Scene #6265: A Ruined City 8: War Ghosts

Owner	Pose
Kotone Yamakawa	Earth Amer-Russio Alliance Hawaii Kahului Old US Army Base The mission was to be a night op for a very good reason, Colonel Heller had confirmed with drone recon the base still had automated defence systems while the old power plants were damaged the old solar grid was intact and could keep some of them on during the day. At night it would leave some of the defences offline. Kotone had done further recon and oddly there seemed to be an odd camp here something had been active here and the people from the Down Town had always avoided it. It wasn't like the factories though whatever was there never strayed out the region if you went looking for trouble there like looting? They'd seen ripples in the air and taken fire. Few chose to go there. Those who didn't have transport would have had it provided by the Colonel, he'd given the team what information they had maps from before the war, official old lists of hardware and gear all cited for reclamation with bonuses for the recover. The last report was the base had been involved in combat with Chinese forces before it had gone dark, well the old China not the current Chinese Republic. Kotone would be at a forward point here on the edge of the base behind the ruins of an old Multi-legged spider tank of some sort. "So we know the drill the colonel's magiced up the old access codes we're to get in the command center and take control of the base's systems back and see about recovering any military hardware here before the engineers move in." There would be wireless signals in the arena still active for one and sporadic bursts of activity. Those with mental powers would sense something here, driven to survive but something was off something was wrong like something unatural was driving those presences. Finally Reyes would get the tank Ko was hiding behind for one was a decently advanced multi-legged machine which used to have a heavy cannon of some sort and early gen MMI, also Kotone had some sort of cloaking armour on. "So everyone here?" Notes Kotone as she peers over the wreck again.
Zerrawn	Zerrawn had business within the Sith Empire he had to take care up, which had drawn him away from aiding Kotone with her task. But now, with his schedule cleared up, he carefully made his way over to her position. "There's something here...I can feel it. It's hard to place but...I feel an urge to survive. I'd prepare for hostiles. While we wait, I will meditate." He says, taking a quick sitting posture, legs underneath him as he quickly emersed himself in Force energy. Rage, to be more specific.
Corona Arclite	Corona pokes her head out from under the spider-tank. "Sorry Koto. There's nothing worth salvaging from this wreck. Any remaining electronics have long been stripped out by scavengers." The fox slinks out completely and stands up, the lenses of her goggles glowing with a faint red-orange color. Between infrared and her exceptional hearing doing this at night was little bother for her. "So, any idea where we're suppose to mosey to next?"
Orchid	Wireless signals? Well, if it turns out to be something active, there's a trick Orchid has been waiting to try. She's here, surrounded by a number of her spiders, equipped for low-light conditions. She's also trying to decipher those wireless signals. "There's something working in there, talking even," she notes, making sure her toolbox is ready with the supplies she might need.
Reyes	Fortunately, Reyes does have his own transportation. However, in the interests of conserving his strength he took the offer of conveyance, arriving by transport clad in fully-covering and highly modified Northern Gun 'Explorer' environmental battle armor. Highly modified by the sight of the strange magical runes and glyphs carved over much of it, runes which begin to glow a faint blue shortly after he makes landfall, projecting what looks like hard-light extra armor-plating overtop of it. After taking stock of the battlefield, he skedaddles over to Kotone's hiding spot and hunkers behind it as well, putting a hand on it... and feeling it out. Maybe it can be repaired or powered, or even animated with some of his spellwork and so on... or something useful could be salvaged in the field for this operation. Old encryption codes or IFF codes he could pirate and use, for instance. "Ready. Got a specific plan? As a warning, I'm not too sneaky in the invisibility suit and moving quietly sense."
