Chapter 1: Landing in Calgary

Our journey is nearing its completion... Sir Bedivere is struggling with the final bit. While deployed, he had a purpose, a mission. For the last few days, his mission was getting home with Misha Mau. But then what? What is he going to do when he isn't a soldier, he will still be a knight.

"That's right Clankers. Welcome to the Free World! The one you been fighting for but never seen." Misha Mau's comment could be construed as supportive, had it not been delivered with deadpan sarcasm. She knew that the pretty neon and tourist trappings were only a thin veil covering the grime of the city. The Tabaxi lit another cigarette. She had practically been chain-smoking the things since leaving the hospital. 'Clankers' was not a new term though. It was a term used by soldiers to describe warforged for a long time at the front. Misha had let RU467 know that there was no way she was calling him 'Sir' and that 'Bedevere' wasn't going to get a warm reception either wherever he went with a name like that. She thought it best to be honest up front about such things, well aware that the Warforged was practically unexposed to how life in the city worked.

"No killing, maiming or violence, remember? Not unless someone else starts it."

How...How do they know who we are?
Be vigilant Misha Mau!
All this attention is causing Sir Bedivere to feel unconfortable

Misha was looking over the merchants. She was in no hurry to part with her credits.
"Calm yer shiny dome! All they know is we're soldiers. All you got to worry about is that they want to sell you junk. No one is going to try shit at an airport."

But they know your name. How did they know your name?
The unsaid complaint is there they did not know his name.

"Who knows my name?"
Misha looked where RU467 was looking.
"Eyyy, that's my peeps!" She exclaimed and immediately went over to the sign.

Mobbed by tabaxi kittens grabbing her, calling for her attention and at least one climbing up her back, Misha tries to juggle all the attention.
"Eyyyy! Ow claws honey! Oh him? That's Are You Four Hunnerd Sixty-Seven. Clankers, you practised shaking hands right? Gentle, no bone crushing! Ahhh! Careful kittens! Anyhow metal man is sticking close to me till I can get him settled. No, you are too young for war stories. Aunt Misha will tell you when yer older!

It is a pleasure to meet Misha Mau's familie. You may call me Sir Bedivere.
His metal hands are very gentle with the small kittenhands

Misha assured Carlo she would be fine. In fact, being surrounded by her people was just about the soothing balm she needed right now. Not to mention mom's cooking. She picked up her kit and followed her cousin. She glanced over to RU467 to make sure he was keeping up.
"There's going to be a reception thrown by my family. So don't be surprised if you meet a hundred Tabaxi or so."
Tabaxi families were, after all, big. They came in nests...
"Be nice. Don't talk details about the war. A'ight?"

My dear Misha;
A knight was supposed to show bravery, strength and skill in battle (this was called prowess), to respect women, to defend the weak and the poor, to be generous to others and loyal to his lord, his family and his friends. He was meant to behave at all times with courtesy - which meant not just being polite or having good manners but showing kindness and respect and thinking about the feelings of others.
This speech has been repeated multiple times. Sir Bedivere has been trying to live by this, ever since he found the passage in his book about the Arthurian legends.
I would be delighted to meet your family.
But as he follows the Tabaxi family out of the airport, he continues to scan the perimeter. He is in high defence mode. Misha knows that if something happens, armoured plates will snap out of over the metallic body. The kiddies who were riding him grumble as they are ordered down, but it is for their own protection. Small tails could be clipped by those armour plates.

Misha peered out of the window at the billboards. Her cybereyes took in every detail to perfection. She had tinkered a lot with vehicles before the war, and learned how to work military drones in the army. These mechanical bulls probably worked like most 4-legged walker configurations. They were made fancier of course, for show. Part of her wondered if the cowboys would appreciate someone rigging a cyberbull with a mindlink interface and giving them the ride of their life..
"Eh, who knows. Right now just cruising in an airtaxi seems like a nice change of pace. Did you guys talk to your boss?"

It is a knight's duty to protect those who can't, and avenge wrongdoings. This bounty hunting could prove just the thing.

Misha, remember we are supposed to check in at arrival. While they had been discharged from the army, they had suggested that they could report to the local office back home. Their ture of duty is over, and the army can't enforce it, but its a way to keep track of its soldiers.

