Kyrisse

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

Y A Z M I N M I R A J

Yazmin looked at her team mates and her Commander. She heard their words and found that she was inclined towards the captain's opinions. She felt that she should at least say something. But what should she say when she was was torn between her more ethical thoughts and the duty of following her Commanding Officer's orders.

“In one way or another, the men and women who signed up with the Feddies are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. They’re no children, and no random bystanders at this base. Purely military and tactical killers.”

The men and women who signed up with the Feddies are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people... What does that make me? I've killed before. I've looked people in the eyes as I pulled the trigger before. I didn't care if the men and women I've killed have families that would mourn for them. What does that make me? What am I? Did father make a mistake of thinking that I could be more than what I was created for? But would choosing not to kill unarmed people with the capability of producing weapons to be used against them be better than killing them and saving lives? Will the same people show them the mercy if their positions were reversed? Would any of them think twice?

Ordo Sanctus, a faction that was formed with the ultimate goal of ending the corruption and tyranny of the UNF. They were supposed to be the good guys. They were supposed to be fighting for good. But were they really the better people? Does being better mean being merciful even to your enemies? Were they really enemies if they were just acting on command or fighting for what they believed in? If the UNF killed, so did Ordo Sanctus. They robbed families of fathers, mothers and children. Was it justifiable to kill people of the UNF just because they killed people from Ordo Sanctus?

Revenge.

How righteous am I to think that what we're about to do is wrong when I joined them for the sole purpose of avenging my father's death? Yazmin shook her head and thought for once that maybe having the inhibitor chip was better. Life was simpler that way. There was no thinking what was right and what was wrong. The only real thing she needed to do was follow orders. Who would have thought there'd come a time when I'd want that chip back?

"So you know Commander, if one of them drops their weapon and surrenders I don't think I can pull the trigger..."

Yazmin looked at the Captain before she turned back towards Commander Hale. Still. Orders were orders. "I will follow orders, Commander. I would put all the effort needed in the completion and success of this mission but I cannot ascertain if I could really end an unarmed person's life. And moreover, my mak---father was a scientist. Placing me to shoot them might make me hesitate." It wasn't the most professional and appropriate thing to say but she felt like she needed to speak out. She waited silently to be reprimanded.

---

@Musaki Hajime @Deadnaut @POOHEAD189

Where hearts lie

@Caits

Caius followed Callie to the table of her choice. "My sister once speculated that he's a god or something. But when we asked, he gave us some sort of half amused, half infuriated expression." He tried to imitate the expression from memory but ended up just looking goofy and constipated. He laughed at what he imagined he looked like. "Yeah... I can never really imitate that expression. It's just... weird." He laughed again and then shrugged as he sat down opposite her. "Anyway, he adores cooking. I don't know any god that does that. Well, I'm not saying that he's really a god...but who knows?" He followed her gaze to her bracelet. "Even your charms doesn't work on him, right? Hmm... what else do I know about him? Oh. He doesn't always stay in one place but wherever he is, he offers really good food and a safe haven. No one will be able to attack us here. It's like we've stepped into a whole new dimension separate from everything else."

Iris Halo

K E I R A W A L K E R

_{@Musaki Hajime}

Keira finished setting up the table and took her usual seat beside Cayde. When she first joined the Chroma Knights, she didn't think she would make any friends. Not because she didn't have the ability to... She was actually a very friendly and soft spoken person. It was more because she didn't want to grow close to anyone. Growing close to people meant getting attached. Getting attached meant caring too much. Caring too much would eventually lead to pain. She didn't want to go through the same pain she went through when she lost her father. She didn't wanna cry again, didn't wanna feel like the whole world was against her again. Joining the ranks gave her a purpose. She didn't wanna ruin that.

But despite feeling that way, she was human. And she needed someone to talk to, someone to smile and laugh with, someone to keep the loneliness of being without family away. She eventually warmed up to the gamer beside her. An unlikely friend. Most times, she didn't even understand half of what he played and what he talked about. But she found his company oddly calming. He didn't seem to mind her company as well. And so without intending to and without realizing it, she ended up depending on him.

