A Traipse Through Bedrock Hold
-Administrative District-
Yelv was a tough man to get a bead on. Most people knew him as that loner who hung around the Commercial District, the abrasive lone wolf who nobody could figure out. Yelv's reluctance to erase this reputation had made it so that less people approached him than they did even the outwardly misanthropic Murderess, and therefore Yelv returned the favour. However, all of that began to change during Yelv's quest to find a trace of his best friend. It was these events that had sparked a newfound drive within him to begin communicating with people again, beginning first and foremost with his new partner. After that Yelv finally branched out a little, made a couple of friends in his Division, even bantered with the strange bald man that a certain someone insisted on bringing along sometimes. But he wasn't satisfied, somewhere deep down he wanted to make a more substantial connection, something a little different than what he had with his 'Pard'. It took him a while to fully think through his options, but one day he finally swallowed his pride and approached Elma at BLADE Tower.
Yes, the very same Elma who had singlehandedly saved humanity with her incredible technology. The very same Elma who had trained so many BLADEs before and after the landing on Mira, including himself. She stood out immediately from the other humans and xenoforms that littered the area; skin more pale than the sands of Sylvalum, lavender hair seemingly made out of crystal, and a set of unique black body armour that left very little to the imagination. Even though he'd only seen her like this once before, that unique mix of infatuation and intimidation Yelv felt around her would never let him forget who he was looking at. With all that said, why exactly did Yelv approach her in the first place? Simple. Yelv only really opened up to people who had his respect, and as of late he was really beginning to make a habit of it.
The last time he had spoken to Elma was during the excavation of the Lifehold Core database. They hardly exchanged any words before the operation went underway, as there was no time to waste. Elma was very matter of fact throughout the mission, as expected, so Yelv had no idea how she'd react to having him approach her. Whatever apprehension he was feeling multiplied tenfold as Elma noticed him. Initially, having her piercing purple eyes fixated entirely on him was all kinds of unnerving. Elma was known for her signature stare during the days at the academy, and it seemed that even in this other body she hadn't lost her touch.
"Oh. Hello Yelv."
Not a terrible start. She showed no discernible emotions one way or the other, but that was probably just more of Elma's trademark stoicism than anything.
"Hey Colonel, are you busy?"
She shook her head, so far so good. Yelv kept up his brave face as he continued his pitch.
"So, I've got a little Reclaimer gig here for us that no-one's managed to tackle yet. Do you wanna hear the details?"
Elma was looking a little curious. Perhaps she was willing to hear him out?
"Well, it must be pretty important if you approached me about it like this. Tell me more."
Tell her more? Yelv had such little faith in his idea that it took him a second to fully register the information. Promptly, Yelv whipped out his comm device and laid out the details.
"You've seen it right? That untouched FN site up in northwest Primordia? I can feel it, if we get up there and plant that probe the payout's gonna be crazy!"
Elma's reply came without hesitation.
"What's the catch?"
Yelv let out a sigh. This was it, the moment of truth.
"Well, the probe's stuck behind this big ass Ganglion outpost called Bedrock Hold. Anybody who's tried to get around it in a Skell ended up running home with their tail between their legs. I just figured you and I would be able to handle it on foot, is all."
Elma gave him a sceptical look. He wasn't wrong, she'd heard what happened to the BLADEs who'd found themselves in the area as well. Rather, she could quite easily tell that Yelv had an ulterior motive. Nothing malicious, she figured, but an ulterior motive all the same. Elma simply crossed her arms and resolved to get the full story out of him later.
"Fair enough. We'll head out right now."
And just like that the two of them entered the hangar, grabbed their Skells and set out to make Reclaimer history.
