Monkey Wrench (OPEN!)

[Prudence Disraeli]

Outfit

A pink-haired girl hung from her harness next to the 20-foot mecha she was currently transferring from U.A.S mechanics. She clamped her mouth around a wrench, grumbling as she planted her feet on either side of a large panel, gripping it as she tried to pull it free of the frame. It came free with a loud groan, the hinges at the bottom obviously not accustomed to being moved. She made a mental note to put some oil on the hinges so they wouldn’t drive her insane later on. Moving the wrench from her mouth to the tool-bag at her hips, she took the hair tie from her wrists and pulled all of her hair into a high pony-tail. She gave the command to tell the person manning her harness’s rope that she was unclipping, and she slid inside the mecha’s innards. She thanked whatever gods were out there for her small frame, because she knew that many of the other mechanics working with her would never fit into such cramped spaces. And they’re nowhere near half as talented as me, she thought with a smirk.

Roxie began hauling herself through the wiring and mechanics inside the mecha, checking wires every now and then as she worked her way to the main frame of the mecha’s hard drive, the thing that basically told the U.A.S members where it was. Currently, the whole machine was turned off, so it wasn’t transmitting, but as soon as she reached the hard drive, she was going to have to call in to the person manning the cockpit to turn everything on. Then it’d be a race against time to locate the transmitter and disconnect it. Fortunately, the whole of the Rig was set far away from the imfamous “Spire” and the Warehouse – especially the Warehouse – held a Scrambler, which could screw up any foreign IP address for a good ten minutes or so, depending on the strength of the signal. Roxie shook her head. Transforming U.A.S equipment was probably the worst part of her job, especially when the members came in with new shit. She had to hand it to those U.A.S guys – they were smart. ”But I’m smarter,” she told herself through gritted teeth. She gave the signal, and everything around her began to shake as the engine started. ”Go!” shouted her team member through the connection, and Roxie got to work, opening the drive and carefully pulling out wires and boxes until she reached the correct frame. Snapping the wires, she pulled it out, yanked off the cover, and began snipping at the connectors inside the box. She was glad that the mecha she was currently transforming was one she’d worked on long, long ago, so it was quite familiar to her. There, now she was done, and Roxie put their own transmitter in its place, along with a face-time transformer so that Roxie, Kuro, or anyone else that needed to give real-time orders to the person would be able to.

Roxie pushed herself back to the opening hatch, connecting herself to her rope before rappelling backwards away from the mecha. She gave a tug on the rope to indicate she needed to be lowered, and then pulled up the panel she’d freed five minutes ago. As she pulled the wrench out of her tool bag, it caught on the lip of the bag and flipped out of her grasp. Roxie tried to flip back in her harness to catch it, but gravity was too fast. ”Wrench!” Roxie yelled out as a warning. Falling from 20-feet wouldn’t kill anyone, but it was sure to injure someone if the wrench hit them. And she didn’t need any crew members in the wing.

[Nikolai Rhezlov]

Performing menial tasks -- this was just what he wanted to do, instead of making progress on getting his very own mecha up and running, he was asked to run diagnostics on some of the machinery the Liberation had captured, procured, or stolen. It wasn't any of Nikolai's business how the Liberation had gotten its hands on the equipment, or where it came from, it was so far from Nikolai's thought process that he didn't even bother to mentally question the twenty foot mecha chassis he hadn't seen before standing tall in the warehouse as he made his way in. Garbed in a dark-gray pair of dirty coveralls, the sleeves ripped off, and a closed laptop hanging on his chest from a harness around his shoulders. Nikolai stood there for a moment to admire the mecha, rather than question it. It wasn't his A2, but it was still a fine piece of machinery. A faint smile dawned over his face as he admired the machine, but reality would soon set back in, and the job he was there to do was brought back to the foreground of his thoughts. Diagnostics on some boring subsystems, or, he could go and lend a hand with the mecha; as he saw a small gathering of technicians around the Mecha, even a harness set up for someone to climb into the an open maintenance port on the machine. He went with option two, his faint smile growing, Nikolai loved mecha, and while this wasn't his A2, it was a hell of alot better than running some boring diagnostics to see if some of the equipment (which was obviously in working condition) was still working. He started to walk toward the tall twenty-footer of a mecha, it was a full-size for sure, and from the looks of it, still bore a few U.A.S. insignia painted on there; a recent addition it seemed. That explained why he hadn't seen it before, Nikolai confirmed to himself as he closed the gap between the machine, crew, and himself.

