Story Arc 1 Finale)
The two transports and their mech loads arrived back in Chorus without much incident, save for the bickering banter that was to be expected when having such varied crew member personalities onboard. Carolina sighed, trying to desperately still her growing headache. Thankfully, the Charon forces apparently saw little point in pursuing the Chorus group as they headed back into their home territory.
That particular enemy strategy suited Carolina just fine, although it did bring up some concerns as to why they weren’t being followed at the moment. Was Charon simply biding their time for a direct assault? Still, the half-Veroni had a feeling that the others in their motley crew, particularly their newest recruits, were thankful for the reprieve. As Church said, maybe it was best if she didn’t spoil their mood with her natural “killjoy” tendencies.
Vanessa Kimball and Tex had both been at the Chorus docking bay, waiting for everyone to disembark. The two of them were not alone as standing with them was an unknown female Veroni with gunmetal green markings on her body. Carolina was not familiar with the woman, however, given the relaxed posture of both Kimball and Tex in her presence, she recognized her as an ally and not an enemy.
The leader of Chorus wasted no time in welcoming the newcomers to the planet and introducing herself, though the formalities pretty much ended at that after the mechs and other supplies were unloaded.
Everyone was tired from the events of the voyage from the Sangheili space station, and most simply wanted to take in their new surroundings in peace and adjust to their new surroundings in peace. Kimball seemed to understand that, and the Elvari was always accommodating. She exemplified a true leader in that regard, unlike Carolina’s less than understanding methods of leadership.
As the others continued milling about and talking amongst themselves, the dark-skinned woman caught Carolina’s gaze with her own and smiled somewhat. Kimball joined her in watching Donut’s mech, Pink, being unloaded next from Four Seven Niner’s transport.
“I take it from all of your communications and from how haggard everyone looks that the trip was an eventful one?” Kimball finally asked the cyan-armored woman in a joking tone.
Carolina sighed, but the redhead couldn’t help but give the other woman a little smirk as she leaned on the railing overlooking the ships, “You have no idea.”
Kimball’s smile widened, the Elvari leaning against the railing herself to look directly at Carolina, “Maybe you could tell me more about what happened over a drink.” She suggested, “I think we could both use a break.”
Carolina’s expression turned into a surprised sort of smile at the offer as she nodded, “Agreed.”
*****
Tex couldn’t help but smirk in amusement at the sight of Caboose clinging tightly to Leonard Church the second they had gotten off the transport. Obviously, the Arenian was happy to start this new leg of the journey with his “best friend who was not Freckles” as he so often described Church. The younger blond had been babbling excitedly about all the things they could do on Chorus together.
Church was only finally able to pry himself away thanks to the timely intervention of Four Seven Niner, as the Arenian pilot wanted Caboose’s help with moving something heavy off of her ship since she apparently “couldn’t trust the morons who usually help me with that shit.”
Caboose was happy to help his newly adopted sister out, telling Church that now that they were “home” he just had to show him a new type of tag that he and Freckles had invented.
As Caboose scampered off, Tex’s smirk at her boyfriend’s plight only intensified, “Well, you certainly came back with more than you bargained for.” She teased him.
Church’s face turned red and he promptly gave her the finger, “Shut up.”
Unfortunately, that only caused the amusement in her brown eyes to light up even more, and the dark-haired man was reminded of just what was so both infuriating and intoxicating about the blonde all at once.
Church sighed, turning slightly and finally noticing the petite Veroni woman still standing politely behind Tex, “Who is she?” he mouthed to his girlfriend.
The woman must have had incredible lip-reading skills because she spoke up just then before Tex even had the chance to respond, “Greetings. My name is Sheila.” She said with a slight bow of her head.
“We had our own little adventure while you guys were out having fun.” Tex chimed in after her, “Sheila here is a mech pilot herself.”
“No fucking way.” Church muttered under his breath, both surprised and rather annoyed by the news.
What was the goddamn point in going out into the galaxy to find the fucking mechs and their pilots if they could just show up here at Chorus easy-peasy?
Perhaps whatever had happened that resulted in Sheila coming to Chorus wasn’t quite as easy as Church initially thought, for the woman’s pretty face was overcome with a contemplative frown a second after Tex had spoken up.
