"You're shitting me, right?" Vic asked as he handed Avram a spanner. The pair of young men had gotten to working on the Warhound's engine. As it had turned out, there was such a thing as 'liquid Fire Dust'. Meaning something similar to gasoline, though with a slightly more volatile reaction. What the boys were mostly doing right now was replacing the pistons with stuff that could withstand the explosions.
Victor, meanwhile, had asked his old buddy, whose hand was moving with the crack of the cranking spanner, if he'd seen anything weird in his civilian life. The mountain-born soldier replied, "I'm telling you, man, either a Wendigo probably travelled across the pond to us and I just happened to see it in the middle of the night, or a Habsburg had escaped containment."
Yeah, the man's life had been weird, Vic thought. He told him with a smirk, "Reminds me of some of the dumber stuff I heard from Native Marines when we were training with the US back during DEFENDER '20. Like, they say they saw stuff that near-perfectly matches fuckin' Euro Cryptids, man. We're talking dwarves, Goblins, the whole nine yards. Part of me thinks it was the masks we all had to wear thanks to the Bat Plague."
Avram snorted, then replied calmly, "Man, oh, man, I don't miss those days... At least not the face masks. That stuff was annoying, but, hey, it was breathable."
"We all looked like the Japanese in Tokyo during the bad pollution days," Vic replied as he handed the man a flashlight, "Or Lieutenant Lee on a really bad day," and he let out a short laugh, before sighing and frowning. No words needed to be spoken for Avram to give him a gentle pat on the shoulder and a calm, but approving nod. His friend understood the fact that he missed his other friends dearly.
Avram then told him, "I'm sure if we wound up here, they'll be tagging in, too... Well, no, that'd imply they have to die..." And winced as he saw Vic turn toward him with furrowed brows and sheer confusion. He added a meek, "Yeah, maybe I should shut the hell up from time to time..." as he finished up replacing the last piston with a heavy-duty one they bought on a tab. He hummed, pulled the hood down after installing the top of the engine back and asked, "D'you think this is gon' hurt the engine in the long run?"
"No, this damn thing's a military vehicle engine," Vic snorted as he opened the driver's side door and climbed aboard, "It'll have to get used to the abuse."
"Alright, well, turn it on while I go take cover," Joked his friend. Vic let out a sarcastic laugh, before thumbing the button. The engine sputtered, chunked for a second, then roared to life. Both men laughed and high-fived at that, then Vic shut off the engine and jumped out. Avram said, "That was terrifyingly easy, man. Seriously, just replacing combustion chamber stuff?"
"A little too easy, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, aye? If she breaks down on us mid-travel, we can fix her, hopefully," Vic replied, patting him on the shoulder. He turned on his radio and spoke, "Diana, we got the girl modified and tested. Her engine will run on the local gas now," only to listen in after taking his thumb off the 'transmit' button.
"Rog'. Nice work, fellas. Get back here," The woman replied, "We got the map and I've already made the patrol patterns. You'll probably meet Cocean and Alina as you're coming back."
"Copy all, Sarge. We're RTB," The Gunner replied. He motioned to Avram to follow along. The two hefted their gear, slung it onto their backs and started walking over toward their dorm. They indeed saw two of their other comrades, ones armed with AKs, walking over. Standard doctrine for NATO meant that the Romanian Armed Forces had had to upgrade their service rifles before heading into battle. Due to the fact the military was still running trials to select the future main rifle, they went for a stopgap by modifying the existing AKs with stuff like ZENITCO reproduction handguards, dust covers, grips and MAGPUL stocks. The dust covers, latched properly onto place, also had a Trijicon scope on top, while the side rails on the ZENITCO Repro handguards had mounted flashlights and laser sights.
Hell, even the magazines were replaced by better, more ergonomic mags the names of which Vic forgot right now. They had brought much of the Romanian military into the modern age. From almost two decades ago, anyhow. As they walked back, the pairs greeted each-other on their way with waves of the hand. Vic, meanwhile, fully expected the Sarge to put them to work again.