Getting closer, Nikolai heard the engines of the Mecha roar to life, and over the engine, one of the crew on the ground shout "Go!" through a radio. It was now obvious to him that they were already in the process of doing something to the mecha. He slowed his walking pace, getting a few more good looks at the tall machine that he admired so. It took Nikolai little time before he had closed the gap between himself and the mecha, standing near the crewman who was manning the rope for the harness. Nikolai wanted to meet the mechanic in charge of this operation and offer his assistance; it would kill alot more time, alot faster than drudge work. He assumed the mechanic in charge was the one doing the serious work on the guts of the mecha, and proceeded to wait, looking up at the empty rope and the open maintenance panel. It wouldn't be long before a pink-haired girl with a ponytail emerged from the opening, attaching herself to the rope via a harness she was wearing. He watched her tug on the rope to signal for the crewman to lower her, and she closed the panel she had opened. She seemed to pull out a wrench, but it slipped, and Nikolai had eyes on it. He watched her try to snag it from mid-air, but to no avail, calling out a warning to bystanders "Wrench!". Nikolai's smile faded, he was not exactly a baseball champ, but was still able to catch. He side-stepped to where he wouldn't be smacked in the face by the wrench if he missed, and held out his arm, opening his mechanic-gloved hand wide to catch the falling wrench. He wasn't as lucky as he thought he would be, the wrench had a bit of a spin on it when it fell, and he managed to barely miss it, the the hard metal smacking his hand. Nikolai pulled his hand back and flailed it, hearing the loud clank of the wrench smacking on the floor of the workspace. Nikolai flexed his hand into a fist a few times, the ends of his fingers were numb, but everything still worked. Running the same gloved hand over the top of his nearly bald head, what little hair he had being close-cut to the scalp; only a pair of pilot's goggles adorning his dome, Nikolai crouched down to pick up the wrench from the floor. Ohwell He thought, [/i]Atleast I tried[/i], grasping the wrench firmly, and standing back up, waiting for the pink-haired mechanic whom he assumed to be in charge to be lowered down. He wanted to get some work in on a Mecha, it had been quite some time since he'd laid eyes on one other than his own broken-down A2, and he desired to revitalize his knowledge of Mecha-Mechanics.

[Prudence Disraeli]

Roxie sighed, ignoring the rush of blood to her head as she hung upside down, watching the wrench fall. If someone got in the way, she was gonna shoot them for being so stuid. And after she’d shouted out the customary warning and everything! She narrowed her eyes as a young man stepped out of the way, reaching his arm out to catch the goddamned wrench. She watched him carefully, half hoping he dropped the wrench. Roxie definitely did not recognize the man, and she didn’t like unfamiliar faces. Except she usually remedied that with a big smile and an even bigger hug. But this was where she worked, and unfamiliar faces in the workplace did not make her happy. Roxie wrapped her foot around the rope, pushing down on the rope so that she could stand. She wrapped her hand around the rope, giving it a tug to signal her descent. He didn’t look like one of her regular mechanics, and to be honest, she didn’t really like any of the other mechanics. ”Got eet!” the man shouted. She sighed, brushing some dust off her super skinny black jeans.

”Who the hell are you?” was the first thing that came out of her mouth as she touched down. She unwound her foot from the rope and unhooked herself, striding towards the man. When she was a stride away from him she stopped, placing one hand on her hip and slipping her wrench out of his hands and then slipping it into her pouch. ”Russian, I’m assuming?” Roxie asked, raising a brow. She had only heard such accents in television shows, and it was usually making fun of them. She tugged her tight-fitting quarter sleeve shirt down, but it still left a bit of her belly bare, enough that you could see a black barbell in her navel from a piercing. ”I’m guessing you’re not a mechanic, are ya?” she asked, making an obvious movement of looking him over. He was much taller than her, and bigger built than she was. Definitely not one of her mechanics. ”May I ask what you’re doing here?” she demanded. She began working at the straps of her harness, loosening them so she could slide out of it.

[Nikolai Rhezlov]

Watching her come down from the height she was at, and touching down, the first words she spoke to him were not ones he expected. Almost immediately she seemed hostile, it wasn't bad, hostility from a woman was the least of Niko's worries. "Who the hell are you?" she pried immediately, unhooking herself from the rope attached to the harness and taking a few strides right up to him. He was a lot taller than her, his eyes were too busy sizing up this lady to notice she slid the wrench from out of his hand and into her pouch. She was smart enough to notice how he spoke, because her next words were right on the button."Russian, I'm assuming?" Nikolai merely nodded, not wanting to cut in just yet. His eyes locked on hers, though in his initial size up he didn't mind getting a good look at her body. She wasn't bad looking for a head mechanic, if thats what she was, but he assume so because she questioned him yet again. "I'm guessing you're not a mechanic, are ya?" Looking into her eyes, he noticed her sizing him up as well. He wanted to let out a chuckle, but he stifled himself, while he didn't look the mechanic type he knew his way around a mecha, but that was about it. Yet again, she questioned, and Nikolai remained silent until she was finished. "May I ask what you’re doing here?" Now that was a question with a little taste to it.

