thedman

XCOM: Retaliation

Joe smiled as he talked to Kathryn, putting away his duffle bag containing the essentials that he had managed to bring in time. There was a lot of things he still had to do, he thought. First, he had to learn the base's layout. Then, he'd have to spend some time on the range. Or maybe get a snack. Wonder if the food is any good here, he thought to himself. Although, knowing military food, he didn't have high expectations. Or, who knows, maybe they'd surprise him.

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Kathryn turn to the monitor, and as he watched it go from 'On-Standby' to 'Prepare for Deployment'. "Ah, hell..." He let out a very deep sigh. Of course, they would have a mission on his first day. Of course. He stayed quiet as the AI spoke, taking in the information. A cruise ship, eh? Well, guess we're Marines now. Chuckling to his own little joke, he walked off to get suited up.

His armor was thicker than the others, which was to be expected. He'd always been the big guy of the squad. As he put it on, he could feel a strong sense of nostalgia. Been a while, hasn't it? Shaking his head, he looked up to the rest of the squad. "Well, I hope you're right. Anyways, let's stick together, and get this mission done. There's a Yankees game on later tonight, and if the aliens make me miss it, i'm going to find their leader and personally shove my foot up his slimy alien ass."

First Contact in the Situation Room

top 10 secrets the government doesn't want you to know

First Contact in the Situation Room

Well, right now I have finals and all that, so i'll be a lot more available after school ends (which is a week from now, so not that bad). Maybe I can put those Global Relations classes to use.

First Contact in the Situation Room

I'm interested, although i'm not sure if i'll be able to join, at least for right now.

Gloomy Skies and Kids Who Fly

Rook soon realized that his plan had run into a bit of a problem. A minor problem, but still an issue never the less. Carrying around a trash bag filled with spare clothing items seemed like a good idea, but there were a few hurdles he had to overcome. Namely, the fact that he had to carry it at all times, and the fact that it would probably look somewhat suspicious to any bystanders. Although, if they found a place to stay, he could just leave it there. But for now, he'd just have to settle with looking like more of a bum than he already was.

Waiting for Flick to return from the alley, he occupied his mind with thoughts of the current situation and future. There were a large number of factors that he was considering when it came to what was best for the group. The most important were:

1. Access to food and clean water

2. Warm, safe shelter

3. Risk of capture by Chimera

So far, they had clothing, but lacked food and shelter, although they were currently working on those issues. That left the possibility of capture, which was his biggest concern with the city. While they had seen very few people, that would change soon as more people woke up. Given the city's location to the facility, it was likely there were a large number of Chimera agents already in the city, with more on the way as they were hunted down. It would be best if they avoided others as much as possible, to limit the risk of sightings. It might even be necessary for the group to move shelters every few days, to keep Chimera off their trail.

His thoughts were interrupted as Flick returned, asking the group to follow him. He obliged, throwing the garbage bag of clothes over his back and lugging it along with him as he followed them. Soon, the smell of hot breakfast food hit his nose. What is that? It smells incredible... Whatever it was, it smelled somewhat like what he was usually served in the mornings, but...better, almost. It made sense, since whatever the people ate here had to be better than what he was served at the facility.

Making a mental note of it for later, he listened in to Mal and Crash talking about names. They had a good point- from the few guards whose names he knew, he could tell the names that they had given themselves were likely not considered normal. "We won't have to get new names, Crash. Just fake names, trick names. Names that sound normal, that we use when we talk, are talked to by others." He then looked at Mal, and spoke. "I like my name too, but it's probably not a normal, typical name. We need a normal name when we talk to normal people." It only made sense, Rook thought. Besides, Chimera might know the names they called themselves. He didn't want to take that chance.

Gloomy Skies and Kids Who Fly

Managing to turn away, Rook grabbed a few bags and headed to the alley that Flick pointed out. He had remembered hearing from the voice that it was considered improper to get dressed in front of others. Looking through the bags, he decided on a light grey t-shirt and sweatpants, as well as a dark grey pair of sneakers. Taking one of the empty bags, he filled it with a few extra sets of clothes, as well as extra socks and a pair of extra shoes. After all, if one outfit got too dirty or damaged, it wasn't like they could get it cleaned or fixed.

Throwing the black garbage bag of clothes over his shoulder, he walked out, freshly dressed. "There's clothing taken care of." He looked over the group, satisfied to see that everyone seemed to have gotten themselves new clothes. With that problem taken care of, they could focus on their other issues- most notably, food and shelter. From the looks of things, Dizzy found...something to eat, but it wouldn't be enough. And after they ate, they would need to find a place where they could stay and sleep, preferably away from prying eyes. "Once we're all finished changing, we need to address our other issues." It wouldn't be easy, but they'd made it this far. And he wasn't about ready to give up just yet.

