Writer’s spot: Greetings friends! It’s time for the new mission to begin!

SO, todays chapter is around the 2.5k words, so it’s average, I guess. And there shouldn’t be any double releases today since it’s already late, so yeah. On a side note, in two days I will be one year less young, so hooray for me! I accept virtual candy and cookies as presents, okay?

BESIDES, I wrote a bit of the Insania’s SS today and it’s almost done the first chapter. So I’ve been wondering whether I should hold it until the break ends, and keep doing double-posts until all SS are up, or update them as I write, even during the break…

BESIDES(II), Okay, i'm not the greatest at writing with accents, so if at any time i drop Ross' accent, please to warn me, okay? You get candy for noticing errors!

Beep, and enjoy your story!

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Gaz rolled out of the trailer when Yllivia signaled him to. A quick look around and he found himself in what looked like a garage, with many tools hanging on the walls around them, the jeep that Volgoff sometimes took to Ross’ workshop, and another trailer, this one looking a bit newer than the one he had just gotten off.

He saw as everyone got off from the trailer, except for Volgoff, who started to detach the old trailer and start to maneuver the truck’s cabin so that he could attach it to the new one. As soon as he was done, he also got off the truck and joined the group.

Once they were all out, the group gathered around Sorius, who looked at each one individually before starting.

“Okay, so we got quite a big mission this time.” He said seriously before looking directly to Ross. “I’ll take it that you won’t let your ‘bone to pick’ mess with the mission, right?” He asked in confirmation and the dwarf nodded seriously. He nodded and turned to the others. “Good, now, we have a couple of hours before we have to depart, so make sure that you get everything ready. With some luck, all of our preparations will be for nothing, but I’d rather spend a few hours preparing than a few days recuperating.”

The others nodded at his words, but from what Gaz could see, all of them were perfectly ready, wearing all of their gear and equipment, so he couldn’t help but feel that it was a bit unneeded. After that he discussed some more details with the others and dismissed them.

Immediately after, the Lynnian called the robot to a corner where she crouched to his side and said.

“Beepy. You stay here an…”

Gaz immediately turned away and went back to exploring the place around him with some curiosity completely disregarding her words. The Girl seemed shocked for a moment, since she didn’t move for some time before suddenly grabbing one of his repair limbs and pulling him back.

“Beepy, you will stay he…”

“Beep!” He interrupted her before removing his limb from her grasp and turning back to the base. [Geez, this is the first time I can leave the city in a long time! Of course I’m going with them.]

“Geez, this is the first time he can leave the city, Ylli! Let the little bot have his fun too!” Ross said with a smirk.

“But it’s dangerous.” She said while looking seriously at the dwarf.

“Look, he lived on the forest alone for some time. AND he got himself quite a sturdy body. I think he can handle himself quite well, ya know?” he said while shrugging.

Not that he lived that long alone in the forest, but his words seemed to convince the girl, because she sighed loudly and nodded sullenly. Gaz felt a slight tinge of guilt in seeing her like that, but since anything he could do at the moment would probably only worsen her mood, he decided to leave it alone for now.

Roaming around the garage, he saw as everyone did what appeared to be their own pre-mission routines. Ross started fine-tuning his armor, Yllivia sat on the floor cross-legged meditating, Lunn laid herself on an old sofa with her eyes closed and the headphones on, Sorius took out a book from out of nowhere and Volgoff stuck himself beneath the truck and started changing some pieces.

After a while, the troll came out from beneath the truck and asked for a hand from the dwarf. Curious, Gaz followed him to see what they were doing and saw as the two removed a medium-sized fuel tank and put on an even bigger one in. They quickly smiled at each other for a job well done before the troll suddenly frowned.

“Ross… Will you be alright with only that armor?” He asked with some worry on his voice.

“Geez, Volg. I’ll be fine!” He said with a wry smile. “As long as it isn’t an high rankin’ blacktrigger, this beauty should be enough to handle them.” He said while tapping the armor in his arm. “I mean, it’s not the best power armor out there, but it’s sure a thousand times better than those store-bought ones.”

The troll looked worried at him for a moment before finally smiling and nodding. It seemed that he was satisfied with the dwarf’s answer, as he didn’t pursue it any-longer. Taking his attention elsewhere, Gaz saw as Sorius and Lunn started to bicker at each other like always. He tried to gather what was the reason, but it seemed to be something fairly idiotic.