"Thanks." Misha said as she accepted the keycards. She then replied to RU467.
"Yeah well.... bounty hunting is not as cool as it sounds Clankers. But you can do whatever you want once you're settled and out of my hands. Until then, you are going to learn how to act like a civilian. Once all that is done, you can go get shot at again if you like, but I'm done with all that. And if yer smart, so are you."

Thank you for the ride mister Carlo. I'll find my way from there. The warforged exits the vehicle. It is clear to me now that I am just a "clanker" to Misha and not the comrade I though I was.
With those words, Sir Bedivere turns his back on the Tabaxi family, raises the hood of his rain cloak and heads towards the army office. There at least they acknowledge his worth.

"Oh fuck me.." Misha groaned for herself and Carlo's benefit. She hurriedly got out of the cab and hustled after RU467 and jumped next to him. She had no hopes of physically stopping the warforged of course.
"Ey! Ey! Where ya goin'? Didn't they teach ya some gab at the rehab center? Soldiers call each other names! That's what we do! That's how the world works. Out here maybe ten times so. It's every group to himself and bitching about the others. I'm your minder! I'm helping you out here! That's a little more than just helping you get an apartment and teaching you how to do your taxes. I'm getting you ready for the real world! C'mon big guy, don't pout like that!"

"No it's fine." Misha replied to her cousin as she watches RU467 trod off on his tantrum. Not her most successful stint babysitting. She had chased plenty of kittens with mood swings like that. How old was RU467 anyhow? He might still be a kid in that big body. That would explain the fascination with knights. But he seemed to have made up his mind and off he was.
"Maybe it's for the best. Let him figure things out on his own a bit. A little sniff of reality might do him some good. Besides, he doesn't need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep and he's built like a tank. He can last a few days if he doesn't do something real stupid or piss off the wrong people.." Which he might. She doubted that his socialization classes explained the nitty-gritty of what went down in the streets. Still. Big bad kill-bot we're talking here. Oh well..

She picked up her bags. "Let's get this party started."

Sir Bedivere goes into the building but stays just inside while he snakes off the water on his raincoat. His temper has cooled and his armour plating has retracted again.
Good evening brother. Did you also feel that beacon a moment ago? It was faint.
Anyways, I have just retuned from overseas and is making my checkin.
RU467, engineering core, RU46727834 L7 alpha 9
He stands to attention and salutes.
That.... that is my last salut. I'm a civilian now

It had been a flurry of activity for Misha, talking to her extended family and having some decent food for the first time in forever. As things settled down she let her mother give her the rundown of the extended family's blessings and woes. Mom was a professional gossip who somehow knew what went on with everyone and was always eager to share. Misha took in the torrent along with a steady supply of snacks. She avoided the topic of the war even when mom got nosy. On occasion she wondered how RU was doing and glanced on her phone which only showed the latest updates on the family chat as pictures got shared around..

Seeing the accident shocked Misha bad. The accident resonated with all the shit she had seen in Europe. She was moving to help her cousin, when Carlo called. Just a moment of hesitation followed before she hopped into the car. What the fuck had just happened!? Was that intentional? She yelled her frustration as she closed the door and watched down the street at the fleeing asshole.
"FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!"

"That ain't right." Misha said, as she observed the car's movement. "They're trying to block a shot I think. Keep your distance"
Misha was carrying, like any sensible 'Murican in the mid 21st century. But she wasn't planning to start blazing her gun. Instead she got out her phone and called 911..

Ok Misha OK. Calm Now. Operator voice.
"Yes, this is Misha Mau. My cousin just got hit by a car at 38th by 7th, Outside of Skyrise appartment block 6. Please send an ambulance there. I am in a taxi following the car that did the hit an run. We're on the freeway, headed towards some construction site it looks like."
She gave as much information as possible on her location and direction. She had done this a thousand times flying and driving drones. She wondered what these idiots were headed to in such a hurry. Maybe their turf? If so, she hoped the cops had some balls because she wasn't going to let Carlo get shot over this..

Make way! booms the knightly warforged as he runs down the street. He uses his jumping ability to jump over cars and similar obstructions, but otherwise stays on the ground.

"FUCK! TURN AROUND CARLO! TURN AROUND NOW! GET LOW!" Misha yelled, reaching for her pistol with her right hand while pushing Carlo's head down with the left hand holding her phone.

