Valhalla Complex

[ArcherLangley]

Let me know what you think.

NASC Audio Log Transcription: XR74-3
Date: JANUARY 27TH, 2849
Personnel: DR KENNETH LANCASTER
Clearance: OMEGA 909-DELTA
Subject: PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF EMPIRE SOLDIERS EXHIBITING DEVIATED PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR
Security classification: OMEGA #-DELTA AND ABOVE
------

Recent psychological evaluations so generously donated by our warring benefactors (The republic, conglomerate and sovereignty) has uncovered a fascinating new evolution in human behavior.
    No technology has caused such a radical change in behavior since re-birthing technology was first made massively accessible.

Of all 76 patients I've examined 12 have exhibited deviated cognitive behavior that I and my colleges have come to call VALHALLA COMPLEX.
   Due to the nature of re-birthing, death to human beings has since become meaningless. This has lead to an increase in overall risk-taking behavior and a decrease in drive for self-preservation from military personnel.

Patients display a lack of empathy, depression and anxiety while on extended leave, aggressive tendencies and anti-social behavior.

Soldiers are found increasingly disinterested in progressing their cause, rather wishing only to battle. They are focused single-minded on war, intending to keep fighting forever or at least have no plans for when and how the war will end.
    The individuals will be crippled in civilian life and may attempt to ignite more battles in times of peace through terror tactics creating another war right after. Or quite possibly this complex will become more common until the three empires no longer fight for a cause but rather fight for the sake of fighting creating a perpetual war.

For us this means a secure military market with no indication of slowing down. The various empires have already begun assigning their own four-man suicide squads with an unprecedented number of volunteers, thinking they have soldiers loyal to their cause. Data suggests that with the percentage of volunteers matching closely to our sample group, the only thing those soldiers are loyal to is the war.

I suggest we keep information about this new psychological development to ourselves much like the ███████████████ we've kept under clearance to preserve balance in this war. Should the Neutral Applied Science Collective require ████████ in the event of a disbanding order we will not be hard-pressed to find volunteers.

[ArcherLangley]

Chapter 1:
JANURARY 13TH 2849, 1737h IST [INDAR STANDARD TIME]

The Terran Republic and the New Conglomerate made great headway in capturing Indar resulting in an encroaching upon what was Vanu territory. The stalemate reached it's peak at Allatum leaving the Vanu in greater peril with it's two enemies fighting over their Bio Lab.

Ranger Nathan T. Vargas had found himself between Ceres and Allatum surrounded by the 3 sides of this conflict after his Reaver was shot down in no-mans land. Only narrowly escaping death by slowing down at the top of a hill and ejecting at the last second at a less than safe speed, he created the illusion he was still flying the doomed aircraft. Unfortunately this meant that he was in for a less that welcomed fall down the hill.

Swearing as he went tumbling he felt he hit almost every single rock on the way down, stopping only as he came crashing to the bottom in grave-like ditch. He found it hard to move for a moment but felt nothing important or moveable was considerably damaged. His composite armor must have cushioned the fall just enough to make it only a painful ride down not a fatal one.

Lying there he remembered looking up at the same clouds the first time he died. Death's virgin he and every new recruit in basic training were called before they had their first death. It became a rite of passage, something sacred that when you first experience it, you were changed forever.

Heavy footsteps broke Nathan's train of thought, they were coming closer. He looked around with his eyes careful to keep still in case it was an enemy. Eventually a figure slowly emerged from outside his vision. A TR heavy assault soldier had come over to inspect the body. Most likely a rookie with the perplexed look in his eyes. He hadn't seen my armor before, not up close at least. The glare from Nathan's helmet irritated the soldiers eyes so he knelt down as to get a better look, putting him in range.

The assumed dead infiltrator launched up unsheathing a knife and grabbing the soldier by the arm and pulling him down. The first strike connected and Nathan rolled on top of him slashing a second time. This time it was met with an overshield and the heavy threw him off. Nathan landed on his back hurting already bruised ribs, he grit his teeth and pulled out his sidearm and fired a couple of shots depleting the shield and his ammo. The heavy switched to his rifle and aimed for center mass when a purple light struck him through the head.Before the soldier had time to fall, Nathan scurried to the nearest cover he could find. The soldier fell with an audible thump.

