It was or at least a usual day for Commander Elda, looking through the various amounts of paperwork and combat reports, she sighed. Being stationed in area S09, it wasn't common for combat to happen every now and then, but this situation however is different. An investigation on the infected city of Tallinn, where strange activity has been detected, possibly as a result of Paradeus activity.
"Jesus fucking christ these is going to be a pain in the ass." Elda sighed, just finished another report as she picked up her coffee next to her, taking a sip. Caffeine is just what she needs at the moment, connecting the dots on the investigation in front of her. Before she could focus, the sound of knocking on her office door gained her attention.
"Come in."
The door opens and in comes the Commander's assistant, Kalina. The logistics officer smiles, waving her hand as she enters the office.
"Hey, hey! Commander! How are you feeling?" Kalina cheerfully asks, stopping in front of the Elda with a clipboard in her hand. The Commander just sighs, putting her coffee down and looking up to her assistant.
"The same as always. Stressful as hell with this investigation." Elda replies, letting out a groan as she puts down another report from one of her echelons. "What is it that you need this time?" She asks, rubbing her eyes a bit from exhaustion.
"Well... I got a message stating you got a guest visit today?" The logistics officer answers, scratching her head in confusion. This confuses the Commander as well, she didn't hear any messages about base visits unless they were from Helianthus or Kryuger.
"Is it from Helian or Kryuger?" asked Elda, receiving a 'no' from Kalina as she looked through the message and said, "It says here that an 'Old Friend' is coming?" Hearing this, the Commander froze, her eyes twitching a bit.
"Is it from Helian or Kryuger?" asked Elda, receiving a 'no' from Kalina as she looked through the message and said, "It says here that an 'Old Friend' is coming?" Hearing this, the Commander froze, her eyes twitching a bit.
Elda was silent for a moment, her ears taking in what Kalina just said before looking at her dead in the eyes.
"And where is this guest currently?"
Kalina flinches a bit, noticing the aggressive tone in Elda's voice.
"W-Well, he's just right out-"
Before Kalina could finish, the door to the Commander's office was kicked open.
"HEY! HEY! How's my favorite snitch doing!"
Entered a man with black hair and brown eyes. A headband wrapped around his head, wearing a robe with a fur collar covering his clothes underneath with an armored vest.
'Oh goddamnit!' Elda thought to herself, not wanting to deal nor see the person in front of her.
"I must say you did better off than I expected. Heh, could have guessed from someone like you." The stranger comments, taking a seat as he plants his legs on the Commander's table, messing up some of her paperwork.
"What the hell do you want, Vagra-" hissed the Commander only to be imminently hushed by her "guest's" raised finger.
The stranger then takes out a jade coin from his pocket and begins to flip it into the air. Taking a good look at Elda and Kalina.
"Nah, not anymore. It's Drifter now. Vagrant died during the closing days of World War 3."
With his introduction done, Drifter lets out a chuckle, catching the jade coin as he relaxes himself.
"I'll ask again... WHY. ARE. YOU. HERE?" Once again, Elda asks this time with a threatening tone.
"Ahh, what's with the hissy fit? Can't a old friend help his partner in their war?" Drifter jokes, standing back up from his seat.
"Cut the bullshit! The last time you "HELPED" you left me and my unit behind when an ELID detonated in the area!"
"Sister, have you seen the world recently? No one cares about moral goals! It's all about survival now!"
In response, the Commander slams her hands on the table, causing the paperwork to fly out as she glares at the Drifter.
"Just tell me why you're here or GET OUT. FORCEFULLY."
"Ah, now that's the Elda I know. Heh."
Laughing a bit, Drifter pulls out a card with a strange emblem on it.
"I suppose I would drop off a gift. Consider it as a tribute."
The card in question got the Commander's attention. Its emblem is nothing she has seen before.
"What is that?"
"This? Sister, what you're looking at is a VIP pass for the most top-notch Armory the world has ever seen!" The Drifter boasted, only to earn a deadpan look from Elda.
"Uh-huh, and what exactly do you mean 'top-notch'? This wouldn't be a scam, would it?"
