bang bang [closed]

[percept]

who; Perceptor and Vandal
what; happy fun shooty times
when; shit idek WHENEVER
where; medbay → junk pile
warnings; Vandal's mouth whoops

Perceptor crept into the medbay, feeling quite out of place as he attempted to stay out of sight of any of the staff. He stepped quietly through the 'bay, casting about for anything small and human-shaped.

"Vandal?"

He keeps his voice soft. He'd said he would pick her up here, but he'd forgotten that that meant possible encounters with the medical staff. Perceptor did not particularly want to explain where he was taking the human and why.

Comments

[percept]

"Ah, hello."

There she is. Perceptor stands a little straighter, visibly relieved by her appearance.

"The junk pile, if that's alright. I've taken the liberty of setting up a few practice targets..."

He drifts off, suddenly awkward. Perhaps he has assumed too much. She might not find target shooting to be the most... enjoyable of activities.

[vandalization]

"Sounds perfect."

Yeah shooting something? Right now? After the week she's had? Sounds pretty nice. Shooting something no moving writhing thrashing trying to push it's needly appendages into your sternum not shooting that watching it explode into wet and twitch until you put your heel through it
She meanders past him toward the exit, taking the cutter out of her holo-inventory and making some idle adjustments to it.

"So you're really into the whole guns thing? Is that all you do?"

[percept]

Perceptor shrugged, rolling one shoulder stiffly.

"I specialized in sharp-shooting during the war. Worked with the Wreckers as a sniper. I was a scientist before that, and after the war... Well, there was no need left for my combat skills, and I returned to the lab."

There it is, his life in brief. Very brief.

"There isn't much for me to do here. I find target practice is... Soothing to the nerves."

Calming. Something he could do that made him feel at least a little bit in control.

"What about yourself? What are you, ah, 'into?'"

[vandalization]

"Kind of one hell of a jump to make. Scientist to sniper, huh?"

Oh- the Wreckers. First Aid had pretty much spewed enthusiasm.

"The Wreckers are famous, right? For being a bunch of righteous badasses?"

She gives a short laugh at the question.

"Mechanics. Electronics. Fancy toys like that. I really like restoring old equipment."

A pause.

"Also sometimes collect stuff from earth."

[percept]

"It was a change necessitated by the times."

Perceptor doesn't necessarily feel like sharing all of the thought processes that were behind the choice to change from scientist to combatant.

"The Wreckers are--were--soldiers sent in to situations no one else could deal with. There was a very high turnover rate in the ranks."

Perceptor looks at her, curious.

"Are you not from Earth, then?"

[vandalization]

"Still. Kind of blows."

Awful situations, huh? She's not that stupid.

"Turnover, huh?"

Right. Everyone here seems to have some level of fucked up, she's finding.

"Nope. Born on a colony ship to Borealis."

[percept]

"Being a Wrecker was one of the least safe positions one could aspire to. I'm sure Drift has some stories, if you're interested."

And his stories would be so much more interesting than Perceptor's stories, if only because it's Drift.

"Borealis? I'm not familiar with that name. Where is it?"

[vandalization]

"Drift was a Wrecker?" She sounds a little more delighted than she should.

"I knew he was secretly a badass."

As if it's a secret.

"Eh, not important. Either way, never really set foot on a planet before this one. Kind of crazy, actually."

She motions for him to follow outside.

[percept]

"He was. It's how we met."

Perceptor turns and begins following her, taking one last glance over his shoulder for any sign of Ratchet or the other medics.

"Were you stationed primarily on ships, then?"

[vandalization]

"Wow- so you guys were buddies? Are buddies?"

Off they go, out into the open air and toward the junk pile.

"Yeah, some stations, but mostly ships. Just your standard maintenance engineer. Did a little bit of everything."

[percept]

"We were-- Are. Are friends. He... Saved my life, back when we first met."

Perceptor would like to hope that their current rough patch was just that--a patch.

"An engineer," he repeats, interested, "What brought you to that line of work?"

[vandalization]

"Wow what is with all the life saving with you guys, seriously. It's so intense."

Heading towards the junk pile, she idly fidgets with the bandage on her face as she limp-hobbles over the flat ground.

"Eh. My dad was an engineer. I guess you could call me a 'daddy's girl' when I was young, but I wanted to be like him. It was always kind of a hobby. Like technology. Fixing broken things."

[percept]

"We were at war." Perceptor shrugs. "It tended to happen quite often."

As they approach the junk pile, Perceptor's gaze returns time and again to the bandage Vandal is fidgeting, taking it in along with the limp and the other signs of damage. Whatever Vandal has been through, it was rough.

"We're fortunate to have you, then. Engineers are always welcome among our species."

Since, y'know, half the time engineering goes hand in hand with medicine when you're a giant robot.

[vandalization]

"Yeah, if I can ever figure out what to do with one of you guys. Not like anything I've ever fixed before. I mean sure, there's wires, fuel lines, engines. But you know. Never had to worry about killing a tram by fixing it."

She clumsily scales the first heap of junk, clumps of useless garbage sliding under her weight as she tries (and fails) to gracefully make an ascent.

[percept]

"I'm sure you could apprentice under one of the medics here, have them teach you?"

Perceptor has significantly less trouble with scaling the junk piles. He could quickly overtake Vandal, but instead he hangs back.

"Here, let me."

He scoops her up carefully, then resumes moving.

[vandalization]

"I've spoken with Ratchet, so we're going to do th-ahh!"

After the initial flail, she relaxes in his hold. Yeah. She's never getting used to being picked up.

At least he's more gentle than Whirl.

[percept]

"It will be good to have another set of capable hands available if the population continues to increase as it has."

Perceptor cradles her carefully in his hands, mindful of just how small she is in comparison to him.

The location he's selected isn't far, just a few rises into the junk pile, and it isn't long before he's setting Vandal down in a relatively clear spot.

"I hope you don't mind the mess. It is difficult to keep any area here clean for very long."

[vandalization]

Well this certainly is a hell of a way to travel. She relaxes though, until she's set down.

"Well yeah, considering the location."

She powers up her Kinesis module and begins clearing some of the junk, tossing it aside with ease.