O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done [openish]

[h2no]

WHO: all of aegis… except jacob :’( (and visitors)
WHERE: helix, maurtia falls
WHEN: the week or so after jacob’s death
WHAT: aegis mingle log: after losing their leader, the team has to regroup with bonus mission
WARNINGS: talk of character death, atropos stuff, everyone is very sad



enter the a-team

Neither of them has said it out loud, but they’re likely thinking the same thing since the moment both of them walked in through the door to plan this “meeting.” It’s not right. Not without Jacob. Not when he doesn’t show because he’s fallen in the line of duty. A rough couple of days for sure… it took them hours to try and collaborate this speech they needed to give on a professional and emotional level, eventually settling on something that’s half meticulously planned, half just winging it. They both had to accept and agree on the reality that they just wouldn’t have one ready in the time they needed. Not one that could properly encapsulate everything.

At the end of the day, there’s not really much to say, is there? The conference room isn’t set out any differently from the way it’s been during any other meetings. Should it be different? There’s a jug of water with some ice and some glasses, but that’s all. With the assumption this will either go on for a very long time or will only take a scant few minutes; it doesn’t seem possible for it to be in between.

Staying in his position against the wall with a stony expression, Archie crosses his arm over his casted one when the time comes to speak, “This last week has been an absolute shitstorm, but it goes without sayin’ we have to carry on with our duties as normal. I know it’ll be hard without Jacob, but whether he comes back or not, his continued presence was never guaranteed-- this team is fully capable of functioning without him and right now we have no choice.”

He glances at Ashley, who’s attempted to take Jacob’s usual position at the table but stopped just to the right of it.

“We wanted to tell you before it hits the media: Jacob’s succession plans left me and Archie in charge,” she says, her tone harder and more authoritative than most of the team has probably heard it before. “So everything you’d usually go to him with - anything from those dreams that’s still here or still affecting people, new cases, progress on our existing cases like OTO and Jeopardy, any new ideas for dealing with Atropos - come to us. Or if you need some time off or any other accommodations before you can get back to, well, our new normal.”

Speaking up again, Archie glances at the stuff he’d written on his hand to try and remember to mention. His tone easily slips back into a commanding one to match Ashley’s; “The base suffered a fair amount of damage, so while we won’t ask anyone to pick up more than they can handle, some shuffling of duties might be necessary. Darin and 622, you’re on damage inspection to see what needs to be repaired and, if necessary, improved. Cayde-- you, Finn and Allura are on checkin’ out the base electrical systems and making sure the programming is still in working order. A few of our native members were harmed during the attack, so Al and Max, you two go check on ‘em. Report abso-fuckin’-lutly everything to us. Everyone else, do what you do.”

Ashley’s eyes soften as she looks around at the team - her and Archie’s team now, in a way they hadn’t been before, as weird as it is. “It might take us a little while to settle into our new positions and no doubt we’ll probably do things a little differently from Jacob, but I promise you we’re going to do our best for the team. And we want your best too.”

And with that, the floor is open.

training simulation: shake’n’bake

Wanting to continue on normally in Jacob’s absence, Ashley and Archie put together a simulated training mission, as they do every month or so. This one is a little different from the others-- it’s not as action-packed but rather the focus is on identifying threats and working on neutralizing them in a cramped environment without damaging it too much. Points are deducted for literally anything that’s damaged during the simulation, from knocking over a glass to cracking a wall. Be careful! Nobody likes property damage. All of these simulations are open for editing as each group sees fit to match their specific desires. It’s their training, after all.

This particular simulation comes with some difficulty settings for groups to take on as they please. Easy is an abandoned block of flats. While the property damage rule still counts here, the set up is you need to chase a couple of villains throughout the building. Certainly, the lack of furniture or doors on any of the apartments means that there’s significantly less to dodge and weave around and not really anything for the pursued to throw down in the way of distraction. The scenario ends when you catch the villain or they escape out the back. There’s even programmed in a little surprise easter egg in the basement for the hell of it.

