Evangelion Medium Africanus IC

[Astro_sol]

Part 1: Welcome to Sanctuary

GMRMM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcOiJnWniWg)

The sun finally cracked above the edge of the First Wall, letting real sunlight into the section of Sanctuary known as Asgard. The city did not wake up so much as yawn and get back to work, due to shifting schedules for its inhabitants. Thousands of maintenance workers finally got to rest from the night shift as the white collar workers rose to get to their jobs. However, one relatively young woman had been working for the past twelve hours in order to prepare for her current role: babysitting. Or, at least, babysitting from her chair in her office almost half a mile underground. Not only did she have to ensure the safety of her four charges (well, five, if you included the beast known as the Boss, but she mused that he could probably take care of himself), she also had to keep track of the entirety of Gungnir. Or, rather, interpret what the MAGI had to say about them and relay orders to a bunch of literal minded men and women that made up the organization known as Gungnir.

It was a silly name. The spear of a hammer. Edward Rockefeller might have been an eccentric man, but whoever had named the organization that gave her her paycheck had to have taught the man what it meant to be an oddball.

The sound of keys clacking echoed through her rather sparsely decorated office as she queried the locations of the Children. Codename Charlie was already secure, since his current living quarters were on base. She didn't have to worry about him, although the Child that had been designated Blackjack would meet him very soon, having been located on another floor of MJOLNIR's underground base. However, the two Children giving her concern were Buckshot and Twinkletoes (she refused to admit that she was anything approaching eccentric herself - her names came from randomly flipping through a dictionary, or really any book that happened to be close to her). Buckshot had been kept in Midgard, in order to spread out their assets - if anyone wanted all of the Children, they would have to spread out their forces. Granted, Gungnir would have to spread out, too, but protocol demanded that if someone initiated a raid, there was a chance that at least one of the Children would be safe...at least until the new defenses were in place. And that's what this was all about; the Director had said that MJOLNIR was now secure, and that all VIPs could be relocated to central command. The importance of quickly mobilizing in the face of a Jötnar attack outweighed the risks of someone attempting to sabotage the Children.

It also increased her workload. She had just lit up a cigarette when the black phone next to her computer began to ring. She picked up, only to hear a gruff voice at the other end of the line.

"Twinkletoes secured."

"Roger that, Baby Bird. Bring her to the nest."

The phone clicked. Marion Leclaire sighed as she hung up. Overwatch would be providing plenty of cover, but it was times like this that she missed being out in the field. She'd rather deal with incoming fire than carpal tunnel syndrome, after all.

[Sunday, August 13th, 7:02 AM, Midgard]

No one was telling Alex anything. Ever since he'd been airlifted to Sanctuary, he'd done nothing but wait. Sure, there was always training, and he had been technically free to do whatever he wanted, but he'd been restricted to the Northern Quadrant of Midgard. And he knew that he was always being watched. At least three men had been consistently in his presence ever since he'd arrived a few years back, and so he hadn't been all that surprised when one knocked on his door at 6:30 AM, telling him to get dressed and be prepared for a briefing. Next thing he knew, he'd been escorted a large black sedan and seated. The car initially took a route towards Asgard, only to veer off and head southeast, and half an hour later they had stopped at an unassuming house. The driver put the car in park and exited the vehicle, only to allow in a young brown-haired girl into the car. Alex saw the man carry a wheelchair into the trunk of the car, before getting back into the driver's seat and quickly driving the car off towards the urban center of Sanctuary.

***

Today had been a strange day for Anna Roszak. She had been staying in the Eastern Quadrant of Sanctuary for several years now, or at least ever since her mother had been hospitalized. Ever since then, MJOLNIR had provided her with her very own apartment in Midgard, even though her family had originated in the outskirts of Utgard. It was a nice middle point between her home in Eastern Utgard and the hospital that her mother stayed in that was, of course, located in Asgard. All of the best technology was located there. For a city that bragged about the lack of a need for money, what money there was had always been concentrated there. At the very least, however, that money was benefiting her family. And now the source of that money had sent a strange man to her door with all sorts of identification at 6:45 AM on a Sunday what were they thinking asking would she please get herself ready, she was needed at Central Command of MJOLNIR, the private military of the city. The organization that had landed her mother in a hospital, crippled for life.

At least the identification checked out. It was the same as the ones in the hospital, where both she and her mother had received priority treatment. A little more than 15 minutes later, she was escorted into a car...with a strange, yellow-eyed boy sitting across from her. And, according to the driver, a thirty minute trip to their destination.

