Ready for Combat Operations

New Battledress

2020-01-29T06:57:54Z

The fabric feels weird when it's this snug against Gabriel's skin. The new uniform is a grey digital camo but cut custom to fit the SEP participants. The base material is a genetically engineered spider silk, so it feels nice enough, but all the monitoring equipment is woven into it so it has to be tight. Overlaying the exterior is a thin graphite film. Overall it was pretty much the exact opposite of the loose BDUs he's used to, but he's pleased it stretches enough not to restrict his movement.

He tugs at the half turtleneck as he steps out of the locker room.

"Captain Reyes, this way, please." Dr. Gallegos keeps her dark hair short. She only comes up to his chest and has dark circles under her eyes that weren't there the first time they'd met. That had been months ago now and he wonders if it's due to her projects or the tolls the Crisis had taken.

"Hear you got some new equipment for me, doc."

"We've been working nonstop to get these prototypes ready. It's all customized to incorporate the SEP data as much as possible." She shows him her tablet, swiping through several armor sets and exoskeletons. "We have a few variants on the armors, more on weapons. Your set's in here." She turns off the tablet and waves him forward into a well lit room. The walls are lined with large drawers made of a dull grey metal. She presses her thumb into a security lock on the one labeled with his name, sliding it open with a click. Padded foam lines the inside supporting a brown and grey set of armor. He expects the chest plate and the exoskeleton enhanced boots, but the large tubing sticking out of the gauntlets gets a curious look from him. There's similar tubing on the chest piece, but even stranger is the fist-sized red gem set in the center of it.

Gabriel raps it with a knuckle. "What's this?"

Gallegos pulls out the boots. "Synthetic diamond. Get this on so we can get the demonstration going." Gabe takes the boots to the bench and gets the armor on, Gallegos showing him how the chest piece and gauntlets, actually arm length gloves, attach. "This works hand in hand with your weapon." She flips his palm up, showing him a line of metal discs and circuitry. "This completes a circuit with your firearms. You may have to adjust your grip slightly till you get used to it." He brings a thumb and forefinger together and feels the slightest of repulsive forces. "We tried to us magnets to help guide the grip, but we weren't sure how much you'd notice them after enhancements."

He nods. "What weapons?"

She beckons for him to follow. "Standard array of machine rifle, pistol, and shotgun. For today you're using the duel Ravagers."

His eyebrows rise and he lets a little intrigue come through his tone. "Ravager?"

"RVGR: Resonance Vibration Generator, Ranged. Basically these weapons have enough kick to break normal humans' arms when fired. We've designed the armor to harness that energy and use it to help power the MASER Cloud Emitter." The next room is filled with weapons racks displaying a variety of ranged armaments. He gets distracted for a moment eyeing what can only be described as a cannon with handles before Gallegos 'ahems' at him. "Take two of these, please. Ammunition is in the bracket here, and they can be magnetically holstered to your thighs."

Gabriel picks up one of the Ravagers, gloves clicking as they find the discs. It must be near fifty pounds but he barely notices. He grabs one of the rounds. "This FRAG-12?"

She nods. "HEAP rounds. We've made improvements to the fin stabilizers, should have an effective range of 300m."

He lets himself look impressed. "And the penetration?"

"Still working on that. We're at an inch of steel plating which, per Lindholm's schematics, should be enough for standard issue omnics. Heavy duty units will give you trouble until we figure it out."

"It's a start. Looking forward to the upgrades." He nods to her, holstering both weapons. They click sharply as they snap into place. "So what am I doing today?"

"Demonstration to top brass of the equipment." She starts leading him back to the hallway and deeper into the AMARI facility. "We can show them all the experimental data, but no one can actually use this gear except for the SEP. You're basically running an obstacle course today."

Gabriel grunts.

Gallegos grunts back. "I know. I have work to do, too, but this data will be useful. We can still make small adjustments to the gear based on your feedback."

"Fine. Let's get this over with." In truth Gabriel's excited, but Captain Reyes takes these things seriously.

"Through here. I'll be in the bunker with the generals, listen for my instructions." She lets him through a door and shuts it behind him. He strides into the large room and eyes the dark glass off to one side, offering a salute. He can't see through it but the speakers crackle as they activate. "Let's begin. Captain, if you'll activate the MASER Cloud Emitter using the button built into your left glove please."

