Yang was humming a tune that the Misfits had introduced her and the others to. Some rock band from Earth's not-so-distant 30 years in the past. Ruby, meanwhile, fiddled with a bolt carrier group from one of the Misfits' guns at their behest, while Blake and Weiss simply read. One read a magazine and the other, a book that the Earthlings had brought with them, namely "Roadside Picnic".
Weiss hummed and set the magazine aside, before telling her friends, "I never thought a weekend could be this relaxed with any of you."
Yang snorted and replied, "Well, we're all busy with something or other, so relaxation kinda is mandatory."
The white-haired Heiress chuckled at the quip, then flipped the page while shaking her head. Ruby, meanwhile, grinned as she lifted the finished bolt up and called out "Eureka!" before immediately slumping at her desk with a heavy sigh. Weiss had drilled into them to do their homework during the week, so they're not down on time to relax during the weekends, which... Well, now, it was really paying off.
"Managed to fix it?" Blake asked as she flipped the page of the novel. Ruby gave a thumbs up that was accentuated by a groan of pain. The catgirl chuckled at that, bow twitching as she commented, "Sam mentioned that it's a, and I quote, 'dogshit' gun made by the lowest Chinese bidder, which is somehow even worse than the lowest bidder in other countries."
"Uuugh, the fricking bolt nearly sheared off. If Sam had fired this thing mid-combat, she'd either have a mild malfunction, or would probably have heavily damaged her Aura at worst..." Ruby murmured, rubbing her face and staring at the hunk of steel. "I'm seriously considering just making a new gun for her that works like the other standard kit the guys and girls have... Maybe even a Kalashnikov-pattern rifle..."
Weiss hummed, then asked, "Did they ever mention who Kalashnikov was?"
"You kidding?" Ruby looked back at Weiss, beaming, "I grilled them for it! Vic even told me about his machine gun! Mikhail Kalashnikov is one of the finest weapon designers in their world. His rifles are basically being used across the entire world. And Vic's PKM is made by him and his company, too! Apparently, before the war, the Kalashnikov Company became Kalashnikov Concern, too, after some merger or other..."
"So, they merged, probably to form a bigger quote-unquote 'defense' company for their motherland," Weiss hummed, then scratched her cheek and asked a rather prompt and calm question, "Despite the fact a multitude of other nations utilize their pattern of armament, correct?" as she flipped to the next page. She hadn't even taken her eyes off the magazine, though she knew Ruby would be a bit happy to answer.
"Yep!" She nodded, happy indeed, "Romania also apparently uses AK-pattern weaponry."
"Huh. As a NATO country?" Yang asked, swiveling about on her chair to listen to this, "Didn't they adopt NATO-standardized stuff? Like... I know Hassan talked Ayesha's ears off about this when we went for groceries like two weeks ago. I had to listen in. Figured it'd be fun, but I wound up listening to the two actually debate the finer details of Defense Industry Spending..."
"Huh," The three other young women blinked.
Weiss commented warily, "Ayesha seems far too alike to you to... I don't know, I suppose be interested in that? But, then again, since her boyfriend seems to care for it, maybe she gets herself informed just enough to speak to him?" She then supposed, while Yang hummed and gave a nod. Yeah, Ayesha seemed a bit more like her, alright. Yang just had a bit less of a sex drive, considering she did walk in on them doing the dirty in a closet by mistake. That, or it was because Yang hand nobody to-... Nope. Not gonna think of that.
... That was an awkward midday, she thought, concealing her blush.
"Right," Ruby hummed, "Getting off of that weird thought process, apparently Kat and Paul finally got together a few days ago."
Blake narrowed her lips and quickly hid her face behind her book, while Weiss looked at her and narrowed her eyes. Weiss swore to herself that Yang and Blake were just two genuine peas in a pod when it came to relationships. She really should not have been surprised at this point, but some part of her decided to still be. Her team's antics always did find a new way of stunning her.
She sighed and murmured, "Perhaps I should start investing in stocks if Earth ever opens up to us on Remnant... Weaponry seems to be a decent bid in order to raise a little more personal wealth..." before shaking her head. No, gaining wealth off of people's suffering was already a thing her father was proudly doing. No need for her to add fuel to the flames by investing in armament companies.
Setting her magazine aside, she jumped down from the bed and asked Ruby, "What kind of weapons do you want to make for the Lieutenant?" as she saw Ruby's eyes light up. The girl immediately pulled out a couple blueprints, both involving rifles with normal positioning of the magwell and bolt, but with semi-reinforced barrels that could help mitigate potential damage while allowing them to fire dust-enhanced round. Weiss blinked, "Huh," and plucked up the second one. She motioned to it and said, "I think Samantha will appreciate a modular rifle like this... The Piccatini rails alone..."
"Sis, as usual, being a boon for weapon design across Remnant," Yang chuckled, then stood up and walked up to Blake. She poked the catgirl in the hip, which caused her to let out a short, sharp yelp. She glared at Yang, who smirked and stuck her tongue out, before leaning onto the bunk and stating, "So, how many people d'ya reckon the Misfits got right now?"
