#station22

The unarmed logistics workers had scampered for cover, throwing themselves into the safe depths of the bunker as they shouted alarm that they were under attack. Tea could see them now, cowering behind cover with their guns trained on the entry way, waiting for an attacking force that would never come.

Tea hummed as they adjusted their scope, looking over the scene that lay over a mile away in a little valley, The heavy anti aircraft cannon sitting on top of a man made bluff, the access door at the base of the bluff surrounded by it's logistics trucks. The freshly turned earth from the construction of this fortification only just now bearing the hints of green as grass overtook it.

Tea had found themselves in this exact spot over looking the site for weeks, occasionally moving in to steal or sabotage something just for kicks before scampering back out to the woods. Pausing to look out over the top of the scope they could see a plume of dust rising from the dirt road snaking out of the near by colony, most likely reinforcements answering the call for help, hindered of course by the poor communication network in the area. Tea had the idea to sabotage their comms but someone had beat them to it.

They frowned and peered at the dust cloud, growing bigger as it trundled up the valley, at the base of it was a simple civilian vehicle, bouncing on its out dated tires with determination as it rounded a switch back and disappeared from view momentarily. Reaching behind them for their canteen Tea took a swig before settling back in, focusing their scope back on the door. Something was about to go down and they did not want to miss it.

It took another eight minutes before the truck rolled back into view, slowing to a stop near the undamaged logistics truck. Four humanoids wrapped in head to toe in makeshift gillie suits hopped out of the back and swiftly moved to inspect the trucks, the barrels of their hand guns and shotguns leading the way as they swept the area. One of them shouted to the driver who had stepped out of the truck, pointing out the large hole left in one of the logistics trucks from Tea's round. They walked over and pushed the hood of their gillie back, peering at the truck before turning and scanning the hills in the direction of the shot. Tea froze as their gaze settled right on them, despite the distance and cover Tea felt like they were making direct eye contact through the lens of the scope. Nervously they curled their finger around the trigger, resting the reticle on this potential threat.

On the third pounding heat beat the driver looked away from Tea, shouting commands to the others. Tea breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed their grip on their weapon, watching the operation take place, the five humanoids quickly and efficiently unloading the damaged truck and moving its cargo into their own truck. Finally they loaded back up, two of the figures mounting the undamaged truck and turning its engine over, intent on taking it and its cargo. The driver of the first vehicle paused by the door of their truck, taking one last look at the forest that concealed the hidden sniper before getting in their truck and leading the way back into the colony.

Tea sat for another hour before breaking down their weapon and loading it into the long bag they could sling across their back for the hike back to camp. Another successful day of annoying the poor crew members of that installation.

By the time they reached their camp the sun had settled down into its spot on the horizon casting long shadows over the forest floor. Tea sighed and slung their rifle into the storage compartment of the mech, dropping their bag and the rest of their equipment at its feet, plopping into their hammock with their data pad.

This installation was completed now, and while the loss of their logistics vehicles would hinder the operational effectiveness of the fortification it was now time to move on before Tea's luck ran out. Sooner or later a reinforcement shuttle would arrive bringing ground troops to route the bothersome sniper.

They crossed off this location on their map, humming as they scrolled the list of other potential targets they had pieced together from stolen intel. They were starting to run low on ammo again so they would have to find an arms dealer willing to sell them military grade ammunition.

Their ears snapped to attention at the distinct snapping of a twig on the forest floor. Quickly turning off the dim light cast from their data pad Tea peered into the dark forest around them, the setting sun casting dappled lighting over the uncertain greens and grays. Nervously they slid out of their hammock and slowly padded over to their mech, drawing their sidearm from the holster on the side of their bag, and switching the safety off with an audible click.

They were met with the sound of fourteen other weapons in the forest responding in kind.

"Okay okay okay, I got that message." Tea told the forest, clicking the safety back on and sliding it back into the holster. "I am hoping you are here to just talk."

The forest was quiet, nothing but the still swishing of leaves answered them.

"Look, if you guys are like farmers or something and I'm on your land I was leaving in the morning anyways."

"Aww, and miss the party?" A smooth taunting female voice taunted, echoing around the sturdy trunks of the forest.

