New Roosts For Old Ravens

[RagnaMail]

As the enemy machine finally succumbed to the combined assault and gave up the ghost, Gideon felt his body tense as he immediately flipped his senses to the various sensors of the Mavors. The black Armored Core turned a quick three-sixty as it held the KARASAWA leveled up into firing position still, the red cameras focusing on the devastation all around the two remaining machines. Threat assessment of the area was a priority; since a lot of enemies he was familiar with from back on Mars liked to spring ambushes while a person was basking in the glow of victory.

Thankfully, the paranoid physical-and-sensor search came up negative, and the Mavors lowered the rifle as it completed the rotation to properly face the ARGYROS. The red glow to the cameras and face section dimmed as Gideon lowered the systems to a less energy-intensive mode.

"..Phwoo," Liam would likely hear over the comm line as Gideon exhaled deeply and took a moment to close his eyes in an effort to overcome the vertigo in his skull. "Well, that was certainly a hell of a wake-up workout.." He slowly approached the other machine in a gesture of camaraderie and extended the left hand for either a friendly bump or a handshake, depending on how the other pilot felt. "Good work out here. The timing was wonderful."

 

[xekuzwei]

A maelstrom of dust and detritus washed over the ARGYROS as, at last, the Pulverizer's rampage was brought to a halt in a momentous detonation. The NEXT's head unit swiveled to and fro as it unintentionally aped the Mavors in scanning the area, but all seemed clear by its sensors. Well, minus the stricken wreckage of Normals strewn about as a result of the carnage and the still-burning corpse of the relentless machine.

Turning to meet Gideon's approach, twin cameras gazed up at the slightly taller Core. Two truly inscrutable gazes, both more removed from human form than many mobile weapons. Its left arm extended in turn to grasp the Mavors' hand in comradery. "The same to you, Raven." It had taken a moment for his memory to churn through the layers of junk data and recall the term for such pilots; the man was really just thankful he'd remembered it at all. Whoever was at the helm was probably as aged as his ride, though he didn't sound it - but all the same, there was certainly something odd there that was more than just flaky comms.

"Just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, that's all. Liam Meyer, at your service."

 

[RagnaMail]

"Gideon Clements. ..Say, you wouldn't happen to know a place that sells some decent alcohol, would you? I need some warmth to thaw out the rest fo the way."

---

A short time later, the two pilots found themselves in a middle-class pub with what looked like a good assortment of offerings on tap. Gideon was just settling into his side of the table as he looked to Liam with his green eyes. The younger LYNX would probably recognize the features of a young-ish Martianborn - an apparently rare thing in this era he found himself in - and from under the flowing Middle Eastern-style clothing he'd catch glimpses of metal that he'd probably be hoping wasn't as extensive as it seemed.

His face and head were clear of metal, though it clearly started at the base of his neck in places only to disappear into the folds of cloth. Gideon waved his right hand at the establishment and gave an approving noise. "Gotta say, the League's upped their game from home. Though I see they still haven't learned their lessons with that Kojima stuff... I take it your machine runs on it too?"

 

[xekuzwei]

Liam was looking quite at home, slightly slouched in his seat, one arm draped over the back of the chair and the opposite hand grasping a nondescript brown bottle which he raised in greeting before downing a swig. The most surprising thing as the other man approached and sat was how youthful he appeared. In the short interim between the battle and their meeting he'd had his Operator run a quick search on Gideon - and it had turned up all manner of interesting things even with that glance. The sort of things that made his use of an old-style Core suddenly make a lot more sense. It was hard not to notice the glint of metallic augmentation where it peeked from the flowing cloth, though his observation was also biased by knowing that it was there to look for.

"They all do now...NEXTs, that is. The grandkids of that relic of yours. Sure, it's not exactly great for the environment," Liam gave a casual shrug, followed up by a fairly smug grin, "But I'll bet you'd be damn impressed with the ARGYROS' primal armor all the same. She's a hell of a machine." Setting down his drink, he leaned in conspiratorially, and there was a twinkle of fascination in his eye that could easily be discerned even behind the glasses.

"But you can get a demonstration later. You put on quite the show out there, so tell me more about yourself and that Core, friend."

 

[RagnaMail]

A waitress swung by and dropped off a tall glass mug with a dark beer in front of Gideon, and he nodded politely as she left. He'd paid for his drink already and had simply let them bring it to him once it'd been poured out for him. He took the lull to get a healthy sip of the alcohol before he set the mug down and sighed contentedly.

"That's the stuff.. But yeah. As you probably figured out I hail from Mars. It seems like an odd thing to say knowing I've missed thirty years of goings-on because I was in a cryo chamber and apparently set adrift in the wake of Alternative V. My childhood was pretty shit and not worth mentioning, but I was taken under the tutelage of one of the Martian Ravens by the callsign Metalssiah. Tough old bastard. We teamed up once I got my own AC and we made a pretty good team until he got ambushed. As I worked on getting revenge I ended up getting banged up and earned my chrome."

Now that he had time to listen to Gideon speak Liam would easily tell there was a faint reverb to his voice. He tapped some of the metal poking out of his collar around his neck's base with his left hand, and Liam would see the metal was half-wrapped around the Martian's hand like a thin and flexible supporting network. Again Gideon took a strong sip to wet his whistle before he continued.

