Derek ducked as Taran landed beside her, then helped to stabilize her. He slipped his flashlight out and continued to make his way down. "Kyrie, where are you from? Central Slums? South Central? Please don't say you're from South Central."
South Central was known for angry people who had a bad habit of incurring the wrath of the inquisition on the daily. Central did it about once a week.
Kyrie landed with a muffled thump, and followed the others. "I'm from South Central," He said through a breathy chuckle, hitting his flashlight in a dull attempt to conjure up a stronger light, "–But I found work in Central, so…" He sighed, shrugging lightly.
Lynn let out a faint laugh, but didn't chime in about his own origins. Hell, he didn't really know. All he knew was that his father passed down a genetic disease along with his fists. He ran his hands through his hair, and powered on his flashlight.
"Oh, um… Yeesh. I mean, not that SC's bad or anything… just uh… you know. Might as well be Inquisition Central."
Derek looked back over his shoulder and locked eyes with Kyrie, "Sorry. I had a couple buddies from South Central. Really… colorful. Scared the hell outta me. And a pair of Inquisition Guards. You can guess how that went."
(I should probably say it now just so ya'll know: I am incredibly sorry if I take what may seem like an unreasonable amount of time to reply sometimes. I know I started this whole thing, but Coronavirus wasn't causing the problems it is now. And from now until when this whole deal is over, I'm trying to make sure a lot of people are safe, and I may forget this. Feel free to poke me as many times as it takes to get me back on.)
Kyrie nervously broke from Derek's gaze, studying the neat wiring that lined the walls. "It's fine. But, yeah…it's a little rough," He said with hesitancy, almost adding 'but it's home' even though it never was. Any memory of home had been dragged out into the street and taken when he was a boy, then taken a second time when Inquisition Guards tore apart his workshop in the slums.
(its not a problem! safety should be everyone's priority right now, and it's good that you're focusing on whats important. good luck! stay safe :)
(Stay safe! And it's okay if you forget about this, we understand!)
(stay safe! We understand, bud!)
“Right,” he shrugged, suddenly kicking himself for bringing it up, “anyways. Shouldn’t be much further now. Vaults are usually pretty sturdy looking rooms, it’ll be reinforced. I’ve got a trick though.” Derek reaches in his jacket, reaching for…
Thin air, apparently. He motioned a stop and began to sift through his pack.
“Shit, please tell me I’m being dumb. Please please….”
"What now?" Taran asked. She hadn't really wanted to talk about the places, and was glad that they had stopped. "Did you forget something? Not surprising. Don't you every single time?"
Lynn frowned slightly. "Derek, what did you do this time?" he asked slowly, eyebrows drawing together in a frown.
“I can’t find the plasma-torch. I was gonna use it to crack the vault wall, but…” he stood up and slipped his pack back on, “I just can’t find it. We’ll have to get creative. Unless you guys brought something?”
Lynn nodded slightly, then shook his head. "I've got nothing but the gun." he said, gesturing to it. He was working on modifying it to be a bit more high-tech and usable, but none of its parts would be useful right now. "If there's an access panel, I can try to hack us in, though."
Taran hesitated, before shrugging. It couldn't hurt to tell them. She pulled her sleeve up and pulled off her glove. Her metal left arm clicked and whirred as a small saw blade emerged. "Would this work?" She asked.
Kyrie's eyebrows rose at the sight and machinery of Taran's arm. He only carried minor tools in his pack and on his toolbelt; nothing that could currently help them, unless improvisation came down to be their last option and some modifications were needed. He peeled his eyes away from the saw blade, it'll snap if the wall's too rigid.
"How tough is the vault wall, do you know?" Kyrie asked, turning to Derek.
Derek shook his head, “If I needed a saw, I’d run back and grab the one we had earlier. No, the doors are typically too hard to cut through. We need something else.” He snapped a couple times, pacing. Eventually, he shrugged, “I’ll think of something… for now, let’s at least find that vault. We’ll find our way through it eventually.
"How do you know?" Taran asked, letting her sleeve fall back down and the saw fold back into place. "We could be waiting for a way to open the door for a while." She shrugged. "Unless you like waiting in old machinery that could collapse at any minute." She paused, considering. "Although this one is a pretty strong model."
Lynn sighed. "I did say I can try and hack us in, if there's a control panel I can access." he said again, not seeming fazed by Taran's arm. He crossed his arms slightly, hoping he wasn't being too irritable.
"You'd have to find one first," she pointed out. Taran wasn't trying to be mean, but she was being logical. She didn't see a control panel anywhere. "Usually they're inside the big huge metal door that no one can break in to."
“You have one other issue there, Lynn,” Derek added, “Power is out. And even if we could, I doubt the Inquisition would be happy about us powering up a Titan.”
"–Moths to a flame," Kyrie nodded in agreement, staring blankly at the wall as he thought of what they could possibly do. He folded his arms, blinking, "So if jump-starting this thing is more-or-less out, what else can we do? I've got tools, but I don't wanna be messin' around with saws and weapons unless it comes down to that."
Derek began walking again, motioning for the others to follow, “Like I said. Let’s find it first. For all we know this one’s looted by now.
They continued picking through the labyrinth of wires and pipes, checking room after room. Titans were notorious for being incredibly confusing, and each one was designed to be unique, but there was a purpose behind that. Titan crews tended to only work with a single Titan for the duration of their service. They learned those Titans inside and out. Any boarders trying to take one over, or destroy key systems would have no idea where to go once inside.