This was probably not the start of a fun Sunday.

[The Same Day and Time, Meeting Room 12C, MJOLNIR Central Command]

Anatoly, was, of course, wide awake and ready for just about anything. He had been used to 5 am mornings years (and years, and years, and years) ago. He had no need of coffee, even though the table in front of him was loaded with coffee, cream, and detestable sugar. He had been told the previous day that there would be a meeting this morning, and he was required to attend. He arrived exactly on time (well, not for the meeting - he'd been asked to come early, and asking was as good as ordering), and he sat in his chair, waiting.

He didn't have to wait long, as the door opened to reveal...

***

A disheveled Runes strolled into the room, flanked by two guards. A quasi-standard policy, at least when it came to her and important events. The past year had been quiet; no Jötnar, only a few tests to make sure her synchronization was still stable, and a few visits with Dr. Wu to make sure her medicine was properly calibrated. And working. She'd been symptom free the entire time, so someone had to be doing something right. But someone else had ****ed up. They'd woken her up way before what could be called a proper time, and told her to dress appropriately for a meeting with her new commanding officer. So of course she put on her unwashed Gungnir clothes and had at least halfway attempted to clean up her hair (which chose to go every-which-way regardless) and strolled out to meet her escorts, not forgetting to slip her deck into the usual place. A rather roundabout route later found her entering a meeting room, with a rather pretty-looking boy sitting at attention at the other end of the table. A projector screen was situated at the other end of the room, and a nondescript guard stood at attention at another door behind the boy, but other than that the room was empty; her own guards had exited the door behind her. The table had four chairs, and took up most of the room. The last thing one of her escorts had said to her was to simply wait for the others to show up.

[The Same Day and Time, Assistant Director's Office, MJOLNIR Central Command]

Captain Karl Emmerich stood at attention as the tired-looking man in front of him stacked a few papers. Maximilian Voight, a man with a rather brilliant moustache and well-kempt blonde hair, was as no-nonsense as he was, and the two men had found in accord in getting **** done, as well as lamenting the fact that the Children Karl was about to meet were going to be responsible for saving the world. And soon be located in adjacent suites.

"That's the gist of it, Captain. You'll be giving a briefing to them and taking them to their new quarters. Gungnir is already at work moving Roszak and Barnes' belongings. They all have at least a rudimentary understanding of what will be expected of them, but they don't know about your recent appointment to Operations Director, or the fact that they'll probably be seeing combat within the next week. I trust you'll be able to bring them up to speed. All of the necessary files for the Children have been uploaded to your PDA. Any questions?"

[Whiskeyjack]

Anatoly

The young man sitting at the table is dressed in a standard MJOLNIR uniform, complete with Ensign tags, some kind of ribbon around his neck but underneath his jacket, and the name tag "A. VOLKOV," though he certainly doesn't look old enough to have gone through high school, let alone OTC. He's thin and wiry, with a mass of medium-brown hair and piercing green eyes.

He's pointedly ignored the coffee for a large glass of water, though he has loaded up his plate with pancakes and bacon, both liberally smeared in maple syrup, and while he pins things in place with the fork he makes surgically-precise cuts with a much sharper knife that is needed to cut pancakes. He's in the middle of raising a layered pancake-bacon-bacon-pancake bite to his lips when the door opens.

On reflex, the young man is on his feet, half-snapping to attention, his perfected, muscle memory pose broken only when he realizes that the person who came through, in no possible way, could be his commanding officer. His arms, moving to salute, slightly fumble; his legs, straightening to attention, simply bow as he just looks on with confusion.

One corner of his mouth twitches when he sees the sorry state in which this girl has decided to attend an important meeting! This, if nothing else, causes an immediate degree of dislike at her unprofessionalism, and he quickly notes one hand subconsciously going for his knife - noting that reflexive motion with enough time to play off the motion as brushing a crumb off his shirt.

Anatoly briefly casts a look over his shoulder at the guard with a raised eyebrow before settling back down in a bit of a huff, eyes now solidly focused on the disheveled girl, and he takes up his fork, slowly chewing it with his eyes remaining on her, sort of like an owl not taking its eyes off a vole. His fork returns to the plate, and he slowly taps the tines against it as he chews.

He finally swallows, and dabs at his lips with a napkin, not breaking his stare, before finally delivering a monotone, "Hello."