"Not farmers, got it. Are you guys Delta? cause like holy shit you guys are slow." Tea responded, resting a hand on the leg of their mech.

A male voice laughed at that, "Delta? Nah we ain't Delta."

Tea growled, flicking their tail in frustration, "Alright, enough games already! Who are you people and what the fuck do you want?"

There was the sharp snap of a chemical glow stick being broken before the warm orange glow wafted up over the gillie suited figure standing at the edge of the small clearing.

That's it, this is heaven or hell, purgatory, the great beyond, whatever it was that came after death.

I risked a glance behind me, away from the door, hoping it would still be there when I looked back. Behind me the void stretched on, thick black fog rolling over an unseen floor from an unknown source shifting and parting around unknown forces.

The longer I looked out at It the more I felt It's eyes peer back into me, a curious specimen in its domain, It's curiosity was growing and I could feel it inspecting me now, turning me over in its intangible hands. Its mutterings reaching my ears filling my head and overwhelming my thoughts.

I tore out of It's grasp and ran for the door, shouldering my way though them my breath caught in my throat as the overwhelming touch of the Void was immediately drowned out by classy disco music and strobe lights flashing the interior with bursts of multi colored light.

Nobody seemed to notice my entrance so I hesitated by the door, making sure it closed behind me as I tried to steady my racing heart again. With the uncertain lighting and a thin haze of smoke or fog filling the room it was hard to pick out details but around the edges of the room was a multitude of tables and couches filled with shrouded humanoids chatting and laughing. Peering at any one table seemed to fill the booth with smoke obscuring the occupants further leaving me with a unsatisfied curiosity.

Figures moved in between the tables, carrying trays of exotic drinks. They moved gracefully, seeming to weave through the tables like the very smoke that clung to the air around them. Their faces blurred with their movements and their bodies refused to tell me anymore than their vague location. Even the drinks on their trays shifted and changed, refusing to conform to any idea of physical descriptions.

The center of the room dragged my eyes away from the edges near me, like a solid island amidst a sea of smoke a brightly lit bar stood strongly and unwavering, refusing to conform to the shifting reality of the occupants it supplied.

I slowly made my way to it, eyeing the bright bottles on the shelf behind the barkeep, expecting them to change away from their traditional form. The Barkeep too, stood strong and silent, polishing a glass in their suit vest and bow tie. They were focused on their task, gently twirling a soft rag around the delicate glass with their large clawed hands. Their blue speckled brow furrowed in concentration over a pair of piercing green eyes that examined the glass for any smudges or marks. They looked up and grinned as I approached, a row of pearly white fangs splitting the light grey muzzle the beast peered down at me from.

"Oh! A newcomer, welcome welcome, what can I get ya?" The beast purred, setting the glass down and tucking their rag away into a small apron wrapped around their waist.

I balked at the beast deep rumbling voice splitting the dull background noise of the bar, surrounding me with its grounding tone. Hesitating I eyed the bottles behind it, although colorful and solid in their appearance I could not make out any names or labels on them.

"We have everything here," The beast whispered, holding a hand up like it was hiding its words from an unseen eavesdropper "The bottles are just for show"

"Where is here?" I finally blurted out, gripping the bar tightly as I braced for a response.

"Hmm." The Beast paused, leaning back to examine me further before looking around the room. "Fuck if I know, it changes from time to time, today its a bar it looks like. But there are some blends of night club or sex parlor in here too."

"What?" I glanced around the room, following the beast's gaze. Everything stayed a stubborn grey fog blended with the approximation of figures enjoying a bit of night life.

"Here, a drink makes it easier to understand." The beast twirled a delicate glass chalice between its claws with a level of dexterity unexpected from such large appendages settling it in front of me as it busied its self picking through a few bottles and mixing a drink in a silver tumbler.

"Honestly, surprised to see a human here either way, I get all manner of strange creatures and critters but they usually hold some resemblance to me. You definitely are not me." The beast continued as it worked. "We all saw you run in here like a timid deer. Usually those doors are thrown open wide and I have stories to tell and achievements to boast of. You however." The beast paused, pouring a multi colored fluid into the chalice and sliding it towards me. "Did not."

I accepted the drink with a silent nod of thanks and peered into it, watching the fluid shift and swirl of its own accord, mixing and shifting colors before my eyes. "So this isn't hell? or purgatory?" I prodded, setting the drink back on the counter.

