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Lieutenant Roselite

Roselite hoped things wouldn’t get ugly soon. They all needed the opportunity to rest. Even so, he tried to mentally prepare himself for the remainder of their mission, not wanting to be caught unawares.

“Thank you, Sir,” he said with another timid smile, appreciative of the offer for help and an attentive ear.

He didn’t know if he would ever be brave enough to seek out Benitoite for little more than a chat, but the offer itself was heartening enough.

Nudged along, Roselite sought out his Captain, starting in the direction Bloodstone had last been seen. There were not so many people here that it felt overcrowded, but just enough that their numbers were overwhelming for someone used to being solitary. Still, it didn’t take long for Roselite to spot Bloodstone near the area meant to serve as their canteen.

“Captain Bloodstone,” Roselite said as he made his approach, leading Benitoite. “This is General Benitoite, Sir. I…” He stopped himself with a forceful swallow before he could say anything about helping to pitch Benitoite’s tent, concerned that it might come off as bragging. “General Benitoite, this is Captain Bloodstone. He’s… he recruited me.”

A quiet snort from another familiar figure drew Roselite’s attention to Carnallite. “And this is Lieutenant Carnallite, Sir. She’s… um…”

For once, Roselite couldn’t find a single nice thing to say, so he shut his mouth and decided saying nothing at all was the best approach.

Corrupt Sailor Albite Senshi of Retribution

"Here Ransom, maybe you can get some of our girls - uhhm - Shrub's baked beans, opened. I’ve got condiments around here somewhere probably. If you dig through things." read the labels on the cans, and grinned slowly, because they genuinely looked good. All the praise he had internally for Nembus, smart cookie that she was, thinking ahead with something like flavorful baked beans.

Albite eagerly passed a few cans and a can opener on to Ransomite. Set them before the blond in the Christmas colors with zeal. "Maybe you should explain what the man hook car thing is Thorite? Sounds fun! M'terrible at remembering spooky stories worth telling." the retelling of stories in general - Albite had no rhythm or rhyme for any of it.

He was always easily distracted --

Continued to be so as Faustite approached with Kamacite seemingly paced along behind him; held back, but called to heel at the same time. Watched him summon up Nembus to chat with. He barely contained himself from running up on the pair of Generals.

Wanted to check in. They looked worn.

He had to bite off the urge to collect the pair and drag them in, or sit them down and offer up some small bit of comfort. Albite bit his tongue, because the last thing he was going to do was embarrass the firebrand by being overtly loud about being glad to see him alive - if not entirely well.

He was however, going to make his presence known. Levied himself up off the ground to go stand behind Nembus. Let his 6'3 frame cast a shadow over her 5'4 self. He loomed just a little bit, and let his gaze linger on Faustite. Roved his form with intent. The way he tilted his head was an obvious enough question in and of itself; the motion belying all of his curiosity.

Corrupt Sailor Meirdiana - Canteen

Upon arrival at the Base Camp, Meridiana felt both physically and mentally exhausted. Disheveled looking with her unkempt short hair that had been cut not long after the briefing had ended.

She hated it.

Hated the dirt beneath her nails. Hated the mud that caked the bottom of her uniform. Hated not having a shower, or even a cold bucket of water to at least wipe the grime off her face.

Unless there was a cabin or RV involved, she was not a camper. Didn't even know how to properly build a tent and had to rely on the generous assistance of another officer to make sure the thing didn't collapse on her the moment she tried to crawl in.

The Senshi of the Succubus laid there. Staring up at the synthetic material, counting the stitches that raced across the taught fabric. It provided little distraction what with all the chatting that continued on outside. Her mind felt weary but sleep, she knew, would not come easily if at all; not with the storm that loomed over head or the worry that still gnawed at her insides.

Every time her eyes flitted shut all Meridiana could see was a flash of soft mint-colored eyes and a sweep of deeply saturated purple when the officer turned away. The image of the Captian haunted her; plagued her mind with questions that demanded answers she likely would never receive.

Idiot... Lips pursed, the Senshi of the Succubus rolled over onto her side.

She had been the one not paying attention, and yet rather than hide behind the other corrupts shield and leave her to her fate, the damned fool shoved her into the sphere of magic instead. Gone before she could react and pull him in too.

So this was what survivors' guilt felt like...

When a kind-hearted stranger sacrifices themself to save someone as undeserving as her; so far she had done nothing but idly stand by and maybe point out something of a youma that was slinging to an agents leg. It felt like something inside her shifted. Like something cracked beneath the gravity of their situation and there was nothing but rocks and ruin for her to fall upon.

The Rift was a horrible place and she wondered why she'd even considered returning after what happened last time.

Eventually, Meridiana gave up on trying to sleep and emerged from the tent looking more worse for wear than when she had entered their temporary refugee camp. She walked past several small groups of officers and corrupts alike; picking up on little snippets of conversation upon her passing until she stopped in front of the canteen where a half-youma was hard at work preparing a meal for everyone.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked, her voice sounding hoarse from the dust that had been kicked up in the cave.