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

It had been a terrible morning so far, but the pilot's bad mood was interrupted by the smell of everything delicious. Before she could raid the food, though, she needed to respond to the boy across from her. Putting two and two (and two and two and two - this was Mjolnir, after all) together, he had to be one of the other pilots. She didn't much care for his look - while she was used to being stared at, it reminded her too much of the Upstanding Members of Society who thought that she was too young, too female, too old, etc. to do whatever she did at the circus. She never managed to pin down what got those people in a wad, but she suspected that they just needed something to be angry about.

Given the brevity of A. Volkov's introduction, she couldn't say much in return. Nor did she want to, this early in the morning, so she settled for, "Hi." She almost followed up by asking for his first name when a loud growl from her stomach slew further curiosity. She quickly piled together a small mound of food - she'd been teenage-ravenous ever since getting proper medication and still hadn't gained weight, although it didn't help that she frequently forgot to eat when distracted by all the stuff Dr. Wu gave her to do or read. She sat down across from him and just used her fork to cut the pancakes.

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna couldn't stop making faces and sticking out her tongue, like she had a bad taste in her mouth. This was because she had a bad taste in her mouth and, since the MJOLNIR guy had been so insistent on haste, she hadn't had time to brush her teeth to get rid of it. Her hair was probably a mess, too, but the nice thing about a ponytail was that it quickly tamed all but the most unruly strands of hair and locked them up away from her face. To round things out, one of the muscles in her lower back was twitching constantly by itself, a low-grade annoyance that tended to happen when she didn't exercise properly after waking up. It certainly wasn't adding to her day, and she fidgeted constantly to try to get it to stop.

At least there had been enough time to change out of her pajamas, so she was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a sleeveless white blouse to go with her silver and black wheelchair. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a big meeting with whoever-the-hell didn't know how to schedule a meeting ahead of time, but it was what she'd had at the top of her dresser. She would have appreciated a bath, some time to stretch, and, oh yeah, another two hours of sleep, but she'd been living at the mercy of MJOLNIR and the authorities of Sanctuary at large for so long now that she'd swallowed her grumpiness and complied with the man's demands without question.

All in all, after flopping into the car, she must have been a less-than-impressive sight for the boy sitting opposite her. After about a minute of failing to get comfortable, it occurred to her that she was making something of a spectacle of herself. She looked up to meet his eyes, giving him a self-conscious smile as she forced herself to sit still and not look like a spaz. The muscle on her back kept twitching.

"I'm sorry, I'm not much of a morning person, and nobody told me that you guys were coming to pick me up." She held out a glove-clad hand to shake. "I'm Anna. Did they tell you what's going on or are you just along for the ride, like me?"

[The Blue Guard]

Captain Emmerich

Captain Emmerich, known as 'the Boss' to most of Mjolnir, was not a small man. He stood ten centimeters away from two meters, and while he didn't weigh as much as a heavyweight boxer, it was close enough for most at eighty-four kilograms. At attention, dressed in the military fatigues of Mjolnir, complete with beret and sidearm, his weight and bulk was especially pronounced. As a firm believer in the maxim 'asskicking equals authority' it wasn't something he was afraid to use, either. Despite that, though, he was a friendly man, prone to giving people the benefit of the doubt when he could. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't have expectations, and it certainly didn't mean he wasn't an outright bastard to people who failed to meet them if he thought they could. Some people called it 'tough love', but the Captain didn't see anything tough about it — except for their luck if they whined about it.

Standing there, the Captain's face — which looked like parts of it had been stapled back on — couldn't hide the disgust he felt at using children to fight a war. Part of it was his personal experiences with child soldiers, and part of it was the thought of his granddaughter in their place. Mostly, though, it was because he believed that children shouldn't be expected to fight for their lives. Despite his disgust, though, he believed in this project, and if it meant they needed to use children, then the Captain was ready to swallow his disgust and get the job done.

"I need to know how far you'll back my authority over them," the Captain said. "We need them, but they're not soldiers. They're not even adults. In order to keep them fighting, I'm going to need to get creative, and I need to know if I need to worry about somebody pulling the rug out from under me when somebody dislikes my methods."