Gabriel finds the button, easily activated with one hand, and presses it. Nothing seems to happen.

"If you'll review your monitors, sirs, you'll see the Captain's form is being hidden in frequencies below that of visible light. As those are primarily the ranges omnics use for targeting, this will make him very difficult to detect." If the higher ups are impressed by a fucking stealth field he can't hear it. "Captain, please proceed with the course. Follow the yellow line through the obstacles and fire at presented targets."

It's a fairly standard layout with extended jumps and walls that a standard human would be stuck at. Gabe clears them easily, the exoskeleton on his boots not even coming into play. He begins to suspect it's just as much a demonstration of his own abilities as the gear. The targets are simple steel discs with circles etched into them. He's off center on a few, but doesn't miss any. Nothing's shooting back at him after all.

"As you can see, firing the weapons charges the MASER's power source, extending how long the field can stay up. " Gallegos falls silent for a moment. "We are working on weapons that are capable of that, sir, however the energy demand is much greater. Continue, Captain."

He appreciates that she leaves the speakers open while she explains things to higher ups, even if he can't hear everything. He assumes he's being timed so he does his best to be quick and efficient, eventually reaching the end of the course.

"Thank you, Captain. Return the armaments to the weapon's room. I'll join you there for your feedback."

Gabriel salutes the window, breathing only a little harder. He waits long enough to not be disrespectful, but the higher ups probably aren't even paying attention. Putting his hand down, he heads out of the course and back to the weapons room. The Ravagers had quite a kick, even for him, and he'd ended up duel-wielding them, alternating shots to give him a chance to reset his aim for the off arm. The farthest target had only been about 100 meters out, so he's not sure of their range, but they'd all been penetrated fully. Idly he thinks it'd be nice to test against the Milliways' Bastion, but that's probably a bad idea. He'll just have to wait for a field trial.

"That was well done, Reyes," Gallegos says as she enters, making notes on her tablet. "They didn't seem to slow you down at all."

"Not with the enhancement," Gabriel agrees. "They kick, but that's on purpose."

She looks up at him, a little surprised. "It is," she says, sounding impressed. "It lets us harness more charge. Is it too much to work around?"

He considers, then shakes his head. "No, I can adjust but it slows my fire rate down. Keep that in mind when you're making adjustments."

"The Ravagers aren't meant to be that fast; they are meant to be powerful. I think that's a fair trade. Anything else?"

He taps the joint on his boots. "Ankles are a little tight for obstacles like what you've got set up. Not sure how much we'll actually need to move like that in the field, though."

"Hmm. I'll see if we can tweak it some. The whole point of SEP was to give you an edge with reactions like that, I don't want our gear to limit it more than necessary. How's the weight?"

"Barely notice it."

"Well, that's good. It weighs about a hundred pounds, though we did engineer the exoskeleton to take some of that. Your vitals were steady throughout."

"Yeah, shit like that's been easy since we finished the program. Pardon my language, doc." His tone is barely sincere, more testing what her reaction will be.

She rolls her eyes at him. "I've heard curse words before, Reyes, it's fine. Any other feedback?"

"Any way you can add an indicator that the MASER's on? From my end looked like nothing happened and if the battery life is limited, need to know when it's activated."

She nods, adding notes to her tablet. "You'll be getting headpieces, we'll make sure that info can be displayed there."

"Any chance I can take those out to the range?" He jerks a thumb at the Ravagers.

"Eventually. Ammunition is limited, but we'll need to verify accuracy at range before you get sent out." She scowls. "Though one of them was talking about accelerating the schedule since you did so well."

He frowns. "Still got a few in medical." Minor side effects, considering, expected to make a full recovery but they needed time.

"And I don't have enough equipment for you all yet." She shrugs, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "Not my call. I need to get this data compiled. Send me a message if you think of anything else." She looks back up at him. "You don't need me to put the armor up, do you?"

"Nah, no problem."

