Walk Among the Dead (Open)

The wasteland of forgotten arms had, in a way, touched the dead shell of a man as he walked through the seemingly endless fields. He was alone, even though there was another figure walking beside him. A single look wouldn't be enough to tell them apart, and that was because it was merely a decoy he could control at will. It served to fill the role of a companion. It did so, but poorly, barely able to keep a decent conversation, which was strange since Zulu used to be good at talking to himself. It's main purpose was to be the easier target in case the beings of this place weren't all sleeping peacefully.

The silence between the master and the clone (who he decided to call 'Echo') was due to more than a lack of topic. There indeed was a topic floating between their inter-linked consciousness, but it was an oddly sensitive one. The key-shaped swords and how they stood erect to serve as a tombstone to a warrior, long forgotten, had reminded him of the more... innocent days of his life as cannon-fodder. He could still remember the ones he thought of as friends, their quirks, their crushes, every distinguishing feature they cared to share, every scar they got after a drunken battle royale, even their voices, no matter how soft, rugged or high-pitched they were... he remembered it all... even when the bombing happened...

Those voices were always haunting him. It was a massacre. It was the day he broke down and died, coming back as nothing but a bag of flesh. Felicity was the only other who survived the encounter, and she stayed with him to bury their dead comrades. Heh, 'bury', as if there was anything left to be buried. Their weapons were gathered and planted on the ground, putting whatever belongings the person had left. The two of them knew which belonged to who, so it was no problem sorting them out. Still...

When they got out they were, unsurprisingly, sent right back with another detachment. That time, he returned with nothing left but her right glove, her body lost to the sea.

Zulu stopped mid-stride, having seen a weapon that hooked his interest. It was just one of many nameless blades, but its design was reminiscent of flames. It had a little trinket hanging from the bottom of the hilt, rusting from years of neglect, yet it could still be distinguished. The image on it was, unmistakably, a fox.

"Fire and foxes... two of her favorite things..." he said to himself as he scooped up the trinket in his fingers. As if in a trance, he just stood there, staring at it like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

A claiming stillness then darkness appearing in a flash of colors, leaving behind after the sudden storm before returning to form into the figure of a man then dissipating away. The person whom was formed wonder hesitantly towards this marked graveyard of the ancient war that had scared this world and shaped the fates of the many worlds of light. This place held something about it that could reveal so much potential information and knowledge about the plane of existence that they all co-existing on and with that knowledge one could be very well armed for domination or defending. Which often was the only reason Lenny found himself caring abut exploring these places outside his home, it was a such a unfitting sense for him to leave out on quests like this but never the less would vital for him to take as many precautions as he could formulated in the event anything would oppose him in some manner.

Moving about land the dark prince kept  steady stillness to his motions and expressions, though even as he walked along this row of fallen weapons and rusted memories he couldn’t help shake his own feeling of uneasiness towards this place. It didn’t only steam from the horrifying image of all these keys scattered but the last time he arrived here the charm lord tasted defeat for the time and quite possible the actually threat of death looming over the immortal of darkness.  

Lenny tried to shake off that unsettling feeling as he held his arms together at his sides, slowly moving with a bit more caution as he came in sight at the forking paths the keys were laid out. There out in the supposedly lifeless flied a strange armored duo came into sight, two figures that oddly  resembled some kind of knight to Lenneth but bearing a style of armor he had never witnessed in his travels before, they seemed to be staring out a partially keyblade for some reason.

The changeling felt the disturbance of the arrival of a new entity, but paid it little heed. Until it got closer. Echo turned, grabbed Bloodletter from his side holster, cocked it, but let it rest beside him. Zulu didn't want to be bothered, but he did have to address the currently unknown individual before he could do any damage to him, if that were its purpose.

You could never be too careful in places like this. No one would be able to help you if you got into trouble, not that he ever needed help, given his new toys.

"Who goes there?" Echo called out. It was always strange having his clone talk with the same voice as he. Was that how twins felt, hearing each other in conversation?

Zulu wasn't facing the other individual, but he could see him through Echo's eyes. The guy was definitely someone who could lift a sword and swing it with at least a little bit of grace. He had to mentally sigh at the prospect of having the silence broken with combat. It wasn't a usual thing for him to do, but he was just having a moment with his memories.

