Dieselpunk Revolution: Der Kindernacht & Kore124 1x1

[Kore124]

I didn't realize that the rebellion was in the business of breaking strangers out of prison." Alexander have the man a hard look. The man couldn't be to much better than completely blind. The goggles must be to aid his vision. "If you went to the trouble to steal me from that woman who was gonna experiment on me, you must know who I am. So you know I won't use a gun"

He still rememered it. It has been over three years ago. He was part of the firing squad that had executed his commanding officer. Insubordination they claimed. Like deciding not to kill an innocent man was insubordination. They either had the choice to kill their own CO, or be killed themselves. As it turns out none of them were as brave as their CO.

Wait a second. There had been a man with his face hidden when he was taken from the cell. It had to be the same one sitting in front of him. A double agent. He might be a mechanic but he wasn't stupid. "I don't have much of a choice. Especially if you risked a double agent's cover to get me out. What do you need me for?"  

[Omniscient Muse]

Matthew laughed, "I didn't steal you from any woman who was going to experiment on you. That was Tarrow, she'll probably be around sometime tonight and you can properly be introduced, then. Her 'guard' was on our side, too." No, there wasn't much of a way they could've been the same; the man who had been with the agent before was much bigger than Matthew, he'd actually looked like he could have grabbed somebody and manhandled them into submission.

Matthew was much more of the twiggy, probably brainy type. Had to be a use for him if he couldn't fight, right? Smarts of some sort.

"And your reservations about gun use won't be a problem, despite what you've been told, the rebellion is not just about shooting people all the time. If it was, I would be useless with my eyesight so bad." He finally pulled his goggles back down and settled them into place. "Even with assistance. The digital mapping falls through when I move too quickly."

"At any rate, I've heard about you, yes. I've heard you're pretty good with fabrication, is that correct? We're always looking for more fabricators, finding somebody who can point a gun and shoot is a dime-a-dozen thing. It's finding people to create the weapons, create vehicles, create all the things we need to keep the operations running...that's a little harder."  

[Kore124]

They needed a mechanic. The one they pulled had been in jail and sentances to die. They must be desperate. Or need it done quickly. "I'll play ball. I'm in." He had seen what the government was truly like during his stint in the army. Now he could be an agent of change and actually help someone for once. "Just point me where to go and I'll get it done"

He quickly made a mental check of what he would need. His tool belt was in his shop along with everything else. "I need equipment. What we have here might suffice. But I'll get to work a lot faster with my own tools." Probably work better too. The ones he had seemed to hum withthe energy of his old boss. As if his years of being handled like friends had made them happy.

He had another reason for asking for the tool belt. There was a picture of his wife. One she hadn't known about. She was standing over an engine with Alex at her side. Her father had been the one to take it. She looked happy in the picture. He wanted it rescued if at all possible.  

[Omniscient Muse]

Matthew shrugged, "We do have a lot of equipment here, our last mechanic left plenty behind. If you want to get a hold of your own--eh, I'd talk to Finch, he's around. You don't want to go anywhere when you're supposed to be a test subject." He was fidgeting with something he'd pulled from his pocket, some piece of almost featureless, square technology. "We'll get you set up with a disguise sooner or later. But for now I'd say send someone else to grab your things for you."

After a minute or two, someone peered into the room; now this guy definitely had the build to be the guard who'd accompanied Tarrow, and the knotty dark brown hair, too. With his face unobscured though, he was clearly pretty young; that wouldn't have worked for any kind of disguise as a guard. He held up a little flashing square that looked similar to the one Matthew was holding; it must've been some kind of paging device. "You rang?"

"Yes. Get in here. What are you even doing right now, I thought you were still in bed?" Matthew ushered the newcomer into the room. He certainly didn't look like he was dressed for bed, he had the upper half of a rather governmental-looking uniform on, black and white and moddish, though he was just wearing jeans underneath.

"I got out of bed a while ago Matthew. I was chatting with uh, you know." He shrugged.
"Well good for you. You can talk to you-know later. You're probably more use to Alexander currently than I am, so. Alexander, this is Finch. Finch, Alexander." He gestured vaguely between the two of them.

Finch looked over finally and nodded in Alexander's direction. "Hey. What's uh. What's up?" He was the first one thus far who'd actually taken his goggles off and was wandering around that way, though they were still hung around his neck where he could access them.