Staren	Staren beams down with a squad of golems -- these are roughly humanoid, human-sized shapes cast from melted scrap metal. They're suited up in something like SWAT armor and carrying missile launchers. Staren has them wait at the outskirts of the area. As a comprimise between usability and security, the golems will keep their launchers aimed at the ground until they receive verbal commands in Staren's voice in person or over radio. The launchers themselves only have fairly standard security measures for this technology level. Staren hopes it's enough that maybe he can call in an artillery strike or two if needed, and /not/ have some enemy AI use it against him. Staren himself is in his usual armor. He quickly joins or sets up a tactical network for the team, and launches some hand-sized quadrotors into the sky to help get more eyes on the base from different angles. He sets his support AI to work analyzing those signals, or helping Orchid do so. Reyes is in... just environmental body armor? "Really?" Staren comments. "I get that Robot Power Armor wouldn't fit in the chopper, but not even a Gladius? Do I have to /make/ you one for ops like this?" After a brief pause, his tone changes. "...Alternate future worlds are neat, huh? Seems like most of them focused way more on computers and AI than we did, and less on human enhancement. This place can keep up with us for cybernetics and non-energy weapons, though! Except their missile guidance systems are smarter."
Leyanne	Leyanne approaches the others on foot, deciding to leave the large, obvious target of her bike some distance back. As usual, the megamouse is carrying an unreasonably large gun; today, a 25mm gatling gun, of the kind normally mounted on fighter jets. It's mounted on a steadicam-style gunner's rig, allowing the mouse to point the cannon around with frightening ease. She moves up to cover near Ko, giving a nod. "Evening."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa had never expected a Sith to help let alone be on the level, he was direct and upfront. Which likely helped a lot with his interactions with others. He was likely after something, but the way he was going about it? Was better than butting heads with the Empire. Well /that/ Empire at the very least. She heeded the warning and noted. "I did feel like I was being watched when I was scouting today." There was something going on at night even with the old defences systems, for the most part, Corona might get a slightly higher than average heat signature for a moment fading deeper back into the base complex. "So its mostly scrap metal? Pity, it was the first effective Multiped tank type ever deployed." Orchid meanwhile will take a bit the code's not the same code base as most of the tech Orchid has run into from Kotone's world and might take a bit of time but there is something there as some signal are going off in short burst but too short to track at the moment. Kotone grins a bit at Reyes for a moment as he comes on over and looks over his body armour for a moment. This tank is a loss for Reyes but there could be another one out there. "Think tanks? Those things cost about as much as a dozen of my shell would just for one they are some pretty serious hardware." "I'm thinking we'll push in through the supply depo hangers on our way to the tank hangers and then on to the command buildings. If we can avoid making too much noise that would be great but at this rate, we may end up having to go loud I'm going to scout ahead and keep in contact." Staren gets a good idea to pull the tank's logs the computer core is still there buried in too deep to get to by your average salvager. "Change of plans make for the depo, while I'll pull this and head to the tank hangers to catch up. Dunno Leyanne on that we have a list of the unaccounted for hardware but it was so chaotic at the time, there could be a lot there. Watch your back, my friend." The way to the supply depot and it's fairly intact though there is damage from several tropical storms and a hurricane that hit the area since the end of the war, oddly someone has clearly done some patchwork repairs on it, Still there's the sense of the group is being watched, if they make for the depo.
Zerrawn	A nod towards Kotone signals Zerrawns understanding. He rises up, his meditation complete. He follows the group, idly reaching out to keep tabs on the presence he felt before.
Staren	At the suggestion to head for the depot, Staren gives Kotone and Reyes a thumbs-up. He follows the heavier hitters that way, for the moment focusing on sending the little quadrotor drones ahead in the air to see what state the rest of the base is in -- and if there's any movement outside the buildings.
Leyanne	Leyanne nods and moves up towards the front, one of the heavy hitters herself. She's clearly not unaccustomed to moving at least with a vague semblance of stealth with a heavy gun, making sure not to knock it against anything, and taking care to prevent the ammunition belt from rattling as much as she can as they head towards the depot.
Corona Arclite	"You people that poke at electronics directly might have better luck," Corona admits. Different technology styles and what not. She can't do -everything- highly skilled or not. Then something else catchs her attention. The fox climbs to the top of the walker-tank but it's not to help the others still trying to probe it. Her attention is elsehwere, one hand fiddling with the minute adjustors on the side of her goggles. "Don't push ahead recklessly, pardners," she finally drawls. "Ah can see somethin' on the move deeper inside the compound." A pause, a few more fiddles. "Can't get a fix on -what- though," she finalizes as she hops back down to follow the others. Drawing both her retro style sidearms as she does so, just to be ready. Her paranoia is already flaring up something mighty.