The beast waved its paw vaguely, "If you want to call it those things you can, as far as I know they don't exist but you do you. This is more of a…" The beast paused again, drumming its claws on the bar top as it searched for the right words "Rest stop of sorts, I come and go all the time."

I groaned and gave in, picking up the drink I took a sip of the fluid inside the chalice, the smooth surprisingly creamy liquid flowed easily over my tongue washing it in a cascade of fruity flavors before continuing down my throat and filling my body with a warm bubbly feeling.

"Oh! That's good!" I said, shocked at the experience.

The beast looked smugly at me, setting bottles back up on the shelf. "I should would hope your 'purgatory' had decent drinks."

"Okay maybe this isn't purgatory," I said taking another sip of the drink "what do you mean by 'I come and go all the time?'"

"Simple, someone will get bored and want to go home so they get up, walk out the door and wait for their ride outside." The beast said, gesturing back at the door I had rushed in from earlier.

"Okay now you used 'someone' instead of 'I', you keep blurring those together." I pointed out.

The beast sighed and rested a large paw on the top of my head, turning me around to face the room. I blinked, the swirling mists and fogs having faded, showing me a room full of…

The beast.

Sure they were not all the same, some bearing different markings or body make up or assortment of limbs but filling every booth in the room now was some variation of the beast. They were everywhere, lounging, drinking, playing cards, smoking, fucking, laughing and in general having a good time with one another.

I quickly looked back at the beast at the bar, ignoring the slight heat signaling a light blush at the openness of the beasts in the room. "Okay, so everyone here is you."

"Except for you." the beast stated with a flick of its tail

"Except for me. H- how does that work?"

The beast shrugged. "We are all the same thing, we come here to share memories, experiences, lives. We enjoy our company and we wait to be called upon or until we get bored, then we leave."

I finished my drink and set it back down on the bar, blushing a little harder as I pondered its words. "So uhh, do you feel what-" I stumbled over my words, jerking a thumb behind me at the wriggling bodies in a booth.

"Pfft, nah~" the beast purred, leaning on the bar as its voice dropped into a more demure tone catching onto my nervous stumble. "But you would love to know what its like huh~?"

I couldn't stop my face flushing a deeper shade of red. "Ah, uhm, I'm allowed to be curious!" I proclaimed, struggling to protect my dignity.

"All ya gotta do is ask cutie~" The beast swooned, twirling my empty glass around its claw.

"Oh, okay!" I squeaked, nervously wringing my hands together as the beast boomed with laughter.

"Nah, I jest, it doesn't seem like you have enough time for that right now." The beast said with a nod at the door.

I turned to look, startled at the beast's sudden tone shift.

A tall, lanky anthropomorphic feline strolled casually through the front door, lashing its slim tail behind it. I had to shift in my seat to try to get a clear view of it as its pitch black fur seemed to pull the light around it in, blending and distorting its image. Its large orange eyes pierced through this black void, scanning the room until they settled on me, pinning me in my seat as it strolled towards me, each step folding the expanding space between us.

"Human, Jeff. Jeff, Human." The beast stated calmly as it approached.

"You never asked for a name?" Jeff spoke from everywhere and nowhere at once, a booming voice echoing through my ears while whispered directly into my head, the felines mouth unmoving as its orange eyes flicked to the beast with an irritated flick of its ear.

"Nah it never came up." the beast replied smoothly, pulling a clean glass from behind the bar. "Drinks?"

"No time," Jeff turned its piercing orange gaze back to me and offered me its hand. "Come now, you have places you need to be."

I wordlessly took the felines hand letting it gently guide me to my feet and turned to lead me out the door.

"Wait!" The beast called out, quickly flicking a small rectangular card out of its apron and placed it into my hand. "If you ever find yourself back here give me a call."

"Thanks," I replied, looking down at the card in my hand, a worn and faded business card for a road side coffee stand, what curiously looked like blood stains dotted the card but on the back was a legible phone number hastily scrawled in blue ink.

"Come," Jeff stated flatly before I could question the blood stains, whisking me out of the bar and deep into the inky black void where the fog began to wrap around my ankles and drag me in.