"Good. Get your squad prepared, I'm going to try and get approval to have you all test gear before getting shipped off." She waves at him without looking up from her tablet and heads out.

comments

OOC: Bastet Musings

2019-03-19T05:54:51Z

So this PDF short story was released a while ago and I never posted my musings on it. It's more an Ana & Jack focused story, but Reaper/Gabe gets mentioned tangentially because, well, these guys were the trinity of Overwatch.

( Read more... )

comments

sticktothemission @ 2018-10-03T21:11:00

2018-10-04T04:23:36Z

He's hungry.

It's the worst part of the latest treatment, feeling like he'll never be full again. He doesn't like it, the near constant ache in his stomach. The docs assure him it's a temporary side effect of putting on muscle so quickly, but he's seen Bacara in the infirmary and he knows that's not true for everyone.

They've lost so many.

It feels like the base is half as full as it was when they started, losses staring him in the face every time he hits the mess hall. He's not the only one with hunger pangs and if the soldiers aren't busy lifting they're here eating. "Where's Morrison?" He asks as he joins his squad, heavy duty plate laden high with everything the cooks were allowed to give him. Any flexible flatware was abandoned a week ago when it was realized their muscle mass was advancing faster than their muscle control.

"Infirmary," Nehlsen says around a mouthful of food. Gabriel is surprised at the ping of worry that shoots through him but he merely raises a questioning eyebrow. Nehlsen swallows. "Visiting Bacara."

Ah. He'd wondered how Morrison was handling his prankmate's decline. He gives an affirmative grunt and makes a point to leave his apple untouched.

He catches Morrison as he's leaving the infirmary, head down and unaware. Gabriel's eyes narrow a fraction. "Morrison." No response and, he does a quick look around, no one else in the hallway. "Jack."

"What?" The golden haired head snaps up, eyes wide and a little red. Unusual for the private is the amount of stubble on his face. Gabriel frowns at it, a careful mix of disapproval and concern. "Sir!" Morrison salutes him quickly and Gabriel returns it.

"Didn't see you at lunch," he says, shooting a pointed look at the door behind Morrison. "You need to eat." He holds out the apple, more than a little pleased he's managed not to bruise it.

Morrison takes the fruit, crushing the skin. "Yes, sir. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Don't want to be visiting you in here, too."

A ghost of Morrison's usual smirk plays across his features. "I'd hate to make you train a new sparring partner."

He lets himself respond with a smirk of his own. "You'll be easy enough to replace if you keep slacking off." He brings a hand up to the kid's shoulder, eyebrows rising. "You okay?"

Morrison shrugs his free shoulder. "Starving, but what else is new?" He bites into the apple, giving Gabriel a nod.

Gabriel shoves him towards the mess hall. "Go eat, then. Can't kill omnics on an empty stomach."

"Sir, yes, sir." Morrison snaps off another salute and heads off.

Gabriel turns his attention to the infirmary door, exhales once, and heads in. The infirmary hasn't been quiet in weeks, the steady quiet dings of multiple heart monitors filling the air, the quiet murmurs of one or two conversations filtering above that. Bacara's in the seventh bed down and Gabriel raps the bar before pulling aside the curtain. "How you feeling, soldier?"

Bacara looks terrible. Where the rest of the squad has been steadily putting on muscle mass, Bacara has been losing it. His skin almost looks loose, sitting on his previously enlarged frame, and has a strange yellow tinge to it. He grins at Gabriel, features gaunt. "Hey, Captain." His voice is faint. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"You'd blame Morrison anyway," Gabriel says dryly, pulling up a chair and straddling it. "And vice versa."

Bacara gives a dry little cough that Gabriel thinks was supposed to be a laugh. "Gotta cover each other's ass. Get away with more."

Gabriel affects an aggrieved air. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Bacara coughs again. "Doesn't matter now. Don't think I'm leaving here. Docs got enough to worry about with you guys to spend too many resources on me." Gabriel doesn't correct him and he nods. "It's alright. It's what we signed up for. Just make sure you take out a few tin cans for me."

"That I can do. Need anything else while you're in here?" He hesitates a moment. "Can drop my comic collection in your folder if you want." It's a chunk of personal information he wouldn't normally hand out here but he knows the media entertainment is sorely lacking for the program.

