Scene #5732: Resistance [C]amp-2

Owner	Pose
Tanya Degurechaff	Major Degurechaff wheels about once she's left the canyon, floating back out over the ancient, tree-populated city. It's the flashing light that catches her attention, though, eyes wandering down, sighting Biteblade's distinct hardsuit trying to flag her down. Her free hand is raised, waving in acknowledgement, before the young soldier banks into a descent. She orients from horizontal to vertical as she approaches the rooftop, touching down gently as a feather, "It certainly is a unique experience, flying in this kind of world." Her rifle is lifted, the safety switched, and then she slings it over her shoulder, "What have you found?" She doesn't really wait for an answer, though, fully expecting Biteblade to talk and walk. She crosses the roof towards the direction of the other Starbound captains, stepping up on the railing and simply dropping down. Eyes aglow, her fall arrests to a gentle, floating descent. And as soon as she touches solid ground, she's moving again at a brisk walk to meet up with the her Space-Faring Crew, plantmonster hopefully in tow.
Mei Hatsume	Taking a ride on Tachikoma draws a gleeful noise from Mei as she hangs off its side, letting the wind whip her hair around and letting her goggles block out pesky things like airborne debris. She does quiet down eventually, at least, and reaching the... Camp? It looks camp-like enough. Once the group reaches the camp, Mei gives the machine spider a pat on the leg before peering out at the people they've been sent to find. Or contact, anyway. Whatever the case is, this mass of people is what Mei was hoping to see: Nigh seamless integration of cybernetics and...! Wait. These people aren't actually human, are they? Incredibly similar to humans visually with complex AI, perhaps, but not strictly human in the biological sense. That might not be so easy to integrate design choices from for her own inventions. Still, notes are notes, and she's still got a job to do. "Hello! We're here to help with your missing person problem~!" She announces with a bright-eyed and confident smile, looking around slowly to try and see who's going to address their terribly mismatched crew.
Starbound Flotilla	"Oh heyyy! Chill camp!" "Let Tanya be the first to handle this." "Tiny major friend isss here! Yeahyeah! Will bring her in!" "Anxious. I'm going to... Stay behind a bit." "Hmh. For the best." "Plenty of variety on this. Someone wanted to create real life here." The Flotilla congregates... Except for Seft, who keeps a healthy distance. Biteblade guides Tanya easily to the group, and brings her in towards the front to cover more diplomatic things, as the Flotilla's only human member is... Well... Not suited well for diplomatic affairs, that's for sure. He isn't bad at introductions though. "Heyyyy, there we go! Finally found it. Hey, anyone around know the YoRHa person who we can't get on the phone recent-like?" He wanders around mashing the metaphorical interact button of sorts on as many people as he can with that particular sort of query. He's also quite helpful. As a mechanical engineer himself, he's definitely going to offer a bit of help to grease wheels wherever they can be greased. "..." Biteblade appears to be puzzled by the meat, fascinated. "But if robotsss... Then...? Maybe methane-generation reaction like metal friend? Or..." She's generally as harmless as usual though, sticking to thr group so that nobody gets excessively wary of the weird aliens wandering around.
Iria	Meanwhile, Iria decides to follow along behind on foot. Being the agile girl she is, it's not too hard for her to reach the destination with little difficulty. Upon arriving at the camp, though, Iria's legs start to hurt a little and she stops for a moment to rest, taking a small bottle of water from her belt and having a sip of water to quench her thirst. Yes, even Iria gets thirsty once in awhile. Iria looks at the general area carefully and looks at the people as well, giving them an extra scrutinizing look. Are they really human? No, not quite. They're definitely not entirely human at the very least. It doesn't really bother Iria, though, as she's encountered many bizarre life forms and whatnot during her travels as a bounty hunter. Just then Mei Hatsume calls out to those who are working within the camp, and then Seft speaks up as well, leaving Iria to wonder what will happen next.
Ezekiel Gravez	Zeke confirms that Mei is not only unhurt, but even more enthusiastic. He nods to her as she takes off on Tachikoma, and then accepts the offered ride. Instantly, the moment his nanobot cloud makes contact with the technology, the feed from the cyberdeck lights up with new information. The cyberdeck informs Zeke where the power and basic operations of the transport. He croaks under the enviromask over the comm, and instructs the android driver, Smoky Pete, to keep the engine running in case of the need of rapid extraction. The android recieves the order and engages it, giving the confirmation right away. Zeke depresses the power button and the package hums to life, expanding outward slightly as the systems engage. With some difficulty adjusting to the new means of thrust, and having to parse the information from the cyberdeck in real time - its quite the bumpy ride, reminiscent of the Greatest American Hero. Believe it not, Zeke is walking on air. The way to the college campus is fraught with danger, everything from passing treetops to giant insects on the prowl, to the eventual flying into into a pattern of indigeonous waterfowl. Comedic, one would say. Landing on the ground is the only uneventful thing that happens, because by that time Zeke has had enough of of the flight controls that he had been waiting to engage the landing program with baited breath. "Uhh.. thanks," he says, with barely an upward glance towards Mei, stripping the contraption off of him. As he scans the area, the 'people' that were milling about seem to approach. There's that nervous twitch in the air he feels. First Contact. He stands behind and slightly to the left of most of the group, which include the Flotilla Captains. However, he leaves his defensive systems still on alert, however, run silently. If Zeke needs to conjure a Nullity Sphere on the fly, it most definitely WILL happen in a nanosecond.