"I don't know... Haven't got time to count their little mercenary company's numbers," Blake shrugged, then sighed.
Yang snorted, "Cuz you were ogling Paul, eh?"
Blake blushed and countered, "You're one to speak, missus 'Crushing on the Machine Gunner..." which got a blush out of Yang. Weiss sighed and pinched the bow of her nose, murmuring something about the annoyance of having to deal with two teenagers like them. Meanwhile, Ruby was simply confused as to why they were arguing about this stuff. It wasn't like they didn't know each had their own crush, right?
"You two are weird," Ruby commented, which got both of the girls to look at her with wide eyes. Ruby shrugged, "Seriously, being this upset over the guys getting with girlfriends they knew for longer than any of us? I mean, I get crushes and the likes, but I didn't expect it outta ya, Yang. Blake, maybe? Like, I know we've only known each-other for a few months, but still..."
"Huh?" Both girls stared at Ruby.
She nonchalantly continued, "Look, all I'm saying's it's a little weird to see you two upset over the fact adult guys and adult gals got together, especially since they've been part of that friend group since before they died..." Then hummed and chuckled, "Man, that's still a wild concept. The gang dying and being revived here... Can't believe how easily we took that to heart."
Weiss blinked, then warily inquired, "Ruby, are you well?"
"Yep!" The cookie monster smiled, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"... It's just... Kind of funny for you to call us weird, sis," Yang rubbed the back of her neck. It wasn't like Ruby wasn't right, though. The guys and their girlfriends had known each-other for longer than any of them had ever known them. A few months, compared to what must've been years in most cases. Still, both Yang and her combat partner couldn't help but be a bit awed at Ruby basically slapping them in the face with the truth and then acting jovially.
Ruby shot back, "Hey, I crush on guns and stuff, Yang. The rare occurrence of me liking a boy is kinda long past. Never thought I'd see my sis fall this hard for a guy, though."
Weiss snorted and covered her mouth while Yang and Blake both blushed, Blake because it was implied that she, too, crushed hard on someone like Paul. The white-haired Heiress stated, "You learned to snap back and even your remarks are fairly decent. I'm actually, genuinely impressed, Ruby." She then shrugged and said, "Certainly, there is still work to improve, but you did good."
The girl snorted and said, "I learned from my BFF."
Weiss rolled her eyes, but still kept smiling, "Dolt," as she gave her a light tap on the shoulder with her fist. The situation, though almost unbelievable to the other two, still caused them to let out a few short laughs, Yang finally letting that tension she felt when Ruby first clapped back at them go, before rubbing her forehead. She and Blake looked to one-another, before giggling.
"Can you really blame Yang, though?" Blake quipped, "I mean, Victor's fairly easy on the eyes."
"Y'know, fair play," Ruby shrugged, "He's also a fairly nice guy. Paul, too. Heck, just every guy in the team seems nice..."
Blake nodded, "Yeah."
"And the girls seem nice, too," Yang shrugged, "I didn't really get to hang around and chat with Ves all that much, but from what little I could tell, those two actually love each-other like you'd see in a movie. Can't ask for more than that for the guy we wanted to help, eh?" And she smiled. The other three nodded in agreement, with Weiss scratching her chin. Yang noticed the discombobulation Weiss must've been experiencing, put her hands on her own hips and asked, "What's gotcha so confused, Ice Cream?"
Weiss blinked, sighed deeply and said snarkily, "I'm just surprised you can actually show emotional maturity, Yang."
Blake snorted, as did Ruby, before Yang shot back, "You're one to talk," with a grin. Weiss giggled at that one. Yang hummed, stretched and yawned, then said, "So, you gals wanna do anything? Last I heard, the Misfits are still workin' anyhoot, so we might as well figure out something to do as a team, yeah?" before pausing with her entire team as a knock came from the door.
Yang walked to the door and popped it open, only to see Sam. She greeted, "Hey, girls. Sorry for bothering you, but I did come to talk to Ruby about replacing my gun..." before walking in. Ruby smiled and greeted her with a wave, before showing her the two blueprints. Sam blinked, then asked the others, "She did get a proper night's sleep, right...?" making everyone else in the room, Weiss included, burst into laughter.
Sam took that as a no, then looked over the blueprints with a bit of worry while Ruby pouted beside her. She noted that both guns were sensible, non-transforming and probably fairly useful. No Rule of Cool involved, which meant Hass might've had some early comments on the matter. She hummed, then tapped the second rifle blueprint and said, "Quite fond of how this one looks. And you standardized it to 5,45, eh?" While smiling.
The weapon itself was a fairly interesting, if simplistically AR-15-esque design, though made with the 5,45x39 Cartridges that were far more common to the Misfits now. it also gave Sam a standardized rifle to call her own, its design apparently carrying a buffer tube with an extendable stock, a top rail mount with flip-up irons where she could also mount a scope or red dot if she needed it, an underbarrel section that came off quite easily if she ever wanted to mount a Grenade Launcher, an AR-15 BCG, plus an operational mode similar to AKs. It also had a rubberized grip, hard polymer mags and even adjustable gas. Sam had to admit this girl knew her stuff.