"W- what if I don't want to go?" I stammered out. "What if I wanted to stay here?" I finally protested.

"Here is a relative place." Jeff stated, the void around us echoing his words back to me. "Here is the same place as where you are going. You are both present and absent at the same time. Here is everywhere."

Jeff knelt down, looking me in the eye as I clutched the card to my chest, wiping a tear from my cheek as the fog surrounded my waist.

"You want to be where they are. You miss her. Don't you?" Jeff asked.

I sobbed, nodding as the tears flowed freely.

"It's okay. She knows. She will be there for you." The void swept itself up around me surrounding me in a tight warm embrace one last time.

I blinked up at the bright blue sky, the wind whipping the sand around me up into a frenzy. Someone was leaning over me, their hands bloodied as they tore apart a med kit placed on my stomach. I rolled my head to the side, pressing my cheek against the rough coarse sand as I looked upon the greatest sight I had ever seen.

She stood there, strong and proud, chin raised to the sky as she barked commands at those around her. Her arms folded behind the thick metal shield, projecting a glowing blue aura around her as the energy flowed through the crystalline structure protruding from the shield. Forming a wall of glowing energy that rippled and pulsed as it was struck from the other side.

Alone she stood there. Holding that line for the dozens of men and women behind her, running to safety.

Alone she stood there.

Holding that line.

For me.

Tea sat silently, watching the shuttle circle once before descending to the cleared pad, the aerial mechs circling until the shuttle was fully down before descending as well. One landing on the upper railway long rifle in its hands while the other landed at the gate seemingly unarmed as they both eyed Chuck and Mike, who similarly eyed the large, sleek black corp mechs. The corp mechs folded their wings back, forming a sort of cape with the lightweight metal, their limbs spindly with exposed servos and pistons but standing sturdier and more confidently than Chuck with his industrial footing in the loose gravel.

Tea couldnt help but drool a little over the fully enclosed torso cockpit, an external head unit providing all the sensor data and situational awareness the pilot needed in their armored core. Direct neural inputs allowing the pilot to move their mech like an extension of themselves. Tea peered at the mech by the gate, watching its pilot tap the mechs leg with its fingers, clearly impatient, ready to leave this scrap heap.

The shuttle's engines slowed to a low whine as they powered down. Boss dismounting her mech before approaching the rear shuttle door as it lowered to the ground. From the shuttle four slightly larger than human BOTs trundled out, their movements stiff and pre planned. Marching along their way-points as they made their way to the gate, half posting up on either side of it while the other two began a steady march through the streets beyond.

"Darlaa~!" A high voice pierced through the thin veil of dust hanging in the air.

Boss bowed to the figure as they sauntered down the ramp flanked by a thin human wielding a clipboard and a large android wielding a large machine gun.

"Oh hello mother" Boss spat, the word dripping with malice "I thought we were below your pay grade."

"Oh you are, but my little pet project is certainly not." The corp woman stated flatly, looking in disgust at the dusty gravel at the base of the ramp. "To think my little pet has been lost out in this dump for so long, ugh~! I'm going to have to wipe its memory to restore it to its nice prim and proper behaviors."

Tea peered at the woman, her hair was a bright artificial red mirrored in her daughters darker, more natural faded red. Pale white skin covered with makeup and wrapped up neatly in a tight black suit with the company logo embroidered on the breast pocket.

"Serich, go search the buildings for me. Come inside Darla, lets talk."

Boss reluctantly followed the woman back inside the shuttle, shooting a glare at the android as it moved towards the garage. The thin human followed the pair of women into the shuttle, scribbling something on his clipboard.

Tea could feel their heart pounding in their chest, their blood roaring in their ears. This woman, they were familiar, a dull memory of her face distorted by glass, clean white walls.

The vivid blood red triangle blending with a fresh splatter across its surface.

A loud clatter shook them back to now, they could hear the android sweeping the hangar below, kicking over barrels and ripping open the storage cabinets. All that stood between Tea and the Serich right now was a thin panel of cladding and the wooden platform Tea lay on.

The room grew silent below but Tea still held their breath, holding perfectly still, ears straining to hear any clue that the android still lurked below. Tea closed their eyes and tried to calm their racing heart beat. Tilting their head slowly towards the slightest noise until they heard it.