Medium finds the simulation in a semi-crowded restaurant. The possibilities here are endless-- there are waiters bustling around, food being cooked in the open kitchen with a very loud, very angry chef at the helm. This time, the target is a metahuman with control over fire. All those open flames are… not a good time going to make. She’s one of the cooks and might be easy to single out when she performs a few tricks that shouldn’t actually be possible with the flames and pans. This simulation can go one of two ways; the angry chef could upset her in to losing control of her powers, or she could simply fly too close to the metaphorical sun and cause havok with her own hubris. Maybe this one is inspiring a little too much paranoia, maybe it’s just trying to be realistic. Even the programmer doesn’t know!

Finally, hard is absolutely ridiculous based on both difficulty and requirements to pass. It’s during a crowded glass art exhibition because apparently, Archie thinks he’s funny. You can barely turn around without walking into someone who will stumble backward into a priceless display! At first, it’s not immediately clear what the deal with this one is, other than the crowded layout in a big open plan museum with multiple levels. Sculptures litter the floor and paintings are across the walls-- everything’s so very white and pristine, like one of those newfangled modern buildings in Heropa. Maybe they just want to see you bumble around because of a latent sadistic streak! That’s not the case, though, fortunately. Keep exploring and you’ll eventually discover a shapeshifter who seems to be having trouble keeping their form. Try to calm them down and/or remove them or they’ll end up changing into a bull and… yeah. Unfortunately, the decor of the museum will work against you-- with the glass sculptures having very little colour it might be all too easy to get lost in the ridiculous floor plan. Too bad the shapeshifter is extremely anti-imPort, on top of it all. Good luck! At least none of the art is real.

mission: some say the world will end in...

Maurtia Falls stops for no man’s death. Property valuators and insurance agents initially figured a recent uptick in fires on properties they’ve previously worked with was down to the latest imPort-related weirdness, which, given what happened to the home of three Aegis agents, wasn’t an unfair assumption. Yet even after the pegasi and petals and Pokémon have blinked out of the world, property fires have continued and even increased. Though they now suspect arson, arson investigators and even the police are having more trouble than usual finding evidence for this.

Which is how Aegis Force got a call, albeit more of a “we suspect metahuman involvement, can you look into it” than their usual clear-cut orders or requests. Investigators will be allowed access to the burnt properties, but may have more luck investigating the properties’ owners and soon-to-be buyers who are suddenly facing much lower pricetags. None of them will admit to fraud, of course, but careful questioning and their records will lead to recent contact with the agents of Ignis Force, a new real estate company with suspiciously little public information except some glowing testimonials about their agents getting them properties at the right prices.

Informants in the Falls’ shadier bars will reveal that Ignis Force is in fact a team of three native firebreathers who have recently begun hiring out their services for property valuation and insurance fraud. Ignis Force can eventually be tracked down to an abandoned house within earshot of the canal, and they won’t go down without a fight and a gloating comment about their team’s name.

base mingling/wildcard
Life goes on around the base as repairs get underway, but the vibe’s different in the team’s shock - agents are encouraged to look after each other and help their teammates through their grief. Information for places like the Maurtia Falls Psychiatric Hospital, the Primal Scream Therapy Center, Hounds for Hurting Hearts, TouchOff Meditation and Yoga Center, NeoJedha's spiritual guidance, and youth counselors the younger members of the team are eligible for are conspicuously posted in common areas like the kitchenette, rec room, and armory. Speaking of a hound with a hurting heart, Matches, Jacob’s Dalmatian and the Aegis Force mascot, misses her human as much as the team does and could use some cuddles too. Should anyone need them, the Danger Room has some new sims available that are more soothing than the usual training scenarios, including a pleasant campfire, a calm beach with nothing happening, and the base of a waterfall. There are also get well cards circulating for their injured staff, as well as collection envelopes so the team can get them get well gifts.

Make your own prompts as you wish!

