Contact [Bendy timed to 3 or 4 days after Lirath]

[fate_favored]

In the aftermath of the battle at Lirath, Stacy had been severely damaged. Though she still eventually managed to build up enough power to resume course, she was obviously struggling, her pace far slower than normal. She could barely even manage to directly address those who needed to speak with her, instead allowing the more monotone voice of the

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[outta_this_army]

Grif, to be completely honest, had no desire to be around the Daligig. It seemed like every time the crew had any kind of contact with these guys, it was bad news alllll over the place.

But still. He was curious. He had to go look at them, and he supposed hanging around waiting for them to show up was an effective waste of time. Besides, the Daligig (from what he remembered, anyway) didn't look all that big or tou-

Oh my god what is that thing.

It was huge.

It was a lizard thing and it was huger than Kang, something was wrong about that.

Grif had actually been half considering giving these guys a piece of his mind, really, but the sight of the reptilian soldiers just kinda stomped down those ideas for the moment. He staaaaaaared.

[fate_favored]

One of the big reptilian soldiers apparently noticed the guy in bright orange armor staring intently at them.

He gave Grif an awkward little wave.

They seemed friendly, at least.

[outta_this_army]

That just made this even more confusing.

There was a giant, terrifying lizard guy waving at him.

Grif swallowed.

"...Sup?"

[fate_favored]

"Glory and Honor, friend," he replied.

One of the other Kessek leaned into the first one's ear, whispering something, before he spoke up again.

"My comrade wishes me to tell you she admires the color of your armor. It is admirable for one so small to choose to fight wearing such a prominent and noticeable color in battle."

[outta_this_army]

"Uh," Grif said, hesitating.

That was a she? He managed not to shift the OH GOD WHAT stare onto the second soldier.

"Thanks? It sort of depends on where you are I guess."

The obvious solution here was to ramble.

"I mean where I was stationed it was fine because it was like five million degrees in the shade and a lot of the ground was this color so it worked."

[fate_favored]

"You have fought on only one world?" he said, pausing for a second, before "...are you a child, then?"

Grif was certainly small enough to be one, by Kessek standards.

[outta_this_army]

"What? No! I was just stationed in the same shithole for like three years."

The indignation helped, it was something other than fear.

"And it's not like I'm a career soldier or anything. I was drafted. So right now, technically I'm double drafted."

He folded his arms.

"You guys wanted this job?"

[fate_favored]

"All Kessek are required to undergo military training three cycles before reaching maturity, and spend at least another ten cycles serving in the military, after which they may return to their homes and begin their careers as dictated by the House they were born to, or they may continue serving in the military."

"As Force Commander Hukkar's Honor Guard, we are honored to continue serving in our roles as warriors."

[outta_this_army]

"Ouch. We don't do that, but the Reds were short a guy so I'm stuck with it until they decide to send me home."

He shrugged.

"Then I'm going to get a real job that doesn't suck. I mean this army thing might work for some people but I'm not one of those."

This was, of course, all relying on the universe successfully being saved. But he didn't quite want to dwell on that right at the moment.

[fate_favored]

"Your faction is known as the 'Reds'?" he asked. "That seems odd, as your armor is orange. Or is the designation meant to be more symbolic than literal?"

Yes, this was something worth focusing on.

[outta_this_army]

"Well, if you think about it? Orange is kinda a yellowish red."

[fate_favored]

"Admittedly," he said thoughtfully. "But it still seems like an inaccurate descriptor."

[outta_this_army]

"It's better than pink!"

Grif wasn't really a fan of orange either, but he had to defend it on this point.

[fate_favored]

"But it would be closer to red than orange."

Kessek don't really assign gender to color. Pink is as manly as gunmetal to them.

[outta_this_army]

Grif knew there was something off about these guys!

"Actually it's got less color. Because white is not a color and pink has white in it."

[fate_favored]

"But in that case, all the color that is still there would solely be red. There are no other colors present to confuse the issue."