Bacara's mouth falls open, brows furrowed. "You read comics?"

Gabriel raises a challenging eyebrow. "Signed up to get turned into a superhero and you don't?"

He considers that. "Point." He grins, skin stretching across bones again. "Sure, I'll read your cartoons."

Gabriel rolls his eyes at him. "I rescind the offer," he says gravely as he stands. "Clearly you wouldn't appreciate them."

"Hey, they're something new. I hate rereading shit."

He lets the expression on his face relent. "Check your box after 1900. Should be there by then."

Bacara gives him a weak salute. "Thanks, Captain."

"Least I can do. Rest easy, soldier."

It'd be a miracle if Bacara was the last they lost.

comments

OOC: Archives Retribution

2018-04-05T03:45:21Z

Gabe has a new comic. PDF through the link, I love that the last panel's shadows form Reaper's mask.This is the lead in to the new Archives mission Retribution, a playable event in the game.

I am really happy to see this expansion on Gabriel's character, and super relieved that it, so far, doesn't contradict the way I'm playing him. The PvE event last year was full of banter between the characters and I'm looking forward to gleaning every tidbit of lore I can from that. There will also be a Soldier: 24 skin, aka Gabriel as he looks during SEP, so, uh, here's to finding out how close I've been in my guess of that. Given game restrictions height and girth should match him as a finished SEP soldier but I'm really keen on seeing the kit they put him in. Is this gonna be a variation of his commando spray or is he going to have like weird tubes and monitoring equipment on him? (New icons maybe?)

( Usual warnings for canon musings, mostly just me getting my thoughts down )

I'll probably think of other things as this percolates more, but those are my initial thoughts. Can't wait for Tuesday.

EDIT: April 10th

The event goes live today and I wanted to put some more thoughts down before that happens, specifically regarding the comic. I didn't talk about it originally because, characterization wise, it seems to agree with how I've been playing Reyes. But there are a few interesting things in there that I want to make note of.

( Comic musings )

Oh! And the twitter Reyes debriefing audio thing ('I stand by my decision') says Gabe was 50 during Retribution. This makes Reaper 58, two years younger than Reinhardt and what I was guessing his age to be. He's still the oldest character I've written for and I still think it's right to play Reaper as pretty much impossible to legitimately ruffle his feathers. Outside of being dramatic in public, of course.

EDIT: April 11th

Well.

That event lead in movie (clip also has closing sequence) took a turn I wasn't expecting but can't say I'm surprised by. Interestingly it's all from McCree's perspective...none of this tells us how Gabe feels about it or what he was thinking. The banter during the event has been entertaining and I'm still hearing new stuff, several of which is pretty interesting. I'm hoping there'll be a video at some point compiling it all since I know, thanks to Tumblr, I'm still missing conversations. Plus a video would make it easier to reference later.
( Musings and Spoilers Ahoy )

Hey look, found a video of the interactions.

comments

sticktothemission @ 2018-02-24T14:28:00

2018-02-24T18:38:02Z

"At ease, gentlemen," Colonel Narak says as he enters the conference room. "I'm sure you've heard we've lost Major Reynolds."

Gabriel feels his lips thin and the other remaining officers at the table wear similar expressions.

"We'll be shuffling his unit into yours'. Do your best to rebuild morale and get your troops working efficiently together. I realize you'll still be understrength; just do your best. Massa, you're taking Noonen, Feder, and Bocchicchio. Reyes you're getting Nehlsen and Bacara."

The scowl on his face is genuine. "Yes, sir."

"Gifford, Landgren, Masu, and Tollman to Bilotta and you're taking the rest, Chen."

"Yes, sir," both officers say.

"Questions?"

"Just one, sir." Bilotta tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Are we certain we want Bacara and Morrison in the same platoon?" Gabriel understands her wariness; it was her platoon that got cheese whizzed.

Narak actually has a small smile on his face. "The goal is to improve morale, Major. The idea is that those two will keep the mood light for everyone else. We expect Reyes will keep them in line."

Gabriel keeps a flatly irritated look on his face. Bilotta looks sympathetic; Chen and Massa look like they dodged a bullet.

"Anything else? Good. Dismissed. Except you, Reyes."

