Recommendation: reading Gummy's Operator Record "Growing Up" provides some context that you might appreciate.
Quick name reference: Zima=Sonya, Istina=Anna, Gummy=Lada, Leto=Rosalind, Rosa=Natalya, Absinthe=Zoya, Carrion=Mikhail (the OC)
Hoping for a reunion
"Tsk… I'm not really good at these things. Hey! Rosa! Do it yourself!"
A white-haired ursus made a cross with her arms and handed over the pack of conserved meat the blond little cub was going to use to prepare some grub for the group. The girl of brown hair and a bleached red strands grumbled again and glared at the paper. Throwing her legs onto the improvised table and giving that up, Zima took out an audio recording device.
"Since I'm too lazy to make the report right now, I'll be making this audio log for future reference. Sucks to be you, future me." The girl mocked herself. "Let's see, where did it all begun? Amiya gave our team the task of investigating a case of mysterious disappearances in a nearby town that Rhodes had been making trades with. A lot of mumbo-jumbo later, Istina got really into the case and sniffed the perpetrators out. They were just a bunch of thugs, but they were surprisingly strong. Nothing my team couldn't handle, of course!"
"Yo, Zima! How's your injury going?"
"Shut it, Leto. You're ruining my credibility here."
"Pfff! Your what? Hahahaha!"
A beating later, Zima sat on top of the punk who always enjoyed riling her up. "Ahem! As I was saying, we put those jerks six feet under. Any comments on that?"
"None, ma'am. Oh! Scratch that! The Generals Zima and Leto coordinated their attack and reduced the baddies with the brilliance only protagonists have! We're the strongest!"
"Yeah, yeah. No need to scream into my ears, jeez." The vanguard protested, stomping her head again to silence Leto. "We did a great job at finding the culprits thanks to Istina, but we still failed to capture them upon contact. Gummy was injured, so we spent the night in the forest while my current chair and I were doing some scouting ahead."
"Nothing to report!"
"Forests have trees. Big surprise. There were a couple of ambushes waiting for us, though, but nothing too serious. We then arrived to our current location. It's an abandoned village. There's no one here. If not for Rosa, we would have been searching through the buildings for days on end without finding anything or anyone. Before we approached the village, she saw some movement inside the town, which helped us identifying the bounty hunters' hideout."
"A question!" The chair rose her arm. Zima took pity on Leto and stood up, picking her up. "We've been calling them bounty hunters, but are they really? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I always found that weird."
"Gummy noticed that we had been followed by another group ever since we discovered the kidnappers, so we guessed that our pursuers were hired hitmen meant to buy the punks enough time to flee with the kids. Their damn plan worked."
"Well, well, general. Istina is working on that as we speak, isn't she?"
Zima glanced at the barn where the detective operator had brought the only surviving bounty hunter to interrogate him for the location of the kidnapped children. If anyone was suited for that task, that was Istina. Herself and Leto were too brutish to carry out an interrogation, whereas Gummy… well, she could be unexpectedly dark from time to time. As for Rosa, she would fall somewhere in between the two categories.
The leader of their group rested on the pile of hay and continued the recording. "Long story short, we baited the thugs out of their hideout and fought them. A few of them escaped alive, but we took care of the rest. The last shithead almost did me in, but Gummy saved my life… and… Hey, Zima of the future. Do not forget to recommend her for a promotion. Gummy has gained more control over her habits. It's hard to express how proud I am… Leto, you tell future me as well."
"She was awesome, dude! She bammed that thugs head one, two and three times! Without even splattering his brains out! When Istina gets the info, we'll save those kids and end the mission triumphantly! Yeeeeeeah!"
"…hmph. As Leto said, Gummy is today's MVP, no doubt. When I become Rhodes Island's big boss and kick the Doctor out of his office, I will put my generals in all the important positions. It's going to be amazing."
"And me? And me? What do I get to be, boss?"
"My chair."
"Yooooo! That's what I'm talking about! Hahaha! Eeeh, wait, wha?"
Zima chuckled at her pal's dumb face and continued to grin, thinking of their glorious future. She wasn't really invested in all that Infected business, but she knew Rhodes Island was an organization of good people that saved many lives. As such, Zima was willing to become their strength. However, THE Zima was far too great to be ordered around by some Doctor, so she made her goal to become the Doctor's boss.
Having teased her future right-hand for long enough, the future leader of Rhodes Island ended the recording while asking the other girls about her meal. Belly was hungry, so belly had to be fed.
The group of ursus girls tried waiting for Istina to end her task, but the brunette told them to start eating while she picked another bowl. Pushing the barn's door with her shoulder, she found Istina standing next to the bounty hunter that they tied onto a chair.