Nathan quickly removed one of his medical kits and injected himself, the wave of nanites spread through his system feeling like plantation growing outwards spreading it's roots to all his bruised and broken bones, mending them whole again. Taking a breather for a moment he checked his reserve ammunition for his LA80 sniper rifle. Including the one loaded, he had only 2 clips left. He checked his sidearm which wasn't doing much better. Looking down the scope he scanned the arid planes for signs of the Vanu sniper, taking cover behind a mound of rock hoping that any enemies he encounters will be on the other side.

The area was large without enough cover for someone to sneak up on him. He could feel the sun heating up his composite armor, hopefully such non-standard gear will gain a moment of hesitation from watchful snipers giving him enough time to cloak and get away.

Nathan peeked over the rock, looking in the general direction of where the shot came from. A spot appeared and he ducked just as the purple lazers came screaming past above him. "Semi-auto." He mumbled to himself, making a run for it was going to be much harder than he anticipated. He engaged his cloak, the static feeling blanketing his skin meant that it was working, he felt his senses sharpen. Taking a breath he looked over to the rock he spotted the sniper from. His sights fixed around the area a figure faded into vision. He fire, he missed. He had to move now and it seemed the other sniper felt the same way.

The next few minutes were filled with missed shots and scrambling for cover as both were to cautious for the other one to get a clean shot. As the fight dragged on Nathan could tell the other sniper was nearly out of ammo from how the shots became less frequent and more focused. He had already expended his last round in his rifle and was down to his sidearm. As he moved towards cover he caught a glimpse of the other sniper unholstering their sidearm.
    Out of shots too? he thought as he ducked.

The next scramble will be for the larger rock formation, at which point it's all up to who uses the terrain more creatively. Nathan haphazardly drew up a game-plan in his head intent on getting there first. They both fired off a couple of rounds in each others directions hoping to make the other flinch or keep them away from the rocks. But it only made them run even faster. He arrived and so did his enemy on the opposite side. He reloaded quickly and began to fire another clip as he rounded the corner and so did his counter part.

In the midst of gunfire he could see that his opponent was a woman. She fired her gun at him and he ran towards her dashing left and right firing his own gun. She stayed light on her feet already prepared to move in case he retaliated. She had gotten off a few shots on him depleting his shields and he had only taken down part of hers. As he closed the gap the Vanu infiltrator reached for her knife, but instead of going for his, Nathan ran passed her and locked his hands around her waist. Swinging himself backwards, he flung her into a suplex.

The Vanu infiltrator came crashing down with a bounce and flipped on her face. Both infiltrators were disoriented for a moment before scrambling for their guns. They both aimed simultaneously squeezing their triggers aggressively.
    ... Click click click click... Their guns were empty.
They stood in near shock looking at each other. Neither of them attempted to reload. The silence dragged on for a moment, then Nathan realized.

He began to laugh, slowly at first but then turned into fit of laughter as he fought to stay on his feet.
    "What are you laughing at?" The Vanu infiltrator demanded.
    "You ran out of ammo too didn't you?" Nathan replied trying to catch his breath along the way, he put up his hands and shrugged his shoulders "Me too! Talk about anti-climactic."

The Vanu infiltrator stood there silent for a moment then all that could be heard was a chortle and she began to quietly laugh too. They both stood there laughing, a moment of peace between two warring sides. A thunderous crack could be heard and the Vanu infiltrator fell clutching her side. Nathan could see a flash of red from the bullet, which means only one thing, Terran.

He ran towards her then to cover dragging her along, shots flying by his head, embedding themselves in the rock.
    "Why didn't you leave me?" she grunted.

    "I thought we were friends sharing a laugh." he joked

She strained a laughed "We're not friends. We were never friends. What's to stop me from stabbing you right now?"

    "Number one, you dropped your knife when I flung you like a rag-doll. Number two, neither of us is getting out of here with no bullets unless we work together. "

    "... Fair point."

