[System]
Age: 26
Gender: F
Disposition: The rebel.
Frost by name frost by nature. She acts cold and uncaring having built many barriers to keep people at bay. Finds it hard to trust people because they always hurt you in the end. Deep down she is a friendly bubbly girl.
Also a natural engineer by nature.

Background: Kat was practically born into royalty, or near enough anyway. Spoilt rotten by her father she became an arrogant brat but could usually back up that arrogance with knowledge and skill.

Her father fell ill and she began to play up and got herself in a lot of trouble, the panthers were sent in for her retrieval. Before getting back home her past caught up to her and she was sent to jail.

Jail changed her and while she was locked up her father passed away. Having no ties or cares for her mother Kat did what she had to and tracked down the panthers.

Before joining the team a chance arose to aid them, her fist unofficial mission ended with her charging, open cockpit, towards an ally in an enemy FRAME. Kat knew it was about to explode...

She still bares the shrapnel scar's caused by the explosion of that FRAME and the memory haunts many dreams.

As part of the Radley family, and an only child, Katherine Radley grew up the envy of every other kid, having every luxury money could afford at her beaconed call and whim.
While not the male protege and predecessor to the business her father had hoped for she was still the golden apple in his eye. Much to her young mothers disapproval, he taught her all the things unbecoming of a lady, that he would have taught to a son.

Katherine's father had many years more worth of knowledge then her mother and gladly passed on every bit he could. While Katherine had inherited her fathers brains she owed her stunning looks to that strict unpleasant conniving woman who she called her mother.

There was a common misconception that Katherins father was a work-aholic. True he worked hard and long hours at the Radley headquarters or in his home workshop, but that was only so he may spend more time with his cherished and spoilt daughter.
On many occasions he combined the activities not being able to wait.

It was common place knowledge that Radley's made their own rules. With all the money and connections they had there was little they couldn't get away with.
Katherine, in her fathers influence, develop a strong love for fast things, cars, boats and planes. Naturally this soon stretched to mechanics and engineering later followed.
Throw in a forced appreciation for some self defence and pistol shooting for her own saftey, (more so to calm some fears of her fathers.) and Katherine had a very busy fast-paced childhood.

A fast paced lifestyle her old father should have never expected to keep up with. As Kat reached her early teens her father fell ill with age. Slowly their relationship dwindled as she could not stand not getting what she wanted. Worst of all, while bed ridden, this also left her mother in charge.

The two never saw eye to eye, her mother always wanted her to be more lady like. More of a 'leach' like her, or so Katherine thought. But besides her good looks and form Katherine also shared her mothers affliction to alcohol.
As her fathers health descended, the family tension increased and so did her drinking. For Kat there were no boundaries, there never had been. She went to the wildest parties in all parts of the world, mingling with all the wrong people and disappearing for weeks on end.
DUI after DUI came up, crashed car after crashed car, illegal possession of drugs and firearms. Eventually her name couldn't protect her from her wrap sheet or the bad people of the world.

One of her most unpleasant ordeals was a kidnapping, the strain it put on her father shortened his life by years.
She was treated unpleasantly, cruelly even yet the worse and most painful aspect is it was by someone she thought she loved, that hurt the most.

The ransom was paid, paying top dollar for her retrieval she was picked up by the Panther squad. Only to return home and be taken in by the police before she could even step foot in her own home. As the cops took her away and she screamed and fought in the heavy rain of that dark night, she still recalls the look on her frail sick fathers face as he stood shakily in the open doorframe moments before collapsing.

Kat was in prison for a few years, when she came out she never went home. Her father died while she was in gaol. The difficulty she was having finding employment only proved how much her mother still despised her, Kat knew it had to be her doing, after all she now possessed her fathers reach, money and influence. Every where Kat went she could smell the residue of her mothers distasteful methods of persuasion.

Some days she wondered if her mother was truly that spiteful, or if what she saw wasn't clues of her presence and subtle hints of her influence, maybe Kat was just going insane. Finally she found a company that would take her on, the role was far below her skill and knowledge but having been battling with homelessness Kat gladly took it.

She worked hard and quickly rose in rank, eventually doing work which occasionally included repairs for the Panther squad or fitting of new equipment and running diagnostics.

She could finally have an alright living as an engineering assistant, instead she used what she had to legally access some of the money that her father had left her.
After her mothers dirty tricks and legal fees there was barely enough for her to put together her current FRAME, but there was, so she did.
After that she sought out the famous mercs she had herd so many stories of. Katherine Frost hunted down the Panthers.

Appearance:
Inventory: multi tool, small welding torch, pocket knife, light pistol, taser.

Other: None

Snow leopard.
Manufacturer: Cradle Dynamics
Height: 4.1 meters
Weight: 5230 kg
Armor: 20 mm durasteel alloy
Speed (Walk): 65 kph
Speed (Skate): 91.6 kph
Sensor range: 5 km
Communication range: 25 km
Operating range: 600 km
Power: 3
Weight: 2

Equipped Armaments & Systems:
ECM suite, communication infiltration and jammer
ECM suite, lock prevention
EVF "Chameleon" Active Camouflage

2 x MG27(rs) Light Machinegun
Manufacturer: Radley Arms
Caliber: 7.62 mm
Effective Range: 500 m
Penetration: 15 mm of vertical steel alloy
Rate of fire: 700 rds/min
Ammunition capacity: 800 rounds
Mount: torso & back (mobile swivel mount.)

1 x AFC-40/L Autocannon
Manufacturer: Halabrad-Phell
Caliber: 25 mm
Effective range: 800 m
Penetration: 65 mm of vertical steel alloy
Rate of fire: 600 rds/min
Ammunition capacity: 60 rounds/magazine
Ammunition types: APDS-T, HEI-T
Mount: carried, one or two hands

1 x FSU 'Rainmaker' Bazooka (aka Buster)
Manufacturer: A Radley industries prototype design that never made it into production for being too 'excessive'
Caliber: 106mm
Penetration:
Rate of fire: 100 rds/m
Ammunition capacity:
Ammunition types: HEAT warheads, various auxiliary rounds.
Mount: right shoulder.

Storage: None

Appearance still coming.

[User]
"And there may not be a future for the panthers if this job isn't taken. It may be too good to be true, but it's also too good to pass up. If there's one thing you learn in the military, it's how to adapt to the situation. And so, that's what we must do here."

Sabrina understood the reason the girl spoke up, but her usual military experience made her check her in her mind. Back in the military, speaking up without permission was grounds for extra PT, depending on if you were wasting your team leader's time with whatever you wanted to say. Still, she had to remind herself that this was a PMC and they conducted themselves differently. She didn't want to come off as high and mighty, but she still conducted herself as if she was still a soldier. For now, she hoped the others would understand the situation a little better. She stood at parade rest and looked to the Director.

"Sir?"

[Assistant]
"Fuck that!" The shrill of Kat's voice startled everyone in the room, not least of all Cecilia, who's face immediately twisted into a cherry-colored knot.

 "It will become all 'yes sir, no sir!' And we will be fighting some fat asshole politician's personal feuds for him in no time! I signed up to the Panthers! Not the friggin' military!"

 "If you don't LIKE it, you don't have to STAY!" Cecilia snarled. Richard gave Colonel Leung an uneasy tilt of his eyebrows, mouthing "I'm sorry." The officer, clearly dumbfounded by the sudden hostile environment, nodded and shifted his gaze anywhere but forward.

 "I've had it with this display of yours since Cradle," the adjutant continued. "I thought you could take care of yourself, but after today's stunt in the slums, I've half a mind to terminate your contract right here and now! What's the matter with you?! You'd better cut the bullshit and start acting like the Panther you so want to be; I have no problem with replacing you with someone who can handle the work, because evidently, you CAN'T."

 No sooner had the words left Cecilia's mouth than she'd realized the gravity of what she'd just said. She took a step back from the table, eyes shifting uncomfortably away from contact with the other Panthers until they settled to the floor.

 "Oh gods," she muttered in a barely-audible whisper. "Kat, I'm so sorry..."

 Cecilia took a deep breath, turning to the XCD Colonel. "<Colonel; you have my most sincere apologies. I'm sorry you had to see us this way,>" she said in fluent Xiangese. "<As field commander of the Preying Panthers, I appreciate the generosity of the XCD in this endeavor.>"

 Lang's body tingled with embarrassment. Her fury might've been just as unprofessional and misplaced as Kat's, and in front of a representative of her country, even... that's not how she wanted the Panthers to be seen.

 "<Think nothing of it, Ms. Lang,>" Colonel Leung responded. "<Every unit has its quirks. I, for one, am impressed with your record; having disciplined these laowai all these years. Allow me to be the first to welcome you home.>"

 Cecilia stammered, deciding on a polite bow instead of an audible thanks. When she returned to full height, her eyes met Richard's, which were none too happy, but neither were they accusatory.

 "Now, then. Any further constructive discussion?" Bentz asked, doing his best to reset the mood.


[System]
Age: 45 or so
Gender: Male
Species: Dwarf
Class: Primary: Engineer/gadgeteer type mid-level. Specializes in heavy, large machines and devices.
Secondaries: Low level fighter (Preferred weapon: spear with or without shield, also some grappling and dagger)
Low level alchemist: Assayance, mineralogy, some basic herbalism for making those chelating teas you give people with metal poisoning.

Appearance: Well, he looks like a dwarf. His beard and hair are prematurely grey, making him look older than he is. Unlike many of his kin, he keeps them cropped short. He is missing the tip of his right ring finger, and his right middle finger is smashed-looking and has no nail. He refuses to talk about how that happened. He is usually dressed in his work clothes, including a miner's helmet, work gloves, a leather apron, and a tool belt.