Batou	Mei and Batou ride on Tachikoma with anyone else who prefers, with Batou scanning the inhabitants of the college readings as... off. Batou soon realizes why when he sees one of them literally using a screwdriver to adjust a mechanism in their leg, and he understands perfectly. "Well here's that song and dance... People who aren't flesh and blood, but are sentient all the same. No problem." Batou opens the comms to Eye, communicating with his superior on this part of the op, as he watches Mei greet the people of the camp. "Eye, what's our next step here? Anything stand out to you?" Tachikoma rolls into the camp alongside Mei, giving a warm greeting to the robots as well. Batou feels more relaxed in this camp around other synthetic life forms, and lets a smile show. It isn't often he gets to meet non-human life forms besides the tachikomas and the relatively simple AI back home. The swords that he and Eye found in that fortified cache are quite heavy, even for a cybernetically-enhanced human, and he sets them in Tachikoma's storage space in the back to give himself some added mobility before walking further into the base.
All-Seeing Eye	The college complex's day-to-day is further disturbed by the arrival of All-Seeing Eye. His hoverbike kicks up a cloud of dust, the jets blowing away the odd bit of detritus as he pulls to a stop. In plain view of the resistance members moving supply crates, he dismounts the vehicle, which rapidly folds itself up in ways that laugh in the face of the Law of Conservation of Mass. He touches a hand to his ear, and responds to Batou. "Oh, absolutely," he says with a curious, coy smile. The cooking, actually. But first, he should check in. Moving to join his comrades with a confident stride and his best public-relations smile, he addresses Mei. "Good afternoon, comrade Hatsume," he cheerily offers to Mei. "I trust you and Batou have this in hand--if you'll forgive me, I simply /must/ indulge my curiosity. I'll only be a moment! Try and make do without my radiance in the meantime, dears." He twirls his hair around a finger, nodding cordially towards Mei and Batou, then giving the others a somewhat more clipped gesture of greeting. Moving past the crowd, he busies himself with the resistance members grilling meat. "Good day!" He stands at the edge of the fire, hands clasped behind his back like a general inspecting his troops. "I'm here representing YoRHa as an... outside consulatant," he lilts. "There is some business we should discuss, but first--would you indulge my curiosity?" He motions with one hand to the roasting meat. "Might I ask who this performance is for? You seem to be completely artificial, and your stores are entirely without food."
A2	Of course, all these people wandering into the Resistance camp draws attention. Unlike other recently unified places where it might cause a commotion though, the Androids are remarkably chill about the whole thing; even the Flotilla, given their predisposition to wearing hardsuits. Looking around, the people here don't so much as interrupt their business, most of them not sparing much more than curious looks or the odd wave or nod, in the kind of oddly old fashioned, small community way, where no member can even conceive of someone else amongst them being dangerous. There's an almost total lack of suspicion here, at least towards the people they can see, which might be oddly refreshing. Within seconds, they can walk around the place as if it's their own. George walks around mashing the interact button. A rather buff, dark-skinned Android working on what appears to be a rocket launcher across his knee greets him and compliments him on his suit, telling him to come by if he wants to trade it for something, or if it needs repairs or upgrades. An 'older' looking skinny Android with a heavily stripped leg sitting on a rug under an awning tries to sell him a bunch of stuff that seems to be mostly parts and scrap, as well as probably unsafe drugs or meds or something. He quickly finds out why nobody cares about some of the odd heads on display, when he wanders into one guy sitting in a hilariously campy 'modern' folding chair with what looks to be the hollowed out head of a Machine as a hat+mask, who only gives him a dramatic "...". Finally, he bumbles into a lady near to the infirmary, working on a computer terminal, who directs him towards the far end with the generator and the tactical map, telling him he should talk to the boss, and points out a dark-haired woman with a clearly handmade poncho. The vibe he gets here is very clear that every member has a particular set of specialist skills and jobs, and everyone being necessary probably helps significantly in getting along. All of them seem to have some secondhand knowledge of YoRHa's handler, but none of them seem to know her (presumably) personally. The best Mei gets is when the buff guy speaks up with "Ahh, she got lost did she? Or dead. I was wondering. She wouldn't buy a dang thing, but it was nice talking to her. Last I heard from the leader, she was going off to meet up with the western outpost. Not sure what coulda got her out in that direction. We cleared it out only weeks ago. The Machines are here are lazy, so I don't think they would have reinforced it so soon." A man and a woman in roughly matching drab cotton and burlap overclothes look up from the fire at All-Seeing Eye with some level of patient confusion. "Eh? You're the placement?" the woman, especially identifiable for a pair of what look like scanning goggles pushed up on her head, asks. "Well that was fast. I mean, you're clearly not a YoRHa model. A contractor? Lemme guess, East- no, Northern base? You look like one of those expensive prettyboys." "Oh knock it off." her buddy says, after tearing into a piece of what looks like boar meat, talking while chewing. "What's wrong with eating every now and again? We're on break, so it's on our own time. Some people think it's weird, but a lot of Androids have started trying it recently. Don't knock it until you've tried it! The texture is great! Humans used to do this every day y'know. Three times! Must have been a real pain." It seems they don't believe All-Seeing Eye isn't an Android too, or rather they must assume anything that looks human is one of them. While this is technically correct for many members, it probably applies to everyone else too. That's probably to their advantage. Of course these Androids would be immediately friendly and overwhelmingly helpful to others of their scattered kind, and immediately intensely hostile to anything that appeared significantly different.
