three, four, the corpse soldier

[breqintopieces]

who: Breq and OPEN
what: Various: Monster dive-bombing, Prijata gifts, Guardwork, and more.
when: June
where: Around the Quarantine.
warnings: M for Monster fighting, probably. Warnings will be added as necessary.



i. TDM prompt: death from above

[By all accounts, it's a normal, bustling day in the Quarantine. Nothing particularly daunting is looming, it's nowhere especially near the walls of the Quarantine, the street is full of pedestrians going about their business.

Maybe it's something about the shadows passing overhead that clues her in. Maybe she just happened to look up at the right time. Maybe the alert from the Perimeter Guard, that the migrating pterodactyl-like birds have been diving in and attempting to attack or carry off people.

Whatever the reason is, the moment one of the creatures gives out a cry and starts to dive, Breq is dashing forward.]

Get down!

[If the hapless person isn't fast enough about that, the tackle that Breq's going for might just do the trick.]

ii. Prijata gifting

[If Breq has talked to your character in any degree of depth since her arrival, there is a good chance she's coming around to see them. To a house, a job, a favored cafe, somewhere convenient and common for them to be found at. It's rude not to present a gift in person, after all.

As she approaches, she takes pains to be sure she's adopted a pleasant smile, and the box in her hands (decorated simply, tied shut with a ribbon) is held neatly in both hands. As soon as she comes into conversational range, she nods in greeting.]

Hello. [She lifts the box slightly.] Sorry to interrupt. Do you have a moment?

iii. Perimeter Guard/Surveyors general

[Now that she's recovered from the injuries that had her in the hospital, Breq has been making herself a regular sight in the Perimeter Guard barracks. She's not living there-- the trip to work may be longer this way but it gives her reasons to know the city-- but from the hours she spends here, the other Perimeter Guards might be forgiven for assuming that she might stay here after all. Whether she's writing up notes from her latest surveying trip, making her way to or from one of the missions, or simply taking the time to train her strength back up, it's easy to find Breq in the barracks.

Right now, she's sitting on a bench in the side of the training areas, her equipment laid out next to her, including a bag and water bottle. She's dressed in preparation for a match in light easy-to-move-in clothing, but although she looks up every so often toward the mats where people are pairing off, it's not the focus of her attention. Rather, her head is bent over the flove in her lap and the thread and needle she's using to deftly patch up a torn seam.]

iv. wildcard

[If there's something else you'd like to do with Breq, from Prijata or just in general, feel free to go for it! Or if you'd like to arrange for me to write up a starter, you can contact me via PM or at needslineface

Comments

i

[advanced]

[He tenses when he hears the shout and immediately dives to the ground, too well trained to ignore a warning like this. These stupid creatures are really starting to get in the way, and he's had enough of being snatched at.]

Keep back.

[He draws a gun and takes aim, eyes darting sideways at Breq.]

You hurt?

[breqintopieces]

[It's a refreshing surprise to find someone who can react in a trained fashion to a warning and to an attack. Breq only spends a tenth of a second checking on him to make sure he hasn't landed badly from that dive before she's raising herself from her own low crouch.

Just like Bucky, her hand goes into her coat for her gun as soon as she moves, but she lets it still when she sees the weapon in his hand.]

Fine. [Her attention is focused mostly up on the still-wheeling pterodactyl overhead.] What's your accuracy?

[advanced]

[It's good that she's obviously a fighter as well, he's been stuck out here with true civilians before and that never ends well. At least someone who is trained is unlikely to run in a random direction, or scream to attract the attention of more of these things.]

Good.

[No point hiding that in a situation like this.]

Go for the chest, I'll go for the head.

[breqintopieces]

Understood.

[She wouldn't usually trust a human's reflexes to the harder-to-hit target, but really-- the entire creature is that target, with the way it's flying around and coming in for dives. Besides, there's no time to argue it out, especially with that creature already wheeling around for a second diving attack. Something must have angered it, or it's a particularly determined one.

It doesn't matter. Her hand goes back to her jacket, and she pulls it out. She could load her gun in her sleep, the motions are so automatic, as she goes through the process of putting in the clip, flicking off the safety, and bringing it up, primed to fire.]

Mark.