Perhaps it wouldn't turn out that way, but he couldn't deny a part of him wanted it the other way around. Looks like he'd have to see this through. He focused on making Echo look like the real thing, making him sway slightly like a bored individual, while he himself stayed in place like a statue, or just someone who found an old, rusty blade to be more intriguing than someone who just popped out of thin air,

As Lenny got in closer he kept turning the pages of his memories to scan for any evidence that may help him identify this stranger’s style, it was quite a fascinating armor style and level of tec he had not seen quite at this feat. Digital world gear seemed a lot more sleeker, this man bore something a bit more clunky but still high advance for all of fairy tale kingdom the heartless have come across as of yet. Maybe the people in question might shed a little light into that question and a possible point to which a harvesting party may be in order, Len’s forces could always use more.

One of the pair of them acknowledged the charm lord soon after, the other looked busy from a visual perceptive though the one speaking gave up an interesting sensation. His heart was rather similar to the other and felt lesser in a sense, as if it wasn’t truly there beyond any true from of substances. Though Len brushed off the feeling and chosen to fall in to their method of caution.

“Simply an innocent man, exploring the vast reaches of wonderland and avoiding the queen’s trumped up troops. Do you and your…Brother? Fair well today?” Lenny questioned as he raised a brow to the pair of them, unsure if they were siblings, family or something less.

Neither loosening nor tightening the grip on the pistol, Echo huffed. "There's no such thing as 'innocent'." He gave a cold stare through his visor, while he shifted his footing a little.

Sighing, Zulu turned around to face the man, letting the trinket hang from the hilt once more. He was looking through his own eyes now, but kept the feed from Echo's perspective at the corner of his vision; he liked having the decoy look around so he didn't have to physically. Crossing his arms, he decided to answer the harmless enough query. He was amused by the fact that the stranger called him and the decoy 'brothers'. Perhaps he didn't get the concept of a uniform, though he guessed he couldn't blame him. He did a good job at making the decoy look the part.

"Pardon him, he's not the best around new people. As for us, we're doing fine." Zulu's tone was as cold as the stare Echo had, but it wasn't due to the need for hostilities. The flashbacks had just reminded him why he became the man he was, and consequently, the attitude he used to get to the point resurfaced.

Shaking it off and putting on a more approachable tone and posture, he asked, "What's this about the Queen's troops?" He asked since he had met with another who claimed to be a queen, and was unsure if he was referring to the same. Although he was hired into her service, he never knew if she had anyone else on her payroll other than her two guardians.

“Of course not, simple existing is a crime to people rather or not they would even meet. All our common enemies could be consider prejudice” Lenny answered while giving the echo a one overlook the man’s body to question his attire further and take heed to the weapon that he held onto from the side and the finger dangling close to the trigger. If things were going to move a little faster then what he had planned Lenny wouldn’t be caught with his shorts down…just yet.  Licking the side of his left lip Lenny accidently expressed his nature just from that little habit, been a while since he had a good shoot out. Itching his hand the left side of his fingers wiggled around his bare thigh a little just waiting for the air to cut past them if this tension kept up.

But no it seemed sense would be the victory right then as the other little fellow from behind stood up and took the first man’s place in facing Len. The other like a machine rotated to the side and stared off, good little sync there it seemed they played off each other like mirrors. Though the current one seemed a better deal more polite.  

“No worries, as for whom I am referring too well it just a metaphor mostly, I’m not sure who sends people out to seek me out or hunt me down I’ve just come to expect it now a days”  

The changeling chuckled, lightly shaking his head. "I guess that's one thing we have in common." Chances of someone from his home world coming by was slim, and he hadn't done anything major to attract any problematic attention to himself yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't be paranoid on his own time.

Zulu walked to the side, choosing a path that wouldn't disturb the tombstones. Echo lagged behind, but kept an eye on the stranger while the original focused on scanning the rest of the area for any hidden threats. He moved at a relaxed pace. It wouldn't have much of an effect against snipers at the rate he was going, but only a fool would stay in one spot for too long in possibly hostile territory.

... Old habits die hard...

"So what brings you over to this wasteland?" Zulu asked, turning his head only slightly towards the stranger. At the back, Echo pulled out a predesignated blade from the ground, momentarily looking it over before stabbing it back in.

