Despite her misgivings about the train system, Mary found the train itself charming, in a certain way. It was a mesh between old technology and modern technology, made into a funny patchwork. There were plates of old metal and materials that could no longer be made, bracketed and reinforced by sturdier armor plating, fastened by warpiece-grade rivets. Every miniscule bump in the track made the conflicting metals shudder against each other. Each turn in the track caused the cars to lean, causing their lighter components to groan gently in protest and make a person wonder if the train was structurally sound. Of course, the train had made hundreds of journeys since its recommissioning, so there was no need to worry on account of engineering design. Stalwart liked to imagine she was being carried away in the belly of some enormous wyrm, crying into the wild as it relentlessly hunted its next meal.

She would not wander far, knowing that further information on their mission was forthcoming. What the mechanics talked of about crystals was hardly of any interest to her, and she let the conversation fade into background noise. As soon as Haas began to address them, she turned around and slowly walked back. She had apt enough hearing to clearly understand what he was saying, even from the other side of the car. Their senior caster had already given a rough approximation of the mission before, on the airship, but now there would be somewhat more specific details, along with new members of the crew to introduce. She listened, passively.

She made a silent note to get to know this Daemon freelancer that Haas had brought along. She was already familiar with the most common flora and fauna in the particular area, but this fellow would know the more specific threats and assets, and might know some more practical ways of approaching them than the typical Marine mindset of "shoot what threatens you." She assumed that she would be put in charge of preliminary mapmaking, and had, in fact, presumed that to be one of her roles when this assignment was handed down to her. As such, she'd made sure to pack the essentials for it, such as extra paper, writing supplies, and measuring equipment.

Once Judas finished saying his piece, and everybody went back to their own business, Mary approached the mercenary, and found herself focusing on the miniature wyvern on his shoulder. Her brow dipped; she hadn't noticed that, before, when they were racing to board the train on time, and she liked to think of herself as quite keen on details. She nearly opened by asking if the little metal creature belonged to the girl who was showing off her unusual playing cards, but there was something tellingly similar between the very large warpiece Daemon had brought and this much more compact model. Stalwart, of course, couldn't tell that they used the same core; she assumed it was a completely different machine.

So, instead, she got his attention with a different line: "That's the smallest 'piece..." Her expression was difficult to read. Was she concerned? Was she intrigued? Was she mocking him? She didn't seem like she was mocking him. After giving him a chance to react and/or explain himself, she held out a hand to be shaken. "Wing Sergeant Stalwart. Squad Scout." Never much for words, she left all the implications of the things she said to carry in the air, unspoken. Meanwhile, she pondered what tactical use such a small warpiece would have. She imagined that people in scouting roles, such as Daemon and herself, could possibly find it useful, but she felt like there would be an awful lot of mechanical and logistic compilcations to using such a sophisticated piece of machinery in such a small way. It couldn't possibly be very well armored; she guessed if she had to, she could take it out with a single, well-placed bullet.

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The freelancer started to reply to the young mechanic, about how long term exposure could be just as dangerous, for Haas to start his explanation of the mission parameters. He opted to let the subject lie in favor of letting the briefing be done with.

Daemon shifted uncertainly after Haas finished describing the details of the mission- the same perameters that he'd been told before the man had hired him- having the feeling the veteran was still withholding something. He withheld a sigh, hoping that the group would listen to him- hopefully age wouldn't be an issue, given how young this 'Athena' girl seemed to be.

"That's the smallest 'piece..." Someone murmured from the peripheral of his vision.

Turning revealed it to be the person who had led him to the train station, eyeing Kain in a indiscernible manner. "I imagine he would be, considering I made the frame myself. Uses a lot of the same workings as the more advanced prosthetics, but as far as I know he's one of a kind." He replied, tilting his head at Stalwart's introduction, and returning with his own, "Daemon, as I said when we met at the camp outskirts. Here as an advisor on local hazards." He shifted to accommodate Kain suddenly leaping off his shoulder and flying up to the beams running across the top of the train car as the caster returned the scout's handshake.

Breaking from the handshake, he eyed his companion, who had evidentially decided the train car floor was far too crowded for his liking- not that he was much happier about the crowding, mind. "May as well reintroduce you to Kain, since most people don't figure he's the same shell in two frames." The white haired man turned back to the woman, guessing, "But I don't think you wanted to talk shop, so I'm guessing you've got questions for me?"

Olivia took one of the cards on the bench which Athena had begun to lay out. She held it out against the light, running her thumb over the surface of leather. Fifteen. Someone spent some time making these. She sets the card down, somehow causing its owner to from as she picks up another card to inspect the consistency. Seven. This card seemed more recently made, or less used for some reason. Perhaps it was the quality of leather. She sets the item down before getting up, her interest lost. She straightened a piece of shoulder plate which had gotten loose when she had stooped down to examine the cards before making for her seat.