She turned towards him to tease him more about his oh-so-important loot boxes and to make a quip about his cup noodles. But the plate she had set in front of him grabbed her attention, the blue geometrical shapes mesmerizing her. She found her mind drifting off again.

"A diamond is a square turned to the side, a rectangle is a square stretched sideways. Why make them separate shapes and give them other names?" a younger version of Keira asked as she pointed to the different colored shapes that adorned her plate.

Lajos Walker, a tall man with graying hair, laughed. "You can bring that argument to the geometrists. I'm sure they'd have a lot to say to you." He said as he waved the plate he was holding, his other hand gripping the handle of the frying pan.

Keira laughed as she traced the shapes on her plate with a finger. "I should. Maybe ask them to just call anything with four sides a square, all shapes with three sides a triangle and all without sides a circle. Makes everything simpler right?"

A loud shattering sound echoed in the small kitchen as Lajos collapsed onto the floor, the omelette he had just put on the plate splattered on the floor peppered with the broken shards of the plate.

"Dad!"

Keira sighed as she tried to pull her gaze away from Cayde's plate. Normally, she found it easy to smile, to look at her memories of her father as something to remember fondly but today was a particularly difficult day. And all she could really think of was how she missed him. What if she had done the cooking that day and made her father just relax there on the kitchen chair? What if she had called for help earlier? There were so many what ifs and thinking about all of them made her mood dip lower.

Vampires in the Shadows-closed

Caius, Claudia and Gabriel

_@Wick

The moment Alex walked into the room, Caius looked at him. He didn't say anything nor did he look bothered. It took a lot to faze the younger of the twins. He merely nodded in acknowledgement when Alex greeted him then watched him head straight for the bathroom. Claudia would worry. He smelled of blood that was no his, after all. He quietly waited for the outburst he was sure would come from his twin.

Gabriel stopped laughing and stared at the vampire when he walked in. He was still wary of his adoptive father but when Alex threw a rubber ducky into the tub, a delighted look came over his small face and he immediately snatched the toy up. In a few more minutes, he was again laughing and this time conversing with the squeaky toy.

Claudia, on the other hand, smelled blood. A werewolf's and a vampire's. She put aside the bag of toys Alex handed her and was immediately on her feet. Despite knowing about Alex's capabilities, she inspected him thoroughly, her face etched with worry. At that moment, she didn't care about Casey or anyone else. "Are you hurt?" she asked, her voice a little tensed.

After the Asteroid-Closed

Jae Park & Audrianna Kent

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Interacting with: @King Tai, @Wick & myself XD

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As soon as the pig had been butchered, Audrianna took it upon herself to roast it. With the passing of the chef, Gregory, there was really nobody else to take on the responsibility. It wasn't exactly difficult. She had watched the old man for a whole year so she knew what to do. And with Cody's help, she was able to prepare and cook the pig. She was sure that everyone will be happy with tonight's feast and she looked forward to serving it. Out of habit, she considered setting something aside for Jae but she remembered that he was still in the cafeteria. He'd be able to get food for himself.

She was just finishing up when she heard Cody announce the availability of the food. Several minutes more and she was bringing it out to the serving area. She looked around in the cafeteria and when she spotted Jae, she raised her hand and gestured for him to come get some of the roasted meat. Favoritism, maybe? But he was really the only person she had gotten close during their year long stay in the bunker.

Jae laughed out loud at Kai's comment, glad that it didn't appear to have offended Harley. He shook his head. "Soulmate, huh?" he chuckled. "Dude, she can kill my flame and probably drown me. I mean, pig, wall of water..." he gestured around and made some pig squeals followed by the sound of drowning. He laughed and then nodded. "Perfect soulmates." He grinned at Harley. "Good job on the pig though. I'm sure everyone will worship you for it later." He stood up and turned towards Kai. "Whale's a good idea. But I'm not sure I can help out with that. Water," he pointed to himself. "Fire. Definitely not compatible with each other." He raised an eyebrow when he looked at the pretty, curly haired girl who had bumped into Kai. She looked panicked and parched.

But before he could comment on it, he saw Audrianna waving at him. He gave her a nod.

---

@Wick @RumikoOhara @Spinosaurus @Metronome @alexfangtalon @Venku @December @Aeternum @FunnyGuy @POOHEAD189

After the Asteroid-Closed

@Wick @King Tai Will have a post up soon.

