more than one body, so I doubt I could handle the civilians gently. And someone needs to be watching our backs.” She gestured around the group with one hand.
“Us five are the only ones that can hold off the Hunters. It’s as Asmodeus says – if we aren’t safe, then none of the civilians are either.” That’s the generous way to view things. “My Grandchildren and I would serve best as the vanguard. With only the five of us to guard, I can have one of my Hunters watching each of our backs, and still spare an arm and a few organs to deal with any surprises.” She felt her lip curl a smug half-smile, and savoured the moment.
“I can match the senses of any Hunter – smell, sound, vibration or heat vision – if I know which one to tailor. Once we’ve found the Hunters once, I can breed a Grandchild to track them. They rely on the element of surprise far too much – Hunters don’t like it when you can get the drop on them.”“Hopefully they’ll have evacuated everyone by now, but if there’s stragglers I’m sure I can handle your load for a little while, after all, I’m pretty tough.” Dostya thumps her fist against her chest, producing a metallic clink, muffled slightly by her sweatshirt.
“speaking of that and Echidna taking the rear, I imagine it’ll be best if I take point. I’ve got some enhanced vision and I’m probably our best bet at roughhousing with any that ambush us or manage to get past our firepower.” She was most worried about protecting Pinpoint and Psyker in that regard, the two in the group who she suspected would do about as well as a standard human in melee combat with a hunter. Blink was agile, Echidna had her regeneration and Dostya herself was hardy, but she worried that one swipe form a hunter was all it took to do the other two in. Dostya was going to endeavor to not let any hydras get close enough to get a chance to test her hypothesis.
“Added to that, I’m fairly fast in a straight line, though not Blink quick, but if we need to get to/out of somewhere fast I can give the rest of you lifts on my, uh, thorax. Same goes for transporting injured hu...civilians. If we need to get them away, I can bear that load.” Dostya was somewhere on Gladys’ side of the human relations fence, though her superiority complex wasn’t quite as blatant or entrenched. She had a tendency to rationalise her belief that the children’s survival was of higher importance. If they died there would be so many more people they could have gone on to save that would instead be doomed due to the child's absence. Also, every child lost was a potential trait for future generations that would be snuffed out before it could set down roots. That said, it wasn’t the deepest held belief, as her muse left little time for contemplation on the morality/validity of her opinions.
“As for weakspots, I don’t have the faster turning speed yet, so let’s try not to get surrounded, and, as you might imagine, getting into buildings is kinda problematic” She was currently working on a way of swapping out her current legs for a smaller set on the fly, but that still had some mechanical and power issues she was working around.
“So if they hold up inside someplace we’ll need to flush em out for me to be useful. If that's not an option, the Avenger,” she pats the autocannon that is leaning against the wall almost affectionately
“ Isn’t going to be hindered by a few walls being in the way, but she ain’t exactly safe to use if there's other people in there with the beasties. Also I’ll end up getting moaned at for ’unnecessary property damage’. Again.” Chloe, at this point, spoke up.
"I guess I'll try to find someplace high and just start taking potshots." she said. The plan, she thought, was simple: Don't let the hunters get behind you. That's what they'd try to do and it was in their best interest to stop that from happening.
"So, is that it? We ready to roll?"