The soft whirring of the androids internal gyros, balancing and giving the unit an constant accurate positioning data. It stopped by one of the mech hoists, far left side of the hangar. Tea could hear it now, slowly running its metal hand over the chassis of the mech sat there.

Their mech.

Their life's hard work and purpose.

They let out a long slow breath and began smoothly rummaging through their projects they had brought up here, dismantling pieces and parts, bending the thin sheets of metal into shape. Dry propellant from the flare project. Sparklers from the fire wall projector. Every battery they could salvage. All loosely tied together with a bundle of wire, one improvised smoke bomb. Just in case.

The android had moved away from the mech at this point. Its heavy footsteps taking it back into the garage and out the front door. Slowly crunching its way across the gravel and up the ramp of the shuttle.

Tea waited anxiously, watching the back of the shuttle intently as the hour began dragging on. Their improvised explosive clutched tightly in their paws. The two Corp mechs seemed to also be wearing down on patience. Both eyeing the shuttle from time to time. The mech by the gate seemed to start up conversation with Chuck, seemingly more animated as they talked than Chuck, who's mech stood still and unmoving.

Finally Boss walked down the ramp of the shuttle and the BOTs turned and trekked back up the gravel drive, loading into the shuttle following an unspoken command. Boss raised their arm, shielding their face as the shuttles engines spooled up kicking up dust and debris as they lifted the heavy metal ship into the air. The mechs followed quickly after it and the yard held its breath as the trio slowly became a blotch in the sky that disappeared behind the distant sky scrapers.

"We are clear." Boss spoke into the radio, looking up at the area of the roof she knew Tea was watching from. "Stay in your patrols for now, I need to talk to the kid."

Tea slid through their crawlspace, wiggling down through the false panel and dropping to the garage floor, landing gracefully on their paws amidst a mess of tools and torn papers seeping up spilled oils.

"Wow he really fucked the place up." Boss stated, leaning against the door frame to the hangar.

"I'll have it cleaned up by tonight." Tea squeaked

"Don't worry Rat. You have bigger prey to hunt." Boss raised an eyebrow at the bomb still clutched in Tea's paws.

"Oh, uh, as a precaution." They sheepishly began dismantling it.

Boss walked over and placed a hand on Tea's shoulder. "Kid, they knew where you were the whole time. All this," She paused, gesturing at the destruction. "They want you to react. They want a reason they can justify using more force."

Tea remained silent, looking down at the dismantled device in their paws.

"Carol, that woman, is a petty princess who gets to flaunt her husbands power and money. I left that life as soon as I could. I thought I would leave it behind me for good but I guess not." Boss sighed. "This job is a kind of forced retirement for me. During my merc days I ran a lot of sorties against Delta. I had a name, a reputation within their ranks. They always knew who I was as soon as I showed up. Me and my team, we stood toe to toe with the corps for years"

"What made you stop?" Tea asked, "why bend your knee to them?"

"They started lashing out blindly. They started to simply raze the ground on which I walked. They lashed out blindly and without mercy trying to get me. In order to get them to stop I struck up a deal. I would move back to the settled systems and work somewhere they could keep an eye on me while I could still do my own thing." Boss sat down and gestured out towards the yard. "that's why I'm here, guarding piles of trash from lil rats like you."

Tea smirked, "You weren't very good at it."

"Hey don't you start, I'm retired now I ain't giving it my all." Boss threw a wadded up ball of paper at Tea who ducked it with a giggle. "Anyways. The point here is Carol knows her 'pet project' is here and she is monitoring you. She wants you back now and is willing to devote major resources to do so."

Tea blinked, turning the gears in their head, "So why didn't she take me now?"

Boss slowly set the handgun Chuck had tried to give to Tea earlier on the desk in front of her and slid it towards them. "I struck up another deal. I turn you in in 24 hours or you leave and the Corp has to deal with you themselves."

Tea clenched their paws shut into tight fists, crushing the dismantled parts, their fur bristling as they glared at Boss. "You wouldn't."

"Rat, There are other people I have to take care of, they are not fighters, they wouldn't stand up against the Corps bringing scorched earth. I hate that I have to but I would to protect the others."

"So what am I supposed to do? Run from them? Fight them? I don't stand a chance anymore than they do!"

