Phoenix

The meeting room was more crowded than usual, Brant noticed, but that wasn't the biggest thing on his mind, right now. He had to have a very minor argument with Firmia for the Alkaev to let him come over here with Hannah and Sasha. She seemed convinced that the only thing waiting for him over here was pain, especially if he had to share a room with Jessica and Abigail at the same time. Firmia was at least partially correct; Brant did not want to be in the room when both were present. One or the other was enough. Still, having so many other people here went a long way toward drowning out that pestering voice in his head. Sitting next to Chris also gave him a sort of beacon to focus on if anything regarding those two came out. Oh, right. These aliens probably knew their language, at least to some degree, if they were sitting in on this meeting. If not, Brant expected someone nearby to do a quick translating job for him. Either way, being part of the Avalon's crew wasn't going to ruin customs. "One thing if no one minds," Brant perked up, "Welcome to the team, you two." He hadn't caught their names unfortunately, but gave both Alriana and Vvi a friendly wave. He wasn't quite as upbeat as usual, but Brant wasn't the only one that looked a little tired from today. The nap certainly helped, but he wasn't just fatigued. Sasha was glad he came, but refused to take a seat at the meeting table, again. Same as before, he was just a guest, and unlike last time, they could use the spare seats. Instead, he stuck close to Cheryl while trying not to laugh at her antics with Alriana. At this point she might as well adopt the stygusian for how attached she was getting. As for the meeting itself, Jessica turning out to be an android was still amusing, and Sasha felt it was safe to start joking about it back on the Avalon, since the Riese's captain seemed to be acclimating fairly well. No 'too soon's after this exceptionally smooth debriefing. After all, last time he was in this meeting room, she'd been stuttering and arguing with her subordinates, and that was before Rosa called. Now nearly double the number of participants, include the ANF's military commander, and toss in a few aliens for good measure, and Jessica was just rolling with it. If this wasn't improvement, nothing was. Megumi was tired, but she sat in on the meeting too, instead of streaming audio to the infirmary. It had been a long day, and it wasn't quite over, yet. She still had tests to run, but thankfully she hadn't needed a tissue sample directly from Alriana's freshly healed body. It turned out that the stygusian's fight with Tiffany and the Riese's automated defenses had produced adequate samples out in the first deck's hallway. Convenient ...! The doctor decided to just focus on Alriana today and let Vvi rest before running tests on her. Given her morphology, she ought to be just fine on the Riese until Megumi learned more about her. Without the lumbering tail to deal with, she might be better adapted than Alriana. It was difficult to say for certain this early into things. For now, all she needed to worry about was whatever Commander Vance had for them.

Take your pick, Megumi thought to herself as she shrugged at Aliza and Vvi. Her thoughts were nearly quoted by Olivia, but there were so many available due to the ship's size that it seemed like their guest wanted permission. Well, she had it, and the Hollow Man hadn't shown up yet, so any bed that looked free likely was. "I take it you'd like some space between you," Megumi guessed, eyeing Vvi and Alriana in turn. Then she indicated a bed three units over from Alriana's and in a different row across the way. That was comfortably out of range of Alriana's tail, at least.

And just like that, Megumi's desire to take samples was gone. After all, if all she was going to find in Alriana's recent diet were things like chicken and fish, she might as well take samples from anyone else. That would be safer ... The doctor sighed at the latest information, almost sad to not have much left to investigate on that front. It seemed just as well, since Makoto checked in over the comms. The feed from the console had hinted as much, but it was good to hear Makoto had gotten away from the Regina more or less unscathed ... that attack would have killed anyone else outright. "That's good to hear, Makoto." Megumi glanced at Alriana and then Mai as she thought about what she would say next. That was when Aliza entered the infirmary with yet another alien. With that, the doctor nearly forgot that she had originally planned on using Makoto as a trial run on not spilling secrets to her civilian sisters. What she meant to say turned into, "There's two of them, now? I'm not an exobiologist ... erm, anyway, everyone on the ship is fine as far as I know, your mother included. You may want to visit each other in the cafeteria, though. We're going to be busy in the infirmary for at least a few more hours." The new girl, Ms. Four Eyes as Megumi's mind kept begging her to make official, didn't seem to want to deal with this situation for her own reasons. Did she and Alriana know each other? Well, as long as no eye beams or plasma grenades were whipped out over it, it might actually be an interesting story ...

Alriana's answer was somewhat helpful; Megumi was at least sure she wouldn't keel over from whatever Cheryl wound up bringing back. Still, the doctor was even more inclined to get some samples, now. "I just want to make sure that you get enough of what your body needs ... and that we don't give you anything toxic." She needed some good tissue samples for other tests, too. She hadn't worked out how to get them, yet ... this needle thing was just plain stupid ... but either way it was going to be a long day. "You don't have to worry about not eating," Megumi offered, "There's more than enough to go around and even if there wasn't, Cheryl wouldn't let you go without." That and the Riese crew never failed. Good news for Alriana should she choose to join them. Megumi noticed it just then, that faint smile that kept sneaking up on her whenever certain things came up. She reined it in so quickly she looked like a bad memory had just hit her. "If it's alright, I'd like to take some samples from around your teeth to see what kinds of things you normally eat." Megumi had to ask regardless, making gestures with her hands as if she was picking things out of her own teeth, but it was mainly a way of buying herself time to figure out what was going on. Sure, Alriana was amusing when she wasn't tearing up the place, but that shouldn't be enough to break down the doctor's professional mien. Maybe this was just too much fun for her now that the imminent danger was gone ...

On the one hand, being held captive on a Sacarian ship for so long that it was basically her home was just sad. But, on the other hand, it meant these stygusians were at least on par with humans in terms of adaptability. Megumi suspected Alriana would be alright in the Riese's environment more long term, without any special needs beyond hydration, nutrient intake, and whatever other activities were necessary for her overall health. This was a gift of sorts, good news taped up in lousy wrapping paper. Olivia chimed in to try and clarify things, and she was right, Megumi was trying to learn more about Alriana's home world specifically. If she could get by just fine in a Sacarian cage though, then it wasn't as pressing a matter as the doctor feared it would be. Still every little detail helped. There might be some crucial difference that could affect this adorable iguana's long term health. Based on what they had seen of the race so far, stygusians weren't biological pushovers by any means. Perhaps socially vulnerable, but that was another matter ... another amusing matter~ Alriana went on to confirm the medical staff's worries that she was indeed a Sacarian pet, kept and raised by them, and probably meant only for combat operations like this one. "Well," Megumi nearly smiled again, "I'm glad to know our enemies are as dumb as we were when it comes to slavery. I'm sure we'll be taking advantage of that in the future. Okay, Alriana, next question. I know Cheryl left to get you something, but when was the last time you ate? What do the Sacarians usually feed you?" Megumi was expecting even more detailed downers with a question like that, but was also considering getting an actual sample. She didn't really want to go swabbing around Alriana's almost comically menacing teeth for those samples, but it would be the easiest way to figure out what was actually part of the infiltrator's diet. She could work from there, but could only hope the Sacarians liked the idea of a physically healthy combat unit, and not just a functional one. Things were still chaotic below, and on top of that, there was now more than one source of anger emanating from the crew's quarters, now. Just one would have been fine; it could be someone throwing a temper tantrum. Two or more was a standoff, or perhaps even a heated argument, depending on whose wrath was aimed where. All Brant was completely sure of was that Jessica was one of the angry ones. Maybe the other was Abigail? A part of him was hopeful in that, and another part dreaded the thought. There was a good chance it was actually someone else; a few people had taken off for the elevators not too long ago, including Admiral Alphonse of all people, so there were quite a few possibilities if that was where he and others had been headed. The possibilities kept on growing as Jessica's anger gave way more and more to fear. "Are you really going to wait around for things to calm down?" Firmia came back over the Regalia's comms. "What are you going to do if something does happen? Get back out of the Regalia and rush over? For what?" She had a point, Brant admitted, but some people, himself included, just had to watch the meteor coming down. This was as clear a picture as he was going to be able to get. And if Abigail was down there, then this was probably the moment that would determine exactly which way things would go. It felt incredibly masochistic to be trying to feel the situation out, because for Brant, it was already over. This was just the context, a degrading eulogy. Abigail would likely conclude all of Brant's failures today, proving one of two things to him once and for all. She would prove that he was a worthless man for being overwhelmed by his pain, or she would prove that his choice, the most important one he'd made to that point, was completely wrong. Brant already suspected the latter, merely because being with Jessica would have meant leaving the Regalia for someone else to pilot, remaining on the Riese more or less permanently, parting ways with the Avalon when the war ended, likely never forgiving Rosa or helping Tonya in the process, never having so much as an inclination to help Chris, and never lifting a finger to address his own weakness. It went back to his discussion with Sasha, about this agape love he was trying to incorporate into his life. Brant could only speculate, but with the way things had played out, he never could have had such a discussion, or come to do the things he was doing if he hadn't been brought so low, so quickly. The price for it all was just too high. The Alkaev-Abrams Continuum

