Jul 02 04:57:37 108 PA - Quiet Recruiting and a Tiny Request
From Chronicles
Jul 02 04:57:37 108 PA.
ERICA'S APARTMENT
Erica is sitting at home doing her usual lax routine of listening to music while she sits on her couch reading. She has on some loose clothing, just some shorts and a tank top. The vid screen is on, but muted, showing some local programming.
Gabriel is polite enough to knock normally this time, even if it isn't nearly as entertaining. After announcing himself, he just stands back with his hands clasped behind him, randomly examining the hallway as people do when they're waiting for doors to be answered.
Erica gets up from the couch at the knock. She makes her way over to the door and checks the peep hole before she opens the door. Smiling as she opens the door she nods to Gabriel. "Hey Gabriel. What's up?" She asks as she walks away from the door allowing Gabriel to enter the apartment.
The fellow enters with a polite dip of his head. "You look nice, Erica. Very comfortable and everything. I'd hate to bother you in the middle of..." Gabriel glances at the vid screen and smiles. "Of sitting in front of a an active screen but not watching it? Who's the band?" He asks, pointing to her music maker. Music maker, not money maker.
Erica walks over to the remote and turns the music down some that conversation is a little bit easier. "I guess I just like having the vid-screen on. In case something actually interesting comes on. It is a band called The Thermals." She moves over to the top of the couch she sits on the edge of it. "So what are you coming around for?"
"Hmm," is all that Gabriel has to say on the subject of the unusual music. "I don't know if you remember, but things had been happening over at Whykin a few months ago. Nobody really knew what, but Vixen got some of us together, and we took a look. Some interesting shit. But then activity died down, and two of our group has essentially disappeared.. I think that it's time to move back in." He glances around the apartment, obviously looking for a place to sit, and finding none, drops to his knees before the coffee table across from his friend. "Sorry, I don't mean to be cryptic, I just don't want to jabber on if you have no interest in doing some good things right now." His smile clearly states that it wasn't meant as an insult, despite that fact that the sentence probably didn’t come out right.
"Sure I am still interested. I have been waiting to hear back from you about that. What has changed?" Erica asks as she tilts her head. She stands up and walks over to the kitchen and grabs herself a glass of water. "I always like sticking it to the Coalition."
From his position at the table, Gabriel pulls a piece of paper and spreads it out on the surface. A map. "If you'd join me, I'll show you. Basically, the good folks who make the decisions for the Coalition have apparently decided that Whykin didn't control enough territory with a solid heel. They look to be expanding the borders beyond the city's high walls in a leap. Not far, but if there's one small leap, who knows how many more there will be? Or how big they'll get. Here." He pokes at the map.
Erica walks over to the table with her glass of water. She looks down at the map and begins to study it. She gnaws on her lower lip as she examines it. "Hmmm yes it does look like it. What is it you want to do about it?"
"If you see here," Gabriel traces a line around Whykin's city walls, about five miles out. "Five miles may not seem like much, but it's five miles closer to our city - well, your city - than they were. We checked in. The Coalition is moving in a bunch of new, large units. Division sized units. They brought in their own new head man, a two-star ripped right off the Tolkeen Front. Highly decorated. General Gustav Rheevus, in charge of what they're calling the 'Whykin Semi-Autonomous Zone.' A nice name for stomping the Kingdom of Whykin, or so I'm told." The older fellow shrugs with mirth. "That was before my time."
"Well if they are that well equipped it doesn't seem like there is much we can do. I can't go against an enforcer robot, or a trio of SAMAS. Not to mention any of the new models of power armor and robots." Erica says with a slight scowl and a shake of her head. "So what is it that you are wanting us to do?"