Seeing as he didn’t have much to do himself, he finally gave up and went to a corner of the room, where he started to patiently monitor the group’s situation in silence.

A couple of hours went by as Ross and Volgoff finished some final preparations on the trailer. Then Sorius received a call from the contractor. He exchanged a couple of words with whoever it was on the other side of the line. Gaz was almost certain that it wasn’t Ollan, since he had been the middleman last time.

He didn’t even finish his conversation before the all the group was already sitting ready on the trailer, Beepy included. He shut down his phone and climbed to the passenger’s seat besides Volgoff.

“Let’s meet our V.I.P., shall we?”

….

The new trailer was a lot more comfortable looking than the old one, with actual furniture inside like some beds, fridge, bathroom and even what looked like a TV! Compared to only the benches of the other one, this one was much more luxurious, even if not perfect. But from what Gaz saw of the new fuel tank, it would probably eat a lot more fuel than before, so no wonder they didn’t use it earlier.

The decision to change trailers came from the fact that the travel would take a few days, since they were going to avoid getting the direct route AND take a large detour around two other cities. Time wasn’t an issue with the mission, at the very least. Gaz couldn’t help but wonder if they could manage even without this trailer, and only put it in expectation for the V.I.P.

[So, did you manage to pick something about what the hell these blacktriggers are?] He asked Ekis.

[Not much besides what you already know.] She said with a sigh. Gaz had asked her to keep a look on the groups conversation to see if she could pick something, but it seem that she didn’t have much success. [At most, they seem to be mercs that deal with illegal missions.]

[Yeah… I had guessed as much…] He said with a sigh.

He knew that what he chose to do with following them was probably dangerous, but he wanted at least to know how dangerous it was. Sadly, it seemed that he didn’t have much luck with that.

Finding himself a corner beneath one of the bunk beds that fit him almost nicely, he stood there while waiting with the rest of the group. He could somehow feel as the truck made turns after turns on the city’s street, going wherever it was they were going. Ross and Lunn started some small talk to distract themselves, while Yllivia sat besides him and started with their occasional beep exchange.

[She isn’t very sociable, is she?] He asked to no one, but he could feel as Ekis agreed awkwardly with him.

Around a few minutes later the truck stopped and he could hear as the driver’s and the motorist door opened outside. Some hasty steps and a hushed conversation that he couldn’t pick up, and the trailer’s door opened again, opening passage to Sorius, whom escorted a hooded figure, wearing a large coat and pants.

“You can sit beside the retard and the idiot there.” He said pointing to the dwarf and the elf.

“I love you too, man!” Said Ross with a loud laugh.

The hooded figure looked amused towards the black haired elf for a moment before nodding and walking towards the duo. Gaz examined the figure for a moment. He couldn’t see much because of the coat’s hood, but from the little he could see, it was a girl. Probably no older than fifteen or sixteen years old if he would take human height as an example.

The girl took out her hood, revealing herself as a Morfian with an age around the one he had imagined. She had some red marking around her eyes and a long hair-mass that fell almost to her waist.

“So the lassie is our VIP?” Ross asked, more as if amused than asking confirmation. Sorius still nodded in response. “Nice to meet ya! Name’s Ross.” He said with a nod.

The girl looked at him for some time before nodding.

[Yay! Another super social one!] Gaz said playfully in his mind.

[That’s rude!] Ekis rebutted.

[You didn’t deny, though.] She didn’t say anything.

“As always, no questions asked. During the mission she will go by the code-name of Red, so don’t botherthe lady.” Sorius said before fixing his gaze on the pink haired elf. “And that goes doubly for you.”

“Partypooper…” She muttered loud enough for him to hear. He simply smiled at her for a moment.

“I’ll be in the driver’s cabin with Volgoff. Whatever you need feel free to ask Yllivia over there.” He said lastly to the girl, who once again simply nodded while sitting down. Satisfied with the answer, Sorius walked away from the cabin, closing it on the way out.

[Say… Is it just me… Or did they not notice the robot?] Gaz asked in his mind as he stared at a small cat-shaped robot coiling around the girl’s feet. For some reason the others showed absolutely no reaction to the robot, even when he kept so close to the girl.

