Jump to content

Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 3: Crisis Point


Nanami Touko
 Share

Recommended Posts

Helping Tarquin up and out of the meeting room, it would only be a short walk over to the infirmary. He had needed a few moments to get his bearings, but that made sense... it was unlikely that he had taken to many hooks to the jaw in his time, they could certainly be disorienting. What the younger pilot had followed up with was certainly unexpected though... Tarquin wasn't exactly a social butterfly, so Seung-Min couldn't think of what he might want to discuss with her off the top of her head, aside from perhaps battle tactics, although something like that might have been better served to Thorvald, or the unit as a whole.

"With me? Well, after you get checked up, I don't have too much directly tying me down... unless whatever Esther wants to discuss ends up taking a while."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 1.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Thorvald wasn't quite sure just what it was he'd said that had set the rebel off, he'd tried to be polite, pointing out what had seemed an apparent flaw, and she'd flipped. ...Though she did have a point about the Umbra's unfortunate accident. Maybe it wasn't that their machines were undertuned? It would be hard to tell without more field experience. He didn't say anything further on the matter, no point riling up any more bad blood; he simply listened attentively to Abigail's answers, and her excuses, nodding silently when when she was done.

There was too much more going on to stay wrapped up back and forth barbs, even if the captain hadn't put the quash on it.  In fact, the revelation that Astin was one of the traitor cut deep, and hearing that they had been the one that shot Christina--even though it was quickly refuted by Kim--hit Thorvald to the core almost like he'd gotten shot himself. He'd thought they'd done decently at connecting, he'd looked forward to a couple more conversations, helping them out further along the path they'd had a small taste of, leading a squad, even if only while one of the more superior officer's was wrapped up in other business. They'd had worries and hangups, sure, but everyone did, and he thought there'd been some progress getting past them. Added on to the truth of Avery's betrayal, and the family man wasn't sure which was worse. He'd trusted the mechanic. Maybe she was a spy, but some of her story had to be true. A person couldn't fake all of that. Not buying it. A gloom in spirit was beginning to flap the unflappable. Where had he gone wrong? How could he have noticed and helped them, either of the two?

And of course, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that it was now far too late. Uncrossable lines had been crossed.

Speaking of which, Elaine was just dancing a very similar dance herself. "What the hell, Elaine." It was a flat exclamation, barely worth of the name. A little disgust tinged the disbelief, apparent in the intonation. "What even..." There were no words for this bafflement, and no place for him to step in. The victim was already being tended, and the aggressor was easily apprehended. Her whole outburst was impotent and incomprehensible. What purpose did it even serve? Thorvald shook his head slowly from side to side and slowly left the room, in accordance with the dismissal.

If someone needed him for something, they could track him down, otherwise he had some deep thinking and serious reflecting to do.


When Louise turned to her with her answer, Jess smiled weakly and looked down at the table, some of her hair falling in front of her eye as she did. That made sense, the aliens would be keeping their own counsel of course. What had she expected? But no sooner was she settling in to the disappointment then the other enemy lieutenant unexpectedly interjected. Raising her head again and turning to look at Vera, Jess almost gasped when the expression of sympathy had been dispensed with and actual information was delivered. She felt a bit of a tight squeeze in her chest, a flutter of fear she still couldn't beat back. Today's enemy had been the same.

Surely it was just her imagination, but Jess felt her ruined socket begin to ache, a dull pulsing, tuned in time with her heartbeats. Had she wanted revenge? Closure? For some sense of safety to return, after everything had been taken away? She wasn't sure. Maybe? As a soldier, she'd been nominally prepared for the hardships of war, but the overwhelming disadvantage she'd had thrust upon her...

And now a part of that had been resolved, but the strength of this one knight's right hand was still nothing compared to the enemy king. How should that make her feel? Jess found herself confused mostly, and she was entirely off-guard when her new partner was assaulted by someone who should have been a friend. Already mostly still in a state of shock, she found herself unable to do more than stare agape, as others wrapped the situation up and the meeting as a whole was dismissed.


Well, Thorvald was staying quiet now, and Tarquin had obediently bowed to the Captain's request as well, so Abigail was starting to calm back down herself. Nobody else seemed overly interested in who or what did the mechanic work, apparently, so long as it got done, or at least weren't being outwardly judgemental about it. There was a lot of other things to unpack, though, so that made some sense. Louise and Vera were still fielding some questions and... oh shit, that just happened.

A bit of a grimace on her face, knowing what it felt like to take a swift, unexpected hit to the nose, Abby winced and turned away. Cocky ass though he sometimes was, he didn't deserve that, and what the hell had gone wrong with Elaine anyway? Bitch had always been a little high-strung, but... Dodged a bullet there, on turning down that offer of friendship, it looked like.

Shrugging, Abby turned to Calina and Terry and quietly offered, "I told you, won't be any issue with them having us. Apparently they've been dealing with this since before I got let out, so..." Maybe that was too fast and loose with the timeline, the rebel didn't really know or care. She just had to try to keep an upbeat face and ease the integration of her people. Elaine was somebody else's problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Host of Issues

"Yeah, uh... Real good company you've got here, Abby." Calina sighed. "Yeah, sure thing. We'll make sure you all know what's going on... Just, uh... Yeah. Let's go, Terry." Abby could come along if she wanted to, it seemed the Riese had some stuff to work through, and she might've been needed for that.

Jess was left sighing. No one had expected Elaine to freak out like she had, especially not Jess. Could she let the girl pilot in the next fights like this? Would people even trust her, after what Louise had said, and after she'd belted Tarquin? Would he? Maybe she'd try to punch him with a much stronger fist, given the chance... And would she even be able to handle herself in a mobile suit after all the disappointing gazes she'd received from the crew? I guess... I guess we'll see. There was nothing much to do about it, now. Tarquin was being helped to the infirmary, and they had a ship to fix.


August 15th, Northern Alberta, en route to Alert, Nunavut

They'd finally crossed into Canada proper. According to Louise, the Chelone, Apotheosis' main base, was hiding underwater off the cost of Nunavut, past the northern most inhabited place in the world... A good place to hide if the ship could handle being submerged in the freezing waters for so long. The ANF wouldn't have bothered to check the frozen reaches of the north, so it was a good thing they had proper direction, now. Jess was up early and ready in the bridge, directing the hands around to ensure things would be fine as they approached colder weather. Nothing was frozen yet, it was the middle of summer, but soon the E-Field would start getting hit with negative temperatures. While the ship was conceivably fine in them, the colder it got, the higher the chances of issues arising. There was a reason the E-Field was on at full power when traveling in space...

They had made contact with the Kraken vessels promised by command, one they had met before. The ANFSF Ilias, captained by Miller. Jess had been rather happy to see the seasoned captain arrive, that they could spare him did weigh in on how serious this mission was. Now their fleet was seven ships big. Central had been able to spare one more Kraken than planned, so that gave them the Riese, the Ilias, the Avalon, the Deliverance, the Nautilus, the Coelacanth, and the Bowfin. Against the proposed twenty ships Louise claimed Apotheosis had on hand, perhaps more than a bit understaffed, but they would be running into the Athena soon. Eight versus twenty... And whatever soldiers they had... "Quality's going to have to make up for quantity." That was all they could hope for at this point. At the least, the Kraken arrivals were sporting the latest in ANF mobile suits, all outfitted with Legionary Mk.IVs and Velite MK.IIIs. Jess had gotten one of the Velite models transferred for Vera's use, still keeping her exact situation under wraps from the other captains.

Elaine, despite a few reservations, had been let out of the holding cell in preparation for the final assault. While her actions would've damned most, and she likely wouldn't get away entirely free, most of the crew still felt she'd be fine in combat. While Jess held her worries over that, there was always a fallback. She'd had one of the mechanics install a freezing mechanism in her Oberon. The same ones Vera and now Esther held in their robots. If Elaine gave them reason to doubt her, or even turned on them, Jess would have her dead in the water... So to speak. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, for any of them.

"Guess there isn't much else but to get everyone up and suited..." Panel open, fingers typing, Jess got a message ready to send to all pilots to have them awake and ready for combat. They'd arrive at the base in roughly four to five more hours, which was plenty of time to-- "Oh no."

Halfway through her message, long range scanners picked up unknown signatures. The other ships were likely picking up the same things. "Shit." Another fight, this close to the end... "Ugh! All hands!" Emergency alarm pressed, if people were still asleep, they wouldn't be now! "Tiffany, get Vera out of her cell and to the machine we setup for her. Rachel, Liz, standby for any other orders. Bridge hands, E-Field to max, main guns charge, get ready for incoming enemies!"

Boiling Pot

With the meeting adjourned, Jess waited until everyone else had left. That left her with Firmia, Brant, Roxanna, Hannah, and a Louise no longer in cuffs. Firmia had asked she be freed if she was going to be handed over as Avalon crew... Jess reminded her that if the android tried anything, she'd be dealt with accordingly. While Louise seemed only amused by this, it was a very real promise. It was definitely dangerous to leave the rogue android uncuffed aboard the Riese...

"Alright, Firmia. Hit me. These drones, the EU forces you have, and anything else you wish to discuss."

"How about this tense and stuffy atmosphere, hmmm? You'd think you two would get along better, trying to work together to defeat the big bad, and all..." Louise just wouldn't keep quite.

"You'd think, but I've made a lot of mistakes, Louise."

"Oooohhhh, shouldering the blame all by yourself~ Firmia must be the epitome of perfection, then..."

"Louise, can you try to be a little bit serious?" Hannah sighed, arms folded.

"I am trying~"

Firmia sighed. She wanted to say Jessica was still making mistakes, but that had nothing to do with why she was here. Better to address Louise, then ... "I said it before and I'll say it again, there aren't any good guys in this. All I care about are my allies. Being my ally ... or 'friend,' is a bigger deal than you think, Louise ... but you'll see that for yourself soon enough."

This was the last topic Brant wanted to start off on ... or rather second last ... so he tried to gently nudge things back toward what they were actually here for. He kept the Elaine issue in the back of his mind in the hopes he could bring it up a bit later, maybe at the end once Firmia had gone over everything. "I should point out that my older brother's on the Athena. I'm not sure how things are going to shake down during the battle, but he's the one that tagged Firmia's plane for Apotheosis. Not really on good terms, right now ... I'm not saying he'll be a problem during the mission but ... well ... don't want you to be surprised if the radio chatter gets a little intense."

"Hopefully he'll be grateful to have his son and leave me alone," Firmia scowled, "Otherwise I'm going to rip his wings off and throw him in the brig with Carlos. They can laugh off how silly it was for them to try and kill me and my people~" Firmia wasn't in a good mood, but the mental image of those two laughing to avoid crying was oddly pleasant. She didn't have much in the way of hard feelings left for Carlos, but ...

"Alright, chalk one more Abrams onto the list. Anything else?" Jess wasn't really here for the banter, or Firmia's grudges. While she was glad the Alkaev survived such a scheme, she wanted no of the argument that was to come. Kids, though... "I take it they're all doing fine, by the way? The kids. I can't imagine being on a ship in the middle of all this is, comfortable. Just... War, and all. From the way Chris sounded, it seems the two of you aren't having any problems dealing with them." Having problems dealing with Tonya, though... A ring, huh? She wondered, for just a moment, whether or not... No, this is fine. A small smile hit her face, trying to regain composure.

"Tell me about the EU crew, in more detail, if possible. You mentioned a few machines during the meeting, do you think they'll be able to stack up to what we have available? And your drones, how equipped are they for the upcoming combats? If it would be better to send this all to me digitally to look over, that's fine, but you did want to speak to me, so..."

"Ah, children~ They must be so adorable. I'm sure they'll love having Auntie Louise around." Louise sighed and placed a hand gently on her face, the other folded, hugging her side.

"I... Sure, Louise." Jess, really didn't know what to make of this woman.

"Yeah, Chris and I have everything under control," Brant said, not really wanting to get into this topic either. It seemed Jessica found out about the children, though. No surprise since she seemed aware of everything being said on the Riese now. That probably meant she understood the Elaine situation as well as he suspected. Not sure what to say about 'Auntie Louise' after Chris' reaction to the whole arrangement, Brant left the floor open for Firmia.

"Ugh ..." Auntie Louise. Whatever, as long as she wasn't bent on terrorizing them anymore, Firmia mused. "Anyway, the Armadura is a hellish looking mobile armor that can attack from angles most enemies won't be expecting. I'm not sure about its full output, but it can easily outgun any of our suits. Same with the Merrygate, only I would keep that one focused on attacking any Chaldenes we can weaken. We're working on fixing its systems so it can fire multiple times at full output. That's strong enough to take out anything we've fought with a critical hit."

"Oh right, what about Rex's mobile suit?" Brant asked. He was genuinely curious about what his brother was piloting. All he'd heard before was that he piloted a one-off design that was built by the EU to Alkaev specifications. So basically it was an expensive Ace machine, though what kind he didn't know.

"It's in the middle of an overhaul and I have no idea what the final equipment is going to be, yet."

"Well... That's great to hear." No dice, then. Best to drop it, probably...