The woman paused, then looked around to consider her options on what was still needed so more people could eat. "Um, this pot of chili is done. If I could ask you to use the ladle over there and start portioning that out into bowls. This soup should be ready shortly and I'd like to avoid burning any food if at all possible."

"Sure," Meridiana nodded.

Although she knew nothing about camping, the Senshi of the Succubus knew food; both how to cook and how to serve. At least this way, hopefully, she could keep her hands and mind busy enough to not dwell on what happened at the Caves. No use fretting over the unknown until the bodies could be recovered... if they could be recovered that is. the cave youmas could have devoured all remains and left nothing behind for them to find.

Damn it...

Corrupt Eternal Kamacite

After living the majority of his life as invisible, it shouldn’t have surprised Kamacite that even the bright robes of his outfit drew little to no attention from others. He preferred it that way, of course. He could stay small and unobtrusive, keep his head down and prevent himself from getting into any trouble.

He followed Faustite at a reasonable distance, giving him enough room to go about his business, issuing his orders, checking in with people that he didn’t bother to introduce to Kamacite for reasons unknown, other than what was the point of introducing anyone to him? Either way, it was in the middle of a mission, and Kamacite would do his job as bait, just as he had before, and if he survived this, he would do it again if necessary.

Counting this as an EXIT. Following Faustite wherever he goes and keeping his head down.

-------

Captain Bloodstone

Decent wasn’t really the word Bloodstone was thinking. To him, they were just there. They would take the fall if anything went wrong, and he would be able to see their weaknesses and strengths and know how to handle working with them again, if he had to, once he was a General himself.

It was only a matter of time. And he already had two Lieutenants under his command.

He turned when Roselite approached with General Benitoite and introduced them. There was nothing really for Bloodstone to say but he did nod to the General in greeting. It would not do well to make enemies of allies, even if he trusted very few to none of them. There was not one of them that Bloodstone didn’t expect to cause the death of others due to recklessness or sheer stupidity. Which was why he kept Carnallite and Roselite close to him as often as he could.

“Nice to meet you. Lieutenant. I’m going to need your assistance setting up the rest of our space for the night and rest. If you’ll excuse us, General,” Bloodstone said with another nod of his head, and waited for Roselite to follow him as he turned to head to the tent they’d already set up.

EXIT for Bloodstone! Taking Rosie with him, sorry Beni!

-------

Lieutenant Reidite

Reidite muttered some comments to himself in Russian as he sighed in relief. Anything would be better than having Cymophane rip the quills out, and better than asking for help from the supposed doctor that was sleeping during the meeting.

“Would you mind taking a look? I don’t need sedation. I just need them out and I can’t reach them very well,” he said, not bothering with his forced accent now that he found someone who might be able to help him. And yes, Lopezite gave off the impression of knowing at least basic survival of some kind. And he’d been right.

“Oh, a youma hit me and fell off the edge of the cliff. b*****d must have survived.” Because if his basic understanding of youma was correct, it should have turned into dust if it temporarily perished. Which meant the damn thing was still alive.

“Come, I have a tent,” he said, pointing in its direction and turning to lead the way.

EXIT for Reidite. Taking Lopezite with him for medical help!

Basic Diesel and Chaos Mauvian Gremlin

So… No one was here. Diesel’s maroon gaze scraped over the assorted groups as people flit about the Scar, some seeking aid in the medical tent, some catching a bite at the canteen, some mulling about around their bedding accommodations. For a night in the Rift, it was a sizable group, so maybe “no one” wasn’t quite accurate.

But Calaverite wasn’t here. Sylvite wasn’t here. His brother wasn’t here. Everyone else had shown up to prepare for whatever the next handful of hours would bring, and the whole handful of people that Diesel knew by name just outright weren’t here. Cala had disappeared without any scuffle or indication from their combat group, so he doubted Rakovanite was just off looking for his subordinate when Diesel was pretty sure no one even knew he was gone.

Did anyone know any of them were gone?

He’d heard scattered talk of something happening with the interrogation group, and there’d been some kind of clamor before everyone was back together, but… Knowing that didn’t really answer the question of where his friends and relatives were, besides ‘not here.’

Not great.

Diesel paced tight circles around his backpack where it sat on the stone earth, still packed full of his tent and supplies. He considered himself friendly and outgoing and not prone to great deals of melancholy or worry, and he couldn’t quite place a word for it that felt accurate to him, but something about how this situation had progressed and how it was still going now made him… uncomfy.

He was sure Rak and Sylvite were fine, even if they weren’t here. Maybe it was planned and that was why no one was talking about how a small chunk of people had just ******** off from everyone else. They were fine. He was sure. He shouldn’t be concerned. They were fine and able to take care of themselves.

Calaverite was… a different story.

One scrawny psychopath senshi running amok on his own was not alright. Diesel should’ve said something when he noticed. Or like- watched him, so that he at least knew when or where he’d run off to. -Not that it was his responsibility what Cala did. The guy was an adult in the most basic sense of the word, so it shouldn’t be Diesel’s problem at all if he ran off. There was no reason for any of this to bother him.