[advanced]

[She's good.

She doesn't even need to fire yet for him to be able to tell that, it's all in the confident way that she pulls out the weapon and loads it. This is someone who's spent a lot of time around guns, someone potentially dangerous.

His gun is already loaded, and so he just brings it up when she gives the word. He is as good a shot as he said, a mix of the serum that enhances his abilities and decades of vicious training. If there's one thing he can do well, too well for his liking, it's kill things.

His bullet hits the mark, and he's pretty damn sure that hers will as well, which means this beast is done for.]

[breqintopieces]

[Her bullet hits the mark.

She's not perfect, but she's still ancillary-good, and if there's one thing she hasn't let her years of exile dull, it's her fighting abilities. There was always the chance that the creature could move unexpectedly, but it's large enough to present little challenge.

She's already lowering the gun as the creature starts to fall out of the sky. She doesn't put it away yet, and Bucky might catch a glimpse-- it's a strange gun, the surface so matte black it seems to absorb the light around it.

It's only when the pterodactyl-like thing hits the ground that she steps forward, only a brief glance in Bucky's direction checking if he's following her. She prods at the creature with a foot, heedless of the potential for gore from the bullet wounds and the sprawled landing.]

[advanced]

[He's used to seeing odd weapons after months in this place, and so the gun only earns a slightly sidelong look at first glance. He'll remember it and be wary, just in case it turns out to be more than a simple gun in a deep colour, but he won't ask to see it. That would just arouse suspicion.

He hangs back a bit, he has no interest in the creature now that it's dead, but he doesn't move to walk away either.]

You should leave it, it'll draw others down to feed on the carcass and they'll be easier to pick off.

iv.

[dancingmd]

[Now that the scare of the nanobot illness has passed, Beverly has someone (well, many someones, if it gets down to it) to thank for their help and Prijata seems like the perfect time to do it. So one afternoon, she'll show up at the lobby of the communal apartment complex with a gift basket in hand. She walks up to the front desk and sets the basket down for a moment to talk to the concierge.]

Excuse me, do you know where - oh!

[She stops for lo and behold, here comes just the person she was looking for! She smiles at Breq coming down the stairs and waves.]

[breqintopieces]

[Breq isn't on her way to anywhere in paricular as she makes her way down into the lobby, humming quietly as is her habit. The light and casual clothes suggest exercise, but she's in no rush as she descends.

Her attention is primarily elsewhere, but the sound of a familiar voice has her paying particular attention to the front desk as she comes in, only to stop as she recognizes who it is. Unlikely that Beverly is here just passing through, unless she's making a house call, but-- ah, yes. At the wave, Breq pulls a smile onto her face, and inclines her head and shoulders in a brief bow as soon as she gets within a polite distance.]

Beverly. You're looking better.

[dancingmd]

Much better!

[Beaming at Breq, she picks up her gift basket from the concierge's counter and holds it out for Breq. Seeing as she doesn't know Breq all too well, the contents of the basket are fairly generic - coffees and teas and little snacks and goodies - but all of good quality. The personal touch comes in the small bouquet of flowers in the middle, all grown on her balcony garden.]

I wanted to thank you, for taking care of me.

[breqintopieces]

[Breq takes the basket with another brief nod, and looks over the contents. The flowers in particular have her lingering, even leaning close enough to inhale their fragrance. Even living in the Quarantine, on a planet, fresh flowers are a nice indulgence.]

It was no trouble. It's left no lingering effects?

[dancingmd]

[Beverly is pleased to see Breq seems to enjoy the flowers. She wasn't entirely sure what to put in the basket in the first place, so she hopes Breq likes at least some of it!]

None! I feel as good as new!

[breqintopieces]

Good.

[Breq nods again, making sure that her expression reflects the sentiment. After another moment of examination, she lowers the basket to her side.]

I would invite you up, but communal housing isn't particularly good for sharing tea. I think there's a few shops nearby, though.

[It's only polite to offer that, after all! But the communal space doesn't even have the chipped ceramic sets that she'd used before being brought here-- it's not the kind of place where making tea is very important.]

1. winged death? really?