Misha watched the shooters turn around and head for the trains.
"Fuck no Carlo. I only got a pistol, they got machine guns, this is for the police to handle! Get us the fuck out of here before we catch bullets!"

I don't take orders from a civilian
Then he takes a step to the side (move to C1) and casts the thunderwave spell (hitting 6 and 9, but not the cart)
They are not moved, but stones, rubish and debree flies around them

"Fuuuuck...." Misha hissed, thinking on her feet. The angles were all wrong. If they turned now those assholes had all the time in the world to unload their guns. IF they fired. Considering they already offed two people right in front of them, they just might. But staying would make them an even easier target. Misha took her pistol out and hid her hand out of view.
"Carlo, no fucking bullshit now. I'm going to try to talk to 'm. If it turns to shit and I start blazing, you duck out of view and gun this fucking car into the air."

"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE CARLO! NOW!"
The construction site was turning into a warzone. They had to go, fast. And if Carlo didn't hit the gas in one second, Misha was going to smack her cousin!

Misha exhaled slowly, watching what the mooks were doing to make sure the danger had passed. She made sure Carlo was OK as well. Then she laid into him.
"Carlo, never join the fucking army."

This was not how Misha imagined her first day home to be like. What a shitshow. And how the hell did RU467 end up here? Or at the construction site? This put the tabaxi in a foul mood and she sat with crossed arms, not really feeling like sticking around for long.
"Yeah, let's hurry this up, we need to go to the hospital to check on my niece."

Did you find the warforged brother who was trapped in one of the containers? I was following his distress beacon and that lead to the the sight. The warforved "Goodreau", from the military office at James street can confirm this.

The men there behaved themselves as kidnappers of warforged and expected me to follow them quietly. I indicated that that was not going to happen. That was when they fireballed me.
I'm pleasantly surprised that I survived

"Well, the two guys I and Carlo chased got gunned down by the others when they arrived. No idea why." Misha said it rather matter-of factly, aware of the seriousness, but not rattled. She had seen a lot of people die through her cybereyes. A lot of them in messier ways...

"The guy with the glasses in the business suit was in charge. Clearly. He was thinking over what to do with me and Carlo but he lost interest in us when stuff started exploding."

She glanced over at RU467. She could guess what was on his chrome-domed mind.
"For my pal's interest, mind telling us how some lowlifes get their hands on a dozen Warforged? What they typically do with 'm?"

Nothing good, but better he hear it from the cop..

That bunch of them seems to be a little bit too organized to just be hating on Warforged. And too well-armed.. Misha thought, really wanting to be done with the mess and let the cops or maybe even the feds handle it, but she already knew this was about to shoot RU467 into knightly knight overdrive mode...

What's this, the cops can spare bodyguards now? They're over their necks. Always have been. They can't spare men... They're up to something.. Maybe I should look into getting some additional protection of my own..

"Right. We got to check on my cousin. Been holding it off long enough." Misha replied as she got up. No sense in questioning the cops' motives now. If she didn't agree they'd do this some other way..

Misha joined Carlo, then looked over her shoulder at the troubled warforged. He had been an ass, but he was going to get himself killed if he kept this up. The Tabaxi decided to throw him a bone.
"You coming R-U? Or are you in a hurry to go headfirst into trouble again?"

"More like we won't ever hear of him, nor find a trace if he's going to keep running into fights like that." Misha replied to Carlo before they headed out. But she had no way to stop the Warforged. Besides, if this is what he wanted...

At the hospital Misha gave her cousin a tight (but careful) hug. "Lucky you! But don't think jumping in front of cars will get you any more in the future!"

She listened to the diagnosis, and outside of earshot of the children she filled in the family about the mess she and Carlo had gotten into, although she left out the most shocking parts. Best of them not to worry. Besides, the idiots that had done the hit and run were dead now..

"Ex-soldier." Misha corrected the warforged, carefully shaking Cooper's hand. Not all clankers had practiced dealing with handling flesh-and-bone individuals... At the same time she was wary. Why did she suddenly need protection like this? If they thought to see anything interesting in her life by prying they would be sorely disappointed. And for the love of... did all these clankers pick media stereotype personalities to live by? She hoped that would be a phase for them as they grew up...