Matthew left the room pretty quickly once he'd pulled Finch in to deal with the situation instead.  

[Kore124]

Alexander looked up at the new guy. Definitely the one from the prison. He memories had been slightly obscured but were slowly falling into place as he spoke. As he was introduced he noticed Andrew quickly leaving the room. "Nice to meet you Finch." Alex said as he held out one hand to shake. Might as well be polite. "Just show me to the garage and I'll get started with what I can."

Alex placed his feet on the ground and stood up. They felt like jelly underneath him. He couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten. But that wasn't important at this moment. He could eat later. Even without seeing the vehicles his mind was going into working mode. Just getting prepared for anything. Everything else could wait

As they walked he looked over at Finch. "I was told you could go get the stuff from my old garage. Tools and such. It would go a long way towards helpings do my job." The primary thing he needed was the belt. Wielders and heavier equipment would be nice though not necessary. The only thing really didn't expect was his wrench. That was probably a lost cause and locked up at the police station.  

[Omniscient Muse]

He shook Alexander's hand and replied automatically, "Pleasure's mine." At Alexander's mention of the garage, he gestured for the newcomer to follow along after him, and left the room.

Finch led the way through the corridors of what appeared to be a rather large complex, some building they must have taken over to use for their own purposes. Where in the city this was located, or if it was even within the city, was anybody's guess. The walls appeared to have been built quite sturdy, whatever they'd been made of to begin with was now plated with steel and only some of it was rusted and damaged. Security cameras hung from the ceiling intermittently, in various states of disrepair, some dangling by their cords, and most doors to either side of them were closed. Once or twice, they passed rooms that looked essentially like storage, but similar to the one they'd come out of; there were beds among the junk.

People were living here. Probably a lot of them.

When Alexander mentioned his tools, Finch nodded, staying quiet for a moment as he seemed to ponder his answer. "Right. You're hiding out right now, I wager Tarrow has already written you off as legally dead. I can probably get them. Just let me know where your garage is at, and tell me what you're looking for."

There was a ruthless efficiency in how quickly he'd been declared dead, no doubt. These people knew what they were doing.  

[Kore124]

Alex quickly listed off the list of tools he would need and where they would be in his shop. The larger ones could come later if necessary. He also gave directions to the shop. It was in a quiter part of town. Crime rates were low and the people weren't rich but at the same time weren't exactly thriving it had been a life there. A life he was leaving behind.

They finally made it into the garage. The familiar smells of iron, rust and oil came back to him. He took a moment to take it all in. It hadn't been too long ago that he had been in prison thinking he wouldn't ever see a garage again. Now here he was. Resistance headquarters. About to start work. This already felt like it could be home. Or at least as close as he could get.

He took a quick inventory of what he had to work with. Three pickups (old) a two seater coupe (old), a pair of military grade halftracks (retired). And two tanks (long since retired). On a second inspection, one of them wasn't a tank but a personel carrier. It wasn't much but it was a start. "Now. What exactly are my priorities. Which do you need running first?"  

[Omniscient Muse]

Finch nodded as he listed off everything he needed. Kid took no notes, so he was either going to forget half of it, or he had a damn good memory.

He gave Alex a moment to look around and orient himself in regards to everything that was in the garage before he remarked, "I'm not much a mechanic, I'm more a memo pad but." He cleared his throat and spoke in a little different tone of voice, like he was quoting something. "Two weeks ago, the hiding place of the infamous Horus was outed on radio broadcast by a poor-thinking group of rebels hiding out in a camp near Prasmia. Since then, Tenovan police forces have valiantly fought to keep the borders closed, barricading everyone into the camp, as they continue to resist and refuse to give up their leader. It's believed that the Prasmian camp has nearly run out of supplies, and hopes are high that they will soon--" he cut off, looking a little dazed for a moment.

"Anyway, you get the point. We're trying to go covert-like until we get to the barrier, and then we've got to get through. I mean, on highest authority I know Horus isn't there but they're still our brethren. We need to get supplies in, or get them out." Finch shrugged. He was rubbing at his head a little, as he'd been since he finished his weird recitation.