[TheDarkDM]

Alex

They'd come for him while the sun was rising. He wasn't sure what time, the batteries in the clock had died months ago and he hadn't seen much sense in replacing them, but he'd heard them coming. Alex hadn't slept past an hour before dawn since he'd left homethe cage, and had been going about a normal morning - rise, shower (hygiene was important, he remembered that), leftoversmeat for breakfast. Then he'd started in on the new bag. Hitting the bag drowned out the voicehis voice, let him focus. It was the only piece of real furniture in his barren apartment aside from a military cot, and the one demand he made of his minders was to replace it when it broke. But he hadn't even managed an hour before he'd heard their footsteps on the stairs, and the voice was still there.

Inside the car, he seemed presentable enough, wearing a regulation MJOLNIR uniform, his hair recently if poorly combed after his second shower. He sat straight in the chair (have to make a good impression) as Anna shifted in her seat, eyes darting between her (pretty girl) and her wheelchairweakness. He fought to keep his nose from wrinkling at her breath, but aside from that everything was in control. Until she started talking.

For Alex, exchanging more than a few sentences with his minders had been the extent of his conversations for the past few years. After all, MJOLNIR didn't need him to talk to train, and the local market was sufficiently automated for him to make his weekly supplymeat runs in quiet solitude. But now someone , a pretty girl no less, was talking to him in a confined space, and sticking her hand in his face. Alex's eyes widened for a moment before he remembered what a handshake was, and reached out gingerly to return it.

"It's, um, fine. Yeah. They didn't tell me either."

He realized he was still holding her hand, and jerked his fingersclaws away.

"Oh, um, I'm...I'm Alex."

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna noticed Alex's darting eyes and momentary hesitation to shake hands. It was kind of cute. Nothing wrong with being shy.

Not that she'd let it stop her from getting a conversation started, of course. There was nothing else to do in this car. Her smile widened as she let her hand fall to her side.

"Nice to meet you, Alex. It figures, I guess. Adults just love showing how much authority and power they have by jerking us around and never giving us the reasons. What do you want to bet that we get there after waking up early, with no prior warning, and then they make us wait around until it's convenient for them to meet with us?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

As the two pilots sat and chewed, Runes's agitation began to grow. The boy across from her was clearly MJOLNIR personnel, what with the uniform and all the ribbons, which meant that he'd probably heard of her (most of the MJOLNIR crew that she dealt with seemed to know more about her than she knew about herself), but he seemed content to just stare. Finally, Runes finished and put down her utensils, and considered that maybe he was new, possibly another pilot, even. Or possibly part of the majority of the organization that didn't personally deal with her. Either way, that would explain a few things, but not the lack of manners.

She cleared her throat and crossed her arms. "This is usually the part where we introduce ourselves. My name is Runes Bifröst," She'd gone the first 5 years of her free life thinking it was pronounced bye-frost, but these days she nailed it perfectly with the rolling 'Bihvrost,' perversely pleased that it forced MJOLNIR techs to hunt up a special character every time they had to type in her name. "Does the A stand for anything, or do I call you A. Volkov forever?"

[Whiskeyjack]

Anatoly

The boy steals glances from under his bangs at the weird girl who doesn't eat with a knife for whatever reason, but he continues on his bacon binge, loading up on animal fats and protein. Then she starts talking, and it's hard not to wince at the, what do the bourgeoisie try to call it again? Ah yes: humor.

Anatoly sets down his utensils, giving his knife a thorough scrubbing as usual, and he ponders before responding. How much does this girl know? What role could she play here? Maybe a steward for his room? No - that would be ridiculous, he wasn't high ranking enough--yet--and besides, that smacked of filthy classism, the sort of slavery inherent to haves and have-nots, no matter how much the haves talked about bargained-for services and the like.

And then he wonders, could she know about him? Surely not, there was no reason for her to, she had never seen him before, certainly was not on the same rank as him, what with the lack of a uniform and all. Why would she know about his past, that had taken him almost half a year to really accept, despite everything they had showed him. No, certainly she would have no reason to know about all that, surely she was here for some other reason, though to be in on the meeting as anything other than some kind of hired help when dressed like that certainly was a strange thought.

"Anatoly. Anatoly Volkov," he finally replies, with a thick Eastern European accent. "Rune Bivvröstz? He repeats, the pronunciation slightly off and lacking the ultimate "s." Like the---" He frowns a bit and searches for the word. "Nordic myths, yes?"