“Regrettably, I still have extensive repairs to make to the Tank.” Sheila informed him, shaking her head slightly.
So, that was what her mech was called then. Church was suddenly curious as to how it looked. Sarge, standing close by still with Doctor Grey and Lopez, perked up at what he had just overheard.
“No need to fret, little lady!” He informed Sheila with a gentlemanly grin suffusing his face that looked super creepy given how twisted Sarge could be sometimes, “Lopez here can help you with any repairs you need to make.”
“Gracias por ser voluntario.” {“Thanks for just volunteering me.”}
Whatever the robot just said, Church was fairly certain it was with a sarcastic note seeping into his electronic voice.
Sheila tilted her head to the side, regarding Lopez, “…If it isn’t too much trouble.” She finally said at length, “Thank you, Lopez.”
She smiled at the brown-armored robot, Lopez stiffening slightly and seeming almost shy with the attention that was being placed on him just then.
As the two were walking off together, Doctor Grey tapped Sarge’s shoulder impatiently, “You should really let me treat your cut, Sarge.” She noted, indicating the rather large wound on the older man’s forehead from the fight at the space station.
“Eh, it’s fine. An injury like this is nothing.” Sarge shrugged his shoulders dismissively, “I’ll just walk it off.”
“Or you could do the intelligent thing and let me treat it.” Doctor Grey noted, a sudden challenge in her voice, “Unless you’re afraid, that is.”
Sarge guffawed, “Lady, I am not afraid of anything. Except hippies.”
“Then prove it.” The dark-skinned woman smirked, “Let me stitch you up right as rain!”
The two glared at each other for a few more moments before Sarge let out an appreciative whistle and nodded his head, “You’re one tenacious opponent, I’ll give you that.”
“That’s so kind of you to say!” Doctor Grey smiled at the strangely worded compliment, “You’re a sweetheart.”
They both smiled at one another, a faint blush forming on Sarge’s weathered features at the Veroni’s comment before they were walking off in the direction of the hospital in Armonia together.
Church stared after them, mouth hanging open, “What the fuck just happened?” He asked, truly wondering whatever the hell it was he had done to be tortured so.
Tex smirked again, “Aww, did little Church never get The Talk?”
Church groaned and gave her the finger again, “Shut up, bitch.”
There was no venom to it, however, and Tex’s widening smile even caused one to grow on his own face.
*****
The lieutenants were all talking together following Kimball’s welcoming speech after they had disembarked from the transports, Matthews watching as everyone interacted together in their own unique form of comradery. Volleyball and Kaikaina were talking particularly close to one another, evidently having hit it off during the flight back from the space station just as Jensen had predicted they would.
“You have to give me a private tour of Chorus before my lame-ass brother tries to get me to “stop embarrassing the family” or some shit!” Kaikaina told the blonde excitedly before blowing a puff of air at a black strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face, “Although I say fuck to that because I make us look good!”
“No doubt.” Volleyball nodded her head and smiled, “Sure, I’d love to show you around!”
“Fuck yeah!” Kaikaina exclaimed, grinning, “Big bro can just suck my lady-dick!”
Jensen watched them go with a knowing smile on her face as a wave of nervous energy suddenly flooded over Matthews, and he turned to see his childhood friend Palomo approaching the smiling Strassian. The Elvari had almost forgotten how strong Palomo’s crush on the girl was, his own skin heating up as if he was feeling the emotions like they were his own.
Matthews frowned slightly, bringing up his mental shielding. Getting caught off-guard like that and accidentally catching wind of someone else’s private emotions or thoughts was the worst, and something the auburn-haired rookie often tried to avoid although it was difficult in large crowds.
“Um…so, K—Katie?” He heard Palomo ask in a shaky, awkward voice, “N—now that we’re back…do you want to practice driving some? To celebrate getting back in one piece, I mean?”
The hopeful tone in Palomo’s voice wasn’t lost on anyone there, despite the collective dread building up amongst the others thanks to how infamous the Strassian’s driving skills were. …It had taken about an hour to get all the fires out the last time she had been allowed to do so in training.
Jensen’s brown eyes lit up at Palomo’s unexpected offer, “That would be awesome! Thanks, Palomo!”
Palomo grinned in response, a blush forming on his face as the female mechanic eagerly started pulling him towards where the ground transports were located.