"Did he fess up?" Zima asked while handing over the bowl of soup.
"Ah, thanks. I needed this."
The blue-haired spectacled girl approached the hooded man of messy hair and wore a mug on her face. She glanced at him, sniffed her food and her grin widened. The man's belly protested, oblivious to the obvious intentions of his captors.
"Gummy's cooking is so good it could revive the dead. They say it's so tasty it can even cure traumas." Istina explained, enjoying how the hungry thug followed the bowl with his eyes, unable to resist his hunger. "Cooperate. I don't know who told you to kidnap those children or how much you were paid, but I don't really care. Our job is to return those kids to their parents. Help us… and you will help yourself to the tastiest soup of your life."
Zima slurped the last of her bowl, satisfaction taking over her smug face. "I think I'll go have seconds. If a certain someone doesn't decide fast, we might eat it all."
Istina giggled. "Rosa has quite the appetite."
"I bet it all goes to her-"
"Mmmhh! This is so good! Tell Gummy my thanks."
"Yeah, yeah."
"And save some more for me!"
"Gotcha."
As simplistic as the leader was, she knew to read in-between Istina's lines. Whatever the thug had said so far, it was something he was only willing to share with the interrogator. As such, Zima picked out her headphones from her jacket's pockets, put some music in them and returned to have her promised seconds. When she saw the dignified aristocrat tackling her third bowl of soup, she rushed to go have her repeat before the pigs she had for friends emptied the entire pot. The Ursus Self-Government Student Group knew hunger too well, so nobody appreciated a full stomach better than them. Gummy defended Istina's seconds and thirds with ladle in hand. The chef would not rest easy knowing someone didn't get their full meal after a good day of work!
"How I could use some delicious tea right about now…" The aristocrat lamented.
"You and your teas…"
"My? You also enjoy them, Zima. When you're not too stubborn to accept some sugar, that is."
"Sugar rocks!" Leto claimed to the four winds.
Gummy giggled and kept stirring the soup with the portable stove on. "I'm afraid we're all out of tea."
"You don't have to apologize, my dear Gummy. With our mission nearing its conclusion, we will be able to have some tea when we return to the landship. Will we enjoy your presence as well this time around, Leto?"
"Tea? And Leto? That's a catastrophe waiting to happen." The brawler talked about herself. "I might consider it if Gummy bakes some cookies though!"
"Ura! I'll make tons!" The blond chef grinned, setting in stone their next mission-cleared celebration.
"You got wasted from some honeyed cookies the other day." Zima elbowed her rival, setting the fire to yet another heated discussion on honeyed foods and their magical effects on Leto.
After some time calling on each other's snacking habits, the spectacled bear returned.
"I got the location. It's in the village. Let's go."
Bonds are like organs. They conform someone's identity and define who they are. That is why Gummy treasured her bonds with her friends so much. Their fates were interwoven during a tragedy. From the crevices of their emotional wounds, they created links with one another. Safety, good mood, curiosity, generosity… All sorts of positive emotions resurfaced whenever the little cub was with the rest of the USSG, but their relationship have gone for long enough that such feelings still lingered, even without their presence.
Istina guided the others towards the location the bounty hunter revealed, whereas Gummy stayed on the barn with their prisoner until the children were safely retrieved.
Being alone with a foe that tried stealing their lives was awkward, but Gummy wasn't truly alone. She held pieces of her favorite people in her heart. Like fuel, they allowed her to shine bright even in the face of adversity. The old Lada would not dare doing anything other than keeping watch, but Gummy was no longer just a little cub.
"Mr. kidnapper, why did you do it? Separating a child from their family is bad."
Her question wasn't adorned with an answer. The man continued to remain silent, his arms tied behind one of the barn's pillars. Gummy crossed her arms and rested them over her chair's back while looking at him.
"Are you that desperate for money? There are better ways to make some bucks than doing baddie stuff."
"…"
"Are you Infected?"
Her question caught the thug's attention. The man glanced at his right leg with hard eyes, which he then directed at his captor. There was hostility and anger… but as hostile and angry as the man looked, Gummy didn't miss his fear, so she showed him a big smile.
"It's okay! We are Rhodes Island operators. We do not discriminate the Infected. Quite the opposite! If you were so desperate for money after being rejected for your infection, you could have sought help from Rhodes Island. As long as you contribute in some way, you will be rewarded with treatment to put your symptoms under control! And everyone there is really nice! You should seriously consi-"
"Please, just shut up."
The silent man squinted his eyes, injured by the sight the innocent bear had been showing him. Hope and Future were two words that people rarely paired together. The bounty hunter gave one of them up… All he could focus on was the future, regardless of what needed to be done.
