Scout Duo

As dusk begins to fade into the night only a shimmer of light can be seen through the tree lines coming from a rather heavily armored military van. Inside this van carries just two personnel, Mallory and Anakin. They are headed north to scout out potential immortal camps or stragglers that have lost their way in these woods. Mallory is currently the one behind the wheel while Anakin makes some tweaks to his cybernetic arm. Now with a knife that can protrude from his forearm for quick access if need be. His ranged weapon this mission is a modernized mid ranged SASS rifle with a 4x thermal scope but a regular one attached diagonally to the right of the thermal. Last but not least his revolver that he keeps strapped to his leg, which is secured with a leather drop-leg holster. With the lack of music and outside noises Anakin decides to speak up to fill in that quiet air until they arrive to their objective. The static of his voice box crackles slightly before his voice emerges writhing the static.*

“You would think that they would send a few more soldiers with us if there are sightings of immortals around here. I would rather not have a situation similar to last time we were underprepared..” *He winces to himself at the memories from their previous lycan encounter.*

“..What made you choose us for that experiment anyways? There has to be at least thousands of ox corp members that have fatal wounds but you decided to give that second chance to us..why?” *Anakin then places his full attention on Mallory as he puts his tools away that were being used to tinker with his arm before turning his head towards her and continuing the conversation.*

“I mean I am thankful that you did save us but there has to be more of a reason behind your choice.”

Mallory didn't get to go on patrol as often as she would have liked anymore. But she was getting more time on patrols now since she had successfully designed the cyber suits, especially since the raid on the vampire coven and wolf den in the BlackWoods. That mission has been an overall win. Driving the vampire and the wolves out of the area, they even managed to kill some of them in the process. Mallory had rejected a promotion after the fact, choosing to remain the head technical officer, seeing how promotions had got Bade Price shoved behind a desk, much to the commanders dismay.
Today she drove an Ox issue vehicle on a two manned patrol with a member from unit seven- the unit she had modded up and merged with her suits. The soldier accompanying her patrol today was Anakin, possibly one of the youngest soldiers in the group, and the one that had the most to say. He was far more talkative than the other members, and Mallory was still unsure of him, so had decided to do some ground work with him, needing her team to work well together, herself included.

“They sent the only soldiers I requested,” she replied calmly. “The corporation spent millions of dollars on the cybernetics we have, not to mention the suits that we wear. Unless dozens of creatures breach the outer city limits and get past all of the outposts we don’t have anything to worry about. We are just patrolling looking for any individuals that may have slipped through. Your team member Colton Beckett dealt with one of them recently, an ancient, he survived alone. We have a lot to prove” she replied, not mentioning that Colton was now signed off on medical leave after the altercation.

“I chose you because I had little choice, if you want the short answer,” she glanced into the mirror, measuring his reaction as she pulled up into a parking space, grabbing her side arm before disembarking the vehicle, ready to take on foot patrol with the young soldier. “Marshall and Anakin on the move, sector eighteen” she spoke over nano radio before addressing Anakin again as he added to his comment, “The longer answer is that I was already watching you and the rest of your unit, you were contenders for the trial anyway. Your statistics were good, you worked well together and had good results. However, I hadn’t made my decision. The attack by the lycans on your unit made that decision for me. It was either let you all go on a medical discharge, to claim disability for the rest of your lives due to the range of injuries you all had, or it was to rebuild you with out technology and make you part of the cyber suit trials, with all of your agreement” she put her gun in the holster and turned on her augmented vision to scan for any suspicious heat signatures and kept walking, letting Anakin absorb the information. “You all did well in the BlackWoods, so far the team has been doing well. I think you were all the right choice ultimately”

Anakin
“Oh? Am I the favorite out of the bunch then? Or is it because I may be the most capable out of the rest of the group?” *Anakin lets out with a slight chuckle before she lets out her other statement about her having no choice. A look of slight frustration consumes his eyes but he pans them away from the mirror once he sees her eyeing him.*

Once the vehicle halted Anakin made sure his revolver and knife were secure before grabbing his rifle and stepping out of the car. Once the door shuts he uses his thermal scope to scan the tree lines while Mallory observes the ground level.

“I’m flattered to hear that we were your best choice. Since this all worked out so perfectly though how are you not leading a whole battalion of us by now? Or are we still in the ‘testing phase’.” *Once the perimeter is clear and they began to move Anakin taps a few buttons on his forearm and the static from his throat disappears but then his voice re-emerges in Mallory’s earpiece.*

“Also, going back to your point about Colton. I could beat him any time, and anywhere. If he was able to take out an ancient than so can I..”

*That slight bit of frustration now carries over to this conversation. Anakin now taking a couple steps faster to make them be out of line with each other to avoid her gaze again. Once he is ahead though he brings his scope back to his right eye to continue searching for any immortals.*

Mallory wasn’t about to start talking about the inner workings of Ox Corp and all of the politics involved, it would have been unprofessional, but beside that she was so hooked up with comms that she was well aware her every word could and would be recorded when on duty. She had turned down the offer of promotion for a reason, she did not want to be part of the inner workings of the business, she wanted to keep to her lab and keep on the field, making a difference where she could without being drowned in as much red tape as the ones above her were. Position did not always equate to power, at least not in Mallory’s eyes.