Comments

toots

[h2no]

post speech

[after all has (literally) been said and (figuratively) done, archie doesn't stick around long. he would've liked to, but he figures it's better to activate leader mode sooner rather than later. he lightly comments that should anyone feel they need to talk about anything, he'll be around. or more specifically, either in his office or jacob's, as he and ashley move things around and get sorted for the next however long they'll need to deal with this stuff.

anyone who encounters him might be surprised to learn that the piles of papers and books in his working space isn't actually anything new, though there's certainly been a good chunk added to it all. one of those piles is almost the size of a small child! it's too bad he can't take part in the simulation just yet; with his broken arm and power fatigue, most he can do for now is the admin stuff. the boring, boring admin stuff.

he looks up from the computer when he hears someone enter, expression and tone carefully controlled.]

Yo. What's up?

later in the week

[he has no idea how jacob does this on his own. sure, this is directly after a crisis, but between himself and ashley it feels like they've barely managed to do anything other than scrape the surface of what needs to be one. repairs to the base are underway, slowly, the native employees are recovering, slowly. the big problem is... the PR. shieldbreakers and a couple other import critical news sources (and ones just wanting to get in on the action, he suspects) have been pretty nonstop about it all. his inbox hasn't been less than a couple hundred at a time and frankly, his patience is running out.

you might catch him on the phone while he carries a couple of cans of paint to the appropriate location in the building. probably one of the front walls.] What?! No! No, I'm not saying it out loud so you can edit it. I'm not even the one you should be callin' about this! How did you get this number?!

[he swears and calmly hangs up. then swipes the phone into the wall hard enough it breaks.]

No goddamn respect for the dead, these people should be arrested for... I dunno, rampant assholery. [huff puff.] Hey!

[he shouts over his shoulder, not even sure if anyone can hear him.]

Do we need more food? ...I need a new phone.

wildcard

[u know what to do! archie will be living in the base with most of the rest of the team thanks to the massive workload he has now. he'll sit out the simulated mission to work on taking notes for people's performances.]

Wildcarding this shit, Archie's Office

[flightforfreedom]

[ Yeah, Poe is worried. The guy was laid up in the med bay less than a week ago, and is now running around trying to fix Aegis while Jacob is dead? Yeah. That's a lot.

But he is determined to at least try and help, so he shows up at Archie's make-shift office after having checked in his carpet, carrying a tote bag as he knocks on the door before letting himself in. ]

Hey Arch? You here?

[h2no]

[it's not just him!! this is according to jacob's documents! he and ashley couldn't decline even if they wanted to... which is a matter only they would know in their own discussions. anyway.

archie's still all casted up, not having had an opportunity to see a healer just yet, and doesn't have his bandana or X on his face, like that time in poe's unit. who is he? he recognises poe's voice and doesn't even bother to look up from awkwardly tapping away one handed at the keyboard.]

Hologram technology ain't available in retail here, so yeah. It's me.

post-speech, archie's office

[lesterzeppelin]

Not much. Just thought I'd come to check on your arm.

[ Despite Apollo's age (and his total lack of supernatural healing), despite the equal exhaustion written all over his face, he feels obligated to step in and at least see how that arm's healing. People like Boss and Archie don't react well to questions about emotional health. Best to ask about the physical - the tangible things that could be fixed.

He offers a shrug, rolling up his sleeves and leaning on the chair, not quite standing but not quite sitting either - ]

You kind of sent the other healers out into the field, and there's only so much paperwork I can do in the med bay, that's all.

[h2no]

Ah.

[archie doesn't respond truthfully more than he doesn't respond well, but apollo's point still stands.]

Well, fair enough. If you wanna help with anything else just let us know so we know where your hours are being split and don't accidentally overload ya.

[he pushes the chair out lightly so apollo can get to his cast. there is a very large cock drawn on it.]

later

[ralltiir]

[ It's going on eleven PM and Akobi's been stuck camping in HQ for several days now, while repairs to his home are underway. He's dealt with insurance people and contractors, and frankly has been a little too busy cleaning up his own mess to think about helping clean up the rest of Aegis' duties.