    "Now I'm guessing that you don't enjoy dying anymore than I do. So I suggest we help each other take out that sniper then go our separate ways, restock on some bullets and try this 'killing each other thing' again some other time" he pulled out another medical kit "Sound good?"

    "Sounds better than my plan." She replied.

    "And that was?"

    "Die."

He injected her with the nanites and as they worked he could see her movements being more relaxed.

    "So what's the plan?" she asked in a flat professional tone.

    "I'll take the long way around going from cover to cover drawing his fire. Meanwhile you grab your knife and quietly make your way behind him, we attack him at the same time, then we head our separate ways. Oh and don't get hit, that was my last medical kit."

She nodded her head and turned to where she last remembered holding her knife. Meanwhile Nathan mustered his courage and bolted for the nearest cover cloaking himself after giving the sniper enough time to see him. Every couple of seconds he would deactivate the cloak to show the sniper he was still there before he made it to cover. He waited a moment for it to recharge before he went to the next one.

Activating his cloak again he looked over the small rock to see a distortion moving towards the sniper and the gunman fixated on his cover, already figuring out that Nathan was out of ammo. Nathan bolted once more waiting until he was a few steps away to uncloak for a second. He ran to the closest tree just as a bullet hit his leg. The shield absorbed almost all the damage but meant he had to stay put for a moment. He took this time to cloak again and peek around the corner. She was almost there.

Allowing his shields to restore and taking one last breath. He rushed the sniper rapidly cloaking and uncloaking, rushing from side to side as if he were teleporting in a random pattern. Nathan sustained two injuries but the Vanu infiltrator got within range and lunged at him, the Terran sniper spun around deflecting the first strike with his rifle but open himself to an attack from Nathan who plunged his dagger into him leaving the Vanu to deal the final blow.

The sniper cursed them before he fell vowing to hunt them down.

The body dropped and they stood there once again in silence.

    "You've taken some hits." The woman remarked "I could probably take you down without a fight."

Nathan grinned and injected himself with a medkit "Take your best shot." he said with a smirk that not even his helmet could hide.

    "I thought you said your were out?"

    "I lied."

She began to slowly walk away "Well I can already tell you're more trouble than you're worth. So I guess we can call it a day and I'll have the pleasure of killing you some other time."

    "Assuming you can aim straight next time."

    "You're going to pay for that, next time." she reiterated

    "The name's Vargas, Nathan Vargas." he said before she could leave.

She stopped for a moment "Elanora, Elanora Evelyne-" she called back then cloaked herself "- And stop staring at my ass."

    "If there's one thing I like about Vanu uniform." Nathan muttered to himself.

((AND NEXT CHAPTER WE'LL GO INTO ALEXANDER THORNS STORY (the unfortunate sniper) SO STAY TUNED. MUCH LATER WE'LL GO INTO THE SUSPECTED MOTIVES OF THE ANCIENT RACE CALLED THE VANU.))

[[Oh and be sure to comment with any ideas you might like about this or would like to see explored. Should I continue?]]

[ArcherLangley]

Chapter 2


TERRAIN REPUBLIC HIGH COMMAND JANUARY 14TH 2849 1500h

    "Excuse me, could you repeat that?" said Commissar Pedalski stiffening his posture in his chair, his hands no longer sorting through the mound of paperwork piled on his desk.
    "I witnessed a Vanu and New Conglomerate soldier joining forces... I more than witnessed it." The sharp uniformed man said gravely "I do not believe that this is out of some treaty but rather a unique occurence. I thought I should report it anyway."
    "Yes, well, I'm sure there is nothing to worry about now. But it is good of you to report this. I am afraid we may not have seen the last of these occurences. You be careful out there Alexander, the more deaths a man goes through the more he will lose himself in war until he may never return." Commissar Pedalski replied as he laid down his paperwork to readjust his thin framed glasses.
    "I appreciate the concern sir." Alexander replied "But it will not happen again."