"That sounds wonderful. More than wonderful... Troy's name came up in the database search, but it said he was a soldier. Considering what his ship is carrying, this may perhaps be a testing vessel. I've not seen many mobile armor in action... A working one will definitely be impressive, and if we have access to a machine that can take out entire battleships, then, we'll be sitting pretty if we can manage to get the drop on some of these Apotheosis engagements." Jess was definitely pleased by the news, especially this Merrygate. Even the Riese couldn't blast a ship out of the sky without considerable effort.

"I'm definitely worried about the enemy battleships the most, but the more I hear about all this, the more I'm gaining confidence. We can definitely do this."

"Probably... You're definitely sure this, Merrygate has what it takes to puncture an E-Field? Even we had issues with the Riese's, and the Chaldene models aren't exactly lacking in firepower..." Louise seemed skeptical, but getting her opinion on things was probably worthwhile. She knew both sides of the coin, after all.

"My recommendation is to weaken them first," Firmia said pointedly, "but if there's no I-field in the way, it's going to punch straight through at full power. The Chaldene's armor isn't strong enough to stop something like this. The beam might even destroy whatever's behind the target under ideal conditions. The output's extremely high ... and that's why it's not good for more than one shot just yet ... We still have time to help them fix it, though."

"How can you store enough power to lance a ship though?" Brant winced. His mental image of the Merrygate wasn't getting any clearer. He really ought to look at the data directly ... "The Regina could do something similar, but it was gigantic ..."

"The cockpit is in the head to make room for the extra equipment. It's basically just an overclocked ship gun that can move. Too bad it was built with the budget in mind. I think Global Armaments wanted to mass produce it for the EU once they fixed the system."

"The Regina was incredibly efficient at that, as well~ Hmm... What did you all end up doing with that, again?" Louise reminisced a wonderful moment of taking down an entire Kraken class in one concentrated blast, before wondering just where her beloved beast had gone.

"The ANF confiscated most of it. I think Firmia got some of its pieces. If the Merrygate has any matching output of your monster mech, then we can definitely make great use of it, weakening or otherwise. What a wonderful little find you stumbled upon... And of course, I'll make no issue with you taking them along with you when this is all over. They aren't under my jurisdiction, anyway. I hope you make proper use of a Selkie model, Firmia." She surely would. It would be interesting to see where Firmia would go when this was all over.

"And, the drones, how equipped were they?"

"Yeah, we took a whole arm," Brant said, still somewhat confused by the move, "... for some reason. At least we know how that works."

Firmia could already imagine Louise asking her to build another one, though with what materials seemed to be up in the air for now. Also, the Regina was ... something different from the Armadura entirely. Anywhere a beast like that showed up would be international news in a post-war environment ... again, ugh. "Anyway, the defense drones are equipped differently from the Avalon's. They have missile launchers and a stronger beam rifle. The rifle has a shorter range but a much higher output. They aren't as independent as the originals, though. They'll be relying on the Riese's radar and IFF, but they won't have to see something to shoot at it. As long as the bridge can mark targets for them, their missiles will be accurate."

That was neat, Brant thought. He hoped the Avalon and the AMS units could be rigged in a similar fashion at some point, though having it work both ways would be ideal. The Avalon made heavy use of missiles and being able to fire on something it couldn't lock onto but its mobile suits could definitely be an advantage in some situations.

"If you're giving them to us, I can probably hardwire them to work through me. No surprise Jess crashes though, working drones is a lot easier than keeping the Riese from sinking while maintaining the cannons." She waved a hand to wash that worry away, it had certainly been a poor showing from her.

"They sound like they're equipped with enough to keep the Riese from getting downed from the outside, so we'll be glad to have them, whether I can play remote control or not... Was, there anything else?"

Admittedly, the idea of the drones being similar to funnels in Jessica's hands had occurred to Firmia, but it wasn't that big of a deal. As long as they won the war and the Riese and Avalon--and now the Athena--weren't lost in the process, that was enough. As for anything else she wanted to discuss ...

"Nothing that's ..." Firmia paused, sensing the slight shift in Brant's mood. "Hey, why did you stick around for this?"

"Mediator," Brant said wryly, "Actually, it's about Elaine." He shifted his gaze to Jessica. "I was trying to help her prove she wasn't working with Apotheosis by having her hold onto my alpha tool. A2's in there and logs everything. You were a bit busy at the time so you really shouldn't blame her for not coming to you about it. She could have gone to Roxanna, I guess ... but ... well ..."

"It's difficult to trust people on this ship sometimes," Firmia said, not trying to throw any punches or bring up any bad memories specifically, but it came with the territory. She could tell Brant was thinking about his own trust issues, and Firmia was certainly reminded of hers. "You should keep in mind just how bad things were a few weeks ago when all of this was happening."

"Look ..." Brant found his point, at last, "If you can get Abigail and Calina off the hook, there's got to be something you can do for Elaine. If the ANF cares about her talking to Louise while she was an enemy, then they should care even more about the fact that she's fought with us from the beginning. No one we've picked up along the way has stuck their neck out for us as often as she has."

"Thanks, Firmia," Jess sighed, focusing on Brant. "I said what I did during the meeting to try and shut her up, honestly. She was freaking out, and it wasn't going to help anyone. I'm not just going to hang her out to dry, throw her under the bus, whatever terminology you'd like to use. It's very clear to me the only thing Louise got out of Elaine was a rise."

"It was a rather good rise, though."

"Ugh... But I don't make the final calls. Not even for Abigail and Calina. I'm going to call Alphonse once you've left, and try to get all of this sorted out. He's... In temporary command, right now. Hopefully everything goes well for everyone. Including Elaine. Try not to worry about her."

"... wilco," Brant said. Not worrying was going to take some doing, but he would manage. If Chris was any indication, the Louise situation warranted more of his attention right now.

"I ... think that's it then ...?" Firmia glanced at Brant. He still felt off ... less of himself than normal. She didn't know why he insisted on being Jessica's friend when just being in the same room as her was a quick and easy way to bring him down. Admittedly, she had some things she would love to get off of her chest as well, but she was here in a more official capacity. Even with the meeting settled, this didn't feel like the right time ... She didn't know if it ever would be, either.

Brant simply shrugged.

"Well... That was more cordial than I was expecting. Feel free to head back to the Avalon and take your new bestie with you."

"I can't wait to get to know everyone on your ship, Firmia~" Louise was still all grins, heading over to their side of the table. "You've been a peach, Jess."

"Thanks..."

Firmia sighed and stood back up. Leaving so much left unsaid was far from ideal, but even the fake peace she was experiencing felt better than the alternative. It didn't help that Brant was here, and holding back as hard as she was, though why and what he wanted to say were something of a mystery to her. "Let's go ..."

Brant struggled not to break as he got up but could do nothing to hide it. "... see you around ..."

"... I know you want to add something," Firmia winced at him, "Just get it off your chest."

"Could say the same to you ..." Brant countered.

"That would take too long. If I feel like it, I'll write a letter."

"Just ... going to pass, today," Brant shook his head bitterly, "Elaine's got someone on the Riese in her corner for once. That's going to have to be enough."

"Then I will go ahead and add in something before we leave," Firmia glared at him, "THIS is the reason why you shouldn't even be in the same room with her. Not one good thing came of it, and now you're just torturing yourself and making me watch." She shifted to Jessica. "If you care about him even a little bit, then end your worthless 'friendship' once and for all and pretend you never met in the first place." Firmia had her own reasons for viewing that as the best outcome, but in even where Brant was concerned, severing ties completely felt like the only practical choice. "Leave things to those 'wonderful people' like you did in the beginning and stop going along with this crap ... and get rid of those ... earrings ... for crying out loud ..."

So Firmia was going to delve into this, was she? Louise was all smiles, trying to keep herself quiet, of course. Jess sighed. "Fine." She undid the earrings, slid them across the table to her, and leaned back in her chair. "If that's what you want. Take them, toss them, leave them there. I can see that there's nothing I can do to fix this, right now. Trying to make it better is just going to make it worse. It was nice talking to you, Firmia." Jess kept her poker face, not letting sarcasm seep into her last statement. "Have a nice trip back."

Hannah wasn't really impressed with Firmia here, but she wasn't impressed with Brant, or Jessica either. It was likely her lack of understanding for these deep seated emotions, but with a huff, she pushed herself off the wall and left. She could wait for Firmia in the hangar.

Brant had no idea seeing Jessica take off the earrings he'd given her would be so painful, or that she'd do it so readily, but even worse, by the time he'd decided to scoop them up from the table, Firmia was already moving in. She beat him by a split second, caging the two pieces of the repurposed ring beneath her fingers and keeping her hand firm until Brant's hand slowly fell back ...

"Now," Firmia locked eyes with Brant, "Once this war is over, you'll be free ..." She picked up the earrings and pocketed them. "Anyway ... the chance to fix this came and went while you were getting comfortable, and you know that, Jessica ... but thank you ... for not making this difficult. Thank you for focusing on your job ... it's better late than never ... and I do appreciate it ... for what it's worth."

Brant hung his head as Firmia made for the exit. "... sorry," he said, narrowly a whisper.

"It's fine, Brant... Take care, Firmia." Jess sank just a bit in her seat, this felt really embarrassing, but just... "Whatever would make this easier for all of you."

"Let's be off, then, Brant, Firmia." Louise didn't feel like lobbing a comment, now. Things had gotten just a bit too... Tense. Louise stepped out of the meeting room, stopping Hannah just ahead of her.

"What do you want?" This was the last person she expected to stop her, scowling at the android.

"Do you not think Firmia will need you after all this? Come now."

"... Yeah. Just... I think they're all being idiots." Hannah sighed, stopping herself.

"They are... But that's a part of being human~"

"It's not fine," Brant muttered, his back to the meeting room, "I've got to be stronger than this ... I don't know how the old man does it, sometimes." With that, Brant quietly left the meeting room. Things weren't looking much better in the hallway, either ...

"I'm sorry," Firmia chimed in, picking up her pace in the loose group, "but this has to stop. She and Brant are supposed to be friends, but he doesn't have a damn thing to say to her. If all that's going to happen is strolls down memory lane then they're better off being a million miles apart forever. I'd rather wait until the war's over but ... I can't stand it anymore. I can't stand the way it feels to be near him when she's around."

"She's not going to listen to me if I tell her ..." Brant left part of his thought unsaid, "She's got no reason to, now. No benefit ... nothing."

"That's why your friendship is fake. That's why it's worthless," Firmia said sharply.

"Now, now, Firmia," Louise said, waggling her finger and shaking her head. "What Brant is feeling is for him to decide. Not you. If you're feeling bad over it, then deal with it~ You can't just decide all of these things for him, Firmia. What you think is best for him may not be what's actually best." Louise smirked, turning and making her way towards the hangar.

"And you, Abrams! You don't know until you try~ Jessica is far from the same person she used to be. Whether that's a good thing for you or not, remains to be seen..."

Hannah was dumbfounded. How did Louise know that much about things? Or was that just general life knowledge? It was pretty impressive... Even if she knew Firmia wouldn't take it without a fight.

"Come on! Machine's waiting, no?" Clearly Louise wasn't looking for that fight.

"Trying is what caused all of this, Louise ..." Brant exhaled as they approached the lifts, "No matter how much she's changed, there's no way she'd listen to what I have to say now. She can't. And I didn't want to make matters worse by bringing it up."

"This is how I deal with problems," Firmia scowled at Louise, "If I can't solve it then I'll aim for the next best thing." ... or blow it to smithereens, but that was never an option here. "What did you want to say anyway?"

"She's probably listening in," Brant noted.

"And?" That was actually an interesting thing to point out, come to think of it. Maybe Firmia didn't need to write a letter. That wasn't really her style of address anyway.

"By ignoring it, instead of trying to talk it through~?" Louise was done at that point, maybe Brant would say what was on his mind.

"It's just... Things are too stressful to try and force these things right now." Hannah sighed. It was definitely not her preferred approach, but it was what it was.

"I'm a telekinetic," Firmia bit out as they arrived, "I can't ignore anything ... not when it's coming from him." She let Hannah punch in their destination. "I know I could have handled that better, but these earrings are the last thing she should have, and it obviously gave her the impression that things were fine now ... not with me, with Brant."

"Pretty close," Brant smiled bitterly, "Then I realized just how much I hate what happened ... what's probably going to happen."

"Whatever you're worried about, you won't have to think about it after the war's over. That's why I want you to stay away from her. No phone calls either. If you do that then nothing she does will matter going forward."

"Not worried," Brant's shoulders slumped down, "I'm disgusted ... with her for what she's allowing, with Abigail for being Abigail now of all times, and at myself for causing all of this." Brant truly despised that part of himself, and still wanted to kill it. If he could have just stopped caring, and stopped sooner, immediately, Firmia wouldn't have developed this visceral hatred ... at least not for Jessica. Brant doubted Firmia and Abigail could have ever gotten along even under the best of circumstances. Yes, Louise was standing here, but she wasn't a perfect mirror like most other people. Confront her with anger and you hardly ever got back anger. People like her and those that cared openly for Firmia took the wind out of her sails. Not being able to keep others at a distance long enough to get attached to them was how most of her friendships had started ...