"You're welcome, Ensign." Megumi mirrored the salute, mostly out of habit. From the looks of things Alriana wouldn't be too much trouble. The doctor was picking up worrisome hints of a war like culture, which was only solidifying her mental image of the male blue bloods. As long as Alriana herself didn't get it in her head that she should challenge any of the infirmary staff members to a sparring match, Megumi wasn't going to waste energy fretting over things like that. When it came to strength, the doctor only needed to be strong enough to lug around her firearm of choice, whether it be a simple sidearm, or a portable railgun. Now then ... "Alriana," Megumi approached, figuring now was as good a time as any to gather more information. "What can you tell me about your ... home?" She meant to say something along the lines of 'natural environment,' but she was getting a better grasp of Alriana's language skills and didn't want to use any big words or ambiguous terms. There was also the distinct possibility that Alriana was her society's equivalent of a 'city girl,' and not born and raised in a natural environment. She may have been stuck on a Sacarian ship most of her life for all the doctor knew. Regardless, she had to start somewhere, and hopefully figure out the key differences between Earth, and wherever Alriana was from. Tarquin clearly wanted to have his cake and eat it, too; judging others from a distance and discouraging any attempts at a mutual understanding. Oddly enough it was similar to the approach Firmia took with people, only coming from the other side. The fewer people that were close to her--the fewer people she had to safeguard--the easier life was for her. Unfortunately, stuffing everyone into her ship was, at best, only a momentary fix. As for trying to explain the Alkaev's motives to Tarquin, Brant was feeling ... discouraged. In some ways, Firmia's past was even more messed up than his own, and yet all Tarquin wanted to see was a girl playing with her dolls. If first impressions were all that mattered to the young marksman, then his mind had been made up days ago. What could Brant say to even begin chipping away at such a lazily drawn conclusion? "You know," Brant winced faintly, "... someone like you, who's also been controlled your whole life, could help us show her a better balance to doing things. Or ..." he shrugged, recalling Rosa's various confessions in the weeks before all hell broke loose, "you could just focus on all the Ninas out there and ignore your fellow Tarquins." That wasn't the chisel he was looking for, Brant thought to himself, but the two teenagers did have some things in common: Both were highly judgmental. Both were too young to be involved in a war. Both were jerked around by conniving old men. Both overreacted when protecting things. And both were depressing to think about for any length of time. Chris decided to settle the Nina matter herself and wanted Brant to relay her decision to Firmia. Of course Brant didn't have to relay one word because Firmia heard it all firsthand. "Guess you caught all of that ..." So Brant would have to come back to pick her up later. He wasn't having someone else do it, that was for certain. "I did," Firmia replied, "and ... I'm washing my hands of all of this. Thorvald can go back to whatever he was supposed to be doing before this. We can handle the salvage on our own." Brant heard another heavy sigh on the other end of the call. "Let me know once you're back in the air." The channel closed from Firmia's end. Brant didn't wait until he was airborne to try and get Firmia back on the line. He'd only strapped himself in and got the Regalia standing upright. As soon as he turned on the T-Link, he realized that something was off on the deck just below him. It may have seemed awkward for the Regalia to continue standing in place, but Brant was more concerned with the various emotions all clustered together down in the crew's quarters. Once he was sure it wasn't anything dangerous ... Even that didn't delay Brant in calling Firmia back. In case this took a while, he wanted her to know what he was doing. "I haven't left yet, but we've got some privacy, now." Brant already knew that was what she really wanted, and maybe he could get her to talk while he felt out the situation below. "No one's in the cockpit with you?" "Chris is outside with Nina," Brant winced. If she didn't want Chris to hear either then this was probably personal. "Well then ... I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but please don't. It's better if I don't have any contact with the Riese's pilots between battles. Senior officers is more than enough." Brant gritted his teeth at that. "You're isolating yourself too much. If I honestly thought you and Tarquin would become friends, I'd just shut up, sit back, and let it happen. I'm just trying to make it easier for us to all keep working together ... so crap like this doesn't happen again. ... there's nothing worse than misunderstandings." "As long as the misunderstandings stay on the grunt level, and just on Jessica's side of things, then it should be fine. That ship still has a mole problem. Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about ..." Brant sighed. "What did you want to talk about, then? I'm too tired to try and get you to open up to the crew right now." He also couldn't think of any way to address the mole issue. That was actually a legitimate concern, even if Firmia was using it like a bludgeon to fend off all 'unnecessary' relations. "... take off, first," Firmia said, her tone oddly pleading. "Any particular reason I need to be in the air, first?" Brant asked, cocking an eyebrow. There was a brief pause. "I promise I'll explain afterward. For now, just launch and go meet up with Tonya. She'll be waiting by the Rhea. I don't want to take any chances moving it, so you're both going to fly it back together." "... alright, but give me one more minute ... it feels like there's some drama happening down in the third deck and I don't want to take off right in the middle of it. I'm pretty sure Jess is down there." "Just another day on the Heion Riese," Firmia bit out, "Please hurry."

Alriana was certainly talkative when she wanted to be. The topic for now seemed to be fighting well. A great choice to follow up a mildly embarrassing defeat. Nothing crazy was happening now, and the pilots were back, so calling Makoto while Alriana and Tristan got reacquainted seemed good. Megumi also wanted to do a practice run of sorts. At some point today she was going to call her sisters and tell them about this harrowing experience of hers. She would have to leave out the details about the alien--such as the fact that she was indeed an alien, lest she risk royally pissing off her employers by giving out potentially classified information to civilians. Makoto would make a good test case to see if she could dance around said details until the big debriefing. "Makoto?" Megumi tried contacting him directly since all the pilot feeds had already cut, "It's Doctor Amparo." She hadn't noticed Alriana's tail quietly slithering over to Tristan's leg until after she'd tried calling Makoto. It was admittedly a worrisome move on Alriana's part, but there wasn't enough evidence of an impending attack for her to make any move to stop it, though she wanted to. The body language hadn't changed, and Alriana seemed almost oblivious to it. The doctor would likely hear a yelp from Tristan soon, but she decided to focus on giving Makoto the overdue report. Firmia grimaced at first, knowing just how annoying a situation like this was when one was on the receiving end. She personally had no intention of putting Carlos in the ground but she didn't have any say in what the ANF did, nor did she have any legal authority to work with. At best she could try to negotiate if they wanted Carlos' head. Not that she had much in the way of motivation to help the man. His plight was definitely reaching her, though. And what was this about Bismarck? An inside job? It wasn't quite intel, but that would change if she could get more out of him. It would probably be better to build some rapport first, no small task, even in his sorry state. Now, where to- "Hey, Firmia." ... Brant? That was definitely his voice coming out of her tablet ... "We're not done over here yet, but something came up." Firmia grimaced. Their five minutes was just about up now that she thought about it. And if something came up, then ... "Urgh ... I need to step out for one moment." Heading back out into the hallway, Firmia mentally braced herself for whatever this latest batch of nonsense was going to be. "... elaborate, please." Tarquin's outburst was a little sudden, and surprisingly cutting. What had Brant done to him? What had Firmia done to him for that matter? When and how had her decisions hurt him? Bad first impressions, maybe? Wasn't she risking her life and her livelihood over this war just like him and everyone else? In some ways she was going above and beyond, taking a leadership role she had no way to prepare herself for, and putting everything she held dear right on the front lines, personnel and resources alike. Tarquin seemed awfully hung up on this business of following orders. Maybe it was because of his own troubles, but that was just how the military worked. As long as the Avalon was functioning in the same capacity, it would need a similar command structure. Nobody had to like it, that was simply the way it was. Maybe this was about Liebenwalde. Knowing that man was a traitor couldn't have been easy to cope with. Any authority figure may have seemed like a ticking time bomb with thoughts of his professor floating around in there. Still, going after Firmia like she was some sort of slave driver ... had he even exchanged more than a few words with her, or just was he simply judging from a safe distance in keeping with his combat style? "Is that how you really feel about her? About me? The people working under her? You think we're just her toys?" Brant wasn't even going to start on the solution testing bit; Tarquin was treading some extremely toxic waters there without even realizing it. He could sense the younger pilot's irritation and wondered how long he'd felt this way. This was a bad way to address that grievance, regardless of when it started. "You really don't understand ... bringing her back to the Avalon was our idea, not Firmia's," Brant said, determined to make that point understood if nothing else. There was one other thing ... something bothering him on so many levels he would never put it all into words here and now. "... I don't like having to work for an 'Alkaev' after everything I've been through ... but it's just a name. She's her own person, and I know that from experience. Everyone that transferred with her to the Avalon knows it. Call her selfish all you want, Tarquin, but at least point me to someone who isn't selfish before trying to make that anthill into a mountain. Firmia's honoring her agreement to work with the ANF to beat Apotheosis. That should be enough for you, even with her side projects. And if that's not enough then talk to her ... figure out what's really going on." Thorvald meanwhile was suggesting a compromise. Given how reluctant Firmia was to even make an attempt at bringing the clone back, Brant doubted this would end well if he had to contact her and let her know they were staying for overtime. Right ... use the Odin to help out with the salvage operation while Chris stayed on the Riese to keep an eye on her latest sibling. Thorvald seemed pretty sure Firmia would go for it. Brant was less certain; the young Alkaev was always willing to pass up a good opportunity if she was frustrated and doing so would spare her more. Then there was Carlos, whom she probably wanted time to interrogate, right now ... There was no way this was going to end well, but with how he was feeling now, Brant was having a harder time actually caring, anymore. Best to just get this over with. "Hey, Firmia," he radioed her, making sure anything she said could be heard by Thorvald, and as a consequence, anyone else within earshot. No need to waste time playing middleman if it came to that. "We're not done over here yet, but something came up." "... elaborate, please." "The ... you called her Nina, right?" Wrong name, honestly. Now Brant couldn't do Chris and Tina jokes. "They're not going to let us take her back with us, at least not in the time you gave us. Thorvald's offering a compromise, though. He'll help us with the salvage while Chris stays here with Nina. After that he'll see what Jess wants to do." Brant thought that's what Thorvald meant, but he wasn't completely certain. He also had some reservations about leaving Chris here, even temporarily. He'd have to come back and pick her up, with or without Nina. He'd have to come back to this ... crowded ... unwelcoming hangar. "That's your idea of a compromise?" Firmia sounded anything but impressed. "His," Brant grinned bitterly at his wrist comm. Riese-Avalon relations were probably going to be strained by the end of this little episode. Firmia sighed heavily. It was a long pause on her end before she finally said, "What do you think?" Normally Brant might have at least tried to phrase himself a little better, but Firmia caught him by surprise asking him for his opinion, again. It was getting more and more common. "... I just wanna get the hell out of here. It's your call, Captain." "My- ... erm ..." Maybe the captain bit had caught her off guard. Oh well ...

Alriana apparently got Megumi's meaning, so there wasn't any need to try for a better explanation. Instead, she got to watch while Alriana complimented Tristan. She called him strong. Not strong enough to tough out a headache, though. Megumi would have gone with quick thinking, herself. "Tristan may be strong," Megumi said, handing off the Tylenol, "but as you can see, stress is stronger," she said, her tone the only thing giving away the playful jab. Mai meanwhile seemed surprised by Alriana's gender. "Doesn't she look like a female?" Megumi asked. She was in full agreement with Cheryl on that one, though to be completely honest, in that moment the doctor wasn't quite sure why that was the case. She squinted briefly at Alriana, looking for subtle indicators. Megumi quickly concluded that it was the lizard girl's relatively long hair, the pitch of her voice, and her slightly bottom loaded musculature that had her buying it. She could only wonder what the males looked like. The first and last mental image that came to mind was a taller, stubbier, bearded creature that would have been too strong and aggressive for just the bridge staff to hold down. As for helping, Mai was certainly well enough to play nurse, even if she didn't have the experience. Megumi considered it while the woman pestered Tristan about the pilots. That reminded her, she'd need to report to Makoto sometime before the debriefing like she said she would. She wondered if he would be annoyed with the stupidly late news. Either way, as long as he wasn't getting distracted from his own battles by things he couldn't change, the shady doctor felt no guilt whatsoever~ Charity? Yeah, not likely, Firmia mused. She shook her head, keeping up with the androids and Carlos as they approached the infirmary. "Closure ... I guess." Firmia did not like how somber she sounded, but she couldn't help it. She felt ... sad. Not angry. Just plain sad. Changing the subject was about all she could do to keep up appearances. "I also want information, but I'm not going to kill you. On that note ... if the ANF asks me to hand you over to them, I'm going to have to eventually, and they may want to execute you. Anything you can tell me beforehand might keep you alive. I'm not sure, but it's something to consider." Brant sighed as Thorvald stopped the two clones. So close, too ... a few meters from the Regalia's feet, even. Brant didn't like the idea of just waiting up here and not at least trying to back Chris up somehow, so that was no longer an option. Without really judging the height, he pushed off the edge of the Regalia's hatch and silently dropped the twenty feet or so to the hangar floor. It was a rough landing, but Brant absorbed it easily and slowly pulled himself backup to his full height. "It's not that we don't trust you," he said to Thorvald, "Firmia didn't give us a lot of time to get her ... in fact, I think we've only got a couple minutes left. That's why we're in a hurry. Anyway, don't you think the Riese has her hands full, right now? With everything going on here I doubt Doctor Amparo's going to have time to give her a full examination. Our doctor's a lot less busy." A thought suddenly occurred to him, but Brant hadn't even finished processing it before his mouth started moving on its own, again. "Firmia has a way to treat her. I can't promise anything but right now that's our best option." Brant had almost no idea what he was talking about, mentioning Firmia's treatment, but there were two important realizations that caused him to bring it up before knowing for certain whether or not it was true. The first was the mental conditioning Dima had originally planned for him and his older brother. That wasn't a practice run he was subjecting them to, the technique was well developed. The second was the Alkaev journal ... the one Firmia had just stolen from Dima, yesterday. If the research he and his minions did to come up with that conditioning plan was now in Firmia's hands, then there may be enough in there to try and treat this latest clone, minus the torture. It was a long shot to be sure, but maybe the bluff would help him and Chris out of this mess. If anyone wanted to check with Firmia about the treatment, she would probably just blow them off. Brant wasn't sure if that would help or hurt matters, but it probably wouldn't give the bluff away ... and who knows? Maybe they could treat the clone with that research data, assuming it existed.