Commissar Pedalski always felt like a father to Alexander. He had never known who his real parents were. People had told him they were traitors who abandoned him while trying to escape Terran personell for aiding the rebels efforts and that they now reside amongst the New Conglomerate. He had looked at the surveillance footage of the event years later and sure enough they had just left him with some strangers and ran.

For a long time he felt unwanted and resented the world. He was placed in foster care, bouncing from home to home at an early age. The only thing he looked forward to was joining the Terran military where loyalty and unity meant that he would be a part of something, not pawned off to the next person. When he was twelve he walked into a Terran recruitment office and asked to be signed up of his own accord. Commissar Pedalski had just left active duty and was inspecting the civilian recruitment/drafting office, when he saw this child walk up with such purpose, asking to become a soldier.

The recruitment officers dismissed him and told him to come back in five or six years. But before he could leave, Pedalski asked him to write his name and address down and he will let him know the second he is able to join. The very next day he awoke to a loud rapping at the door. His guardian at the time Lina was a nice lady, she pleaded for Alexander not to be taken, that he was too young.
    Commissar Pedalski replied "That is not our choice to make-" He glanced over at Alexander "-it's his."

All eyes were on the little boy. Pedalski walked up to him "You came by the recruitment office the other day and I told you I'd let you know the soonest you'd be able to join. So tell me, are you still as determined today as you were yesterday?"

Alexander stared at the tall, strong, proud, battle-hardened man. He straightened his posture and gave a salute "Sir, yes sir." he said with conviction. He remembered how the Commissar smiled that day, warmly and full of hope.

    "First Leutenant!" the Commissar called out, breaking Alexanders train of thought.
    "Excuse me?" He replied.
    "You seemed to be miles away."
    "I'm fine sir." Alexander assured, more like years away.
    "See to it that you get some rest. You're an important asset in this war." the Commissar urged.
    "I'll see to it." he repeated then saluted and walked out the door.

Taking a breath as the door closed he began to make his way to his living quarters. He stopped when he saw there was a someone leaning against the wall apparently waiting for him, someone familiar.
    "Meela?" he asked.
    "Long time." she replied.
    "You could say that."
She walked up to him running her hand over the sharp folds of his shirt. "I can see you haven't changed. Still as perfectly groomed as ever, always the most serious of all of us."
    "I remember you calling me crabby and uptight."
She laughed nostalgically "We were just kids then. But, I can see you're not so crabby any more, still uptight as ever though."

When Pedalski first accepted Alexander as a volunteer he neglected to say that he wouldn't be joining the actual military. Instead he was to be sent to a new program overseen by Pedalski himself training orphaned children who displayed an aspiration to join the military.

The program was having difficulties getting started until Pedalski met Alexander and obtained a sanction to go ahead with the program. The first few weeks of the program was filled with standard military basic training to weed out those who did not possess the drive to commit to their decision. Meela and Alexander were of those who passed, a sum total of 8 children in their district.

From then on they were less like a military unit and more like a family. He had brothers, sisters and the Commissar was like a father to all of them. Guiding them along the path, educating them, listening to their troubles and sharing his wisdom when they had questions. He talked with Alexander when he started having questions about women. The Commissar had raised them like they were one of his own.

When they first met, Meela and Alexander were the same age from very similar circumstances, they agreed on many things. But as they got older she began to tease him, calling him an old fart, crabby, uptight and bland. The Commissar would often diffuse the situation by asking "Then what does that make me?" getting a few giggles and making Meela embarrassed and apologetic.

They did still see eye to eye on some things, like wanting to see their real parents so they could give them what they deserve. Eventually as time went on the teasing stopped and became more of a friendly competition between the two as their first deployment drew ever closer. When the day finally came they wished each other luck and hadn't seen each other since.

    "Hey Alex!" Meela clicked her fingers in front of his face making him flinch back to reality. "Wow you were really spaced out for a second. Are you ok?"

    "Uh, yeah, just nostalgia is all. I've been seeing a lot of people I haven't talked to in a long time."

    "I get that." She replied motioning Alex to walk with her "Remember when Dustin got his finger jammed in his rifle when we were first learning to assemble our rifles?"

