A day gone and a penny extra was the thought of the day for the Misfits. Jim sat in the dining room, playing with a ball as he stared up at the ceiling. Lita, meanwhile, was smoking a cigar by the window. The two childhood friends exchanged a quick glance and both smirked at each-other, before chuckling. Ayesha and Hass stepped out of a room, hand in hand, with both of them turning to Lita upon seeing the quick interaction. Lita shook her head, which confused Jim for a moment. The pointed stares from his Ranger friend and the Chechen girl were even weirder.
He furrowed his brow at that little reaction, then straightened up in his seat and looked over to Clarisse as the girl was tending to one of the plants on the window-sill. She was looking back, too, grinning, as Jim asked, "The hell was that about...?" only to get a giggle and a shake of the head from Whiskey. He blinked, confused, then murmured to himself, "I swear, what does half this group know that I don't...?"
"You'll learn," Lita commented as she sat herself down beside him. Her voice seemed a bit more lightweight, jovial. She'd ditched the cigar and had apparently had time to slide a mint under her tongue so her breath didn't smell of tobacco. The way she'd formulated the sentence sounded more like a threat, though. That was what Jim thought, anyway. Lita was never really one to mean the threats she gave him.
Li, meanwhile, could only look over to Whiskey as the girl watered the plants and joked with her, "Hope that's not Whiskey in there..."
Whisk snorted and replied, "Nee. It's Vodka," in a way to clap back to Lita. The green-haired riflewoman snorted and shook her head as she prepared a set of cards and turned to Jim, lifting said cards. The boy smiled and nodded, while Whiskey shook her head with a chuckle. She looked over to Robert as he exited with a can of coke in hand and his rifle slung over his shoulder, greeting him, "Howdy, Polizei."
"Alcoholic Coma," He shot back snidely, taking a sip from his coke, "The hell are you doing?"
"Watering the plants because nobody else in this goddamn house outside Vesna and Sofia knows how to do that, apparently," She shot back with some degree of Dutch snark. Truth be told, Whiskey didn't hate Robert per-se. She actually quite enjoyed messing with him, though, considering the Military Police were usually the most uptight asswipes. For good reason, most of the time.
Robert rolled his eyes and replied with, "Make sure you don't mistakenly turn them into Weed..." as he walked over toward the table. He sat himself down and asked Lita and Jim, "You two aren't betting, are you?" to which both shook their heads. He hummed and decided to sit there, watching the game between the two as he sipped on his Coke. He only paused to watch Alex walking in from the back garden, scratching his twitching cat ears and snorting, "What's got you so down, kitty?"
"Shut," The Pararescueman replied angrily as he sidestepped the table. He murmured to himself, "Goddamn cat ears up in this house are really freaking annoying, how do Vesna and Sam deal with having their own traits like this, I swear...?" before he marched to the fridge, popped it open and pulled out a carton of orange juice, pouring himself a glass. Anja walked out of his room next, a smile on her face as she wore her body armor over her shirt and... No pants. She was in her underwear, a short-sleeved shirt and her body armor.
"... Dare I not ask what kind of forepaly involves body armor," Robert murmured to himself, avoiding looking at Anja. He murmured to himself, "At least they fuck quietly, unlike some others..." as he turned to glare up at Sofia and Dushman's room, which was uninhabited right now as the two had gone on patrol alongside a quarter of the Frenchies' platoon.
The door to the house opened, with Sam calling out, "Alright, Misfits, drop your cocks and grab your socks, we have an announcement..." as she filed in with said new announcement by her side. A girl about her height with ginger hair, a green dress and what looked to be symbols resembling a technological item walked in, a beaming smile on her face, her freckles dancing with it.
Vic and Vesna both appeared next in the doorway, entering behind Sam and setting up at the table, next to Lita, Jim and Robert. Robert, meanwhile, grumbled something to himself, while Sam looked around and said, "Anyone who's missing will be briefed when they come home..." then looked to Anja. She ordered, "You'll put pants on after we talk... For starters, Ladies and gentlemen, due to our performance in eliminating the Scavs from the winery, the funds have already been transferred with a nice bonus, so congratulations to the team." And that got cheers out of everyone.
"Second..."
She looked to the ginger, then showed her with her hand and said, "And the obvious ginger elephant in the room, no offense, is a new arrival. General Ironwood has received several notes from the Valkyrie members that are familiar with us, those being Vesna, Ayesha and Lita's old platoonmates. Citations, I can say. Meaning the General is surprised to see us operating with such efficiency, considering the sheer amount of crackhead energy we all emanate..." which garnered a few laughs out of the group, Robert shaking his head.
The Chinese officer hummed, then continued, "With that note in mind, ladies and gentlemen, General Ironwood has decided to directly request the attachment of an Atlas Liaison to our corps. This is her," motioning to the ginger. She turned to the girl and told her, "Feel free to introduce herself, miss Polendina. And don't worry, none of us bite. A pleasure having you on board."
