forum Daemon X Machina (CLOSED 5/5, feel free to watch shit go down)

Started November 09, 2019 by @Yamatsu

tune

@The-Absurd-Nerd You're all set! As for that glitch, I've seen it happen a few times before. Just refresh the page and you're all set!

Awright, scrubs! We in this bitch! I'll set us up tomorrow morning and we can go to town!

Here we go!

Every Outer wakes up early in the morning, but Copperhead always beat them to the punch whenever Arsenals were involved. By the time Four, the AI unit tasked with assisting all Reclaimers, alerted him to the responses to his merc group offer, he had already polished, reloaded, and recharged his Arsenal, Queenie. Her bronze plating reflected the hangar's brilliant fluorescent lighting, and her painted decals were crisp and bright. On her chest, the decal for the Iron Dragons:

On her shoulders, the Japanese symbol for "supremacy," and on the rest of her, weapons the likes of which could bring down a whole army of Immortals. Two Grim Reaper Mk III assault rifles in each hand, two Silver Raven Mk III submachine guns in reserve, a Thunderbird missile box on each shoulder, and a Hera's Grudge laser cannon on the back.

Queenie was a work of art, and Copperhead was the artist in question. He spent countless hours fine-tuning his Arsenal for maximum offense and defense, but most of the merc groups weren't accepting new members. So, he took matters into his own hands.

"Four, how many responses do I have?" Copperhead asked, wiping the sweat from his brow with a rag.

"You have 4 responses, each from other solo Reclaimers," the AI unit responded.

"Their credentials check out?"

"Nothing to report, no criminal record, no preexisting medical conditions, nothing within my database to suggest that these recruits aren't hiding any details from the Consortiums."

"Sweet!" Copperhead replied. "Tell them to meet in Hangar 18, and bring their Arsenals with them. I'll meet them in person so we can begin training."

"Good morning, Opal. They have approved you by the Iron Dragons. It is recommended that you meet in Hangar 18 with your arsenal." The notification chimed, awakening a groggy Opal.

As enthusiastic as Opal would be, she yawned. "Five more minutes, m'kay?" Nevertheless, Opal changed into her plugsuit and walked out of her room, stepping into her arsenal soon afterwards.

"Alright, Hangar 18… Should be over there." Opal sighed. Helena, after starting up, ran towards the Hangar.

Alaria was sprinting on the treadmill in the morning. It was a typical routine for her, but most people just gave her that look, the one that says she's absolutely nuts.

Most of the time, she just smiled and waved. It was easy.

*"Good Morning, Alaria. You have been approved by the Iron Dragons. Your presence is requested immediately in Hanger 18, along with your arsenal."

Alaria jumped up, grabbed the handlebars, and swung underneath the controls. She brought her feet up high and twisted down, so that she landed on her hands, where she did a handstand before spinning upright.

"Tell them I'm on my way. Spin up Butterfly and have her follow my lead."

After dressing up completely in her new plugsuit, she left her cabin and made her way to the Hanger.

Ash was meditating in his room, something he did often when he was worried about something. In this case his application to the Iron dragons, His meditation was interrupted by the AI unit inhabiting the building"Good morning ash, Your request has been approved by the iron dragons, you have been instructed to report to hanger 18 along with your arsenal" Ash stood and proceeded to change into his plug suit, Then proceeding to exit the room and walk at a brisk clip towards the Hanger.

Arlo’s watch lit up— more like a screened gauntlet, actually. He rolled out from under his mech, propping himself on the roller bed and letting out a sigh. The smell of grease, oil, and metal filled his lungs, but he was oblivious to the toxic air, having been with it the most of his life.

“Iron Dragons, huh?” he asked aloud, reading the message alighting his wrist. “Glad they liked what they saw.”
He lifted his head toward the suspended mech, silently giving it thanks. He has been working on a thruster, but tossed his tools aside, hoisting himself up and waddling over to a nearby chair. There lied his plug suit, and he slipped it on over his thin underclothes.
He crawled up into the pitch mech, leaving his garage and marching to the hangar.

As the recruits and their Arsenals stomped into Hangar 18, they could see that it looked like every other Hangar in the Oval Link. Weapons on racks, mechanics running around doing diagnostics, and the occasional pet scampering around. Hangar 18 had a few key differences, however. It was one of three places with its own ice cream parlor, a must considering the fact that Reclaimers never got to leave the base unless they were on leave.