[tevinteraltus]

[After a few months in the Quarantine, with giant monsters and the like being a fairly common occurrence if one doesn't spend all their time idling behind the dubious safety of their walls, Dorian's reflexes haven't flagged that much. Still, Breq's shout gets his attention to her level first, and then she bodily tackles him to the ground where he nearly protests, save for the giant winged avian that swoops down from above, narrowly missing them.

It squawks and flies off and Dorian takes a breath. That was...closer than he'd like to admit.]

I should thank you, I suppose, but would you mind, awfully, getting off of me?

[breqintopieces]

[Breq can feel the whiff of air as the creatures claws narrowly avoid her skull. If her hair wasn't cropped short, it might just have taken some locks with it. As it is, she snaps her armor up immediately, a sudden glow of silver painting a shimmering layer around her frame like a second skin. She nearly doesn't pay attention to his complaint for a moment, too focused on making sure the creature is really making its way off for the moment.

When she looks away from the pterodactyl, for a moment her expression is completely and eerily blank.

But only for a second. The flatness breaks, interrupted by a quirk at the corner of Breq's mouth.]

Nothing broken?

[She gets up, a bit stiffly compared to the ease with which she tackled him in the first place (something in her bad leg didn't agree with that maneuver) and offers Dorian a hand.]

[tevinteraltus]

[He takes her offered hand, not being one to deny assistance from the one who'd bodily thrown him to the ground in the first place, but held it only long enough to right himself before taking it in order to use both to brush off the non-existent dust and to straighten his clothing.]

No. Everything is fine.

[And he doesn't sound as annoyed as he could at the maneuver, because he finds himself interested in that armor she'd summoned.]

Now that is clever. And that is work of technology, I assume? The body armor?

[breqintopieces]

[She isn't completely focused away from the sky-- there are more of those birds flocking overhead, perching occasionally on rooftops and watching the people moving around below. She follows Dorian's example, tugging at the hem of her jacket to settle it properly. One hand lingers in a pocket once she's done with it.]

Magic, actually. [So deadpan it might be mistaken for the truth, instead of a joke. Moments later, the silver surrounding her disappears completely again. She gestures to herself as though the shielding was still there.] Personal armor. A Radchaai technology.

[tevinteraltus]

If you hadn't accused it of being a flight of fancy our last meeting, I might have been persuaded to believe you.

[He nods.]

Some sort of focused energy, then. Much like magic. You see, the two aren't so dissimilar. In fact, at Graymarye, we developed something similar, a mingling of technology and magic.

[He motions off toward the next corner, and a small cafe.]

Might I buy my ardent rescuer a coffee and get us both away from the sky until the avians decide to move on? I could, of course, set them aflame but think of the mess.

[breqintopieces]

[Breq arches an eyebrow.]

With the distinction that it's activated by an implanted device, and not simply wishing it into being.

[She considers the offer for half a second. On the one hand, theoretically she has places she should be. On the other, if she doesn't rest it for a bit, the slight ache in her hip could develop into something truly bothersome before long. And in their last meeting, Dorian proved to be interesting company, if a bit full of himself.

In the end, she gestures assent.]

Without an easy target they'll move on. [Does that make Dorian an easy target?]

3

[mutant_messiah]

[Cable makes his approach clear, pausing where she could see him in front but not so directly that any sort of shadow showed up to block her sewing.]

Where'd you learn that?

[breqintopieces]

[Breq was paying attention the moment Cable started moving in her direction, but she only glances up when he stops in front of her and talks, shifting so that she doesn't have to crane her neck up at him. She leaves the needle halfway through a stitch.]

Sewing? An old job. It's a useful skill that far too few know, in my opinion.

[mutant_messiah]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Especially if they're in a group like this place's Perimeter Guard...or anything that has to do with proper assault or defense of something.]

[breqintopieces]

Hm. Next time a Guard asks me for help, I'll turn them toward you.

[She turns her attention down to add in another few stitches to her work.]

[mutant_messiah]

[Cable smirks.]

Prefer to leave that sort of thing up to others more capable than myself. Not really a nimble fingered guy. Used to pulling too many triggers in my life, I guess.

[breqintopieces]

The two are hardly mutually exclusive.

[Her hands aren't particularly delicate, and she still manages, as she demonstrates with a bit more stitching.]

The important part is the practice.