------

Athena listened in to the duo's conversation, inspecting the minute Warpiece's structure, noting the amount of joints needed on the thing. In the training for mechanics, they were taught that Warpieces, and most other things, were only as useful as its weakest part, a single point of failure would mean a jammed piston or damaged hydraulics and thus a sub par machine. Everything had to be perfect. And the little Warpiece's design spoke to her, it was a marvel of precision and technology still beyond Steelshire's reach.

------

"Wake up." Judas thumped his fist against the armored cabin as the train slowed to a halt, the iron wheels screeching in protest beneath them. He had barely slept, ending up meditating to calm his mind during the journey instead. Immediately, he could see men assembling before the train, probably to unload the supplies as fast as possible and send the train back.

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Status: Active

Mildred rolled off the bench she had been napping on. Stretching, she looked around at her fellow passengers. It was interesting to see how each of them had chosen to spend the train ride. Grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, she hopped off the train. Literally. Who needed steps when jumping was by far faster? Granted it was a short distance so that helped a little bit. If there had been more steps or sharper rocks, she probably would have just taken the stairs. But nope. She jumped.

Landing with a thump, she moved quickly out of the way so the next person could come off. Staying out of the way, she waited to see if the men unloading the train would need any help. After all, the quicker the train was unloaded and off, the quicker they could start.

Daemon spent the trip filling in the scout on the dangers of the Brimstone Gulf, although he admittedly wasn't paying very much attention to the conversation, no more than he had to. Most of his attention was distracted by the undisclosed details he could tell Haas was withholding. Another chunk was held toward awareness of his surroundings and hazards in it. At some point the scout seemed to have as much information as she wanted, as she turned her attention to something else. Feeling restless, he shifted his weight several times, before approaching Athena.

"So what is it that's special about these, aside from the materials they're made out of?" The white haired caster asked, taking a seat to avoid looming over her, even when he was more comfortable standing. After her answer, he would do his best to make himself sleep the rest of the trip, or at least rest.

--

The train swaying as it slowed to come to a stop pulled him out of the light sleep had been in. Standing and resiting the urge to wince at the pins-and-needles sensation from the prolonged period of sitting that shot through his legs, he looked out the window. Sure enough, they were slowing as they approached a section of the forest that saw frequent traffic. He whistled to Kain, the mini-piece swooping to land on his shoulder as the caster waited for the train to stop. Once he was certain the patchwork transport wasn't going to keep rolling, he opened the door, jumping acrss to the storage car next door.

A few minutes later he had Kain back in his combat frame, in time for several low ranked soldiers to come in and start moving things off the train. One of them open his mouth to say something that, given the look going with the mouth opening, was likely to be derogatory. Daemon gave the soldier a flat look, Kain shifting behind him. The man shut his mouth with an audible clack, and the caster and Warpiece made their way past him into the stop to look for Haas and the rest of the group. Noting the station's surrounds and the people in it. There was obvious evidence of human precense in the ground and cut trees, but certain scents made it clear that that precense was military as opposed to civilian. The people themselves... His eyebrows knitted at he located Haas and drifted towards the man.

While the Gulf wasn't exactly safe, the station sentries seemed edgy in a way that was different from the awareness they should have for the usual hazard. Some of the other signs... He frowned absently. They'd had to replace sentries recently- with there being no digns of combat, that implied desertion or... The guide gave Haas a look, hoping the man would give full details soon. If not, he'd have to keep his eyes open for more evidence of what was awry.

"Nothing. They were created so that I could hone my skills." Athena replied simply, "Or at least prove to myself that I can do such objects. They serve no real purpose except to act as playing cards."

------

The air was moist, clinging to the skin, much more so here than in the main base. Judas sweeped his eyes over the station platform, noting that most of the sentries were rather fidgety. He reached out with his mind, causing two of the Warpieces within the car to animate, striding out of the double doors to meet them. His student picked the other, it gripped a war hammer in one of its mechanized hands, which it stowed away when she had it pick up the crate of rations and ammunition needed.

He made for the exit, a flight of steps which led down to ground level from the raised platform. The ground was hard, cobblestone streets but grass and some small trees had begun to grow from the cracks which formed as the months became years. They were then immediately directed to their living quarters near the center of the camp by a guide, "This way please, afterwards I'll give you a guide around the campsite," their guide stated curtly, his actions urgent. Most of the buildings were intact but were also one-storied. The one they were given was an abandoned shophouse, judging by the large windows at the front, the windows long destroyed, now covered with a dark grey canvas to protect the interior from the outside weather and prying eyes. The interior was mostly bare, save for a few withered leaves. He had brought as sleeping roll with him, as did Olivia, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, save for the possible critters on the ground.

"We'll get a tour of the campsite and its surroundings, hopefully we can get some information about the surrounding wildlife and possible hazards." He got up and went to the door where their guide was waiting.

------

"What's the hurry?" Olivia grumbled to herself as she chucked her bag down before stomping to the door. Seriously. The street outside was mostly devoid of activity, seeing that most were near the edges, reinforcing wooden barricades where the town abruptly ended.

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Status: Active