Do they dress for other rolls? Bork has some nice dress clothes for meetings with "management", but he only wears them when necessary.

Personality:

Point – blunt and honest to a fault
Point – conscientious and hard-working
Point – private about personal affairs
Point – visionary but practical. Put foundations under those sky castles and such.
Point – Almost as smart as he thinks he is.
Point - Ambitious

Motivation:
 Loves problem solving. Wants to make big and new things happen and make a decent living doing it. He believes (incorrectly) that his estranged wife will reconcile with him if he becomes successful enough.

History:
Bork has made a name for himself as a mining engineer in his home town. He has also made a name for himself as a first-class jerk. He has come to Pigeon Spit because he got tired of working with idiots, and also because his home life had become unbearable (see Relationships). He has convinced himself that Pigeon Spit has much untapped economic potential, and has decided that the community simply needs a non-idiot to take charge and show 'em how it's done. Bork, naturally, has himself in mind as said non-idiot. Nosy people won't find out much more about him because a) He's pretty much unapproachable when it comes to his private life, and b) he doesn't really have much of a private life.

Equipment:

Heavy work clothes including a leather apron, work gloves and boots, a mining helmet, and goggles.
Rock hammer, pick axe, and other mining stuff. Lantern and oil. Some carpentry tools as well. His work gives him access to rope and other things he might need.
A gambeson. A boar spear. A battered round shield. A dagger. (not usually carried)
Dress clothes for business meetings with idiots.
Small library of books on work-related subjects.

Weakness:

Married to work - this is a problem because he has an (estranged) wife. Bork just isn't relationship material
Asocial and tactless - Need a smooth-talker to get you out of a sticky situation? Or to soften hard feelings? Well, you're screwed. Read a room? Nope.
Incorrigible, stubborn know-it-all. Not only is this off-putting (see above) but also a hindrance to rethinking anything once Bork decides he's got stuff figured out.
Partial hearing loss in one ear. One of many things he's in furious denial about. Roll over, Beethoven.
Prone to seasickness. A problem considering the setting's coastal.
Can't swim. Ditto.
Uncultured. Bork is literate and knows his practical disciplines left and right. However, he doesn't do poetry or romances or stuff. Or music. If a book has lots of dry text about mechanics or mineralogy and confusing illustrations of assaying ovens or lifting cranes, Bork has probably read it. If it doesn't, he probably hasn't.
Mean drunk. Doesn't get drunk very often. But when he does: hooo, boy!

Relationships:
Roswith, estranged wife, left back at home. She resents the amount of time and attention Bork puts into his work and feels emotionally neglected. Bork has misread her discontent and thinks she'll reconcile with him once he's successful. His pursuit of success has, of course, only made things worse between them.
Rorik Fellforest (LN Dwarven Fighter/Cleric)- Mining captain, go-to source for any stone that needs to be quarried in Pigeon Spit. So far he and Bork get along simply because they have interests and goals in common. Whether their personalities remain compatible is yet to be seen.
Nelthurin Sebheon (aka "Nelf the Elf") (N Rogue) - Harbormaster. Interested in what's good for Pigeon Spit, but has some unconventional ideas of where legal authority fits into that. Is happy to work with pirates and smugglers if it means bringing wealth and goods into town. He and Bork are ambivalent about one another, but are currently willing to set aside differences to develop the harbor.

Character goal: Become successful and wealthy in his business. Reconcile with his wife.

Goals you would like for Pigeon Spit: Bigger and better-run mines (by himself, of course). Bigger and better run-port facilities (ditto).

[User]
Okay, going to bring out Andrew's other side..

As dusk settled in, There was a change that Andrew did not expect. A woman with the night coughs, a young girl with a very high fever, and a farmer that had been kicked by one of the cows when he tried to separate the calf.

They had been placed in one of the upper rooms, it was larger and allowed them to be made comfortable. Andrew's cot was now upstairs and occupied by the man. The woman rested on a pile of the abbots clothes and vestments. The young girl was being held in his arms and he rocked her humming. Andrew was dressed in a plain cotton pants, well work and a healer's smock. He had blood and vomit on the bottom and he was bare foot. The only weapon he carried was the knife on his arm. He used it to cut bandages. A chest was open and drawers were pulled out showing herbs and ointments. Each labeled by name.

In the morning, he would ask Master Bork to help him set the man's arm. He would have the guards hold him down. Andrew knew he wasn't strong enough to pull and straighten it. He did not like admitting that he needed help of others. The man's ribs were mended so he was breathing better. He had stopped the bleeding that occurred when the woman coughed, she had been close to death. If a few days, she would be well enough to return home. Andrew ordered that the windows in her house opened and her bedding washed. Andrew had sent the girls parents home to get some sleep. He healed the sweating wreck of a girl, wrapped in a blanket. Her hair clumped from her sweating and Andrew and she had the evidence of the girl's vomit.

Andrew as he sat there, realized that he was a fool. He said out loud, "Why do I have to do things the hard way too?" As he said that Scribe Drom came to check on him a lantern low, she smiled at him as if that was the first right thing he had done. "Would you ask Master Drom if he could spare me a few moments? I could use his help and that of one of the guards." He would apologize and suggest, ask, if they shouldn't work on some irrigation projects for the farm, a blast furnace and smelter for the mine, and a common building to put their offices and a place to heal. He would send a runner to get cut stones from the Mine for the wall and for the foundations.

If the boy showed up, he would ask him what he though Pigeon Spit needed. Thieves do see the real hurts of an area. He might even ask the boy to help his refresh his skills.

Heck, he might ask the Captain to teach him how to ride a horse.

He closed his eyes and continued to hum.

[Assistant]
Bork had a week in which to do things for his "test", and although he intended to focus most of that time on his plans and drawings, he decided to start with some work on the wall. Having heard something moving under the floorboards, the dwarf checked around the perimeter of the house for burrows, or other likely entrances for animals in the foundations of the house. It had been abandoned and in disrepair for a while, and who knew what sort of vermin had decided to make themselves at home in that interval?

He saw no signs of burrows, nor did he see any groundhogs galumphing about in the nearby fields. He did notice a spot where the ground had been freshly disturbed at the base of the wall. Looking more closely, he saw traces of sawdust on the ground. He shrugged. Any number of persons or things could have come by here. There being no obvious hole or other entry, it might be unrelated to what he had heard. But he would pay attention to that particular spot in the near future.

He paced around the house, tracing what he judged to be the best course for a wall. The lot was flat enough that he could probably put it wherever he liked. He would need to stake out the intended course, dig a shallow trench, and put in a gravel bed first. Fishing out his abacus, the dwarf figured the volume of gravel he would need. That would need to be ordered from the quarry as soon as possible. He would ask the goblin to help with that. Then he needed landscaping stakes, which he would get from Patmor the carpenter, another item in his note for Ms. Drom. For a third item, he needed tools. A few shovels and spades and a wheelbarrow would do for now. He only needed one hatchet and mallet, and he had those.

Once he had these requests together and handed to the clerk, he would start walking about the town, looking for some of these "boys who are hanging about town" to find out if they were both able-bodied and able-witted enough to do basic work, and whether they would actually do so if asked. If all went as planned, he could have them well along with digging the trench this time tomorrow. He would just need to make sure he could pay them. He also talked to the innkeeper about some sandwiches for them.

Having done all that, Bork would then get the things he would need for work out of the inn and moved into his office, and have an early dinner. The balance of the evening would be spent sketching ideas in chalk on his office walls…. (to be continued)


[System]
Alias: The Red Eyed Swordsman, yes swordsMAN. This is due to the fact that her current first name Musashi is mostly used for males, causing people to assume she's male and this title was given to her before her bounty poster came up, but no one bothered to correct it.

Age: 18

Position: Swordsman/Quartermaster as while she is primarily a Swordsman, she hates feeling useless outside the battlefield so she uses her higher education as a former World Noble to take care of finance and cut up whoever is getting too greedy.

Bounty: 10,000,000

Appearance:

Personality: Musashi tends to be a level headed figure inside and outside of battle and tends to be quite snarky, due to years of being in battle and years of travel tends to treat dangerous situations quite causally often joking about the weird and dangerous situations that she finds herself in. That being said she has a complete disregard for the law, either due to her World Noble birthright or just flat out hating the world government, she is moral in the fact that she won't kill or harm innocents, but just tends to break the law when she feels like it, meaning she'll nick all your stuff if she has the chance. She tends to have a taste for expensive objects, fortunately for the crew she is rather fair as the Quartermaster though rather stingy, giving everyone just enough for what they need and nothing more including herself. Though this causes her to fulfill her tastes illegally, which causes her trouble fairly often. She is rather competitive and a sore loser, though she doesn't use dirty tricks and is rather fair, especially in battle. She doesn't give up on a fight and refuses to stay down.