Andersmith smiled and shook his dark-haired head, “Palomo is braver than I thought.”
Bitters scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Or he’s even dumber than we give him credit for.”
The older lieutenant frowned slightly at the other Arenian’s choice of wording just then, and Matthews figured it was probably time for him to say something to avoid another skirmish occurring between the two. Andersmith and Bitters seemed to always be butting heads, much to their group’s dismay.
“Um…B—Bitters?” Matthews began, fidgeting nervously when the larger Arenian’s eyes landed on him, “I…I just wanted to thank you for helping me when my gravity thrusters stopped and—!“
“Forget about it.” Bitters cut him off with a wave of his hand, promptly walking away as if annoyed by the very attempt at conversation.
Matthews stared after him sadly, unsure of what he had done to illicit such a response from the sullen young man. The silence that suddenly fell was deafening until Doc and Donut’s voices drifted over from where the two Elvari were talking nearby.
“Oh, I agree—purple is a soothing paint choice for a living room!” The pink-wearing colonist was saying amicably to the medic, “But have you ever considered lightish red?”
“Hmm, I haven’t, but you have a point there!” Doc stated thoughtfully, laughing somewhat as he pushed up his purple-framed glasses to rest higher on his nose, ‘Boy, who knew choosing paint colors could be so much fun?”
“Oh, you just have to see my paint swashes then!” Donut exclaimed, grabbing Doc’s had and practically dragging him towards his recently unloaded mech, Pink.
Matthews had been so caught up in watching Bitters leave and then in listening to the oddly compelling conversation going on behind him that he started a bit when Andersmith grasped his shoulder in a sympathetic fashion.
“That’s just how Bitters is, Matthews.” The older lieutenant told him before nodding in the direction of the transports, “What say we go and see if Four Seven Niner and Caboose need our assistance?”
Casting one last, sad look in Bitters’ retreating direction, Matthews smiled gratefully at his friend as they made their way over to the transports.
*****
“This here is my mech!” Lavernius Tucker waved an arm theatrically to encompass Aqua, grinning, “Pretty fucking awesome, am I right?”
“Yeah!” Junior’s eyes lit up at the sight, and the little boy was practically jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.
Tucker’s grin widened at his son’s reaction, “Your dad is going to become a badass pilot! Just you watch.”
“I know you will!” Junior was looking at him with something akin to awe, and Tucker definitely didn’t want to let him down.
...The half-Strassian would work his ass off here in their new home, just so that Junior never lost that look on his face. After all, it was way better than a look of trepidation or resentment for being suddenly uprooted from the only home that the boy had ever known.
Tucker really hoped that all of the excitement of what had happened would overshadow the part of the story where they had to leave Sangheili behind.
It hadn’t been planned in the fucking slightest, but he hoped this decision turned out to be the best one he had ever made for their small family. Tucker already had a bit more confidence in thinking that he had probably made the right decision given the smile that Junior had been sporting ever since they had stepped foot on Chorus.
“How are you both holding up?” a familiar voice asked from behind the father and son, and Tucker turned to see Washington walking towards them.
The older Strassian greeted Junior with a slight smile before his gray eyes landed on Tucker’s brown ones. The blond was clearly waiting for the dark-skinned man to respond to his question.
“Well, it’s going to take a lot of getting used to,” Tucker began nonchalantly, “But Chorus seems like a fucking awesome place so far.”
“Uh-huh.” Junior nodded his head in earnest agreement.
“I’m glad.” Washington smiled even more at their responses, and the half-Strassian was once again reminded of how nice that expression looked on his face in general, “If you want, I can give you a proper tour around…”
Washington seemed a bit awkward at even offering to do so given how he just sort of mumbled off at the end of his sentence, so it was probably a Big Fucking Deal that he had done it in the first place.
…And for Tucker and his kid, no less. The dark-skinned man was rather touched, not that he would ever admit it. He wasn’t nearly as socially awkward as Washington was, after all.
Washington looked like he was about to just give up and walk away, so Tucker decided they should take pity on the poor guy. Father and son shared a conspiratorial glance at one another before simultaneously nodding their heads in response.
“Fuck yeah, that would be awesome!” Tucker exclaimed.
The smile on Washington’s face widened and his gray eyes almost sparkled next to his blue-tinged freckles, and yeah…Tucker decided that he definitely liked that expression on the blond.