"You have one advantage that they don't. They don't want you dead. You are valuable to them."

Tea tightened their fists ignoring the sting of the jagged metal digging into their flesh. "I'm not going back."

Turning away from the mirror they pushed through the swinging bathroom door out into the garage where they lived. The early morning sun peering though the upper windows that were not boarded up casting its warm rays over the quiet space, waking it up for its busy day.

Tea pulled their hammock down from where it was strung between the support posts of the car lift and bundled it into their tool box as well as the manuals they had fallen asleep reading last night. Keeping their tail high to keep the fuzzy tuft of it off the dirty floor they began working in earnest, tidying the garage and putting the all the tools away, often having to pull more tools out to do so properly.

They hummed as they worked, a mindless tune that took them through wide valleys and open skies before plunging though narrow streets and dim tunnels stopping only as they flicked their ears back listening to the crunch of gravel beneath heavy tires obscuring the dull rumbling of an engine.

They perked up as the engine stopped, voices reaching Tea's ears following the sounds of car doors slamming shut. Boots crunching through the gravel, three pairs with familiar gaits. Tea scampered over behind their desk, positioned near the front door where they keyed a short sequence into the keyboard mounted there. With a audible click the front door swung open revealing a slightly startled Boss who had raised her hand to knock.

"Pfft, Hi Rat, waiting on us?" Boss scoffed, slinging her bag off her shoulder and tossing it to Tea.

Tea squealed in delight and began rummaging through the bag while the crew filtered in, Mike flicking Tea's ear earning him a playful snap back that he deftly dodged with a chuckle while Chuck slid a thin folder onto Tea's desk.

"Whats this?" Tea asked, looking up from the bag of new-ish tools

"Boss w'll talk 'bout it" Chuck gruffed, also pulling a small handgun and placing it on top of the folder.

"Yeah that I will." Boss intercepted, plucking the handgun off the folder. "I have received news that we will be visited by the Corp."

Mike and Chuck groaned while Tea sat forward with perked ears.

"Look its not anything serious, we guard a junkyard for them that's it. they will have their own security, neither of your two rust buckets could hold up against a corp mech anyways." Boss added pointing at the complaining pair.

"Yeah but they are so picky and whiny about everything." Mike complained.

"Its just for the day. Chuck will be on gate duty, door stays closed to everyone the Corps don't let in. You will have a Corp Mech stationed with you and two BOTs on standby in case. All you really gotta do is operate the door." Boss said, pulling a sheet of paper out of the folder to hand to Chuck who furrowed his large brow at. "Mike, you have perimeter duty, just watch for our usual rats, go aggressive to keep the are clear today, warning shots only, try to stay non lethal unless you have to defend yourself."

"That's a bit extreme for our usuals" Mike stated cautiously, peering at the paper handed to him. "Why are the Corps visiting Boss?"

Boss sighed and waved the question away. "I will be handling interactions with the Corps. Tea-" Boss paused eyeing the bright eyed tail wagging creature. "Sit this one out."

Mike and Chuck both protested with Tea, all three quickly falling silent as Boss raised a hand.

"Trust me Rat." Boss laid a hand on Tea's shoulder, looking them in the eye "Its better that the Corps don't know you exist."

Tea nodded solemnly and sat back down at the desk.

Mike and Chuck both looked at Boss questioningly but she shook her head, glancing at her watch. "Corps will be here in an hour. Get loaded up and moving."

She stood by the desk waiting as the guys moved out of earshot, making their way to the hangar next door, pausing at the door to look back at Tea.

"Why are the corps visiting?" Tea asked, crossing their arms over their chest.

"They are looking for you." Boss answered, startling the sulking Tea "I don't know why but they sent me a picture of you and asked if I had seen anyone like that around the yard. I guess they didn't like my answer and decided to check themselves."

"What? Why?" Tea squeaked.

"I don't know, I plan on finding out." Boss reassured. "Just stay out of sight and don't fight okay?"

"Okay." Tea curled their tail around their legs and watched as Boss took off towards the mech hangar.