Background: Musashi was born into Mariejois as Aria. At first she was the classic example of a World Noble being selfish and vain, until the age of 8 were her father got her a slave, a former cabin girl of the Red Blades Pirates who was about 2 years older than her. Of course the two immediately got off on the wrong foot, but after a year got to know each other. The Girl taught her about the life outside and the vast seas and her dreams of becoming the great pirate and living free as the wind. This girl was the first friend she had and she decided to do her first selfless act for the girl. When her father decided to go to Sabaody she convinced him to take her and her friend with her and once her father was properly distracted, she snuck off with her friend and set her free, she never saw her friend again, but she heard stories of a fearsome female pirate captain a seveal years after this event. Of course after she was gone the other members of her family scolded her for wasting what to them was a tool. This was the first time she realized that the world she was living in wasn't as bright as she once thought, after that to her the life she was living in was just a velvet lined prison. She wanted to be free she wanted to see that life, so she came up with a plan. An year had passed and she managed to grab the master key to the slave collar and freed the slaves hoping to travel with one of them in a pirate crew, however, contrary to the naive girl's beliefs the pirates weren't as nice as her friend has been and used her as a hostage and took her prisoner. They managed to steal a ship, but someone had snuck aboard their ship before they stole it. This man was Miyamoto D. Musashi, who was hiding in the cargo hold where Aria was being kept. They spent most of the time talking with each other, Aria explaining where she came from and Musashi explaining that he had came from Wano, to become the world's greatest swordsman. They continued for hours as to Aria, his company was the only thing keeping her from crying out in fear, however, voices began scream out from the upper deck, both of them not knowing why until the entire top deck was torn apart by one of the biggest sea kings in recorded history which drawfed the small trading ship that they were on. Aria grabbed a dagger that fell from the snake like sea king, no doubt from one of the pirates that the Goliath had eaten up and tried to defend herself, but what was a dagger going to do against a beast such as that, the beast lunged at her she closed her eyes waiting for what's to come, but it never did. When she opened her eyes the beast was split into two right down the middle with Musashi drawn his blade. While this was impressive this also caused the beast's dead to fall on the ship causing it to sink and both of them to become shipwrecked and washed up shore on some island she didn't know the name of. After that they started traveling together, with Musashi teaching her swordsmanship. They traveled for 3 years this is when she truly saw what the World Government was like, but what cemented her hate for the world government, was also end with the death of Musashi. It all started with a corrupt marine who challenged him to a battle of swordsmen, however, he had one of his subordinates take her hostage and when the duel was about to start he revealed to her master that he had taken Aria hostage. This shocked her master who turned his back on the Marine and threw a blade at the subordinate allowing her to escape, however, this left an opening to the marine's blade striking across the back and killing her master. She returned to find that they haven't given her master the courtesy to bury his body, just taking his swords from him. She and the villagers from the nearby town managed to bury her master. There she spent several hours carving a wooden from an oar using the dagger she has kept from the time that they had met, which she left the wooden as the grave marker, there she promised him that she'd take on his name, as she didn't like her own due to what she had seen and become the greatest swordsman.

Abilities:
Swordsmanship: Musashi while not a master swordsman is quite good with a sword and is currently about the level Zoro was at the beginning of story. She tends to use a dual sword style, though the style tends to be all over the place at times due to being a style she made herself in battle, though the basics were her master's and he didn't have time to pass on the more advanced techniques to her before he died.

Physical strength, speed, and reaction speed: She built up quite a bit of each being easily able pick up and throw a grown man. She also has the reaction and speed to deflect a bullet with her sword.

Endurance: She able to take a lot of punishment and able to get back up for more due to her personality and her promise to her master.

Free running: She picked up this skill from her various dine and dashes. She is able to get to jump around and use the area around her to get to places.

Hand to hand: She can fight without her blades, but this is more or less a final resort, so she's more or less just mediocre, good enough to deal with mooks not enough to take out the villain of the week with it.

Higher education: As a former World Noble she had access to higher education and learned skills such as math which allows her to calculate most of the crew's spending and how to spend their money.

Pickpocketing: She always had sticky fingers and after years of practice she got quite good at it.

Weapons:
Two katanas: A round disk guard, a black sheath, and a black pommel, they are more or less just regular old Katanas you can find anywhere. She just bought them from a random store in the West blue and that's about it with them, they don't have a grade or any sort of interesting backstory.

Dagger: A dagger that she gained when she decided to escape from the Noble life, otherwise just a plain dagger. Double edged, wooden handle and a sliver cross guard.

Techniques:
I'll reveal them as they go, though currently she can't cut though steel, nor use Haki, nor can she do attacks like Rankyaku.

Two Sword style:
Desert Storm: She starts off low to the ground before spinning and rising upwards while slashing sending several foes flying.

Trade Winds: Meant to deal with a group of enemies, she slashes person to person and uses the momentum from her swing to flow between them.

Vortex Strike: She slash in an crop pattern leaving two gashes on the surface on a target before stabbing though the middle.

One sword strike:

Iaido: Eagle Strike: She puts her blade back in her sheath before drawing it and slashing down the foe.

Iaido: Eagle Flight: An offshoot of Eagle Strike, but focused more on taking out groups of enemies then one target.

[User]
Saki cussed under her breath, realizing she'd been heard. Deciding it was safer to just reveal herself, she called out. "I'm coming out, don't attack." She put her arms up first to show she was unarmed as she climbed out of the barrel.

Kyy sighs. "They're right. Whether we like it or not, our first priority should be getting away from here. We can worry about them later."

[Assistant]
Rainer sweatdropped at Abbygails comment. "Usually when I'm stressed I just work on a project or go for a swim, but yeah, raining explosives sounds like a good stress reliever." He said as he took a moment to assess the situation.

This wasn't like usual when he was just fighting random pirates or nobody bounty hunters after the "Black Limbed Fishman" who accidentally found him. No, these were the MARINES!! Law enforcement of the sea and most powerful organization in the world to his knowledge. What's worse is that if they recognized him he wouldn't be an anonymous fishman anymore but an ACTUAL wanted criminal. Ugh, having an anonymous bounty was bad enough, having to cover up his whole body all the time was already annoying.

"Maybe after this I can just become a hermit." He mumbled depressed as he moved closer to the edge of the ship, ready to jump off if any of Janet's spears got a little too close for comfort.

[User]
Janet
Janet stuffed her remaining spears back into her backpack. A person like her wouldn't understand what that man was talking about, but she've gotten the fact that they weren't traitors, in a way.

"Filler? Story?" The tone of speech from that red-eyed girl was too refined and perculiar for a mere pirate. It was the same familiar demeanor of speech that she'd often heard as a child. "Fancy you wasting your time under those boring storybooks, 'High Lady' Musashi."

Janet finished her sentence with a sarcastic sneer. The corner of her eye caught sight of Saki, "Wait... you're that girl from the Marine Ship..."

[Assistant]
"Hold on. Hold on." Abbygail said, making wait a minute gestures with her hands. "Let's not just go cutting people up all willie-nillie. I mean, it's one thing to kill them if they're trying to poke you with their swords, or pencils, or anything else that doesn't belong inside the body, but it's one thing completely different to just stab them while they're naked, and tied up, and their eyes are so wide with fright, they're this close to popping out of their skulls like a pair of rats jumping ship. Swordsman's pride, and all that, I'm assuming." She put her hands on her hips and turned to look at the marines. The men were nervous but hopefully nervous. "We'll get near something, an island with people, or without, probably, and throw them on a life boat."

Lion
"Sure, you can do it that way." The purple haired girl said with a smirk. "But after downing a marine ship, the bounty is going to be pretty high. There's not a place in the world you'll be able to stay without one money grubber or another who'll throw you to the wolves for a piece of you oh so sweet pie." At that, Abbygail shuddered. "Forget that last part. It doesn't work with me." She shrugged. "Well at least nobody can accusing me of not trying."

Right! Right!" Mark said, clasping his hands together. "I'm glad we're all in agreement then. I'm going to hurry on over to the wheel, and angel us somewhere further away from the nearest marine bases, and hopefully we'll be able to get some distance before the marines start looking for us." He nodded happily, paused and when there wasn't a response, turned to his first mate. "As for you, make yourself useful and go get dinner started. I'm sure our pirate friends are hungry now, after destroying a marine ship." He didn't wait for a word before turning and walking away, with Tim, his second mate, pausing just long enough to look at the group and then going down towards the kitchen.

"I'm not going to attack." Abbygail sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose after the newcomer's hands raised out of the barrel. "I am going to question you though. So get ready for that."

Abbygail arched an eyebrow at Janet. "A friend of yours?" She cocked her head in the direction of the newcomer.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Mark's voice rang out from the intercom. "It looks like the marines were a bit faster than I figured they'd be as there seems to be some of ships heading our way. Now, I'm not sure if they're here for us or just responding to the distress call, but I think it would be best for all of you to get below deck. Get some grub in the kitchen or just hang out in your rooms till it's clear. Whatever you do, just don't poke your heads out, because I have no desire to get my head chopped off with the lot of yous!"


[System]
Physical Form
Umbra
Umbra has no real physical form, but rather takes control of various objects most often statues, and in rare occasions even people or animals. In order to get around this Umbra does have a human companion that he uses as a temporary body if the situation calls for it.

Christopher
His companion is a small child named Christopher who is around the age of 7 who stands at just under 4'. The child looks like a normal human commoner, and wears nothing but very simple clothing, a plain white t-shirt and light brown pants (both loosely fitted and slightly torn). Christopher looks very unkempt and often appears covered in dirt and grime.

Abilities
Umbra
-Possess:Umbra attempts to take complete control of the person or object for an unlimited amount of time if successful. If the object is inanimate and is unprotected from magical wards then Umbra can possess it with ease. If he is trying to posses something protected by a magical ward or something that is living than it is slightly more difficult, and if the person is strongly willed or if the object in mention is protected by a powerful enough ward than Umbra will become unable to posses said object and will become unable to repossess something for the next twelve hours.
-Inanimate Possession: If Umbra takes control of an inanimate object than he will be able to move around as that object as if it was another living being, only without the physical limitations of a normal human either, granting him as much as four times the physical capabilities of the average human.
-Living Possession: If Umbra takes control of a living being than he is able to interact with people as if he was one. Though this comes with the risk of failure due to the person's willpower and their own physical limitations, it is often the easiest way for Umbra to get around.
-Trapped in Purgatory: When Umbra is not taking possession of an object or person he is unable to interact with the world of the living or be seen by those who inhabit it.
-Frozen Touch: If Umbra is able to pierce or cut a living thing or object it will immediately begin to freeze until the person or object is completely frozen (It can take upwards of two days to become fully frozen from a minor cut, but a major wound can take as little time as an hour). The only way to prevent this is from fully happening is by cutting off the afflicted wound, using advanced healing magic or any kind of fire based magic to stop the spread.
-Enemy of the light: When Umbra takes possession of a person or object he is unable to walk around or move in direct sunlight or any source of light as strong as sunlight, as well as unable to leave the possessed body because of it (fire lit rooms don't affect him). If he comes into contact with any form of shade he is able to continue as if he wasn't in sunlight.
-Personality Disorder: When Umbra takes possession of a living being he will adopt that person's characteristics and personality completely.
-Flight: When Umbra is not taking possession of a person or object he is able to naturally fly from location to location at immense speeds.