Orchid	Orchid's eyes are half closed as she follows the others. She's trying to translate the signals going through the air, or failing that, is paying attention for the sort of spikes in signals that might happen when they are spotted. Her own drones are fanning out around her, keeping an eye out.
Reyes	Staren might be surprised to find that a full-fledged wireless connection is established with Reyes's souped-up environmental armor, accepting the tactical network connection despite an early series of protocol mis-matches. MAGICAL ENERGY readings are now added to the available overlays, but are likely to show as entirely bottomed out for this region. This happens shortly after Reyes withdraws his hand from the tank and shakes his head. He doesn't seem to need to actually SPEAK INTO ANYTHING in order to transmit on the radio, weirdly enough. Either that, or his helmet's so completely sound-proofed that not even muffled noises are coming from the helmet. But anyone who knows Explorer knows it doesn't have a speaker like that... ORchid makes a request though. He glances her way. And his helmet stays turned her way for a good few extra seconds longer than one would really hope in a battlefield. But she'll pick up the requested transmission quickly, a burst of file transfers from some computer integrated into his suit. With that done, he turns to follow the others to the depot. No doubt grateful that this armor entirely hides his face. Along the way, one of his armor's belt pouches opens up on its own, and a silvery revolver - its cylinder replaced with some weird rune-covered gadget with six tiny gems where each bullet holder would be - flies into his grasp. Then the pocket flap closes again.
Kotone Yamakawa	With Reyes pulling the data off the tank Kotone is able to go on ahead she'll cloak and takes note of the IFF Reyes recovered. SHe shifts for the depo and makes for it cloaked with Kotone ghosting on ahead Staren' drones will fan out and will pick up some very faint heat signatures much like Corona did mostly clustered about the command center and the Tank Hangers from the looks of it. Leyanne takes care to not do anything to make extra noise as she moves and avoids knocking over a pile of wreckage that would have certainly got some attention on the party if there was anyone there. Staren would find above ground are hulks of various ground craft, though oddly a number of them look to have been stripped of salvage or a good deal of work done on them. He might even spot an olf transport that seems partially repaired but there's no activity near it at the moment. Corona meanwhile is seeking out the heat signature and it's sadly gone but it's clear she did see something. Orchid meanwhile is working at the cod and one thing is clear it's military grade whatever it is, no drones have reached the hangers, but one does get to the depo and there's movement for a brief moment and a heat signature but it fades quickly and something moves back into the depth of the depo. There is a burst transmission at that point followed by five additional ones. Kotone would also have hooked up to Staren's Tacnet as well. Orchid would get the old US protocols which might help with any defences systems left though it seems that the Colonel was right everything was offline for the night. There are no native magic signatures here, the world is by rifts standard not magically dead, it just never /had/ any. When the group arrives at the depo they would find that there are some supplies left crates on pallets, weapons, munitions oddly the pallets of intact MREs are mostly intact and unpicked over, odd there, but a few are missing, the rest of the whole affair is as Kotone moves there's a snapping sound and a large number of oil drums fall from a higher point catching the cloaked cyborg of guard trapping her under them. <<SHIT!>> Someone has laid at least one trap here, there are clearly something around with enough braincells to make a trap? That rules out the era's combat AIs.
Staren	Machines appear to have been scavenged from, but the MREs are untouched. Could AIs be living here? Or maybe the MREs are a trap. Staren's tired of those heat signatures just flickering in and out of view; he sends a drone closer to where they're gathered to try and get a better look. But then there's a noise! Staren turns towards it, reflexively. "Kotone!" Then he looks for anything nearby responding to the noise, ready to attempt to stop any enemy that looks like it's going to attack. If no attack comes after a couple of seconds, Staren runs over to help move the drums off Kotone.