But here he is, eleven PM, walking down the hallway dressed in one of his impeccable, wrinkle-free suits (does this man always wear a suit?), the only sign of his exhaustion the dark circles under his eyes. He hasn't been sleeping well ever since the bombing. But that's neither here nor there. What is here AND there is the fact that he hears yelling and the crash and splinter of small electronics coming from down the hall. He goes out to investigate. ]

Archie, are you mad? Do you know what time it is?

[h2no]

[akobi may be in a suit, but archie's still wearing the same stuff he always wears even with his new leadership role. big hoodie-- though that's off, at the moment, tshirt that says "the sea made me salty" and some jeans and boots. this man does not appear to own a suit.

he sees akobi's tiredness, but archie's pretty sure no-one is sleeping well. all it's doing is creating an endless feedback cycle of frustration, with the added topping that he feels like he's not good enough to be in jacob's position, even shared with ashley.]

Ten, or something? I don't know, I don't have a watch and my phone just broke, suddenly, for no reason.

Post-Speeh / Office

[topmeup]

[Max doesn't do his usual chatting and clapping and agreeing. He was quiet, listening. Because so much happened and he wasn't there. People needed help and he hadn't been there. Instead he got sent back home to ruin everything.

He doesn't want to cause the same thing to happen here, so he goes to Archie after the meeting. He stands in the doorway of the office, as if hesitating, and just when he was about to knock on the doorframe, Archie looked up and noticed him.]

Uh...I've got... [A takes another breath.] Truth: I'm gonna need some leave time.

[h2no]

[archie nods at max's request, trying to smile to seem more approachable. he doesn't really have a problem with being approachable, but it's kind of hard to gauge how everyone is at the moment! he gestures opposite his desk... then belatedly realises the chair isn't there anymore. it has a stack of folders on it in the corner.]

Ah... one moment. [he hurriedly pushes himself up and carefully picks the folders off and pulls it over.] Yeah, okay, sorry. Yeah. That's absolutely fine, can you just let me know how long you'll need and a basic reason? Just for the paperwork. We can talk about it as well, if you want. Off the record.

later feraligatr

[cannotrest]

[Following behind him with paintbrushes and a couple of sandwiches, one of which is for him, Ashley is dealing with her phone by sending calls from all but a very small list of people (Aegis Force agents and staff and her friends) straight to voicemail with a pointed message about where to send Aegis tipoffs and requests for comment. It's not great, but it's also not throwing her phone at the wall.

[Now that he's got a hand free, Ashley steps up and puts a sandwich into it. They have so much to do that her solution is to multitask meals.]

I checked at breakfast this morning and we looked pretty okay on food for the next couple of days at least - I don't think that kitchenette's seen so many people at once since we prepped for the Christmas party.

[The holiday party, really, but Catholics gonna Catholic. And she's just. Not even going to address the phone.]

in a while krookodile

[h2no]

[he looks surprised... for a moment that there's a sandwich in his hand? okay. archie takes a bite. it's good!]

Good. I'll see if we can't get an order in anyway-- I think most everyone's gonna be sticking around until Jacob gets back.

[there's a pause. he sighs, shoulders dropping as he works the can lid open.]

Y'know, if.

[fauxmarth]

mission scowlytimes
Sometimes...Maurtia Falls police just does not want to cooperate in good faith, even when their superiors were the ones who made the call. When it's Lucina who shows up to the latest crime scene, she is neither greeted nor given much to work with; some on the clock heard about the mess she made down at Darin's forge...

They give her some runaround about protocol or having to file reports and other such stuff before one just waves her off and suggests she just get to hunting down the perpetrators.

She is not in a mood to play this delicately.