Zulu wasn't one to judge the stranger's choice of clothing, or lack thereof, but his body language just a few moments ago sent a few red flags to click on. He had his guard up, but remained passive enough to seem less of a threat than he probably was. Or maybe it was the paranoia talking again. Zulu guessed he just missed those weekly ambushes on him and the relatively quiet lifestyle he had so far since arriving at the Garden was making him expect something big, like an operation with a few nukes with his name written on them.

He seemed amused while light heartedly laughing a bit, that was a good sign so far. A bit of a playfully nature was a little more friendly to encounter then the rough and tough necks that froze their face in scowls all the time. Even tried to empathizes on some level with the heartless king which was kind act considering how often Len was used to being treated like a monster right off that bat for just looking so different with those tentacles and bat wings. The strange armored knight may just be trying to mask his intentions as far as Len’s cautionary side thought but it was at best a pleasant jester.

“So hard to find people with similar situation in our line of work huh?” playing off the atmosphere the beauty cracked a light hearted smile before easing himself up.

The stranger started to play with the old relics scattered about, seeming here to study them as well which was another thing they may have in common. Though instead of respect for the fallen like zulu had Len could only express his dishearten disgust from the overly sized house keys with a upsetting twitch and sourced expression as he looked at the one closest to him. It was honestly a sad thought not being able to see all these keybeaers die like this.

“Mostly on a quest of exploration and study, place as old as this land one only has a limited number of activities beyond archaeology. I assume you’re here as well for a similar reason?”

Archaeology? Hah! Zulu wouldn't be caught doing anything of the sort unless he can get more than a few worthless artifacts. Sure, he could sell them to the right type of people and get paid for it, but unless he has to shoot someone to get it, the process just wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, he was a soldier; far from the type who needs to delicately dust layers upon layers of dirt with a horse-hair brush.

"I guess you could call it that, minus the archaeology part."

He ran his palm against the tops of the keyblades as he passed. He drifted farther from the stranger, having nothing else to examine in that area. Whether he would follow to continue to converse with him, or simply leave, was not a real concern. "I'm just trying to get a sense for the worlds available to me. Know what I need to know about the environment in case I have to be dragged back someday in the future." And if Darkson's plan does go beyond the planning phase, he expected to be sent all over the place once she had rooted herself deep enough.

Lenneth choose to follow the man inadvertently as his mind was still lost in thought to itself, it didn't even really register that he was following the person it was just that the conversation hooked him in to something other then solitude. As he did half of his focus was paying attention to what the tin solider was saying however his sight still glued itself to the number of rusted keys they past. On a side note it was a little creepy how his fellow double didn't seem to be commenting or speaking out much anymore.

"Thats quite an extensive preparation for fighting the unknown, mapping out all the known worlds is a feat that may take more then one life time. Have you others that help you on this task?"

Each key held a different design, one could bear the tales of a flame while another seemed to friend a rose type layout, there was even a strange moogle blade in the far east that looked out of place to be honest. Each of these weapons had their own uniqueness to them, their own special way to kill his kind in ways not possible other wise. Such cursed tools of the worlds of light, it was a wonder why the dark realm blessed him with the powers to fight against such a horde alone. Lenneth had his pride as the strong heartless but even he doubted he could take on so many by himself.  Especially after the numerators lessons of humility fate seemed to throw his way as of late. In this very land of the dead did Len taste his first defeat, showing how ferocity that the chaos of light was capable of. It was frightening to experiences death, thinking on it again his body started to tense with the sensation, even grabbing his own arm and squeezing it to comfort himself against such dangers thoughts.

He let the stranger's words linger in his thoughts for a moment before even attempting to string out a response. He had to be careful not to let anything slip. His joint venture with Darkson might be put in harm's way, and that was something he was, currently, hoping to keep from happening. She had a vision, and Zulu swore he'd see it through.