Louise laughed at the weight of the conversation. "You're all idiots~ Goodness, Firmia, you're so quick to forgive someone like me, but Jessica hurt Brant's feefees, and she's public enemy number one. The way you're talking about her is quite impressive." Louise continued to chuckle to herself as they moved down to the hangar.

"Brant, I think you should just focus on other things for now." Hannah didn't feel the same as Louise on this, though she had to admit, the woman had a point on Firmia's flippancy. "You have Chris, you have a family, you've got so many things ahead of you. I know you're upset about Jess and what's happening with her, but you have so many other people to be there for, and have be there for you, right now."

"Yeah, I know," Brant nodded, "That's been the plan for a while now. Easier said than done, though. We've been over here for hours ..." It was hard not to be reminded when they were still at Ground Zero, after all. Brant really wanted to get back to the Avalon. There were no bad memories there to drag him down ... maybe a savage beat down from Tonya, but that was nothing compared to emotional pain.

"It's more complicated than that, Louise," Firmia hissed, "I 'forgave' you--for lack of a better term, because you attacked us and died trying. You made a mistake and you paid for it. You may not think much of Brant's feelings, but I've shot people down for less, and that isn't even my only issue here. The main reason ..." Firmia didn't really want to expose her tactics with Jessica capable of listening, but ... maybe it was for the best ... "The reason I keep doing things like this is because I decided that the only way to punish her for screwing up our lives was to keep her on the outside. We can't be friends. She can't come any closer ... if she just hated me back, if the bridge was burned down from both sides, I wouldn't have to be rude to her anymore," she smiled bitterly at the irony, "I wouldn't need to ..."

"You want her to hate you so she won't get too close again," Brant gave a summary.

"Yes," Firmia sighed, "I won't allow it. The nicer she is, the more I'll remind her of what she did, until just being near me is too much for her. And yes, I'm weak. I've always been on my own, but I've always known how people felt about me. Most were ... weary ... and all it took for me to keep someone away was a cold stare ... probably because of my grandfather. I'm sure everyone assumed that if anything happened to me, he'd kill everyone who was within ten feet of me when it happened. That scares off all of the men, at least. But then I was literally stuck training with the only other TK we had. Brant and I were forced to fight together, so you know how that had to turn out after months and months of training ..."

It was a hell all its own, but somehow, Brant's training with Firmia had been preserved as a positive memory. He couldn't help but grin thinking back on it. With the lift arriving, Firmia seemed to be picking up her pace, probably trying to wrap things up before they were out in the open again.

"I'm weak, Louise, so I can't reject her with willpower alone ... but I refuse to let her off scot-free just because we survived this crap. I refuse to let her keep dragging Brant down ... and I refuse to associate with the people she chose."

"Hmmm... I suppose that answer makes sense. It's pathetic, but it makes sense~" Louise was very amused at this point. "Maybe when you're older and less of a coward, you can work things out. Let me tell you something about Jess, Firmia... With how she's 'programmed', she's never going to hate you, now. Maybe if she was the old Jess, but now? Your efforts are meaningless~ Amusing, but meaningless. Continue with them. I'd like to see how hard you tear yourself down, trying to get her to reach your level."

"That's..." Hannah was, sort of surprised. Jess was definitely listening, how would she take all of this? "Something to think about. We should, get going... It's going to be a rather tight flight back."

"She doesn't have to reach my level ... but I'd settle for knowing she'll never try to get close to any of us again," Firmia muttered. She had to agree somewhat, though. With Jessica possibly having a clearer picture of the situation, it would be more difficult for Firmia to say or do anything that would make the android truly hate her. Not that she didn't have options. She thought of blowing Abigail's head clean off her shoulders anytime the rebel pilot came to mind ... the problem was that it was evil, not the usual self-defense.

Brant had been the last one to enter the lift, but he was the first to leave, stepping out as Hannah suggested they get going. He turned a bit as he headed into the hangar so he could address them. "Sasha's probably going to have to fly back with Chris and me. Four people in the Reign's cockpit just isn't going to work this time around." With that suggestion out of the way, Brant put some much needed distance between himself and the mess he'd inadvertently caused.

"Try to be okay, Brant..." Hannah wasn't really sure of what to say here. It was nice to learn as she was, but she couldn't help much from behind. Would it be enough to try and help after? Maybe...

"So I get to cuddle up to Firmia and Hannah? By all means~" Louise chuckled her way toward the Reign, arms folded.

"Brant! Hey! Over here~" Chris was waving at him already, all smiles. Talking to Christina had really helped her pick up her mood from the battle.

"Wilco ... Hey," Brant waved back at Chris, though his smile was propped up by love and not much else. His mood was still recovering, but he made an extra effort for Chris' sake. She'd already had to deal with the Louise news earlier. That was why their newest addition was taking the Reign back to the Avalon and not the Regalia ...

"Sasha's going to have to ride with us, so let's give him a minute."

Meanwhile, Firmia turned on her tablet and quickly navigated to one of her command screens. Normally she used it during battles in combination with the controls at the captain's chair, but it worked well enough on its own. As her group approached the Reign, she sent a command to the drones to retrieve the Luna. Having finished the salvage operation, they returned to the Riese and loitered in the hangar waiting for that very command. The six prototypes sprung into action, transitioning into their flight modes, attaching cables and their subarms to the Luna, and gently hoisting the machine up.

"Finally we can head home," Firmia sighed, somewhat relieved. She wanted a drink and her comfortable bed, and she wanted them half an hour ago. "Sasha, you're heading back with Brant and Chris," she warned him. He was standing by the Reign and aside from his surprise, he looked pretty well off.

"Ohhh, c'mere, big guy." Chris sighed and stepped over to Brant, pulling him into a nice, warm hug. "I'm gonna guess somethin' else happened after I blew up... But you've got nothing to worry about for me, right now~ Christina was just, way too happy to talk to me and see me... I feel positively charged with her energy right now. Feel like I could smile for hours." She beamed brightly up at him to prove it, not letting go just yet. She still needed her other recharge station.

"Wanna tell me about it, Brant? Or let it sit until it goes away? Fine with either. Just figuuuuuure... Akilina's gonna pick up on Dad being upset as soon as we get back. Unless you wanna tell her why the lady with orange hair hurt you, it might be best to unload on me."

Louise waved gently to Sasha, watching the Luna move. "Hey, do you think I could pilot the Luna? I've always wanted to try."

"I was considering that," Firmia said, thinking back to her exchange with the two Apotheosis fighters in the brig, "I'll leave that up to Hannah, I think. If you and Galatea are comfortable piloting the Reign for the next mission, then I'll let Louise use the Luna." The only other candidates were the original pilot, who was still an unknown factor in Firmia's view, and Tonya, the one she needed helming the Avalon now more than ever ...

"Hah, welcome to the team, Louise ...?" Sasha wasn't sure what to make of the android, but if she was cooperating--and Firmia wasn't screaming her head off, things were probably fine. "See you back on the Avalon," he waved, starting for the Regalia.

Brant chuckled at the idea of whinging at his daughter about Jessica. "There isn't much to unload, really ... what was bothering me before and what's bothering me now are actually ... two different things."

"A pleasure, Sasha~" Louise waved him off, grinning at the thought of piloting the Luna. "I'd love to."

"And I'm comfortable in the Reign. I don't think switching machines will help me right now." Hannah had Galatea call down their lift, waiting for it to hit the hangar floor.

"But it's all definitely Jess," Chris prodded, poking at his chest. Sasha was heading over, so this hug wouldn't last much longer. She squeezed him tight, getting the most out of it! "Use me, Brant. I'm not here to look pretty. I can hear and help with all your worries, you know? Truuuuust in your fiancée~"

Hugging his fiancee back, Brant supposed it wouldn't hurt to vent a little bit ... though Sasha ... well actually, it was Sasha, so that really didn't matter. Sasha wasn't exactly his go-to guy for advice, but Brant wouldn't hesitate if he thought the man had any insights. Sasha was also the one that introduced him to the idea of 'agape.' "Well ... I'm not really worried about it, just ... let's get in the Regalia first. That'll give me time to put it into words." ... Brant made a mental note to try not to spoil Chris' good mood while unloading on her.

"Should I give you two a few minutes?" Sasha teased Bris, "The boss said I'm riding with you two. Any objections?"

"Of course not," Brant shook his head.

"Alright then," Firmia shrugged, "The Luna's yours. Make sure you're ready for this last mission." She was sure Louise would be exceptionally competent with the machine at the very least, but it was worth making sure she didn't slack or get distracted. There probably wouldn't be a tomorrow for any of them if they lost this next one ...

"Alright... We got out few minutes, Sasha. Let's go~" Chris hopped onto the Regalia's lift and extended an arm for Brant, still all smiles. "We've got stuff to discuss on the way back, is all."

"Firmia, I was born ready~ I've always wondered how Vera made use of this big, purple monstrosity to wreak havoc. Now it's my turn! How very exciting~"

"You're way too excited for this, Louise." Hannah stepped onto the lift and put an arm around Firmia to hold her tight while they went up. "I'll send it back down for you in a moment. Worried with both of us on it, it might snap."

"Fair enough..."

Firmia rode the lift up with Hannah, but the thought of their seating arrangement didn't occur to her until she was finally confronted with the situation. She supposed she would just have to sit on Hannah's lap again. She wasn't sitting on Louise's, and no one was sitting on hers.

The Alkaev sighed ...

Brant rode up with Chris and plopped himself down in the pilot seat while she got situated and Sasha followed them up. Time to go over his concerns ... both sets of them ...

"Stuff to discuss? Well, I won't butt in needlessly," Sasha promised.

"Something wrong, Firmia?" Hannah was wondering if trying to configure some sort of TK chip for herself to read what Firmia did sometimes would make things easier on this whole, finding out what was wrong stuff. Settling into the pilots seat, she sent the lift back down for Louise, patting her leg. "Its not having to sit on me, is it? That cant be that troubling."

"You can butt in if you want!" Chris popped into the... Well, actually... "Go ahead, sit down. Guess I'm getting the lap seat while Sasha rides in the back~" Quite unlike Firmia, Chris was looking forward to more closeness.

Brant closed the hatch as Sasha headed back to the copilot seat and Chris took Abram's lap. The harness wasn't going to fit both of them, so he decided to just fly very carefully back to the Avalon. As for the things that were bothering him this visit ... "Where to start ...? Well, you heard Calina's line over the radio earlier ... girlfriend stealer. Knowing Jess and the way she is now, that's probably true. Why would she break things off for Calina's sake after all of this?"

"Well, this is eerily familiar," Sasha nearly laughed.

"Yeah, that's ... this does seem like a Sandra and Clara situation, doesn't it? If you can't win back your girlfriend, share her with someone else ..." Brant tried to keep himself from getting angry, but just saying it pressed hard on his conscience. "That's what I think's going to happen next ... it's disgusting ... and I'm not even sure how to express just how much ..."

Firmia frowned at Hannah, "It's just principle." Just the same, she sat down on Hannah's lap.

Chris could feel Brant's feelings, but she didn't really get why this was a problem. "Well... Isn't it up to them to sort it out? Like, if someone tried to worm there way in between us, I'd kick their ass, but that's us. Isn't it different for every couple?" Maybe she was missing something, but that's how she felt.

"Sometimes principles are meant to be disregarded." Hannah gave Firmia a bit of a squeeze as Louise climbed in, chuckled, and slipped past the both of them, all the while giving Firmia a very smug look.

"Mrgh, let's just go home ..." As Firmia leaned back to rest her head against Hannah, she saw her six drones quietly floating the Luna passed them and toward the launch lifts. They would be the first group to make it back to the Avalon.

Brant smiled bitterly at Chris' response. "Believe me, I don't want to give a damn about any of this ... but if that's what Jess and Abby ... Abigail, have in mind, it's just the same kind of thinking as before, only worse."

"Don't like your friends pulling that kind of thing?" Sasha offered.

"Jess and I aren't ..." Brant paused, remembering how quickly Jessica had given into Firmia's demand and how quickly the Alkaev had taken the earrings once they were off. "It doesn't matter. It's just the way they're thinking that bothered me." Brant didn't want to ruin Chris' good mood, but he couldn't think of a decent comparison that didn't involve their relationship. "Okay, Chris ... I'll use us as an example. Imagine some alternate timeline where you wind up disappearing and everyone thinks you're dead ... then I, not 48 hours after finding out, start a relationship with ..." ... let's see, former enemy combatants ... not altogether human ... "Vera. Vera and I get into a serious relationship, before anyone's even used to you being gone, before we've even held a memorial, before one bloody week's gone by ... and then you come back, and you've been trying your hardest to make it back to me. What happens next? What's more important?

"Jess and Abby just being friends wouldn't have cost them anything in the long run, but they're not going to do something like that for Calina's sake ... not if there's a chance they can all just start fucking each other instead. That's what really matters in the end. If I couldn't 'downgrade' to being Vera's friend for your sake, then it's only because sleeping with her is just as important or more important than sleeping with you. That's eros, not agape, and that's why it's disgusting ... that's why I can't condone it ... that's why I still care about it. What am I supposed to tell Lily and Aki, that this sort of thing is fine if Jess is doing it, but I won't put up with it from them?"