"I would if you would give me something to work with!" She glares back, standing all the taller when fixed with unpleasant looks. "Your sworn duty is to serve this community, yes? I'm just as much a part of it, and trying to protect it as much as you!"

An intervention might be in order before someone blows their lid here.


wild punchytimes
Lucina tried the hard-mode simulation one time before being absolutely frustrated and just setting the holoroom to her own settings -- one where wholesale destruction is the point.

This is the safest place to test the limits of her newly found super strength -- as of yet just known to her and Darin.......and the police and fire departments in Nonah.

It's designed to take it...but still, some may feel the rattling and rumbling of heavy blows even from outside the room as she thrashes away bare-fisted. It's training and healing! Two for one!

wild punchy

[h2no]

Archie'd been going up to the simulation room to check out some of the other attempts-- they all have to be logged after all! He's not sure how Jacob did this alone, but! Well. Must do it.

He'd actually expected the heavy blows to have come from Darin, so when he catches Lucina and no-one else walking out, he's... clearly surprised.

"Ah..." he says, helpfully, pen that he'd shoved between his two free fingers on his casted arm falling out of them. Shit.

[fauxmarth]

Before she can offer an oh in reply, the pen clatters onto the floor. She'd already stopped moving, hearing him approach, and now she drapes her towel over her shoulders and crouches to pick up the pen.

"Here," she says softly, offering it back, her eyes settling on the cast. In all this time, she hadn't asked why it was there, and she feels guilty about it. Yet the hour is late, is it not? And if it were her business, he'd have said something of it. Probably. She hopes.

So instead of why, she instead asks, "How much longer must you be bound up? Should I ask for Anders to lend a hand?"

mission

[cannotrest]

Stepping up, Ashley puts one hand on Lucina's arm as a warning, oh so casually getting out her phone with her other hand.

"Hi, Commander Ashley Williams here," she says, as if the new commander with her glowing skin needs a reintroduction. "Your captain gave us clearance into your crime scene, so unless you'd like me to make a call to the commissioner, I'd love to get a look at it. It'll get us out of your hair faster and might even help us hunt them down."

She doesn't so much as touch the screen of her phone, but on the suddenly lit screen, the phone app opens, ready to dial the commissioner.

[fauxmarth]

Lucina bites back on another retort when Ashley approaches, herself stepping back a pace, still scowling back at the officers. Her eyes narrow as they grudgingly accept and allow them access to the remains of the burnt-out building.

She doesn't bother to thank them, just turning around and starting toward the police tape line, but she does stop to wait for Ashley.

"Thanks," she murmurs, her glare fixed on the building.

Cayde-6

[lootsnshoots]

Briefing

Cayde stands rock still, giving something of an effort to pay attention to the details, but failing. First of all, he lied to Lucina about not needing sleep. Secondly, between dreaming of Taniks, to an alien assault on his base to losing a friend and leader? This whole thing has been like a hit parade of nearly all the worst moments of his life.

He takes a sip of coffee and shifts the chicken tucked under his other arm—oh yes, he brought a chicken to the meeting—and snaps to attention when he hears his name mentioned.

"What? I mean. Yeah yeah yeah, sure, I'm on it," he promises with forced enthusiasm, not actually knowing what he just agreed to.

Base Check with Finn and Allura

"Alright, this should be easy-peasy. Flip a few lightswitches, then do a little jury-rigging until the lights that don't light up come on. Nothin' to it!" Cayde says, arms akimbo.

Danger Room

When he can steal away in a quiet moment, Cayde takes advantage of one of the Danger Room sims, choosing the campfire. He sets his chicken down beside him—yes, he brought the chicken—and sets about telling her a story, just the way he would tell Colonel tales in the days following the Red War back home. One might find him in the middle of telling a tale that might be true. To a degree.

"... So Lush turns to Shiro and says 'bet you 25,000 glimmer you can't make that jump.' Literally all the cash he had. And Shiro says 'I'll take that bet' 'coz how can you turn that challenge down, right? 'Sides, I think he just wanted an excuse to impress Lush. Anyway. Andal turns to me and says 'I betcha 25,000 he makes it.' Y'know me, I took the bet.

