Welcome to Gaia! ::

Beneath all his cheery smiling and nonchalant laughter, Lucas was terrified. He had fled Galactic to protect himself, and he knew that, just like Rocket, there was no way they would simply let him go. There were out there somewhere, waiting and searching. One misstep and they would find him. One misstep and he was a dead man. That's why he never left the base even though he wanted to explore Kodo a bit.

Lucas hadn't taken into account the fact that he would be sent on missions.

Blue eyes flitted over the horizon as he drove in the direction of the city, though only one could take in sight. The desert was still safe, but he grew more and more on edge the closer he came to Camphoreon. He weaved through the outermost streets towards the destination he had been given, parking near a scantily-populated diner and opting to walk the remainder of the distance. He jumped at every stray Meowth that crossed his path and every Murkrow that alighted. Any one of those sounds could have been the footsteps of Galactic's field agents. He could only hope they instead continued to be random pokemon.

Finally the grunt came upon the abandoned subway entrance that had been described to him before departing, and he gazed into the dim maw. A tentative foot settled on the first stair only to be drawn back suddenly when the surface groaned at his weight. He exhaled in a bid to steel his nerves and descended into the dark corridor.

The murmuring voices, the sudden light, the silhouette - three harmless elements on their own, but combined, they were the Galactic commander, standing before him when a menacing glare and a gun's barrel fixed on his face. Lucas blanched, the flashlight's light turning on him in what he was certain was the form of a bullet.

The question returned his senses to him and, leaning a little closer to the wall for moral support, he gave his answer, "Lucas, e- ah, grunt." It would be ages, he surmised, before he would grow accustomed to his new identifying information. He consciously steadied his breathing and awaited the man's okay.

"Ah, I, no... I mean yes. Yes. I'm all right." He couldn't remember another time in his life when he had been gripped with such panic, save for perhaps an incident ten years prior. It was something of a worrying sensation in and of itself, and half of Lucas' assurance was directed to himself.

Galactic wasn't in Kodo and the outpost was just as secret as the headquarters. He just needed to keep telling himself those things.

He was relieved to venture into the outpost, even if only a little further. The question gave him pause, though, and he had to give more consideration than he should have to what it was he was sent for. He pocketed his Rocket Dex and thought aloud, "Umm, supplies... Medical supplies? I'm pretty sure it was medical supplies." He hoped it was, anyhow, as it would be beyond embarrassing to return to the headquarters with an armload of bandages and medicines when they had requested he retrieve chemicals for the labs or condiments for the cafeteria. He had been so intently focused on making it safely to his destination that the reason for the trip had completely slipped his mind somewhere along the way.

"Um, it was B-778..." He drew a slip of paper from his pocket and read its contents, "B-77812-A9." Fortunately he had had the foresight to write down the number when it was given to him. He fiddled with his glasses briefly. "Sorry. It's, uh... It's been a long day."

"Jani- Seriously?! Damn, I wasn't even close." Lucas frowned, quite disappointed in himself. He followed when the man beckoned, but a thought began to bother him as they proceeded into narrower halls with tight corners.

"So, uh... What do you to people who show up and can't produce the right credentials?" Shoot them on the spot. Say shoot them on the spot. Come on.

"Uh, well, I figure Rocket's not exactly popular, right?" He'd heard enough of their exploits to consider them a good sanctuary from Galactic, at least. "I mean, there have to be people looking for you guys. For us. Like... the police?"

Was that a third pair of footsteps he heard? Lucas looked around warily before remembering that more than one person manned the outpost and it was perfectly plausible that he had indeed heard footsteps and that they were those of allies.

"Some people might already consider me a traitor, depending who you ask..." he muttered under his breath. He jerked perfectly upright when he realized what he had said. "I... I said that aloud, didn't I? Damn it all." Backpedal, backpedal. "Look, I'm not really all that suspicious a guy. I just like to know my chances of getting a bullet between my eyes at any given time, you know?"