Personality
Umbra
Umbra is often extremely apathetic showing little care for morality or others around him beyond achieving his own goals and surviving. This makes him not inherently evil nor inherently good, but rather someone who will chooses the quickest and cleanest solution to solving a problem.

Christopher
Christopher is extremely outgoing and talkative for a small child. His childlike behavior is often easily noticed, and sometimes will go out of his way to show this to those around him. He is extremely naive and will attempt to befriend anyone or anything he sees. Much like Umbra, over the couple of years Christopher has spent with him he began to lose any concern over morality. Often seeing killing or other despicable activities as normal things that you must do in order to survive.

Wants/Needs
He has two ultimate goals, to find a permanent body of his own, one that doesn't age, need rest, or get exhausted, and to be able to move freely in the sunlight. He is convinced that "the master" will be able to one day provide this to him or at the very least find him someone who can.

Relationships
Umbra holds a close relationship with Christopher. The small child being the closest thing he could have to his son he began to grow fond of him. Eventually befriending Christopher.

Backstory
Once a wealthy man named Jackson Rider, Umbra lead a life with little care until he found a beautiful woman named Rosana, who promised to marry him if he proved that he wasn't only wealthy, but brave. Eventually he came to the conclusion the only way to prove this was to defeat a witch outside of the village, and bring back her head to show all of the towns people. As a week passed by he prepared buying weapons, armor, and potions to eventually defeat this witch.
Eventually the time came and he set off on his journey, eventually arriving within two days. The witch though proved much more powerful than he had ever expected. To her, he was nothing but a mere bug waiting to be squashed maybe even less so. Before striking him down she found it more interesting to curse him instead. "A child born without soul to the newly wed wife. A husband to a weeping woman and a child without purpose in life. Forsaken by god and forsaken by man. Simply to prove one's bravery matches his wealth hand to hand."
It wasn't long before he arrived home with feelings of failure and confusion. When he went to tell Rosana of his failure, she accepted him saying "an honest man is more virtuous and worthy of being my husband than the bravest of men," and so they married. It wasn't long until his wife told him of her pregnancy and the child was born not long after and was named Christopher. Sadly much like the witch had told him long ago his child was born without a soul.
That day he journeyed to the witches hut, leaving behind both his wife and child. He begged and cried for forgiveness. For the witch to lift the curse on his son. She smiled wickedly and whispered. "Death will be both your salvation and your punishment." She quickly pulled out a dagger and stabbed Umbra through the chest, whispering a chant.
When he finally awoke he was greeted by the witch. "You are no longer man nor are you demon, simply Umbra taker of lives. Forced to walk in the shoes of others and the shadows of the night. Enjoy your son's soul for yours."
After many years after that day, how many exactly is unknown to him, he slowly began to desire what he once lost many years ago. Eventually he stumbled upon the dungeon keeper. Sensing his power and strength he decided it would be best to seek his help. They eventually they came to a compromise, if Umbra helps him achieve his goals he will one day return the favor.

Other
-If Umbra is in the body of a living person and said living person suffers a fatal wound Umbra will not die, but rather he would suffer a great amount of pain and will be unable to possess a body for a great deal of time (usually around a couple of weeks).
-There is no real way to permanently 'kill' Umbra, rather you can banish him to another plane of existence. While this can be accomplished through powerful spells or other magical means, the easiest way to do this would be to destroy his possessed body completely before the possessed can die. (Note: He can technically leave the possessed body at anytime so this would be best accomplished if he was under direct sunlight, or if it was by surprise.)

[User]
As the sorceress was abandoned by her guards, Athinar kept moving forward, breaking the fleeing ranks of men like so much water upon a stone. Then, the street before the sorceress and himself was suddenly clear for the nine meters ahead. Sprinting across the gap, Athinar had halved the distance, when she turned her attention back to the massive fighter, pointing at him. Immediately, Athinar knew that she had cast some kind of spell. A hex. Dehydration. It'll make me shrivel up, and then make my blood escape. Athinar paused, cocking his head. Where had that come from? (Anyone with soul sensing abilities would be able to feel the pressure from Athinar.) Shaking his head like a dog, he began to run forward, only to be forced to stop in his tracks, and fall to his knees. He started gasping, his lungs now dry. Head pounding, tinges of black fading into his vision.

Would he be stopped like this, by a puny mage? No! Roaring with rage, even through the dehydration, time seemed to stop, and the borders of the world seemed to liquefy, like quicksilver. A dark mist poured out through the surrounding alleyways, and swirled around Athinar. Circling him, as if studying him, the mist spoke.

So... you don't want to die here?

Athinar said nothing, because he couldn't move. The mist flew closer, until it was in his face.

I suppose I could help you out a bit.

As the mist faded, and time seemed to flow, a black, featureless figure waved at the edges of his vision, ominously.

We'll be in touch.

And then with a snap, time returned. Athinar stood up fully, without the feeling of being choked. Looking down at himself, steam still rose from his body, but it stopped almost instantly. In his hands, was a black, guardless, hand-and-a half sword, one that had several dull runes engraved into the blade. It was about half a foot wide, and three feet long. Curious, Athinar waved it around a bit. It was weightless. Curious. Shrugging, and cracking his neck, he grinned. Whatever happened, it had rendered the sorceress' spell ineffective.

Pouncing towards the priestess, he cut horizontally, chopping the woman in half. Her torso flew upwards, spraying beautiful blood, and her legs stayed standing, spurting like a geyser. The look on the woman's face was that of extreme surprise and terror, at which Athinar began laughing madly, baying like an animal. Looking around at the other guards, he saw some knight in shining armor. Literally. Growling, he sprinted, holding the sword easily. If anyone got in his way, he would barrel through them, shoving them out of the way.

(Note: Anyone who was in position to see the mist come out from the surrounding alleyways, would only see smoke pour out, and in a cyclone, turn into the blade in Athinar's hands. It happened almost too quickly to see, so if you were distracted, you would've missed it. Narza would have felt an immense power, unstoppable by herself, pass through the walls of 'us'.)

[Assistant]
The days had gone well enough for the two adventurers, Putting a kind inquest with others for their 'missing' companions they were still waiting in town for. The town was known as 'Mossgate' for the thick stone walls covered in the green growth that seemed to never stay off no matter what, dozens of bards had dozens of tales why the moss would grow so abundantly and they had heard them all. The big walls lead to archer towers which would make for difficulty with the few hundred guards of the few thousand inside meant that at least one in ten could fight with true knights to call in for guidance and reinforcements.

After barking around for long enough, he managed to get directed to the tower that housed the mage guild. He made a bargain with them to try and combine the heat enchantment of the dagger and the reflective spell of the shield in order to make a new enchantment to reflect fire. IF they could make that for him, he would let them keep the three magic items he brought with him. He also had a chance to recharge his wand on his arm from all the mounts he had been summoning. Tinkerhell was quite crucial in getting the wizards to comply with his requests and maintain their silence.

Next he went to the mapmakers to get the most detailed layout of the city possible, down to the spaces between stores. He took that map and had four perfect copies made measured out to the inch. Those three copies found their ways into the hands of best woodcarvers in the city, each tasked with taking a quarter of the town to make little buildings for a scale model with enough detail that he could pour water down the street and watch it trickle between alleys. None of this was cheep, but you would be amazed how easily the simplest charming spells and a sack of gold does wonders to put one at the top of the list of projects.

Wizards and warriors can protect the city, but it is the temple that protects the faith. Here is where tinkethell would falter if she were truly unholy and not just wholly amoral. Gossip and rumor were the meal of the day as the two took turns twisting every word from any mouth on either side to something worse. The seeds of distrust got planted to water in the temple of the sea and fan the fires of their goddes while the order of light was founding themselves in righteous indignation at perceived sleights.

All in all it was going well when the trouble of faith means that one in ten at temple was a warrior on the wall.


[System]
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Class: Sanctioned Psyker

Psyker Power
Divination & Telekinesis are her main fields of psychic talent, but she also possesses two other abilities such as Smite and Storm of Lightning, as well as a rudimentary form of mental communication. Does not possess any noteworthy healing abilities, and she is just as likely to send someone to the warp as she is to heal a minor scratch.

Appearance:
5.8ft tall, pale skin and snow white hair. Sturdy and heavy frame, but still retains her feminine figure despite adhering to a strict physical training regime.

The base of her outfit consist of a simple yet elastic skin tight jumpsuit in dark brown color that is capable of withstanding the vacuum of space as well as provide a decent protection against the elements, though offers little protection versus physical threats. Overlayed on top is a series of armaplas plates that form a chestguard, cuisses, knee-high boots, shoulderpads and gloves stretching back and up to her elbows where they form into a sharp point. They offer good locational protection, especially from the front, but leave her jumpsuit exposed in other places, particularly from her lower back and down to the back of her knees where her boots cover both sides of her ankles. The plates are polished to a light gray color, and almost look like silver. The surface is covered with a series of intricate design and artwork in typical imperial fashion, featuring numerous flutes and ridges across the plates, as well as a couple skull imprints. Above her armor she wears a satin blue silk cloak that hangs down from the back of her left shoulder, as well as a silk loincloth hanging from the front of her belt of similar color. Thrown sideways around her torso is a series of books and scrolls attached by chain.