He pauses a moment before pressing on. "Where are you living? Not on base, I am imagining?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

Well, that was good. She'd managed to get a bit more out of him. "Yes, like the Rainbow Bridge from Nordic Myth." Runes managed to get that out without sounding impatient or peevish. Even better! "It's nice to meet you Anatoly. I am staying on base, actually." She strangled the burst of irritation that came from his assumption that she couldn't live on the base. He was probably just being careless in his phrasing. She took a quick look at the security guard before going on, and the man gave her a small nod. "In the pilot's wing, that is. I've been here about a year, now." One year with precious little she could say to the Noels and the rest of the circus crew. She shoved that thought aside to focus on the here and now.

[Whiskeyjack]

Anatoly

"The...huh." Anatoly's hand is back on his belt knife and he winces again, thinking about how much he really needs to retrain that particular muscle memory. He finally shrugs, and reaches for the bacon. "Ah, small world. Though I've been under a lot of training the past six month. In the GeoFront proper," he goes on, straightening slightly with tinges of a smile on his lips. He quickly recovers and then coughs, his mind racing. "It's all very technical, I am supposing," he manages.

Well, maybe she really is just a pilot area janitor, Anatoly rationalizes. If she's not even in the GeoFront. Yes, certainly that is it! Wait, no! They would never put a janitor in this meeting, would they?

After a brief pause, Anatoly continues, "So, erm, you are here, to, what exactly?" His left hand begins spinning at Runes as he talks, as if threatening her to disclose the information he's seeking.

[TheDarkDM]

Alex

The Anna girl smiled wider, much to Alex's surprise. Most of the peopleprey he interacted with tended to try and get away from him as quickly as possible. Had he done something right? Something usefuluseless he'd forgotten?

"Oh! Yes. Nice to meet you A-Anna. They, uh, they haven't made me wait long when they've called me in before. But that's normally for the tests..."

Something dawned in Alex's eyes and he tilted his head slightly. About his age, sitting in the same carterritory...could she...

"Wait, are you a pilot too?"

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna tilted her head. "A pilot . . . too? Yeah I'm a pilot. But I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell anyone . . ."

"Wait, are you saying that you're a pilot?" She laughed. "Wow, I thought I was the only teenager they'd trained, because of my . . . I didn't know they had another pilot my age! I mean I say I'm a pilot, I've never been on a mission or anything."

"Have you ever been in a fight before? Did they give your unit a cool name? Mine is called Skuld, which is pretty cool, but I tried to get them to paint a big skull on my helmet but they said no, which is lame. Do you think we're going to be teammates?" Anna leaned forward a little more with every question and exclamation, and by the end of her verbal explosion she was leaning halfway out into the space separating the two teenagers from one another.

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

Runes arched an eyebrow at Anatoly. "I'm Unit 00's pilot. The first child to synch with a V2 and all that. I've been staying with Dr. Wu because we're kinda-sorta related and they didn't want all the pilots in one place for some reason. 'Something something don't want you all in the same place if a bomb goes off blah blah blah.' This was, of course, after they told me I was the only one who could pilot these beasts. Ugh." Just thinking about her last day with the circus was enough to piss her off. That Dr. Wu had somehow saved her life and been completely correct in the process just rubbed salt in it. "So you're, what, a maintenance tech? Security?" She had an inkling what the answer was going to be, but she also wanted to get her passive-aggressive shot in as retaliation for him dismissing the possibility of her being a pilot like he had.

[TheDarkDM]

Alex

The pretty Anna girl was very close now, and it was taking all of Alex's focus to keep his eyes firmly fixed on her face. He knew if he leaned away from her, it would be rudeweak, so he did his best to lean forward a little himself.

"Yes, I'm..."

Damaged.
Compromised.
A monster.

"...a pilot. I heard they were training more here in Sanctuary, but I never thought they'd be so pretty."

Yet again, Alex's social graceslies had failed him, and his eyes widened as he flushed red.

"I mean yes, I was in one fight! Back in the US! And they started calling my...my Valkyrie Fenrir when I got here..."

He had the distinct impression he hadn't covered his earlier statement.

"...Skuld is a nice name?"

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

. . . pretty?

Anna was suddenly very aware, of herself, of the fact that she was alone in the car with this guy she just met, of the fact that she was leaning out close to his face and she still hadn't brushed her teeth.