Mei Hatsume	Fun ride~? Hm... Looks like I'll have to tweak the balancers later." Mei murmurs to herself as she takes the harness back from Zeke, glancing between him and her invention a few times before stowing it away with the rest of her stuff. All-Seeing Eye gets a cheerful greeting in return: A big wave, a broad grin, and a quick nod! "HEllo! Yes, we're doing just fine. And my babies are doing alright, too, so once we sort out where to go next..." A pause as she looks over at Tanya when she abruptly drops down out of nowhere. There's a hint of worry on her features, but... Well. She's seen small people in action before. She'll probably be fine! Mei turns back to the crowd she's trying to draw info from, then perks up when Buffman speaks up. "Just lost, I hope. Whatever happened, we're on the case!" She states with another confident grin, raising an eyebrow curiously when the guy speaks of buying things. Or selling, in his case. "What sorts of stuff do you have for sale? Anything that might be helpful for anyone traveling out to the outpost?" A glance is directed towards Tachikoma, likely due to those swords being stowed. She pauses to relay the information about the western outpost to today's allies, then turns back to Buffman with another inquistive look. "What do you mean about Machines being lazy, though? Do they just not want to move? Laze about? Not get enough exercise on a weekend?"
All-Seeing Eye	The Alchemical's golden eyes flash with merriment at the goggled woman's appraisal. Him? Expensive? He titters, offering her a wink. "More than you know, dear." His attention turns to the other, once he interjects, and he listens with a curiously arched brow. When that's done, the fad's explanation elicits a nod of understanding. "Of course, of course! There's nothing wrong with that at all. We're built to protect them, so why shouldn't we emulate them?" He smiles brightly at them both, offering a curt, informal bow at the waist. Rising from that brief gesture, he takes a moment to flip his hair over a shoulder. "My designation is All-Seeing Eye, and I am here to assist both on behalf of YoRHa and my... parent corporation, you could say. To wit!" He raises a single index finger, pointed at the sky, and fixes his audience with a confident, appraising and altogether pleased look. "The business I said I'd like to discuss. Firstly, what information can you provide about my predecessor?" He rattles off some examples, extending another finger for each one. "Last known whereabouts, habits, unusual behavior?" There's a pause for effect. "Second, but no less important--with the absence of your liaison, is there any sort of aid you require? Medical supplies, sundries, materiel, and so on?"
Ezekiel Gravez	"Yeah, fun." He chuckles a bit, to himself, shaking his head a little and removing a broken branch from an evergreen out of his gear belt. Then, it hits him. The dlightful smell of cooking meat wafts under Zeke's nose, and it takes his emotional guard down for a moment. Having been aboard a hauler and eating protein rations for the most of his life, actual home cooked meals (android chefs or not!) were a rarity. Oh, and the last time he had a Bronto Burger, it was years ago. Nearly a faded memory which had new life the moment he smelled what was on the grill. He approached the group near the fire, and took in a good look at every single person resting or working there. "I couldnt help but notice... the.. do you mind if I?" The words seems to stutter a little, as he gestured to the meal being cooked. "It is a thing we humans used to do a lot, yeah. But lately.. almost everything has been prepackaged, processed and otherwise meant more for .. well.. May I?" He offers. "The name's Zeke. I'm here on account a some refugees who may need'n help. Are you it?" He offers a gloved hand extended in greeting.
Iria	Of course there's going to be attention drawn to them. Iria and the others look nothing like the Androids that are here. For a moment Iria remains alert but doesn't go for her weapons or anything like that, instead simply watching and waiting for a sign that things either may get aggressive or that all is well. When nothing happens, Iria relaxes a little and breathes a slight sigh of relief. Being able to walk around like the place is their own is a sign of acceptance, one that Iria appreciates greatly. When the man and woman speak about eating meat, Iria nods a little to them. "So you do need to eat to survive. That's very interesting." She doesn't show any sign of emotion on her face as she says this. "I guess you learn something new every day." She stretches her arms above her head and sighs for a moment before looking around some more. Then she looks to Mei and nods a little as if confirming what she's said. "Yeah, she probably just got lost, we'll find her." A slight smirk forms on Iria's face as she says this. When Iria spots Ezekiel and All-Seeing Eye introducing themselves, the brunette bounty hunter decides to take the time to introduce herself as well. "Hunter 9799-5," Iria says as she holds up her bounty hunter's ID briefly. "But you can call me Iria." She smirks a little more at that.