Sasha's eyes widened with the newfound understanding. Brant wasn't just asking what was more important with regard to those relationships, but whether his friendships were more important than his own moral standards. Sasha's answer was 'hell no they weren't,' but he kept quiet for the moment, just absorbing the scenario Abrams had given them.

"Firmia's probably right ..."

Chris tried to interrupt him, but decided that letting him finish was more important. In the end, she sighed... She got it. She understood what he was getting at. At the same time, it was such a unique situation, that it just couldn't apply to everyone so plainly. Not to her, at least. "If it was me, I'd say that what made you happiest was what mattered most." She sunk a bit in his lap, frowning. That good mood was leaving pretty quickly.

"Yeah, that is what you're supposed to tell them. What else can you? Unless you want to get disgusted by your own daughters." She didn't really know where else to go with this. "I don't think I can give you an answer for this that you want... I just... Don't really know."

"Firmia? Are you there?" Jess' voice was suddenly coming in over the Reign's speakers, Hannah letting her through.

"We're here, Captain."

"Just wanted to let you know that you're free to use Tiff, Liz and Rachel for your plan to rescue the scientists. I forgot to bring it up during the meeting, and wanted to catch you while you were still here."

Ah right, that had slipped Firmia's mind, too. In hindsight, there wasn't much in the way of preparation that was needed, just guns and a bit of extra armor, but them reaching an agreement on it in advance was good. "Thank you. They'll need extra equipment for the mission, so I'll contact you again before we reach the base."

Brant got the Regalia moving and took the lift second lift up to the catapult. "I wasn't expecting a definitive answer ... I just don't want to have double standards ... and I wish I could stop caring since nothing good will come of it."

"Guess I'll butt in now," Sasha said, watching as the drones lifted off from the Riese with their cargo beneath them. They were being surprisingly delicate given the Luna's durability ... "It's their business, and being a father is yours. If the sexcapades make them a bad influence, then they're a bad influence. Simple as that. I'm assuming Rosa's under the same conditions, so just be consistent with everyone you deal with and you're good. No double standards, no bad parenting. It's going to cost you, yeah ... but it's going to cost you either way."

"I wouldn't put up with this from Rosa either," Brant nodded, "but even Rosa would listen now. That's just how backwards everything is. I can't hold anyone to my moral standards, so I guess I have to call it quits with Jess. Even though there's no animosity between us, just being around her's causing problems ..."

"Firmia?" Sasha chuckled.

Brant sighed. "She made Jess give back the earrings I gave her ... She's trying to separate us permanently, and I can't even argue with her ..."

"Then don't," Sasha shrugged, "Being away from Jessica for a few years won't kill you."

Did he miss the 'permanently' part? ... or did he just not see it the same way, Brant wondered?

Sasha was making sense, and Chris was glad for it. She did worry about Firmia, though... "Give Firmia a few years, Brant. She's got problems, and trying to fix all of this during the war is just a bad idea. Maybe with some down time and less having to worry about the immediate effects of Jess, seeing her again won't cause things to erupt so poorly." Maybe. Firmia was a wild card, after all. Chris could mock her and tease her, but when things got this serious, it was anyone's guess what was coming next.

"Sure thing, Firmia... And thanks." Jess cut the line at that, leaving Hannah confused over what she was saying thank you for... But Louise was laughing quietly, so she must've understood.

"Thanks for what?" Firmia mused irritably. Was it something she picked up on while eavesdropping? Maybe she was glad to have the earrings taken after thinking about it? Neither sat particularly well with the Alkaev. "Whatever. Let's just go. I need a drink and I need my bed ..."

"Years, huh?" Brant sighed, launching the Regalia into the air. It felt more dangerous without the harness on, but they ought to be fine ... "We shouldn't even need that kind of distance ... I guess Firmia's right about that too ... about being weak, but it goes double for me."

"Hardly," Sasha countered, "It doesn't make sense to have to keep someone out of your life when you get along with them well enough, so why would you want to? Just focus on your priorities for now. Take this time to foolproof your daughters and see how things are looking down the road."

"One less thing to worry about, I guess ... you really think Firmia will calm down once we're not fighting for our lives? It's not just a grudge, she's trying to punish Jess for what happened."

"Heh, if it's a punishment then I doubt a few years is enough, but we'll see," Sasha said, knowing just how overly committed Alkaevs could get.

"Firmia will realize it's not worth it and move on... I hope. She's just stressed every day because we're putting our lives on the line. She cares about all of us, even if it takes a crowbar to pry it out of her." Chris curled over a bit and leaned against Brant, getting comfortable, even if the ride would only take a minute. "You've got three big priorities to focus on anyway, Brant. Me, Aki, and Lily. I guess surviving should be a priority too, but you know what I mean... Let Jessica go do whatever she has to do to get her life sorted out, check in later. She probably doesn't want you worrying over her either. Why else would she have agreed to Firmia's terms to readily?"

"I've got a positive answer for that and a negative one," Brant admitted, "but yeah ... this isn't going to get solved right now, and if the only way to make sure the girls understand that this kind of thing isn't the least bit okay is to keep my distance ... then I will ... and hey, what was with that whole ... 'what makes you happiest is what matters' answer?" It took him a minute, but the soft response Chris had given him fully registered now. "You said I'm stuck with you, so you need to hold me to that. I should have used Tonya instead of Vera," Brant laughed.

"You know how bad my self esteem is, Brant... If someone like Vera had managed to worm her way into your heart that quickly, it'd mean she was that special. I couldn't fight something like that... I'd kick Tonya's ass, though. No questions asked." She stuck her tongue out at him, he was playing a silly game, honestly.

"Honestly I just picked her for the example since she and Jess have that much in common ..."

"Hah, should have picked me," Sasha joked.

That was enough of a curveball to get Brant laughing again. "Ah, not now," he pleaded, "need to fly steady ..." Seeing as the drones had picked catapult A to land on, Brant decided to move toward B and just cross over to the Regalia's dock once they were inside. "But yeah ... hold me to that. I'm not doing this to make myself happy. That comes with the territory when you do it right. I guess that's the difference here. Not trying to make myself happy, so there's no reason to be greedy ..."

"I'll hold you here, Brant. Try my best... I think kid three might do some extra holding, as well. Surprise, Sasha, though you probably figured. And... Maybe he should have. You seem to be mister perfect, from everything I see or hear. Where do your faults hide, magic man?" Chris snickered, relaxing a bit.

"Kid three?" Sasha's eyebrows perked up. That wasn't Vasiliy ... "Well I'm not a TK, if that's a fault." Probably not, though imagining himself as a TK was some good food for thought. Too overpowered, clearly.

"So you are ..." Yes, that would certainly do it. Brant was all smiles now, though still being careful with the docking procedure. The Regalia touched down gently enough and stepped into the lift, ready to be delivered safely into the ship.

"Already pregnant... Brant couldn't keep his hands off me once things were settled. Time to survive for a year so we can see if we add a boy or a girl to the roster. I hope the girls are fine with a much younger sibling. They're gonna have to be~" Chris chuckled, sighing. "And no, Sasha, not being a TK is not a fault. If it was, we'd have to dock points from Lily, and she's too wonderful for me to do that."

"Heh ... yeah, best to do it while you're young. It gets harder and harder once you're older," Sasha nodded, "You two work pretty fast, though."

"I mean ... it only takes one," Brant awkwardly reasoned, "Anyway, it's fantastic news ... kind of wish I wasn't piloting right now so I could do more than just smile." The mood was back, and even Brant was feeling much better, thankfully.

"Hmm, yeah, I bet he did get it in just one," Sasha grinned.

Chris blushed, glanced back at Sasha, looked up at Brant, and sighed. "Was a lot more than one. Brant doesn't really... Stop..."

"Heh ..." Brant had the beginnings of a blush, as well.

"Long dry spell, I get it," Sasha said, his attention shifting to the hangar as they arrived inside the Avalon. Even though he'd been gone a while, there wasn't any monkey business going on. The mechanics they had on loan from the ANF were already preparing to look over the Luna and the returning suits now that everything else was done. No loose crap lying around, either. Sasha was glad to be working with a lot like this.

"I think he's just used to this, Sasha. It's been the same every time. I'm gonna brag, he's crazy." She stuck her tongue out, giggling a bit. It was pretty fun to joke about this... Even if she was one hundred percent serious.

"You're going to make us regular guys look bad, Brant."

Brant quickly glanced back over his shoulder. "You are not some regular guy, Sasha. Quit hiding behind that jacket ... but yeah, I'm not letting up anytime soon. After what you had to deal with, I'm not holding back anything." On that note ... "By the way ..." While he tried to figure out how to word his question, Brant worked the Regalia into its dock. "About Tonya ... I think I know a way to beat her ..."

"This should be good," Sasha smirked.

"Not really," Brant looked away from Chris and Sasha awkwardly, "It's not a new idea ..." He just didn't like the optics nor the ethics involved.

"Wait, really? Hit me! Wanna wipe that smug look off her face and get over with this already. Tell me the plan." Chris was all smiles, almost pounding on Brant's chest. "We gonna do a sneak attack? Get her when she's sleeping? Pull the age card?"

"Are you sure? The reason I didn't mention it sooner is because it's pretty underhanded ... among other things. I guess if you're always going to be willing to fight her and not give up ... it's fine?"

"You're going to seduce her?" Sasha asked, trying not to laugh.

"Tonya's strength when fighting TKs is that there's no connection between what she's thinking and what she's doing. She's on autopilot in fights. That's also a weakness though. If she's too distracted to fight back, you could just run up and pull the ring right off her finger ... I'd just have to make sure she's really distracted. Not using the word seduce, but ..."

"Needs to be too hot and bothered to smack you both down once she sees what's going on," Sasha concluded.

"Oh... Yikes..." Chris pouted hard, she really didn't want Brant to be doing anything of the sort to Tonya... Would she even buy that-- Yes, she would, she wasn't the brightest. Still... "If... If you really think it'll work, then I'd do my best. Totally be up for kicking her butt any way possible. All's fair in love and war, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure it'll work if I don't screw up my end of things ..." Brant said, trying not to shrug.

"And if not, Tonya gets a free kiss and you two get to share a knuckle sandwich," Sasha teased, "All in all, not too bad."

"Or a boot burger," Brant winced, locking down the Regalia and popping the hatch open, "Probably only going to get one good shot at this, so let me know when you're ready, Chris ..."

Chris sighed. "If... This is the best you've got, then we should probably do it as soon as possible. Maybe today, even. We're all tired from the fight, but Tonya's probably feeling the adrenaline wear just a bit worse than we are. She's old, and all... What do you think, Brant?"

"If she's old," Sasha smirked, "You two have another ten years at most."

"Well we should definitely try this when she's not at her best," Brant pondered, "I mean most of the time she sees us it's for a fight, so that's what she'll be expecting. We've got that working against us ... alright, I've got it!"

"Here we go ..." Sasha's widened even more.

"She's not quite on the same sleep schedule as the rest of us. When it's time for the ship to move, she's got to be up. Can't do too many late nights. We'll try it once she's about ready to sleep. She'll still be expecting a fight when she sees me, but it's probably the best time to throw that curveball ... either then or first thing in the morning ..." Brant didn't like their chances as well in the morning, but it was just another option.

"Hmmmm... Alright. I do feel a bit shitty that we have to go this far to beat her, but she's a ball of instincts. Not going to defeat her any time soon without some smoke and mirrors... Or thirst, in this case. Just... Don't, get too wild with her, if you can avoid it, Brant. Especially after this talk about Jess... Don't really want to see another woman getting touchy feely with you. Definitely not Tonya." Hopefully he could avoid it, somewhat...

"Yeah," Sasha gave Brant a strange look, "Try not to get too wild with your first crush and all ..."

Brant rolled his eyes. Sure she was his first, but they were beyond sexual tension and into the realm of ... well, something beyond that. "I'm no hypocrite. It's not going to be fair, but I'm not going to take things too far, either ... can't expect you to grab the ring while anything that bad's going on ..."

"Snrk ... right, well, good luck you two," Sasha said, hopping out of the Regalia, "Let me know how it goes."

"I hope so..." Chris pouted hard this time, watching Sasha leave. "I'll bring the ring by to show you!" Then, she flopped hard, melting against Brant. "This is gonna be real hard to watch... Especially because I'm gonna be feeling everything. I trust you... If I didn't, I wouldn't be agreeing to try this, but it's still gonna be... Yeah."

"Yeah, that's why I didn't even consider it until now," Brant noted, a fresh apology on his face, "Still, we'll win, and it shouldn't take long." He wouldn't let himself go too far and if Tonya got control of herself in time he'd be down for the count in a few seconds ... it wouldn't take long.

"Still a ways until she should be settling down for the night, though ... maybe we should just relax until then."