"Right, I'm tired to the bone, just got home and then all this. So I'm ready to hit the sack. Excuse me." First a shower. A nice, long shower. Oh yes.

She began saying her goodbyes to her family, a lengthy affair that involved a lot of hugging and face-rubbing..

"Right..." Misha replied, thinking she might tell him where to get some soya-coffee, but clankers didn't need to drink, or caffeine to stay awake. She headed inside and upstairs. Her ident-chip in her wrist opened the door to her new home. Her family had already done some basic unpacking and moved her furniture in from the storage unit but most of her possessions were still in the boxes for her to sort out herself. That was for another time.

Hot water rinsed her fur moments later as she soothed her muscles with the heat to get the strain of travel and the day's events out. It was her first shower since leaving the army in perfect privacy and she sighed contently. For a moment she tried not to think of the mess she was seemingly in. It frustrated her not knowing what the police was up to with her. But it might be smart to get some backup of her own. She had a good idea to use the souvenirs the army left her with. But that was for tomorrow.

After the blow-dry her fur stood up nice and fluffy, and she hit the pile of cushions that served as her bed. In moments, fatigue overtook her, and sleep came..

Sleeping by herself was both wonderful and odd after a long time of being bunked up with others. Refreshed Misha stretched and did her morning exercises (the drill sergeant would be proud). She opened the clothing boxes and put together her standard attire of shirt, pants and leather vest. Her fridge was practically empty and some shopping would need to happen, but she had enough for breakfast. Some shopping would be nice in fact. And of course she had to go by her garage for her little plan.

She had almost forgotten Cooper as she stepped outside..

He's such a cowboy... Misha thought.
"We're going shopping. Then off to my garage. I got a special project in mind." She looked at Cooper, her cybernetic eyes hiding her thoughts. Truth was, he wasn't going to be around to protect her forever, so she might as well put some souvenirs to good use..

The shopping took them past a few hardware and electronics stores, finishing at the Quick-y-mart to fill up her fridge. Before noon, they came to the garage blocks, endless lines of hired garages stacked on top of another creating a concrete wasteland. Her ident-chip bleeped on the lock of one of the endless doors and with a hefty haul Misha hefted the rolling door open. Inside was not exactly a treasure trove. An old, beat up ground car, a rust bucket she and some of her Tabaxi kin had once tried to restore but had largely given up on when college came around. There were workbenches with some basic tools for soldering and welding, on which Misha deposited the boxes she had brought. She unpacked them there, showing a wild collection of junk iron, a broken drone, some customizable print plates, wireless controllers, electro-engines and batteries. She rolled up a chair and began taking most of the stuff in front of her apart. The truth was, out of her kin she had been the only one good at tinkering, maybe even had a knack for it. But an old car bored her. She had neglected it in favor of more modern toys. Now that she had something in mind her old spirit was kindled and she looked up diagrams and blueprints on the net that she could apply to her design. Soon she was bending iron and welding things together, then she was putting a print plate together, testing it with the wireless controller, then taking the controller apart in turn.

The day went by, with Cooper standing outside. The sun had set when Misha finally came out straightened her back. Her arms were covered in grease and oil, but she seemed pleased. Then something metallic steps followed, and a giant metal cat-droid stepped outside next to her. It was covered in thick iron plates that still held sharp edges and scratches from the salvaging process but its legs and back seemed quite nimble. It seemed almost like a crude war-droid, although it lacked weapon platforms. It looked at Cooper, its eye-cameras staring at him as if it held some sort of curious intelligence.

"Neat huh? It's connected to my jack. Nothing like the hunter-killers we had to shoot up Europe, but this thing will keep me safe from an idiot in the streets."

"WHISKER - Wireless High-tech Intelligent System for Kitty-like Exploration and Retrieval!" Misha proclaimed proudly, clearly having put her mind to work on that questionably acronym while putting her new friend together.
"Patent pending. Anyhow, I'm done following orders for a while. I joined the army because of the draft, I'm not going back into some command structure just when I got out. Besides, no offense, but you guys aren't exactly winning out there." She indicated the crime-infested city where just yesterday her cousin got hit by a speeding criminal who shortly after got shot by other criminals who subsequently blew up a whole lot of warforged as if it was nothing.
"...well, that sounds mean. You guys try I suppose. But I'm done shooting people for a living for a while. For the rest of my life if I can help it." Despite that Cooper could see Misha hadn't left without her side-piece. The Tabaxi had good intentions backed up with some solid sense of realism. She began wiping oil from her hands with a rag while her cybereyes fixed onto him as if they had a target lock..
"So how about you tell me about the mess I got stuck into."