"Oh no, no, no, Sister! Don't get the wrong idea!" Drifter responds back before letting out a laugh. "I'm being completely honest if I do say for myself."
"Yeah, for a Rat that is." Elda talks back which insulted Drifter.
"HEY! Watch your mouth!" Drifter shouted, only to be replied by the Commander sticking her tongue at him.
"Anyway, back to the topic at hand. This 'Armory' where exactly is it? What are they selling? And how will this help G&K?"
"That's the neat part, you have to find out for yourself." Dropping off the card, Drifter gets up and stops by the door before looking back at Elda and Kalina.
"You know me, friend. I'm a "sensitive" soul. I take no pleasure in seeing members of my "family" in distress. Take, for example, my highly valued business associates- the Black Armory. Your.. "assistance" might just be the pick-me-up they need."
Hearing the name of the associate got both Elda's and Kalina's attention.
"Hold on now. Did you just say the name of your associate?" asked the logistics officer, picking up the card and inspecting it.
"Their name never graced your ears, I know. Allow me to pull the vast curtain of "things-people-don't-know" back an inch. That right there is a token of the Black Armory's appreciation. Without it, they won't "appreciate" the presence of someone with your... job description."
"And why is that?" asked commander Elda, getting a shrug from the Drifter.
"Who knows. Tread carefully, friend. You won't find hospitality as warm as me behind their doors. Farewell, snitch." said the Drifter, leaving the office from the view of Elda and Kalina.
"...Well... now what?" Kalina asks, looking at her Commander who's looking at the token.
Elda didn't respond, inspecting the token until she noticed some coordinates on the back, 46°45′N 9°30′E. This instantly got her curiosity.
"Have my secretary watch over the base for a while and prepare a flight for Switzerland." The Commander finally responds to Kalina, picking the token in her pocket as she looks through the drawers of her desk.
"Oh okay- wait what? Why are you going to Switzerland?" asks Kalina, confused by her Commander's request right as she pulls out a passport from her desk.
"Just a feeling." Elda smiles, flashing her passport to Kalina.
"Remind me why we're here again, Commander?"
The flight to Switzerland was shorter than expected for the traveling duo. Currently, they stop by at a local Swiss cafe, looking over a map and having some sweets.
"You know the "gift" that our "guest" gave?" Elda asks, taking a bite of her crepe while pointing at the token that was laying on the map.
"Yeah, what about it?" responded Kalina, putting a spoonful of cake into her mouth.
"Upon further inspection, I found some coordinates on the back of this token."
"And these coordinates lead us here in Switzerland?"
"Correct, and I believe this is where we'll find the associate."
"But how exactly are we going to find the exact location of this associate?" Kalina questions, stopping Elda in her tracks as she doesn't know as well.
'Well shit I thought this through...' the Commander thought to herself, slamming her head on the table, surprising Kalina while gaining some unwanted attention from nearby bystanders.
A waiter came by to pick up the empty plates before noticing the map on their table.
"Ah, thinking about visiting Graubünden, vermissen?" the waiter asks, causing Elda to look up to him.
"Hmm? Why yes we are."
"Are you visiting the towns of Davos and St. Moritz? It's a wonderful place to visit during this season."
Elda laughs a bit from the waiter's affection.
"No sir. We're just looking for a location from the coordinates a "friend" gave us." explained Elda.
"Coordinates? Perhaps I could assist you."
"You will?"
"Yes, I lived long enough in Switzerland to know every location. May I?"
"Go ahead."
Moving out of the way, the Commander allows the waiter to look at the map. The waiter looks at the circled area of the map with it being marked "associate's location?" before noticing the token. Curious, the waiter flips the token, and his eyes immediately widen upon seeing the symbol. Seriously, the waiter immediately stands back and looks at Elda and Kalina.
"The location you're looking for is at the tunnel that leads to Graubünden." stated the waiter, pointing where the tunnel is. This surprises both Elda and Kalina as they immediately get up from their table.
"Thank you mister!" The Commander shakes the waiter's hand as a sign of gratitud, earning a chuckle from him.
"There's no need, herrin. I'm just doing my job."