Running up along the spine of her chestguard is a refractor field generator built into the plate itself, taking form of a small generator emitting a series of horizontal, blue lights up along the back of the chestplate, and shaped much like a human skeletal spine. When activated, a faint, blue and almost invisible barrier appears around her figure.

Her helmet is made out of the same material as that of her armor, and it takes the form of a gothic plated helmet, with a narrow but wide blue glass visor and a longer neck guard extending out behind her helmet. Two plastic tubes are attached to a rebreather device at the bottom mouth piece of her helmet, that stretch out on each side of her neck and down into a small, highly pressurized air tank built into the back of her chestguard.

Her boots are magnetic, and her entire suit when worn enables her to survive in space, and also provides immunity to most chemical and biological attacks. She carries enough oxygen to last for almost an hour.

Equipment:

Main Weapon: Her primary weapon is a two handed power-weapon in the form of an oversized saber with a sleek blade and an extended handle which doubles as a psyker staff, and adorned with sigils, trinkets, technological gadgets and inscriptions. She often uses her weapon in conjunction with her telekinetic powers to amplify its destructive potential.

"Scylla" [Custom-Built Handgun], .50 caliber, 7 round clip size x 3 carried.

Ceremonial Dagger. In essence, just a normal albeit flashy dagger with an adorned handle. Typically only carried for show, but is sharp enough to slice through unprotected skin with ease, and small enough to be concealed without much problem.

Refractor Field. Description under Appearance.

Servo-Skull: Mostly used to store events, data, recordings and scrolls.

Savior – Saved an influential nobleman by foreseeing his assassination, tossing him out of the way of the sniper's bullet with her telekinetic powers and into a big wedding cake instead.

Guide – Saved a band of arbiters from the underworld of a hive world during an uprising by using her powers of divination to avoid the roaming mobs and gangs and reached safety without incident. Not a single shot was fired during their escape.

Hates Surprises – Accidentally electrocuted and sent three of the arbiters she had saved above to the infirmary when they tried to surprise her with a party later. Being so used to foresee danger before it happens, she is prone to freaking out over minor surprises that eludes her farsight.

Fireteam – During an Ork incursion, she helped a fireteam of six guardsmen hold off a much larger band of orks after their sergeant was injured through using her powers of divination to guide their fire, turning what had been originally green recruits into seemingly crack shots. Any Ork that left its cover was immediately put down from long range, and when they mounted a frenzied charge together, they didn't make it more than halfway across the field to the trenches before they were wiped out by precision fire.

Warpstorm over Mordran V - Adrianne was assigned to aid the planetary imperial garrison with culling a lesser greenskin uprising, assisting local Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle forces with the purging when a warpstorm suddenly appeared over the otherwise peaceful colony world of Mordran V. Trapped on the planet, Adrianne found herself fighting for survival alongside her imperial guard as Chaos Ships appeared in orbit, and unleashed a ferocious invasion of the planet! Though the warpstorm only lasted for two weeks, by the time it had lifted, Mordran V had been transformed from a lush, promising garden world into a lifeless, daemon-infested hellscape, with most of its original population killed except for a few imperial strongholds that managed to weather the storm. Her experience from Mordran V would change Adrianne for ever. What had been a cautious girl that had stepped onto the planet would instead emerge a seemingly reckless with little to no restraint on her powers!

[User]
"That should slow them down! But the rest will soon be upon us!" Adrianne yelled to Zhevon, but he had already dived into the dust cloud, bits of tile and glass peppering his coat. He kept his eyes peeled for the signature glowing pink eyes of the statues and attacked where he saw them as he sprinted towards the other end. He heard Adrianne's voice through the vox. "...The madwoman with the bolter at the other end, what should we do about her?"

"They can't see past their nest, I'll get her out of the hallway! Everyone else should get out as well!" He replied, ducking under a stone fist. As the dust settled, the statues began to speed up again.
Another voice crackled through the vox, it was James, his Vindicare. "Psyker how stupid are you? You no doubt just pissed off every tainted thing within the area. I do not have the ammo for this kind of prolonged combat."
"Then save them. I have my own ammo, and it's INFINITE!" Adrianne yelled back.

"Pick your shots carefully James, only fire if needed!" He replied to the assassin, "And don't insult the Psyker." He added, glancing back at his team. They had come after, which he half expected. With the rug now in shambles, he twisted and slid on the dusty floor for about a meter, ducking under a swipe, he brought his inferno pistol up and blasted a Statue in the chest, throwing it back several feet. That's when he noticed the small whirlwind of dust. It quickly gained traction, as rocks and pebbles was brought into the whirlwind. He narrowed his eyes. The whirlwind was vaguely familiar, he had seen many psyker abilities over the years, and he had seen this particular one a few times before. Then he recalled that Adrianne said something about a vortex. That jotted his memory.
"No vortexes!" He said over the vox, fearing that it would tear the walls right out and reveal a new foe. He glanced behind him to check on their new guest, he was close enough to yell at her, but the problem was the twelve or so Statues between him and her. "Nevermind! A small one, tiny vortex!" He said to Adrianne. Several of the Statues noticed the Inquisitor and turned their attention to him. He turned to face his new aggressors, the first lunged right at him. Zhevon expertly dodged the attack by ducking under the statue, it's momentum sending it right into the growing vortex in the middle of the room.
Zhevon looked at the Sister and yelled at her, "Get out of the hallway! They won't chase you there!" He turned off the power field on his sword and stabbed it into the ground, the blade cutting into the floor fairly well, giving him an anchor.

[Assistant]
Aviza snapped from one statue to the next only pausing for a second or so before she opened fire once more onto another one of the statues. They would ignite in a brilliant white flame that illuminated the hallway before turning to ash upon the decorated tile floor beneath them. Everything around her was happening so very quickly that she barely had time to react. The dirt and the dust upon the ground started to move away from her slowly as if being pulled into a vacuum. Looking down to the end of the hall that was filled with murderous statues from the warp, she saw Adrianne, and quickly braced herself upon the floor after watching the motions that the Pysker was doing with her hands. She wasn't exactly sure, but she thought she could see the shockwave travel across the ground, creating a ripple in the air before hitting her head on. Everything had gone completely silent, as if going deaf after an extremely loud explosion. What happened next even caught Aviza off guard, who merely brought her weapon back up and started to shoot at the statues that were floating in some sort of zero-g field behind her. The amount of destruction and carnage that one person could cause with a simple cast was quite impressive, at least to Aviza. Her hearing came back all at once, causing her to jump ever so slightly as more gunfire echoed through the building.

It was at that moment that she heard a man speak to her in a cold, serious tone, threatening her life if she did not cease fire immediately because of that fact that an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor of the Imperium and that she was shooting at him. "James Mathias Dyrdunn of the Officio Assassinorum, Temple Vindicare." She responded in the same hostile and cold tone while switching her ammo, "I am Aviza Niskaru of the Adeptus Sororitas, Bloody Rose." There was a pause as she shot a statue that lunged at the Inquisitor, it exploded in midair showering him in small debris. "I know exactly where my shots are going and who they are going to hit." There was another pause as she fired upon a statue that was trying to attack her. "I am fighting alongside you, the Inquisitor, and the rest of your squad so focus on the battle at hand, then we shall have ourselves an actual conversation, in private if you wish." The Inquisitor had yelled at her to leave the hallway immediately, and that is exactly what she did. Now standing next to the Pysker, she bent down on one knee and returned to shooting the statues, watching the warp vortex grow in strength upon the middle of the room.


[System]
image found by Grin, the mightiest of drawers
Age: 16
Gender: male
Granted Type (If you are playing Shallow please indicate here): Born

Style: Earth/Water
Personality: Bitter and volatile, like brine soaked phosphorous, hidden deep beneath a quaint, simple, and oddly reassuring mask.
Notable Physical Features: Hands bear several small scars from cuts, on the back of his fingers and hands.

Abilities:
Immunity to natural poisons and venoms
Breath underwater

Backstory/Bio
The bastard rape child of a Blooded father, and Chosen mother, he's never been looked upon with favor. Even his mother abandoned him when he was young, because he looked to much like his father. Raised by his father's youngest sister, a girl permanently marked by a childhood accident that burned her face and side of her head. Desperate for a child of her own, she immediately took to raising her little Roberto, though everyone else just called him Bastard Bob. He loathes all blooded Granted, but is careful to keep his thoughts hidden behind a marvelous facade, that seems to be quite laid back and unconcerned with the world around him.

[User]
@gravity22

"Okay." Shiro replied to Alex. She was just about to run up the stairs when Akia started talking to her. She tilted her head slightly and listened to her curiously. "Oooh. Sound like fun!" She told her happily, grabbing her arm. Whereas Akia didn't want to invade personal space, Shiro had no concept of such a thing. "Shiro is Shiro." She told her happily as they walked up the stairs. She hadn't expected to make a friend so soon, she was fairly sure everyone thought she was a weirdo. What with the way she looked, talked, and dressed.

[Assistant]
@Tracyarmav@Ally610

This was definitely starting off an odd bunch. He wasn't even sure if there were more coming today but he didn't see anyone else outside of the door. He grabbed the his training guide from his office and he was walking back into the kitchen he decided to check something.

Is it still there? He thought this on a loop while rummaging through the office. And sure enough he found the letter that Ms. Moore, the leader in his time, had took from him. The letter that got Chloe's memories erased and nearly killed. He grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket violently before leaving the office, locking it and sitting on the couch waiting for the poor brats upstairs to finish their crap.