Nikolai cracked a smile and tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest and taking in a deep breath before replying. "Well, you pick just the right words, don't you?" Nikolai started, thinking up a few answers to the many questions she posed him. It was kind of annoying to be questioned right off the bat like that, but hey, she obviously needed to know if he was competent or not, and he was about to let her know. "... No, I'm no regular mechanic, but I know way around machine like those." Niko continued slurring his English just enough with his Russo-Serbian accent to make her think about what he was saying. He motioned to the mecha she had just come off of, keeping his half-smirk neatly on his face. "... who I am... Nikolai. You call me Niko, O.K.?" He stated simply, taking a half-step back from her and looking up and down at the mecha she was just working on. He wasn't looking at her when he posed his own question for her. "So now you know me, who be you? I want to start work on these type of machine, and you are little more questioning than most head mechanic I work with. You've got name miss question?"

[Prudence Disraeli]

Roxie listened to his answers, copying his motion of crossing her arms over her chest, resting most of her weight on one leg. She listened carefully, his Russian accent slurring his words to a point she had to pay attention, or else chance that she would miss a word. And she didn’t like asking for people to repeat themselves. She kept her face poker-straight, not letting the young man see her trying to keep from laughing. He was funny, she had to admit, and it would be nice to have someone that would at least attempt to crack a joke every once in a while. Well, someone besides her. She’d watched his eyes carefully as he’d sized her up, smiling inwardly to herself. It was always nice when someone saw her as a woman instead of the bossy – or bithcy- head-mechanic she usually was.

”You’ve got name, miss question?”

Roxie’s eyebrows shot up at the nickname. She tried, and succeeded, for a moment at least, to keep her face straight, but then the corners of her lips began to twitch. It wasn’t long until she burst out laughing, slapping her knee. Once she was calm enough to stand straight, she looked at the rest of her crew grinning. ”I like this guy!” Roxie said with a laugh, point to Nikolai with her thumb. ”Where’d ya guys find ‘im?” She hardly waited for an answer. ”The name’s Roxie Acker.” she said cheerfully, grasping his hand firmly to shake it. ”And of course I ask a lot of questions!” Roxie exclaimed. ”How do I know you’re not just bluffing?” she asked, peering at him in mock suspicion. Roxie gave him a second time over, this time being a little bit more concealing with her gaze. Nikolai was tall, and quite muscular, from what she assumed to be his work with the mechas. His hair was cropped close to his scalp. She could honestly say that he was nowhere near bad looking.

”So, you were saying that you know your way around a mecha, huh?” she asked, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest, her chin jutting forward. ”What exactly do ya do, then, if you don’t mind my pryin’” Roxie wondered what made him so knowledgeable with a mecha. If he was a Walker, then not only would she understand, but she would be overjoyed. She had yet to meet a Walker, and it would be an experience to know what it was like to work with the mechas she built and fixed.

[Nikolai Rhezlov]

Nikolai's smile widened to a gleeful grin, as the woman who was initially questioning him suddenly burst out laughing. Apparently, he had made a good first impression, which was just was he needed to do, even getting her to proclaim to her crew that she liked him, or at the very least his presence. She introduced herself as Roxie Acker, Nikolai dropped his hands from crossing his chest and reached out with a gloved hand to shake her's. Letting his hand drop to his side after the brief handshake Niko pocketed it quickly and raised his eyebrows as she continued to speak. She was an energetic little one, speaking quite a bit in one go. He didn't mind that one bit, at least he wouldn't be short of conversation.

"And of course I ask alot of questions! How do I know you're not just bluffing?"

Niko's grin widened a little at that, she gave a look of mock suspicion, or real suspicion, Niko couldn't really tell; but she seemed like the joking type, because she quickly dropped the suspicious looks in favor of more questions.

"So you were saying you know your way around a mecha, huh? What exactly do ya do, then, if you don't mind my pryin'"

Nikolai nodded to his statement, his grin fading a little into a slightly more serious look, but still his face was adorned with a light smile. With his unpocketed hand he grasped at the goggles on his head and moved them out of the way to scratch at his close-cut hair before replacing them where he felt they would be secure. She crossed her arms over her chest again and jutted her chin out when she asked him what he knew about a mecha, and continued to pry; apologetically, of course. Niko took the same hand he used to fool with his goggles and flicked his thumb under his nose before letting it drop to his side.