"Relax... See the kids? Close the cockpit and be unprofessional? Hit the gym?" She paused before smirking a bit, whispering, "go back to the Riese and steal their hot tub?" She was definitely a bit jealous that they didn't have such a commodity, but where would they even put it on the Avalon? Their room? Maybe, but still...

Oh ... all good choices ... well save for that last one. It would be hell to get their hands on that hot tub. Then again, Jessica seemed fairly generous lately ... probably not with that thing, though. "Well since we're waiting for Tonya to crash, we've probably got time for the first three," Brant smirked, "Need to change up the order, though ..." On cue, the Regalia's hatch lowered and closed, again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just an ordinary morning of routine exercise... well, not really. First off, the date was August the 15th, a fact that had nearly slipped Seung-Min's mind, but it was in fact her eighteenth Birthday. Due to that fact, and some earlier shenanigans that had come along with it, Christina and Esther were sitting out the workout this time around. Granted, by this point in the normal routine, they both would have tapped out anyway, but it was a different sort of sitting out than normal.

And of course, what would a not-so ordinary day be without an emergency alarm and a call for all hands? They had been approaching the arctic so it wasn't unexpected, but... what lousy timing.

"Happy Birthday to me, I guess." Seung-Min muttered, finishing her last one-armed push-up before leaping back up onto her feet and glancing over at Esther and Christina.

"Well, guess we should get going."

Moonlit Butterfly

 

Well, this was it. The moment of truth... in all likelihood, the Captain would berate her for this, for not coming to her first, but... this was something that Seung-Min simply had to do. If she couldn't win now, well... she might not get another chance until the war was over. If she was going to make Vera talk, she had to win... a daunting task to be certain. Perhaps if she showed that she wasn't in danger, Jessica might not come down on her after all... despite how dangerous the captive Lieutenant clearly was, Seung-Min hadn't felt any ill-intent in her challenge. 

Perhaps it was foolish, but if she couldn't trust in her instincts for this, what could she trust them for, at this junction. There was no time left to be indecisive. Arriving in front of Vera's cell in light training gear, Seung-Min looked over at the one, the only, Vera Maxwell.

"Vera. I take it you aren't occupied, am I right?"

Vera was doing push-ups when Kim arrived, making sure the rest of her that was still organic stayed in shape. She hopped up as Kim spoke, airing her tank-top out, glancing over at her. "Not anymore than normal, no... Considering what you're wearing, I suppose that's what you're here for. Did the captain give you permission for this...? I can't imagine you'd want to betray her trust over me. If you would... You must be very curious." Vera smirked.

"I don't think I'm a very interesting person, but here you are. Why are you so obsessed with me, Kim? I'm not all that into women, I'm afraid to say..."

"She didn't... not give me permission. I can't take you out of your cell, so this space will have to do." Seung-Min replied, the lack of a direct answer implication enough, as she unlocked Vera's cell and stepped inside. Most people would consider it an absolutely ludicrous move, but... she knew that those fears were unfounded. Vera wasn't like that, crossing blades and trading blows had Seung-Min certain of this fact.

"You'll have to forgive the poor accommodations. It's the best I can do on my own. Call me crazy... I probably am, but... I need to do this. As I said, I have the utmost respect for you as a warrior, Vera. It just... feels a waste, to not hear your story. Maybe I just can't turn down a challenge like that from someone of your caliber." Kim admitted, shrugging somewhat. She was curious about how Vera had come to be as she was, but the woman had already divulged the origin of her prosthetics, that she had been forced to fight for the Sacarians through manipulation of her own body... maybe it was more the chance to face her than the information, after all.

"You are crazy. I'm just one woman. Your respect is appreciated, but I seriously can't get why this is so important to you... Whatever." Vera huffed, glancing at Kim and looking her over. She was here to fight... Esther was here to watch, then? The meek girl was standing a bit away, forced to follow Kim around for surveillance reasons.

"Come at me then!" Wasting no time, Vera stanced up and flung a harsh sidekick Kim's way. The element of surprise didn't do much for Vera, the girl swiftly ducking out of the way, as Vera's foot collided with the cell's viewing wall, a hefty thud resounding. Kim was already in a fighting stance when Vera recovered, fists up, smirking. "I didn't think this would be that easy... You are the best Telekinetic on the Riese, after all. Show me what you've got!" Another kick, a roundhouse, fist primed to come down on Kim after. Could she keep up with Vera's stamina?

"You're more than just any woman." Seung-Min retorted, evading Vera's opening gambit. Popping back up and watching her opponent as she recovered from her attempted surprise attack, Kim waited for her to follow-up. It didn't take long... a roundhouse, and a fist ready to apply further pressure... Seung-Min had already learned from Fujiwara that an overly aggressive counter could be punished, and there was no reason to lay her hand down so quickly. Stepping back out of range of Vera's kick, Seung-Min caught the incoming fist, launching a riposte with her own, aimed squarely at Vera's jaw.

"You're Vera Maxwell! Even as an enemy, I couldn't help but admire the way you carried yourself!"

Vera let Kim's fist connect, using her forward momentum to trap her. Snatching the girl's arm she flung Kim at the opposing wall, fists up again, spitting the blood from that harsh punch out onto the floor. "So what? What does that mean? I'm a good pilot and a strong fighter, like so many others here! What makes me so important, Kim!?"

It was frustrating. Vera only knew Kim because of her actual accomplishments on the battlefield. This girl had killed so many of their best, gone toe to toe with aliens, why did she care about one woman from her enemy's ranks? "Tell me!" Bent over, Vera dashed in to try and grab Kim again, knowing her best bet to deal with the TK would be to get hands on her.

"You aren't like the others!" Kim saw the throw coming, but even without Vera's alien-empowered limbs, she was still fast enough to get the toss in. The precognition allowed Seung-Min to tense, and avoid slamming onto the wall unprepared, her landing, while not graceful by any stretch, managing to avoid any significant damage. The Vera she faced was swift, agile, powerful... but she wasn't the goddess of combat that Kim had faced in so many ill-fated simulations. She wasn't the unreadable Kazue Fujiwara, who fought on pure instinct and gave no feelings away. She was beatable.

"I've beaten everyone that stepped up to me, Vera. If not the first time, then those that followed! All that's left aside from Soor'Kan is you!" She replied, as Vera began to charge. Seung-Min had recovered more quickly than Vera had likely been expecting, and she couldn't allow the purple-haired swordmistress to dictate their pace. Using the opportunity, Kim charged Vera in turn.

"You almost ended me, could have done so again! I won the war, but I still haven't taken a real battle off of you yet! I can't stand it!" Kim roared... she could feel that Vera wanted to grapple her. Any attempts at that would be quickly shut down by a prepared counter to the midsection.

Kim charged back at her, the move nearly throwing Vera off her intentions. Without thinking, she pulled her arms in and turned her attempt to grab the TK into a fullbody tackle.

It seemed she had caught Vera off guard with her recovery after all, causing the charging cyborg to pivot into an attempted tackle. Bracing herself, Seung-Min dipped lower, taking Vera's tackle head on, managing to get her arms around her back. Using the woman's own momentum against her, Kim quickly dove backwards, bringing Vera down to the floor in a heavy slam. 

"Guhh!" TKs were ridiculous... They could even keep up with things like this? Vera had barely thought about doing this, and yet... Her whole body hurt, now. Was all of her power really in those limbs? Or was Kim just that strong? Maybe it was both...

"Fine... Ugh... You, win..." Vera sighed and let her arms fall to the side. Kim didn't waste much time in letting her go and making distance again, but the former Lieutenant didn't bother trying to get up again. She just stared up at the ceiling, huffing and trying to catch her breath.

"Ridiculous... What kind of stupid difference, is that power? That's just... Not fair..."

It... was over? It couldn't be, that... Seung-Min looked at Vera for a moment, almost wondering if this was an uncharacteristic ploy, but... it wasn't. The ex-Apotheosis Lieutenant was laid out on the floor, trying to catch her breath. She had given in.

"I wish I could answer that, but... I can't even remember what it's like, to not be this way. Well... you heard what I spoke to Louise about... a few days ago, you probably would have gotten me." Seung-Min replied... it almost felt bittersweet. She had won, but just as Vera's alien limbs had made her an insurmountable opponent at the time, were Kim's own telekinetic abilities advancing to such a degree? Vera's movements had felt easy to read, but she had attributed it to practicing against an approximation of the woman at her best. Had it been something else entirely?

Squatting down next to Vera, Kim looked her over further. She seemed in pain, but aside from the bloody mouth she wasn't really injured. She most certainly could have kept going if she had chosen to, but she hadn't.

"I felt the same way about your limbs... I practiced and practiced but even against your sim data, I never stood a chance. Pressed a grenade between our chests when you had me dead to rights, and you still managed to contain the blast and walk away with only minor wounds." Kim sighed, falling gently onto her rear out of her squat.

"Do you want me to call Dr. Amparo for you?"

"Don't bother," she grunted, slowly collecting herself and collapsing onto her bed, back against the wall. She wiped the blood off her lip and shook her head, sighing heavily. "There was no point in us continuing... You read something even I didn't know I was doing. How am I supposed to fight against that? My change in charge was all instinct... And you still saw through it. Absolutely ridiculous..." There was no point in exhausting herself trying to beat that. Kim was physically fit, already at her level there, and could tell everything that was coming. Vera might've had a chance in a suit, now, but on foot? Without her enhanced attachments?

"I guess you still want my story, then? For some reason..."

Esther was expecting this to be an amusing watch. Orders were to follow Kim around, and so she couldn't have said no anyways, but Esther still kinda wanted to see it. How could Kim match up to Vera?

Well... the battle ended up shifting to Kim's favor rather quickly, Esther didn't have time to process that Vera was getting completely read until she hit the floor and didn't stand up. "W-what? Vera..." It hurt to watch her defeat, probably not as much as Vera was hurting right now, but Esther was still upset by it. "Figures Kim would be the one..." Esther sighed. That girl was ridiculous.

"I suppose so..." Seung-Min replied... it was a shame, really... her telekinetic abilities had begun accelerating just as Vera had lost access to her advanced cybernetics... there was nothing to be done for it, but this was the reality they lived in. Her climactic showdown with Vera Maxwell hadn't ended up being very climactic at all, due to circumstance. Esther also seemed distraught by the outcome... which was far from surprising... despite it all, she did still idolize Vera, after all.

"I do. It's unfortunate that the Sacarians began effecting my abilities like this, right as you're still adjusting to a new set of prosthetics, but that doesn't take away from everything you are, that you have been. I want to know Vera Maxwell... I want to know the immaculate swordswoman, the most skilled duelist I've ever met, who for some reason showed even a small bit of interest in me."

Vera stared down Kim, maybe trying to change her mind, but nothing was going to come of that... "I had early onset Parkinson's. It happened when I was twenty. Helena tried to get me help... But my nerves were shot, through my entire body. There was no cure on Earth for how bad it was... I could barely eat, let alone hold a sword again. The Sacarians came... And they promised me a solution. At the cost of my limbs." Vera looked away, she wasn't very happy about telling this story...

"There was no mention of the cost. They called it an 'act of good will' between our groups. A helping hand to those who would help them. And once all the surgery and changes were finished... When I had limbs I could move again, and things were fine... They started making me do what they wanted. Killing who they wanted. If I disobeyed, they locked my body down... The sensation was too terrifying to go back to. I'm not strong, Kim. I'm not immaculate, honorable, or any of that nonsense... I was just a scared girl who wanted to be able to live like she had before, too scared to give up my life for the lives of others when it came down to it... I'm just..." Vera had teared up, shaking her head and not bothering with the trails that began to stream down her cheeks.

"There's no reason to look up to me. None at all."

So that was what had sparked it all. The Sacarians had come down as faux-saviours, and then once they had Vera in their grasp, they tugged on the leash she didn't know she had been given, and didn't let go. It was difficult to hear, but not nearly as difficult as watching Vera begin to sob. Not that she could blame the woman... stoic as she usually was and so set on her code, she likely hadn't told anyone who hadn't been around from the onset to see it happen.

"That sounds... terrible, Vera. I'm sorry... but you're wrong." Seung-Min replied, walking over and placing a hand on Vera's shoulder. Somehow a hug felt grossly inappropriate, in this situation.

"Anyone would have been terrified in that sort of situation. To suddenly have your life flipped, in such a way... that doesn't stop you from being strong. If anything, that you've made it as far as you have with such a weight... it makes you even stronger than I thought." Kim added, only managing the slightest smile. It was a tough situation, to be certain.

"And I don't see how any of that would make you less honourable. If you weren't, you would have struck me down when I charged you in a rage... no hesitation. Even if your actions were being dictated, the way you conducted yourself was what... what I always looked up to. That adherence to principle... and incredible skill. Even if your reactions were tempered by those augments, your piloting prowess is still immaculate. What you were forced into doesn't make you less of a person, Vera."

Kim's praise felt empty. So many people had died out of her fear. "I could've let myself get killed at any point. Thrown a hefty wrench in their plans. Saved plenty of lives... None of this was strength. It was all fear. Because my life... My life was more important than theirs. I don't... I don't deserve any respect..."