With the information given, both commander Elda and Kalina high tail their way to the tunnel the waiter pointed at as cars passed by them from the nearby road.
"That waiter better be correct or else I'll punch his gut!" Kalina shouted to the Commander so her voice could be heard from the passing cars.
"Let's hope he's right." Elda mutters under her breath, continuing their search.
"How much longer...?" Kalina tiredly groans, looking at the same part of the tunnel for hours.
Despite how long the search was. The duo still came up short in finding their associate.
"Can't give up now! We came this far for whoever this associate is!" shouted the Commander, tapping against the wall of the tunnel for any hollow-out entrance.
Hours passed and the duo were about to call it quits until Kalina trips on something, smacking her face against a nearby poster within the tunnel.
"OW!" screamed Kalina, rubbing her nose in pain before opening her eyes to the nearly tore-down poster. That was when she notices something was off with the poster. In her eyes, the wall the poster was placed on seems pushed in, not to mention it seems to have some kind of wavy texture.
"Hey, Elda! I think I found something!"
Hearing this, the Commander immediately turns her attention towards Kalina's findings. Seeing the pushed part of the tunnel.
"Oh my god, Kalina... YOU DID IT!" shouted commander Elda, hugging her assistant in a tight squeeze, which almost choked her.
"Y-Yeah I k-know, b-but can y-you loosen y-your G-GRIP!?" Kalina pleasingly requests, her face nearly turning blue. Hearing this, Elda immediately lets go of her assistant, finally being able to breathe while she rubs the back of her head.
"Hehe... sorry." the Commander apologized before straightening herself, looking at the hollow wall. 'Is this it?' Elda thought to herself, pulling out the token and holding it in front of her.
Suddenly, as if it's an interaction, the wall disappears into pixels, revealing a tunnel. The discovery surprises the duo.
"Woah, that's new," said Kalina, being the first to enter the tunnel, with Elda following soon after. Walking down the tunnel, the duo encounter some stairs to which they descend until they stumble upon a massive room with displays of unassembled weapons of unknown origin.
"This is astounding." the Commander commented, noticing how dark the room is with the lights only shining on the displays and a strange machine in the middle of the room with a console in front of it.
"No kidding, this place looks like an armory or something." walking towards one display, Kalina was looking at what appears to be components for a bullpup assault rifle. Her eyes sparkle, seeing how high quality it is as thoughts of money-filled her mind. "How much do you think we can sell these?"
Elda lets out an annoyed groan, knowing the greediness of her assistant. "Can you not be acquisitive for 5 minutes?" shutting down Kalina's plan, she moves on in search of this 'associate'.
'So where is this associate?' thought the Commander, walking over to a display of a rather unique sniper rifle, observing its details until...
"Stunning, isn't it?"
A voice calls out, causing both Elda and Kalina to tense up as they stand back to back, looking around for the source of the voice.
"That weapon... is beyond special. A witness to the slaugther of our founders. And my my ally in vengeance against those responible."
Immediately, the Commander notices a structure of a figure behind the displayed sniper rifle.
"Mercenaries."
Coming around the display, the figure reveals itself to be male with grey hair and blue eyes, wearing a fancy suit with the same symbol of the token on the back.
But the most important detail is that his skin is semi-porcelain like a...
'A Doll? Hold on... the associate is a DOLL?!' was the first thing that immediately came to the Commander's mind, observing every detail of the man in front of her.
"JUST. LIKE. YOU." the Doll hissed, hand on his holster as he stopped in front of the duo. "You're not welcome here, COMMANDER." he warned, ready to kick them off from his armory.
Thankfully, commander Elda was about to react in time by showing the token to the Doll. Seeing this, the Doll's eyes widen in surprise before returning to normal, but annoyed stares, twitching a bit.
"I see... Well, then..." straightening himself, the Doll walks to the center of the armory, in front of the console and machine. "What we offer, Commander, is privilege-normally afforded to those who do not already have their own." He stated as the lights in the armory began to brighten, revealing an entire operation still ongoing. "Today, however, it would seem our doors are open to you." turning around, the Doll looks face to face with the Commander, his eyes staring sharply into hers.
"Welcome... to the Black Armory."