I hope they get close to each other, because the Syndicate will have their head and mine if they get dangerously close to any shallows. They sure picked a way to punish me, didn't they?

[User]
@Shikaru@Tracyarmav
Akia ignored Roberto's comment and turned to Shiro.

"That's a really awesome name! Nice to meet you Shiro," She stuck out her left hand, "I love your eyes! Red is my favorite color. It suits you well!"

Even though Akia noticed how Shiro said 'Shiro', instead of 'I', she didn't exactly care. There must be some kind of reason. Who am I to ask personal questions? She dropped her hand and walked into a room on their right.

"Oh, look! We get a view! Isn't it beautiful?" Akia exclaimed, and continued without waiting for an answer, "Oh, and look at that bed. I would love to squeeze in a nap, but alas, we have to get back out." She tossed her bag into the corner, "I'm ready! I'm so excited! I don't think I'm calm enough to unpack. What about you? Do you want some time? If not, let's just get going!"

In her hurry, she didn't notice a nail sticking out from the doorway. When she turned, the nail scratched her deeply on her right arm.

"Ouch!" Stupid me, why didn't I notice? What an idiotic mistake to make! Who cares if you made a friend? You have to lose this clumsiness!

[Assistant]
"Thank you!" She told her excitedly, smiling happily. Most people thought her eyes were weird, then again, most people thought everything about her was weird so she supposed that point was moot. Shiro followed her into the room and walked over to the window Akia mentioned had a nice view, "Oooh. Pretty." She commented. She looked at the bed and shrugged. Bed was a bed, hell, even the floor was a bed if you added a pillow and a blanket to Shiro.

Tossing her bag that had a few extra outfits and such in it onto the bed, Shiro more or less agreed with Akia. Packing later, school thing now. "Shiro wants to go now too!" She shouted happily, following her soon after looking out the window one more time. She stopped once Akia shouted in pain and stopped herself. "Shiro can help!" She exclaimed, running up to her and removing her glove..mitt..thing placing her hand on the cut on Akia's arm. A green glow ensued and soon after the cut was healed. Placing the glove back on her hand after wiping the blood off on the nearest fabric that wasn't either of their clothes with a satisfied expression on her face she spoke, "All better."

[User]
Akia looked up at Shiro. "Oh, so that's your ability? That's pretty cool. It must be really useful," she said, half talking to herself, "All I can do is talk to marine animals. What fun is that? It's not like I can talk to goats..."

She quickly put on a smile and continued, "Well, thanks! We're going to be the best roommates ever! Let's go! The fifteen minutes is almost up!" She hurried down the stairs, checking to see that Shiro was following her. Once she skipped the last few steps and landed with a soft thud, she saw that Roberto was all ready there.

"Hey! I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?" Stupid me. "My name's Akia Thakrar. Yours is Roberto, right? That's what Alex called you."

[Assistant]
@Tracyarmav@gravity22

Shiro nodded, "Yup!" She replied. Akia didn't even know the half of it, Shiro was pretty sure without her healing she'd be confined to a bed unable to move or dead by now. Hell, she hurt herself simply by walking on a constant basis. "Awesome! Okay!" She replied excitedly, running down the stairs after her. Her foot kinda slipped on the third to last step causing her to faceplant on the floor with a loud 'whump'. "Oww.." she whined, leaning up. Of course her nose also happened to be bleeding too, though it hurt, she knew it'd heal eventually so she simply wiped the blood off on her glove and continued on. "Shiro's fine." She confirmed, mostly for everyone else who wasn't used to her being well..her. Walking over to a chair she watched the three intently, waiting on Alex to go over the rules and stuff. Though, if someone talked to her, it'd most likely distract her and turn her attention to them.

[User]
@gravity22@Shikaru

Bob had been somewhat surprised to learn that the rooms were pretty well insulated for a boarding house. Growing bored after a few moments, he slipped by the girl's room, shuddering slightly at the sheer volume of chatter emanating from their room as he passed them quietly and quickly. He moved down the stairs, taking time to note which ones squeaked and how loudly they did so, the number was surprisingly few, He'd have no trouble moving up and down the stairs silently in the future. He nodded to Alex as he took a seat, but otherwise ignored the man. As the two girls came down the stairs... with a clatter, was perhaps the polite way to say it. He sighed quietly to himself, and then stared at Akia as she blabbered about having forgotten to introduce herself, before putting his face in his hands and mumbling through them.

"If you'd forgotten to introduce yourself, how did I call you out by name as we went to our rooms, I wonder?" --I sit back and stare at the floor in the center of the chairs, at least she wasn't mocking me, I suppose that was a plus-- "Yes, Alex called me Roberto and that is the name my mother gave me, though you'd only be the third to use it, if you choose to do so. Can we get this over with already?"

[Assistant]
@Shikaru@Ally610

He just stared back at the dynamic taking everything in. Making notes in his head as needed.

"Now that everyone has been introduced here is the sitch. You're here because The Council think you need a little guidance to find your role in our Society. Now I'm not going to feed you the bullshit you're used to about us being better than the shallows and protecting them and blah blah blah. I'm pretty sure you know as well as I do..." He eyed Bob. "That it ain't all it's cracked up to be."

He half glanced at the other too, who seemed to be getting along rather well. He'd have to keep an eye on that.

[User]
Akia glanced back at Shiro, worried, but when Shiro said that she easy fine, she relaxed. Akia didn't want anyone to be hurt. After all, the only reason she, herself, was hurt was because she was clumsy.

Oh, I guess Roberto over heard me and Shiro. Stupid. I should have remembered him calling me.

Although Akia didn't approve of Alex swearing, she kept quiet. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. Plus, she agreed with him.

She nudged Shiro's arm, and whispered, "I'm glad he's skipping that part. I try to be all enthusiastic about it, but it really bores me."

Akia sat quietly, and waited for Alex to continue.

[Assistant]
@Shikaru@Ally610

Bob chuckled mirthlessly at Alex's choice of words, it was cracked up all right, and probably on crack to boot. Bob wondered if most societies were like they were because the Society was so cracked up... He wouldn't be surprised if that were so, but he also didn't have a clue as to how one might go about proving that, so he tossed the thought aside and shrugged it off. Right now he wanted ... Well, to be honest he didn't really know what he wanted, but he was pretty sure it wasn't what ever the Society had planned for him. He continued to stare at the floor in the middle of the arrayed chairs, vaguely watching the others with his peripheral vision.

[User]
Sena's heart thudded against her chest as she dashed her way around the street, her sketchbook clutched against her chest. Sena was at first hesitant to even set foot at The Cottage, but her mother figured that it would be best for her to go.
"At least make a few new friends that you can relate to your new... predicament," her mother had told her years ago when she had discovered her new abilities. They had come to her as a surprise; an unsuspecting cooking accident that set the kitchen on fire. Sena had mainly gone to the Cottege to train and control herself. Though her overactive imagination told her that she wasn't welcome -- hence the reason why she fled after the first few days of training. So even thinking about going back was a bit of an accomplishment. As the Cottage came into view, her little heart started pounding again. Sena flew through the door panting. Taking a deep breath she softly called out, "Sorry I'm late!"

[Assistant]
Alex looked at the flustered redhead who just bounced in the room. He recognized her, she was a newbie the year he was assigned his apprenticeship. Wow she sure grew up. She left shortly after, tried to go back to her parents. Shallow-borns never learn do they. Once your involved with the Granted, you never leave. No matter who you are, or where you are from.

"Hey, have a seat we were just having our first meeting." He turned back to the group after gesturing for her to take a seat.

"You're two biggest responsibilities are training and shallow service. Shallow service is when you all get to go out and pretend to be happy go lucky Jr. Park Rangers so we can fund this place and keep it on the island. There are two shallow service shifts per day. Normally when you aren't with the shallows or training you're training. Training schedule will start on Monday. This will be the only weekend you are not permitted to leave the island. After that if you aren't scheduled for shallow service, go ahead and leave. Dinner will be ready at 7:00. And for the love of god be nice to the entertainment system, I will be in my office if anyone needs me"

He stood up left abruptly and went back into the office and slammed the door. What had he turned into. A military man. He used to be so much like Bob. Cynical, thinking you could screw over the Granted. If he couldn't no one can, the best he could do is make these kids believe that.


[System]
Age: 13
Hometown: Ecruteak City
Appearance (pic preferred):

Starter: Torchic
Bio: Shiranui had developed a fascination with fox-like Pokémon from watching the Kimono Sisters performing during his childhood. His favourite Pokémon are Espeon, Umbreon, Delphox, Zoroark and Ninetales. He is generally kind, but has a low tolerance to those who speak ill of his likes. He had been inspired to go on a Pokémon journey ever since he spotted Ho-oh taking off from the Bell Tower at age 8, later catching it during his journey through Johto along with two of the three Legendary Beasts.

Having experienced the wonders of the Kalos Region, Shiranui had conquered the Kalos League and was added to the local Hall of Fame after defeating their Elite Four as well as the local champion Diantha.