She sat back, feeling some heat rising in her ears, but trying to play it cool. Also, making sure to breathe through her nose. Boys complimented girls, right? It didn't really mean anything. She'd always heard that Americans could seem forward, maybe it was just a cultural thing.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, trying to stall for time while she could think of something interesting to say. For some reason her brain wasn't forthcoming. Then, when she realized that it might be ambiguous as to exactly which comment she was thanking him for, she added, "I mean yes, Skuld is a good name! Thanks! Um, Fenrir is pretty awesome too. That's a wolf, right? From the legends? Wolves are . . . fast."

Wait, what? It was all she could think of, and it didn't occur to her how random it was until it was out of her mouth.

Time to change the subject! "Sooo you've been in a fight! That's crazy." She managed an awkward laugh, running her hand through her hair because it felt weird to just leave it hanging at her side. Unfortunately that reminded her that she hadn't even brushed her hair before clobbering it into a ponytail. She was really beginning to regret not getting enough time to actually get ready. "Maybe they're sending you here to finish my training," she concluded.

Nice.

[TheDarkDM]

Alex

Suddenly the car had gotten much more awkward. He should have kept his mouth shut, should have kept things professionalcowardly. He knew he should say something more, but he couldn't focus as she ran her fingers through her hair and he caught a whiff of her.

"Oh, um, yeah. One fight. I, uh, I don't like to talk about it. And they told me not to."

He chanced a look into her eyes for an apologetic shrug before looking away.

"I'm sure they've got someone better to finish your training. I'm not the best with, uh, people."

He paused for a moment, and then went very quiet.

"Have you been inside it yet?"

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna nodded understandingly when he said that he wasn't supposed to talk about the fight. It made a certain sense, given what had happened to North America. Alex must have been one of the last people to get out of the country, and she didn't blame him for not wanting to talk about it.

She did really, really want to know, though. Maybe she could ask someone else about it.

When he asked his question, she sensed the change in mood. She paused before answering so that she could gather her thoughts. "Yes, I have," she said, thinking back to the first time they had ever asked her to plug into the rebuilt Skuld. Back then it had still been horribly scarred from the incident with her mother, and the feedback had almost knocked her unconscious. She had still been working through her own injuries at the time. The shared trauma had seemed to give her something in common with the machine. Something to build a bond upon. That and their shared experience with her mother . . .

"It's weird, isn't it? It's kind of like going to sleep, and dreaming that you're this different person with the same memories but different thoughts, and your feelings are . . . strange. They don't match up like they usually do." She smiled fiercely. "And you can do anything." She unconsciously flexed her fingers as she thought of the feeling of sheer power that came from controlling a Valkyrie with her mind. She would have been moving her feet, too, but they remained stubbornly motionless and numb. "Then you wake up and you think you can remember what happened, but you know that there's this part of it, this really important part, that you'll never quite remember. Not until you go back to sleep." Anna stared at her hand for a moment, unclenching the fist she had made without meaning to.

Then she snapped out of it, and back to the present moment. "Or at least, that's what it's like for me." She laughed self-consciously again. "The brains at the synch lab say that it's a little different for everyone."

Since it only seemed fair, she asked, "What is it like for you?"

[TheDarkDM]

Alex

When Anna described merging with her Valkyrie, the dream of it, Alex was nearly overwhelmed with envy. Oh, to be sure he'd experienced a dream of a sort, but in his waking lifelie it always seemed more like a nightmare. Still, better not to tell her that - it could compromise the missionhunt.

"For me it's a lot like that. The rush, the...power. When it's happening it's like a dream. But I don't forget..."

Alex trailed off, staring into the middle distance through the car window.

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna watched as Alex stared out the car window. Of course, she thought to herself. He said he didn't want to talk about it. But I just had to ask about piloting the Valkyrie.

Still, it was exciting to meet someone who knew what climbing into a Valkyrie felt like, who had even been out in the world really fighting, and yet was basically her age. Or, well, close to it. She hadn't actually asked. He might be a bit older; she didn't think he looked younger. Maybe it was just the thousand yard stare as he gazed into the distance that made him look more mature.

Whatever, she was excited, and even the fact that she'd basically made a huge fool of herself in their first conversation wasn't getting her down. "Well so far, I haven't really done anything impressive. Just tests and exercises and stuff. Maybe with you here, things will finally get interesting." She meant it as a compliment. She followed his gaze out the window, and found herself really hoping that MJOLNIR was assigning her to work with Alex.

It had been a long time since she'd had anyone she could call a comrade.

[Whiskeyjack]

Anatoly

Anatoly blinks. "A..." He feels a weight in one hand...