Gabriel furrows his brows, expecting further discussion on how to handle the two jokesters. He straightens in his chair as the others file out, slowly drumming one finger on the table. He realizes Narak is looking through his medical file.

"You've handled most of the treatments remarkable well, Captain. Side effects have been minimal and your recovery times are faster than anyone else."

Gabriel shrugs, hiding wariness at the change in topic. "Good genetics, sir."

"The doctors want to take advantage of that." Narak slides a second, slimmer folder across the table to him. It has the usual marks on it, the red 'CLASSIFIED' stamp under the square with 'SOLDIER ID: 24'. Gabriel catches it with a frown. "They're proposing extra treatments for you."

Gabriel opens the folder, skipping past the first page of legalese and skimming the second. His frown grows, more concern than agitation. "Are we expecting this to be necessary for the war?"

"If it is, the work done on you could be what shifts the balance in our favor. Take it with you and think it over. Treatment won't be till the rest of the program concludes but we want your answer by the end of the week." Narak turns for the door. "Dismissed."

Gabriel takes the time to read the file properly. It's a fairly basic abstract mentioning things like "telomere lengthening", "mitochondrial adjustments", "altered autophagy", and a whole slew of other terms he barely understands. The end of it summarizes the possible side effects, which mostly amounts to death by cancer, but it's nothing he's not already risking. This would be a long-term change, though, not something immediately beneficial, and given what the Bastion unit in Milliways said it may not be needed.

He's tempted anyway.

He's still lost in thought as he leaves the conference room and nearly jumps out of his skin as Morrison leaps to his feet from where he's been sitting next to the door. "I guess that took longer than expected, huh?"

"Holy shit, have you been waiting for me this whole time?" Gabriel scrambles to cover his surprise with his usual scowl and growl.

Morrison shrugs. "You said you wouldn't be long and you're usually right about that sort of thing. Thought I'd just chill so we could head to the weight room as soon as you were done."

He shakes his head and starts walking. "Yeah, that's fine. Let me just put this up."

Morrison peers at the folder, falling into step next to him. "What's that?"

"Extra credit," Gabriel answers dryly. "And they're breaking up Delta and using them to fill the holes in the other platoons."

"Yeah?" He looks interested, attention pulled from the folder. "Who're we getting?"

Gabriel pulls up, full stop, and gives him a hard look, slightly more effective now that their height difference is gone. "Nehlsen. And Bacara."

The kid's face lights up, struggling not to outright grin. "Oh, they'll fit in great. Nehlsen's a god with field repair." Gabriel's eyes narrow and Morrison does his best to look innocent.

"I won't tolerate any bullshit from you two."

"Who, me and Nehlsen?"

"I mean it, Morrison. You think your training is bad now just wait until you really piss me off."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir."

Gabriel glares at him, suspicious. The kid has a damn good face for pulling off 'innocent' but it's not helped at all by the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Gabriel lets out a half-sigh half-growl through his nose. "I will make you scrub toilets again."

That makes Morrison pull a petulant face. "I still maintain my innocence. I got hit by the nitro paste, too."

"Yeah, well," Gabriel turns to start walking again. "You and Bacara started that whole shit show so forgive me if I still think it's justified."

Morrison looks like the cat that ate the canary as he falls into step again. "There's no proof of that."

Gabriel just gives him the shadiest of side-eyes.

comments

sticktothemission @ 2018-01-17T19:22:00

2018-01-18T01:29:23Z

It started with cheese whiz.

Someone squirted the stuff under the helmet pads of Platoon C. They came back from a hike sweating and cursing, yellow streaks running down their faces and practically chased by flies.

Gabriel thought it was pretty funny. Not that he could admit that what with the maintaining discipline and all.

Platoon C decided Platoon D was responsible, a decent guess since that was Bacara's unit. Someone chucked a stinger-ball grenade in their barracks at 2 AM.

Gabriel thought that was less funny but it wasn't his men, so fine.

For some reason, and Gabriel suspects it was because Bacara knew who was really responsible for the cheese, namely Morrison, Platoon B gets hit next. Someone gets their hands on a can of OC and sprays down the seat of every toilet in their barracks.

Gabriel did not find that one funny at all.