-Bedrock Hold-
For once the journey in their Skells was mercifully uneventful, it hardly took any time at all to reach Bedrock Hold from the Hangar. Elma and Yelv parked around along the approach, far out of the viewing radius of any enemies that just happened to be nearby. Looking ahead they could see all the hallmarks of a Ganglion stronghold. Fortifications made up of some manner of jagged metal sullied the landscape. Marnuck foot soldiers made their rounds along stringent metal bridges. Fal-swo dotted the skies and acted as surveillance. Topping it off were the Quos and Qmoevas, all of which ready and waiting to tear apart any intruders. Elma and Yelv hid behind the enterance, just outside of view, and waited as they planned their next move. After assessing the landscape, Elma turned to Yelv and gave him the first order.
"We can get up to that bridge through a building on the opposite side of this wall, follow me."
Elma took her first step towards the entrance when Yelv grabbed his Photon Sabre and adopted his battle stance. Wait a second, was he really about to run straight into a Ganglion stronghold and hope for the best? Ever the gracious leader, Elma elected to stop her partner in crime before he got himself shot full of holes.
"Yelv, what are you doing?
Yelv avoided her eyes when he answered back.
"Wha? I just kinda figured we'd fight our way through, y'know."
Just as she thought. Now was the time to let him in on her plan.
"Yelv, hold still."
At the same time, she grabbed Yelv's free hand and held it tight.
"Don't get the wrong idea."
He did indeed get the wrong idea.
Elma closed her eyes and pulled out one of her swords, causing a blueish energy to engulf them. As she spread her right arm out and uttered 'Shadowrunner!'the energy normalised into a cloaking aura that surrounded the two of them.
"Woah, what did you— "
Before Yelv could finish, Elma began to sprint towards the structure behind the wall with Yelv in tow. Ganglion strongholds were structured repetitively, if there were bridges there were probably buildings connected to them. Elma improvised her route through the hold, she and her partner going unnoticed all the while.
As the two of them reached the bridge, Elma took the time to explain what she just did.
"I put up an Aura that makes us invisible. I'll have to refresh it now, but I've only got a couple more left in me. After that we might have to fight, okay?"
Yelv answered back with a confident smile.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
They kept straight on, running and running along the path laid out by small elevations of rock. She had to refresh Shadowrunner as she ran past several small enemy keeps and lookout stations. The two of them reached an uneven wall of rock, it was clear that that they'd have to climb up it order to get to plant that probe. Yelv looked up and grimaced.
"Ah crap. We're gonna have to find a way up that aren't we?"
Elma responded, cool headed as ever.
"To be fair, you're the one who wanted to plant the probe."
That reminded her, she still didn't know what that ulterior motive was. She figured now was about as good a time as any to ask since no enemies were in sight. As Elma began her ascent she began to pry.
"So Yelv, what's the reason you wanted me to help you out here? The real reason?"
Yelv froze up again. She knew he was hiding something from her. Yelv thought it over for a little bit, and came to a conclusion. 'What the hell, why not tell her?'
Yelv grabbed her hand as she helped lift him up onto a higher elevation of rock
"Well, Ma'am. I'll be honest. I just scouted you 'cause I wanted to get to know you better."
Elma looked at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head.
"Get to know me better?"
Yelv nodded and continued despite his apprehensions.
"Yeah. The whole 'lone wolf' thing got played out. I figured hey, 'If I'm gonna start running with a pack, I might as well get to know the alpha better too'. I mean you trained me and all so that's kind of like a head start, right?"
Elma was a little lost, strange old phrases from Earth tended to fly over her head it seemed. She found a comfortable perch on which the two of them could rest up for a bit and offered Yelv her hand. When she finished pulling him up Elma made full eye contact with him once again. Much to Yelv's surprise, those eyes of hers were filled with a sort of glibness.
"Sneaking through a Ganglion strong hold is your idea of a social call? No wonder you never take team assignments."
Yelv shrugged his shoulders.
"Nah, Reclaimer jobs ain't really worth having all that dead weight around."
Smiling a little, Elma playfully feigned offense.
"Well now! Allow me to apologise for weighing you down so much, Yelv!"
Not picking up on the sarcasm, Yelv immediately went on the defensive.