The knife is in his hand without him remembering how it got there, and with no one else in the room the wiser. He chews his lip. Certainly he could at least cut her face before the guard got to him. That would teach her. And it was only one guard...

Anatoly puts the knife back with the same deftness with which he drew it, a motion easily written off as a twitch or a scratch or dusting off a crumb.

"No, not a mechanic, though their work is quite valuable. Security...maybe in another life." He sounds almost wistful, and he half-smiles as some of the better memories come rushing back. Before Warsaw, of course. Certainly before Stalingrad. His eyes narrow slightly at those memories and he returns to the conversation at hand to stay grounded.

"I am also being a Valkyrie pilot. For Unit One." He lets that sink in. The "Horned Mustang," some of the techs and engineers had taken to calling it, a bit sheepishly, given that it had never underwent a successful synch: even the remote connections from the simulation plugs had ended...poorly. Behind closed doors, they called it the "Heart-Eater" in darker tones.

"I am surprised they did not have training of us together, then, for the tactics of small groups learning if nothing else. But, erm, if you are a pilot, and with Soyu---erm, MJOLNIR"--he gives this word a particularly Russian pronunciation--"just as well as me, why are you not to be wearing your uniform?"

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

"I'unno." Runes matched the verbal shrug with a physical one. "This was what I had lying around. My room's kind of a wreck, and if I ever got an official uniform I probably shoved it to the back of my closet. I wasn't going to come nude, so you get this outfit instead." She stood and spun in one motion - God, just a year ago that would have made her dizzy enough to fall down - revealing the wrinkled, obsolete Gungnir jacket, trousers, and grey shirt in all their glory - including the small, stained hole in the back of the jacket. "Besides, it's a uniform of a sort."

She hoped they'd be interrupted soon. She didn't like the twitch the boy had, nor the way his hand kept darting to the same crumbless place on his own clothes. She didn't know what he was hiding, but hopefully it was a memento like her deck of cards. She felt her own hand twitch and suppressed the urge to check that it was still there. She also decided to make an attempt to blitz the conversation before he could go on about her state of dress - what next, her hair? - so she threw caution to the wind and pulled out the trick deck. "Do you want to see a magic trick?"

[Astro_sol]

[Assistant Director's Office, Central Command]

The only sign of acknowledgement Voight gave was a small twitch of his moustache. "While you've been given direct authority over the Children, you will of course defer to the Director and my authority when it's required." He sighed. "However, we both have many other responsibilities other than taking care of a bunch of kids. We don't like it anymore than you do, but they're the only ones we've found capable of piloting the Valkyries. The V1s just don't cut it anymore, and you know that the next wave is coming."

He turned around; behind him was a wall with a false window, projecting a view that might have come from a tropical island. "The city is still under Rockefeller's authority, of course. We have jurisdiction over its defense...but we try not to cause Rockefeller too much of a headache in dealing with the various sector Mayors. You're free to use whatever creativity you see fit, but do try to keep the damage to a minimum, will you, Captain?" Was that a humorous edge to the man's voice? "I already have enough paperwork to fill out. I'm just glad I only have one city-state's worth of politicians to deal with."

[Meeting Room 12C]

Runes' magic trick would have to wait, because they were interrupted by a short figure entering the room; Anatoly was the one facing the entrance, and could see yet another guard watching inside before the door closed. The figure was riddled with papers, which were quickly set down the reveal a short Asian woman with short cut hair, and looked to be somewhere in her 40s.

"Ah," she said with a blank expression. "I appear to be early." She shrugged and began moving through the papers she had on the desk. "No matter, the others should be here in about ten minutes." She nodded to Runes before turning her gaze to Anatoly. "Pilot Volkov. Good to finally see you. I'm Dr. Tsin Wu. We haven't met in person, but I served as an adviser during some of your training sims in Valkyrie One." She appeared to find the specific papers she needed and stacked them together at the far end of the table, before moving to place the larger ones on the wall. "They said I'd have a podium...ah." She was interrupted by someone in a matching white coat was rolling up said podium, only giving the kids a small glance before leaving. "Good, good. Now, I really don't want to give the same speech twice, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you two have before the others get here and I can finish setting up."

[GUNGNIR Alpha]

Colonel Leclaire continued watching the various feeds set up throughout the city, periodically changing them up to follow the unmarked van that was carrying arguably the most important people in the city.