That one opened the floodgates. Icy-hot in boots. Pledge bombs. Buckets of ice water in the showers. Eyebrow shaving (just one). Dye in the shampoo bottles. Duct taped and saran wrapped doors. Duct taped and saran wrapped beds. Duct taped everything. Morrison and Bacara are having the time of their lives.

Gabriel and the rest of the officers avoid most of it. No one is stupid enough to directly target any of them. It's the generalized stuff that keeps catching him off guard.

The hundreds of cups filled with water in the hallway to the medical wing. Closets full of packing peanuts. Loose caps on the salt shakers. Soy sauce in the coffee pot. Controllers for the XBox go missing. The TV channel gets locked to QVC. Someone gets in the kitchen and makes fake Tang using cheese powder. Someone gets in the medbay and swipes a thing of nitro paste and smears it on all the door handles.

The docs are actually pissed about that one.

[OOC: Inspired by real stories.]

comments

sticktothemission @ 2018-01-03T03:10:00

2018-01-03T08:32:26Z

Dr. Garcia is scowling at Gabriel over his glasses, the bright lights flashing off the lens. Gabriel raises his eyebrows at him but keeps his expression serious otherwise.

"Reyes, there's some inconsistencies with your bloodwork."

Gabriel lets himself look slightly worried and sits up straighter on the gurney. "Same thing as Shintaro and Curtis?" They'd been the unlucky ones to develop anemia in his platoon but he knew there were others in the program. They were all benched until it could be corrected.

"No. You're dehydrated and your liver values are elevated." Garcia crosses his arms and keeps glaring.

Gabriel waits but it seems the doc is just going to keep glowering at him. "Those're side effects?"

"Yes. Of drinking." Garcia uncrosses his arms and waves one hand angrily. "Where the hell did you get your hands on alcohol?"

Gabriel adopts a confused expression. "I didn't?"

Garcia gives him an exasperated look. "I expect this from people like Morrison and Bacara, Reyes, not from commanding officers."

"I didn't, doc," Gabriel insists, presenting himself as annoyed at the accusation. He adds a glower in for good measure and lets his expression speak for him.

"Hmph." Garcia's dealt with him enough to only barely look flustered. "You're staying hydrated during your workouts? I know you're doing sessions beyond protocol."

"Not enough, it sounds like," he replies, mollified. "I'll up my intake."

"I can help with that!" The tall skinny kid that strolls into the medical wing is grinning mischievously as he salutes Gabriel. "Soldier 76 reporting for treatment."

Gabriel narrows his eyes. "That won't be necessary, Morrison," he tells the cheerful blond harshly.

Morrison just smiles at him as immune to his glower as he was on day one. Freaking cocky 18 year olds.

"I don’t want either of you overdoing it," Garcia interjects. "I know you've been tagging along in the gym."

Gabriel was still annoyed the kid followed him to the weight room but he couldn't deny being impressed. Morrison didn't have Milliways to cheat recovery in post treatments but he still showed up every day.

"Tagging along? You make me sound like a little kid," Morrison says, mock offended.

"You are a kid, soldier. You heard the doc, don't overdo it," Gabriel replies, making it an order.

"Says the man who snuck booze on base." Gabriel shoots Garcia a glare. "Sorry, who overdid it in the gym himself to the point of dehydration."

"What?" Morrison nearly squawks in mock outrage. "You had alcohol and you didn't share with your men? I'm hurt, Captain."

"I haven't. Been. Drinking," Gabriel growls at them both, putting the full force of his glare behind it. It has the expected effect on Garcia who busies himself with setting up a fluid line. Morrison, damn him, just smirks and flicks something at his face. Gabe snatches it before it hits him.

Shit, the Milliways matchbook he's been carrying around.

"Found that on the bench this morning," Morrison says innocently as he hops up on the next gurney over. Nurse Rogers starts prepping his arm for a blood draw while Garcia moves the IV stand next to his own.

"Lie back, Reyes. I want to get you hydrated before we continue." The doctor arches a disapproving eyebrow at him. "We may even postpone."

Gabriel frowns and does as he's told. "Do we have time for that?"