Shiro whips out his sparrow. Gives himself a good run to get up to speed and he just launches himself over the canyon. But as bad luck would have it? Hobgoblin snipes him right in the head as he's crestin' the jump. Just maps him outta nowhere. So he's dead, his sparrow goes into a spin and—I swear I'm not lyin—whips his corpse into the air right through a Vex gravity cannon. Billion to one odds. That thing ragdolled his body all the way to the other side.

So then we all start arguin' about whether or not it counts, and then Shiro's Ghost stops us dead.

'It damn well better count because I have to fly over there and rez the guy!' they said. I'll never forget it, it's just about the maddest I've heard a Ghost get. But then Shiro's Ghost has always been a little on the gruff side."

Cayde sighs.

"Good old times," he says, patting Colonel II on the head.

Wild Card, Babey

Cayde (and Colonel II: The Sequel to Colonel) are around. If I do not have a satisfactory way for him to bother you, you may invent a scenario at your leisure

post briefing

[fauxmarth]

"Cayde...?"

Lucina had heard the faintest sounds of...chicken earlier. She thought she was crazy, but, no.

"Why is there a chicken in your arms?"

Base Check!

[hatejakku]

Finn's never messed around with anything electrical before, so he has no idea if this is easy-peasy. That said, he's not inclined to argue with orders, especially not today.

Doesn't stop him from grimacing, though. "I can teleport around base to see where any problem areas are. Shouldn't take more than a few seconds. Unless there's a central terminal that can just tell us?"

Base Check Part Deux

[patchricide]

As opposed to Finn, Allura nods along with Cayde's assessment. Truthfully, it's a little outside of her comfort zone as well — because usually her work dealt more sophisticated systems. When you had someone as diligent as Coran around to maintain the ship, 'easy-peasy' problems seemed to get fixed on their own.

"In other words, we start by running manual diagnostics, and move forward from there."

Same thing, bigger words. It makes her sound nice and smart, at least until she says something like...

"I don't really see where the courtroom comes into play, though, or why we wouldn't want a fair trial. At any rate, we should be able to fix this without their help."

... yes. Like that. Because you had to go and use an Earth expression like 'jury-rigging', Cayde.

"How much do you know about the electrical systems?"

Danger Room

[cannotrest]

Ashley's so preoccupied with trying to wrangle her inbox that she doesn't realize someone's already in the Danger Room until she steps inside. She'd meant to blow off some steam with one of the training sims, but when she finds Cayde using her campfire sim, she just shuts the door behind her, leans on it (the sim adjusts the door into a tree), and listens. Turns out his storytime has a similarly calming effect on her, especially in such a familiar setting associated with far more pleasant memories than the one she'd stepped into in his dream. It's easier for the simulator to generate things that have happened here, so she'd modelled this sim off of the campsite they'd spent her birthday weekend at just a few hours from the Falls. She took out the cabin, so the path leads to nothing, but this little clearing is the same, from the trees to the position of the firepit.

The chicken definitely wasn't her doing, though, and as her gaze wanders, she realizes this is the same chicken Cayde had brought to the briefing and she'd turned a blind eye to because in the scheme of things this had seemed rather minor (sorry, Lucina) and because she has an agreement with Archie that Cayde's his problem at work. Helps avoid any Virmire situations that would get messy with their relationship in play.

Only when he eventually finishes up and pats the chicken does she ask, "What's a sparrow in this context? Because I'm seeing a tiny bird." Which also means that her mental image has Shiro very literally running off the cliff with an angry bird at his side.

briefing

[h2no]

Now, serious situation or not, Archie's still an animal lover. When people start to file out and Cayde's still there with his chicken, he saunters over to crouch down and have a look at it with a little smile.

"She's cute," he says, hesitantly reaching out to give her a little pat on the neck with one finger. "The ones back home barf fire. Can she do that?"