"The pleasure is all mine, Lieutenant Lee," The girl replied jovially, before turning to the Misfits and, with hands interlaced and holding down her skirt, she greeted jovially, "Good morning and sa-lu-tations, ladies and gentlemen of the Misfits! I am Penny Polendina, Atlas Academy student and current temporary liaison to the Misfits PMC for the duration of the Vytal festivities! I must say, I am so very happy to be here in Beacon!"
"She's certainly a ray of sunshine," Jim quipped, smiling.
Lita chuckled, "Almost like a little sister in a way."
Sam hummed and chuckled, then told them, "Play nice. She's our new comrade in arms for the foreseeable future of the Vytal Festival, which is starting within a couple of months. Atlas wants to make sure we welcome her as if she was one of our own, though I'd say we just... Show her normal hospitality instead, alright?" and that got a few more laughs.
"Nice to meet you, Penny," Vic greeted, "I'm Victor Toma. Call me Vic."
"And I'm Vesna Novikova. Call me Vesna," The blonde next to him beamed. Before long, the rest of the present Misfits introduced themselves to her, with Alex himself giving the girl a quick shake of the hand and handing her some orange juice. Because Alex Ryan always tried to be friendly with a fellow kind soul. Anja, meanwhile, simply smiled at the sight. After all introductions were made, the gang let Penny join them at the table.
Robert hummed, then stated, "Not to sound like an ass, miss Polendina, but aren't Liaisons also usually asked to engage in combat here?"
"Oh, yes, indeed! I'll be a supporting element for the Misfits, making sure inter-unit cooperation between you and the normal Atlas Military goes smoothly," Penny replied calmly. She hummed and noted several of the concerned stares. With surprising capability to interpret said stares, Penny told them, "Worry not! I am Combat Ready!" before giving a rather flourishing salute, smiling.
"Alright," Robert shrugged, "We'll take your word for it."
"Many thanks for the trust. I'll ensure I don't disappoint," The ginger replied. The joy in her voice never seemed to falter, even now. She looked to Vesna and Vic, the two of them sat together and eating a quick brunch prepared by Anja, before asking, "Do you all happen to know team RWBY? Because I met Ruby a few days ago and she and Weiss told me of you."
"Wait, you're friends with RWBY, too?" Sam asked, helping Anja prep the next few portions.
"Yes, indeed! Ruby was my first friend, in fact!" The girl chuckled, "We met when they came to see the future competitors in the Vytal Tournament arriving at the port a couple of months ago. Weiss technically bumped into me first, but Ruby was the first to call me her friend!" And she seemed quite giddy when telling this story. The group looked between one-another, with Robert humming and snorting.
Ves shrugged, "Certainly sounds like Ruby, alright..." before leaning her head on Vic's shoulder, which made Vic lean his head against hers. Penny's smile grew at the sight, while Whiskey brought refreshments for the gang. Namely more Colas. Ves looked over to Penny and asked her, "So, how come general Ironwood decided to send you here, Penny? I'd have thought he'd like to keep staff and students close by."
She shrugged, "He figured it'd be as good a time as any to show me the world, I suppose," before pausing, blushing and stating, "I-I was a bit of a coddled child..." and letting out a hiccup after that statement. Alex let out a quick 'd'aww' while Alexi walked in, rifle slung over his shoulder as he prepared to go on his own patrol, namely toward some place, Junior Xiong's place.
"Makes sense, I guess," Sam shrugged as she turned back to eat... Before her phone dinged. With a heavy sigh, the girl pulled it out of her pocket, opened it and murmured, "Oh, for the love of... The Saluzzos' daughter keeps sending me texts and-wOAH THAT'S A NUDE!" which made several of the guys gather 'round, Alexi included. Sam blushed and hid her face behind her hand. She hid the phone before Penny turned to see it, murmuring to herself, "God, I don't even..."
The rest of the gang laughed, while Penny looked confusedly at the embarrassed Lieutenant, asking her, "What is wrong with a nail polish shade...?" which made the laughter only grow in volume. Robert himself cracked a smile at the quip, then shook his head and stood to his feet, stepping off to grab something extra to drink. An extra Coke from the looks of things.
Sam more-so blinked at that, before stating, "Long story, Penny," as she turned back to eating properly this time. She grumbled something to herself, while Sam looked over to Jim and Lita, who were playing cards. Penny Polendina was not one to usually judge soldiers' passtimes, especially not those of a Private Military Contractor unit, but they all seemed to be openly careless. From someone wearing only her underwear, shirt and some body armor on-site to the two lovers that were openly cuddling in front of her.
It was cute, but it wasn't something she expected to see in a military unit. Even a private one like this, belonging to Headmaster Ozpin. General Ironwood had noted that it had been great foresight to form a PMC unit in order to combat something, so he'd probably talked to the Headmaster about it. Penny, meanwhile, wondered just how she would work with the local folks.