Looking at the corner of his vision, he saw Echo's gaze lazily drifting at the horizon, picking up a few blades that had, to some degree, some familiar markings. The one just by a mound, draped with a tattered cloth, had marks that reminded him of a wolf's head, howling. It was very much similar to the emblem of a low-priority gang back home. He knew them only because they messed with the wrong rich kid, and the changeling wasn't one to turn down the offer said rich kid dropped on the table. It was a shame though; their gang was one of the better groomed ones, and actually had a hideout that was relatively easy on the eyes. That's when he knew they were just starting out. Bad luck for them, he guessed.

He had Echo look back to the stranger just as he made his gesture of discomfort, and was a bit tempted to let the decoy jab something, but thought against it for his own reasons.

Deciding he kept silent long enough, Zulu said, "Nah. I'm just jumping through every corridor I find, and see where that takes me. I'm sure I have a couple of lifetimes to spare to see what I can."

The man, either of them didn't speak for a while longer after Lenny commented, pharphs they were that busy now looking at stuff and the heartless may need the time off for himself at this rate. Though he would wait first to see the truth him his guess, thankfully it paid off.

Multiply life times? now those were pledged some interest for Lenny to grasp on, it was not everyday that someone offered some insight past the expected life span of a human. Or maybe he had a means of end to reach such times not yet present that too would be worth noting. Crossing his arms Lenny started to hover off the ground and seated himself on an invisible means to comfort his legs after the short walk, it was aright to be lazy it was a day off.

" How old are you? would you be willing to tell me about yourself?"

"How old am I?" he repeated the question before shaking his head. "That, I can't tell you. I never bothered to keep track." He wasn't even sure when his birth day was. The closest thing to relate to that would be the day of his first kill. It gave birth to a killer, so it was almost the same thing. The parties were... a lot different though.

But he did once try to figure it out, asking some people in the faction how old they were and compared their memories with his to see which ones he could remember himself. He guessed, from the earliest memories he had that correlated to someone else's, he was around his late teens then. Add in a few years, that would make him to be around his late twenties to early thirties. Didn't that make him feel old.

He turned to the stranger with no reaction to his rebellion against gravity, and simply asked in return, "What about you?"

Lenny paused for a moment before his eyes quickly moved about his body, scanning the flawlessness of his features and built while moving the limbs around a good few rotation to get an idea of how they felt. Wellness of the body often was believed to the tree rings of the age for human so to speak, humanoids might not be so true. It was rather difficult to really recall the number placed on his date of birth thinking on the subject further, it had felt like a life time ago that Len considered anything that resembled the flow of time outside his magics. Hmm he recalled the days of raidaint garden in its youth that he visited once though he might have been memory from someone else. It came to him as he slowed his motions, a cake or other piece of baked good that he remembers eating, it was small but tastily with surger and care and from someone that he held dear at one point.

12...no wait 16...25 or some glowing lights danced along the top of it, burning with the scent of bee's wax melting slowly while lighting the dark filled room, empty with no one but himself over a wooden table and stone. It might have been outside as the fresh air and coolness of the wind pieced together this memory closer to home. Then again this was a human tradition and he would never have---right Lenny used to be human at one point, as all heartless were before taking by the dark huh, food to think about. It was such a long time ago

"25...i think"

A hearty chuckle escaped Echo in response to the stranger's uncertainty of his own age. "That's two things now," the decoy said, stopping to wait on the stranger.

Zulu's intrigue had been captured. What else did they have in common? The stranger's body build was completely out of the question since the changeling never even got close to a figure like that. Constant fighting had a way of lessening the appeal of one's physique. Though, that was debatable. Some liked their men prim, proper, and the picture-perfect example of a flawless prince, preferably with a white horse and bedazzling eyes that would make the ladies swoon as soon as he looks at their general direction.

Others wanted their men to bear their battle scars like some twisted versions of a bird of paradise, give them something to adore in the form of non-self-inflicted bodily mutilations. Then, there were those who preferred their men somewhere between the two extremes. There were probably a lot of types between that gaping gorge of standards, but he wasn't sure if his head could wrap around all of them, but that was just him thinking too much into the process of finding a mate. Though, being what he was, he guessed he needed to delve into it somehow. Who knew when the time would come where he'd have to catch a maiden's heart through her specific set of standards?

Having realized what he was doing, he violently shook his head. Why the heck was he thinking about this now?