Tanya Degurechaff	George is the Social Butterfly. And therefore Tanya takes distinct note of his travels through the encampment, following a few paces behind. Her arms remain folded, expression neutral, hair-sprig bobbing with each step. She almost looks like she's in deep thought. So these robots have chosen to live here. It's a full on society, completely different from the YoRHa group in orbit. That one over there is even eating, though no doubt they have no need to do so. Her eyes narrow slightly and her attention turns back to George's travels and the androids she is, thus, walking past. When one of the citizens mentions a leader, though, she straightens her posture as if snapping back to this part of reality. "Ah, of course this camp would have a leader." This gives Tanya more direction. Heedless of Mei's concern, Tanya whirls about and directly approaches the leader pointed out to George. Time to get her Diplomacy on. Hands fold behind her back as she approaches, and she announces herself with a raised voice, "Excuse me. I am Major Degurechaff, representative of the Concord and here on behalf of YoRHa." Coming to a stop, the young girl straightens her posture, "I understand you are the leader of this encampment. We're attempting to get in contact with a YoRHa representative who was stationed here, and has been out of contact for some time. Any information would be helpful."
Starbound Flotilla	"Huuuuhhhhh... Solid. I'll check in." George says, giving a friendly fingergun and a little click of the tongue. "Heya Ssssnnnnn..." He starts calling Tanya by an obnoxious nickname, slowing down partway through before Moonfin delivers a solid bonk onto his head and a stern look. "Ow! Heya, ~Major Degurechaff~, over this way." And he's going to let Tanya be the primary speaker here. Pavo is the one who takes the most interest in things. She caught just that little bit of dialogue between Mei and the one she was speaking to, and is determined to follow up on it. She converses, mostly to Tanya, but audible to the leaderly woman. "It looks like she left westward. Doesn't sound like she reported that to YoRHa. So whatever happened, it was urgent, a surprise, or a secret, and all three of those make it sound mighty valuable to know. We just need to know where they went and why." She says, clicking her beak excitedly once. "Something about the western outpost?"
Batou	Batou chuckles at the android's eating food and talking about the novelty of having to eat three times per day, remembering a time when he had to eat as well. Batou sees the muscular guy talk to Mei and passes by, sending him a nod as he speaks. "I got a feeling she'll be alright. I don't know much about her personally but she sounds like she can handle herself." He walks along watching George from the Flotilla talking with people, quietly talking with them here or there, but not getting much in the way of useful info, but cataloguing it nonetheless. Batou watches as the woman from the infirmary points to the infirmary, and thanks her as he follows George, acknowledging him as he catches up at the tactical table. "Hey, fella. Name's Batou. Got any new intel off anyone around here?" Batou also turns and greets the dark-haired woman. "Hey, how're you? We're looking for YoRha, would you happen to have any info for us?" Batou is skilled in talking with androids and AI in general, so he hopes that his questioning can lead to something vital to this mission. Tachikoma stays with Mei, whirring quietly as Mei checks out the store. "Miss Hatsume, it's so wonderful to be able to assist you! Let me know if I can carry anything for you!"
A2	Mei tracks down the buff dude. Working under a spotlight in the shadow of the concrete college building and wearing a yellow shirt, he's hard to miss. Bald and shallowly bearded, he'd be roughly in place as a bouncer somewhere in the Mediterranean, but he's got a huge pile of pools on a slightly rusting crate next to him, and thick insulated gloves, tinkering on guns instead. "Huh, me?" he says, having gotten distracted with his work in the ten seconds between being pestered by George and then Mei. "Oh. I guess I'm the armsmaster around here. I used to work in gunnery back during the tenth descent force, so everyone relies on me to do the really skilled weapons work here. Anemone basically has me act as quartermaster too, so I get the final say on who gets to take what equipment where. We don't really have the gear to waste on loading rookies with our top shelf on milk runs, you know? I've got plenty of basic equipment if you're looking to buy, but I'm the boss on combat equipment becuase I'm the only one here who can work with maso systems. That means I'm the only one who can do powered upgrades and work on energy weapons." "If you need something just to get you to the outpost, I can do a rush job, but if you're only looking for supplies, you should talk to the supply trader, not me." Apparently, jobs are broken up pretty finely here. Of course, if these guys have been around for a long time --that is longer than humans usually live-- it'd make sense that they've developed difficult to replace levels of talent in the areas they'd first been assigned to and just stuck with since then out of 'being the best qualified'. "Dunno. You tell me." he then follows up on the second question. "If you go northeast to the coast, or especially due south to the factory complex, the Machines aren't particularly dense anymore after the YoRHa descent missions started, but they're hooked up to each other. Coordinated. Vicious as ever. Around here though? In the city ruins? I don't know what it is. It's all small squads. Wandering packs. Occasional recon units. They don't 'talk' to each other. You can wipe them out and they don't call fifty thousand reinforcements, and if you go wide around them, most of the time they don't even notice you. Recently we've been getting real weird ones. They just wander around and stare into space. They don't do anything unless you get /real/ close. Creeps me out, honest. I wonder if the server in this region is just breaking down. Maybe YoRHa smashed something. They don't exactly tell us a lot, though I guess we've been making major advances since they showed up, so I suppose I'm glad to have them around. Even get a discount, though all their gear is way beyond what we can throw together on the surface."