XCOM: Retaliation

Joe liked these people, he decided. He had been chatting with everyone (well, mostly everyone, Amiya was still acting a bit anti-social), and had got to know a little bit about each of them. He stopped talking as Bradley began his speech. He listened, taking note of the beds and the lockers, making a mental note to drop his bag off, and eventually change out of his civilian clothes. He was a soldier, now, after all. He looked to the monitor that said 'On Standby'. It was certainly different from his time in the army, where they were usually informed of a mission by an officer walking into the barracks and yelling at them to go to a briefing.

Taking his duffle bag to his locker, he looked to Kathryn as she asked him a question. "Good Lord, I hope not." He chuckled. "I just showed up here. I'd at least like a day to get settled, maybe hit the firing range." It had been something he had wanted to do. While he owned several firearms at home, and went out to the range at least once a week, it had been a very long time since he had to use a weapon in a combat situation. While he would miss his cushy desk job at the NYPD, he was a soldier, first and foremost. If he had to fight to protect humanity from the aliens, he would fight. And he'd rather be prepared going into said fight. After all, he didn't know what kinds of weapons XCOM used, although he guessed they wouldn't be that different from what he was used to.

Unless they had ray guns or something. Then, he'd have to learn a few new things.

Gloomy Skies and Kids Who Fly

Rook looked around warily, making sure that nobody had spotted them. It seemed that it was early enough that nobody had noticed them fly in, nor had they noticed Mal's crash landing. Seeing that everyone had landed safely and without any injuries, save for Mal's pride, he nodded and began to move forward.

Following Flick's advice, they moved together until they reached the road. It looked a bit different from above- a lot more cracks and small imperfections that were hard to spot from a distance. He noticed the large container, and read the inscription. Shoes and clothes? He smiled to himself when he saw it. It seemed like their job just got a whole lot easier. If they could grab some clothing and proper shoes, they could not only blend in much more easily with the rest of the city's population, but also be more prepared to deal with the elements. Warm shoes and socks were always the most important. Without shoes, they risked injury whenever they walked. And if they couldn't walk, they couldn't survive.

Walking to the back of the bin with Flick, he saw the hatch, and got ready to open it- until he saw the padlock. He walked up to the bin, and knocked his fist against it, feeling how heavy the steel was. Hearing Flick talking to himself, he turned to him. "Don't bother. This is heavy steel, far too thick to break, get open by force. We need to use a...subtler option." He turned away, scanning the ground nearby, when a glint of metal caught his eye. "Maybe if..." Turning to pick up the object, he held it up, beaming with pride. It was a small, metal bobby pin, scuffed up from sitting in the road for who knows how long. "I can use this to hopefully, easily pick the lock."

Walking up to the hatch, he broke the pin in half with his fingers. Kneeling down next to the padlock, he inserted one of the halves into the bottom, rotating it around while he put his ear up to the lock, trying to hear where it was. Putting the second half in, he rotated them around several times, occasionally listening into the padlock to hear his progress. "Any...second now..." Rotating the second half, the lock turned, and he was rewarded with a satisfying click. "Hah! Too easy." Standing up with a huge smile on his face, he removed the now-unlocked padlock, dropping it on the ground as he opened the hatch.

Gloomy Skies and Kids Who Fly

Rook was glad that Mal had seemingly calmed down. What he wasn't glad about was the fact that she then decided, for no apparent reason, to grab his head and rub his hair around. He cringed at the unexpected contact. "You're welcome, but please never do that again." Sighing to himself, he watched as Crash and Dizzy flew up, and together, they continued going up, until he heard Mal talk about the city.

Trying to see for himself, he flew up to her height, and was immediately blown away by the strange yet beautiful view. He could see the city in plain view, stretching on into the horizon. He had only seen cities before in books, usually when they were talking about urban combat. But to see it for himself...he thought of all the people, the buildings, the great amount of everything laid before him. What useful things could he find there? Where could they find food, or shelter, for that matter?

Before he could think any more on it, Flick and flown up and was guiding them towards the city. He followed along, the city itself not that far away. Following Flick's orders, he touched down in the trees near the city, taking a few steps to bleed off excess momentum from the flight before crouching behind a tree. Following Flick's lead, he began to tuck his wings in. The outfit would draw suspicion, but at least any bystanders wouldn't notice his wings.

Gloomy Skies and Kids Who Fly

Rook flew upwards with as much strength as he could muster, trying to close the distance quickly. This is not what we need right now..., he thought to himself. This whole situation was falling apart, everyone wanted to do something else. His priority now was to make sure Mal didn't fly off to the city by herself, as that could end horribly in many ways. They needed to work together, to co-ordinate. Finally, he flew up close to Mal, and paused, hovering.

"Mal...wait up..." He said in between deep breaths. "I know you want to go to the city-I do, too-but you can't run off alone. If you're going, then I'm going." He looked at her, folding his arms. He meant it- if she was going to run off to the city, he couldn't sit there as she put herself into a dangerous situation. Everyone here needed each other safe and alive, simple as that.