Gummy accepted that the thug wasn't in a mood for chatting and gave it a rest. However, silence was not something entirely welcomed by either of them.
"Why is your team here? What is your goal?" The hooded man of tired expression and messy hair questioned.
"We were told to investigate the disappearance of two children. You know, the ones we saw with you the other day." Gummy answered, turning her back on him and resting her hands on her door-shield. "Are they safe? Did you give them something to eat?"
"We wanted them alive too, if that's what you're asking."
"…I'm so glad that you decided to cooperate… Thanks to you, those kids will be able to be reunited with their parents."
A future that Gummy felt hopeful about. She had once rejected the idea of seeking her own parents, but now that she had gotten over her worst habit, she had finally found the confidence to reach out to them. The cook hadn't considered yet when she would depart, but she already made the decision to go. She had tons of things she wanted to say to her parents. Good things and bad things… but, above all else, she just wanted to hold them in her arms again.
Something snapped, but Gummy had been too distracted by her thoughts to react in time. The man stood up from the chair, his hands now unbound, and landed a clean hit onto the girl's head. The thug contemplated the knocked-out girl for few seconds and considered securing the kill.
"Too bad none of that's going to happen. I'll let you live. Get out of this town. Go back to Rhodes Island or whatever and keep cooking for your friends. Leave the adults to their work."
The stunned girl twisted and touched her bleeding forehead. The barn was spinning around her and it wasn't slowing down. Leto threw herself against the barn's door and found her injured friend.
"That lying bastard is not here!"
Zima, Rosa and Istina joined afterwards and the four girls approached Gummy. Through her pain, Lada mumbled an apology for lowering her guard.
"No! Don't die on me, Gummy! That's an order!" Zima panicked by grabbing her from the collar. Rosa held the brute and Istina bonked her head with the corner of her book.
"She's not dying, dummy. Leto and I will take care of her."
"What was it we had to do? PTsomething? I was saving my first kiss, but if it's for Gummy, I will do it! Mmmmmm!"
The scholar swung her book's corner once again and put Leto under control before her stupidity got out of hand. Istina then pointed her hand at the empty chair by the pillar.
"Rosa! We're moving!" Zima ordered.
"Understood!"
"Leave that thing! It will only slow you down! We have to hunt that son of a bitch!"
"…right!"
The aristocrat dropped her harpoon gun on the ground. Even if she was unarmed, she still was an operator capable of being useful. Dashing around the battlefield was not her area of expertise, but her leader chose her to join the chase. Nothing else needed to be said in the matter.
Besides, Zima was an expert of charging forward, but no so much of charging smartly. Rosa's differently colored eyes surveyed their surroundings and quickly found the footprints on the dirty road that led towards the valley. In the distance, a man ran towards the forest as if his life depended on it.
After backstabbing them with a fake address and harming sweet Gummy, it probably did. Rosa's other job was making sure Zima didn't butcher him too much, since they still needed the children's location.
The winded bounty hunter cursed under his breath when he noticed his speedy pursuers and dived into the forest. As long as he made it to the hideout, he still had a chance.
Out of nowhere, what seemed like a red-haired woman stood in his way and they collided. Fate decided that the thug would get in a last chance to feel a lady's chest before his time ran out, but the woman was hard as a table… and unexpectedly handsome?
The thug tried standing up quickly. Every second he wasted there would decrease his probabilities at escaping even further. However, the person he just tackled grabbed his cloak made him trip down again.
"Hold it, buddy. We've got some questions for you. Are there any med-"
"Again with this?!" The escapee protested, trying to free himself.
A gun was pressed against his head. The owner held a fainted zalak on her other arm. "Lay down on the ground. Both hands on your head. Now!"
The other operators felt shivers when the cop ordered the suspicious man to surrender. Their instructor told them how decisive the cop was while on duty, but hearing about it and watching it first-hand were two different things.
The suspect surrendered and did as he was ordered, but he wasn't going down without a fight. "You guys have to help me! Me and my friends were attacked by bandits! I was being chased just now! They'll show up any second now!"
The long haired man ordered his subordinates to fix their formation in anticipation to the incoming threats. The moment his blue eyes met Zima's, his voice rose over the trainee's panicking thoughts.
"Hold it!"
Rosa caught up and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Zima took a step closer to the group of newcomers, glaring at their leader.
"And here I thought things couldn't get any worse… Of all operators in the world, it had to be you." Zima grunted.
Carrion lowered his whip to show his students that everything was fine and he then looked at the thug still under Absinthe's watchful gun. "So these are the 'bandits' you were fleeing from, huh? Zima. Rosa. Fancy meeting you here."