Times like these were odd reminders that just one man could cause an immeasurable amount of damage. One press of the trigger and countless stories were ended in a brilliant flash. First her father had done it, blowing up the Alkaev company's main testing facility and killing hundreds, then Carlos had shot down one of the half dozen transport planes that made it out of that inferno in one piece. If not for the insane number of casualties adding up for Apotheosis over this last week, Firmia might not have been able to remain calm seeing Carlos in person. She did remain calm, though. He was defeated, and she could sense that clear as day. She wasn't sure if it was Apotheosis' defeat in general, the death of a specific comrade, or perhaps his own capture ... or even a combination of all three, but something had brought him low, and Firmia realized that their exchange probably wasn't going to get as heated as she had first imagined. While Chris headed down to grab the latest of the clones, Brant stayed with the Regalia. He wanted to go down but didn't know what to say or how to explain what they were doing here. So he sat on the edge of the AMS unit's open hatch, resting his arms on his knees while his legs dangled over the edge. He just took in the scene from a distance, picking up what he could of the exchange down below. It was really starting to sink in, just how much his life had changed. He wasn't even all that comfortable in the Riese's hangar anymore. So much silliness and Alkaev grunt work used to go on in here, but now the atmosphere was different. It didn't feel like there was enough room for him, somehow. Brant smiled bitterly at the thought, knowing Firmia would probably be secretly pleased if she knew how he was feeling, right now. After all, the Alkaev had one hell of a rival to contend with, and one hell of a warship to keep up with.

Megumi hadn't been expecting Alriana to fully comprehend what she'd said, so when the injured visitor from another solar system asked about her why she was Cheryl's favorite--something Megumi wasn't even certain of to begin with, the doctor was at a loss ... "Hmm ... I'm not sure. I completely lost it when I got to hold a ferret once. Maybe it's similar to that. It certainly beats being terrified." Another faint grin that surfaced, but it just couldn't quite reach the level of a real smile. The doctor still wasn't a fan of simply handing out drugs on a whim, but things were different in the military. She was at least getting used to that, now. While trying to force the image of that goofy little ferret out of her mind before she started giggling uncontrollably, Megumi went to fetch Tristan's 'feel better' pills. She stole a glance at the console while she was at it, where Tiffany's disembodied head and the pilot's vitals were still up on display. Most of them had cut off, though not because of a dead signal or other malfunction. It was the standard disconnect. The pilots were filing back into the ship and disembarking from their mechs. The last few feeds cut off as Megumi retrieved the Tylenol. Glass? Ow ... no! ... no pity, Firmia admonished herself. Carlos was lucky to be alive. She quickened her pace to reach the back of the MS hangar and the exit there. The infirmary wasn't far after that, a short walk, a right turn, and she was there. The Alkaev supposed she would do her soft interrogation while the doctor did his work. Well ... only if it wasn't getting in the way, that is. She could only hope things were going well outside, too. The ANF was mobilizing more quickly than they could, having more people and a more extensive communications network. Next time would be different, she promised herself. Next time, Firmia planned to have her drone program fully operational. Then they would only need their human salvagers for sifting through whatever the drones brought them. It would be so much faster and more efficient that way. She still planned to eventually give the ANF a similar set of drones to work with, starting with the Riese, but for now, she had to get her own operations in order. Sasha better not be dawdling on his drive system. That was key to this, she noted as she reached the back end of the MS hangar, her eyes fixing on Sasha briefly. Landing on the Riese was easy as ever in terms of piloting, but Brant wasn't sure what to expect once they were inside. The ship had been boarded during the battle, the signs of which were still apparent on the outer hull. They might not be venturing any deeper than the MS hangar, but if they did, in order to reach the infirmary presumably, Brant wondered what they might find along the way. There was no chance any damage the boarders inflicted had been cleaned up, yet. The lift ride down into the hangar was brief, and the Metis was easy enough to spot ... one of those suits that didn't quite belong, yet. Brant noticed the Regalia's old dock had already been reallocated, and the hangar in general was getting more and more full by the day. It was more apparent than ever that he was no longer a part of this crew. Yes, the Avalon would be working closely with the Riese crew, at least until the end of the war, but it simply wasn't the same. "We're not staying long anyway," Brant said somberly, "so I guess I can just kneel the Regalia down near the Odin and the Metis. I'm honestly not looking forward to this ..." He admitted with a wince as he brought the Regalia over to the gathering of pilots. There was no way to quietly set the Regalia down, so Brant didn't waste the effort. The armored knee struck the hangar floor with a resounding clank and he got himself loose from the harness. The clone hadn't been taken to the infirmary yet, so Chris' mission looked like it would be quite easy. Fortunately for Brant, he also didn't seem to be at risk of running into Jessica or any other sore spot while he was here.

It had only been a couple of minutes. The ANF had probably realized that the battle was wrapping up as well, and had their teams gearing up in advance. Firmia's heart sank at the news. She could care less about the clone situation right now. They already had a new TK--Gordon--whom they couldn't even field yet due to their lack of mobile suits. Bringing another Christina clone aboard didn't seem like it would improve the situation. Firmia also didn't want to just give in to her least cooperative crew member without some sort of compensation. As if to give Firmia the perfect excuse to let the Regalia go, Hannah chimed in, assuring her that the Mantle was still fully operational, and requesting orders. That wasn't the compensation she had in mind ... "Chris, I don't know what you want with that clone, but if you're going to do this then hurry. I'm giving you five minutes, and after that I want the Regalia helping out our salvage team. This salvage run is the most important to date." Hopefully this clone grab hadn't actually been Brant's idea. The last thing Firmia wanted were not one but two rebellious ... ... Firmia scowled, realizing Chris' callsign was irritatingly on point. The last thing the Avalon needed were two Mordreds. The captain had more ... delicate orders for King Arthur and her little sister. "Mantle Team, if there's any way for you to set up a data link with the Regina and the Chaldene, I want you to copy everything that's still intact. If the ANF already has someone inside then maybe you can piggyback off their connection without having to get too close. Also, if you find a way to bring back any useful parts while you're working, do it ... try not to step on the ANF's toes, but don't let them distract you either." That seemed like the best she could do. Other than the Rhea, the rest was bits and pieces, all of which her salvage team could deal with. Sasha kept his eyes on the androids as they retrieved Carlos and his ears on Monty while he addressed the situation. The infirmary was ready for any conventional injuries, naturally ... and fortunately Carlos looked like he wouldn't need much to be back up to one hundred percent, again. Was that in anyone's best interest at this point? Sasha shrugged at the thought, figuring it was good to be generous to a defeated enemy. For live captures like Carlos, it meant patching them up. For the dead, it meant salvaging their machines and putting them to better use~ "Yyyep ... looks like they're headed your way, Doctor. captive doesn't look too bad, actually. Our androids are holding him so he won't give you any trouble." And would you look at that, Firmia had arrived and was crossing the hangar the long way. Well, it wasn't so much the 'long way' as it was heading across via the walkways flanking the MS docks instead of cutting through the center of the hangar, which would require taking the stairs down and then up again, or two lifts. "Another thing, the captain's going to be joining you, soon. Be sure to put on a good show for her~" It sounded like Firmia had given them the go ahead. Not wanting to waste any time, Brant radioed the Riese. "Long time no see," Brant joked to the bridge, "Regalia requesting permission to land. We won't be long. Promise ..." As Brant turned the Regalia to approach the Riese, a thought occurred. What was Chris' plan here? Just land, go down into the hangar, grab the latest clone, stuff her into the cockpit with them and leave? There was enough room for her ... but only in the strictest sense. There was nothing in the Regalia's cockpit even approaching tertiary seating. Brant nearly chuckled imagining the two girls sharing the copilot's chair, one on the other's lap. "Okay how are we going to handle this? She might be hurt." Well, he could always just carry her if that was the case, but they might raise some eyebrows with the Riese having its own infirmary. If she was injured, then by the time they arrived she might already be up there. How was it going to look if they tried to take her? They only had five minutes ... Either way they were probably going to think this clone grab was all Firmia's idea, and something about that was just plain amusing to Brant.