"What? NO! That's not what I-"
That was when Elma started laughing. It had been so long since he'd heard the sound that it actually startled him. Ever since he'd begun his 'lone wolf' routine this more easy-going side of Elma had almost completely faded from his memory, yet here it was coming back in spades. He would have been happier if he weren't so confused… and a tiny bit concerned.
"Ma'am, you okay?"
Elma answered back with a radiant smile on her face.
"Of course! Yelv, you haven't changed a bit."
All this time Elma thought that her favourite student had shut himself off from others completely, but here he was, chatting to her again as if those long months of minimal contact hadn't happened at all. For the first time in a long time, Elma felt as if they were on the same page again. As it turned out, the feeling was mutual.
"Neither have you, Colonel."
After a long, frustrating climb up a steep mountainside later and the two of them finally found the spot where they'd lay down the probe. There it was, a little ray of light just waiting to be cultivated in the name of Frontiernav. Elma turned to face her partner.
"This is it. Are you ready, Yelv?"
Yelv shot her a satisfied smirk in response.
"Let's wrap this up!"
With that the two of them sprinted towards the FN Site, just a little more and they were in the clear. Though of course it wasn't that easy. All of a sudden Elma heard some very distinct clicking noises not too far behind them. She put her arm in front of Yelv's chest to halt him.
"Ma'am?"
"Behind us!"
And sure enough, five fully armed Marnuck troopers were waiting for them, rifles primed and ready to fire. Elma and Yelv froze in place, careful as to not make any sudden movements. A remote controlled Qmoeva flew in from and landed behind the squad, its speaker relayed the metallic voice of a Definian.
"Intruders? Kill them and send the man's body to the Antropolis! Mother's been looking for some mint condition human parts for a while now, so try not to leave any marks!"
Yelv moved his hand above the hilt of his sabre in preparation. Yelv leant in ever so slightly and whispered to the Colonel.
"Any ideas?"
Elma shook her head.
"I don't see any other way out of this. Strike the second you see an opening."
Yelv could tell from her tone of voice that she wasn't going to enjoy this.
As if on que, one Marnuck stepped forward to show off to his squad mates.
"Try not to leave any marks? Bah! These two look so weak tha-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Yelv blinded him with a pillar of scolding purple light from his raygun. Yelv moved in immediately and struck at stuck at the enemy with his sabre, softening him up with a series of brutal blows before using Galactic Cataclysm to split the hapless Marnuck in two. The others were so distracted that they never saw Elma coming when she struck from the shadows, leaving the unsuspecting Marnuck injured and disorientated. When the Marnuck tried to strike back Elma slid under him, firing two full clips into him in the process before finishing him off with 6 quick and powerful slashes.
The third Marnuck began firing off shot at Elma from a safe distance, but found that his bullets would just disappear into the decoys she surrounded herself with. Elma ran towards him, the Marnuck tried desperately to sneak in a hit with the butt of his rifle to no avail. As the residual energy dissipated the Marnuck reloaded his rifle to fire at her again, but at that point Elma was already behind him. The last thing he heard was Elma's shout of "Hundred Shells!"
Yelv found himself engaged by the remains of the enemies. He too was surrounded by the decoys Elma had used to evade the enemy's strikes, but he knew that they wouldn't last. He needed an edge and he needed it now.So as he'd done many times before, Yelv focused. Two glowing jewels surrounded him, swapping his very life's essence for a new bout of tension. He felt completely re-energised, now was the time! Yelv activated his Overdrive, and just like that a cloak of white gears surrounded his body and unlocked his innermost potential.
"You are so freaking done!"
Slashes and swipes were coming out quicker than ever, the fourth Marnuck barely lasted ten seconds before he dropped dead on the spot. Yelv then turned his attention to the Qmoeva, it only took one Starfall Rondo to knock it out of the sky. By the time Yelv had turned his attention to the last Marnuck he had had already ran off in a last ditch attempt to kill Elma, charging at her like an enraged Evello. Unfortunately for him Elma wasn't having any of it, and was met with a boot to the stomach that sent him spiralling into Yelv's final blow. With their enemies eliminated, Yelv's Overdrive wore off and he regrouped with Elma.