As the trio began walking off, Tucker cast a glance over Junior’s head at the older male, “Hey. About everything that happened out on the station?” he asked quietly.
Washington glanced over at him, nodding slightly to encourage Tucker to continue.
He took in a deep breath “Thanks, man. I really mean it.”
The Freelancer regarded Tucker fidgeting nervously for a few seconds, “You’re welcome.” He finally said, amusement dancing in his eyes as he saw Tucker visibly relax, “I take it thanking people isn’t something you’re used to doing?”
Tucker smirked, “Dude, you have no idea.”
“I might.”
As the two adults shared a look then, Junior looked up at both his father and Washington questioningly before simply shrugging to himself. After all, he would have plenty of time to figure out the odd ways of communication amongst grown-ups.
*****
“This will be your room.” Richard “Dick” Simmons concluded his tour of Chorus with what was arguably one of the most important parts, at least in a somewhat tired Dexter Grif’s opinion.
“Hmm. Not bad.” Grif glanced inside the spacious apartment and had to stop himself from doing a double-take in order to maintain his apathetic appearance. The place was at least three times bigger than his and Kai’s home back in Rat’s Nest.
Speaking of his little sister, he hadn’t seen her yet since their arrival at Chorus. He could only hope that she wasn’t out embarrassing the family somehow.
“Mine’s right across the hall if you need something.” Simmons noted, nodding his head to a door on the other side of the narrow hallway.
Grif perked up even more at the thought of them being neighbors, though his thoughts went back to something that had bugged him for a while now that things had calmed down.
“Well, now that I know where I am living and all, how about we talk about that stupid stunt you pulled back during the fight at Sangheili?”
Right, he still hadn’t wrung the nerd’s neck for that one. Back when the Strassian used his mech, Maroon, to block what could have easily been a fatal blow to Grif’s mech. The chubby human had been so uncharacteristically worried that Grif would have killed Simmons himself after the fear that Felix had done so already dissipated.
Simmons’ face took on a reddish hue, “What, you mean trying to save your fucking life?”
“It wouldn’t have been worth it if you or both of us had died, dipshit!” Grif countered.
Simmons glanced at the ground, “Well, what should I have done then, asshole? Let you get fucking killed?”
Grif sighed, “Honestly? I have no fucking clue.” He admitted, “I’m newer to this whole mech business than you are. All I know is that it would have sucked ass if you died. You’d probably bitch haunt me until the end of time.”
Simmons glanced up then, face definitely red now. It was a cute look on him, what with his blue-tinged freckles, pale skin, green eyes, and all, “…I could say the same thing about if you died.” He muttered.
“Cool. So, we’re on the same page then: either of us dying would royally suck.” Grif joked.
“Y—yeah.” Simmons nodded, a tiny smile forming on his face.
Seeing that caused Grif’s own smile to widen, “You know, you skipped the most important part of the tour.” He noted, a teasing tone to his voice.
“Oh?” Simmons glanced at the human, caught off-guard by the sudden change in topic and by the notion that he had somehow forgotten anything important. Total nerd.
Grif nodded, “Yeah. The mess hall. I’m fucking starving.”
As if on cue, the lazy man’s stomach started to rumble. He couldn’t have planned it any better himself.
Simmons stared at the orange-wearing man for a few moments before he smiled again, “This way, fat-ass.” He said, trying to hold back laughter.
Grif grinned and followed the Strassian, “See? What did I tell you? I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful partnership.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Simmons muttered, eyes seemingly avoiding making contact with Grif’s.
“Trust me, Simmons.” Grif stated, resisting the sudden urge he had to throw his arm over the other man’s lanky shoulders as they walked as a pleasant smell seemed to fill the hallway.
Simmons still didn’t look totally convinced, but he nodded his head and even answered a few more questions that Grif asked him regarding Chorus and Strassians in general. The redhead even dared to ask a few questions of his own about Grif’s past in Rat’s Nest, although he was frustrated by Grif’s lazy-and-less-than-stellar replies, especially when he realized the human was answering that way on purpose just to annoy him.
Neither man seemed to notice the large smiles that had formed on their faces as they talked more together, eventually walking past the now fully stocked Chorus mech docking bay as they headed towards the mess hall.