CLANG CLANG CLANG

The increasingly dull edge of the heavy pickaxe struck against the rock as it had been for the past thirty-something minutes without rest, with each relentless swing sending vibrations through its wielder's arms. She did not pause, however. Her hands gripped the handle with purpose and swung yet again with practiced ease, tunneling through the cold obstacle in front of her.

Their environment was relatively dark, with the flickering flame of the gas lantern doing little to illuminate its surroundings. However, the duo's vision had begun to adapt to the darkness, as they had been trudging through it for quite some time now. The shorter woman behind the taller one gently nudged her, which finally ceased the incessant noises as she paused to turn towards her companion.

"Should we switch places, Frau Lange?" Asked the flamer. "No, not really. Though I appreciate your concern." The rook replied before resuming her work. She opened her mouth to speak while swinging, though this time without the obstruction of her helmet visor to not muffle her voice, as well as to help her breathing. "A person of your stature, especially a woman, would only chip away at a piece of rock before tiring herself out."

"But you're a woman as well, aren't you?" The flamer jested, now taking off her plague doctor mask to look up at her friend with a smirk. "Um... yes. But there are levels to this, you see-" She started, then getting cut off before she could start one of her lectures about physiques and training yet again, always so predictable. "Uh huh, yeah, yeah. Look, can't a girl just talk about fun stuff? Like- like dissections! Or bloodletting!" "I don't think we share the same sentiment." "Ugghhhhh..."

"I'm just bored with the silent treatment you've been giving me." She nagged, playfully punching the rook's back with her free hand while the other held the flamethrower at a safe angle. "Not talking saves energy," The busy one replied pragmatically. "What a bummer. I just wish our dear Inquisitor were here, at least she's more talkative than you."

"Speaking of which..."

The series of events that unfolded earlier still replayed in her mind. The mission of retrieving armaments from a recently abandoned Solace factory was going smoothly until an ambush from the Nation disrupted everything, as well as getting separated from the others after a barrage of mining bombs caused a cave-in.

"Where do you think she's gone off to now?" The flamer inquired, only to receive mutterings about 'running away back to base' in return. "Blehhh, not surprised at all about that one. I just want to reach the end of the tunnel and wrap this entire mess up. After all... I am getting rather famished."

With one final swing of her heavy pickaxe, the rook finally tore down the wall in front of her, which revealed another tunnel network, much to her surprise. She returned the tool to her back in exchange for arming herself with the breech-loading rifle she carried, before both of them stepped through the opening.

The air was undoubtedly colder, with the lingering scent of iron and gunpowder permeating it. There were some mangled Nation corpses scattered around the area alongside numerous spent cartridges, with the most prevalent of them being the familiar shotgun shells that a certain trench trooper carried, usually on her bandolier.

"Do you think it could be her...?" No response was needed as they both came to a mutual agreement before continuing down the tunnel. Slowly, the signs of a struggle began to appear along the walls. Some slash marks and a long streak of blood that eventually led into a large subterranean structure. It was the factory they've been searching for, though it seemed that they weren't the first to arrive.

The figure standing in front of them was undoubtedly dressed in the Empire's Lancer Legion uniform, an ally. She stood over an injured Nation soldat with her sword planted deep into their stomach. Without warning, she twisted the blade and elicited a sharp wail from her victim before their electric lamp, illuminating her, subsequently flickered off as its user succumbed to their injuries.

"Gruesome scene, I know." The trench trooper addressed the duo with her back facing towards them as she retrieved her sword and gave it a quick sideways flick to rid the blood off the blade before sheathing it in her scabbard. "Be it as it may, it feels refreshing to gut someone's innards out, especially a degenerate scum like these people. It's almost like I've healed completely from doing so. I pity them, really. Fighting for such corrupt kings... The Queen is waayyyy better. Neh, Roth-san?" She turned around, a smudge of blood visible on her face as she smiled.

"What the are you talking about-"

"Hideyo! Aww! So this is where you've been the entire time!" The flamer greeted her as she approached to hug the other shock trooper, and was reciprocated in doing so. "So, what's up?" She asked as she stepped back to give her some space, but not before her eyes lingered curiously on the odd-looking sword. It wasn't like the Empire's longsword or the Nation's cavalry saber; this one seemed Asian in origin.

"I encountered some of these people not long after our separation-" She kicked the recently deceased corpse, "-and engaged them in combat. Although I ran out of ammo for my shotgun, I had to resort to using this." The trench trooper brought up the sheathed sword in front of them for a better view.

It was an intricately crafted O-Katana with a multitude of both Empire and Nation dog tags wrapped around the sheathe alongside a loosely coiled rope. "Wonderful, isn't it? A kind Assistant Director let me commission anything I wanted as a thanks for saving her from bandits during the previous campaign, and I knew I just had to get something from back home."

"You do know you can just use your shotgun's bayonet and it'd be much more, if not more effective than that?" The rook pointed out as she crossed her arms, clearly confused with her logic. "Oh,

insert some rant about honor and bushido and how she carries her samurai ancestry's will or something

ahhhhh i dont kno what else to write or how to continue this lmao im getting rusty at this anyways uhhhh they all kiss each other hot yuri style n then go back to base the end!!!

n they all crack each other again!!!

is this a teaser? no, i don't think so. maybe it sorta is, tho its this whole thing is just a fun scenario i thought up in my head and decided to write it cuz i was bored

also yes uhhhh what do you call it

concept! is a nice a concept yes, this one

anyways look at deez

GRKG Hideyo, Lancer Legion

A self-proclaimed "Samurai Trooper" whos probably larping too hard

yuh its that one delulu girl from that trench trooper bot on my main

pretty cool neh???

ps: no im not making any new bots yet cuz am still resting

zamn janitor moderation deemed the original profile pic too bloody and gory so i had to tone it down and subtract some aura points 😭