Corona Arclite	"Whatever it was, it's gone too deep fer me to still pick up," Corona grouses. "These walls are purdy darn thick." Which you would expect of a former military base, after all. Got to withstand both the enemy and Mother Nature on an island like this. At the Depot she idly holsters a gun and picks up one of the MREs, rips it open, and after a sniff takes a bite out of it and chewing thoughtfully. "Dunno why folks complain about these. A li'l bland but.." she shrugs and eats some more. Granted, being someone who has some very estoic dietary habits, she's just not picky about such things. She's considering snatching up another one when there's a crash in the background and an oil barrel tumbles past. "What the tarnation? Who knocked -- oh," she pauses as she realizes it was a trap rather than an accident. "Someone knew it was better to rig a noise than a death trap," she mutters as she redraws the second sidearm, ears stiff at attention. "Whatever's here pro'ly heard that."
Leyanne	Leyanne watches Reyes' gun draw itself with a chuckle as she puts herself up in cover. A nod towards Orchid as she's hooked in, information displayed both through her cybernetics and on her visor as her icon - a little red mouse's head - appears on everyone else's radar. She glances towards Corona, trusting the fox to keep tabs on whatever's deeper inside. The megamouse is mere inches behind Staren, flattening herself against the wall of the warehouse before scanning around with her huge cannon, looking for any signs of who - or what - ever set that trap... "This ain't good..."
Orchid	Orchid is the sort that takes care to look her best, and the results show. She meets his look for a long moment with a smile. It also helps that one of her talents is understanding people. How long do the MREs keep for, anyway? Orchid's drones start to move further apart; it's clear they've been seen, so Orchid wants to limit the areas where the unknowns could still hide in as best she can. And like Staren, if there is no gunfire, she'll move over to get her friend back on her feet.
Reyes	<<KOTONE!>> Reyes radios his alarm when she goes toppling down. He couldn't see her of course, but he's a clever guy. He knows she's gone invisible... A few of the oil drums are mysteriously knocked off course during their descent and will not fall on her. But there's far too many for Reyes to deal with, especially at long range. As he approaches though, he raises his gun and takes a sentry stance about ten feet away from the pile. Alongside Staren's help, several OIL DRUMS simply float up into the air and meticulously stack themselves off to the side, one by one. "Pretty sure that isn't an old present from the base crew... someone's been here. You okay?" He can only continue to scan about this way and that, looking for trouble. He's not too stealthy.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone is dazed hurt but thankfully it's not like she was mostly flesh anymore this keeps her from getting wrecked. There are no attacks, Staren has the time to help get the drums off the battered Kotone who doesn't seem hurt too badly as she gets back to her feet. "Thanks Staren, I owe you one." The MREs Corona checks out are in great shape they are found to eat and she will find some are gone but not many maybe someone is picky or was the idea the MREs were a trap, right? Maybe it's the case. There are more signal bursts at this point and Orchid has made some more progress on the signals these do not match up with the American tank's protocols. These can't be American codes at least from that era. As for the MREs, they may last longer than the idea of taxes. Thanks to Reyes ko didn't get hit by as many of them as she thought she would have and she's decloaked. "I'll live, Reyes but thank you for your concern." She seems to mean it too and it's at this point several of Orchid's spiders reach the Tank Hangers, and that's when something happens one will see a looming humanoid shape much like the 'ARMSUIT' from the records data crushing it underfoot and another will be smashed by something it can not see. There's several more burst transmissions at this time too. Whatever is here it's in the tank hangers...
Orchid	Okay, it looks like things are getting more exciting, as the locals are coming out of their hanger. Orchid makes an attempt, using one of her spider drones as the transmitter, to send a message in the local dialect. Well, onto the local frequency, but a simple text string. "We come in peace." Of course, there's no sense depending on other people being reasonable; Orchid does a last check of her internal systems, and makes sure her shields are at the ready.
Leyanne	Leyanne watches Staren and Reyes help Ko out, only to hear Orchid's call... and the suggestion to stick together. It's one she thoroghly agrees with, and so the heavily-armed giant mouse makes her way towards the fox, ready to move up to the tank hangers with her.