A2	The couple by the fire blink at All-Seeing Eye for a second, munching on what looks like roast boar skewers, before the girl says "Oh. Corporation. You're from one of the orbital colonies." in sudden, flat recognition. "That makes sense." the guy says. "They get all the best stuff up there. I heard they were planning a fifteenth descent, but all the funds are going to YoRHa at the minute. Some kinda auxilliary?" Being 'from space' is about as accurate as it's going to get, and likely excuses 'Eye of basically any need for local knowledge. "Uhhhh . . . her name was funny. 13O, like the numbers and the letter. Didn't have that blindfold visor like the battle models we sometimes see. Spent most of her time talking with the leader, not us folk. Spent a lot of time reconning the area too. Had a personal H22o9 unit as well. Secretive. Didn't socialize much. I guess YoRHa command keeps her busy, but she was kinda 'flat' y'know? Like, poker face all the time. Barely had an expression in all the times I saw her around here. Probably an intelligence agent thing. Last I heard she was checking in on the western outpost, near the desertified area. I doubt Machines got her. Either she went incognito or Jackass blew her up on accident." The goggled girl thinks for a moment. "I think we're doing pretty okay at the moment actually. There's a launch facility really close to here, set up by the fourteenth descent force, so it's pretty new. It's a really big tactical asset to YoRHa, so they defend it pretty well. Under 24/7 orbital weapon coverage and everything. The area around here is pretty low-danger, all things considered. It's still risky to go out alone, but our cell has it almost cushy. The Machine forces are nearly purged from this area, and the rest are all kinda . . . weird . . . so we mostly do supply runs and get raw materials and equipment up into space, and since that's so important to the orbital colonies, we get plenty of support." Both of them seem to not even notice the 'we' Ezekiel slips in, instead fixating on his 'actual interest' in their hobby. The guy offers him a skewer immediately, obviously about as fresh as it gets, and glistening from the fire. "Knock yourself out buddy! Nice to meet another connoisseur around these parts! Not everyone appreciates the mental benefits of trying these kinds of experiences out! Humans were really smart to figure this stuff out. It's a shame we don't know /more/ about their lifestyle to try out. Even if it's not really the same, it can't hurt to try and be a little more human-like, y'know? A little more noble." The girl interjects. "Nobody here's a refugee. This is /our/ planet, so we're right at home. We're the ones tough enough to stick it out. Everyone else is in space." "Makes you feel sorry for humans sometimes. They're real fragile, so they can't really be here. We need to work hard to make up for it." "One day." "Yeah, one day." Only the girl looks interested by Iria's ID. "For a second there I was worried by that introduction. You've got a proper name though. Pleased to meet you!"
A2	The leader of the camp stands out a little, both in dress and in attitude. Very vaguely Indian in appearance, she looks to be slightly on the 'younger' end and probably originally ill-suited to combat going by her frame, but Tanya can recognize the posture and attitude of confidence and experience from her. A lot of her clothing is tactical in design, with hard cases and webbing over camo pants, matching boots, gloves, and knee guards, but she also wears a somewhat elaborate green and gold-tasseled poncho/cape/hood thing, with a gold clasp that stands out for looking hand-made; probably a relic of the old world by now, and seemingly only sentimental. "So, you're the new handler?" she starts off, skipping to business straight away. Seems there was no especially subservient relationship to YoRHa's contact here, despite the obviously massive funding gap. "Or do they still think the old one's coming back? Well, doesn't matter. If you're looking for why there hasn't been any contact, that's the reason." she jerks her thumb towards a tall and elaborate console the size and shape of a refridgerator, halfway disassembled and being worked on by an Android with a black ponytail. It's technology at odds with the make-do majority of what they have. "The HEO radio is busted. Not badly, mind you, but it was damaged in a skirmish not long ago and had to be brought back for repairs. We've fixed most of it up, but we just plain don't have some of the necessary parts that have to be replaced. I was organizing a party to try and track some down, but if YoRHa finally decided to check in on us, that works too." She continues in response to Batou. "13O was off to the desert complex to the west. We have a sister outpost there, in close contact. The place is surrounded by mountains, which break the desert winds and keep this side of the range sand-free. We have a checkpoint at the only real way in and out, so it makes keeping the Machines from that region at bay pretty easy. The 'leader' there is one of my direct subordinates, so we keep in touch. From what I know, 13O made it there and went further into the old habitation block. Said she was investigating something. Then she didn't come back. Even odds on whether she bit it or found something YoRHa wants to keep secret. If she didn't take her comms gear then it's probably the latter. If she did, definitely the former. I guess YoRHa wants to know whether to give up and boot her from backup, right?"