"So I mean. Whatever you think works best for that, I'd say go for it. Again, I'm no mechanic."  

[Kore124]

Alexander finished his list as he looked over the coupe. "One last thing. There is a crate over in the corner of the shop. It gonna be heavy so you might want two or three guys to move it. It am engine that was supposed to go to a customer. He never paid and I had nothing to put it in. Bring it here. But don't drop it." He planned on moving it to the coupe.

Running a blockade would mean he would need most of these vehicles running, and soon. The tank was out of commission. It's main gun would nArely even scratch the paint of the new spider tanks. But it's parts could easily be used on other vehicles. Providing armor for the trucks and halftracks, a turret for the APC and if he was right, a new lease on life for the coupe and one of the pickups.

"I'll get the basic sketching done tonight. Send Andrew around if he want to take a look before I start working." He would need a few extra hands. Primarily on welding and reinforcing armor, and attaching weapons. He would handle engines and fabrication. If at all possible, he would also drive along and run the blockade himself. In part to make sure the designs worked. But also in case something went wrong and needed fixing.  

[Omniscient Muse]

Finch nods as he's told about the engine, "I'll get a hold of that. I might just have some kind of cart to move it, or maybe I'll get someone involved who'd be strong enough to help me slide it at least. It'll happen though." He does look like he'd be more of the heavy lifting type than the brainy sort, after all. But who knows with his weird memory trick from before.

"And his name's Matthew, not Andrew. Or call him Matt and he'll turn to look at you really quickly, and then pretend that he's not angry you called him Matt and be too embarrassed to ever correct you." Finch cracks a grin. "He might not be the best to help with bigger projects anyway. He's much more uh, small stuff, like the goggles--actually we'll need to get you a pair sometime too. They help us keep track of each other better."

"Anyway. I'll see who'd be good for checking stuff over, or maybe Matthew anyway if nobody else."  

[Kore124]

"Oh right. Just got mixed up is all." He had never been one for names. Very few ever stuck out to him. It was just like him to forget a name right after meeting some one. "I'll keep that in mind. Matthew, not Matt." He would focus on remembering that, as Matthew seemed to be pretty important around here.

Alex made his way around to each of the vehicles. Before he could even plan he would need to know what worked and what didn't. The halftracks seemed operational. They were transport models meant for hauling cargo. Not designed for combat. Which was fine. They could carry the weight needed for supplies and increased armor, but they would be slow and vulnerable, requiring a pair of machine guns to provide protection. The same went for the APC. These three would need to form a convoy, while the other vehicles provided a distraction.

The first truck he got to was in running condition. It wouldn't take much to beef up the power. It was a short bed. But it would be able to mount a machine gun on the back. Probably one on the roof facing forwards. Another could go in the passenger seat. As for the other truck, the engine was shot. No replacing it. The only extra engine they would have was from the tank. Which mounted a twin six. Too big to fit in the front but...there was enough space in the bed of the truck.

Alex drew furiously on the paper he had at a work desk. His plans were quickly unfolding. It would be a two weeks if he worked alone but he could cut that down quickly. Repainting was unnecessary right now. Time was of the essence. He would get started as soon as he could. If he wasn't disrupted by the hunger he felt. But that was pushed aside. He couldn't even remember the number of meals he skipped while working.  

[Omniscient Muse]

For a while, he was left to his own devices, and there was certainly no shortage of weaponry lying around, though much of it was in various stages of disrepair as was anything else. Still. It would be easier to repair and affix weapons than to fabricate new ones from scratch; that much was certain. Alex was given a report after a few hours that his shop had been found, and everything was still there, so it was being picked back up. Matthew might've been the one to deliver the report, it was just sort of called into the garage though and he didn't stick around to discuss anything.

At some point during his working, he was disrupted by a small child, a little redheaded girl that couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old; somehow she got into the garage and arrived with a plate of food for him. A sandwich and some chips. Apparently, even if he wasn't thinking about his needs, there were children running around doing so, or something. No. For some reason the kid had the same sort of goggles as everyone else. Somehow she was involved in this, or something.

"Dad said you been in here a long time," she remarked, setting the plate on his desk, unconcerned if she was getting in the way or anything. "I think he forgot people aren't robots and don't go forever and ever."

Then she watched him to make sure he was going to stop working and eat.