Ruby's pout shifted to a smile as she said, "Yep. Made sure to add extra rails for any attachments you may wanna put on, too!" before she asked, "When do you need it?"
"I mean, as soon as possible without you damaging yourself further due to lack of sleep, Rubes," Sam snorted, then gave her a pat on the shoulder. Ruby sighed deeply, about to retort, before Sam's scroll pinged. She pulled it out of the pocket of her forest camouflage pants, then opened it and looked over the message. She hummed, "Well, that's strange... Bandits are apparently raiding villages nearby. One of the Chiefs put in a request for the Misfits to deploy and deal with it. Deadline for our arrival is in two days, so..."
"I'll get your gun done by tomorrow so you can sight it in properly!" Ruby jumped to her feet. Sam wanted to say something to her about that, but only got to watch her zoom away, leaving a trail of petals behind. The leader of the Misfits sighed deeply, rubbed her eyes, then bid a goodbye to the rest of the team and walked out and away. Outside, she met with Jim.
Jim greeted, "Hey, Sam... Ruby just dashed off."
"Yeah. And we got a new contract. I'm calling up the BMP, Dushman, Sofiya and a couple others for it..." The girl sighed deeply. Jim hummed and nodded as the two walked, with Sam looking up at the sky to see if there was any drone up above. Indeed, she caught sight of what must've been another Reaper, this one flying at a slightly lower altitude, enough so that she could make out the missile pods.
She pointed it out to Jim silently, who nodded and turned on his Strobe as well. The drone veered, keeping its cam on them while the pair continued walking, with Jim commenting, "US Reaper. Tryin' to link with it, but I'm getting a little static..." as he checked his radio frequencies, "Can't even bounce a com off of them... Maybe they changed encryption?"
"Wouldn't surprise me. We've been away for long enough," Sam replied.
Jim hummed, "Hey, Sam. You good?"
"Yep. Just feeling a bit naked without my rifle, heh..." She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. Jim's face glowed red, to which Sam wanted to comment. She chose not to, better for both of them. Ruining their friendship by not letting him make the first move would've hurt a lot more than just her turning him down gently when she had to. And suddenly, she dreaded that prospect, wondering if this was the kind of Hell she'd put Vic through when-
She paused as the chop of rotorblades filled the air. A pair of Atlas gunships veered, their jet engines roaring, to intercept the incoming, before Russian played over her personal radio and Jim's own coms. She blinked, then heard the call, listening in, "This is Helicopter, callsign 'Bratishka' to any allied air, requesting LZ spot. Over. We have zero clue where the hell we are and our instruments are buggered."
"Holy shit..." Sam murmured, then radioed in, "Bratishka, this is Misfit-1. Lock onto this transmission and keep heading forward. Landing Pad should be visible for a massive campus. We will come meet you there..."
"Tak-toychna, Misfit-1. En-route... Hope you got some explanations," He noted. She and Jim nodded to each-other, before both ran toward the landing pad. The Atlesian air assets had intercepted the aircraft, a fat-bodied, well-armored Mil Mi-8 'Hip' Helicopter, cyrillic on its tail and the red stars of the Russian Military on its tail and sides. The aircraft touched down gently on its three wheels, before the pilot, co-pilot and one of the gunners dismounted.
The old man before them was clad, not in Russian EMR, but rather in a bog-standard uniform from the Chechen Wars. He slid his headphones off of his hears and let them cling to his neck as he stared at the two dumbfound NATO and Chinese soldiers with the same surprise. He spoke to them, "I take it you're Misfit One..." pointing to Sam. She gave a nod, then whispered something to Jim, who gave them a quick salute and stepped off. Bratishka spoke, "I'll be damned. NATO listens to the Chinese nowadays...?"
"More like we're friends in the same situation as you, comrade Bratishka," Sam replied. She saluted and said, "Lieutenant Samantha Lee, former PLAN Marines, currently of the Misfits Private Military Company. We didn't expect to see a Chechen-era Helicopter still flying among the ranks, but here we are..." as she examined the crewmen. Bratishka nodded, then sighed.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Sergey Palagyn, Russian Armed Forces helicopter pilot of the fine machine behind me," The man commented, jabbing a thumb back toward his Helicopter, "We're going to need a briefing on what the hell happened. Last thing I remember was 2020 and that damned flu your people let out into the world..." And he eyed Sam. The girl blinked and rubbed the back of her neck.
Right, that was still an issue. She told them, "I and my comrades, some of which are Russian, will explain everything you need to know, Lieutenant-Colonel. Follow me..." before motioning to the man. He did as asked, alongside the rest of his crew and, before long, they were in the Misfits' household, much to the surprise of people like Nikolai and Vesna, Ayesha and Lita, the latter of which probably knew Bratishka personally.
Everyone else sort of tensed, understandably so. They had a lot of explanations to give to this man and his trusted crew...