No needles ... pff, that was what the spray and the special bandages were for, though that did make Megumi wonder if any medication Alriana might need further down the line should be taken orally. They needed to gather more data before she started putting anything else into the vaguely reptilian creature's system--she was oddly warm for a reptile, on that note ... for now it was best to monitor those wounds and get ready for any other potential patients. Hopefully no one else that came in was out of the loop about the alien on board. "... I feel like you're her new favorite," Megumi mused aloud at Alriana. It was kind of funny, but they still had to be very careful until the information reached the whole ship, and not just out of consideration for the crew. Worst case scenario, someone whipped out a pistol and shot Alriana on sight. They would just wind up back here in the infirmary anyway, so best to stay put until the Captain had time to bring everyone up to speed. Speaking of which, it wasn't a bad time to call Tambre back. They were uncomfortably close to capacity in terms of how many people they could efficiently look after. "Tambre, if you're not dealing with anyone right now, I want you back up here in the infirmary." There~ Bennet's point about being essentially 'the right amount' of scared was probably true, but Megumi just wasn't feeling it. They were dealing with an armor clad, knife wielding, mobile suit piloting velociraptor from some unknown part of the galaxy. They ought to be the ones taking sedatives, to stop their knees from buckling. Perhaps the time to process everything, along with the fact that Alriana could actually communicate with them verbally, was balancing out how dangerous she truly was. The doctor had also been treating her directly and had several other rationalizations for staying calm. "We should be fine for now," Megumi assured Olivia, watching carefully as Alriana fished up her armor, "And you shouldn't put that back on, just yet. It's fine if you want to hold onto it, but we can protect you." That sounded silly in the doctor's ears considering how poorly they had protected their own captain. Of course Megumi's big weapons were all here in the infirmary, including her depressing memento from Africa ... so she had options. Regardless, the armor was Alriana's to deal with. If she didn't feel like being extra vulnerable, the armor shouldn't disturb those special bandages. The additional pressure on them would just be uncomfortable once the numbing wore off. Boom ... Firmia took off her bare bones T-Link headpiece and stood up from the captain's chair. "I really do need a second in command," she muttered to herself, thinking of Sasha's joke from the introduction meeting. She was about to leave the bridge, but without an XO she was basically leaving the ship unattended. "Flores, keep an eye on things for me up here. If anything happens, you're free to engage any targets the Riese or our mobile suits are engaging." If something did happen, Firmia would just quickly come back. With that, the Avalon's captain grabbed her tablet and took the shortest path possible to the changing rooms. From there, she would head to the infirmary. The Megalodon II class' infirmary was near the back of the ship, and while it felt like an odd choice, even compared to the Riese's infirmary, the Alkaev could see the designers mulling the issue over for some time before settling on a location. Like the Leviathan class, the infirmary was about as far from the crews quarters as you could feasibly get, but on the larger class it was fairly close to the bridge and entry hatch. The most likely injuries on a modern warship were probably going to be in the hangar area or in engineering areas. That's where all the dangerous work took place, and the MS hangar was where injured arrivals would likely come in. Case in point. The Avalon's reactors were directly accessible from near the crews quarters, so that was a clear trade off of the current placement. It just meant it was a longer trip for any injured personnel coming from the front half of the ship. At least they didn't need to take a lift in most cases. Changing out of her SKIN suit wasn't the only thing Firmia was doing on the way to face her enemy. She'd figured out how she wanted to address the situation with the Regalia now, and raised her tablet up to contact her via her preferred interface ... "Regalia Team, I have two jobs for you, and I need you on this right now ..." The battle was over but Brant was fighting on a different front, trying to take the 'new' Jessica more fully into account. At some point she would want to talk to him again. He still figured it would depend entirely on how Abigail handled the news. If she handled it well, Brant expected Jessica to keep things brief with him, to make it easier to avoid that particular topic and keep the peace in her preferred relationship. After that, things would taper off into nothing. Working on different ships was an artificial rift that wasn't going to go away. If Abigail didn't handle the news well on the other hand ... Brant supposed he would have to remind himself day in and day out what he was striving for and why. Otherwise the pain would take over and guide his actions. Chris was right ... today really was a mess. Brant did want to check on the clone the Odin had 'rescued,' but how could they? The Regalia could physically dock with the Heion Riese ... nothing had changed so drastically, but would Firmia let them? Not a change, Brant mused. Chris figured they should hurry and try, lest their captain call and direct them elsewhere, and he agreed. It wasn't necessary but maybe a brief visit to the Riese wasn't out of the question. A brief visit to Jessica probably was. At this point, Brant would rather face a real stabbing than have to be in the same room as Jessica and Abigail. One or the other was fine, but thinking of both made his whole body cringe. And there it is ... Is it ever going to stop ...? "Urgh, yeah let's see how she's doing," Brant grunted, forcing his thoughts onto the other clone. "Regalia Team," Firmia came in over the radio, like the Prophetess Chris had warned, "I have two jobs for you, and I need you on this right now ..." "That urgent, huh?" Brant sighed, taking his helmet off and running his glove through his hair. "The Regalia didn't take any damage so you two should remain on standby until the ANF gives an all clear signal. But more importantly, I want you to search for any survivors on our side, and direct any rescue teams that show up to them. Second, I want you to identify and mark every Apotheosis unit on the field that was destroyed so our salvage team knows what to prioritize. We'll let the ANF deal with their own units, but I want first pick of everything Apotheosis lost this time and I'm willing to put in the work. So get on it. I'll be on this channel if anything happens." "Hold on, what about the Metis?" Brant supposed Firmia wouldn't as care much with a Chaldene to pick through but there was also another TK piloting the Metis. Not to mention there was T-Link equipment they actually needed. "Shouldn't we look into that? The unit's holding together better than the Rhea, and the funnel system it uses is different from ours." "Yeah," Firmia agreed, "... the Odin already picked it up. That one belongs to the Riese now. Focus on what we can still keep for ourselves." Brant groaned inwardly. This was definitely an arms race in her eyes. He didn't want to bring up the latest Christina clone, hoping that the Metis itself would hold Firmia's interest. She was focused on the Apotheosis units nobody else had touched yet, unfortunately. And the job she had for them actually was important. It seemed like all they could do was check in via radio while they surveyed the battlefield. They weren't going to have time for much else. "Tonya, are you still in the hangar?" Firmia spoke at her tablet as she took off her SKIN suit in the changing room, "I need you to get ready to launch, again. You're going to help out the Regalia and the salvage teams." The Mantle needed repairs, so the Reign was a good stand in. They had to use it for something besides catching fast balls. Tonya seemed only slightly reluctant ... probably wishing she had more time to poke and prod her captured rival. Firmia could certainly understand that, but she had work to do, and Carlos wasn't going anywhere without a cyanide capsule. Firmia stepped out of the changing room less than two minutes after going in. She had put on a dress shirt, some slacks, and to inch just a little closer to her comfort zone, her new black duster. Now she was ready to face the man that killed her would be crew and stranded her in a situation that was as alien and threatening to her as the Sacarian menace. Stepping into the hangar, Firmia realized she wasn't far behind Stephanie and Jessica. The Rhea's cockpit immediately drew her attention, though, not the scrambling salvage teams, nor Tonya disappearing into the Reign and the suit's optics flashing on, but that roughed up cockpit. Carlos probably needed to go to the infirmary from the looks of that. Firmia resumed her jog, heading around the starboard side of the hangar along the walkway to save time.

Alriana tried to get up right when Cheryl asked if she was good to walk around. Apparently she wanted to take their alien patient to the cafeteria for some food. Both of them wound up on the infirmary floor. "Hopefully that answers your question," Megumi said, some of the excitement leaving her as she considered how best to handle the situation. They had to be realistic, here. Noting Mai's reaction, the doctor decided it was best not to move the newest patient around, especially not down into the crew's area. Alriana may not have been a security risk at the moment, and they had judged that she didn't need to be put in the brig as a result, but it was still too soon to be doing anything else besides keeping her alive and healthy. Maybe after the mission debriefing, and sharing what they knew about Alriana, it would be less dangerous to take her to other parts of the ship. For now, it just plain wasn't a good idea. "The rest of the crew hasn't been brought up to speed yet," Megumi said, nudging her head at Bennet while also thinking of Mai, "... or had time to process all of this. We need to wait and keep her here for now. It's fine if you want to bring her some food, though." All this while heading back over to the console Tiffany was waiting at to check on the pilot's data feed. Things were looking surprisingly good on this end, as well. It actually seemed like the tension was dying down as a whole, with Makoto standing out as overly excited at the moment. This could mean that the Riese Team's momentum was picking up and this battle would be over soon. "I'm sorry for the scare, Mrs. Watanabe. To answer your questions, yes aliens exist, this one was working with Apotheosis in a manner of speaking, there might be more of them out there the team is fighting, and for now we're going to keep her here." Most of her answers likely wouldn't put Mai at ease, but it wasn't really meant to. The shock would wear off and when it did, she should be alright. Alriana wasn't doing anything to reinforce the fear that came with the unknown. In fact, it was more like watching a stray puppy take in her new surroundings. Almost. As much as Firmia wanted to leave things to Marcia for a moment and go see Carlos now, the battle still wasn't quite finished, yet. That became painfully clear when their alien ally asked for her directly over the comm system. Firmia just wished she hadn't been so ... overly familiar in addressing her. This Vvi girl almost sounded intoxicated, though that didn't seem to be hurting her performance in the slightest. "Why certainly," Firmia replied, putting on her regal mask for a brief second. Carlos would have to wait. Even as Firmia sent the Avalon's funnels in to fire on the same Hyperion as their new ally, Stephanie called back, asking where they should move Carlos. Firmia had the faintest urge to have them bring him right up to the bridge ... but she didn't want to be seen in a SKIN suit by the enemy, not even a helpless one. Carlos really would have to wait. "Take him to the infirmary and stay with him there. The battle's almost over so I'll be there, soon." By the time they had gotten Carlos out of the embarrassing remains of his old death machine, Tonya had made it down to the ground floor and was listening to the tail end of their back and forth. "So you're the one that was giving us such a hard time back at Great Lie Base. Nice to finally meet face to face," she almost smirked. She kept things tame in light of the overwhelming Apotheosis casualties that were surely weighing on him. It would have been fair game after what happened at Great Lake Base, but that just wasn't her style. "Looks like it's straight to the infirmary ... You got injured during the fight, right? Not when I brought you back?" Sasha watched from up by the Regalia's empty dock, wondering what kind of person they were dealing with. Was he like Louise? Did he bring enough sass with him to eventually make Firmia regret having him on the ship? Was he like Vera? Was he too simple minded and self limiting for a war like this? Was he just an elite mook being used by the former two? Something to think about ...

