ARES:Gods of War

Hunter and Hunted

Delta had woken up some minutes ago. Dawn hadn't broken yet, meaning it was still relatively dark outside their little hidey-hole. She noted the marks on her HUD minimap, which represented the multitude of decoys placed by both squads in order to ward off Raptures from their location. She stared up at the sky, noting the twinkling dome of stars up above and smiled a little.

It was a known fact that humanity's dream had long been to travel the stars. The Master Chief had told them that, at least in one universe, mankind had succeeded in that dream, which was heartwarming and a tad heartbreaking to some degree. The stars had been within their reach here, too, but the arrival of the Raptures had stolen that from them, had stolen much more from the others before them.

She sighed, then watched as their iDoll Sun unit joined her on watch, lifting up her goggles. A pair of blue eyes peered out from behind the technological piece, surprising Delta slightly. Though it should really have been obvious, she thought, considering it was a pigtailed blonde that iDoll Sun had as a form or basis. The girl lifted her rifle up against the debris making up the barricade, then looked back to see the Chief patrolling, checking the abandoned ruin that had presumably been a convenience store at one point.

She then looked to Delta and asked, "You mind if I stay with you on watch? I can't sleep..."

"I don't mind," Delta shook her head, then lifted her own rifle over the edge. She turned to iDoll Sun and asked, "Did you pick a name for yourself yet?"

She seemed confused, before Delta clarified, "Chief told all Mass Production Nikkes to pick names, or at least think of names before switching off for the night. Niner's apparently sticking with 'Niner' obviously, 137's considering actually going with Sammy or Samantha and Twenty? She kept repeating the name Pinne to herself before falling asleep, so that's what I and Signal called her."

"Oh," The Sun model hummed, then sighed and said, "I didn't get to pick yet, no... Honestly, why?"

"Why what?" Delta quirked a brow up.

"Why... Why tell us to pick names?" The iDoll Sun clarified, then licked her lips and spoke warily, "Aren't we supposed to be the expendable group? I mean, compared to you, Signal, Rapi, Anis and Neon..." as she motioned to the Counters and their commander dozing off in a corner, near the fire, with Mihara and Yuni close by. Delta had to take a moment to register that type of question. Delta thought for a moment, asking herself 'Was this iDoll Sun really that surprised?'

"Chief apparently doesn't view us like that," The elite soldier commented while the two of them kept watch. She told the iDoll, "You were at the briefing, after all."

"Him and commander Harris both..." The girl replied, her voice low, soft, happy. She quipped, "They're weird," while adjusting her weapon's optic. She hummed and turned back toward the Chief as the man continued his patrol. Much to her surprise, she saw him take a blanket out from one of the survival backpacks and wrapping it around a shivering Signal. The girl settled into an even deeper sleep.

"Heh," Delta chuckled when she saw that. Both girls looked into each-other's eyes as Delta told her, "Weird is good to some degree. We have a home to go back to in the Outpost, somewhere where we will not be judged due to being Nikkes," then she motioned slowly to Chief and to Signal now having a blanket and told her, "And our leaders care for us, more than our own Manufacturers."

"I mean..." Sun sighed, then shrugged and chuckled, "Hey, at least we apparently have these new romcom shows appearing about the whole Nikke x Commander love story, which is..." And her face grew a tinge scarlet as she averted her gaze and added, "Weird..." with a hint of embarrassment. Delta was amused by the reaction. She pulled out a thermal scope with which she replaced her current scope and peered through the eye cup.