Ameira walked into the dorm and was immediately confused. One TEAR was wrestling another apparently over an argument while a third was on top of a bunk, cheering on the other two. The cheering one noticed her.

"Uh, girls, maybe stop embarrassing yourselves?" The two on the floor noticed her and immediately stopped, got up, and sat on their bunks.

"Hello there. I hope you don't cause trouble, because we have enough of that already." said the first wrestler.

"Yeah, well you're just stuck up and slow." replied the other wrestler.

"Holy shit girls, you know what this means?" started the cheerleader. "We can finally go on missions!" She started to squeal in excitement.

The hell's going on here?

Another TEAR walked through the door, with a bright red rocket launcher, a red hat, and cherry red gloves.

"You all sound excited. But, you still need a commander, who should also be on the way here. I'm sure you could go out, but it's the rules." She turned to Ameira. "Hello, you're the new one right?" Ameira nodded.

"Well, as you can see, you have the last bunk. The showers are behind there, and the other door is for shipments and supplies that you order. Speaking of, you should have the recruit thing. Go pick it up." Ameira walked over to the door and saw another one of the hand tiles. Putting her hand on it opened the door. A large steel crate sat it the middle of the room over a hatch.

"Anyone got a hammer?" The four of them looked at her.

"You are currently piloting a combat machine that can crush steel, withstand lasers, and run at 80 kilometres an hour. And you want a hammer to open a crate?" Ameira just decided to rip it open and found an oversized pistol, a metal pole, armour, a backpack, another tile, and a honest-to-god box of grenades.

This seems dangerous to just have lying around. Ameira turned around to see her presumable teammates still there, but the mysterious woman had disappeared.

"Who was that?"

"Ms Ratfy. She oversees most of the new recruits. Speaking of that, my name's Copi. That's Hover, and Rotor. Rotor came from a recently destroyed team, and Hover's just like us. Newbie." If Ameira hadn't already been introduced to an already eclectic concoction of names, a man walked through the door. He was fairly light skinned, and had a chin that could cut glass. His gait was military-strict and his uniform sharp and clean.

Who's this guy? Oh, our commander.

After crashing countless dates, Ameira considered herself a professional in male psychology.

Now, let's see what his personality is like.

"Hello. I'm Jason. It's nice to meet you all."

Okay, no immediate red flags.

"Uh, I don't really know what else to say."

Awkward or absent-minded?

"Oh. You all got a parachute in your packs, right?

Absent-minded.

There was a general murmur of confirmation from them all.

"Do you want to take a guess why?"

Roto stuck her hand up.

"Is the Port attempting to create an aerial squad?"

"Close enough, we're going to be the first helicopter crew and I volunteered to be the first pilot. So, you four are split between these four roles, okay, bye!"

Probably awkward, actually.

Jason dropped four of the tiles he had been given on a bunk, spun on his heel and exited the room quickly.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit.

Jason ran to his room next door, pulled out his phone, and rung the first person he thought could understand him. His instructor.

"Yeah Jason? What can I do for you?"

"Sir, when you said TEARS were machines without humanity......."

"Are you seeing them as something else? You're not the first one. Some see them as an extension of the Pole onto the surface. Others see them as a weapon or shield to protect you. It's fine. There's a pre-Catacalysm saying, 'There's more than one way to kill a cat'. There's more than one way to run a squad and don't let anyone lead you astray on that. I gotta go, so I'll see you later!" Jason stared at the black screen before dialling another number.

"Hey, Zack, got a question for you."

"Sure, shoot."

"How do you feel about your TEAR squad?"

"I just met them. They're my shield and sword against anything that dare does Port harm."

"Okay. Thanks Zack. I'll see you around."

"Take care man. Bye!"

"Bye."

Jason flopped onto his bed

Am I the only one who sees them as...

Human?

They're really hot too.

Nope, shut up brain. That's what you said in high school. And what happened then?