Angel enters the base and smiles as she holds her hand up, stretching her fingers a bit to make sure the gloves are on comfortably before she walks her way over towards Garner, listening to what's going on.

Anni decides to take Metal up on his offer and mounts his back before saying, "Alright... I'll have to try out both, Metal."
She fully intends to call him Metal and Mettle interchangeably. Not that it makes much of a difference, but she finds the concept amusing and kinda challenging. And she plans to make a game of it to see if Metal catches on.

  He hadn't expected to give the piggyback ride personally, considering the small army of killer robots capable such and suggested for the task.  But then, who could fault her for thinking he fell under the category of killer robot too?

  Nevermind the fact that for those who see such things, there was the fact he was named 'The Killer Robotic Metal Mettle'.  Of course that sort of thing will be why he will be able tell the difference between the spelling of a word.  So much easier than technobabble regarding audio sensors and stuff.

  "Off we go then.  I have the feeling you'll do just fine on your own eventually."  This said, he leapt tall buildings in a single bound.  Seriously, his experiences with wide spread fire meant that annoying Annie in the future would be a very bad plan.

  He was obviously much cooler than them at the moment though, or would be if it wasn't for the -10000 debuff to cool giving a piggyback ride caused.

  One prolonged leap later, they touched down by the universal front door to bases everywhere.  "Ladies first.  Because holding the door open isn't a politeness option available in this case."

Garner takes notes on what Katy tells him till he notices Angel enter the room.  He immediately drops what he's doing to stand at attention and salute her with a Tharian salute.

"Empress Angel," he says, "This is Katy, the person you sent me to rescue.  Katy, this is Empress Angel, the leader of the Tharian Empire."

Angel smiles. Garner normally doesn't have to do that, but Angel knows he is setting an example of respect for her. "Good job, Garner. As you were." she says while respectfully giving him the same salute back. "Katy... to be frank, the big difference between us and the people who once had you prisoner is that you are free here. You may leave any time. You are no prisoner here. But I'll give you fair warning that we do have rules here. They are there for good reason, though and you will find yourself more than capable of working within our rules. And some exceptions to the rules are made from time to time as well."

When the two arrive at the base, Animus follows Mettle inside the base and has a look around. When she notices the salute Garner is giving to Angel, she raises an eyebrow and wonders if she'll be expected to do the same. But for now, she continues to be casual since she knows she is not a member of Angel's empire just yet.

Katy watches Garner curiously and then looks back at Angel when she talks to Katy. "Free...." she says like the word itself washes her over with warmth. "Well if I'm free to leave, then I may as well hear you out. What are the rules?" to which Angel simply looks to Garner as if prompting him to answer Katy's question.

  One could say Metal Mettle did a good job at obeying the rules of Angel's little group.  Technically this was true.  But it was more a case of 'Wait, there were rules?' and his general methods working out anyways.

  "I figure the exceptions are less than 'only light teamets on fire if it’s a buff' obvious."

"Our basic rule is the rule of iron," Garner explains, "If someone wants to harm you, they had better be prepared for the pay-back.  Our hierarchy is founded on this basic ideal.  Because Angel has earned the respect of so many in the empire, she's the boss.  Because I've earned her respect, I'm her right hand man, and so on."

Angel bothers herself with some crafting while Garner explains things.

Katy looks from Angel to Garner, giving them both suspicious glares. "OK... so what is it you want *me* to do? Just beat up people who get in your way?"

Anni smirks. "Sounds like fun, really..." she comments to Katy's suggestion.

  The one Robot army by way of technicality shrugged.  "That does tend to help.  Although even I usually limit myself to those directly acting against us at the time.  The Circle just annoys me though."

  Killbot Hugs (formerly known as Killbot Three) meanwhile, finishes the daunting task of crayon drawing  (you try that with a laser gun for one hand, but at least they are better off than their largest counterpart by actually having hands).

  "HUGS!" Killbot Hugs exclaims, as it tapes up a crayon drawing of Katy and Annie on a wall by the largely disused podium.

Garner nods.  "...that get in our way.  You are part of the team now.  That means your mission of vengeance against those who hurt you is now Angel's mission too.  If in doing so she earns your respect, her mission of bringing vengeance to all such people will become your mission."

He looks directly into Katy's eyes and reaches to gently pet her shoulder.

"Like you, she has deep personal reasons to take on such a task.  If anyone can understand you, Angel can."

Katy squirms, but seems to understand quite clearly what Garner is getting at. She nods. "....thanks. I guess it makes sense why you all are helping then..."

She looks curiously to Mettle. "Why does the Circle annoy you? What's their story?"

Annie looks at Killbot Hug's drawing. "Nice picture." she says with a raised eyebrow. Then looks at Mettle. "Your robots like the new recruits?"

Angel smirks over her shoulder as she overhears how things are going. "Oh... Hugs is such a valued member of the team, he likes to show how much he values the other members of the team... and their destructive power. Am I right, Mettle?"

  Killbot Hug's response is as expected.  "HUGS!  Metal Mettle says "They like you because I like you.  Probably comes from being made out of me.  As for the Circle..."

  He /e curseyou's "They just won't shut up about stealing my Immortal Soul.  Hello, mechanical construct?  I just stood there and let them pull off their ritual one time, just to enjoy the metaphorical look on their hood obscured faces when it did nothing and I introduced them to more lasers than their possessed puny minds could fathom."

Garner nods and folds his arms.  While the others discuss Mettle's composition and crayon drawings, he busies himself again with the latest current events publication.

Katy earpirks at Mettle. "....why do you like me? I don't remember doing you any favors..."

She watches Garner with some curiousity, her head tilting slightly while her ears turn towards Garner.

Annie doesn't bother asking why Mettle likes her. She helped set things on fire with him. In her book, that's usually enough to like someone.

Angel ahs and nods to Mettle's answer. Then looks at Katy. She let's Mettle answer since, chances are, the answer will likely be the same as her own answer. She walks over to Garner just to see what he's working on and hopefully, assess what's been done already.

  Metal Mettle shrugs,  "To the surprise of many, I don't want to destroy all organic and some forms of inorganic life for no apparent reason.  Double standards to my methods of course will apply when I feel like it."

   The robot eyes Katy (so far as something without any apparent eyes or facial features can do so)  "Was there something I should dislike you over I missed?"

Garner turns his laptop to face Angel.

"I believe I've found a contact that may know where we can find the scientists who tormented Katy.  Of course they can only be reached in person until they trust one of us enough to hand out contact info.  Shall I assemble a team?"

Garner already knows Angel's answer.

Angel smiles and says, "Why assemble one when we're already here? But you knew that, didn't you, Garner?" she grins knowingly. "Let's go, guys and gals! Time to kick some tail. Street-justice style."