[Oh, it seems to use optical camouflage.] She answered to him cheerfully.

[Optical camouflage? Isn’t that like… Really high-end?] He asked surprised.

[Yeah… Not only that, but also sound mufflers.] The goddess said impressed. [But it seems that it didn’t deem you as a threat, so it excluded you from its systems targets to save some battery.] She said while Gaz analyzed the small intruder.

[At least he doesn’t seem to have bad intentions. That and he is blatantly touching the girl, so she probably knows he is here.] He said in wonder. [I don’t think I need to do anything about it then.] He said as if shrugging his shoulder. The goddess arrived to the same conclusion as she said nothing else.

With Red simply sitting there quietly in her corner, Ross and Lunn started looking for something to get a conversation rolling, but before any of them came to an idea, the girls eyes landed on him, where she widened them in shock. Her mouth hanged open for a brief moment before she started to open and close it rapidly, as if forming voiceless words.

The cat seemed to notice her reaction and immediately looked towards Gaz, giving him a bit more attention before finally going back to resting at her feet again.

The girl looked towards the two escorts who were seeing her reaction and opened her mouth.

“Err… Which one is Idiot, and which one is Retard?”

For a moment the whole trailer froze as her sincere and innocent words echoed within the room. That was the worst part of the phrase, as she clearly didn’t have any ill intent within her question. Ross and Lunn looked at each other with a wry smile in their faces as neither knew how to answer.

“Then, I’m idiot, and she is retard.” Ross said while pointing at himself and then to Lunn.

“Huh? No! I want to be Idiot! You keep retard!” Lunn shouted angrily.

“Hah? No way. I like idiot more! I'll keep it.” He answered with a frown.

The two stared at each other for a moment before starting a fight to see who would keep being the idiot. Yllivia, probably long used to their reactions, simply ignored their fight while gently petting Gaz. Red, on the other hand, looked shocked at the scene, confused on what had happened.

[You know what? I’m starting to like that girl.] Gaz said in his mind, receiving a chuckle in response.

The girl looked worriedly towards Yllivia, who simply nodded before lifting herself from the ground and approaching the duo. A few seconds later the two were laying on the floor moaning in pain as they held their stomachs. Yllivia nodded to herself for a job well done before sitting besides Beepy once again.

“Err… Sorry…” The girl said a bit worried as she looked at the two. “I just… I wanted to know where that robot is from.” She said while pointing at the Gaz.

“Huh? Beepy?” Ross asked while raising himself. Since he was more than used to the Lynnian’s punch he had an easier time recovering. “Well, he’s from that forest before the leaper’s plain.” He said with a wry smile as he felt a spike of pain.

“But… From what I know there shouldn’t be robots like him there?” The shocked girl asked.

“Oh? You seem to know a lot about ‘em.” Ross said with a smile. The girl’s eyes widened before she firmly closed her mouth, some regret clear on her face. “Alrighty then. I'll try to not ask too much.” He said shrugging. “Anyway, he wasn’t actually like that in the beginnin’. That is a new body he built with some leaper’s scrap.” He said with a proud smile.

“You said… That a robot built a brand new body for itself? From scratch?” The girl asked, clearly not believing his words.

“Yah. I saw it with my own two eyes.” He said while hitting his large hand in his chest.

“I… Don’t believe it.” Red said shaking her head.

“You don’t? Why don’t you check his parts then. All one hundred percent leaper’s part.” Ross said with a taunting smile, but…

“No one will open Beepy.” Yllivia said lowly with a dangerous look in her eyes, making the other three take a step back.

“No… I… Sorry…” The girl said lowly. “I won’t ask again.” She said while lightly bowing and sitting down.

“Geez Yllivia! You scared the poor girl!” Lunn said while pouting and suddenly hugging Red by surprise. “And it’s not like she would hurt Beepy, right?” She asked the girl in her arms.

The girl, still shocked, simply nodded while trying to remove her head from the elf’s bosom. Ross laughed loudly while Yllivia pulled Gaz a bit closer in a protective way and started staring at them. Gaz could almost hear a sigh and a laugh coming from the cabin ahead of them.

[Well… At least the voyage won’t be all that uneventful, right?] Gaz asked as he watched the scene.

[Seems like it.] Ekis said in a slightly awkward tone.