Diesel should be fine.

“Can you quit that circling? Your stupid a** is making me dizzy. Sit down and knock it off.”

Gremlin was still here, the little velvety skin sack eternally taking shelter in Diesel’s hood, where no one else would see him or bother him and he wouldn’t be left exposed to the cool air or vagrant idiocy from the surrounding humans.

Diesel puffed out a sound somewhere between a high-pitched huff and a groan. "I'm- trying." Sort of, in his own way. He felt agitated and needed something to do besides think about people who weren't even here.

He notched the toe of his boot against the stiff side of his backpack before giving one more look around just to see if maybe he’d accidentally just overlooked Rakovanite among the crowd, or to hear if anyone anywhere was talking about doing something about those who hadn't shown up- didn't seem like it, though. The chatter was soft. Everyone keeping mostly to their little groups.

Something Diesel was becoming more aware of not having by the second.

"Set the tent up, then," Gremlin groused. "So I don't have to suffer because of you."

What a malcontent, dirty little goblin. It wasn't like Diesel had to cart him around if he was going to be so callous- Stupid rat creature could flop around on his own, with his stupid cat paws trying to make a tent, if he was going to be such a little p***k-

No, he didn't have to deal with this cat.

Diesel made an uncomfortable jerking motion, pitching sideways and wrenching his torso downward to dump the (admittedly unwilling, as claws dug hard in his shoulders to try and keep perch) Mauvian out of his hood and to the ground. Gremlin responded with a nasally hiss as he tumbled rather graceless, despite his species, to the ground. A claw came out to try and swipe at Diesel's ankle, but he was quick to skip out of the way.

"What's with that, you stupid brat?" Gremlin snapped. "You better take care not to throw me around or-"

"Or what? Or what?" Diesel seethed back. "You're grouchy and mean and unhelpful and ungrateful, and I don't want to do anything for you, if all you're going to do is spit." He snatched his backpack off the ground and made a great show of striding a handful of paces away. "So I'm taking my pack to set up my tent, and you can ******** all the way off with that attitude." And to prove that he was absolutely gonna and didn't care what one grimy urchin did, he upended his sack and dumped a clatter of supplies to the ground.

Gremlin released a round of discontented soft hissing noises, but did nothing besides hunch his back, curl his spindly tail over his paws and glower toward his senshi with impossibly huge blue eyes.

He was fine. What did Gremlin care if a b***h-a**, crazy corrupt had up and ditched? What did he care if one bribe-y general and some random pink-girl he'd never spoken to didn't come back from their mission? All that concerned him was making sure he got out alive, and frankly it so far seemed like he'd picked the right disgusting brat to stick to. Cervantite was a ******** pathetic basic senshi, but he was here, and others weren't.

The boy was being an insufferable a**, but all humans were, and he'd get over it and remember that Gremlin was a <******** invaluable Mauvian eventually. Get off that high horse and remember to invite Gremlin to be safe(r?) and more comfortable in the tent.

Gremlin only had to wait. Cervantite would get over it.

It was fortunate Diesel didn't require help with these tasks. He'd be SOL if he did. But he'd been on his fair share of family camping trips... None where he had to set up alone- he wasn't used to being alone- but he could do it, if he had to. He'd thought his brother and teammate would be here.

They weren't. And he was just stuck with this cat.

It took fifteen minutes. Fifteen furious minutes of jabbing anchors into unforgiving earth and smacking stakes with other stakes to hammer them down. He straightened the fabrics, glowered at the tent, squinted up at a dark and purple, thundery... sky? He didn't know what to call it. Hardly seemed like it could be designated as "outside," but it sure wasn't anything else. Whatever. Tent didn't need to be perfect. It'd only be used for a couple hours at most.

He stared at it, body still tight in that inexplicably uncomfortable way of needing to do something but not really knowing what or how.

Diesel huffed, scrunched himself down and stormed into the tent. He flopped on the ground, curled into himself, alone, scrunched his eyes shut, pinched teeth into his cheek- No way he'd be dozing off around here. He'd be surprised if anyone did.

It was a handful of minutes, twenty tops, before the quiet sound of claws scuffling against the scratchy fabric of the moisture barrier at the tent's base sounded. Gremlin crept near, while Diesel kept his eyes firmly shut. The cat scoffed and pressed in close. A curled body next to Diesel's face, a tiny head rested on his shoulder, and the most dissatisfied scratchy almost-purrs Diesel had ever heard a creature make. That was all he had. Everyone else was gone.

Gremlin would absolutely no be empathetic to this. He hated all humans. He hated Rakovanite and Cervantite and the huge pile of others on this assignment.

...But Diesel was just a boy (young humans were the worst by far of their breed), who'd experienced... not much. He had moments of petulant unkindness, but he'd never harmed Gremlin. Maybe he'd even been excited to see him, once (a cat he could take home! Like his own pet!). He was sad and scared, and alone... And Diesel was all Gremlin had here, too. A ******** disgusting, sorry situation, but one they were stuck with at least until everyone set off again...

Exit for Diesel and Gremlin.