"Do you want to risk your systems not being able to adapt?" He shifts uncomfortably as Garcia places the line and tapes it in. "Think about that the next time you overdo it."

"See, if you shared you'd have been fine," Morrison chides him, applying pressure to the new bandage on his arm.

"You want me to share?" Gabriel fixes him with a disapproving glare. "Okay, I'll share the track for 50 laps after this. See you there, soldier."

"I didn't- yes, sir." Morrison knows better than to try and weasel out of it. Honestly, he probably would've shown up anyway. It was like the kid had something to prove.

Huh. There's a thought.

Garcia sighs at them both. "That's outside protocol."

"Tomorrow's a recovery day," Gabriel points out. "He'll be fine, doc." Day after treatments is always a day off, both to let the soldiers rest and give the doctors a chance to catch any immediate side effects. Then there were things like anemia that took longer to notice.

"Fine. You're to take the full day as well. Doctor's orders."

Gabriel frowns. "Fine." He'll just make it up at Milliways later.

-------

Gabriel pants hard as he finishes his last lap, veering off to the side to let Morrison pass him. Kid still has ten to go so Gabriel takes his time recovering and hydrating while he finishes up.

"Well done, soldier," Gabriel says, tossing the kid a water bottle. "You run a lot before you enlisted?" Morrison shakes his head, caught between trying to catch his breath and trying to drink. "Easy, don't choke." Morrison nods, taking greedy gulps.

"Played football," he pants, "sprints."

Gabriel nods. Endurance runs like this weren't something he'd be used to then. "You kept up alright. Got a ways to go if you're going to keep shadowing me." He lets the kid catch him looking mildly impressed.

Morrison is still breathing hard but he seems to be pulling himself together. "Yes, sir. Aim to."

"Yeah, about that. Why? I push you guys hard enough as it is; why are you putting in extra time with me?"

"Pretty sure you ordered me to," Morrison points out drolly, drinking again as he walks circles to cool down. Gabriel fixes the kid with a Look which actually seems to work since he looks away and shrugs. "I signed up to fight omnics, to try and end this thing as fast as possible. That means we've got to be the best we can as fast as we can." He looks back to Gabriel. "You're the one pushing hardest for that. And I…" He stops and shrugs again, for once looking like the awkward 18 year old he is.

Gabriel lets him off the hook. "Alright, you heard the doc, rest day tomorrow, Morrison. Be ready to step it up the day after. Go hit the showers."

He looks startled at the topic change, then grins at Gabriel as he salutes. "Sir, yes, sir." Gabriel just offers him a nod as he returns the gesture.

He finishes his water before he heads in. He can put up with a little sass if Jack Morrison can actually keep up with him.

comments

OOC: Master List of Developer Comments and Stuff

2017-12-28T08:33:36Z

I keep finding interviews and things with intel I want to keep track of. So I'm just gonna list them here as I find them. I guess this counts as soft canon? Cos they're allowed to change their minds until it actually makes it into the game or a comic/video.

( Links in the Cut )

comments

OOC: Reaper

2017-12-11T16:34:38Z

As usual, consider this a work in progress as I try to decipher what little lore we have, subject to change as Blizzard throws more curveballs into the story.

( 1/11/17 Musing Along a Different Route )

12/11/17
( An eventual attempt at technobabble )

comments

OOC: Characterization, PreReaper Stuff

2017-11-10T18:23:20Z

Just stuff that I'd like to keep in mind when figuring out how Gabe thinks and to ensure I have justification beyond 'fandom says' for how he acts. Kinda jumps around a bit. Should be said that unless it's official canon, it's not set in stone and will be adapted as new canon is released.

( Michael Chu Dec. 22, 17 Stuff You Didn't Know About Overwatch Heroes )
( Read more... )

comments

OOC: Rambling canon musings: Dates and Age

2017-11-08T04:49:17Z

Nothing is considered truly canon unless Blizz has said so. I'm gonna be flexible enough to adjust things as needed to match Blizz's story. Headcanon is not concrete, it just helps me tell a story.

1/11/17
This is my new favorite timeline. Focuses mostly on OW years and after, with musings/explanations as to why things are when.

11/7/17
The Omnic Crisis

( Read more... )

comments