Alex laughed "Yeah, he started crying and the Commissar told him that it doesn't hurt any less on the battlefield before helping him out if it. His hand was blue for a week!"

Meela stared at him smiling "You really haven't changed."
    "What do you mean?"
    "I mean all of us started calling the Commissar Dad or Pop after a while, but you. You always called him by his rank when he wasn't around, or 'Sir' when talking to him. I thought it was because you were an uptight little weirdo, but realise now it's just how you show respect."
    "Wow thanks. I feel so much better." he said sarcastically.
    "I don't mean it in a bad way, it's just that I feel like I'm finally starting to understand who you really were then. Makes me wish I could take some of it back." She looked down in contemplation "I know, how about we go grab a coffee and catch up some more. I'll buy."
    "I don't know. The Commissar told me to get some rest."
    "And what better way than to have a relaxing coffee with an old friend?"
    "I don't know, you have a habit of turning anything into a competition."
Meela laughed to herself "You may not have changed much since the last time we met but I sure have, c'mon it'll be fun."
    "I guess I could go for a coffee."
    Meela threw her fist in the air excitedly before telling Alexander how much catching up they needed to do.


They made there way to a local cafe where they decided to stay and chat.
"So how's military life treating you?" Meela said as the coffee was set down in front of them.
"Where can I start? I was recently made first lieutenant, I had some substantial tactical accomplishments recently, most notable was the capture of the Crown last month-"
    "Wow what a great resume." Meela interrupted sarcastically "I don't mean work. I mean, do you have any friends? Or you social life in general. I know you don't spend much time on leave, so you must have people you know well."
    "You've looked into me?"
    "It's nice sometimes to see some old faces."
Alexander couldn't agree more. "Now out with it." she demanded.

He leaned over the desk as if telling a secret but not wanting to be conspicuous "Well, you see, I don't have any friends." He felt compelled to tell the truth "I have command of a squad and they don't like me very much. The new recruits think I'm too tough on them, maybe I am. The veterans don't like me because I'm much younger than them, they think I'm just some brat pretending to be a leader. Not to mention that I don't tolerate undisciplined behaviour, makes me not very popular amongst my peers. I've heard some of the things they say when they talk about me, they don't know only because it let's me find the truth easier. I go fight on my own whenever I can and the last time I did, I had two cloakers from the NC and the Vanu in my sights just in the middle of a fight of their own, expended of all ammo. I got cocky thinking that I had them, but they ended up teaming up to distract me taking me out. I didn't even kill one of them, two infiltrators armed with only knives and I let them get close enough to stab me in the chest. The funny thing is, the second I saw those two and started to feel confident, I remembered one of the vets saying that I was an arrogant little prick who just got lucky and I guess I proved him right... Problem is, my luck's run out.”

Meela sat still for a second, taking what she heard in “Don't say that.” she leaned forward as well so that their faces were close “You are the most competent person I know, you could outshoot a veteran by the time you've experienced your first battle. You're abrasive and uptight but you've never let down anyone who was counting on you. But more than anything, you care and you need to make them see that. Because if you treat them like we were all those years ago, they will respect you.”

Alex felt something click “Meela, you're a genius.” he said hugging her.
    “Oh! Uh hugs...” she stammered.
He released her and sat back “Sorry, I don't usually hug people.” Alex said with a relaxed sigh.
    “Oh it's no worry.” she said starting to look distracted “Everyone needs someone to hold them sometimes.”
    “I just wanted to say thank you for being there. I'm glad I came for a coffee with you.” he smiled
    “Likewise.” she smiled

They prattled on through the night about their lives and things they remembered when they were teenagers. About music and culture, philosophy and science. They talked for as long as they had hours left in the day and when they had finished talking they shared an embrace goodbye. When Alexander got home he felt better than he had in years.

[[AWWW YEAH NEXT CHAPTER. HOPE YOU DON'T MIND, I KEEP TEXT IN CAPS TO DIFFERENTIATE IT FROM THE WRITING. I HOPE TO CONTINUE THIS STORY AND WILL TRY TO UPDATE OFTEN. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.]]