Staren	... But noone responds to the 'trap'. Huh. Staren idly makes conversation with Reyes, "Does Mend the Broken work on cyborgs? Or is that more of a long ritual deal than on-mission healing?" AND THEN! One of orchid's drones gets squished! Staren turns towards the hangar and approaches, also sending his voice through one of the spiders if allowed. "We would prefer to talk. We just want to help people."
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite waits for Leyanne to join her before slinking off to the side of the passage towards the hangers. No need to be in direct view, especially when they're pretty obvious and not human. But she'll let the others try to get whoever or whatever it is to talk before she goes for her version of negotiating. Which is letting her guns handle most of the 'talking'. Between her speed and Tiny's heavier hitting ordinance, they should make a good combo if it comes down to a fight.
Reyes	"It'll work if I'm doing it." Is Staren's answer. Reyes seems surprised that Staren doesn't know this from his tone, but... oh well. "It's NOT for really intricate stuff though. Way better for stuff like sealing a cracked panel or fusing wires back together than circuitry... patch job, at best. Been working on improvements for repairing electronics, but... if it was easy, someone else woulda figured it out by now?" The man in armor shrugs haphazardly... though he sounds disappointed and bothered that he can't get it to work that well yet. Kotone pausing to thank him that way triggers an odd back and forth foot shuffling, but Reyes quickly lowers his weapon and turns to face the hangar where tacnet reports the loss of Orchid's drone... "So someone's hanging out at this old base. And they don't want anyone sneaking up on 'em. ... Nobody'd choose to live out here unless they were mad, found something they can't take anywhere else, or... are trying to hide. I think. Right?" He's PRETTY SURE he'd never want to live here.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone is on board for the group not splitting up that's asking for trouble and Kotone is ready with her rifle, as she moves to keep with the group as they reach the Tank Haner one can see several M-1 Abrams tanks in various states some under shelters might be salvageable later but for the moment? There is sounds of movement and as the party arrives something drops from the roof crushing the pavement underfoot and there's a shimmer of an optical cloak a far older model than Kotone's, as it left faint heat traces in the first place. It's a unit that lines up with the footage but pitted with age and battle damage. It has its weapon more appear several on vantage points all armed some with salvaged weaponry which seems to be mostly heavy SAW type machine guns. The things optics flare up on rather side and looks right at the assembled party. The party is in a Kill Zone, these things whatever they are are not stupid. Green, orange and steel are the colours of these somewhat frog-like machines and they have whit front where a face might be. Reyes is close enough way too close as one stares down at him keeping its machine gun ready. That's when he will understand the creativity and the stark /horror/ of what is standing before him it is not an ARMEDSUIT, it's not an AI, it's a cyborg but it goes worse than that there's some sort of implant interfacing with the full function of a human /brain/. It was made to suppress fear and other certain impulses. Though with the one in front him it seems damaged. It speaks in Chinese thankfully it can be understood due to the multiverse. <<Idenifty yourselves, you are not Americans....>> The other units keep their units trained on the group and a cold wind starts to blow.... as the lead one waits for an answer.
Leyanne	Leyanne brings her gatling gun down - and has it cycling up to speed before she spots the array of firepower in front of them. She eases her finger off the button that spins the barrels up, letting them cycle to a stop again. This is the gatling gun equivalent of visibly safing the weapon; it'll be at least a second before Leyanne can fire a shot, and a lot can happen in a second. "Shit dude." She replies, before the brain/mouth filter can engage. "I'm not even an Earthling."
Orchid	Well, no one is shooting yet... Orchid is staying in the building, and can talk through her drones. "My name is Orchid, you can see my drones. We are currently working for a group that is trying to rebuild the city; they asked us to come out here and see what was going on, if there was any abandoned equipment that could be salvaged. Abandoned clearly doesn't apply, so I guess this place belongs to you all, legally, at this point." Good recaps are a hallmark of a good spotter. Things not brought up yet? The fact that there are people here from three of the big factions. That would just be a distraction at this point.