Entering the dorm room, the two saw Vicky and Diana looking over the map. Unlike your average Lieutenant, the two were very capable at LandNav. Diana pointed at a route for Vicky, who nodded in turn and looked over to a younger Private that'd joined them for the run into Russia. He nodded, awkward, as he shifted uneasily on his feet. Rather obviously, both Vic and Avram realized that not everybody was taking their deaths as in-stride as the others.
Vic took a seat on his bunk bed, which was just across from the Sergeant and his sister's. Diana looked up at him, smiled and said, "Welcome back to the mechanics. Hope Warhound wasn't much of a bitch..." before showing them the map on the Scroll Tablet. All of the soldiers had received their 'Scrolls', the local version of smartphones, immediately after signing their contracts. They even got to pick between black and white colors.
"Usual temperament of a Mastiff," Avram replied as he plopped his own ass down onto the floor. He pulled out a protein bar and took a bite of it while looking up at their Sergeant, then inquired, "What're we looking at for our patrol route, boss?"
"You two are free of patrols for the day. I and Private Manolescu will be taking over for you, since you two were so kind as to make sure the old girl will run on the local crack crystals," The woman grinned. She stood up, closed the tablet and shoved it into her backpack, slid said backpack onto her back and grabbed her rifle. She gave a quick 'come with' signal to Manolescu, who hurriedly packed his own gear and hauled ass out.
"Poor guy ain't doing too hot," Vic murmured. Not like he was any better, but at least he wasn't a twitching mess. He made a mental note to himself to ask Diana if the Headmaster's little contracts included paid psych checks and dental amidst other Medical stuff. He didn't get to thoroughly read the Contract before the peer pressure got him to sign on, he thought to himself.
"I saw him take a grenade before I died, so, y'know," Vicky commented, "Thrown right underneath him. Gassed and grenaded, cuz the Chechens apparently really hated him..." and she sighed. Lifting her DMR, she started checking it over for any damages and preparing to repair it. The rest of the room checked phone clocks and all others save for Vic, Vicky and Avram departed for their patrol routes.
Vicky hummed, then asked, "Hey, bro, you see how that blonde chick was lookin' at you?"
"Who, Yang?" Vic quirked a brow. Curious, he asked, "How was she looking at me?" while Avram let out a snort. The two siblings cast a glance his way which shut him up, so he went to check on the four RPG shots they had to make sure they'd still operate properly. Vic, meanwhile, turned back toward Victoria and asked, "Seriously, what do you mean? I didn't see anything."
To her credit, the female twin snorted, only murmuring, "Ah, dense as ever..." just barely loud enough for her to hear it, but not her brother. The Machine Gunner blinked, shook his head and slung his weapon over, popping open the top cover, removing the box of ammo and the round in the chamber and starting to clean it as they waited, for there was honestly little else they could do out here.
As time passed and morning turned to midday proper, a knock echoed on the door. Vicky showed both men to sit as she jumped off her bunk, marching over toward it. She propped open the door and smirked, then greeted, "Heya, Yang," causing Vic to look up. Avram's face morphed into a smug grin while his sister let the girl in. The blonde brawler of team RWBY stepped inside, a smile on her face.
"Hey, folks... Where's e'rryone else?" She raised a brow.
"Out on patrol. We got excused because we made mods to our transport so it runs on Dust," Avram shrugged. Noting the surprise in Yang's gaze, the man clarified, "Honestly the easiest thing I've had to do as a mechanic for our little platoon. Just replacing the pistons seems to do the trick and now she's purring on your weird space rocks like she'd purr on the average gasoline."
"You gotta be kidding me, dude," Yang started, "A whole new engine would be needed for your wheeled tank to run on our stuff. I mean, the pistons alone, yeah, but the combustion chamber would need to be reinforced for each of them. Fire Dust in liquid form is volatile as all Hel, so you gotta expect some things to go wrong in there..." only to hum, "Though I guess if it's a military truck, it might have that sorta hardening already."