Carnivores would be carnivores, Megumi thought as she got the last bullet out. With that finished, she quickly but carefully got to work sterilizing and applying SIEG at each site. Next came the special bandages that kept the wounds firmly closed but not pursed up at the surface. They had near thread like patches that all but seamlessly closed a wound when pulled across one another. Very simple, but much less invasive than stitches when they could be used. The applications went on quick and the bandages went on quicker, so it didn't take Megumi long to finish up once she got started. "There," Megumi cracked a faint smile she wasn't even aware of, "Thank you for cooperating with us, Alriana. You can take those bandages off in a few hours, but for now, please don't mess with them." It was difficult to tell how much English Alriana understood versus how much she could speak. Megumi erred on the side of helpful body language. It might still be a big challenge communicating all around without Cheryl here, so she was glad her friend was one of the rare few aboard the Riese not having a hard time with this first contact business. "They're leaving!" Firmia was only a little shocked by the green light show, but she had mixed feelings about the sudden but typical change in tactics. It was good to have them pull out before the Mantle suffered any further damage, but anyone they didn't take out today would be back for the next round. It was tiresome to say the least. Apotheosis was never going to truly commit to fighting the ANF. The cost of losing was simply too high. The cost for them had already catastrophic, and they should have pulled out as soon as the Regina went down ... but like stubborn gamblers at a casino, they wanted to get back at the house and recoup their losses, if not in gains for their own forces, then crippling losses for the ANF. No such luck, bastards ... "This is the Captain to the hangar. Apotheosis just started their retreat. There are only a few units left. Suicide squad ... Get ready to start repair and salvage operations. I want salvage teams on the ground before the ANF even has time to get pictures of that wreckage." She had one more order to give, but it was for the Regalia team and she had to finish thinking it through, first ... "Firmia's a real vulture when advanced tech's involved," Tonya mused as she stepped out of the Reign's cockpit. She left the helmet inside, figuring it would save her some time like it had here when the next emergency came up. "Almost ironic since this battle group is mopping the floor with them." She approached the edge of the walkway and took in the hangar. Things were starting to move with Firmia's orders coming down like they had. Down on the hangar floor nearby, Stephanie and Jessica were seeing to Carlos. Tonya grinned like a cat, pleased with her catch. If she got down there she'd get to see this cocky sniper in person before Firmia got to. Best to let the androids check him over first, though. Jessica was always so quick to end things ... For now Brant just shifted his attention, considering the fight with Apotheosis a brief respite from his real struggles. At least he could win these fights with enough shots fired. Things were still going well and Apotheosis was pulling back its most important assets. It seemed like the Hyperions had fallen down notch or two in importance. Since they were staying behind, it was obvious how this was going to end. The handful of remaining enemies were paying the Regalia team special attention now that they were in clear view and flying low ... "Here they come," Brant scowled at his monitor. Attacking at the exact same time, two Hyperions tried to bring down them down, one with its buster sword, the other with its beam rifle. "Need you on the other one," Brant said, momentarily switching the Regalia into MS mode as its funnels burst into action. The move slowed the Regalia down enough to let the incoming beam shot slip right in front of them and pass harmlessly by. As a bonus, slowing down so suddenly forced the sword wielder to move in even farther to take his swipe at the Regalia. By that time, Brant was ready with the hyper beam rifle's bayonet, and parried the attack before switching sides, giving his opponent one good look at the twin hatches of the shield's integrated missile launcher before one of the explosives burst out and careened into the machine's head. As Brant pulled the Regalia up and shifted back into flight mode, he noticed the Metis going up against the Odin, Thorvald's new machine. Brant and Chris were out of position and couldn't help, yet. The timing couldn't have been worse, could it? ... on the other hand, Brant supposed all that really mattered when dealing with the Metis was making certain the clone inside wasn't killed in the chaos. Thorvald was certainly seeing to that. "We can head over and grab her as soon as they're out of the way," Brant grunted, preparing to push back or destroy the Hyperions, first. They wanted this meaningless, bloody battle, not the defenders, and they were going to get it.

The Reign made it back to the Avalon almost as quickly as it'd left. Firmia's prize prisoner, Carlos, was still trapped in his Rhea's brutally dislodged cockpit, but Tonya had him firmly in her mobile suit's arms as she touched down inside the port side launch bay. The timing couldn't be better with those Hyperions closing in. "Galahad here. Retrieval successful. ... maybe. ... I know Firmia didn't send me out there to bring back a corpse for her to kick around ..." The elevator ride down into the MS hangar was a tense one, twenty-some seconds of wondering how her cargo was doing, and whether or not she failed. Admittedly, Tonya had a tiny personal stake in Carlos' survival, as well. By some miracle she'd been given the chance to meet the Apotheosis pilot that tried to take her and everyone else out face to face. She really hoped she hadn't blown it here. She understood Firmia's need to confront him in person, even just once. The Reign arrived safely in the hangar, and carefully made its way toward its dock, just past the Regalia's. Before settling back into place, Tonya carefully ... oh so carefully set down the Rhea's cockpit. "Sorry for the mess," Tonya said over the comms, "he got tossed pretty hard out there ..." "What a tidy woman," Sasha snickered as he eyed the 'mess.' It was about what you'd expect from a battle that fierce, but it wasn't like the androids would be scrapping the pilot out of there with a pair of spatulas. "Stephanie, Jessica, you're up. Let's get him out of there--cautiously, and see if he's going to the brig or the infirmary." Hopefully Carlos wouldn't get any funny ideas now that he was inside an enemy ship. Suicidal maniacs were the worst ... Cheryl was on board, and taking the more appropriate of the two roles, so Olivia could sit this one out, Megumi supposed. She truly hadn't signed on for this. Megumi got started extracting the bullets, glad she wasn't causing Alriana any pain and getting instantly kiboshed as a result. The first bullet came out easily enough, and Megumi kept a good pace, though she was inevitably falling behind Cheryl. Her colleague only had to spray a spot a couple of times and then move on, while the doctor had to actually dislodge and remove those painful little projectiles, and then come back to close them up. Cheryl was done with the anesthetic well before Megumi was even a tenth of the way into her part. There was still the matter of keeping Alriana nice and calm, though. "I'm not going to let myself get worn down like that, again," Brant assured Chris, "I'll be careful but it's not something we have to worry about right now." Only getting shot at and the like ... Jessica thought he hadn't wanted to talk to her? Granted it was a titanic endeavor to even consider at times, but the last thing Brant wanted was to end all contact like this. That had been killing him little by little, figuratively in one sense and literally in another. At least from the look of things, the long silence was finally over. With that came the risk of having to face that pairing he dreaded so much, but for now it was just Jessica. It was almost enough to make the pain stop, but it hadn't, because deep down he knew that very little had changed in the grand scheme of things. In spite of that, in spite of the situation, and this damn battle ... or perhaps because of the battle, he had this, a little time with her that wasn't completely poisoned by grief. "I appreciate hearing that, Jess. Really. Thanks."

"Whoa!" Tonya barely had time to change course as the Rhea exploded. She thought Carlos was toast, but his cockpit went sailing with him inside it. Acting on instinct, Tonya shifted to MS mode, using the Reign's arms and legs to slow herself down in time. Carefully manipulating the Reign's arms, she caught the cockpit with both hands and then pushed the machine's leg thrusters hard. The maneuver initially brought the Reign to a halt mid-air, uncomfortably close to the Rhea's flying debris, but then the continued thrust sent Tonya and Carlos both flying straight backwards, away from the carnage. "Damn, we're on fire, today. Well, Apotheosis is ... Galahad to the Avalon. I've got him. I think he's okay in there ..." She'd been shaken up a lot worse in Alkaev exercises, and in cheaper cockpits. "Heading back, now." "Good job. Get inside and make it quick," Firmia replied, breathing a sigh of ... partial relief. That blue Rhea had gone out of its way to secure Carlos' cockpit, something she'd never seen before. Apotheosis pilots were typically on their own in a battle, and either retreated safely by themselves in the end or died in horrific, unsalvageable explosions. Was Carlos that important to Apotheosis, or just that other Rhea in particular? Either way, the Alkaev had an odd feeling about what had just happened. It made her reluctant to radio Carlos directly and see if he was both alive and conscious. Fortunately--in a sense, he sent her a message, though it seemed to be just before some kind of systems failure. The transmission failed from his end, and not in the usual way. They could and would check on him once he was safely aboard, so maybe for now it was best not to. Speaking of which ... "Sasha, Tonya's on her way back with a prisoner. I need you to get ready for them over there." "You've got it." A prisoner incoming ... Well, the brig wasn't in the hangar, so there was still a ways to go to move the captured pilot. Call it a design flaw, but the less an enemy combatant saw of the hangar, the better. "Stephanie, Jessica," he radioed the two androids, "I need you over here for a prisoner escort." No need for guns in this instance, so he didn't ask them to bring any. He considered giving the doctor a call too, but decided to wait until they knew the condition of the prisoner. On second thought ... "Are these open hours right now? We've got a prisoner incoming and I thought you should know. Apotheosis' cockpits might be better designed than ours, but just in case they aren't, I wanted you to know ahead of time." No hissing, growling or other threatening noises came her way, so Megumi gave herself the green light to continue. She focused on the next wound, repeating the process. "So far so good. You're doing well, Alriana. Bennet, if you're feeling up to it, we can speed things up with you working on the extractions. Or, we can switch places." It didn't matter to her as long as they got Alriana patched up without having to fix anyone else along the way. Talk more often ... it sounded nice, something worth looking forward to ... and also not very realistic. Jessica couldn't manage so much as a text message after Abigail got out of the brig. With things getting busier aboard the Riese all the time, and this exposed body of hers to deal with, Brant wasn't sure when she'd find the time, not to mention the motivation. The best case scenario in his mind saw them chatting maybe once or twice in the next couple of days, and then Abigail would get over her aversion to androids out of sheer necessity. After that, Brant wouldn't hear from Jessica again for ... a good while at least, and he sure as hell wasn't going to push things. Chris still didn't like that he was putting himself through all of this, but for Brant outgoing love toward others wasn't just the occasional good deed. It meant doing what he could even if it hurt like hell, which it did in this case. "If you're here, I can manage," he assured Chris, cutting his voice from the comms briefly so only she would hear him. "I'm not interested in comfort, Jess. What I do is for your sake, not mine. Besides, there are people looking out for me, so don't worry about that. If you need me, I'm here ..." Those words hadn't been easy to get out in the open, and Brant hoped he wouldn't always be this weak, for Chris' sake. Firmia moves to 16,17 casts Alert (8 SP), has Marcia cast Shield (20 SP), and attacks Hyperion #5 with AV Funnels and support from Brant (HBR)! Brant moves to 14,17 and initiates Twin Bird with the Mantle on Hyperion #2!