Tanya Degurechaff	'13O' is the name. That sticks in Tanya's memory. Lifting a hand, she touches the tip of her thumb to her lips in thought as she hears out the rest of the Leader's response both to herself and to this mountainous man who's stepped up next to her. And also Pavo's comments. The Western complex. A straight-faced intel agent. Probably at least capable of self defense, if she's anything like the YoRHa robots on the space station. Her eyes wander to the under-repairs communication unit, then back to the Leader, "I understand. I'll pass your situation to YoRHa so they know your unit is still active. They were concerned that you'd been wiped out, and will no doubt be pleased to know you're still in the fight." "As for 13O," Tanya states, "I would hold out hope that she may still be alive. For now. But I have my suspicions. We'll investigate the habitation complex ourselves before I'll commit to anything definitive." She dips her head in a respectful nod, "Thank you for the information. We'll be in touch." And then she turns, stepping away with a simple, command-like, "Pavo." Once she's certain that the Avian and herself are out of earshot, Tanya states in a low voice, "There's a very high chance that 13O was ripped apart by A2. We're investigating the western outpost and the habitation block at our earliest convenience. There's a chance our fugitive is still there, or clues to her whereabouts."
Iria	"I prefer to introduce myself with my hunter's ID first," Iria explains. "Some might call it arrogant, I just call it promoting my profession as a bounty hunter." She smiles a little. "Yeah, I have a proper name, but if you're wondering, I don't have a surname. It's just Iria." She shrugs a little. "In Batabitajira, they don't really give surnames." After doing that, Iria looks towards the leader, attempting to focus on her and what she might be saying. She really doesn't have much to say at first, instead waiting until the leader is all done and Tanya has spoken up first. After Tanya finishes speaking, Iria nods and renders her 'Bounty Hunter's salute.' "We'll take care of this, Pavo. Leave everything to us!"
Starbound Flotilla	"Aye. I'll find whatever there is to find there, especially if it's that high-strung rag emporium." Pavo says as she leaves earshot as well. "We'll set up a push over there and take whatever it is down. No chance it's a known YoRHa secret if they're going to people like us to figure out more." She taps one foot. "We're not /social/ types. Gods don't sit around chatting, they make miracles happen. We can deploy scout bikes nearby and make our way towards the outpost if you want. Get a head-start with a teleportation beacon." "Would give Seft more room to breathe. Think she might not like the look of the Machinefolk compared to the Androids. Or like it more! Who knows. Actually, here, I'll make a couple friends." George says, and then goes to hassle the leader again. "I've got a comms person good at mechanical repairs and building, and I think a couple of the others are even better -- that gadgeteer over there, probably?" He gestures vaguely over at Mei Hatsume. "Name those parts, we'll see if we can find something like 'em on our way over or while we're poking around. We've got some orbital comms tech, but I don't think we'd have the bandwidth for something that big." That should cover most aspects here. For the rest, Pavo doesn't really intend to dig into the western outpost and desert area just today, but getting some directions to bike out and get a head start and some camp stuuff set up is always something the Flotilla is good to do.
Mei Hatsume	"Carrying? Hehe... Thanks, buddy~ If it gets too heavy, I'll let you know!" Mei beams at the Tachikoma, then flexes briefly and shows off... Arm! Her uniform's kind of hiding her bicep, though, but it's totally there! "An inventor can't get too dependent on outside help, though. At least, not if they want to be well-rounded and able to take on anything!" She boasts proudly, complete with outdoor-voice laugh for a few seconds before quieting down again to follow Buffman. Also, staring at all the tools. And finding out that Buffman is also the armsmaster and the weapons worker here. Jackpot! "That makes sense. Prioritizing the strongest tools and people for the hardest jobs, letting the rookies build up experience taking on easier missions. Not a problem." She nods once and takes a few mental notes on the structure of the place, particularly the fact that there even is a difference between Buffman the Armsmaster and whoeer the supply trader is. "Speaking of... Hmm. Unless you've got specialized gear just for handling machines, I think we can handle it with what we have. Although..." Mei taps a finger on her chin, murmuring thoughtfully to herself. "Maybe those energy...? No, I'd need a license back home if it's anything like a gun. Something close range, maybe? But if it's heavy enough that Tachikoma needs to carry it... What about lighter gear that humans can use?" It takes her a little while to sort her head out, but once she does, she turns back to the Quartermaster. "So we can avoid them or take them out fast. Or... Just avoid them, if they're not even paying attention. Got it." Mei claps her hands together, then smiles rather suddenly. "So! After we're finished tracking down this person, do you mind if I watch you work for a while? Maybe even take apart a few things you don't need any more?"
Batou	Batou nods, listening to everything the leader says alongside everyone else, and bows out of the conversation, thanking them for the intel. "130..." Batou wonders, thinking about the desert, and the machines that have been malfunctioning. After a moment of thought he relays the information to Mei, Tachikoma and Eye all the information that he gathered, heading Eye's way, and quickly phones him. "Eye, we got an update. Looks like we gotta head to the desert westward to chase this dog's tail. Anything specific you looking to take care of? Maybe some tech to investigate? Or a bite to eat?" Tachikoma salutes Mei in its cutesy robotic way, mimicing an official voice. "Self sufficiency! You got it, commander!" as it giggles, trailing off as it looks at the wares avaliable, remarking how different the components look from their Earth's version of them, yet some sharing the same uses for its own body. Upon hearing both the buff guy and Batou relaying the data to it, it thinks about the comment of unusual behavior, the malfunctioning robots sounding like zombies from old films back home. Tachikoma considers this, imitates a slight shudder, and asks Mei a question. "Miss Hatsume, do you ever get... scared on these kinds of dangerous missions? I feel like maybe I do. Those robots that just stand around all creepy sound like... zombies!"