"Tch..." Kim scowled, Vera's mood quickly taking a turn for the worse. So she had fought to survive, so what? That was what everyone did, every single day... it was human nature to value one's own life highly. Was she so set in this viewpoint that she thought that acting as anyone would have was some sort of black mark? It had been more of a reactive twitch than anything, but Kim had already finished slapping Vera across the face before she even realized she had been doing it.

"Snap out of it, Vera! Let yourself get killed? Is that the standard you're trying to hold yourself to? Just because you didn't throw yourself on the sword as a martyr? You were scared to die? So what? Everyone is scared to die, Vera. Even if they refuse to admit it... self-sacrifice is an... impossibly hard thing to do, when your life is on the line. You don't reserve respect because you fall shy of a paragon of human virtue? What bullshit is that?"

Kim's slap had been shocking. Shocking enough that she didn't really know what to say... Was that right? Was it fine to live this way? It didn't feel fine... It felt like running away. Escaping. Turning her back on something she'd told herself she could've fixed... Could she really have just, thrown herself away like that? "I..." Now she was conflicted. She wanted to go back, now. Toss herself away, throw herself into the fire, just to fix what had been done...

But she wanted to live. She wanted Esther, Astin and Helena to all be okay. She wanted to save them. "Do I really deserve, to keep on going, Kim...? Even after everything... With all the lives on my hand, do I... Can, I..." Her head was in her hands again, trying not to sob. Kim was making her to sides fight against each other, and it was starting to tear at her.

Feeling the turmoil burning in Vera's head was heart-wrenching... how could she have gone so far down such a path? How long had all of this been stewing, just waiting for the dam to break and to burst forth in a destructive warpath upon her psyche?

"That's for you to decide, Vera. You've done a lot of bad things, killed a lot of people. And you'll have to live with that burden, but... it's a drop in the bucket, compared to what will happen if we don't stop the Sacarians now. Help us stop them, like only someone of your skill... of your strength, can, Vera. Instead of saving what... hundreds of lives, by throwing yourself away? You can save billions." Seung-Min eventually replied, standing up and offering her hand to Vera.

"You've fought this far to make it here, Vera. You're still alive, you can make a difference. The Captain has already agreed to let you pilot. You can shape your future, and the future of the Earth, and prove that you deserve to be here. Or you can let the past define your future, and let this swallow you. If you ask me, that's the option that I would call running away. I can't make the decision for you." Kim concluded, hand still outstretched.

She glanced up at Kim. Words didn't come out. What she was saying made sense. If she let this eat her up, then people might die. People she cared about... She didn't take Kim's hand, she just looked over at Esther. "Can I, Esther? I don't..." Now that she had the full story... Would she still respect her, like she had before? Still look up to her? Still think she was the coolest... What Kim was saying made sense, painful sense, and she didn't want to give up, but with how heavy her past was, if there was no one left for her to fight for...

"Please... Please, tell me."

Esther had to admit that the result, listening in to Vera's story, was something she was very interested in. Esther quickly discarded her conflicted feelings over the brawl's result, and heard Vera's backstory intently, her expression unmoving. Even as Kim slapped Vera --something that would have drawn an upset reaction before--, Esther had her attention entirely on Vera. Still listening, but mind elsewhere.

It was a sobering experience.

Vera was much frailer in her core that Esther came to expect, she wasn't the unstoppable behemoth of a pilot Esther had expected. In fact, the longer it was pondered, the more superficial the facade had seemed. Vera had killed many because she had effectively been turned into a doll, it was possible that her conviction in Apotheosis --back, when they weren't more like cornered dogs-- wasn't as strong as Esther imagined. Vera had always been a cornered animal, acting out of fear, she fooled Esther well...

Still, there was more to it than a girl effectively held at gunpoint, right? Vera's code of honor, remained, whenever the woman could apply it. And what of her interactions with other Apotheosis members? Those couldn't be fabricated out of fear.

When Esther was prompted the question by Vera, she didn't want to look the woman in the eyes, she closed hers. "If you died, those people would have been killed by other hands." It felt evident --more importantly, it was the easiest thing to say. "You've lived to see yourself switch sides, so of course you can make a difference now. Atone, cleanse, cut ties... whichever way you want to think of it."

This was very weird, like talking to a stranger. Esther's dynamic with Vera had been completely shattered. The person in front of her wasn't the unstoppable guardian of old. Esther could sympathize with Vera's predicament, but gone was that sense of seniority held prior. "...I don't want to see you holding that guilt over your head, that makes me mad." At least, Esther could say this with full confidence no matter what.

When Esther looked away from her, Vera nearly shattered. If her words hadn't come so quickly after, she might not have been able to come back from that reaction. Luckily, they came swiftly enough. And despite Esther's sudden retreat, her words held real weight. What she'd said at the end...

"Alright, Esther... I'm... Sorry. I'll do what I can to help. Of course... I have to. To atone... To make things better, I can't... Just wallow here." Even if it was shaky, Esther had given Vera enough confidence to at least try. Someone important to her had heard her secrets, heard her fear, and still said she was enough.

"I didn't mean for this... To go this way, Kim. You probably weren't looking for someone so pitiful, when you came here today. But you broke the dam... I guess this is all I had hiding. There's a reason I didn't want to share it so much..." Hopefully she could get a hold of herself, enough to speak with the captain. Find a suit to pilot, maybe run tests. Do... Do something.

She had gotten through, but it seemed Vera needed one final push, and it wasn't one that Seung-Min herself could give. As Vera looked over at Esther, the pause... short as it had been, was still crushingly intense. When the reply eventually came, it seemed to have done the trick... despite the momentary lapse her eye aversion had made. She had someone to fight for now, which seemed to be the key in her ignition.

"I was looking for you, Vera. For your story. And I got it... so no disappointment from me."

"Mm..." Pick yourself up, Vera... It was perhaps an unrealistic wish after seeing Vera break down like that, under the weight fate had put on her. They couldn't go back to when Esther didn't know how vulnerable Vera was, wishing for it would be petty. It wasn't devoid of upsides, however. Esther could feel a surge of independence with this discovery. As much as Vera wanted to protect Esther, the nerdy girl ended up losing a big deal of her authority. Esther didn't want that, she never asked for Vera to hold her sins, but the lieutenant went and did it, and was cracking beneath it all.

"Whatever you do, don't hold onto that feeling forever." Esther added, knowing full well it sounded demanding with such little pause from Vera's sobs. "Don't think I'll be happy if I learn you're just going to dedicate your life to atoning, you might as well have died." Esther finally found it in herself to look at Vera again. "Duane's still out there, I'm still here... and everybody in Apotheosis has the same blood you spilled on their hands. We're all part of it, indirectly or not." That was part of fighting for something --even the ones that didn't leave for the battlefield--, they were complicit, even if ignorant. They took part in the reason people died. Just like those defending the Federation were complicit with its imperfections and callousness. That was life. "So find that fire you had before, and stick it to the aliens."

"I suppose you did, Kim..." If only I'd met these people before... Maybe this is the whole point of this ship. To put the best the ANF has to offer in one place... Weed out the awful, give the future hope. Probably too much dreaming in that thought, but... It certainly... Certainly feels like it, given how far they've come with so little.

"Might as well have died? You're cutting a new wound into me, so soon after I'd opened an old one... You know I'm not that durable, Esther. You know now..." Vera tried to smile, she wasn't being entirely serious, and she understood what Esther meant. It was still a but tough to hear... "Yeah, they're... They're all still alive. Just... Need to make sure they stay that way. Ugh, what a nightmare it'll be to convince Duane or Astin to stop fighting..." Even if they knew the Sacarians weren't what they needed, they both hated the ANF so much... Vera wasn't much of a fan, but she still understood the situation.

"I'll try, Esther. Going to... Have to speak with the Captain, first. As for you... I know you probably want to help us fight... You can. Go ahead. Just, stay alive. I don't know what I'll do if those aliens take away anything more from me. Just... Do your best to survive, Esther. We'll all come back together." She smiled brightly, finally, the thought of her friends and loved ones making it through this mess enough to relight that fire. She just needed some good kindling to get it going again.

"Sorry, I'm not very nice, Vera. I wasn't trying to poke a wound, though." Esther tried, if dry at that, at an apology, her attempt at a smile went way smoother than Vera's, at least. "We've got to get them to stop fighting for the aliens, yeah. I'm sure the both of us can convince Duane." Esther wasn't going to let the cats make them their plaything, for sure, and she was going to fight. "You're right on the money, I want to fight... I'm not going to let the aliens shoot me down. That's not an option." Getting the chance, at long last... Esther's blood was pumping.

"We'll all come back together. Yeah."

If nothing else, Esther had managed to light a fire under Vera's ass by reminding her of the people from Apotheosis that she wanted to help get away from the Sacarian's grasp. That was good, it gave her something to fight for, but it gave Seung-Min a slight pause. Astin had been the one who was supposed to execute Christina... but they hadn't done it? Why? 

"I'm... willing to believe that Astin chose not to execute Christina as ordered, out of some sort of virtue. I can't speak for the others, but I could... probably look the other way, if nothing else came to light. But Ave-... Marianne... will be a hard sell. I don't know if she's one of the people you want to save but... I'm not the only one who considers her kill on sight, at the moment." Seung-Min admitted, looking away for a moment as her fist clenched, knuckles white and slightly shaking.

"... That's fine. She was never... I could never get a proper read on her, but it always felt like she was along for the ride, just here to start nonsense, and cause problems. Knowing that she took that shot instead of Astin is, a large weight off of my heart, so... You can do what you will with her. Let me, at least... At least try and talk them down."

Happy Birthday

 

"Kiiiiim... Kiiiiiiiiiim~?" Christina sat at the edge of the bed, dressed, sweater on, hair up, smile ready. "It's time to wake up~ It's a bit early, but, I figured it would be better to get this out of the way before anything happens today..." Beside her was breakfast, pancakes, coffee, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, all still warm, waiting for birthday girl. Christina had probably-- no, definitely made too much, but given all the fighting they'd been doing, losing herself in something normal like a birthday was, all too welcoming.

"Mmmn~?" Seung-Min began to stir, eyes opening groggily, the clock right in her field of view... 7 AM? 'Ugh... should have been awake by now, must have gone overboard on tests with Buck...' The drowsy Lieutenant thought to herself, turning slightly to face Christina, who was already dressed and seemed ready to go. That was unusual, unlike Kim, the bubbly blonde had been far less of a morning person in general. Had something gone wrong, that she was needed for?

"Is something wrong, Chrissy? Sorry I overslept." Kim asked, sitting up with a stretch, blanket falling away from her chest to reveal a loose button-up top.

"Nope. Nothing's wrong. In fact, today is great... Because... Happy birthday!" She'd reached over to the desk to pick up the tray, presenting it with a wide smile. "I, uh... I probably made too much, but I got really excited getting stuff ready for you. So... Uhm... Er, and your, birthday gift is..." She was blushing at this point, trying to hide a silly smile. "Me. I know that... That's really cheesy... But, you're eighteen now. S-So. So... You don't really, have to hold back, right?"

Hmm? Then what... oh. Right, it was the fifteenth today, wasn't it? Seung-Min had been so caught up with the war effort that it had slipped her mind entirely. Accepting the offered breakfast with a smile of her own, Kim scooted over ever so slightly, patting the bed next to her.

"I think you did, heehee... mmm, you'll just have to help me eat it, then." She replied, giggling at Christina's efforts. The blonde was being genuine, but she was too adorably out of place for that sort of thing not to.

"You forgot to offer me a bath, Chrissy. Mmm, and I was holding back? News to me~"

Christina slid in a bit, though she was surprised to hear Kim correct her on the line, was she supposed to say that first? Maybe it was some joke she didn't know... "Y-You haven't been? I, uh... That's... Oops..." She mumbled into a hashbrown as she turned a proper red, glancing over at-- Right, Esther's still here... Thank God she's asleep, still... The last thing she needed was for another person to hear all this.

"Oh, did you not know the line? I thought you were quoting it, sorry~" Seung-Min asked, reacting to Christina's thought directly, still not quite used to differentiating between them and her spoken words.

"Welcome home, master~ Would you like dinner first, a bath..." Kim began, leaning in to Christina's ear and giving it a playful nibble.

"... or me~?" She concluded, the last bit whispered lustfully into her ear for emphasis. Pulling away slowly, Seung-Min grabbed a piece of toast from the smorgasbord in front of her, taking a bite out of it.

The shiver that followed went through her whole body. Having planned this, she'd been expecting most of this from Kim. That didn't mean it was easier to handle in person. "Uhm... I-I, see... I didn't know, haha... I'll, r-remember that? I, I guess..." Hoo boy, this is going to be a challenge. "A-Anyway, we should, you, er, food, we should eat, and then you wanted to gym, r-right?"

Giggling at Christina's reaction, Kim leaned in close and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, cuddling close to her as she nuzzled against her.

"Mmm... Chrissy. I know I've said it a lot, but... I'm really... really glad you're okay." Seung-Min noted softly, pulling Christina into a full embrace.