Iris Halo

K E I R A W A L K E R

_{@Musaki Hajime}

Keira's mind drifted off to the breakfasts her dad used to make as she made her way to the kitchen. Buttered waffles drizzled with warm honey, sausages, fluffy eggs and hot chocolate. He woke up early every morning to make sure she had something filling to start the day. Several times she had tried fixing herself the same food. Of course, it tasted exactly the same but not having her father there made all the difference. It simply wasn't the same.

"Good morning," she greeted casually as she walked into the kitchen and Amelie, Darius and Cayde in there. Amelie busy cooking with Darius looking over her shoulder, a glass of milk in his hand. The bulky man who loved to play loud music when everyone else was still sleeping. She honestly didn't mind it because he always started just when she was about to go out for her daily morning shooting practice. More often than not, his music played the role of her alarm clock. She worried for the others though and had several times considered knocking on his door to ask him to lower the volume down. Then she realized that Darius' room was sandwiched between hers and Cayde's. She figured that Cayde probably didn't mind, him being totally engrossed in his games most times. And if she didn't mind and he didn't mind, then there's no sense in doing it.

She looked towards Cayde as she walked in. She flashed him a grin and then walked towards him. She leaned forward and studied his face. Judging by the way he looked, he really did stay up the whole night. "Stayed up all night again, did you? I'd laugh my head off if your loot box ends up giving you junk," she teased lightly. She remembered the time when she had literally fallen asleep watching him play, only to wake up to his anguish cries. Or at least, what she thought was an anguish cry.

She thought he'd hurt himself or something but when she looked at him, he was actually laughing gleefully as he did strange poses. Victory poses, he had said. Keira had stared at him and then laughed before she left his room.

She looked towards the door and saw Lauren there, offering to help. At her question, Keira straightened up and then headed towards the cupboards containing the plates and the silverware. She figured she'd make herself useful and set the table while waiting for the food.

Vampires in the Shadows-closed

Claudia and Gabriel

_@Wick

By the time Alex came back, Gabriel was still in the tub, happily splashing around and sending bubbles flying as he giggled happily. "Gabe," he replied when Claudia asked about what his nickname was. He made a high pitched howl. "That's how mommy calls me during the full moon."

"Oh, your parents bring you with them during the fullmoon?" Claudia asked in wonder, knowing that the small child will not change form yet until he was past 10 years old.

Gabriel nodded, his eyes focused on the bubble that had settled onto the tip of his nose. "Daddy lets me ride his back when he runs through the forest. And mommy plays with me with her big paws."

Wow... Such a different childhood compared to mine and Caius', she thought idly as she watched the boy fondly.

---

Darric Shadowforge

"Yes, that is something. Says a lot about who he is and what his principles are," Darric agreed, convinced that forming an alliance with the vampire would benefit the pack greatly. In a few days time, all 10 wolves would join him. He would present to them the idea. He didn't expect everyone to be in agreement with him but with Caius' help, it won't be such a difficult task to do. "Yes, lucky that he was around," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around Casey and led her back to their bedroom.

Where hearts lie

@Caits

"No offense, Sir, but you can't know of the Supernatural and not be apart of it. You belong in it, just as much as either of us".

At Callie's words, Silas merely smiled and shrugged, neither denying or admitting anything. He looked wistfully around the elegant establishment. "Yes, it is lovely, isn't it? I pride myself for setting it up although not all people appreciate it the way you do," he sighed and then nodded. "If you two will excuse me, I'll need to go to the kitchen to prepare your meals. I'll have them ready in a few minutes. Meanwhile, feel free to cozy up to each other. You've got the whole place to yourselves." he winked at Callie before walking away.

Caius shook his head in an amused manner. "Yeah, he's not really human although he likes pretending to be one. I have no idea what he is, really. I've never really come across anybody like him my entire life so I can only hazard a guess," he confirmed her suspicions.

