"Good to see you up and running, big guy." Tobias and Rico shared a brief nod to each other as the police took statements from Valentine and Sheva, both of whom weren't being charged for defending themselves as active BSAA personnel. Although, not all of the LAPD officers seemed entirely comfortable with Rico's proximity to their SWAT trucks and squad cars.
"Greetings, sir. Sheva has named me Rico. Shall I address you as Captain?" Rico asked, since Tobias' BSAA profile indicated that he went by several names as well as his rank of Captain.
"Nah, you can call me Toby. You're one of us, after all." Tobias nodded with a smile at the mech's pechance for formality. He was aware that the AI core had a dynamic personality, and was slightly amused with their chat so far. "So what happened?"
"Armed assault on the Nightfall shipyard, sir. Attempted assassination of Sheva and possible attempted sabotage of the Nightfall itself. Shall I present my audio and visual combat logs?"
"Syndicate?" Tobias' eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yes, that is correct." Rico lowered himself into a crouch while opening his hatch to present Tobias his his holographic HUD that Sheva used, which was showcasing a replay of the initial attack. "By my calculations, the probability of their success with my known parameters of the event is approximately seven percent."
"And what about here?" Tobias indicated the damaged building nearby.
"We were able to isolate a signal to this location during the attack, and concluded that it was their base of operations. From this, we performed a counterattack and captured the commanding officer and four soldiers. All of whom are now in LAPD custody, awaiting interrogation by the FBI and Secret Service."
"Why the Secret Service?" Tobias asked, stroking his jaw thoughtfully.
"The Syndicate officer is one Carla Wong, sister to Mrs. Ada Kennedy, an associate of yours and a former comrade during the Raccoon City Incident." Rico stood up and closed his hatch as he spoke. "It is a logical conclusion to predict Mrs. Kennedy wishes to speak to her sister, personally as well as professionally."
"Alright, how about you? How're you holding up after this failed skirmish?" Tobias could see some minor damage on Rico's hull in some places, but otherwise concluded that the mech was fully functional.
"All damage inflicted to my hull was from assorted small arms and my initial breach of the wall. I am currently at ninety nine point eight five percent combat effectiveness, all vital movement and functionality are performing normally."
"Alright, good to hear. When Sheva and Val are finished with the police, bring them back to the shipyard so we can give the ship an official examination. I'll be waiting on the bridge."
"As you wish, Toby." Rico nodded as the silver-haired man turned towards his pickup truck to return to the base.
"Wait, was that Dad?" Sheva came jogging over after catching a glimpse of the black pickup truck leaving down the road, unlike their initial arrival across the open terrain between the shipyard and the sparse houses.
"Yes, Toby wanted a summary of these recent events. He wishes to conduct a damages evaluation to the Nightfall after the police permit you and Valentine to depart from the scene." Rico turned towards his Pilot as she reactivated her T-15 in preparation to climb into his cockpit.
"CCG are the ones talking to Val right now, they wanted to know if he ate anyone during the attack." Sheva shrugged slightly as she linked to the controls but did not engage manual mode. "This shouldn't be long... I know for a fact his teeth are clean today."
"Duely noted." Rico commented with the internal speakers, watching the Investigators talking to Valentine closely. Something seemed off, so he zoomed in and focused his audio sensors on the conversation.
"Any time I open my mouth, you guys come running. So why don't you get the point yet? I was dealing with them as a BSAA operative, with a gun, and have not eaten any flesh since seven thirty this morning. You should know this, I have a hunting pattern just like my older sisters."
"I'll choose to overlook your tone, Mr. Darkwood... I do however have to ask you to open your mouth so we can verify for ourselves when you last consumed human flesh." One of the three Investigators gestured for Valentine to comply with the order.
"Fingers don't taste all that great." Valentine narrowed his eyes, then noticed Rico's optical sensors were directed at him. "Rico, possible undercover Syndicate personnel." He commented in Russian, scowling at the CCG men to make it seem like he was just talking to himself.
"If you're trying to hide any flesh consumption, I will be inclined to use force on you, Mr. Darkwood." The largest of the three men, although not of Tobias' stature, shifted slightly as he spoke.
"Oh, that's cute. Big tough act against someone like me? Pathetic." Valentine scoffed slightly. "See that big motherfucker looking over at us? I built him. His name's Rico, and he's not just a walk'n'talk robot... He's a combat mech. He's also listening to us right now. So you have three seconds to start walking away before I permit him to shoot in my general vicinity with that lovely shotgun he's still holding."