Gabriel pokes his index finger at a further distant spot that he's indicated with a strange mark. "We can't do anything about those. Vixen tried to talk the Council into doing something, but they said - and I agree - that there was no sense in starting a war. So we can't help that. But right here -" he pokes the same spot again for emphasis "- someone has decided to make a bigger grab. Don't you think it's a little strange that there's only one post way out here? Twenty miles farther than the others, just sitting there?" The fellow allows that to hang for a brief moment. "I think it's strange. Honestly, we don't know what's being done there. Could be absolutely nothing, and I'm wasting everyone's time. The unfortunate fact is that it was myself, Leonard and Sage with Vixen leading the investigation; maybe you haven't been around, or maybe they aren't friends, but Vixen and Leo have just up and disappeared. Sage and I have never even had a chance to compare notes. Anyway, I'm not asking for any kind of signing on a dotted line, but I want to get back on this before it turns bad. Sage and me, and I've tried to contact Sebastien and Rubidia along with you. Seb might be annoying, but he's trustworthy enough. Just come and listen to a debriefing, if I can get one together?"
"Well that isn't too far out for them to not call in support very quickly, but I guess it is a little odd." Erica says with a slight nod of her head. "Sure I can make it to the briefing. I'll help out however I can." She says before taking a sip of her water. "It does sound like it would be pretty stiff resistance."
The man smiles as he folds up his map and stands, tucking the paper away back into its pocket. "There are things around, I just need to hear from Sage what she and Leo saw. Put it together more. I'll give you more information at the debrief, even if it's just the three of us. Thanks for helping out, Erica. Who knows, maybe there'll be a stack of leprechaun golden pots, or a mountain of awesome technology." Light whap on the shoulder. "Resistance is something that we don't know about, just that there are large units being brought in. The only unusual name we know, beyond the general, is a major. Major Timon Plotkin. It's like he's some kind of superhero among the enlisted men, a ghost to everyone else, and the one man that the officers call in if they want something done successfully - and quietly." He sniffles his nose a bit then looks around as if he's preparing to go, or at least giving Erica the option to send him packing. "Even if it's just the three of us, we can at least talk about it. You might come at the problem from a totally different angle." A pause and a smile. "You still practicing clearing the bar?"
Erica chuckles as she shakes her head. "Perhaps, or perhaps it is just an ill equipped forward scout post." She shrugs her shoulders and smiles up at Gabriel. "Well we can talk about it, but keep in mind the three of us won't be able to overcome much in the way of well equipped Coalition troops." She pauses to take a sip of water. "Yep I've been practicing."
"Good, good. I've actually been thinking - now that we're going to wait to discuss military matters at the debriefing - I've seen you doing so many little things so gracefully. Back-flips, tumbles, that kind of thing. Looks like a damn Olympic gymnastics floor exercise. Now, admittedly I've always thought that the men who did that stuff were a bunch of faggots, but I've seen how it can be useful in the modern world." Gabriel shrugs and blushes. "I'm not sure that it's entirely the kind of thing that can be taught without years under your belt. But if I can show you how sports work, maybe you could show me how to take a tumble?" He grins. "In the non-sexual way, of course."
Erica laughs softly to herself. "Sure I could teach you some gymnastics, but I thought you wanted to learn how to handle heavy weapons first?" Erica asks with a bit of an amused grin. "Gymnastics takes a lot of work. More then handling heavy weapons, but if you want to learn that works."
"Yes, I'd like to learn it," Gabriel says with a nod. "Maybe put a little quicker swing in my arm if I get stuck and need to hack at something, y'know? Plus, I could get a job entertaining children at birthday parties. I know how to apply makeup for a military disguise, so why not dress up as a clown and make the same money for the same time spent lifting bricks?" He finishes with a wink.
Erica laughs loudly as she shakes her head. "Well I guess you can do that if the merc thing doesn't work out for you." She says with obvious humor in her voice. "Well it was good to see you. Get back to me when that briefing will be." She says as she walks over to the door.
Gabriel follows the polite gesture to leave, but he chuckles to himself on the way. "You know, my friend, I was thinking the other night as I looked up at the stars. Talking to Natasha and all. She pointed out that.. I have only been on *one* actual mercenary-type action since I arrived here. That trip to Minnesota. I helped out Sage, Daeni and Tirzah with the slave women, but that wasn't merc work. I fought to save Daeni, that wasn't merc work. No.. I've been a very quiet man." He steps toward the open door. "Thanks for talking Erica, be seeing you around."