[Sonny]

Hey ArcherLangley,
Great stuff! I like the light, slightly humorous tone mixed in with the battles, a nice alternative to the standard grim war stories that normally populates the fan fiction forums . I like how you're building up characters for the long haul too - feels like it could become an epic tale!

PSU is normally pretty quiet in terms of feedback for stories - maybe you should try posting it at the Planetside Lore reddit or try your luck at the main Planetside reddit too.

P.S. If you have any lore-related writing you should consider entering it in the Auraxis Literary Awards - still six days to enter (before end April). Link in my signature .

Keep up the good writing,

Sonny

[ArcherLangley]

[[SHORT CHAPTER] Thanks Sonny for the message. I sent one in. I like you enthusiasm for the lore of Planetside 2.]

CHAPTER 3


ESAMIR EDGE OF VANU TERRITORY FEBRUARY 4TH 2849

“Nathan Vargas” the name echoed through her head. Elanora scanned the desolate wastelands of Esamir. High atop her mountain perch she could see anything coming in for kilometres. For the past week she had dispatched countless NC infiltrators hoping to find him and settle the score. She had a feeling he was going to show eventually.

    “Any activity down there?” a female called out breaking her train of thought.
    “Nothing to report Aaliyah.” she replied.

Aaliyah came beside Elanora and sat down in the snow. “So what's up?” she asked.
    “What do you mean?” Elanora replied not looking up from her scope.
    “What I mean is that you've been pushing yourself a little too hard recently. You've taken out more soldiers this past week than some have this whole month.”
    “Sounds like they need to go back to basic training.”
    “But-”Aaliyah said incessantly “you're never satisfied afterwards, like you missed something.”

Aaliyah was one of the best heavy assault soldiers in the army. She had once held a capture point against 12 enemy soldiers long enough for reinforcements to arrive during a critical operation and earned a promotion to Ascendant. But more importantly she was Elanora's best friend, a person she trusted above all others.

Elanora sighed and lowered her rifle “You really want to know?” she said.
    “Yes.” Aaliyah replied frankly.
    “This doesn't leave the mountain.” she said sternly.
    “No one will know.”

Drawing a breath before she began “So there's this guy.” she started “An enemy soldier.” Aaliyah looked at her gravely “We got into a fire-fight last week and we both ran out of ammo by the end of it. He still had a knife and I was completely unarmed, yet he began laughing, not because he had the upper hand, he just thought it was funny. He didn't even consider finishing the battle, to him it was already over, that we could just go our separate ways. I even began to laugh at his own naivety.”

She took a deep sigh looking back “And then I got shot by a Terran sniper. But instead of running directly for cover he comes and pulls me along with him, he saved me. I asked him why he did and he made some crack about us being friends, I told him that wasn't the case. The sniper still had us pinned and he then came up with a plan in which both of us could get out of there.”

Elanora laid down her weapon and began sitting “Giving me one of his medical kits telling me it was his last, he decided to act as a decoy and draw fire while I made my way behind the sniper to attack him. He put himself in harms way and trusted me to carry out my end of the deal.”

    “And did you?” Aaliyah asked.

She nodded “How could I not? He didn't capitalise on an advantage he had, he pulled me away from enemy fire, healed me and then put his life in my hands. My honour wouldn't allow it. We ended up taking out the sniper, he had taken a few hits and when I mused about his chances against me if I was to attack he pulled out another medical kit I didn't know about. We then went our separate ways promising to kill the other the next chance we had.”

Elanora lifted up her rifle again “When I came back, I waited for an hour but he never came. I went to every battle worth fighting in against he NC but he wasn't there.” She gripped the rifle tighter “It's more than just killing him. He acted like this war didn't matter, he trivialised the battle we have against the NC and me with it.”

Aaliyah could tell she was getting tense ”In the end he put himself in danger even though he believed that I would betray him the second I had the chance. He thought nothing of Vanu honour believing himself a better person than me and he went out of his way to prove it. But what gets me the most is that he didn't take anything seriously, as if everything we were doing was pointless. Looking back I don't know if we reached a stalemate because we were evenly matched or if he didn't take me seriously enough to try.”