Tea padded after her, clutching the bag of tools to their chest as they watched Boss mount their mech, clambering up its leg to hoist themselves into the cockpit. Giving Tea a short salute through the canopy as it closed in front of her. The loud whine of servos warming up as they bore the weight of the thick armor plated limbs as they sprung to life, lifting and turning with a human like dexterity. Its freshly painted scarlet coat gleamed in the morning sun, making Tea stand a little straighter in pride.

Boss trundled out towards the other two mechs. One a smaller almost exo-skeleton around Mike with its updated gyro capable of nimbly scaling the fence or the pile to pursue any intruders with thick plating surrounding the cockpit, protecting its pilot from small arms fire or environmental hazards. One his shoulders were two remote controlled turrets, small machine guns for warding off aggressive would be intruders.

The other stood a bit between the other two mechs, closely fitted around Chucks heavy set frame with large slow industrial grade hydraulics, good for pushing around the large wrecks scattering the yard. With a fully enclosed cockpit and thick bars protecting the cab giving away its purpose as salvaged construction equipment before its faded safety yellow paint and hazard lights that Chuck refused to allow Tea to fix.

Tea sighed and shut the hangar doors, dumping the tool bag on the work bench before recovering a couple new manuals and sliding them into a pair of bags designed to fit over the base of their thick tail. Pausing they shrug and fit the bags over their tail and move about the garage, grabbing a few small parts and tools and sliding them into the bags. Stopping by the desk to grab the folder and put it into their bag as well before scrambling up into the garage rafters where they had built a small hideaway in the wall up here.

Pushing their way into the narrow gap between the garage wall and the hangar wall that was shared they kept squirming their way further up towards the hangar roof. Pulling themselves over the metal rafters in the crawl space until they reached the far end where a hole had been punched through the roofing tiles, making a nice peep hole looking out over the yard.

This is where Tea always came to hide away for a while, having used to sleep up here until crawling through the wall every day became a hassle. Now it was their watch post, a small stash of various bottled beverages and sealed snacks sat tucked between the support beams. They could lay on their tummy and look out the roof hole or on their side or back, using the natural light to read.

For now they flopped onto their tummy, rummaging into their bag for a small project to tinker with while they watched the yard. To the right of the garage was the back of the processing plant that they sold scrap metal to. The thick concrete wall made things inconvenient whenever they had a shipment because they had to take it out the front all the way around to their front gate and only had Chucks mech to haul it.

Across from the garage was the tall metal slat fence that Tea was infamous for squeezing through. Dig a shallow hole at the bottom and the slats could be bent up and out of the way enough for a small person to squeeze through. The large railway that ran overhead right next to the fence also masked any noise made as well as shadowing the area from visual spotting.

That fence ran the length of the yard before tuning ninety degrees to run back towards the gate, A heavy solid metal slab provided by the processing plant a few years back after an 'incident' that nobody wanted to talk about. It could be opened from a gate house nestled right next to it or Chuck could push it open much faster and easier with his mech.

In between the gate house and the hangar was a short span of high voltage fencing that was powered from a solar array on the roof with a capacitor bank. The whole thing was rigged with a sensor line to activate the fence when touched. Tea wasn't positive these sensors even worked but nobody has been brave enough to test it.

A short gravel road lead from the compacted asphalt road outside to the front of the garage, the rest of the yard was a thick mud that never seemed to dry out fully scattered with piles of old mech carcasses.

Tea settled down, wincing slightly as they accidentally thwack their tail into the metal rafter before pinning it under their legs. Peering out as they watched the crew go about their business.

Chuck, bored already was working on compressing a pile of rusted scrap metal near the front gate, crushing the metal plates into smaller cubes between their heavy hands. Neatly stacking it all into a new smaller pile on a large sled they used for hauling.

Mike was patrolling the far side of the fence, occasionally pausing to lean down and kick some mud around the base of the fence. Tea chuckled as they suddenly grabbed the fence and lifted their upper torso over it, laying into the mechs positional warning system that Tea had tuned to sound like a barking dog at Mike's request.

Boss stayed close to the garage, walking through the large gravel area picking up loose pieces of scrap and tossing them deeper into the pile, clearing a large enough area for a shuttle to land.