[User]
Shiranui knew May was no slouch in the contest circuit, having placed in the quarter finals in the Hoenn Festival and making the semis in Kanto. After the coordinators took their spots, the timer began. "Munchlax, take the stage!"
"Zoro, it's ninja time!" May sent her Munchlax out and Shiranui sent his Zoroark out.
"Munchlax, Belly Drum!"
"Zoro, Imprison!" Zoro donned his Ninetales guise and conjured a translucent red forcefield around Munchlax. Munchlax played a catchy rhythm on his belly and maximised its Attack. Both coordinators lost points, Shiranui losing more than May.
"Munchlax, Brick Break!"
"Zoro, Foul Play!" Zoro switched guises and now looked like a Krookodile as Munchlax charged at the disguised Zoroark. Munchlax jumped into the air and readied a chop while Zoro stood his ground. When Munchlax's attack was about to connect, Zoro grabbed Munchlax by the chopping arm and did a judo throw, slamming Munchlax onto the stage. Munchlax barely held together as May lost a lot of points.
"Munchlax, Self-Destruct!"
"Zoro, Protect!" Zoro took a defensive pose as Munchlax unleashed an explosion of raw energy, covering the stage in smoke and dust. When the dust cleared, Munchlax was knocked out and Zoro had changed disguises, now looking like an Aegislash in Shield Forme. The judges' screens all had crosses as they declared Munchlax unable to battle.

---

"You've done well to get this far, May," Shiranui praised after he and May returned to the green room.
"Thanks Shiranui," replied May, giving Munchlax a PokéBlock of her own design, "My brother Max is a big fan of you and your friend."
"Would he be the same Max that Liam and I met at the Petalburg Gym?" Shiranui inquired.
"That's him," May confirmed, "He would not stop talking about your recent tag-team double battle with Gabby and Ty."
"Typical fanboy," commented Shiranui, "Anyway, we shall see each other in the Grand Festival."
"Count on it!" May agreed, "I may be your friend, but we will be rival coordinators!"
"I would not have it any other way," replied Shiranui, "Cheer for me in the final." May nodded as she left the green room with Munchlax tagging along.

"Well, you just made yet another friend," commented a voice that sounded like May. Shiranui saw what looked like a perfect double of May and jolted in surprise.
"Zoro, you scared me," stated Shiranui.
"The look on your face was priceless!" replied the May lookalike, chortling as Zoro dropped his illusion. Shiranui let out a chuckle as well.
"There's never a dull moment with you around, Zoro," Shiranui stated.

[Assistant]
Liam defeated his opponent, who used a Makuhita.

1 RP
2 Shiranui Tsukiko
3 May
4 RP
5 RP
6 RP
7 RP
8 Liam Coleman

Liam was ready and took his place.

[User] Shiranui took his place after he was ready.

[Assistant] "Obsidian!" You're up!" Liam called. The shiny Spoink appeared and the audience "ooh"-ed and "ahh"-ed at the discolored Pokémon.

[User] "Zoro, it's ninja time!" Shiranui opened Zoro's Poké Ball and dark stars issued forth, coalescing into his Zoroark.

[Assistant] "Start off with Confuse Ray!" Liam ordered.

[User] "Zoro, Substitute!" The Zoroark let off a brief flash before standing still like a statue. The statue was a Zoroark decoy while the real Zoro was out of sight. Obsidian let off a brighter flash, but Zoro was unaffected thanks to his Substitute. Both coordinators lost points, but Shiranui lost more than Liam did due to his less flashy display.

[Assistant] "Double Team!" Liam called. Spoink bounced around, making many copies as he did.

[User] "Zoro, Feint Attack!" The real Zoro reappeared behind the real Obsidian with a fist at the ready.

[Assistant] Liam smirked, that was what he wanted. "Simple Beam!" Obsidian fired a beam toward Zorro that would take away Illusion, which would most likely trip up Shiranui's strategy.

[User] Zoro was blasted by Obsidian's attack and his ability was changed to Simple. "Zoro may not be able to use his illusions, but this opens the door for a few new possibilities," Shiranui mused as his points went down, "Zoro, Swords Dance/Hone Claws combination!" The Zoroark sharpened his claws while performing a fast frenetic dance. He finished the dance by showing off his newly-sharpened claws to the audience. Thanks to the change in abilities, Zoro's Attack stat was at its maximum and his Accuracy stat sharply rose.

[Assistant] "Charge Beam!" Liam called. A blast of electricity rocketed off from the pearl on Obsidion's head toward Zoroark.

[User] "Night Slash!" Zoro charged at Obsidian with his claws glowing pitch black, ready to deliver a devastating strike. His substitute took Obsidian's Charge Beam and held up.

[Assistant] Liam lost some points when the attack hit. "Confuse Ray!" Liam called.

[User] "Show off your Night Daze!" It was a clash of light and darkness as Zoro conjured a dome of dark energy and Obsidian let off a bright flash that didn't affect the Zoroark due to his Substitute still being present.

[Assistant] "Grass Knot!" Obsidian tried to trip up the fox Pokémon.

[User] "Feint Attack!" The Grass Knot landed, but all that was left was a broken decoy and a Zoroark that was nowhere to be found until he reappeared behind Obsidian winding up for a powerful attack.

[Assistant] Obsidian was hit by the Super Effective hit. "Flash! into Bounce!" The black pearl on Obsidian's head gave off a bright light to blind Zoro, while it couldn't see, The Spoink would bounce up high to be out of sight for the next move.

[User] Shiranui lost points from the flashy move. "Zoro, Hone Claws and follow it up with Protect!" Zoro's Accuracy stat was dropped back to normal from Obsidian's move, but Zoro brandished his claws again, boosting his Accuracy back up. A green shield formed around the Zoroark in time for Obsidian's Bounce attack to land.

[Assistant] Protect had ruined what Liam had planned for the rest of the move and Liam just let Spoink crash down to finish he attack ,that Protect had negated the damage to.

[User] "Zoro, Night Slash/Fling Combination!" The Zoroark proceeded to show off his Night Slash by slashing a 'Z' in the air. He then grabbed the 'Z' and used Fling to throw it at Obsidian with a high velocity.

[Assistant] "Power Gem!" Liam called. the Rock-type beam blasted forth and collided with the flung move. "Time!" Vivian called. "Once the smoke clears, we will see who the winner is!" Once the dust settled, both Pokémon were still standing. Shiranui's bar had just a hair more points left. "The winner is Kalos Champion, Shiranui Tsukiko!" The crowd cheered. The judges all praised both co-ordinators, talking about the things they liked about each of their performances, such as Liam's clever idea to use Simple Beam to stop Zoroark's illusion. Vivian gave Shiranui the ribbon, and Vivian said the next contest was in Sootoplis City.

[User] Shiranui thanked Vivian and was soon in the Pokémon Centre waiting for Zoro to heal. He knew they would take on the gym there after beating the Mossdeep Gym.

[Assistant] Liam arrived at the center and handed Obsidian's ball over so he could be healed as well. "I should have known you two would be here." Said a familiar voice behind the heroes. Looker walked up to the heroes.

[User] "Hello Looker," Shiranui greeted back, "I gather from your presence that either one or both of the Teams are around here."

[Assistant] Looker confirmed Shiranui's theory as he had seen a submarine bearing Aqua's logo going into a cave just outside of town. He also said that we need to make a final stand and that they should both bring their A-game teams.

[User] "Will do," replied Shiranui, "Liam, the first thing we'll need to do is send in Kage and Plasma to do some reconnaissance."

[Assistant] "Sounds like a good idea." Liam agreed. He in a hushed tone told Shiranui that "A-game" or not, it may not be a good idea to bring legendaries into this mess.

[User] "I fully agree with you," Shiranui whispered back, "We'll only spur them on in their plans." In his normal voice he continued, saying, "We can take Titania and Gallade to help with interrogation and any heavy resistance they throw at us. Plasma can shut down their alarm system as well as help in battle; and Kage and Kinoko can provide incapacitation."

[Assistant] "Jiriya may will also prove useful." Liam added. Joy brought back the healed Pokémon. Liam thanked her and went to rearrange his team.

[User] Shiranui altered his team after Liam was done. "Ready to kick some Aqua tail?"

[Assistant] "You know I am!" Liam said. Looker than took the heroes to the entrance of the cave.

[User] "The first thing we need to do is reconnaissance," Shiranui instructed, "Zoro, Kage, come on out!" He sent out his Zoroark and his Gengar.

[Assistant] "Grimm! I need you're help!" The Dusknoir appeared.

[User] "Kage, Grimm, your job is to explore every nook and cranny of this base without being detected," Shiranui instructed, "When you're done, return here and report your findings to Zoro as he can create a map with his illusions."

[Assistant] Grimm nodded in acknowledgment. He turned intangible and went to investigate. Liam wondered what they should do in the meantime.

[User] Kage gave Shiranui a big grin and disappeared in another direction. "We need to maintain constant vigilance just in case any grunts are nearby; at least until our spooky spies return," said Shiranui.

[Assistant] "Maybe a Pokémon could bend the light around us to make us invisible." Liam proposed.

[User] "Zoro, make us disappear!" ordered Shiranui. The Zoroark nodded and conjured an illusion that made the group invisible. "Loud noises from us will give away our positions," warned Shiranui.

[Assistant] Liam and Looker nodded to show they understood. Liam quietly sat down while he waited for the ghosts to return from the recon.

[User] After a while, Kage came back and relayed his information to Zoro. The Zoroark conjured an incomplete map illusion based on the Gengar's information.

[Assistant] Grimm returned a minute later and gave the rest of the info to Zoro.

[User] Zoro completed his map. The map showed the base consisting of two floors and three separate rooms. "This could be a little tougher than I thought," said Shiranui, "They use warp tiles to go from room to room."

[Assistant] "Fun." Liam said sarcastically. He thanked Grimm and recalled him.

[User] Shiranui thanked Kage and recalled the Gengar while getting an idea. "Liam, is Plasma able to get the warp tile routes?" he asked.

[Assistant] Liam called out Plasma. phased into a warp panel that was nearby and rewired it to take them as close to the boss as it could. It returned snickering, obviously pleased with its mischievous deed.