"Wonderful." Misha said replied bitterly. One day home and already a loose end for some mob group. Well. Hopefully this band didn't think her worth the trouble. But one thing did stand out to her..

"Hey... If they are just after parts, why keep their victims alive? There were live warforged in those containers, right?"
Well, and there was one other thing.
"and waaaiiiit.... You can't have gotten here more than a few months than me. Why are you talking like you been at this for years?"

"Riiiight. Whatever you say super secret man." Misha replied, rolling her eyes a little. She could guess Cooper stumbled on some secret of the Europeans and he had been recalled for debriefing, or something like that. It hardly mattered to her anyhow, since the war was over and it had nothing to do with her.

"So now we not just got warforged walking around, but they are also precious somehow, you know, apart from their radiant personalities. Where are the feds in all this? One would think they'd be all over mobsters stealing ex-military hardware. Last thing the government would want is some domestic do-over of the war, right?"

"Pelts, Cooper. They want our pelts. Every little Tabaxi cub is told not to trust strangers or accept gifts or they might skin you.... What the fuck is this?" Misha looked down at the fog. Now that just wasn't natural.. And she wanted nothing of it. She slammed her garage shut and locked it.
"Let's go then!"

"Don't be a hero! Move it!" Misha said as she ran up the stairs. They needed to get out of the garage complex fast. WHISKER ran ahead of her, scanning for threats as she grabbed her own pistol. But she remembered basic training well enough not to run blindly..

Misha saw the drones and brought up her iron.... a split second too late.
"Well f...."

"Gah!" Misha shouted as she was hit. Thankfully it was just a grazing hit. She dove for cover and fired at the nearest drone.
"Get 'm Whiskers!"
She didn't need to say anything really, her jack-link sufficing. The big robot-cat leaped forward to jump around and snap at the drones.

Misha popped another shot from cover, but it went wide.
"Fuuuuck!" She hissed.

Misha's swearing was now a continuous torrent as she heard the beeping. What was this? Amateur hour? The drones over in Europe certainly didn't give her targets a warning before they did their thing. Still, that likely meant explosives were in the little bastard. She hoped her shot wouldn't trigger it, but it probably beat waiting for it to happen. With a swing she came from cover, aimed down the length of her barrel and took out the drone with a perfect shot. She quickly dropped back before the ranged drones could return the favor.

"Yea. Gimme that." Misha said grumpily as she put away her gun. She wasn't used to being on the firing line.
"I actually was a Jack-Pilot. I controlled big versions of these things. And knew a thing or two about maintenance. Since whoever sent these were stupid enough to make 'm beep instead of having them explode by proximity, I doubt they had the smarts to scrub them properly. Cheap street drones turned into bombs or with a gun attached.. But let's get somewhere safe first. I don't want another swarm coming for us out in the open."

Misha unpacked her army backpack that she had stuffed with some essential tools and electronics she thought she might need and got to work. She put the drone under some light and began looking for serial numbers and the like before beginning to methodically stripping the drone..

Misha was on the fence on going to the factory. She wasn't running this investigation. Then again, the police wasn't lkikely to stay on her side forever, and she might as well use them to get her ass covered from these assholes.

The drone brought a sense of familiarity though.
"Hmmm, they packed it with some combat software." Misha mused, looking at the drone. "Isn't that illegal outside the army?"

The tabaxi leaned her head to the side, her cybereyes whirring as she locked onto the drone.
"List previous owner and last ten directives."