Ezekiel Gravez	With all the information given, through observation or interaction paints a picture that starts to colourize before him. These machines are in some sense, sentient. A world of thoughts proceeded after that, while staring at the hunk of freshly seared meat. So human, he thought. But, could they cook? Is it imitation, or was it a process of data and program execution? It situations like this that inspired some of the hypercorporate friction when it reacted to the development of AI within its itself. There was the question of did these creatures deserved rights? Would they simply become some sort of immortal work force? Zeke stared at the extraterrestrial morsel. Could it toxic to his system? Was it properly suitable for human digestion? He had no idea! Why was he staring at this? He looked at the android who served it to him. "Lemme help with this..." The cyberdeck reacted right away, loading up a program that would properly denature the proteins in the meat while making sure anything microbial would be removed. He held out the meat in front of him, and away from others. "One moment.." A short arc of azure blue light speared the space between the cyberdeck's needle projection and the meat on the stick. It was flash cooked in seconds. The nanobots worked quickly and dissipated just as fast, making sure in every way the finished product was suitable for his own digestive needs. Then, the enviromask came off, and Zeke spoke without the rebreather, giving the man a nod. "Much obliged, friend." The overall scene feels to settle when the groups begin to feel each other out. Zeke spent most of his time taking it all in. He was curious, and the casual nature of the android hosts made it even more so. However, knowing that he himself identified more with being human than being a cyborg, the difference between the two seemed to juggle in his mind. The Spirit-Tech symbiants didn't replace humanity on Rubi-ka, only enhancing it. People, even civilians, took to using cybernetics as a means of gaining an edge in the workforce, but then instead of making them dispassionate or robotic wasn't seen in over an age. Nanites made humans MORE human in the long run. This was materializing right before his eyes. What he was experiencing right here, these androids that were comfortable in their own.. skin, perhaps? It truly was a question for the philosophers. A member of the group, the one calling its-himself? Itself? What did gender matter at that point? Again, it would seem that philosophy and ethics needed to be the lens in which to look at all this. But, right now in this moment there was a certain reality that was emerging from all the facts being presented. That these people were just as remote, and trying their hardest to work together, as any tribe would have. They react and reach out, and display human nuance, and suddenly Zeke lost a little more discomfort. To truly get a better understanding of where to draw it all together, then Zeke needed to pay particular attention to everyone's differences and similarities equally. This could be a long night. "Mebbe we can stick around tonight, do what we can to keep good company, and then head out in the morning?" Zeke suggests it to All-Seeing Eye and Batou.
All-Seeing Eye	The Exalt nods--he isn't, of course, from such a place, but... "Oh, believe me," he says with a can-do, lateral pump of his fist, "When the time comes I think you'll find those funds to be quite well-placed." Eye makes note of the name. "Yes," he says with a dismissive wave of his hand and a conspiratorial smirk leveled towards the couple. "I know /just/ what you mean--I deal with Intelligence all the time. They're exactly as boring as they seem." He gives a throaty chuckle, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. "Thank you for the information, in any case!" He gives another little bow. He rubs his chin while Zeke samples the local cuisine, putting the pieces together. "It's good to hear that your needs are being met," he ponders, with a small, satisfied smile. The Alchemical touches a finger to his temple, muttering something with that same quiet confidence, before turning his attention back to the figures around the fire. "We'll be leaving for that desert, then," he says with polite certainty. When Batou arrives, he introduces the cyborg to the others present. "Comrade Batou! If you took the communications device from the cache with you, it might be wise to radio YoRHa and apprise them of the situation." Zeke's question doesn't get an immediate verbal response. Instead, Eye takes a step back from the fire. He extends a hand, and from his outstretched, downward palm sprouts the entirety of his hoverbike. Sitting astride the vehicle, he gives an informal salute to the would-be chef, and to the Atrox gourmand. "I must decline that offer, citizen," he says with a frown that almost seems genuine. "YoRHa is missing one of its own, and these good people will need parts to repair their comms array, if what Batou tells me is correct. Afterwards, perhaps, but for now... lives are at stake." With a motion from both of his wrists, the purple jets ignite and carry the bike into the air. "Good hunting to you," he says to Iria. Though his vision reveals everything around him, his golden eyes are fixed on the west. The sympathetic frown takes a colder, harsher tone, and his hands grip the handlebars perhaps a little too tightly. With another push of the throttle, he's off, not waiting even for his fellow Paladins. Tanya and the Flotilla captains will see this purple blaze heading westward. Perhaps he's come to the same conclusion as the Major?