"Your diplomatic immunity has no effect if you threaten us, Valentine..." The third Investigator spoke up, holding up his hands rather peacefully. "Please, it's a new protocol method that Central Command has us doing now. It's a visual inspection of your teeth and gums to look for residual blood or scraps of flesh in your teeth. And you're more than right to threaten these guys, they're new members of your family's task force. Got assigned to us a few days ago."
"Rico..." Valentine turned to the mech. "Grab the taller two."
With a curt "Yes, sir!" Rico boldly approached and grabbed the two men, one in each of his hands, leaving the shorter man that had spoken last untouched.
"I noticed you were watching, what gave it away that they're Syndicate moles?" Valentine asked as he hopped onto his hoverboard and rose to their height, already relinquishing them of their guns and CCG ID with his Magnokinesis.
"Aggressive body language, consistent formal use of 'Mr. Darkwood' to address you, sir, as well as their arrival occurring before the actual Investigator standing with you, who actually arrived after the LAPD themselves. I conclude that they were a backup team under Miss Carla Wong's command, likely for reconnaissance and recovery." Rico concluded his evaluation of the situation. "I also verify that they are carrying extra ammunition above the usual CCG protocol of three magazines."
"Hey, Lieutenant!" Valentine hailed one of the nearby police officers that was witnessing the scene. "Add these two with the rest of them, have them searched thoroughly and kept apart from each other in individual squad cars. I want to speak with them... Personally.. after I handle things on my end back at the shipyard. I'll leave this with you..." Valentine plucked one of his Heartseeker cards from his belt pouches and handed it to the cop. "Make sure not to lose it, it's how I'll get in contact with you after they're secured."
"What's so special about this card?" The officer was familiar with the Darkwood's, though not on first name terms with them.
"It's a secret." Valentine winked as the Syndicate men were handed to the officers below, all directing their guns at the men - who quickly surrendered and were promptly restrained - then he rose to sit right on top of Rico's shoulder, already magnetized to adhere to the hull. "Alright, Rico, RTB so we can get started on repairs for you and the ship."
"Sheva's driving." Rico reported as Sheva laughed inside the cockpit, already beginning to march back the way they'd first come from.
"I actually know that one!" Sheva smiled, since she'd heard RTB - Return To Base - used in a movie while she was still recovering from the shark attack. "It's Return To Base!"
"P-36 Mobile Landmines... I see." Tobias was crouched alongside one of the numerous doll-like prosthetic girls strewn all over the command deck of the Nightfall. Almost all of them were still set on standby, save for only one that was missing it's head... located several feet away with the large red detonator plate still in place. It was likely the last one that Valentine destroyed, since none of the other ones bore signs of damage save for precise gunshots to their central matrix assemblies in their chests, a testament to Valentine's engineering talents and skilled marksmanship.
Nearby was a device that Tobias didn't immediately recognize, so he stood up and approached it, noticing that it too had been shot by Valentine's P90.
A closer examination revealed it to be an electromagnetic jamming transmitter, and he let out a slow exhale through his nose as he stroked his lip with his thumb, his old cognitive tic he was known for.
"Rico's on his way up with the crane. I see you've found the jammer, Dad." Valentine spoke up as the doors to the command deck slid open ahead of his arrival. Right beside him was Sheva, her T-15 still deployed, but her mask was up on her forehead.
"I also found scraps of Dragonfly drones all over the deck, not to mention corpses, hull damage and a disturbing amount of 20mm shell casings..." Tobias turned his head to speak to his youngest children. "Rico told me you were the target, Sheva... but by the look of things, you two got the jump on them despite all their preparations beforehand."
"We didn't exactly get the jump on them... we just fought back." Sheva shrugged as Valentine sat in his Captain's chair with his tablet, already evaluating the hull damage and possible repair times.
"You did great, I'm proud of both of you. Not a scratch on you... and no blood in your teeth." Tobias smiled at them in turn as he complimented them. "Rico's got some dings and dents, but he'll be fine. If anything, they're proof of your first real firefight together." He patted Sheva on the shoulder with a warm smile. "So how's the ship, Val?"
"8 hours worth of repairs, at the most." Val tapped out a few commands into his tablet. "But we're down the 23 workers I killed, they were the Syndicate's insiders. We're still way ahead of schedule, I can have her airborne as soon as we get all of the vital crew members aboard."
"Who's missing?" Tobias knew the tone in Valentine's voice very well... It was one that he himself used alongside a sadistic grin on many, many occasions.
"Koko and her team... the rest of our Family... Motoko, Stella, Sherry, Jake... Oh, and Rico's still being hauled back up to the deck with the crane. Can't forget the big guy, can we?" Valentine replied, looking up from his tablet with the very sadistic grin that Tobias was just thinking about plastered all over his face.