Her job required her to ask many, many, many questions, but the one she still didn't know was why in the world teenagers - no, children - were required to pilot the new and improved Valkyries. Only one had seen honest to god action, and it had seemed to hold up, but MJOLNIR seemed sure that the current generation was capable of facing the ever evolving Jotnar that threatened the last city on Earth. Or, at least, the last city that they knew of. But who else could stand up to the beasts?

She knew why they'd kept the Children separated, too. It was a secret known to a select few, even within MJOLNIR and GUNGNIR, but it almost didn't excuse them at least pairing up the Children in order to get them familiar with each other in the meantime. The MAGI and the screwballs that managed the long-range surveillance systems assured her that the city wouldn't be attacked for at least another week, but those kids needed to learn to work together. And that reminded her...

She clicked a button and heard static in her earpiece. "Baby Bird here. How are my little chicks doing?"

[Asgard, In a Moving Van]

Agent Donald Sanders eyed the rear view mirror as Leclaire buzzed in. The front was separated by a pane of bullet-proof glass, but he could still get a feel for what was going on. "Ugly Duckling here." Leclaire was not as creative as she thought she was. "Kids seem to be...whoahoho! I thought things were gonna get intimate for a moment back there."

"They're fine, Duckling?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're great. At least Buckshot isn't sniffing her a-"

"Can it, Duckling. Things are looking good from my e-" Leclaire's voice paused. Sanders narrowed his eyes.

"Baby Bird? Everything alright?"

"Maybe. Got another black van following you...it's not one of ours. I saw it a couple of minutes ago, but it shouldn't be...****, Duck, they're speeding up. Floor it!"

Sanders didn't waste any time. He'd already slammed his foot on the accelerator, keeping his eyes peeled for the car. They were on an 8 lane highway, packed, but not enough that he couldn't maneuver. He keyed on the internal comms that let sound travel to and from the rear.

"Hold on, kiddos. Things might get a little rough," he said, keeping his voice calm, but inside he was fuming. All of their efforts in keeping the kids secret and their locations secure, and those nutcases had still found a way to track them. And he couldn't see the van, but he trusted Leclaire's judgment. Things were probably going to get a little dicey.

[The Blue Guard]

Captain Emmerich

The Captain nods, a light smile on his lips. "I'd round them all up, stick them somewhere they couldn't make trouble, and declare martial law," the Captain said as his smile broadened. "No idea where a politician can't make trouble, though, unless it's six feet under." Of course, his contempt of politicians meant that that was only half a joke at best. It was one of the main reasons the Captain, despite four decades spent as a soldier on the continent, had been passed over for a higher position. He was, after all, a soldier at heart. Though, the fact he'd burned through a lot of his political capital after his stunt thirteen years ago during the Third Emergence probably hurt his cause too. That had been almost entirely for the benefit of those who had followed him, but it was still burned all the same.

"The best I can do is keep the damage localized," he added, still smiling.

The smile faded. "If that's everything, sir."

[Whiskeyjack]

Anatoly

"Do you want to see a magic trick?"

Anatoly blinks at the offer, trying to figure out what she means and trying to understand how someone is allowed to have a messy room, but before he can respond, he sees someone at the door. A bit relieved, he pops up to offer a salute as the doctor arrives for what seems to be a lecture. "Yes, sir. Very good, doktor, sir. My pleasures to be meeting you in person as well. Sir." Anatoly makes a move to assist this superior officer in any way he can when someone she's said catches up to him.

"Ah, others are to be arriving? How many others?" Anatoly's voice is a little strained here as he worries it will be more unprofessional people like Runes.

[Jade_Tarem]

Runes

"Hi Dr. Wu!" Runes stayed seated, but she was relieved enough at the interruption that some nonzero percentage of her greeting was actually genuine. She watched Anatoly's fawning antics and snorted quietly. Suck up. He did ask the question she'd wanted to, though, so she floundered for a moment before coming up with a follow up. "And why are you bringing us all together now? Did something change with the Jotnar situation?"

[Steel Mirror]

Anna

Anna's soulful gazing into the distance was interrupted when the sudden burst of acceleration bonked her head into the window. "Aaaaahhh," she said, rubbing the newly-forming red spot on her forehead. "What the crap?" She was yelling at the driver, though she had no idea if the comm system in the car carried her voice to him. "What, are we running late for our meeting or something? Let them wait! I don't want to die in a fiery crash because some jerk at MJOLNIR couldn't call ahead and tell me to be ready for someone to pick me up!"