A2	"I appreciate it." bosslady says to Tanya, not insincerely. "We're in no danger of going anywhere soon, but it's better if everything is cleared up and the chain of command is restored sooner rather than later." She holds her hand out (down, mostly) to shake briefly with Tanya. "Anemone. If you need to contact me, you can radio on the shortwave and I'll have Liza patch you through. She's our communications officer. Doesn't talk much though, funny enough." To George, she gives him a very short list. "Mostly, we need the parts tog et the beam into orbit. The Bunker isn't a LEO installation, and the bandwidth we need, especially to transmit backups like YoRHa wants, can't be done with microwave or radio transmitters. We usually grind down laser parts to fit the lensing, but only the tougher machine infantry really carry laser weapons, so it's a question of tracking down a small enough party with a heavy gunner. Aside from that, we need a heavy duty capacitor, and a cooling unit. I don't want us to go using up nitrogen unless we have to, but the process generates a lot of heat. Those are easier to find. Once that's set up, we can beam each other directly." The quartermaster looks at Mei quizzically. "Light enough for a human? Haven't had one as a customer, hah. I guess you're a little on the small side, but still, no need to exaggerate." He fishes around what amounts to an automotive rack and comes back with a short and broad, but thin in cross section, triangular blade with serrated midsections, entirely gunmetal in colour without any sort of wrapping or guard, but casually decorated in someone's spare time with a lion motif engraved into the blade and a length of welded chain to at least separate the blade from the hilt. It's like a very stout and oversized knife, made of highly purified and pattern welded scrap, in one solid piece of metal. It still looks heavy for its size, but as small as it is, it's still only on the order of ten or fifteen pounds; not exactly agile, but usable for Mei. "Ten thousand." he doesn't actually specify a currency. It can't be credits, since this place isn't properly unified. "I'll keep a rain check on it if you don't have the scratch at the minute. If you want to pay it off by helping out, that's fine too. It's simple, but it's a solid piece of work. It'll go right through a medium biped chassis if you get some leverage. Good finishing weapon. I do a lot of blades, you know? I'm the only one who can work on energy weapons here, but swords are my passion lately. It's a totally different art, and a necessary one for dealing anti-projectile Machine armour. I'm a little jealous of the models those YoRHa types get."
A2	Tachikoma lingering behind to check out what the supply trader has for sale finds a mix of things. On one hand, parts are parts. Though these Androids are clearly highly advanced, capacitors are capacitors, pneumatics are pneumatics, bolts are bolts, et cetera. Even if they're very small and compact and using a lot of purified or artificial metals, they'd be useful in just about any machine, and thus probably have universal barter value. Other things seem to be specifically for Android consumption, and roughly in the vein of 'medical supplies'. At least, the trader calls them things like 'vaccines' and 'salves', which mostly appear to be capsules filled with what could be nanites, or at least smart compound applicators, and small data drives. There's a library of some kind of chips that he keeps in a heavily locked tacklebox, but he doesn't intend to sell them to a Tachikoma, for whatever reason. Of course, the blue spiderbot is the odd one out in this group, but clearly YoRHa must make /some/ use of 'actual robots' if he isn't a shock, and a couple of people /have/ seem them use flight frames and miniature mecha once upon a time. Ezekiel analyzes the gift he's given, which seems to miff the woman putting more on a spit. Looking the gift horse in the mouth and all. It turns out to absolutely be pig, though off a really, really big one. Nothing is overtly wrong with it, which is possibly a blessing, since the current eaters couldn't get parasites or diseases if they tried. There are of course the usual amount of bacteria and microbes one would expect from the flesh of a recently living creature, but also just the tiniest amount of radiation. Not alpha or beta or gamma waves, just something that abstractly ticks as 'radioactive'. It doesn't seem /harmful/ per se, but it's an unknown. The nanites scrub it anyways. When he actually eats the dang thing, the female Android's expression softens again, and she asks "Well, how is it? Good, right? It's a pain to collect, but I think it's worth it. Now if only we had a garden . . ." "No problem." her buddy says, apparently finished with his food, and wiping the grease off his fingers. "It's not exactly eventful around here, but work keeps you busy, the weather's always good, the sights are pretty enough, and there's plenty of people to talk to, so it could be a lot worse. Those YoRHa units always seem so uptight, I'd be amazed if they got any free time at all. Seems like they don't even have feelings half the time." He whistles (and his friend gawks) at the hoverbike, muttering an appreciative 'damn' under his breath at the sight, clearly extremely envious of the sweet ride. Neither of them seem to have any idea what Iria means by 'surname'. "I'm Dallas. This is Rosa." he says, his friend waving with her mouth full. "Bounty hunting? I didn't realize that was still a thing. There aren't all that many criminals these days. Someone can't take it anymore and does something crappy every few years I guess, but usually they run off and nobody hears from them again after that. Once you're not welcome at any camp, it's just a matter of time until the elements or the Machines get you. There was some thievery going around . . . I want to say ten years back? A murder maybe thirty. That is, unless you count those rumours about someone stalking YoRHa agents. I'm not sure there's any credibility to them, but you be careful anyways, you hear?"