"Engine's meant to take a couple hits from landmines," Vicky quipped, "Technically the whole vehicle."
"... Fair enough," Yang sighed, rubbing her eyes. She chuckled and said, "Well, I'm a lil' disappointed it ain't all of you guys and gals in here. Ruby sent me to ask if y'wanna join us all for lunch, since we've just finished classes," then looked around. Even more awkwardly, she added, "I guess it's probs' a no, since you folks are all busy with being security and all that."
"Vic can tag along," Vicky smirked, much to the surprise of both her brother and Yang. She told the two, "I mean, someone has to tag along. I'll be busy checking my rifle and Avram will be making last checks on the Warhound's engine, just in case, y'know?" giving a quick wink to Avram. The rocketeer snorted and nodded, while Vic stared at them like they'd just thrown him to the wolves.
He sighed, then shrugged, "I don't really mind, I guess..."
Yang beamed at that, then motioned for him to follow, stating, "If you'll excuse us, then," as she and him started walking. Vicky crossed her arms to her chest as the door closed, proud of what she'd managed to achieve. Avram looked to her with a little concern, though, which caused her to turn to him and open her arms, shrugging as if to ask 'what is it?'
"I think I can guess what you're trying to do, Vee," Avram told her as he sat himself back down to work on the rocket launcher, "I'm not sure Victor's gonna approve of his sister trying to play matchmaker after everything..." only to pause as he saw her glaring at him. He told her, "I'm just saying. I know you didn't do anything wrong, but you of all people gotta know how he viewed Vesna."
"Yeah, I know," Victoria sighed deeply, "It's why I am playing matchmaker, even a little. What if Vesna doesn't show up? What if he's right and we're all there is? All we have? That moron deserves someone who cares for him, even if it's nothing more than a schoolgirl crush at first," then she rubbed her eyes. She knew what she'd just walked into and fully expected the next question Avram was to ask.
And ask, he did. Quite smugly, too. "What about Clarisse, then? You saw how that went. I don't think Vic wants to go through that kind of weird relationship anymore, especially not with some random foreigner. Hell, they fought every couple of days, didn't they? Like an actual married couple, minus the marriage and the good bits..." Words which irked Victoria. Honestly, he couldn't keep it stowed for a day, could he, that Avram?
"At least the breakup was amicable," The girl replied with a roll of her eyes, "We've got more shit to deal with than that, man. I hate seeing my brother act like nothing's happening, too, but the thing is, this might be the kick in the ass he needs to move on... Just in case. We're all a little fucked after Ichkeria, after all..." before she sat back down and started working on her rifle.
Avram sighed deeply, murmuring, "I see not talking about your problems is fairly normal for the Toma Twins," as he stood up and walked out. He told her, "I'll go do that checkup on the engines, just so nobody gets suspicious. Give it a little more thought before you dump Vic into another Relationship neither he, nor the teenager you're trying to hook him up with are ready for. Take it as advice from a dude who's had friends do that type of stuff to him, it never ends well for either party."
"... Yeah... Alright..." She replied, annoyed, then sighed, then plopped down onto the bed. The door opened and shut behind Avram as he left, leaving the markswoman with her own thoughts. Fact of the matter was, Avram was both right and wrong. Right about the idea that this could potentially go bad, but wrong about the fact Vic shouldn't go through with something. If Vesna wouldn't show up, Vicky dreaded what would happen. She knew her brother, after all.
Calmly, she stood back up and started tending to her rifle once more. She set the damn thing in motion, but she'd let her brother decide if he was gonna go through with it. She paused, however, blinked, then murmured, "Teenagers...? How old is missus Xiao-Long...?" as a sudden bit of dread struck. Had she just done something incredibly stupid without a second thought? Had she just done something that could quite easily get both her brother and her into trouble if not properly addressed immediately?
Well, it really wouldn't be the first time, honestly.