Tiffany was too accurate for their own good. Megumi wasn't sure how they were going to get those bullets out without setting off their patient. Obviously the situation called for anesthetic, but those had to be administered in much the same way as the SIEG solution. Friggin' needles. Then again ... there were very strong topical versions she could use. Numb the area, dig out the bullets, close the area, apply the SIEG. That could work. Alriana wouldn't be feeling much more than the strange relief that accompanied total numbness. "One second," Megumi said to Cheryl as she turned to search for the anesthetic. It was more of a minion fetch quest, but with Cheryl keeping the patient occupied, waiting around wasn't ideal. When she got back, she had pretty much everything she needed, though rather than a suture kit, she had an experimental replacement that somewhat resembled an ordinary bandage. It would be less uncomfortable once the numbing wore off, but keep the wound closed while the SIEG worked its science magic. Holding up what almost looked like a can of spray paint, Megumi emphasized it for Alriana before she got started. "This will feel ... a little weird, at first," she said slowly, "but it won't hurt." Not much, at least. Assuming this worked on her, the initial sting would fade so fast she'd be unsure if it'd been real or not. Testing it on the nearest wound, Megumi gently sprayed one of Alriana's wounds twice and hoped she'd still have a head on her shoulders afterward. Tiffany was doing alright, but the doctor doubted she would fare quite so well. "Friend is a strong term," Firmia noted to herself, grateful to anyone that enjoyed blowing up Apotheosis as much as she did, but dubious of any alliances. "Thanks for the update, Ensign," she replied cordially before closing the channel. She was also grateful that Hannah had been on the ball, there. Firmia had too much going on to be monitoring radio traffic, right now. Too many distractions and she'd accidentally steer the Avalon too close to the Riese. Flying this low to the ground also made tall structures a potential danger, even if it limited the enemy's ability to locate them and return fire. Sure enough, the mysterious pilot--a member of another alien race, in fact, came through on an open channel and introduced herself. She wasted no time in laying most of her cards on the table, but her smooth talking and overall demeanor made Firmia less trusting than she otherwise might have been. She quickly decided that even if she had reservations about this, surprise additions like this would virtually always be Jessica's problem first and foremost. As long as the ships were sharing reasonable amounts of data and materials, the Avalon wouldn't be missing out. Keeping a safe distance would also help Firmia get used to the idea of working with aliens, something she admittedly hated the idea of at the moment. There was always something to work on ... "This is Firmia Alkaev, Captain of the Avalon. Welcome to Earth, Vvi." Was she actually talking to someone that had been born and raised multiple light years from Earth? Holy crap ... "We gladly accept your offer." She wasn't trying to speak on behalf of the ANF, only for herself and her crew ... but she doubted it would come across any other way. At worst someone would probably just ask her not to do it, again. Not really worth worrying about ... "Now then, would you mind helping us clean up this mess? I'm sure it won't be long before the Sacarians show up, again." She was well spoken and almost regal in her demeanor, but Firmia's heart was racing. She was talking to an alien ... not in person but what did it matter? There was going to be so much to process both physically and mentally once the battle was over, and this was not least among them. Brant listened as Jessica tried again to work her way through the situation. She seemed to be taking his question fairly seriously now, thankfully. She was still scared, as she pointed out, and that was fine. Brant's main concern was not letting her low self esteem turn a bad situation into the end of the world. A while ago she'd been giving him yet another opportunity to turn on her, like she deserved it or something. That wouldn't do, and neither would setting herself up in other ways. It turned out Jessica was getting help from ... herself, essentially. Certain programs were active now that she was exposed and one of them wasn't letting her have her usual way of freaking out. Brant was more than a little grateful to that particular program, but he couldn't say as much openly. He just grinned slightly at the first mention of it. What Brant would have rather been grinning about was what Jessica said next, that she was glad he was still here. She thanked him, and something like that should never hurt this much, but it did. It was supposed to be positive thinking, yes. On the other hand, it reminded him that nothing short of the total destruction of her old life could possibly bring them anywhere close to where they had been before. And meanwhile I'm actually stupid enough to put my life and Chris' on the line just to talk with her. There's nothing right about this ... "Yeah ..." Brant eventually replied, "... positive thinking." Easier said than done.

"We'll have to see if things stay that way," Megumi noted, "She's not patched up yet, and I could see her getting quite angry, soon." She feared Alriana might not like it if and when the doctor ordered a sample taken. It didn't help that the restraints had already come off. Abigail would be jealous, and rightly so. Treating Alriana's wounds would go a lot better if they could use SIEG on her, but it was designed specifically for humans. She felt at best it wouldn't be as potent, and at worse there would be some adverse negative effects. Nothing lethal, but ... testing it on an isolated tissue sample would be enough of a quick and dirty test to see if they could move forward. In the spirit of not wasting time or risking some other problem, she would just ask first. To Tiffany, she said, "Aboard the ship? We're fine for the moment, but last I checked they're still fighting, outside." That reminded the doctor that she ought to fall back on her older setup so she could monitor the other pilots and pester them if they got themselves hurt. So much to do ... For now she set Tiffany's head down at the console she was planning to monitor the pilots from, and booted the thing up. It was still set up for its prior purpose, so Megumi got the pilot feeds up with minimal effort. "Keep an eye on this for me and call me over if anyone's in serious trouble." "Actually ... Cheryl, can you see if Alriana here knows what SIEG is and what it does? I'd normally run some quick tests on some tissue samples, but since the sedative option is off the table now, actually getting a sample could be risky. If she knows or has already been treated with it, then we can just go ahead and get started." Not that the doctor wouldn't be doing some serious note taking while observing the results. Treating an alien with that stuff was going to be an interesting little experiment~ She could feel excitement pushing fear more and more off to the side, with reasoning about Alriana's robust form, endurance, and sheer body mass excusing any reluctance on her part. Oh great, the Cheryl bug was contagious ... For now, control the bleeding, gather information, remove any bullets and debris, then ask the question, to SIEG or not to SIEG? "Let's see now ..." Tonya took a moment to ponder something as the Reign was brought up to Catapult A for sortie. It seemed like the bump she felt from the sudden stop jostled everything into place. She gripped the controls and the Reign hunched over as the catapult grabbed hold of its feet. "Don't waste any time out there, alright? Get Carlos and bring him back here by any means necessary!" Firmia still rushing her out the door ... "On it. This is Galahad, taking off!" The Reign was shot out of the Avalon in the same second the launch bay had finished opening up, and the AMS unit immediately transformed into its flight mode. "Okay, beam rifle, beam cannon, beam saber, and vulcans. Ugh ... that'll have to do. Hopefully I don't run out of power this time around. Ready or not, little Rhea, here I come~" Alright, Tonya was clear, though these callsigns were getting out of hand. Firmia wanted to focus her attention on the Chaldenes once the Rhea was gone, but when the Mantle met the Metis and they clashed, the Alkaev feared she would have to leave the battleships to someone else for the time being and try to help Hannah out. There was also something off about that suit. She recognized it but she was certain there was a different TK piloting it this time around. Either way, the Mantle had already taken too much damage for her liking, and it could only get worse if the two suits continued trading blows, so it was time to call her off. "Mantle Team, I need you to pull out. You're taking way too much damage." Not to mention there was a new unit on the field. For some reason it had turned to face its mothership ... and that was when the shooting started. Wait a minute, did they really bring a wildcard like that into this fight and cut them loose? How desperate was Apotheosis, anyway? "AMS units keep your distance. I'll see if the Riese hasn't already contacted them. And Galahad, remember to focus on Carlos. Don't let anyone or anything slow you down." Circumstances were improving quickly ... and oddly. All that was left was to take full advantage of it and not let up. "Vivian to the Riese-" she wasn't calling that colossus 'Bright Eyes' anytime soon, "whoever's in command right now, have you contacted the unknown, yet? The one that took out the Chaldene." She had half a mind to try, but only if it wouldn't be redundant. Jessica said everyone, but she was having an impossible time proving to Brant that she actually meant it. He wondered what she thought of her crew if she was worried about something like this. Was anyone besides Abigail so thoroughly against androids that they would immediately shun her? When they learned that even Jessica hadn't known what she was, would anyone still be against her personally? What did she stand to lose besides Abigail's love? Those questions, coupled with her fear was getting under Brant's skin. Everyone else? No, he shook his head, just Abigail, at worst. And because of her, it was like Jessica couldn't even see the rest of her crew properly. Clearly. Otherwise she wouldn't be so terrified of them knowing. After all of these battles she should have known that. Brant could admit to himself that he felt like chopped liver thinking on this. After all, even if literally every last person on the Riese wanted nothing more to do with her, he was still ... ... well, he wasn't a part of that crew anymore, and he didn't matter outside of this one unique exchange. Even Firmia's unchangeable opinion of Jessica was more important to her for some reason. Was he even here, right now ... alive and present in Jessica's mind, and not just a chatty coping mechanism? He supposed that too didn't really matter. "There's nothing to apologize for," Brant said, forcing himself to calm down long enough to reply, "but you're worrying about the wrong things. That's your crew on that ship. Think about it. How is this really going to play out in reality, you think?" He had little choice but to ignore the incoming transmissions for now, though the bit of information getting through was helpful. That Chaldene hadn't fared well against the new machine, and since they'd launched it in the first place, they had Brant's sympathies ...

"Someday we'll all be able to look back at this and have a good laugh," Sasha wagered, "most of us, at least. That's assuming the rest of this fight goes alright ... huh?" Sasha saw Tonya rush into the hangar at mach speed. She rounded the corner on the walkway by kicking off of it and picked up speed again as she approached him. He almost didn't have time to react, just barely stepping aside as she came. "What's the ru-" "Captain's orders," Tonya said as she leaped up onto the outer walkway rail and flipped high over Sasha's head. She landed on the inner rail as she cleared her confused obstacle. She hopped back down to the walkway on her next step and then kept on sprinting to the Reign. "Open sesame!" Yes, the AMS unit actually responded to that, its chest plate folding upward to let her through to the cockpit hatch. Sasha supposed he'd better prep catapult A and not slow her down any further. "One sec, Cherie~ It's not getting bad out there, is it, Tonya?" He sent the signal to the elevator and it went into standby mode, waiting for the next MS to approach. "Not yet, but we've got a chance to capture Carlos and Firmia's not passing it up." By the time she'd said that, the cockpit hatch had opened, and she disappeared inside. She was wearing her coveralls but not an actual MS flight suit, which meant all she would have for this brief sortie was her helmet, which she kept inside the cockpit most of the time. From what Sasha had gathered, Carlos was the one Tonya had tried to distract while he and Firmia escaped to Great Lake Base. That wasn't long after the Black Swan went down. That made him that sniper that had caused the little Alkaev so much grief starting out. The Reign had run out of ammunition before anything could be designed, and had to high tail it out of there to make it back to the Riese before its fuel ran out. Wanting to grab that guy made sense; sending Tonya to do it was more questionable. Who was piloting the ship right now? Firmia? Sasha just hoped the captain could keep a level head, and not try to extract her revenge on an unarmed prisoner. Time to let the Reign out for some fresh air. Sasha seemed occupied all of a sudden. And Cheryl was as happy to toss out old references as Megumi was. As for Cheryl's question, she had some ideas ... mostly old quotes now that aliens were firmly on the brain. "I know exactly what I'm going to tell him. 'She's a robot!' 'Bring back life form, priority one, all other priorities are rescinded.' And lastly, can I get a bonus for treating an alien without getting anyone else killed? I think I've earned it." No smiles or witty grins, Megumi was wearing her poker face like always. That was until they came across the disembodied head of Tiffany, again. Then she just winced. it would be funny ... if only it weren't so sad. "Ugh, I can't take this anymore," Megumi shook her head, stepping over to the android and picking her up off the ground. They weren't just going to leave her there. The mechanics could ask around for the head after the battle. "Anyone ever tell you you look dead?" One more more to fully calm her nerves~ "Grrr ..." Firmia was afraid of that, one of Carlos' allies stepping into defend him ... and eventually pull him out of there. She couldn't let it happen, which was why she'd sent Tonya. The Reign wasn't meant for combat, and the armor they added to it while it was aboard the Riese wouldn't change that, but with Tonya piloting, it could easily stand up to a Rhea. "Tonya, hurry! Split those two up and bring back Carlos! Go! Open fire!" "Heh, yeah." The joke had fallen as flat as Brant feared it would, but at least Jessica had tried. "Congratulations." Might as well fall flat together. As she continued talking with him, there was something about the way Jessica was explaining herself, something that really irked Brant. The Velite going up in smoke didn't do much to balance out that feeling. It was just another enemy that refused to back down, getting exactly what they deserved. It only took a moment to link up with Hannah and unleash hell on the Saturn she'd marked for them, but it was still an intense moment, trying to do everything at once like this. Thinking on it though, fighting and having a serious discussion at the same time may not have been smart, but it was still working. Again it brought him back to his days of coaching Firmia through a fight while they were both being shot at. It always brought his survival time down a little but it also brought hers up. Even if it was a detriment in live combat, Chris seemed to be offsetting the danger a good deal for him. This was actually getting slightly easier. His shooting, even with missiles in high traffic environments was getting better. His accuracy in general seemed to be improving, too. And it definitely took skill to even attempt something like this in the first place. Brant kept trying to figure out just what was bothering him about Jessica's remarks. It wasn't until she'd just about repeated a prior point that it finally hit him. "Jess ... I know Abby's important to you." His grip on the controls became a little too tight having said that, "but she's not the only person in the room. If you're worried about everyone hating you, stop. That's not a possibility. It never was, and you should know that already." In one respect it was just plain wrong, but in another it was an insult to everyone under her command. If Abigail was her whole world then where did that leave everyone else? This was the reason, this right here was why any chance he had of being with her was effectively gone. Even if Jessica wanted him and not her, it would just be more of the same. She would put too much focus on her partner, whoever they were, and together they would form a self centered black hole, a giant sink from which no agape could escape. Jessica couldn't seem to get far without reminding him of that, but he'd already resigned himself to getting shivved a few more times, today. Jessica did have a very fair point about being an information breach, though. If she was an android, and all evidence suggested as much, it would be that much easier to incorporate programs and other gadgets into keeping tabs on the Riese. Firmia was probably half right, then; Jessica probably was one of the moles, but not intentionally. Brant should have suspected something along these lines when Louise started prodding him about his relationship troubles. Instead the danger and disgust had his attention, while for Firmia, it just confirmed everything for her. "If Apotheosis is using you to keep an eye on the Riese then we've got to figure out how to cut the connection, but you're not a mistake. Don't talk like that, anymore. Just ... see if you can find anything ... and be careful." Memories of Galatea and the traps she'd run into while retrieving the Alkaev journal sprang unbidden to Brant's mind, and he seriously hoped Jessica didn't have any system traps to deal with.