Corona Arclite	"Now that there is some unorthadox design." Okay, everyone else is going weapons down for the moment, so Corona does the same and visibly holsters her sidearms. It's visually unthreatening... But being the gunslinger she is she can draw them as quickly as things look like they're gonna go south. She gives Tiny a light nudge in the side, mostly to tease her than actually stop the cussing remark. "What she said." On the not being from Earth part, that is.
Staren	Staren doesn't realize what he's looking at.. He guesses he's looking at AIs. Despite Kotone's comment that they haven't had a native AI with a 'ghost', he's talked to Tachikomas. But now isn't the time to discuss that. Staren thinks over his words very carefully, trying to avoid phrases like 'We were sent by the Americans' that might start a firefight before he can explain. "As they say." Staren lowers the arm with the beam cannons on it. "Much has happened. We're from other universes, other timelines, other planets, as incredible as it may seem. We are investigating this base; we didn't know it was inhabited, and that changes our priorities. What do /you/ want? As long as you aren't going to attack us, or the humans on this island, we would like to reach an arrangement that's good for us /and/ you."
Reyes	Reyes is WAY too close to this ramshackle, damaged, probably self-rebuilt combat cyborg. He almost takes a step backwards when a gun's pointed his way... but he remains confident in his magical shielding and medium body armor. ANd ability to shut down the machine gun, from this distance. Once again he's very glad that this helmet keeps his face hidden. The visored faceplate tilts about in shock at the suddenness of everything though! "That's... a heck of a full conversion cyborg design. Stylin'." Reyes says rather flatly, trying to use a little sarcasm to relieve some of his shock. It's hard to tell if he's -actually- impressed by it though. It's rather disturbing, after all. "... does it work like that?" He asks Orchid, glancing her way rather uncertainly. He's not really so sure ownership of places works like that. PArticularly with military bases... right? "What she said. We're with an effort to clean up the old war ruins and make this place ready for people again. The war's over. It's been over forever... may it stay that way, too."
Kotone Yamakawa	<<An Alien?>> The unit that is speaking looks to Orchid for a moment. <<There is no organic signature from you, an AI??>> Kotone doesn't know about the Think Tanks more than they exist, and are high end as far as AI's go. There's been no official announcement about such things after all. She looks for a moment at cyborg commandos. Well, they know what happened to the base here, these people did. <<Our Nation no longer exists as we knew it, ownership of here?>> There is a bit of a hollow laugh at that. Also as Staren speaks there's a whole lot of burst transmissions clearly the unit is talking about what he just said. <<What do we want? It can not be given, to feel again to live again, these may as well be our coffins>> Reyes gets a look from the cyborg. <<You are a strange man. What do I want? To feel clearly again, to not be ....>> Slamming one hand on to the torso of the unit. <<To go home, I do not know what has happened to my home. Our orders to withdraw never came and we have been on standby, I suffered damage several months ago due to a storm...Had you come before then, you'd have likely been killed. Our last orders were to hold this ground, to hold our ground.>> Kotone is just staring at this as she listens, and the Chinese commando put a hand on the head of their body shaking a bit. <<Hold our....stand down. Make this stop.>>
Staren	Staren raises a hand when they state what they want. "Uhh, actually? We can do that. There's another timeline where Earth focused even more on computers, AI, and nanotechnology; they worked out how to -- you know what, the details don't matter. Point is, we can transfer your minds into whatever bodies you want. You can have humanoid shells like Kotone here, or we can get you organic ones, though they'll take time to grow." Beat. Staren looks at Kotone. "Wait, why would they not think that was possible? I thought you could DO that, move cyberbrains between bodies? Or are they from before that was developed?"
Orchid	"I am an AI, yes," Orchid says. "Not of this world, but I have a 'ghost' I think the term is, but I don't really matter in this. You do." Orchid is using techniques she'd like to hone for dealing with Abyssals. "You can choose to have these bodies repaired, or replaced. You could get a lot of money selling this place, and move back to China." A pause. "The government that sent you here is gone, but the nation of China remains, with millennia of history." "You can go home."