Valkyrie Theory: Horizon War [Mecha] [8*/13Slots]

Y A Z M I N M I R A J

0700

Yazmin turned towards Captain Kalstov as she addressed her. It was still so strange having people look after her well being. She nodded. "Limbered up and already finished my daily morning exercises, ma'am. And I believe that Ordine is in top form as well. The Techs make sure of that," she nodded again, as if agreeing to her own words. "Thank you for your concern," she added. During her stay in Ordo Sanctus' base, she found that expressing gratitude made her appear more like a real human than an artificially created one. It also made people treat her better.

"You're a real human, Yaz. Don't let anyone say otherwise. Yes, you were born artificially in a laboratory instead of the natural way but that doesn't make you any less of a human than I am. Don't worry. At the moment, you might be surrounded by people who think otherwise but someday, there'll be others who'd think like me." These were the words of her father. Did he mean the people in Ordo Sanctus? Did he somehow foresee where she'd be after his death?

She looked towards dark haired Neil as he approached. She frequently heard the female engineers discuss the young sergeant. Words like cute, handsome and quirky almost always turn up in their conversations followed by giggles and then a sudden hushed silence whenever he passed by. As a result, she almost always studied him the same way she was doing now. He was definitely pleasant to look at but he had a very unusual behavior. Was that what makes someone cute and handsome? One of the female engineers, Angela, once asked Yazmin if she had a crush on Neil because of how she always watched him. She couldn't give a proper answer because she didn't really understand what she meant. But it seemed like her lack of an answer had its own meaning and Angela ended up saying something strange. "Welcome to the club." What club was she talking about? And how does one develop a crush? Was watching him as often as the engineers did qualified as that? These things weren't included in the things Anton taught her. She would have asked Angela but when Neil passed by, the girl's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink and she hurried away. Strange. Maybe it was better to ask Neil about it.

On a later time. She thought to herself as she turned her attention back to the Commander.

Fadio Ginsburg. An important name in Ordus. He was the leader and the one calling out the shots. Yazmin haven't met the man yet but she often wondered what he was like and how he founded the faction. She's heard a lot about him during her stay with UNF. But the gist of it was that he was a ruthless terrorist and deserved to be brought in and executed. That was what she grew up believing. That was what she was taught. But ever since she had 'woken up' from her programming, Anton had taught her a different way of thinking. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she joined Ordus in the first place. She figured that what she knew about Fadio was probably tainted by how UNF saw the man. She was now in that position to form her own opinions by meeting the man... if that was even possible.

The Commander's words filtered into her head. Nearby UNF base. 2200. Bring back secret weapon. Cut all forms of communication. No survivors... Yazmin paused at that. The words weren't unfamiliar. She often heard it issued among the soldiers of the UNF and she had actually expected that, in time, she'll receive the same orders too. But that was when she followed all orders blindly. Hearing it now gave her an uneasy feeling. But despite that, a part of her argued that orders were orders. She was a soldier and was bound to all that the commanding officer ordered. Who was she to question it?

With the conflicting thoughts tumbling around in her head, she tried focusing on the rest of Commander Hale's words.

Lastly, you cannot. I repeat. You cannot be caught. If you’re caught, if they get a signal out or survivor is left to return to the UNF… you didn’t come from the Ordo. We won’t be rescuing you."

No rescue. The words didn't come as a surprise. Even if the Commander didn't say it, it was an unspoken rule."Listen up, kids. I don't care if you have names. To me your designation are the numbers tattooed on your arms. You are soldiers now. And as soldiers, you willingly put your lives on the line to defend what your country and what you believe in. Everyday you will put yourselves in danger. If you die, you die. No one will mourn you. This is... She didn't really wanna remember the rest of the words her former commanding officer said to welcome her and the other 9 clones to the ranks. He should have cut it short and just said that their lives weren't important. She was used to this set up. No one will care if she died or lived. She was not indispensable. She was not then, she was not now.

Years of training pushed her to simply say yes and follow through with what she was told to do. But half of her mind rebelled. Her thoughts shifted to the people they were to kill. What about them? Were they not indispensable too? Anton's face loomed in her mind. Her scientist father had been gunned down unarmed. Would she be able to do the same thing?

She barely heard the rest of what Commander Hale said as Captain Aura spoke up. She looked up to her then to the Commander, her strict adherence to the respect military hierarchy demanded preventing her from speaking up.

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@Musaki Hajime @Deadnaut @POOHEAD189