Tea frowned at the heavy assault rifle strapped to her mechs back, an unusual sight for her. Rarely did they ever deal with anyone violent let alone geared enough to use a mech grade weapon. Their usual's consisted of scavengers looking to make a quick buck off the high quality parts present in a Corps scrap yard. According to Boss, Tea had been the most successful in this venture managing to squirm away multiple times before finally getting caught, everyone else 'must have more to loose' as she put it.

They paused in their salvaging to wipe an irritating insect off their neck, smearing it with the oil and grease that clung to their forearms and hands. Looking around they let out out a huff of annoyance as they eye the pair of bipedal mechs slowly making their way through the scrap heap, lazily walking along in Tea's general direction. They hunker down for a second and analyze the situation. They could leave now and avoid the pair, It didn't seem like the smaller mechs noticed them yet, but then they would be abandoning the one chance they have had in a month to get this part.

Growling softly to themselves they bury back into the leg, swearing ill fate on the corps that designed their mechs with proprietary screws. Finally prying out the intact hydraulic cylinder they sat up triumphantly and cautiously rose to their feet, tucking the large part under one arm as they eyed the mechs getting closer.

Too close to get away unnoticed, Tea turned tail and ran, pumping their digitigrade legs under them as they barreled towards the hole in the fence they had wormed their way through to get in here. The thunderous boom of the mechs heavy foot falls were growing closer behind them as well as the shouts of the pilots for Tea to stop.

With a grunt they threw the cylinder through the hole in the fence before diving after it, narrowly pulling their tail through it before a heavy metallic hand slammed into the ground where they once stood. They managed a elated yelp before turning and running face first into another metallic hand which promptly closed around them, pinning their arms to their side and effortlessly lifting them off the ground eye level with the pilot who looked at them from behind a reinforced glass pane.

"Almost little rat~" The pilot teased. "Told you last time that you were not going to get away from me again."

"Fuck you!" Tea snarled back, "You guys are just destroying perfectly good pieces! Why cant I have a few?"

"Corp policy" The pilot shrugged, "I'm just paid to enforce the policy kid"

Tea squirmed and struggled resorting to biting at the metallic fingers that held them in captivity at least once.

"Caught the rat," the pilot stated into their radio, "whatcha want me to do with it?"

A moment of silence as the pilot listened to the response squawk back

The pilot leaned back in their chair and eyed Tea who was trying to bite the exposed hydraulic lines in the mechs knuckles.

"Hey kid, what do you need these parts for anyways?" The pilot finally asked. "All the mechs in here are decommissioned and outdated, nobody has sold these models for a decade."

Tea growled and with a violent shake of their head ripped a hole in the hose, splattering hydraulic fluid in their face and causing one of the fingers to slightly loosen its hold. "I'm building my own!"

"Uh huh." The pilot flipped a switch, silencing a low pressure notice "You. Are building a mech. The heavy duty machine that is powered with a nuclear reactor. Where does a child acquire a nuclear reactor?"

"Not your bees wax!" Tea snapped back eyeing the next hydraulic line

"Kid please stop eating my hydraulics"

The other two mechs that had originally chased Tea came running up from along the fence, having run around through the gate. Both pilots eyeing the savage oil covered beast biting at the hand that held it.

"Finally you two catch up." The pilot snapped.

"Sorry boss, Mike's mech fell again." the pilot in the lead answered.

They both turned to look at the other mech that had its front covered in mud save a patch that had been wiped clean that Mike peered through.

"Sorry boss, gyros out of tune again." Mike apologized.

"Eh whatever, I want you two to meet the newest member of our team." The pilot held up Tea who froze, ears perked, halfway through biting through another hydraulic line.

Both of the henchmen were silent for a long time before busting up laughing, Mike jostling his controls and abruptly slamming his mech onto its back. Tea looked at the pilot who held them, confused.

"What do you say huh kid? Policy is against stealing parts, part of our contract gives us free pickings from the pile. Its a win win." The pilot tilted their controls, gently loosening their hold on Tea and holding the hand flat so they can stand freely, clutching the cylinder to their chest with their tail wrapped around their ankles.

"Oh shit you are serious" The other pilot interjected. "Boss you cant be serious. We are not a daycare!"

"I accept." Tea stated flatly.

"Great! Ill see you tomorrow at first light Rat~" The pilot gently set Tea on the ground before turning to the other two, cutting off a heated response from the other pilots with a single hand raise.