"Yeah-HEAH! We really kick ass together, don't we?"
Elma sighed and brushed some of the black blood off of her arm.
"That's one way of putting it. Now, the probe."
Yelv brought out the mining apparatus and set it in place. The probe was ready, he had his comm device out to patch it into Frontiernav, everything was set. However, the moment that the apparatus began to drill into the ground it began to emit smoke until it collapsed in on itself and spat the probe at Yelv's feet. Yelv looked over to Elma and found that she was every bit as confused as he was. A few seconds later an error message popped up on his comm device that read 'FN Site 101 – Mechanical Lv 5'
Yelv just stood there, utterly confused at what he'd just learned. However, that confusion soon transformed into sheer rage.
"Five? There's a level FIVE?"
Elma didn't fare much better.
"What? How is that even possible?"
In his blind fury, Yelv picked up the probe and threw it as far as he could. Though it surely got rid of one perfectly good probe, the act did nothing to cure his dissatisfaction. Feeling utterly defeated, he flopped unceremoniously onto the ground next to the seemingly untouched FN site. Elma joined him, still not quite knowing what to make of what she just saw.
The two of them absent-mindedly stared off into the distance in the hopes of forgetting everything that had just happened. Soon enough Yelv's angerbegan to dissipate, and before long he was ready to brush off the whole affair and head home. That was, until he realised that they'd made one very important oversight.
"Hey, Elma?"
"Yeah?"
"Any idea how we're gonna get down from here?"
"…Damn."
-Administrative District-
It was a little past midnight when Yelv and Elma returned to New LA, and naturally the two of them were horrendously tired. It had been a while since the prospect of a warm bed seemed so comforting to Elma, though apparently Yelv didn't feel the same way.
"Are you sure? I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if you stayed in our quarters for the night."
"Hey, I not gonna start leeching off you Ma'am. I've got my own spot to spend the night, anyway."
Elma crossed her arms, Yelv followed suit unconsciously. That was when another question hit her.
"Yelv. Remember when we lay there, next to the probe site?"
"What of it?"
"You called me Elma"
Yelv uncrossed his arms. He began to worry if he'd committed a very dangerous faux pa.
"Hey now, you're not in trouble."
"Huh?"
Elma locked eyes with Yelv once again. This time he saw what looked like fatigue nestled within them.
"Despite what most people say, I really am just another BLADE, Yelv. In the end, titles are just another barrier between me and my peers. As if there aren't enough already."
Elma looked down at herself. She placed a hand on her heart and looked down at her body, at the very alien armour that clung to her pale skin.
"So please. If you're really comfortable enough to call me 'Elma', then go right ahead."
Yelv simply smiled. For once, he knew exactly what to say.
"Whatever you say, Elma."
Elma's eyes flashed with relief, and genuinely, she told him:
"Thank you."
Elma turned away and opened the front door. She paused for a moment before peering back at Yelv from over her shoulder. There was one more thing she needed to ask him.
"Hey, Yelv. You said you wanted to get to know me better, right? Well, how about a day out?"
Yelv was at a complete loss. Of course he wanted to go, but that didn't change the fact that he had no idea what he'd do with her for a whole day. He still accepted despite himself.
"Alright. But where are we gonna go?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'll let you know once I have a clear schedule, okay?
Yelv shot her a smirk.
"It's a date."
On that note, the two said their goodbyes and Yelv watched as Elma disappeared into the doorway, along with accidentally getting an eyeful of her exposed backside. Yelv violently tore his eyes away once he realised what he was doing.
"Dammit Yelv, have some respect."
Yelv took a deep breath and shook those thoughts off. It had been a long day, and he swore he could hear comfy back alley wall calling his name. He was about to around and head back to the Commercial District when he received a brand new message on his comm device. Lo and behold, it was from Elma.
'By the way. Don't think I didn't catch you sneaking a peek as I left ;) -Elma'
When the initial shock wore off all he could do was laugh.
"Never misses a beat, does she?"