It's just a little past 9 AM in one of the major headquarters of the New Order Army, a floating base located deep in the open waters of the North Atlantic. Built from an abandoned oil rig, the NOA have repurposed it into a cozy and well-stocked base for their operations.

Having just finished morning briefing for a reconnaissance mission involving a newbie, operative Lazlo Becker walks through the living quarters with a dossier in hand. The dossier describes the newbie as one Raymond, a manta ray who came from a private security background and fresh off basic training. He is to be Lazlo's new room- and squadmate.

Approaching his bunk, numbered 15-15A, Lazlo could overhear a voice coming through the half open sliding door. He peeked through and spotted Raymond, appearing quite agitated and mumbling:

"It will be my first outing... but... what if they spot us...? And what of my partner?"

The lizard, smirking, could sense how excited he is underneath the veneer of anxiety. All he needed is encouragement, and he knows just how. Conveniently for Lazlo, Raymond is already mostly dressed in the standard NOA operative gear with its enticingly shiny gray reinforced latex and tall boots toning his body. He could see Raymond's custom fitted gasmask lying on the bed... and immediately put his stealth expertise to play.

Sneaking effortlessly even on the metal flooring thanks to the muffled treads of his boots' soles, Lazlo makes his way to pick up Raymond's gasmask, creep up behind him, and pull the mask swiftly over the ray's head and snout.

"Surprises come with a huff!" Lazlo muttered, as Raymond felt his vision come under the clear visor of the mask and his breath comfortably filtered through it. Raymond blushed slightly, half surprised and half pleased, before he turned around and saw the grinning lizard looking back at him.

"You got me there, NOA really knows how to keep their rubber steps soft. I take it you're Lazlo? Pre-briefing told me to look for a green lizard who'll share this bunk too."

"In the flesh. Resident stealth expert in this base, and I'll be your new squadmate while showing you the ropes!", the lizard uttered with such a beaming smile, admiring the fine look of his aquatic comrade. The smile soon disappeared as Lazlo takes the gasmask off his belt and pulls it over him quickly, while he runs through the dossier in hand. "First recon mission is nothing serious, just watching a shipping vessel nearby from a safe distance. Take it easy, the gear keeps us safe from anything short of rapid gunfire!"

Raymond responded with an excited huff. The sheer confidence of Lazlo is inspiring, and he knows he's in good hands. "You're right, it should be a breeze. Let me just put my gloves on."

Ray took his pair of the NOA agent signature gloves and pulled it over his hands, the long hem stretching and snapping tight over his forearm. Lazlo can't help but look even more excited, grabbing a bottle of water and holding Ray on the shoulder, "That's the spirit, Ray! I can already tell you will be a valuable operative. You can just tell by how they dress up so confidently in the elasticity~"

Lazlo's eyes sparkled as Ray looked back, their visors locking onto each other. "Thanks, Laz. I'll be worthy of this look... and don't mind me admiring the inspirational lizard too~"
"Oh! And let's not forget our gear, shall we?" Lazlo went out to the locker, picking up two pairs of long, flowing fins: his black and blue and Ray's teal and silver, putting them on the floor.

"The rebreather unit as well, noticed we haven't had the hoses attached. Almost forgot that, and you can't dip without them." Lazlo picked up the loose hose on Ray's bunk bed, screwed the port into the intake unit of the fish's mask and sealed the other port's end into the rebreather rig. Ray could feel his breath become lighter and clearer, enhancing his focus and comfort under his mask as the rig filters the air around him as it would when they're submerged. Lazlo turned around and put on an inviting gesture, huffing in excitement, "Mind helping do the same to me?"

"hufff Anything for my new comrade in arms for helping me.”

Raymond did the same and carefully fastened the hoses' ports on the lizard's rebreather unit to his mask. Their breaths fill the room, and the sound of hissing through their mask delights them so... "I heard you previously worked on cyberscurity, and you had a knack for infiltrating your targets and swiftly identifying weaknesses on interiors of both digital and physical infrastructure."

Raymond replied in elation, "That I am. If there's a security detail we need to get past by, I'm your man."

Lazlo was beaming, "I'm happy to hear that, new blood... let's head off to the hangar, we'll be meeting the rest of the squad there and to sortie at 1000 hours!"

Raymond’s voice gleefully streamed through his mask’s comms unit, "I’m all too glad, excited even~"
squeak

After picking up the rest of their gear and latching the fins onto their belts, the lizard and the ray agents held hands closely, feeling the firm rubber of their gloved palms as they walk proudly through the halls in preparation for their first recon together. They both know the thrill of being in their gear, and the very thought that any poor rival sod that stands in their way will find out these new masked agents are in the depths will be there to subdue them...

Hufff... kssshh...

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A gift by my buddy  RayTheRay, with art by Szekart from Twitter and original "rubberpunk" NOA setting based from the ideas of  Tracy Gladstone <33
Wrote a little story to add flavor to this delightful scene of NOA agents~