"Well, to pilot thiss' badboys you need knowledge of servos, how they work, and hydraulics system as well as knowledge base in advanced computer-tech. All of this is where I come in, I fix, I work, I fight."

Niko answered her as simply and as best he could, trying not so much to slur his English anymore, though his thick accent was still present. Looking Roxie over as he answered her, he nodded his head. She wasn't bad looking, and smart enough to be working on a mecha, he wouldn't mind one bit if they continued to get to know each other.

"So, what you think? I bluffing or what you think, ah? You need some help with this machine? I do good work, you will see."

[Prudence Disraeli]

Roxie was glad to see Nikolai grin. It was nice to know that someone here found her enthusiasm welcoming. Most of her team found her slight ADHD a little bit unnerving. This guy seemed to take it as an invitation to stay, which was perfectly fine by her. She nodded at his firm handshake. Roxie decided that he was an honest man. He at a firm grip, and he didn’t shy away from her, and he gave full attention to her. To her, that was the makings of an honest man. It helped to know what a dishonest man looked like, and to her, a dishonest man looked a lot like her father. His mind was always elsewhere, his grip was very weak, and when he shook your hand, it always felt like he wanted to drop it like it was poison. That was hardly a show of respect. Which was one reason why she worked with the Liberation. At least they were honest people. Or well, most of them were.

”Well, to pilot thiss’ badboys, you need knowledge of servos, how they work, and hydraulics system as well as knowledge base in advanced computer-tech. All of this is where I come in, I fix, I work, I fight."

Roxie, listened as he talked of the servos and the hydraulics, especially paying attention because his accent mixed his words. She approved of him. He had an obvious knowledge of the workings of a mecha, which wasn’t common among the Liberation members. She was a little bit surprised, Roxie admitted to herself. They had another , possibly, walker among them. Which gave them an arsenal of, what, three walkers now? She knew – everyone knew – that it was like an ant compared to the elephant that the U.A.S had. Not to mention they had what those U.A.S bastards tossed off, old stuff. Those little bitches were coming up with new tech each day, getting bigger and badder and faster. They were far behind on the curve, even among the handhelds. Sometimes, Roxie wondered if they would ever survive.

”So, what you think? I bluffing or what you think, ah? You need some help with this machine? I do good work, you will see.”

Roxie laughed, throwing her head back again. ”Nah you’re not bluffing,” she grinned up at the Russian. ”Or if you are, then you somehow jammed up my bullshit-radar, and that’s hard to do,” she pointed with her thumb back at her crew, most grinning. ”Trust me, you can ask them,” A couple of the men shouted back little jokes and obscenities, but all in good fun. Roxie laughed, and yelled at them to get back to work before she pulled her bazooka on their asses. They all laughed, but hardly moved to get back to their stations. Roxie ignored them.

”I just finished switching up the transmission signal on this bitch to our own IP, so the U.A.S can’t track it anymore.” she told him, turning and walking towards the mecha, beckoning to him to follow. ”So I’m taking it you’re a walker? she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. ”Where’d ya learn, then?”

[Nikolai Rhezlov]

His smile widened when he heard her laugh. It was good, friendly, not the kind of laugh that would incur ridicule, though he couldn't much tell the difference anyhow. It was good that she didn't think he was bluffing, at least, she said so.

"Nah you’re not bluffing, or if you are, then you somehow jammed up my bullshit-radar, and that’s hard to do, trust me, you can ask them"

Niko let out a chuckle as she grinned up at him, and pointed a thumb at her crewmembers, all of whom retorted some little joke or obscenity that was purely in jest. He took a deep breath and got back to his regular composure fairly quickly, though still keeping a smile on his face. This was good to get to know the people he hoped to be working with more in the future, it made him feel... Welcome. She told them to get back to work before she blew them up, but it didn't seem to phase them, probably just another joke, as she ignored them afterward.

"I just finished switching up the transmission signal on this bitch to our own IP, so the U.A.S can’t track it anymore."