Aaliyah's stern look relaxed as she remained silent taking it all in “So you're looking for him to prove your better.”
    “That's all I want.”
Aaliyah signed and stretched her legs “ I have to say, I was a little worried for a second there. But if you ever need back up with keeping things fair between you two you give me a call ok?”
    “I will.”
    “So what's his name?”
She paused for a second “I don't know.”

[ArcherLangley]

CHAPTER 4:

INDAR NC WARPGATE FEBRURAY 4TH 0900h

    “I'm telling you, if Batman was in our universe and alive today he'd destroy Superman.” Nathan argued with the passenger in his harasser. “But Superman could use Auraxium to construct a lead nanoweave suit then Batman is done for.” Gary replied.
    “Pft, what is he going to do? Cover his eyes?”
    “He can just used x-ray vision.”
    “It doesn't work on lead and you know it.”
    “He's got super-hearing dummy.”
    “Everyone knows Batman has sonic weapons that he uses on meta-humans with super-hearing. Not to mention the second that armour gets ripped it's all kryptonite poisoning from there AND he'd probably be able to make so many kryptonite weapons with auraxium and carry them no problem.”
    “Batman's nothing without his utility-belt.”
    “Superman is nothing without his powers, but without his utility-belt Batman's a god damn ninja.”

    “What are you idiots doing?” a woman could be heard approaching.
    “Discussing classical literature.” Gary explained sheepishly.
    “What he said.” Nathan added.
    “Well discuss while you hit the road. The suits aren't paying you to slack off while we got a war to win.”
    “Ugh, fine.” Nathan groaned jokingly.
    “Oh and Gina, Gary was wondering if you'd go on a date with him sometime this week.” Nathan said, Gary's jaw dropped to the floor.
    “Depends on how he does today I might consider it.” Gine replied sounding sarcastic.
    “Sweet, well then I'll be sure to delivery your prince charming safe and sound this evening.” Nathan called out as he sped away.

The second they left the warpgate barrier Gary snapped out of his trance.
    “DUDE! Not cool!” he complained.
    “What? You've had the hots for her ever since you first ran with her on that scouting mission five months ago. Plus she said yes.”
    “She was being sarcastic.”
    “Eh, I was detecting a bit of sincerity in that tone. She's totally up for it but she's gotta protect her reputation as a hard-ass you know?”
    “She is so not a hard-ass.” Gary protested.
    “Of course she is! What's the first thing you remember her saying to you on that scouting mission?”
    “That if I didn't speed up she'd kick me down the mountain just to watch me crawl my way up again.”
    “As I recall it was 'McLaughlin if you don't hurry the f*** up I'll kick you down the steep side, so I can have the satisfaction of watching your bruised ass try and crawl back up again'. Face it dude, you have a thing for sadists.”
    “I do not!”
    “Hey I never said there's anything wrong with that. People are into all sorts of things, we shouldn't judge.”
    “Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!” Gary yelled covering his ears.

Nathan laughed as they drove on. He kept trying to bring the topic up but Gary would hear none of it. They eventually passed by a broken down Vanguard that the driver just got out of the battlefield in the nick of time. They pulled up right next to it.

    “Welcome to Nathan and Gary's roadside assistance how may we help you today sir.” Nathan chimed.
The soldier stood confused for a second.
    “Ah I see you problem sir. Do not worry we will have your mobile cannon repaired and spotless within the minute sir.” he clicked his fingers.
As he did so, Gary popped out of the car saying “Pip pip, cheerio.” and began to repair the vehicle. Once he was done he hopped right in and they both left leaving a stunned soldier in their wake.

The rest of the day was filled with spot repairs to vehicles and figuring out who they were going to pretend to be. They pretended to be the Boston mafia, medieval knights, robots and pirates. By the end of the day they had helped the entire convoy capture three bases and a bio lab. As they started driving back normal conversation began again.