"Oh, er... Yeah..." Christina hugged her back, trying to smile. She'd been trying not to think about it, but... It was going to come up for a while now, wasn't it? "I'm glad I'm okay, too. Just... We're both okay, and that's what matters..." Kim had given her a real scare too, honestly. All of that nonsense with whatever was going on with her mind... She seemed alright, at least...

"I'm sorry to bring it up, I just..." Seung-Min began, pressing further into Christina as she began to sniffle slightly, a few tears dripping down her cheek. Squeezing her even tighter, Kim couldn't help but slip into a rare vulnerable moment.

"... Oh... Heh..." Christina felt herself smiling, hugging Kim tighter. "I'm alright. I'm not going anywhere... Promise. I know you'll keep me safe, anyway. Don't think you're gonna let me out of your sight any time soon, at the least. Heh..." She didn't mind if Kin ended up acting that way. She was... Admittedly, also pretty scared, so having that safety net was rather comforting right now.

"I know..." Kim replied, sniffling a bit more as she buried herself in Christina's shoulder for a few more moments, before pulling up and tilting Christina's head towards her, stealing a kiss from the blonde. 

"I'm okay. Sorry." Seung-Min added, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Mmm... You don't have to apologize, you know? You were scared... I get it. It makes sense. I would've been scared too, if things were reversed... So, just... Know that you don't have to put up a strong face when you're with me, if it's too much for you. I can handle being support as well."

"I still feel like I should. You wanted happy, right? I'll make sure to take you up on that when I need to, but not right now." Seung-Min replied, wiping away the last tear, before turning back to a smile.

"Alright... If you're sure. But, what I want is for you to enjoy your birthday, not just happiness." With one more munch, the hashbrown was gone, Christina almost fishing another one off the plate before realizing, "Oh, should I wake up Esther? If we're gonna do gym stuff... Are we gonna do gym stuff?"

"...Mm." Esther shifted under her sheets. It's not like she managed much heavy sleep on that couch. The constant talking had definitely roused her from her sleep, but Esther was commited to going back. It started really awkward, with Chris offering herself as a present? Who does that?

It quickly morphed into what Esther felt was more normal. Still, was she about to stand up, ruin the mood, and go 'oh hey Kim Happy Birthday!'?

No. God no.

"As long as I can spend it with you, of course I'll enjoy it." Kim replied, giving Christina a longer kiss this time around, throwing in a few playful nibbles before breaking it off the second time around.

"I will. You've bought yourself a day off, if you want it. I thiiiink she's already awake though." Seung-Min added, eyeing Esther's makeshift bed. Those feelings weren't coming from a sleeping girl.

"Of course you can-- Mnh... Mm!" It was pretty embarrassing for Christina to get kissed like that with someone else in the room... Especially when sh-she was still awake!?

"Wha? Really? Esther, are you awake? Geez! S-Say something, at least..."

"...Why." Kim didn't need to bring attention to Esther, ah crap. This was awkward enough. "I woke up about the same time you started talking... You come over wishing happy birthday to Kim all intimate-like, saying you're her present. What am I supposed to do, crash the party?" Esther came out of her sheets, stretching her legs. "I'd say get a room, but I realize I'm the one invading here..." Esther's feet hit the floor as she spoke. She stood up, not particularly brimming with energy, staring at Christina with a mellow expression.

"Shouldn't we all get a day off? I mean, it's your birthday..." Esther attempted at reasoning, pointless as it probably was.

"Would you have preferred I told her not to worry about it, and started testing out my present? Truth be told I only noticed when she brought you up." Seung-Min replied with a snicker, wrapping an arm around Christina as she picked up a piece of bacon, quickly downing the small morsel of meat.

"I enjoy doing it, so I wouldn't take a day off anyway. Mmm, but I suppose it's only fair, if you can come up with a good present before we start, then you can sit out too."

"Wh-Why wouldn't I? It's... It's once a year, and I'm her g-girlfriend, so... A-Anyway if I'd known you were awake I would've, just, waited... Geez..." Now Christina was a mess, stuck in the middle of Kim teasing her and Esther having heard all of that nonsense. Times I wish I could turn invisible, right now. A sigh, she gave up and flopped against Kim, stealing herself some bacon too.

"I-I would really prefer if you used Christina's room for anything like that." Yet more awkward. Great. Now Esther closed her eyes to avert her gaze and save face, holding a bit of a frown. A present, though? "I have literally nothing of my possession except some hand-me-downs since I joined the ship... friendship?" Eh. It was worth a try.

"I'd prefer you not to turn invisible, Chrissy." Kim replied to the unspoken, kissing her blonde doughball on the forehead, gently running her fingers through signature long blonde hair. Looking over at Esther with a widening grin, Seung-Min couldn't help but snicker.

"I try to, but when something like this is sprung on me... well, I'd have to be crazy to turn down carte blanche on my Chrissy~ Besides, aren't we friends already? How about you bake a cake?" Kim teased, giving Christina a squeeze as she did so.

"C-Can you stop reading my mind so casually? It's really weird to get used to... I mean... I know it shouldn't, be a problem, but... Mrrrr..." Grumbling and whining was all she could seem to do right now, Kim's attention making her even more embarrassed. "Sh-Shouldn't we just, gym, already? Just... You know..."

"Err... sorry Chrissy. I really can't... it just feels like I'm hearing you talk. If I'm not looking at your lips and don't see them moving, it's hard to tell the difference sometimes." Kim apologized, her face forming into a pout.

"...I'm not here to blame you, Christina's a banger, but please think of my situation a bit. I'm stuck with you... at least I can stay cooped up in your room even if you're not here." This time Esther couldn't hold back on making a comment, breaking the ice(?), but still looking away desperately. Kim could be pushy on these matters... "I don't know how to cook a cake, Kim. I can make like... a sandwich."

"You could at least try... B-Banger?"

Seung-Min couldn't help but snicker at Esther's response, breaking into a full-blown laugh when Christina replied in confusion. Catching herself after a few moments, she managed to give a response.

"I mean... if you take two layers of cake and put frosting between them, isn't that a sandwich? Mmm, I'm in a good mood, so if you both don't want to join in today, you don't have to. And I'll try Chrissy, but it's a lot to get used to." Kim replied down the list, saving the best for last.

"It means she thinks you're... how do they say it... fuckable af?"

"I guess... I, could?" On second thought, there was always the internet. Esther was a decent learner if it was laid down simple enough. Maybe somebody had a 20 minute video of how to bake a cake... there where whole programs about that, right? "...And yeah, a banger. Super soft, curvy, big puppies, cute face. I can see why Kim would be nuts about you." At least one of them was going along with this. Esther wasn't sure why she was still going herself...

"Wait wha--" Flushed nearly crimson, Christina snagged the blanket and dove herself under it. "You're both awful!"

"Heehee~" Seung-Min giggled, reaching under the blanket to pet Christina's hair.

"Sorry Chrissy, but you did ask. Blame Esther."

"Just being honest..." Esther shrugged, "But anyways, I can't cook unless Kim is supervising.... and I'll still have to watch you at the gym while you do your routine." Her hope was that Kim would take a break as well, but it was what it was.

"Too honest! Both of you! I wasn't made for this sort of flattery, gosh!" Christina flinched at the petting, but the quivering pile of blanket slowly started to calm down.

"Is it flattery if it's true?" Kim interjected, continuing to pet Christina as she mellowed out.

"Well then, we can go down to the kitchen after I'm finished in the gym. I already let you off the hook anyway, so don't worry about it too much."

"Well, alright then. After gym I'll get to work." Smartphone in hand, it'd give Esther time to learn a recipe while waiting at the gym doing nothing. Perfect. "Let's get going then --er, if you're done eating..."

Edited by Balcerzak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Easy now buddy, we got it," It was true what his squad mates told him. The Velites needed physical action to break them in. Tycho hurried, but also took some time to properly get accustomed to his machine, carefully dodging something like a tree every few minutes he got. Maybe this time he wouldn't freeze up or stall out. VR missions don't help with things like that.

He had a good feeling more fighting was going to be happening that he felt ill-prepared for, but he'd fight it out, things always worked out if he tried hard enough for it. Central still wasn't a pretty site when he left it, and now he's being thrusted into yet another fight. A lot was still going on, but he pushed it back. Now wasn't the time for that. Nor for a drink, but he still wanted a lot of that. That's for later.

Once in range, he stopped his machine. Gazing out and looking at things for a bit, before remembering, "Right right, can't get distracted," he turned on his coms to the Riese.

"Come in Heion Riese. This is Sergeant Tycho McNair. I've been sent ahead by Captain Miller as backup according to your latest report. I was asked to report to Captain..." He briefly muted himself from the Riese, "Shit, how do you pronounce that?" He slapped his head, then unmuted himself, "Is it, Captain... Guss-Alt?" He audibly sighed.

Edited by Silver Gallade
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another day, another chance to train; though, not in the usual sense for the active alien. Alriana was in the hanger testing out a new addition to the Almydis that Buck had installed at her request: a linked tail. Normally her tail was free to do as it pleased; however, she now had to consciously keep track of the extra appendage, lest it smash into the Almydis, or an allied machine, in the middle of combat. After years of ignoring her tail, it was proving to be more difficult to remain focused on it than she'd thought it'd be; perhaps this was why the Sacarians had refused the request in the first place. Still, she felt that she was making good progress and would have it mastered with time to spare before the upcoming clash.

The sudden siren of the emergency alarm jolted her attention away from her tail, thankfully not causing an accident. A low growl of annoyance escaped her lips as she realized that she would be doing the rest of her testing during live combat. A trial by fire, but that wasn't anything new. She sighed and opened a channel to Jesicka.

"Captain. I am ready to, deploy. Should I wait, or go now?"

Seeking Shelter, Not Help

She picked herself up off the floor and shook her head. When had she fallen asleep? As she took in her surroundings she realized she didn't know where she was. She... didn't know who she was. She appeared to be in a cell of sorts, completely lacking any sort of defining features. It was as black and white as it could be. Was everything a dream then? Wait, what was everything? She was forgetting something important, possibly many somethings. She headed towards the door, there was no use in just sitting around and waiting for the world to come to her.

Bizarrely, rather than entering out into a hallway, she was instead looking out over a small arena from some high perch. A lone Stygusian stood at the center, bodies of other Stygusians strewn around her. Not dead, but unconscious and covered in a mix of bruises, cuts, and bite marks. She was the same, heavily wounded, yet somehow she still found the strength to stand, as she had many times before. Her previous victories had led her here and now she had proven herself to the Sacarians; she was the strongest... How did she know that just from watching her? "It's simple," a voice sounded in her head. "It's because..."

She blinked and now found herself in a hanger watching as the Stygusian from before was addressed by a Sacarian. Somehow that Sacarian stood out to her, and not just due to his lack of a mane. Even from this distance she could still hear what he was saying: "You are my favorite, and I plan to care for you greatly." The Stygusian stared at the speaker, her gaze devoid of any warmth; she didn't seem to particularly care about his words, merely accepting them. There was something else there too, but it felt as though it had been hidden at the bottom of a bottomless pit. Again, how did she know this? "It's because you are..." the voice again. It sounded... familiar now, somehow.

She blinked again, finding herself back in the cell; though it had changed greatly, now filled with all sorts of knickknacks. Right, that's how it should be. It felt comforting... in a strange sort of way. She looked outside of the room into the hallway beyond. The Sacarian from before was there, his back currently to her. At his feet were several familiar yet unfamiliar bodies; it was as if something was stopping her from remembering them. Still, she couldn't fight off a sudden feeling of unease and, more appropriately, fear. "It's because you are Alriana." The voice again, but she could tell where it was coming from this time: the Sacarian outside. How had he noticed her? As she realized this, the world around her began to disintegrate until it was just her and the cat in a world of black.

He turned and stared at her, a twisted look in his eyes and a malicious smile on his face. "And you are MINE!" He lunged suddenly and-


Alriana woke with start, shooting into a sitting position and gasping for air as if she'd been suffocating. She shivered, a cold sweat chilling her to her core. She was on the Riese, right? That had just been a terrible dream? Rather than wait for her eyes to adjust to the dark she frantically fumbled around in the dark to feel for any sort of trinket that would confirm her fears. After several minutes of searching and finding nothing, as well as her eyes finally adjusting, she stopped her search. She was on the Riese. She was safe from the space cat. For now. The involuntary thought was like a slap to the face and she reeled back as though she'd actually been struck. She... wouldn't be going back to sleep if she was thinking like that. Not on her life. 

It was still so early though, barely past 1 AM. She wasn't sure if she could go without sleep until morning; even if she could the rest of the day would wholeheartedly suck. And who was to say it wouldn't just happen again the next night? She refused to deal with that. Part of one night was already more than enough. But how would she fix her dreams? She didn't know. Cheyrl might, she was good with things like this. But so was Tristan, and by now Alriana knew herself well enough to know that being near Tristan calmed her often volatile emotions. That was it then, she'd just sleep in Tristan's room until the dreams passed. He shouldn't mind anyway, people who were together apparently slept with each other.