“I am right where I want to be, and where I am needed. I get to do my work this way,” she responded, keeping tabs on Anakin and on their surroundings as they worked on clearing through the area. A lot was going on behind the scenes, the immortals were running scared, and a scared monster was always a dangerous monster.
“I would say the testing phase is over. We know the technology is working and is effective in the field. We just need to make sure that the soldiers equipped with it, such as your team, continue to remain successful and get good results in the field”

Anakin changed the tone of conversation, and Mallory listened quietly, seeing a new level of annoyance from the young man, Anakin showing a potentially dangerous competitive side. She was all for healthy competition, but he was not coming off as healthy.
“You are a unit. You should work together as a unit. Each one of you should want the other to do well, and to have each other's back. You win as a team and you lose as a team. Ox Corp is not about looking for you guys to play hero, it’s looking for soldiers who see the bigger picture. Going rouge will be a good way to get yourself removed from the team or killed Anakin, remember that,” she responded, pausing to read the energy signatures coming from a group of people standing hunched together at a bus stop.

Anakin
*Anakin believes that it’s his drive of competition that makes him push through these difficult decisions. His ultimate choice to agree with the surgery in the first place was being the rest of his team chose to do so. The issue is he lacks the ability to know when it has gone too far.*

*As Mallory talks about her preferring to stay where she is he gives a nod rather than a worded response as his temper cools off. As they continue down the trail his steps slow down enough for a moment to where they are in step with one another. Though once she switches to the other topic her earpiece chips with his voice once more.* “I know..I know, I treat them nothing less than family..it’s just if they can both hold their own what if..” *His voice halts as he also looks over at the nearby bus stop.*

*As Anakin eyes the group to make sure no eyes are on him as he conceals his rifle within his trench coat in case they are citizens but keeps his organic hand close to his metallic forearm where his  knife is stored by crossing his arms loosely together.* “Shall we go take a look at the group over yonder?”

*Anakin looks a little glad at the appearance of this group. Mostly for some action on this trip but also to try and get away from the topic they were on as it was not his strong suit conversing about topics revolving around his weaker attributes.*

Mallory was only half listening as Anakin started then failed to admit that he felt inferior in certain ways. She was a technical officer, not a shrink, but she also knew that the only way Anakin was going to prove himself to Ox Corp but mainly to himself was by doing his job and doing it well. “Just stay focused on the job, and get some kills. You’ll be holding your own soon enough. Then eventually the world will be rid of these disgusting beasts,” she eventually responded, still scanning the collection of people, finding some unreachable due to how close they all stood together huddling underneath the shelter from the rain.

“I don’t know. Shall we?” She questioned him, knowing what she would do, yet wanting to see how he chose to lead the patrol, hoping that he would take charge of the situation and show his competency.
She waited to see what Anakin’s response would be before she followed him towards the group, all of which did not overly react to them being there. Ox corp soldiers on patrol were a normal thing in the city of Arcane, and anyone who looked uncomfortable often had something to hide.

“Sweeping the bus station,” Mallory affirmed over her comms system as she withdrew a side arm, holding it down in a non-threatening position as she followed Anakin into the area to get a better look at those who huddled inside. “Let me know if you see anything. And take the lead if you see anything suspicious,” she murmured to Anakin, hoping that they would come across some action tonight, so she could assess the young soldier out on patrol. She was hoping that Unit seven would soon be able to over see smaller teams, but she had to know that they knew how to deal with unplanned situations in the field as leaders.

“With pleasure.” *Anakin says before pressing a few other buttons on the inside of his forearm. Soon after the code is completed the static from his voice box returns so he could address the group. Whilst the code is being implemented he straightens his posture and puts on a metaphorical mask of a smile to seem less threatening to any innocent civilian.*

*He was also thrilled to take charge in one of these endeavors as he hasn’t had too many chances to prove his leadership. As they near the group a couple turn their attention towards the two strangers nearing them but before they get a chance to speak Anakin pipes up. This time his words take on a more serious tone rather than the usual chipper and sassy voice.*

“Good evening everyone, my name is Anakin. My partner and I are just doing some routine surveillance check for Ox Corp to ensure all is safe and sound near the cities. Would you all mind if we could ask a couple of questions? It will only take a moment of your time and then we can all be on our way.”

*Anakin’s expressions are taking shape of a less aggressive tone but his eyes are intently shifting to each person in the group to try and pick up on any nervous tells or ticks. To try and ensure some results, his cybernetic arm protrudes out from his trench coat so he can use it to make his hand gestures. Also, with the immortals knowledge of this technology it is a clear sign of who these two soldiers are after.*

Mallory willingly took a backfoot and would remain silent while Anakin moved ahead of her to check the group out. He made the decision to introduce them to the group when she would have kept silent and chosen to settle for a more covert assessment, but she didn’t stop him, wanting to see how his approach would fair. Maybe a friendlier approach would gain them more trust in the area, or maybe it would make people think they were more secure in their presence than they were, regardless she was happy to wait and see how it would pan out in the end.

Most of the people were receptive to them, though some did avoid them and Mallory paid particular attention to them, examining their heat signatures with more interest as she ran through a program to detect anything out of the norm. None of them were too hot or too cold, which rules out Vampires and Lycan kind, but that didn’t mean they were in the clear, and Mallory would pay stick closer to them as she watched Anakin’s actions as he milled around checking the IDs of the people who waited.

“Anakin,” she nodded, motioning for him to come over once she had decided that no one was worth chasing there. Someone else had her attention then, a figure was moving quickly down the street away from them, it’s readings all over the place as she was unable to detect a proper signature from it.

She pointed down the street to see the person had started a slow jog. It was suspicious behavior, yet so far they hadn’t any concrete evidence and the person hadn’t been witnessed breaking any laws or doing anything wrong. “What would you do about them?” she pointed out, “Lead the way Anakin. This is your pursuit now.”