    “Dude, Gina is so going to go out with you when we get back.” Nathan said causing Gary to groan at the impending conversation. “What? She's totally into you too.”
    “Really because I feel like she hates me more than anyone else.”
    “That's what I'm saying.”
    “You're saying because she hates me she loves me? Are you high?”
    “Not any more I'm not.”
    “You were high this whole time!” Gary yelled.
    “I'm just kidding... Mostly.” Nathan laughed “But seriously dude. She's singling you out and obviously has intense emotions for you. Love and hate is a two sided coin my friend.”

Gary lied back in his seat and sighed “Maybe you're right. At least I hope you are. But enough about my love life, what about yours?”
Nathan laughed “I love life, what can I say. We were made for each other.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “Ah, you know man. Someone will come along eventually.”
    “Got anyone in mind?”
    “Nope.” he grinned “I'm just a lone wolf.”
    “More like a lonely wolf.”
    “You do realise your opinion is not an objective fact. Besides if I'm a lonely wolf I guess that makes you a lonely pup.”
    “Oh shut up.”
    “Not today.”

They arrived back at the warp-gate, Gina was getting quick debriefings on today’s missions. Nathan turned to Gary “Wingman time.” he remarked and stepped out with Gary trying to pull him back in.

    “Hey Gina! Gary here supported a convoy taking out 3 bases and a Bio lab. They couldn't have done it without him. Shall he be deemed worthy of taking the fair maiden to the even ball.” he said with a bow as Gary stepped out mortified.
Gina stopped what she was doing and looked Gary over. “No he's not.” she said flatly and Gary seemed to deflate at those words “But maybe I can make an exception, consider yourself lucky. And McLaughlin.”
He shot back up like a rabbit hearing gunshots.
“Don't bring the interoperator.”
“Y-yes ma-am!” he squeaked
“So he can talk?” she muttered loudly for him to hear and promptly left.

Gary beamed and looked over at Nathan who was giving him a thumbs up. “I told you.” he said. Gary simply nodded his head which he already knew was him saying thanks but didn't have the words at the moment.

They said their goodbyes for today and left for their various evening plans. Gary for his date and Nathan to the bar.

While Gary was on his date Nathan was getting wasted in one of the more popular bars on the east end of the NC controlled city of Poseidon that floated over the waters within the restricted area. Each empire had at least one city in the ocean with enough tech to keep themselves hidden and surveillance the surrounding waters and air.

Nathan always liked the east-side because it always experienced the most tidal activity making the area feel more alive, that and while it wasn't much it made his favourite game 'try to stand up after 13 beers' a little more challenging and fun. He was nearly through his 7th beers of the night and 4th order of wings when he began singing.

“And I am all alone. There is no one here beside me. And my problems have all gone. There is no one to deride me." He stiffled a burp "But you got to have friends. The feeling's oh so strong. You got to have friends to make that day last long."

Some interested bar patrons came in closer thinking he was improvising, they were obviously not fans of classical music. "I had some friends but they're gone, somethin' came and took them away. And from the dusk 'til the dawn here is where I'll stay. NEXT ROUND'S ON ME!" he yelled out to everyone in the bar who cheered excietedly.

A bartender came over and asked him what the occasion was. She had red hair and wore a mixture of blacks and greys with an apron coving most of it as she moved he could head the change jangling in her aprons pouch. "My friend is going on a date with a very bossy woman he's been into for about oh I don't know five months I suppose." he said fluidly entering the stage where his speech would soon slur "So I'm celebrating for the guy and well I've got nothing better to do anyways, been working nonstop for a month now and quite frankly I think I need a little me time."

She smirked, grabbed a shaker and started to expertly pour various unlabeled bottles of liquid into it, shook it up and served it to him in an hour shaped glass. "On the house." she said.
    "Thank you kindly." Nathan replied and took a sip. It was a refreshingly spicy kind of drink with a hint of mint, the spice made him sober up a little while the alcohol served to make him more drunk. The spice didn't bother him at all at this stage, his tastebuds weren't exactly working properly.

After serving a few more customers the bartender came back.
    "So what's your name?" Nathan asked.
    "Silvia." she replied with a smile.
    "It's nice to meet you Silvia."