"As I went on my rampage I ended up getting to be more and more Mirage's go-to Raven. Eventually the opportunity came up when I was struggling with the last of the trio that killed my mentor, Mirage approached me with an offer. Now, enhancement surgeries weren't anything wildly new at that point; the Human Plus project you may have read horror stories about was totally a thing and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. What Mirage was offering was.. something more. They figured I was a strong candidate since I have a strong biological affinity for cybernetics."

Gideon leaned in a little, his voice a little conspiratorial as Liam could see a hungry glint in the man's hunter green eyes and an evil cheeky grin on his lips. "I was the first to get the surgery. I'm the first LYNX. My Armored Core - Mavors - is also equipped with the final prototype model of the Allegorical Movement System."

 

[xekuzwei]

Hazel eyes peered intently at Gideon as he recounted his personal history, the LYNX listening with rapt attention. Well the latter part of the tale certainly lined up with what their little scratching at the surface had turned up. Liam couldn't think of a reason for the man to feed him falsehoods - they'd just met, after all - but it was always nice when the facts lined up straight. And as for everything prior to the program that had made Gideon what he was...

"Whew," Liam let out a low whistle and settled back into his seat once more, "That's a hell of a story, but I'd buy it. Guess I can't really keep calling you old man if you've been on ice all this time...hell, you look younger than I do." He paused for a deep pull of his drink, "We're not so different, though, if you'd believe it."

"I'm a Martian dog myself, you know? And let me tell you, I was a nobody. Just another body eating up what little we had to live on. But they then they found me - TORUS that is, though that name probably doesn't mean much of anything to you yet. Splintered off from old Rayleonard after it collapsed, best in the business when it comes to Kojima tech. They picked me up for their LYNX program. Gave me something to do with my life, and I like to think I've gotten damn good at it."

"Ostensibly I work for the highest bidder these days, but every so often they give me a ring for a special job. Can't exactly say no with a healthy conscience and the bastards know it." He gave Gideon a grin and a nonchalant shrug. It was what it was. He didn't really mind much, and he did owe TORUS an awful lot.

"So what's your plan once you finally get paid?"

 

[RagnaMail]

"Well, I'm gonna get Mavors situated for starters. Thirty years without maintenance and being effectively mothballed means I was actually pretty lucky my AC worked without any hiccups. Stop in somewhere for a tune-up myself, but then? I think I'll take a few days easing back into things." Another healthy sip of his beer gave Gideon some time to think without letting a dry silence hang between them.

"I got a lot of reading to do on events since I was out of it. I might get a ride down to Earth and take a look around. It looks a lot nicer than Mars ever did." He nodded to himself a little and ran his left hand through his mauve hair. "Maybe get a haircut or something. Surprising how long your hair gets when you're sucking cryo coolant." He leaned back in the seat and gave Liam a more serious look before he spoke again.

"..The big question. Did that geocidal insanity work? Did Alternative V wipe out the BETA? I helped with some smaller nests and those fuckers went through ammo so goddamn fast..."

 

[xekuzwei]

"Hah!" Liam's head shot back with a barked laugh, "Now there's some misplaced optimism!" The man shook his head as the sound faded, clearly amused by the question. "Sorry, sorry - s'pose I can't really fault you for asking considering the circumstances. Hate to break it to you, but no. It's worse than ever. Those ugly bastards are even on Earth now, and they're doing their best to eat us all alive. Ain't winning yet, but we aren't exactly pushing them back into their holes either."

"I'd say we just nuke 'em, but everyone cries about the fallout. Tch. As if there's gonna be anything left to save after the BETA are done with it anyway. And the politics are almost as big of a mess, what with everyone and their brother claiming territory left, right, and center. We can't get along even with aliens and god knows what else breathing down our necks."

He waved a hand dismissively, "But you'll see for yourself, you don't need to hear me rant about it."

 

[RagnaMail]

"... So situation normal, I see." The way Gideon said that was almost defeated, if the defeat was also mixed with an expectation of no progress only to be rewarded with confirmation. He took a sip from his beer and stared into the alcoholic fluid for a quiet moment as he clearly gathered his thoughts. He looked back up to Liam and tried putting on a more confident look. "So I guess it'll be the hard way then. Gotta stomp and slash and burn the damn things to ash and bad memories. But as for governments going at each other?"

Gideon's laughter came a little louder than it should have but not enough to disturb much of anyone nearby. "You say land grabs and politics, I say clients and target-rich environments!" He flexed his hands with the palms skywards as if half-grasping some imaginary plunder before him. "It's refreshing to know that not everything has changed while I've been on ice. Plenty of work for us lovely little birds, yeah?"

He drained the rest of his mug and set it back down on the table with a surprising gentleness given events. He looked towards the bar and motioned for another with a series of polite but silent gestures before looking back to Liam again. This first one had clearly loosened Gideon up; his movements were far smoother and human despite the machinery he hid beneath his billowy clothing. Maybe he really had needed some alcohol to defrost the rest of the way. He wasn't seeming to be a rowdy drunk and indeed it would have been surprising if even that tall mug had been enough to get him started. But the experience was in him and that was enough for the moment.

"The nukes probably wouldn't work as well as you think, though. That's what the whole theory behind the G-Bombs was. It alway struck me as kinda stupid to make a thing that went boom from what makes the BETA go zoom, right? I mean, I know that it's a fuel and I saw what it did when they blasted Mars with it. It just seems to me that the BETA would just be thanking those idiots for giving them a sauna day with their own go-juice. But I guess that's why they don't let me look too hard at the WMD math," he finished in a tone that was clearly mocking those who'd thought the explosive things had been a good idea.