Ooh, it seemed as though most of the ones who had Faunus traits had at least two of them. And going by the fact Victor had decided to pet Vesna's fox ears, it seemed as though the Misfits were well-acquainted to the fact that those additional organs were far more sensitive to touch than normal human ones. It was a rather endearing sight to see Vesna just there, being pet.
Penny wondered how it'd feel, honestly. Her frame did not allow for many sensory input systems to be attached to the synthetic skin protecting her endoskeleton, but she thought it might've felt amazing, considering how happy miss Vesna seemed to be. Well, she could get those answers during her first patrol. She had been assigned with Victor and Alex Ryan this time.
"... So, anyway, Anja decided to try a little something funny. We're finally together, heh," Alex rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling, "But Finns are weird, man..."
"Heh. Seems standard for Nordics, honestly. All that lack of sunlight must be screwing them over mentally," The Romanian let out a short laugh, then added, "Real shit, I remember seeing some Norwegian or something ranting about having to drink fish oil to keep sane in the darkness," before turning to a confused Penny. He told her, "I take it General Ironwood didn't really brief you on what we are."
"He did tell me he believes you may be alien, or from lost villages, yes," Penny replied, "Though he kept it rather vague."
"We're alien, alright," Alex smirked, his cat ears twitching, "Very alien, in fact. Like... We hadn't even heard of Remnant before landing here..." And those words surprised Penny, who furrowed her brows at him. He clarified, "Look, we're from a place called Earth. It's not the best place to live on right now, due to a lot of international tension, but we're making it work, heh."
"Yeah," Vic snorted.
Penny's eyes seemed to light up at that. She became giddy as she started, "That would explain your names being this ancient! Incredible!" with a smile on her face. Vic and Alex looked to one-another, surprised, before turning back to the giddy girl. She smiled brightly at them, which made both men smile, too. The young woman's joy was slightly contagious. She asked, "So, how is this 'Earth'?"
"Like we said," Alex sighed, "Bit of a mess."
"That's an understatement," Vic shrugged, "We do hope we can go back, considering a few items of interest have started appearing as of late..."
"Oh?" Penny quirked a brow up at him. He shrugged and gave a tilt of his hand, showing they'd tell her later, presumably when they weren't around so many people. Penny understood, smiling and nodding as they continued walking. She paused, however, when a red cape caught her eye. Beaming, she rushed forward to meet her friend, calling out, "RUUUUBBBYYYYYY!" before a loud thump echoed.
"whyyyyyy" Ruby let out in a croaking voice. She blinked, cleared the concussion(which was minimal, thank you Aura) by shaking her head and looked over, starting, "Penny!? Oh my gosh, what are you doing here!" Sounding more happy than questioning, smiling at the girl that had pounced on, tackled and hugged her. The two Misfits looked at this little interaction and both cracked smiles again.
Seemed like Penny had a certain effect on people, both thought as they walked to help the girls up. The rest of team RWBY soon caught up, with Weiss calling, "Penny!? What are you doing in Beacon!?" a combination of surprise and joy, though in her case it was more a sort of shock. Yang and Blake both smiled, with Yang noting that Vic was also present and giving him a wave.
He nodded in reply as they dusted off Penny and Ruby, with Ruby laughing. Penny chuckled and started, "Well, to answer both your and Ruby's question, Weiss, I've been assigned as a liaison from Atlas to the Misfits. Meaning I will be in Beacon for the foreseeable future!" with such joy, yet again, the group only found themselves smiling at the reactions. Ruby let out a joyous squee as she hugged Penny.
"Well, ain't that a nice boost for today," Yang smirked, crossing her arms to her chest. "Hey, guys. Tell Sam to toss us a message, by the way. We may be getting some more 'work' relating to a certain group soon," The blonde then told Vic and Alex, with Blake nodding. She had bags under her eyes, but they weren't as bad, honestly. Alex, for one, remembered how bad he'd gotten in Afghanistan at one point due to lack of sleep.
Vic hummed and said, "Alright, we'll let Sam know..." before looking up at the sky. Indeed, there it was again, like clockwork. A single drone hovered overhead. He flashed the IR Strobe at it, with Alex doing the same relatively quickly, before both turned toward the girls as the aircraft turned away. He told them, "That up there's an allied drone. Basically like Atlas's robots, just not humanoid... A UCAV."
"UCAV?" All five girls raised their brows.
"Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle. That's our drones," Alex quipped, "They usually carry missiles. We make drone strike jokes a-plenty."
"Heh. Let's keep'em on the DL now. Don't wanna get hit by one ourselves," Vic quipped, then watched all four girls crane their heads up to look at the winged vehicle as it'd turned and left, Penny squinting at it to the point Vic could almost swear he saw the eyes of the girl change shapes, as if they were camera shutters closing to provide better zoom. Odd, but he chose to ignore it for now as he called out, "Let's move, Penny. We gotta keep up the patrol... Or if you wanna hang out with team RWBY, I don't think either of us mind."
"Oh, certainly. We shall talk more later, girls!" Penny beamed and waved at them.