Hmm they both were rather strange to each other thinking about how the tables seem to turn about this. Both awkwardly trying to get an idea of the other and making it seem a little more forced then a natural flow when two social lights really connected. Couldn't blame the strange metal man though, Lenny felt his guard up as well trying not to really expose himself in a manner that might bite him in the ass later on though it wasn't quite as interesting as interrogation quite yet. Maybe he'd try something a little less formal and just latch onto what they did have in common outside the two those two things. Both were travellers to different worlds, vastly different ones and both would have likely encountered different natives and that would work into some more small chat.

"Any direction you wanted to move in this place while we chat?, no reason we can't stay in one place for too long to explore" He said while picking up one of the blades to the side, holding it up before levitating it closer to him. Moving his fingers along its edges while a purple light slowly engulfed the ancient weapons with tiny brighter shinning wisps moved along it.

"Have you encountered anything strange along your travels? or any battles you'd can think of to regale me with?"

"I'd prefer to keep moving in new lands," he said flatly, "especially when there's a lack of harmless meat shields I could use to take the shots for me. Heck, it'd be better if they weren't so harmless, and I'd prefer if they were out to kill me as well. I'd like to get creative. Sometimes being so straightforward gets a bit bland. It's much more entertaining to watching them shoot their own comrades. But I digress, if you find a place that isn't so open, feel free to direct us towards it."

It was so much easier to speak about topics he was fond of, and being in the presence of someone who had a similar mindset gave him an opportunity to loosen his lips. However, when asked about what he had seen in his travels, he was sure to censor the parts that lead to his recruitment. "Well, aside from learning about those Corridors of Darkness, there's only a few worth mentioning. One is the humanoids people call the 'Heartless'. I fought with a few of them on Radiant Garden. They looked very much alike, though I've heard there were some who look a bit unique. The other, I've heard of a giant bird that was supposed to be ridden like a horse. I forgot what they were called."

Giving a reason for Echo to say something, the decoy shrugged and let out a sigh, "Chocobos, they were called Chocobos."

"Yeah, those things."

Echo turned to the stranger, looking at him over the shoulder. "So what about you? Got anything interesting to contribute?"

Nodding at the man’s request Lenny took a gander around them, slowly scanning the area around as tried to pin point a suitable location that would let him and his fellow traveller, finding a large hill across to the west just a moderately long stroll there Lenny stopped and pointed his well-polished finger over “Let us travel to higher grounds near one of those peaks, the keys seem to line for miles and miles in this land and maybe we’d see just how far”  Moving about he started to walk in that direction while pondering the man’s response as well which was eyebrow raising. He was an honest one or one that was very misleading to a lot of people Len has meet so far.  Many were much more reversed at their evil natures like that, often hiding behind some value of mortality and fellow kin bull shit that steamed from their education and upbringing which fell apart that moment life or death came into question. They Len had experiences with people so honest they become were eccentric with loud outburst and wild motions, labeled as crazy as he recalled.

This one nope he seemed rather average on the scale of bombastic adrenaline and one to own his own selves with no fear of repercussion, it was refreshing to see a human that admitted that were evil. And he didn’t know much about Lenneth’s kind yet even after encountering the less covert members of his species, good they were’t well known yet.  As they moved Lenny’s magic lowered the weapon back into its place behind him before picking up a different key and scanning in a manner similar to it before, writing the findings in a visible chart that the dark prince was holding while probing his own mind for questions.

“Well I’ve seen a few things, like a little girl turning into a raging bolt of lighting and a boy summoning a ocean’s worth of water in an instant, same day to. Umm…oh I’ve seen a wide variety of monsters ranging from a small dog changing into a giant three head hound that breathed fire and spoke to this odd chariot riding sausage whos horses didn’t have legs.  And I’ve seen child being born, messy very messy producer, horrifying just wow”    

Zulu's lips skewed at the suggestion of getting up high on a hill. He wanted something on the opposite end of the visibility chart. Up there, they'd be seen for miles. The stranger already changed course, and Zulu had gotten a little comfortable with the conversation, so he just followed. Maybe they'd find something up that incline, and at a strategic view point of view, higher ground gave them an advantage if they did run into some hostilities. It was easier to shoot down than up, and the bodies tumbling down hills was always served a bit of entertainment.