It was a lot to take in all at once, but since it instantly reminded him of Brant, the part about Jessica being an android stuck out for Sasha the most in that first couple of seconds. The ensuing laughter was inevitable. He'd just been talking with Brant last night about this woman and his problems with her. Now it turned out she was just a more convincing version of Hannah? If it wasn't so sad it'd be quality entertainment. Sasha could only guess how Brant would try and process this when he found out. He'd probably try to find some place to hand in his imaginary 'AI Expert' badge. The poor guy~ "I trust you know what you're doing," Sasha smiled cautiously at the video feed, "Just be careful." And keep some stygusian treats in your coat pocket ... "Nice to meet you, Alriana." ... sort of. Meeting the extraterrestrial lizard girl could have been less adrenaline inducing, but Cheryl just had to have her fun. That was fine. She knew how to keep things interesting in an otherwise boring day job. Megumi meanwhile responded to Makoto's call. Being the good doctor and all, comms traffic there would be routed to her in situations like this, just as planned~ "The infirmary's fine, Makoto. So is your mother. They need you, so try to stay focused on the battle. I'll let you know personally if the situation changes." The timing of that information would be intentionally late, but hopefully that was enough to keep the boy's head in the game. Was the man's comm system damaged? "Carlos, respond!" Firmia yelled at her own console. She let Marcia handle their momentary coordination with the Sagittae for the most part, but still managed a "Kill it!" when the time came for the Avalon to attack. Marcia was an exceptional gunnery officer. They had managed to keep up with Jessica of all people, which Firmia didn't think would be possible just starting out. Knowing what she knew now about the android, it was even more incredible. Still ... the Alkaev couldn't help but worry that the teams had hit the Rhea too hard. It wasn't even warping away like she feared it might ... Thankfully Carlos responded, though apparently his comms were about to give out like the rest of the machine. "I can't risk your mobile suit blowing up in our faces," Firmia replied over the radio. "I'm sending someone to pick you up." Firmia wasn't willing to risk the Rhea going green and then nuclear on them, nor was she willing to risk Apotheosis swooping in to grab Carlos, first. That meant ... "Tonya," Firmia muted herself briefly, "Get to the Reign and go pick him up. Don't get close enough for that barrier to trap you inside. Have him come to you." Tonya was shocked to say the least. "If we move the ship over there we'll just take unnecessary damage AND if the Rhea explodes it could take out the Avalon." As much as Firmia hated to leave the Rhea itself just sitting there, they had to save salvage operations until after the battle. The only thing she could securely take aboard was Carlos, and only if they acted before Apotheosis. The Reign was the fastest mobile suit they had, and the only enemy unit left on the field that had a decent chance of knocking it out of the sky with Tonya piloting was the very machine they were waiting for the opportunity to salvage. It was now or never. "Go! Hurry!" As Tonya got up and ran for the exit, Firmia unmuted herself. "Carlos, I want you to carefully get out of the Rhea. I'm sending someone to pick you up now. I think it's the best chance you have of making it through this battle." That and not being whisked off by any nearby allies, but Firmia was trying to frame Carlos' survival and capture as one and the same. If she could do that, getting his full cooperation shouldn't be too difficult. The rest would be up to Tonya, though. Hopefully they could use drones for this sort of thing in the future. Having to pilot the Avalon herself in the meantime wasn't the Alkaev's idea of a fun time. As she took over the controls from the captain's chair, Firmia directed Marcia toward the remaining Rhea. That was when it occurred to her that she should probably hold back, a little. Firmia activates Alert (8 SP) and attacks Fatima with the Dual Beam Cannons! Tonya moves to the Hangar for plot stuff! It was only surprising that Chris stepped in to straighten Jessica out until it happened. She always stepped in when she could have an impact, after all. It worked, too. Jessica got off her previous train of thought, that low self esteem railroad that practically begged others to shun and condemn her. Brant was past that. He had to be, especially now that her voice was no longer just a painful memory. Her questions were coming in rapid fire though, and that was presented its own challenge for him. "Honestly?" Brant responded, unable to get his mind off the fact that his sense of Jessica had completely vanished momentarily. That spoke volumes about just how far her synthetic components went. It was a fair assumption that she was a completely cybernetic being, like Hannah or Galatea, only more convincing ... more advanced, obviously. It still didn't bother Brant personally, but that wasn't something that would be easy to cope with. It meant that her entire existence was a lie, if nothing else. "Not being able to tell where you are or how you're feeling ... that's my relationship with Hannah in a nutshell. You two might be the same on that level. I'm pretty sure I could sense a brain in a jar if that person was conscious, so ... ... mgh, I know it's not easy to hear, but I do think you and she have the same kind of ... infrastructure. No organic parts, at least not natural ones." This was way too cruel of a thing to be saying to her, but he wanted to be honest, too. Dammit ... He wanted to slip in a 'congratulations, you're immortal!' or anything dumb enough and shocking enough to cheer her up ... just a little. It just wasn't in him, though. This wasn't the kind of grief he could fix or shorten by just trying to lighten the mood. It was probably only going to get worse for Jessica when Abigail found out, if she hadn't already. If she did know then there was probably another conversation happening right along side this one that was far from pleasant. "Regardless, though ..." Brant spoke again, hoping to offer as much support as he could to counter everything else going on, "nothing's changed in my view, alright? You're still Jess to me." Crap, a Velite. Not a big issue on its own, but the Regalia couldn't just keep cruising around doing nothing, and the bigger threats in the area were definitely helping the bastard move about relatively unopposed. They could probably knock it out right here and now if they sent a missile at it. Brant timed the firing of that missile as best he could, so the Velite wouldn't have time to react and put a building between itself and its one way ticket to hell. "Got'em," Brant said, certain the missile would hit home as he fired. Brant moves to 16,18, activates Strike (20 SP) and attacks Velite #3 with the Shield Launcher!

Iron for life, Megumi thought, though in Alriana's case, the doctor was still leaning toward copper based blood. She had to wonder what the patient's natural environment was like. She also had to wonder why Cheryl was trolling her boyfriend. Those teeth scared the hell out of Megumi personally. Alriana had already replaced a couple of very large predators native to Earth as 'hyper lethal' in the doctor's mind. And at least lions and grizzly bears didn't wear armor or carry other weapons. The only reason Sasha hadn't panicked was because Cheryl's tone clued him into the joke in advance. It didn't change the fact that there was a saw toothed land shark hanging out over her shoulder ... but it was enough to keep him from overreacting. "What ... the hell is she?! A Sacarian?! ... ... Godzilla? What's going on over there ...? What'd I miss?" "I really hope she doesn't break our enemy flipping spree," Megumi sighed. Tonya squinted at the Rhea after it was thoroughly thrashed by the Riese Team. It wasn't exploding ... and that barrier wasn't showing up ... "Wow, is he still alive?" "Please still be alive," Firmia said, her thoughts coming out on their own, "Hey!" She tried to reach Carlos again now that the Rhea was ... neutralized. At least it was still recognizable ... "Are you okay in there?" Firmia didn't mean to sound concerned for the man personally. Her only goal was to salvage the suit, and to meet the man that killed off her people and stranded her on the Riese. It wouldn't mean as much if she couldn't see him face to face. "It'll be fine," Brant assured himself and Chris both, "and thanks again." All the while, internal accusations and lamentations echoed in his mind like cannonfire. Brant didn't know why he only ever seemed to get one of the little devils on his shoulder and not the opposing angel. It was either that or the nihilistic doppelganger. If not for his own scripted counters, there wouldn't be any positive take on what was happening, now. Simply put, it was very easy to put a negative spin on this, and at least part of him was taking full advantage ... Answering Jessica's first question was one of the hardest things Brant had attempted within the last twenty-four hours. Agape, agape, agape ... "... you can talk to me whenever you want, Jess." It felt like giving out permission to run him through a couple more times, today. The knife was considerably thinner, at least. As for AIs, Brant felt like too much of a novice to even attempt something on Galatea's level--though he was making preparations to do just that. When it came to the fundamentals, he was right at home, and could probably help Jessica in some way if he could just stay positive. "We've still got a battle to win, here. Chris and I are just heading out to take care of it. Anyway, I'm ... not a master programmer-" Incredibly obvious with how things have turned out, Brant noted bitterly to himself, "but I'm learning." Dammit am I learning ... "Ask me whatever you want to ask me."