Weird flex, but okay.

Darin Altway | OTA

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Successful Succession?
[Darin hadn't really been by Helix much since his little Diomuhr episode. Too many people here were at that little 'event' and he was sure people had words for him. Words he'd been actively avoiding because that's how adults deal with their problems, right? Right. The truth was, he just didn't feel like he deserved to really be here after that. He'd hurt people. Nearly killed some of his closest friends. And while Jacob might have forgiven him, he wasn't exactly ready to forgive himself.]

[But this wasn't about how he felt about himself. This was out of respect for Jacob. Which means he was going to do what he did best and bury how he felt about...well, everything...with a copious amount of work. With his assignment given, he nods from his position away from the group.]

I'll have a requisition form filled out and on one of your desks within the next two days. Leave maintenance and repairs to me.

[Beyond that, he doesn't have much more to say but you can try and catch him once the meeting is adjourned and he's about to get to work.]

Training Sim: Go Hard Mode or Go Home
[Darin's gone through the sim about ten times now. Not because he can't figure it out. Honestly the first few times were for pure catharsis. He was going out of his way to just smash whatever he could to get the excess anger and pent up frustration out of his system before he decides to challenge it for real. At this point, he's narrowed-down who the shapeshifter is, and he's casually making his way through the labyrinthine museum to confront it.]

[He's closing in when the shapeshifter sees Darin beelining for him and immediately shifts to his bull form and charges. Glass sculptures shatter and--Dammit, there's the sound that he failed the mission again!]

[Frustration rising, Darin stops the bull in its tracks, literally by the horns, slams his foot down with enough force to shatter more of the exhibits, pivots and pitches the damn bull through the roof like a bovine hammer throw.]

I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS BULL--...GODS DAMMIT I CAN'T EVEN SWEAR WITHOUT GETTING MORE PISSED OFF!!!

More like Ignis Farce Amirite?
[Darin had done a little more than his due diligence on this case. For some reason, a group whose name sounded so phonetically similar to Aegis had appeared and it just didn't seem...well, kosher. Knowing how easily groups like the Shieldbreakers liked to bend the truth to favor their perception of Aegis, any organization sounding even remotely like 'Aegis' bore a reason to be investigated.]

[He'd looked over the testimonials, interviewed some of the prospective buyers, and wasn't turning up anything of use.]

[Which means he got to look for information the old fashioned way. The way he was used to.]

[Darin knew of a little spot in the Falls where unscrupulous people liked to meet to whet their whistle. The Cloak and Stagger, a dive bar for people falling on hard times and preferred falling on The Rocks over landing on their feet. Unfortunately, his blue hair is an easy identifier, which is why Darin, and whoever he drags with him (because who would ever let him go alone?) are in heavy disguise. Darin's got his hair slicked back and dyed black, complete with black scruff around his features. He's wearing a grimy button down shirt, old pants with suspenders, and an ugly, olive green over coat. He's also pretending to smoke a cigarette, except it's just one of those candy cigarettes.]

Alright, let's do this. Remember, we need a lead on who's in charge of Ignis.

If you wanna mingle you gotta single me out
[When he's not on patrol or engaged in the Ignis investigation, he's burying himself in repair work around Helix. And there is a lot of it. In fact, there's a reasonable chance Darin hasn't slept in the last few days because he's working to get the base back up to speed.]

training sim

[h2no]

[as the sim resets, archie's voice crackles in through the comms. he is decidedly unimpressed with this display.]

You need to work on your temper, or you won't be sent on these missions. Even if you save people, it looks bad when you make just as much of a mess. Not to mention the paperwork...

mingling

[cannotrest]

[ as Ashley approaches Darin's latest repair job, she's carrying a box from a hardware store with a plated sandwich balanced on top of it. She doesn't particularly understand repairs but she'd like to try and keep her people in more or less one piece. ]

Hey, Darin, your latest requisition arrived. Where do you want it?