Reyes	Reyes slowly raises his hands, to point out that he's not threatening. His weapon tucks itself gently back into his pocket all on its own. "I'm no Cyber-Doc, but cybernetics have progressed a lot in this world from what you're using now. Including the mind interface. Kotone here can tell you more. ... but you must realize by now, the orders aren't coming. ... If I had to guess, your commanders died in the war, whoever knew about you being out here died in the war..." And the poor soldiers were thus forgotten about. Reyes grinds his teeth the longer he thinks about this very likely scenario, turns it over and over in his head. "What do you guys say? If you wanna retire and call it good, I think holding a place for decades is proof enough you've done your duty. It's time to retire. Maybe get some upgrades to something that'll fit in at a restaurant or two? Like her setup." He points with his thumb at Kotone. "I know some Cyber-Docs in a pinch, too..."
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite tilts her head to one side as the group talks, and radio chats amongst themselves. She can't hear the latter but the impression isn't hard to pick up on. Her tail flicks a few times thoughtfully. Almost sounds like the cyborgs are suffering some manner of PTSD like malfunction. "They're wired to be super soldiers, Staren. If that was possible or not don't matter, they're likely hardwired to not even think of such things. At least, not until the hardward is.. y'know," she gestures at the one that specifically mentioned he was damaged. "You just want to feel 'normal' again, aye? Not have some microcomputer doodad tellin' ya to step in line and shoot to kill."
Staren	Staren blinks at Corona. "What, permanently?! That's dumb, what kind of moron would..." He holds a hand to his visor, like he'd be pinching the bridge of his nose if it weren't covered. "Nnnngh."
Orchid	Orchid asides to Staren, "The sort of moron that won't be the one to pay for their decision. Part of why giving leaders proper incentive systems is important."
Leyanne	Leyanne nods a little, lowering her gatling gun until the barrel-cluster touches the ground. "They... did /what/ to you?" She says, sounding shocked and disgusted at the same time. "You poor bastards, what the actual fuck... yeah if... there's anything I can do, like... I know the guys back at Arkadyne are pretty good, they rebuilt me after a landmine..."
Kotone Yamakawa	The Cyborg Commando looks to Staren for a moment. <<That is even possible?>> Kotone looks for a moment at STaren as he askes her. "They may predate Cyberbrains as we know them now." She takes a deep breath while the Commando looks at Orchid and they seem to be fascinated by that also by Leyanne. <<The world has changed, and China did not fall to ruin?>> They seem to give Zero care about the government and who could fault them really? Kotone lets out a signal on their own tac net. <<There is a rare case where a mind can fuse to a shell and not be moved it's happened to a few war vets. Still, with what Reyes and Staren can bring to the table>> More burst signals happen between the commandos as it seems that offer Staren has made. <<You best not be lying to us, we are the ones this base fell to.>> The Cyborg turns to Leyanne. <<All in the pursuit of Victory and survival. We accept your offer of restoring us to .... a more human form. The implants need to be ... disabled on my comrades. We accept your terms.>> The Cyborgs return their weapons to their storage docks and look intently at the party, it seems these Ghosts are done with it, it will be a long road for them, a very long road but one they never thought they could walk.
Orchid	"Always good to do business where everyone gets what they want," Orchid says with a cheerful smile. Yeah, there are details to work out, but with people no longer pointing guns at each other, they can be dealt with at leisure. Still, this comes close to home for Orchid. These men were made into weapons, and what is a weapon but another tool?
Leyanne	Leyanne pulls off her helmet to reveal her white-furred muzzle. She hooks it on her belt, letting her gatling-gun hang free on its mount a moment as she unrolls her beret and hands it over. She points over at Staren "I've seen that dude's work... he's probably gonna be able to give you better help than Arkadyne. Pretty sure between all the connections and brains we've got here we can at least let you... feel things again." She slings her gatling gun into its storage position on her back, letting the Chinese soliders get a good look at the alien.