The Changeling took mental notes of the events the stranger shared. Most didn't interest him as there were a few of those oddities in his home world. It seemed the only thing that caught his attention was the sausage that rode on a chariot. He wondered what the story about that was, but he'd have to let that thought rest for a bit. He had to address the childbirth experience as he too bore witness to such a thing. But... "I bet you've never seen that happening in the middle of a battlefield before?" he asked first before going into detail. The stranger didn't seem to be comfortable about the topic. Which only made his inner demons want to go into every detail.

Climbing from stone to stone Lenny didn’t find himself hinder as they moved, from time to time he looked back to see just how high they were going so far.  They were getting fairly high so far with the sun growing larger at sights as they could almost feel like grasping at them. Looking back he could almost see the net fallen keys nearly forming its own artistic form. Thinking on it he wonder just who placed all the keys down like that either a very dedicated grave digger or the placement of each warrior last breath.

“Actually it was a war zone to be honest it was a unit of soldiers that were cut off from the rest of their forces. They were holding out to the last night but were distract with a growing child in its mother time. Short story the during the night she couldn’t hold it in any longer the birth occurred, beautiful and all that story tale happiness stuff with everyone admiring it. However that same night their enemies had snuck in looking for their opportunity and they find it.  The entire was killed after birth and they lost everything, interesting ending to it”  

Tch. Of course it had to be a war zone. Damn, our similarities are racking up. His story was similar to the experience Zulu had, but the outcome was different. No, even the situation was different, yet the story still rang a familiar tune, and as he climbed, he pieced together what happened as best he could. Echo stayed behind to act as a lookout on their six, and to allow Zulu to focus more on the climb.

"We were extracting a captive from an enemy stronghold after she'd been captured for over a year. We would have gotten to her sooner if we knew she was still alive, and even when we got word that she was indeed still breathing, it took a good few months to even get close to the place. If she weren't the commander's daughter, we wouldn't even have had a reason to even pay any mind. Unfortunately, she was, and of course we were thrown straight into the fire. A few well placed mortar shots here and there and we managed to get through with ridiculous casualties. When we got her, she fell to the floor half way to the helicopter and 'pop' crying baby.

"I told her to leave it, but she insisted on keeping her. As if that would do any favors for our survival. And out of all the people helping her get out, I was the one they chose to hold the baby. I never thought I'd be so scared about killing something, but it was just so squishy and small it was difficult not to get a little bit anxious carrying her around with bullets flying over our heads. Last time I saw her, she grew up healthy and was just taking her first steps."

The story that the solider replied with seem to mirror quite a bit of Lenny’s own tale though with a much more happier ending and actually being involved with the whole proceedings, Len was just a predator that hunted the remains of the hearts left  behind in the aftermath. It was seemingly such a drawback to even put one’s body though such a torture while in the heat of battle, like dam couldn’t the two keep it in their pants just long enough to insure their own lives?  What the hell was getting the juices flowing so important with the girl? If it were two guys then Len could understand, no draw backs after all.

“Good for her though still quite a stupid pit fall to put one’s self in during such a stressful and danger time. Honestly leaving the child would have been a lot more appropriate to unsure the rest of the people had gotten out safely to insure those generations would be fine. But I guess it worked out in the end for your story, good for the baby too I guess”

Speaking with just the hint of annoyance in his breath Len’s found it appropriate to rely his feelings of frustrations towards the folly of mankind as they were means of weakness in his eyes and ones that could have easily been taken care of or been better for. No they had to their pride to cling on to like ego driven child. Turning down at the man he walked with Lenny stopped for moment while meeting at gaze level, it felt like he was actually speaking to someone that was a cut above the meat’s common tropes and the such, it was re-rehashing in a manner but scary at the same time to encounter it. Wondering more just how different the tin man was from the rest of oz.

“Was it worth it? Saving the child endangering your lives to a blink future no would could assure”

Zulu stopped at the stranger's words, and he repeated the question in his mind. Was it really worth it? If he had asked if the rescue was worth the trouble they got into, the answer would have been a solid 'No'. Too many lives lost for a stupid princess who wandered too far out of the green zone, and not enough lives taken to sound heroic. It was a day of tragedy which caused a good number of assets to defect. Though, some joined because they saw the operation as a selfless act to get one of their own back, which wasn't even funny since the brick they called the commander was short-sighted, blind and impulsive, but arguably a good man.

