The south side of the camp was dominated by something that looked like a tank supported by six spider-like legs. Each of the legs ended in some sort of spherical wheel, so I had no idea whether to call it a mech or a tank.
At the base of the vehicle were three people, two I recognized and one new. The girl waved at Sharron and I as we approached, a smile on her face and bag of cookies in hand.
“Hello! Fancy seeing you two here.” She stuffed a cookie into her mouth as we walked over, swallowed it, then continued. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier, I’m Angeline Durand, also known as Bright-eyes, I’ll be the surveillance expert of the team.” Unlike the last time I saw her, the woman was wearing a tight brown armored suit, her helmet had two triangular ear shapes on top, and she had a massive set of goggles set on her forehead. I could see where she got the nickname from.
Bright-eyes stuck out her hand and Sharron grabbed it. “I’m Sharron Brooks, aka Humboldt, and that’s Evelyn Claire.”
“I’m Benedict Millier, also known as Mirage.” The exceptionally well dressed man cut in, “I thought your Samurai name was Teddy. You should always include it when introducing yourself.” I gave the man my best death stare. “That’s what my friends call me, I don’t think I have an official Samurai name.”
“No one gave you a nickname? It’s a Samurai right of passage to get a nickname from one of your seniors.”
“Why do you care?”
He puffed up, “Well Teddy…”
My eyes narrowed, “Evelyn, my friends call me Teddy.”
“Evelyn then. I’m the corporate contact for Calgary, I help everyone solidify their image and commercialize it. You really need a Samurai name, perhaps Terror Teddy, or Beargade?”
I felt my eye twitch, “Just to let you know I fucking HATE corporations, as far as I'm concerned all they do is take advantage of people and ruin lives. If you want to give me a Samurai name just so you can sell my image to a corp you can fuck right off, I don’t want anything to do with you.”
He blinked. “Beg pardon?”
I paused, taking a deep breath to calm myself, “I realize we have to work together, but that doesn't mean I have to like you. Let's just be professional, save some people, and then never speak to each other again, good?"
Angelica stuffed a cookie in her mouth, eyes wide like she was watching a soap opera, Sharron just smirked. Mirage looked flustered, not that I cared. I immediately turned to the fifth member of our squad, a young man with brown hair cut short, wearing a mechanic’s jumpsuit.
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“Sorry for the interruption, you are?” I asked.
“Roger, Roger Makenzie, my nickname’s Centurion.” The man looked nervous, maybe he didn’t like crowds.
I gave him a nod, “Nice to meet you. I assume that behemoth behind us is yours?”
“Yes ma’am, she’s my pride and joy.” Roger puffed up a little.
“Don’t ask him about the specs, he’ll talk your ear off.” Angelica muttered.
Apparently that was true because Roger went a little red in embarrassment, causing Sharron to burst out laughing. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Do we have a plan for the advance?” Sharron asked.
Angeline nodded. “Sort of. I’m going to stay in the Mobile base, at the back of the column looking for trouble. Centurion is going to travel down the streets parallel to the column, so he can react when there’s trouble, and Mirage was going to stay with the super heavy to provide extra support. What about you guys?”
“I think I’ll stay on the Mobile base, give that cover,” Sharron said, “There aren’t very many vehicles that can carry my suit comfortably.”
Everyone turned to me. “I’ll probably put my truck in the middle of the column and spread my bots out to all the transports.”
“How many bots do you have?” Asked Mirage. I wanted to give him the evil eye, but restrained myself since it was about business.
“About three dozen regular bears, then my elite squad. They should be more than enough to take on lower numbers.”
Sharron’s head snapped in my direction, “How many? You only had six the last time I saw you.”
I shrugged, “That block in the back of my truck is a creation engine. When I have the materials I can print and equip two bears every four hours, and I just happen to live by a massive junkyard.”
“That you do. What about Hel, what’s she going to be doing?” Sharron asked.
Angeline, mouth stuffed with cookie, shrugged. Roger cleared his throat, “We don’t know, we’ve barely met her. We don’t even know her specialty.”
“It’s ice,” Mirage said. I swear he looked smug when he said it. “Are none of you familiar with Norse mythology? Hel is the goddess of the underworld, a wasteland of cold.”
“Studying mythology wasn’t high on my list of priorities when I was growing up.” I replied. “I’m going to go get my truck then see if I can rendezvous with the column, distribute some bears. Sharron, you should come and get your suit ready.”
She nodded, we waved at the others then set off. After a minute or so I leaned over to Sharron. “I need you to give me a nickname before that asshole does, I don’t want him running around calling me Beargade.”
Sharron snickered, “Really, I think it’s cute.”
“It’s a crime against nature and you know it.”
“I like calling you Teddy, it’s simple. It’s probably already being used by someone else though, it’s better to have something unique.”
“No fuck that, I don’t care about exposure. Let someone else get the credit, I have enough to deal with at home.”
She ruffled my hair, “Alright then ‘Teddy’, lets get ready. We have a city to save.”