Next to the ice cream parlor was the Lab, the only spot where surgical enhancements could take place. Mechanical enhancements were heavily regulated outside, but Reclaimers could replace damn near every part of their body if it meant being able to fight Immortals better. Copperhead despised the idea of willingly sacrificing part of his body. If one of his arms got shot off, sure, he'd get a replacement, but there were people walking around looking like the protagonist of that centuries-old movie Robocop. He couldn't stomach the idea of purposely replacing most of his natural body with mechanical parts.

The final major difference that separated Hangar 18 from the rest was the fact that it was the new home base of the Iron Dragons.

"Hello everyone!" Copperhead called out as the recruits entered. "My name is Copperhead. Welcome to your new home! I'm your new Commanding Officer, and this–" he gestured to the shining Arsenal behind him. "This is Queenie, my pride and joy. Aside from my kids, I mean. If y'all could place your Arsenals on the platforms behind me, we can get to work!"

Queenie was on the center platform, with three other platforms extending on either side of it. The Hangar could fit a squadron of seven, and most mercenary groups were limited by how many Arsenals they could fit. The largest one, Bullet Works, had a squadron of 10, each with their own rank. Despite their militaristic structure, they were all pretty easy-going in Copperhead's experience.

Alaria matched Butterfly onto the platform and slid down her leg to meet Copperhead, “Pardon me, Boss. Since you’re the boss man and all that, what do ya want us to call you? Boss? XO?” She hesitated, then added, “…Sir?”

If I have to call him ‘sir’, I will absolutely fight him for the right to call him anything else, she thought. He doesn’t look so tough.

Shadow directed Sentry to the platform, his much “skinnier” than most of the other mechs. Except for a small one, speedy-looking, with slick panels.
On the other hand, Queenie, Copperhead’s mech, was beautiful. To Shadow, at least. It was massive, shiny, and quite an elegant color.

Carefully, Shadow stationed Sentry on the platform, hoisting himself up out and onto the shoulder of it. He let out a smile, his eyes resting on his new Commanding Officer.
“Nice to meet you, Copper,” Shadow called, giving a nod. “Pleasure to work with you.”

"Nah," Copperhead said. "Don't even worry about it. Copperhead is just fine– Blink, was it? A pleasure to work with you too, Shadow," he said, turning to the other Reclaimer.

(I won’t have my computer back until Monday so I’m doing this on a phone have mercy on me)

Ash stationed his large Mech behind the already present trio. Emerging from it and kicking the hatch shut, “A pleasure to meet you sir!” He shouted from the top of his Mech “pardon the yelling but otherwise you wouldn’t be able to hear me!” Ash descended to ground level and offered his hand to Copperhead “as I said. A pleasure, beautiful Mech by the way”.

(Pardon my short reply!)

Jumping out of Hera, Opal grinned, saluting Copperhead with two fingers. "Opal Dawnger, at your service." She puts her hands on her hips, getting used to the surroundings of Hangar 18. "Great to be a part of the team!"

"Good to see you two as well," Copperhead replied, shaking both of their hands. "Now I'm certain you guys are already used to your Arsenals, which means it won't be long until we get to the fun stuff!"

Kicking a panel on the floor in front of Queenie, Copperhead stepped back as a terminal rose from the floor, the blue light of the holographic interface playing off of the Arsenal's plating. There were four access points on the terminal, and the screens lit up with a login screen.

"All we need is for you guys to login and register yourself with the Iron Dragons. Then, we can start accepting missions! We could probably knock out one or two before dinner if things go well."

"Of course," Opal stretched, then walked up to the terminal, typing in her name to register herself. God, she thought, this is the first time I've ever been a part of something this big, and for a cause? Let's hope I don't die on the first mission.
"Just say the word, Hera and I will be by your side. Thanks for accepting me."

Alaria stepped up, "So long as the pay's good, I'll be here," she started typing into the console, then glanced up sheepishly, "ummm…. I guess you guys seem okay too…"

She confirmed her info and stepped back to lean on Butterfly. "What do you think, girl?" she whispered, "They don't seem half bad. Do they?" Butterfly stood in silence.