Nikolai thought this a smart move, if the mecha was liberated from the U.A.S. they surely would have tracking devices implanted in the machine to make sure pilots either didn't go AWOL, or in the unlikely event that the machine was stolen, would be easily found back to the enemy's base of operation. He knew the modus operandi of the U.A.S. far too well, and it was good that he knew his A2 wasn't equipped with such devices, the prototypes weren't meant to leave the base he took it from, and they had obviously felt the base was far too heavily guarded for someone to sneak in and take the machines. What they didn't expect was that Nikolai wouldn't like the idea that they were going to scrap his machine. She beckoned him to follow, and Nikolai did just that, though he hesitated a second and let her take the lead. While she walked his eyes wandered around her body, it was a good view from behind, thats for sure. His smile wouldn't be fading anytime soon, as this pink haired young lady, Roxie Acker, didn't look bad at all in her work clothes. This could be a place that he would get used to real easily. Smart, funny, good looking head mechanic, jokes all around, and hard work on heavy machinery. What else was missing? Some good music, perhaps, but hey, all in due time. His 'observations' were cut short when he heard her start talking again. "So I’m taking it you’re a walker?" He instantly thought 'Sheet' and brought his eyes up to her face, she had turned to look over her shoulder. A walker? He wasn't an ace or anything, but sure, he could consider himself a walker. "Where’d ya learn, then?"

His blood turned to ice as she posed that question. Nikolai stopped in his tracks behind her, and blinked, only for a moment he hesitated and let himself regain his composure. His smile faded almost as instantly as he felt his blood turn to ice and his heart skip a beat. He couldn't let her know he was from the U.A.S. could he? She'd probably think he was a spy! That he was unfit to even be in the hangar, that he would give them all away. None of which was true, but people would speculate anything if given the chance. Nikolai didn't know he if could trust this young lady just yet with that kind of information. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, taking a few steps to catch up with her, and stood beside her, not looking at her but instead keeping his eyes on the Mecha before them.

"Yes.. I am walker as you say... Thiss machines get blood pumping better than anything I know."

Nikolai thought back to his 'great escape' back to when he stole his A2, and took out a fully armed and armored enemy machine, taking damage himself, but in a prototype that wasn't even fully armored, or ready for production against a production model, it was amazing. He surpassed a pilot who probably had seen quite a few combat sorties before Nikolai had even set his butt-cheeks in the seat of a mecha. Thinking about this, he thought up a good answer to Roxie's questions, without revealing too much about where he came from.

"... I learned through baptism by fire, I am experienced, rest assured."

He turned his head and looked down at Roxie, she wasn't that much shorter than him, but it definitely had to look down at her. Nikolai gave her a smile and raised his eyebrows, he thought it was more than sufficient an answer, and besides, there were more pressing matters to Nikolai than where he had learned to pilot mecha.

"So, have you seen my machine? 'Iss much better than this thing."

Nikolai gestured with his head at the mecha standing before them. Bipedals were fine, but he loved the idea of his transforming mecha, a pinnacle of engineering. He couldn't believe the U.A.S. had decided to cut the production model of the A2 Armored Mechanical Hybrid.

"Needs much fixing, though, and fixing it solo is daunting a task, you see."

Nikolai took a hand out of his pocket and pointed a mechanix-gloved hand toward the back of the warehouse, a large shape underneath a dark-colored canopy near the very back of the warehouse was where his A2 was stored. He wouldn't mind one bit if she changed the subject of his training to taking a look-see at his mecha. In fact, Nikolai would be ecstatic to show her his most favorite design of mecha, his pride and joy, his child.

[sweetpea]

Astrid couldn't believe what she was hearing. She looked at the paper printout, and asked the man in front of her to repeat what he had said. When he confirmed it, looking for all the world like he'd swallowed poison, she grabbed her tool pack and started towards the hangar running. There was supposed to be a test soon for the walker, and Astrid was not going to let it be delayed!

As she reached the hangar, she looked around. The head mechanic on the job, Roxie, should have been around there..... but she wasn't on the mech. Her harness was lowered. Astrid gulped as she ran to the nearest mechanic on the gound. "Where's Roxie?!" she gasped. He pointed to where she stood mere feet away, talking with someone who looked more like a mech pilot than a mechanic. Roxie had approval on her face, at least, and that was something that wasn't seen often within the hangar- and even less with people who didn't know about cogs and oil.

Astrid ran over and tugged on Roxie's sleeve. Roxie probably wasn't going to like it much since it was fairly juvenile, but Astrid was feeling a little more 13 than 19 at the moment. "Please, can we speak? Over there?" she motioned to a little distance away, hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with the man and the other mechanics. This could be handled with a minimum of fuss. Besides, it had been partially her responsibility to make sure those parts had gotten to the mech, since she had needed some of them herself. Astrid hoped that Roxie wouldn't be too disappointed, or share her faliure with the rest of the crew. The printout was clutched in her hand. It was probably intelligible from the crushing and the heat of her hand smearing some of the ink.