But no, he had to ask if the child was worth it, which was a really hard thing to gauge considering how much she could have been influenced by everyone around her. She'd probably grow up as another soldier princess like her mommy. No, that was a guarantee. There was no other option but to be a soldier, since the alternatives were either death by bullet or death by explosions. Rarely had anyone ever died of thirst or hunger as ammunition was flying left and right, and everyone could forget about leaving the war zone as they'd be met with the border guards of three super countries who'd sooner shoot them for being a mile away from the border than have them over for tea and some crumpets.

Zulu sighed heavily after weighing out the pros and cons. "If I were to speak for the girl, I'd say no. She'd only grow up like I did, being handed a gun as soon as she could coordinate her fingers. If I spoke of the short-term, I'd say yes, since she helped lift a few spirits long after the operation was over. Long term? That'd be no. Out there, we'd die no matter how well we do. It's just a matter of how long your luck lasted.  Future investment? A yes. We'd have another gunner with us, or probably a berserker. She was a wild one, that kid. Though, I'm not sure how much a single person could contribute, but I'd rather have her with us than with the enemy. Numbers win since skills mean nothing when the bullet enters your head. But personally, the whole week of R&R I got after evened everything out, so I guess it was all good in the end." he chuckled in the end and continued to climb to the top.

Hmm well thought out answer to a board questions Lenny couldn’t ask for much more from a walking metal man that had aged with the passage of time.  And his history was quite interesting for the most part, it felt like watching an entire world that had grown into a utopia of technology and wealth regress into a perpetual state of war of honour, children as recourses, complex tactics and operations in spying dang whatever world this man was on sounded like a far departure from the many Len had visited so far. They would reach the top of the summit soon or at least the part with enough path for comfortable footing that didn’t require more effort in hiking but more then a leisurely stroll for the most part.  Lenny would stretch himself out while the man told his answer in detail, reaching for the tips of his fiber’s electric stretch before kneeling down and sitting comfortable on a perch of stone.    

All of their lives sounded highly expendable which raised his own questions about saving the child in the first place then, sure they would get an extra solider like Zulu said though he might have lost an entire unit over it given the conditions of a possible future if the child didn’t die from sickness, training or some strange twist of fate.  But it still grasp len at the edge of his sit like a curious child leaning back and forth he kinda didn’t want the story to end just yet but it did. Wasn’t in any harm but Lenneth found himself wanting to visit this world just for the experiences if anything, usefully for creating some new breeds of heartless if it ever came up.

“ So what is your world like overall? It sounds very heavy into war mentality that or your very into your job. Is everywhere there like you? All machine like kinda cyber punk life style?”  

Finally reaching the top, Zulu aimed his rifle in the distance and looked through the scope. His finger was on the trigger, ready to pop a few rounds at the first sign of trouble. The scope was adjustable, and he zoomed in an out frequently to make sure it was working properly, as well as get a good few details in the distance. "Just how far does this graveyard stretch?" he said, mostly aimed at himself. It must have been some battle to see this many grave markers. It was a little envy-inducing to think about it. It must have been a great skirmish to watch or take part in.

Zulu lowered the gun once he was done checking the horizon to entertain the man's questions. "Nah. The world was a big place, and that little patch of land was nothing compared to the powerhouses. It was just my good fortune that I ended up in the worst of the Unaffiliated Lands. Didn't really get to see much of the world until my... little accident placed me in a lab. Not everyone was human or a cyborg. We had a... healthy mix. There were demons, angels, dragons, eldrich abominations, and even a few from space. Sad to say that humans weren't the strongest, but they lived in peace with the other races. There were only a few who could really hold their own, but considering how docile some of the other races were, I guess that went for everybody.

"Which was reassuring. And I guess I am a little bit attached to my job. I barely got to do anything in my earlier years except fight for my life, so I guess it was second nature to me." He shrugged and acted like nothing interesting was happening. He knew what he said was a lie. Fighting got boring, but it was something he couldn't live without. Not because he was addicted to it. After his numerous augmentations, he needed something to remind him that he was still alive and not living a nightmare. At the time, conflict was all he had.