"Ech... Anyone with a little tech know-how and able to replace a chip on a printboard can cook this up. The software they probably got off the dark web. Once out there once, it stays out there." The tabaxi ducked deeper over the printboard, looking at the welds. "Heck, it could've been filched off a downed drone in Europe and put up on the web from there. Who knows? Ten bucks says if I dug who made the code it probably would just point to uncle Sam's suppliers. But the beeping means that that's about the limit of our would-be gadgeteer. A real expert would make some modifications to do away with the timer, but you need to know how to change the embedded instructions on the bombs for that without blowing yourself up. Nah, this job is quick and dirty. But also cheap. No one sheds tears if they lose a couple of these. If they blow up, that is. Because these idiots left their calling card all over this."

"Got a name for you." Misha stated happily as she went over the results. It was interesting that this drone was spying on her before. That was new.
"They know where I live now though. And about the garage. And about you."

"Yeah, sounds good. And do the other cops around here drink coffee? I take mine black." Misha replied as she gathered her things, as well as making sure she had a copy of the data. The warforged didn't need to worry about basic bodily needs, but she sure could use a shot of caffeine right about now..

Weirdo. Misha thought as Cooper explained the pictures. This guy needed a hobby, or watch fewer detectives. But she needed to get this over and done with so she pulled up a chair. But she kept wondering what pictures, if any, the warforged should put up.
"You should go on some vacation and take some pictures there." But she suspected that Cooper wasn't the vacationing type as she said it.
"Anyhow, yeah, Haldren fella. Do your police magic.." she said as she watched Cooper dig into the database..

Misha pointed out the fellow as her fur rose at the sight of him. "Hey! That's the dude in charge over at the train station. Looks like these work buddies have a little side business going."

Thinking on it, she had a suspicion on what might be going on here.
"This new company.... could it be a cover?"

"Ehh, me? I don't think I'm the right person for that.. Shouldn't you get some cops to do that?" Misha asked surprised. Helping pick apart a drone was one thing, but arresting and interrogating people was another. Generally the cops didn't like civvies involved..

The tabaxi stretched, happy to quit after a job well done.
"Ahhhh! Home is fine. I got WHISKER to look after me now after all."
Misha spent too long away from home just to give it up again after one night. Hopefully these idiots would figure out she was too much trouble by now. With the cops watching the area and one call away she figured she could manage. Still, she wasn't going to receive family at home any time soon. That meant a lot of disappointed nieces and nephews, but safety came first..

Misha watched the city pass by through the car's window, glumly imagining the raindrops washed away some of the grime that coated the city. In the end, it would all just amass as sludge at the bottom. This place had never been pleasant, kind, or good. But it was home. Cooper's comment about food was on point, but she wasn't in the mood for street food.

Cooper entering her apartment to clear it was met with a frown. But if the 'forged felt better about it, that was fine. As the door locked behind him she sighed and rubbed her eyelids as the augmetics switched to dark at the muscle movement. This place, this whole situation, it was just a mess. Not how she had imagined coming home and starting a new life. She wanted peace and quiet. A simple job. Instead she was waging war with some high-tech crime ring. A very one-sided war, as apart from Cooper she wasn't sure the cops were giving it their all. And Cooper, well, somehow she felt unsure the warforged fit in with the cops. Or better said, the cops accepted him in their midst. Cops were not exactly the people known to accept the new and the minorities. But that was something for Cooper to navigate, not her.

Crashing on the couch that doubled as her bed, Misha buried herself in the copious number of pillows with a groan. She flicked on the holo-tv, flicking through advertisements until she reached a channel with some bullshit that hardly registered to her. WHISKER settled down next to the couch, dutifully monitoring the tiny apartment. She supposed she had to do something about food, so she got up and walked to her mini-kitchen. Checking the small closet she found some insta-ramen and settled for that. Then she went through her mail, picking out the welcome back cards and the drawings and crafts from various cousins and nieces and arranging them on her lone shelf. That picked up her spirits a little, but then she felt alone. Not odd, as she was so used to sharing a bunk for so long. Maybe she should get to work on finding that handsome tabaxi fellow her mother expected her to settle down with, but she wasn't in the mood for that today. That said, just wasting away in her apartment was not her plan either.

Thinking about it a while, Misha settled on a compromise between safety and boredom and went back out, taking WHISKER along. And her gun. She decided to go to the mall. Get some stuff she needed for her house. Some new clothes maybe..

When she stepped outside, Misha was surprised to see Cooper standing there. Was.. was he really going to guard her day and night? This seemed absurd..
"I uhhh... am going to the mall. Shopping.."