[System]
23 years old

personality
Aviel is, at first glance, quiet and reserved. She doesn't speak much, even when spoken to; when she does, she tends to use short sentences and gets straight to the point. She tries very hard not to show any outward emotions, and most of the time, she succeeds. She is very goal-oriented, especially when venturing to the surface, and gets visibly annoyed when others don't behave the same way.

Beneath the cold, rough exterior, however, is the same bright, free-spirited girl she has always been. She loves cooking for others, and she loves watching them enjoy what she has made for them... even if she doesn't always act like it. And despite the fact that she never seems to laugh, Aviel actually does have a sense of humour - and a dark one at that.

Sometimes she wishes she could show that softer side of herself more freely... but then again, an apocalyptic wasteland isn't exactly the place for that, is it?

biography
Aviel was the first daughter of two, born to her parents just six months before they immigrated from Israel to Brooklyn. She remembers her childhood fondly: her father and mother opened a modestly successful restaurant, where Aviel and her younger sister often helped both in the kitchen and in the dining room. Both girls attended the same private, all-girls school. The family lived a good, comfortable life.

Then came the bombs. Aviel remembers that day, much more clearly than she cares to admit: she had faked illness and skipped school. She remembers laying in bed, reading a book; suddenly hearing explosions, seeing flashes; she remembers her father, in a panic, grabbing her hair and dragging her down into the basement. Her mother sobbing on the other end of the phone because her sister was missing. Her father demanding that Aviel stay hidden before locking her in the basement with all the food and water he could find. She remembers waiting there, although for how long, she could never be sure. Running out of food first, and then water. She remembers breaking her way out of the basement with what little strength she had, because she knew none of them were coming back.

Aviel struggled to survive at first. She went from house to house, searching for families that she knew, hoping that one of them might have been better prepared. Eventually she found the adult brother of a classmate; he was the first to introduce her to the sewers, and brought her into his group, made up primarily of his own peers. Although they were reluctant to accept her at first, Aviel earned their acceptance by proving she was a capable cook. They taught her valuable skills needed in order to survive on the surface, and she kept them fed as best she could.

After nine years, and for reasons she refuses to talk about, Aviel willingly left this group and began bouncing between other pockets of survivors. She's recently stumbled upon a new group, and has decided to settle for the time being and see how things work out.

relationships
none yet

what she originally brought
- her semi-automatic pistol & ammo
- hand-drawn maps of the surface, written in Hebrew
- candles & matches

skills/abilities
cooking: thanks to her experience working in her parents' restaurant, as well as being the main chef for her previous group, Aviel is quite skilled at cooking edible meals from little resources.

firearm proficiency: one of the first skills her first group taught her was how to properly use firearms to defend herself. She prefers pistols, and most of her knowledge and skill lays there; however she can still hold her own with larger guns if need be.

physical strength: Aviel is no longer the frail child who had to struggle to free herself from the basement. While no where near the strongest person alive, she can lift and carry a considerable amount more than the average female survivor. She can also hold her own in a physical fight.

good sense of direction: Aviel has always been good at not getting lost; learning to live in the labyrinth that is the sewers has only fine-tuned that skill.

perceptive: Aviel is quick to notice when things are out of place, or if something seems to be lurking around the environment.

weaknesses
suspicious: Aviel has a hard time trusting new people. She regards them with suspicion, and often assumes anyone willing to help her has ulterior motives. Her trust must be earned, but sometimes even she isn't sure how that can be done.

cold: Aviel's lack of trust tends to translate into an apparent lack of empathy for those around her. While this isn't always the case, she sees no reason why she should try to convince her companions otherwise.

language barrier: because she spent so long speaking almost exclusively Hebrew, Aviel often struggles with speaking and understanding English.

other
Aviel can read English to a certain extent, but she cannot write it.

[User]
Sewer Rats

12th of April, 2073
1:17 pm
Underground/Sewer System
4 days of food remaining.
4 days of water remaining.

It was cold and damp. That was the first thing you'd notice: the cold. The smell? Not as bad as you might've assumed but, uh, still pretty bad. It had to have been… some kind of underground construction happening due to the large open space. Decently high ceilings (Or as high as they could be) that did little to fight against the chill. Archways leading to different sectors included, it gave off a cramped feeling and a feeling of emptiness at the same time.

It appeared that another group had previously taken refuge here considering the rather… lived in appearance it held. From the posters on some of the walls to the ratty old couch that was covered in a bunch of, arguably damped, pillows. Old boxes and crates were used as tables. (Probably junk that was thrown down here at another point. In the apocalypse, there's no time to be picky.

There were a few hanging lights but they seemed blown out. Some replacement bulbs would be needed to even consider some kind of electrical lighting. A damp beanbag chair off to the side with an odd-looking chair far off. (Another against a wall.) This was what you saw when you first walked in.

To the right, there was an open area to what looked to be some kind of rest area. There were hammocks and a few cots. They were short 2 beds. There was a small chest at the end of each 'bed', clearly the previous group had some kind of storage system for each individual.

Straight ahead, there was another open area. It must've been some kind of storage area considering all the crates (Who knew what was in there?) that were in there. But, it had appeared to be re-purposed into some kind of eating area. Some of the larger crates had been pushed together to create some kind of mockery of a dining table. Add a few pillows surrounding it and you got some place to sit-sorry, kneel, and eat. There was also charred remains a little further in leading to the idea that a fire had been made there. A few pots and pans that looked unstable laid strewn around. There was broken glass scattered around the area from what could've been broken plates. There were a few chipped and cracked ones remaining however. Add in a, what appeared to be at least, metal bench over to the side. There was also a crate that seemed half empty but with a few leftover rations and water that could last a few days.

Then, to the left when you first come in, there was not another area. Instead, it was just a curtain that'd been attached to what looked like a hand-welded pole to the wall that separate the area. You could only guess that it was to wall off an area for changing and… maybe showering? (Taking a huge leap in assuming there was some kind of showering system, at least.) You had no idea.

The entrance was just a steel door in the middle of a larger circular door. It must've been electrically operated for it to open and close at another point in time. But with no electricity? Pretty much just a 10 ft. tall circle.

And that was pretty much it.

Lavender was… skeptic, to say the least. Green eyes studied the environment with a kind of worry that came from any new area.

Are there any alternative exits and entrances that just aren't seeable?

Are there any breaches?

The smaller door, how weak and frayed is it? Could it be broken down easily?

Food… what about food? More importantly, what about water? They could go a little while without food but water? That's a whole other story in and of itself.

Stepping a little further into the space, Lavender's boots made a bit of noise considering the overall dampness of the area. She'd wandered over to the couch, eyeing the table to see what looked like… schedules? Schedules for… Rick, Annie, Mike… they must've had assigned roles and jobs amongst themselves… not a bad idea.

Her fists unconsciously tightened from their place in her pockets. The weight of her rifle felt comforting on her back, a reminder of the fact that she wasn't completely defenseless. She adjusted the weight of the first aid kit attached from her pants; it was a familiar weight she appreciated.

Taking a few steps to the right, she peered into the sleeping area. Regardless… what's first? She thought, the tall girl's eyes flickering to the rest of her… whatever it was that they were. She still hadn't decided yet.

[Assistant]
The Latino girl reached to her side and twisted shut the valve that gave her clean oxygen, before removing the head of her suit, the breathing 'octopus,' (or, at least, that was what she thought it was called, the text on the piping was a little faded and spotty- not the best to read, it had to be said, dangling out of her mouth. She picked up the pressure gauge and took a deep sigh. 25 PSI. Enough for about... Fifteen minutes topside. She would need to fill it up again, but for now she contented herself with putting her welding torch down, her shoulder aching from hauling the heavy battery. She didn't know these people, but they were her best bet at surviving.

She fumbled in her pocket and drew out a tattered box of small, white pills. Caffeine. Worked as a placebo drug too if you didn't know what they actually were. She balled up some spit and popped one of the little things, struggling to swallow. "I'll take one of the cots," she mumbled, before walking over to one of them and inspecting it closely. It looked to be an actual bunk bed, metal posts and frame. She pressed down on the mattress, and even through the thick gloves she was wearing, could feel that they were cheap, and filthy. The mattress had no cover, and the blanket was threadbare, but hey, four pillows. Probably because they were so small.

The rest of her suit came off with a little difficulty. The first thing she needed to do was to remove the overcoat and air canister 'rucksack' sown into it, which required it to be unzipped from the inside. She removed her gloves- they were hockey gloves with a butcher's chainmail hand protections burnt into the plastic for added protection, and a thin leather layer over the top of that. They were heavy to say the least, and clanked loudly when she put them down on the floor.

Then there was the zip, and she carefully took off the jacket- a thick cagoule with a modified rucksack to hold the air canister and oxygen feed, with waterproof inner layer gloves. She had picked it carefully- it was the item that she was most relying on to not get rad sickness, after all. Underneath she was wearing a ratty white t-shirt with faded blue writing and a graphic on it. If it had been intact, it would have been a biohazard symbol. Slightly ironic- it had been nukes that had bumped them off after all.

She doubled over as a coughing fit overtook her, wiping away the black that she hacked up on her trousers, before undoing the zip on them and stepping out of both her boots and her trousers in one go. They had been salvaged from an actual hazmat suit. Whilst the original wearer had taken a shotgun to the chest, she was no stranger to looting dead bodies.

Finally, she was left standing, looking like a normal human being. Her eyes had bags that you could carry shopping in, and her hands and arm were a red reminiscent of bad rash, but she was otherwise OK. She removed the scrunchie around her ponytail, tucking it into a pair of navy tracksuits and walking barefoot out onto the freezing cold concrete. She bent down and unsheathed her machete, before hanging it on the end of her bed and walking back to the unofficial leader of the group. "What now?"