Did Nikolai count? He was in his fish tank at the moment, but was still an infirmary occupant. Either way, if they were going to try moving Alriana to the infirmary, Megumi felt it best to get a hold of Olivia again and let her know of the change of plans. The captain was still too busy to weigh in, the XO was likewise busy, and Tristan had signed off on the idea, albeit reluctantly. "While you're dealing with that, I need to call Bennet ..." Just as Megumi turned to focus on her quick call, she noticed the Regalia, still peering into the bridge from right outside, its face taking up a third of the entire view. "... Abrams is weird ... Abrams is weird about this ship." Coincidentally, that was the very moment the Regalia began to drift away from the bridge. It disappeared from view within a few seconds once its transformation to flight mode started. Alright then. "Bennet, change of plans, Doctor Hart is taking our guest to the infirmary. She's--the alien's cooperating so we're going to hold off on the sedatives for now. Head on back and wait for us there. The cell can stay the way it is for now." Who knows, maybe they could toss a different wounded prisoner in there, today. It was an Apotheosis buffet out there. Next, Megumi watched with clear discomfort as Alriana climbed up onto Cheryl like a big confused koala. The doctor still had her concerns about moving the alien to the infirmary for treatment rather than a secure cell ... but she also knew the Riese's recent history. In light of how all of their captures up to this point had turned out, it was better to treat Alriana like the next Abigail, and not someone hell bent on killing them all. Interestingly, Megumi did have to treat Alriana right out of the gate, and for much the same reason, so it was a very apt comparison to her mercenary friend. "We really should just use the stretcher," Megumi sighed, following after. She didn't know why at first, but Firmia was torn as to whether or not she would tell the pilots to not destroy the Rhea outright. It was probably the only way it would even cross their minds not to incinerate that machine and the man inside, especially since many Apotheosis units would often do the job for them and self destruct once the pilot saw fit or was dead. There was a case to be made that the Rhea couldn't be captured in tact, at least not without Carlos' cooperation ... In the end, Firmia did not want to test her clout in this situation and risk being ignored, so she handed the job over to Tonya. "Tell the others to not aim for the cockpit or the generator. We need to salvage what we can here." The obvious question, why have the helmsman do that?, was quickly answered when Firmia got on the comms herself, trying to establish a line to someone else. "You're Carlos Santana, aren't you? The one from Great Lake Base? My name is Firmia Alkaev. You don't have to respond to that, but I want you to know that I personally have no intention of killing you ..." "Damn," Tonya said, realizing Firmia had this all backwards, "I should be talking to him since I actually fought the guy ... and you should be trying to convince the rest of the team not to kill him off. Missed opportunities all around ..." ... ignoring that ... "I want you to surrender to us while you still can." "This is the Avalon to all units engaging the Rhea," Tonya started on her part of this while keeping the Avalon relatively close to the Riese, "Requesting you avoid vital areas. I repeat, requesting you avoid vital areas." She left the why and the other details for anyone curious enough to ask. Beyond that, they would listen or they wouldn't. Either way, the thrust of her comm job was done, and she could put more of her attention back on the flight controls. Brant felt awful once Jessica ended the transmission from her end. Maybe if she'd said something else beforehand, instead of letting him know that like usual Abigail was her primary focus. Not him like it used to be, and probably not the ongoing battle, either ... He started to feel even worse when his sense of her began to change, again. It was tending back toward fear and uncertainty, and this time he couldn't do a thing about it. That left an incredibly bitter taste in his mouth, and eventually he decided to leave. Pulling back on the controls, Brant moved the Regalia away from the Riese's bridge, and put the suit into flight mode, before heading back toward the Avalon. "Most important battle of the war ... and I'm making social calls. And ... Apotheosis is letting me. Considerate~" A light jab at both himself and the enemy to try and lighten his own mood, a little. It didn't work, but at least Brant had something else to focus on besides his terribly recent past. "The Artemis broke off and went after the Rhea, so we might have to figure this out, ourselves." Did Kim misinterpret the targeting data he'd sent. Yes the Rhea had been marked too, but the Oberon reference should have cleared up any potential misunderstandings. He'd ask later. For now, they needed a plan of attack.

Megumi was relieved when Cheryl got a response out of the alien that wasn't just a growl or more struggling. The doctor was happy to avoid poking the creature with her 'chill aid' if they could get away with it, and from the sound of things, they just might be able to. Megumi still had reservations about bringing this 'Alriana' into the infirmary after all the damage she'd caused, but that was actually the captain's call ... and judging by Valerie's observation, the captain was still in the middle of her personal crisis. With the possibility of her being a fully artificial being, an android, Megumi could only speculate about whether or not those kinds of comforting measures would do any good. Maybe they would; until today Jessica reacted to things the way a human ought to. Clearly though, once her life was on the line, her hidden systems dropped the human act altogether and prioritized her survival. That was quite neat, actually. "I'm not completely against taking her to the infirmary instead of the brig," Megumi admitted to Cheryl with a wince on her face, "but I'm not sure if we can risk that, right now. Bennet should have the cell set up by now in either case." It really was Jessica's call ... and she looked slightly busy on the comms. "Tambre, see if the captain has any orders for us on that front, and we'll take it from there. Don't worry about her condition. Doctor Hart's better suited to deal with that once we're finished here." Not an understatement, but it said almost nothing about what was really going on with the captain at the moment.

Given how heavy the alien might actually be with the addition of that tail, Megumi suspected she and Tambre might still need help getting it to the brig. Just the same, it was good to see her minion try to pull herself together for this. Her fears weren't unwarranted ... Cheryl showed up, having overheard at least part of the exchange, and she was more excited than anyone else that knew what was going on. That would probably change once they actually got up to the bridge ... then or ... "What's it like?" Megumi echoed, thinking back to the encounter as the trio headed for the elevator. "A nightmare to be honest. I thought were were all dead. Judging by its teeth and how it attacked once it reached the bridge, it's carnivorous. It's also highly intellig--oh, as you can see, it did a number on our android here before it rushed up to the bridge," the doctor gestured at the heavily damaged Tiffany. She mouthed a 'soon' to the mechanical head as they passed by. "Anyway, we need these sedatives if we're going to safely move it; they're not optional. It took half a dozen crew just to restrain that thing, and before that it dove for the captain and nearly tore her apart. Fortunately she's better equipped for hand to hand than we thought. You'll see when we get there." Megumi wasn't sure which would tug at Cheryl's attention more, the alien, or the fact that Jessica was an android. She was curious to find out which. No doubt her story hadn't helped Valerie keep her nerve. The signs of the intruder's attempt to bypass the elevator were still there, but Megumi didn't note them on the tour. Just about everything along the way spoke for itself. Instead, she loaded up one of the injectors with her choice of powerful sedatives meant for a person about twice her size. Fast acting, and hopefully long lasting, it ought to have a significant impact if nothing else. When the elevator opened up, the show was still ongoing, with Jessica by the wall ... and the bridge hands holding the iguana from Sirius B in place. "Say hi while you still can, Cheryl. After I administer this, it won't be in much of a chatting mood, for better or worse." There were definitely better ways to handle this tranq mission but the crew couldn't be expected to hold the intruder still for ten minutes while Megumi made a fuller assessment ... so she just had to guesstimate, low balling a little to avoid some of the major potential complications.

Indeed, Jessica was back on Firmia's 'TK radar' ... though that did absolutely nothing to alleviate what Chris had just told her about the woman. Suddenly Louise's little secret regarding Gefalscht came rushing back to the forefront of Firmia's mind. It wasn't about the mole situation, it was about the fact that Jessica was a machine. An android ... all this time ... "An android. She's an android." "Who is?" Tonya glanced over her shoulder toward the captain's chair. Firmia had the most distant look on her face imaginable, and Tonya had a feeling the Alkaev's debut battle had just gone sideways. "Jessica," Firmia answered, staring past Tonya, past the view port, and past the Riese, all the way back into the depths of her own memories, as piece after piece began to lock into place. Of course she was unusually skilled as a gunner. Of course she was awkward even at the best of times. Of course she didn't know what the hell she was doing as a captain half of the time. And of course that artificial body of hers was the perfect place for nefarious software, software meant to keep Apotheosis well informed at all times. Of course. Even if Jessica wasn't a mole, she could still be unwittingly helping Apotheosis, simply by harboring bugs they could use. Her high level clearance ensured that little to nothing got past them. There was no way she could have figured this all out in advance, though. The fact that she could sense Jessica's emotions, or what seemed to be her emotions, was too much to ignore. In hindsight though ... if Apotheosis could teleport, they ought to be able to use some kind of signal to spoof a TK's senses ... "Huh ..." Tonya was taken aback by the info, however vague, "Is it me or is Brant stuck in the dating simulator from Hell? Either way, your Betaware nickname was spot on." "I was ... I was joking," Firmia said, her face still shocked, her tone almost pleading. "I ... was ... joking ..." Brant was beside himself. He didn't think there was any way Jessica would even consider going there of all places. This was her crisis, not his. He was so reluctant to even address what he'd been going through that the muscles in his arm and fingers twitched, just begging for the go'head to hit the mute. That wasn't happening, though. He felt the urge to tell her to not think about that terrible few days--terrible for him, at least--but that wasn't happening, either. Brant's surprise and his urge to change the subject quickly left him once he realized where Jessica was going with this. She didn't think she was 'real' to begin with. Brant had no idea what real was even supposed to mean anymore, but she was real enough for him. Jessica was feeling remorseful, again; hindsight was the most likely culprit. She was scared that Abigail was going to leave her once she learned the truth. The irony must not have been lost on Jessica, either. She knew Brant didn't have any issue with this, but the woman she'd chosen over him, well she certainly did, and didn't even try to hide the fact. Brant seeing someone else in danger of being completely screwed over by the tiniest of details wasn't any more pleasant than having it happen to himself, as it so often did. This ... didn't mean Abigail would necessarily leave her, though. She was stubborn, competitive, and petty. Brant was torn on that one; on the one hand, he couldn't stand to be around Jessica when her attention was on Abigail, but on the other, he couldn't be with her in that capacity now, either. It went against what he was trying to do, and it would only cause even more pain and worry to the people around him. That still didn't mean she would be left with nothing, just a painful lesson in patience and consideration ... "I ... really ... really wish you'd waited," Brant began, having to fight his hardest to keep his tone even and calm as righteous fury and agony muscled their way toward the surface. "I wish you'd talked to me, first ... back when I could have been something more than a disembodied voice in your ear. But everyone wants that special relationship, and they want it right now. I've never been able to change that, but I'm not just going to sit back and watch you suffer, no matter what happens." Again, Brant felt sick thinking about Jessica's replacement for him. The two of them happily building their relationship, with his fresh corpse as a hidden foundation. There was nothing that could be done about it, now. Brant would never feel anything but contempt for that particular pairing, because of what it'd done to him, and the attitudes both women had taken toward him all the while. Likewise, Jessica, Jessica as an individual, was still someone Brant cared deeply for. Loved, even. And so ... "You are not going to end up with nothing. I can promise you that, okay?" "I WAS JOKIIIIING!!!"