Hastily she threw on a loose short-sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts before heading out into the hallway, walking with purpose to Tristan's room. She... didn't have any way to get in; he hadn't given her a key and destroying the door probably wasn't the best idea, no matter her hurry. She gave the door a few hard knocks and hoped they were enough to rouse him.

Tristan had been enjoying a rather light sleep when the bumping on his door knocked him out of it. "Wh-Wha...?" A quick glance at his clock, one in the morning... Were they under attack? The ship's alarms would be going off if they were, and there was no way this was some Apoth assassin sent to deal with just him. He was just an ensign... Meaning... It didn't mean much, actually. Who was at his door? Slipping out of bed and finding a pair or shorts to throw over his boxers, Tristan slowly made his way to the door. Opening it... "Huh?"

Alriana? "What's wrong? Did something happen...?" He blinked several times, rubbing at his eyes. Had something happened? They were going to be moving tomorrow... And... With how she'd felt in the hangar, then maybe. "Bad dream? Lonely?" Immediate guesses, maybe right, maybe wrong, but it was best to start poking at places to see if he could figure things out. "Er, come in, if you want." Still rather tired, Tristan slipped his hand off the door frame and yawned his way back to his bed, sitting on the edge and waiting for Aly to speak her mind... If she was even up for speaking.

Was there something wrong? Yes. Had something happened? Also yes. But was she going to admit it? Not if she could help it. I shouldn't have to ask for help for something so small... "Mn." A vague and brief reply to be sure and, when coupled with her unusually pensive expression, likely to raise questions rather than answer them. She was quick to follow Tristan in and lock the door behind her before she wordlessly joined him on the bed, taking a seat to his left.

With little warning, his arm was snatched away from him as Alriana suddenly decided it was hers for now. She sat there silently for a few moments, hugging Tristan's arm all the while. Just being close... It was as she thought, just being near him was helping on its own. "Let me sleep here." It was a demand plain and simple. There would be no negotiating this.

Didn't seem like she wanted to talk... He wasn't going to make her, unless-- "Ah, hey..." She was, going to do something like this. "You can't, just..." It made him smile just a bit, but he did end up sighing. "Aly... I know you hate thinking about it. Even so, if this is a problem for you, we have to talk about things. You aren't alone, anymore. And..." He reached his free hand over to gently hold her hand, so tightly coiled around his arm.

"If we're going to try and be together, that's what couples do. They talk, and help each other through their problems. It's painful, but that's what I'm here for. What Cheryl, and Aliza are here for. To help you... Even strong people need help sometimes." He didn't know if things would sink in, but he wasn't going to let this go if she was going so far as to barge in. Hedging my bets on a nightmare, then. Probably doesn't want to wake up alone...

What little of her good mood that she had built back up quickly crumbled as she realized Tristan wasn't going to let her do what she wanted. At least not without a fight. "There are people, who care about me. And you... You are here, right now. With me. I'm not alone, anymore." She knew that; it had finally sunk in earlier today. That wasn't the problem; if it was she wouldn't have come to Tristan in the first place.

Talking was nearly at the top of her list of things she didn't want to do right now, but she doubted she'd be getting out of it so easily; Tristan was being unusually stubborn about it. She could just leave, assuming he'd let her, but that would put her back at square one. She sighed, annoyed. "Why do I have to need help? Why can I not just do it myself, like before?" That led into another problem she'd started to realize, and this one was entirely on her.

She wasn't strong, not to the extent she'd claimed to be. At least not... mentally? Emotionally? Whatever you wanted to call it. It wasn't just that she needed help, but that she'd realized all she'd done was run from her problems. And now, faced with a chance to confront them? She still wanted to run away. "I'm... not strong. Not like you." She seemed to deflate as the words left her lips, looking down at the floor and loosening her grip on Tristan's arm.

"Aly..." He didn't want to hurt her, but... "I'm just worried." He tried to prop her up just a bit as she slumped, not wanting her to get down on herself. From what he understood, her race greatly favored the strong. Being weak in any way was sort of like, a mark is shame. At least, that was what he was getting. Seeing her confidence leave on admittance was startling.

"You're very strong, in a lot of ways. I just worry, that this one way is going to be what ends up hurting you in the end. If you freeze up again, and you get hit, get shot, get... Taken." He didn't want to consider the last one, sighing and biting his lip. Much as he didn't want to, it was something that could happen.

"... Humans talk about their problems so that they don't have to shoulder them alone. Having people there to be strong where we can't has helped a lot of people keep going and survive when they otherwise couldn't. If it's... If you still can't, or you just want to try and sleep, I understand. But..." His hand made his way to her chin, turning her to face him, trying to read her face, her eyes, know if this was the right way to go about things.

"But if you can let me be the strength you don't have, then please. I'll be here."

Tristan mentioning the possibility of being taken, especially after her dream, wasn't something she wanted to hear. If he hadn't held her up, she may well have sunk off of the bed and onto to floor in an attempt to exit the conversation. "Do not say that! That will not, happen. I... would not, let it..." Some of her fiery attitude had flared back up to dispute the thought, but it quickly sputtered out as she recalled just what had she had just narrowly avoided earlier today.

Even being forced to face Tristan she still didn't meet his gaze, eyes downcast as she sat in silence. Then suddenly she met his gaze, emotions on full display: frustrated, anxious, scared, worried, all in an Alriana shaped box. "...Why? Why do I have to be afraid? I do not want to be! I... Even with you here, I want to hide it away. To not think, about it. There is so much, and it all hurts! I want to be strong... Strong enough to face it... but I'm not!" 

Tears had begun to well up in her eyes, not that she'd noticed, and she had discarded Tristan's arm for a full-on hug, burying her face in his chest.

"You don't have to be afraid, but I don't think you can flip a switch and turn it off. Unless you're going to sit out of fights until he's defeated, hiding away isn't an option either. All you can do... Is face your fears, and trust the people fighting with you." He let Alriana shuffle herself closer, hugging her and gently resting his head on top of hers. It was clear that she was terrified about all of this... They had to get rid of him. Get rid of him and give her a way to move on from this nightmare.

"He's never getting near you, ever again. Not as long as I breathe." How horrible that she had to suffer through this... "But I'm not so mean as to make you face this the whole night... Do you want to talk about anything? Should we lay down, and you can try to get comfortable?"

"I know that." She growled into his chest, unintentionally muffling some of the aggression in her voice. "I need, to be strong but... But!" Her hands balled into fists and she pushed herself off of Tristan and the bed. She stood in front Tristan, doing her best to tower over the still seated ensign, her eyes still watery. Every time that damn space cat was referenced she felt a spike of fear; however, without Soor'kan present, it only agitated her further. "Just... stop. Stop, talking about him! I do not, want to hear it!"

She tensed as something grazed her arm, her vision beginning to blur. She brought her hand up her eyes to remove the water that had snaked its way into her eyes. ...Water? That could only mean- "Why... am I crying? I should not- I can not..." Gone was the growl, replaced by desperation. "I... I..." 

"... I'm sorry. I'll stop bringing... That, up." It was clearly far too much for Alriana to handle, or power through, and he didn't really know how to help her with that. Whenever he'd been faced with an issue he couldn't tackle, he soldiered on through it. Cheryl would definitely be a better help in this situation... But she'd come to see him, instead. So I just have to keep trying.

"It's alright, Aly. You're just, upset. It's my fault too, so I'm sorry. Really... I'm clearly not going about this the right way. Do you want to try going asleep? You seem... More calm, around me, when I'm not screwing up. You don't have to get in bed with me, of course. I can sleep on the floor, and you can have the mattress. Is that alright?" Maybe some comfortable sleep would help her, instead of trying to talk through this, so late at night. He slowly pulled his hand up, wiping some tears away from one of her eyes. "I wish I could do more for you."

As her tears continued to flow she was caught up trying to give them justification; however, there was none to be found. As the strongest, she couldn't cry. Such a display of vulnerability was for the weak. A privilege afforded to them by the strongest. Yet, here she was, crying in Tristan's room as he tried to comfort her after she had exploded on him. Mistake or no, he hadn't deserved that. "I'm... sorry". She managed to mumble through her tears. 

She hated this feeling of helplessness, unable to control herself as she both clung to Tristan and pushed him away. Why couldn't she just accept the help he was trying so hard to give her? Because she was the strongest? By her own definition, she was no longer fit for that title. It was just her own stubbornness at this point... No, there was more to it than that. She tried to explain, still mumbling and her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Tristan I... if I, let you... help me and I... lose you..." She paused for a moment, hesitantly taking hold of his hand. "I do not, want... to think about it."

Maybe he had the right idea. Stop thinking and drop the topic for now and get some rest. Deal with it tomorrow. She had been tired before and all her crying had worn her out. Finally, she nodded and wiped away the last of her tears."I- Yes. But, I will sleep, on the floor. I do not, like beds. They are... uncomfortable."

So that was a part of it. Afraid that Soor'Kan would take the things she cared about away from her. What was he to do to prove that he would still be here in the morning? The next day? The next week, once this was all over... "Then how about this?" He headed towards his closet and pulled out an extra blanket, settling it next to the bed, before getting back under the covers himself. 

"I'll be right here. You can hold onto my arm for as long as you need tonight, and when you wake up, I'll still be here. Tomorrow, the next day, until you can believe me when I promise you I'm not going to disappear on you. How does that sound?"

She watched as he prepared a spot for her to sleep. He hadn't needed to do that, but he did anyway. "That should be, okay." She got comfortable under the blanket he had provided, facing his bed and bringing her tail up to and under her head to serve as a sort of pillow. As she finished up with her own positioning she reached out took his arm as had been promised to her. "I... Thank you, Tristan." 

It was going to be a bit awkward with her holding onto his arm like this, but he could just wait until she fell asleep again, and then get comfortable. "You're welcome, Alriana. You'll be okay... We all will." A hopeful declaration, he had no reason to believe otherwise. Apotheosis had failed to stop them at every turn, they would continue to do so going forward.

"Mn." She gave him a final nob before she closed her eyes and shifted around one final time on the floor, trying to get as comfortable as she could. Slowly, she began to drift off into sleep once again; this time hopefully free of nightmares.


Slowly she opened her eyes, now in a completely different spot than where she originally had gone to bed on the floor. At some point during the night she'd awoken yet again, empty-handed. Thankfully, before she could panic again, she had realized she'd just moved around in her sleep; luckily without Tristan being dragged to the floor. To solve that issue she had tiredly climbed into his bed, slipped under the covers, and hugged him from behind, ensuring that she wouldn't wake up empty-handed again.

Despite now being awake she made no move to remove herself from the bed. It was warm under the covers and Tristan's presence was as pleasant as always, seeming to mitigate some of her uncomfortableness with the bed. RIght now, she didn't see any reason to get up.

Things were... Warm. Weirdly warm... Had he tripped the heat by accident when he was woken up? He didn't remember doing that... Slowly opening his eyes, he peeked over the bed... No Alriana. "Guess she want back to her room... Hope, she's okay." Slowly trying to roll over, he found it difficult... Something was holding him-- 'Wait." Forcing himself to roll over...

"O... Oh. Hi... I thought you hated beds?" A bit of an awkward question, as he wasn't sure how to address Alriana with anything else. She'd crawled into bed, it seemed. "You alright...?" Explained the warmth...

She had been enjoying holding Tristan when he started to awaken. That meant he'd be getting up soon, probably. Boo, she'd wanted stay under the covers with him a bit longer. Maybe she should just hold him there? She could probably do it. In the end, she decided not to, Tristan rolling over to face her. She was a bit surprised by his question, not having expected it. "When I'm with you, it is not so bad."

Was she alright? She paused, recalling last night. A lot had been said and a lot had happened, too. But finally she'd taken a step, no matter how small, in facing some of the fears rooted deep within her. "I think, I will be." She gave him a smile. "...Because right now, I am."  

Ahhh... Wow, this is... A lot. Tristan was taken aback, Alriana had been in such dire straits last night. Now? He was shocked by how cute she was being, the smile, her look, how happy she seemed. "Aly..." He couldn't help himself, sliding arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. "You're so cute..." He was probably still half asleep, doing something like this, but he couldn't care right now. "Soft... This isn't hair, right? Still really soft." He had a hand running against her 'hair', just happy to have her here.

"A-Ah!?" Tristan had caught her off guard with the sudden hug. Since he had been his usual awkward self less than a moment before, she didn't think he'd be the one to initiate. She wasn't going to say no, however, so she nestled against his chest and returned the hug. The cute comment was equally unexpected, a bit of a blush appearing. "Wh-What does my hair, have to do with, anything? You are... being strange."

"I'm not being strange at all. You're really cute, soft, any guy waking up to this would be happy." She was hugging him back, this was fine, then. "Is it even hair? Ah, well... It's really soft, it totally matters. I feel like, I could hug you all day, Alriana..." Just a bit tighter of a hug, he closed his eyes again, sighing and resting against her. I never really thought about something like this. Waking up to such a sight, even if she is an alien, this is worth winning this war for. "Mmm... I really think I could end up loving you, Alriana..."

He was happy because of her? She didn't really understand why, but she was glad that she'd somehow made him happy. "Of course it is!" She indignantly protested, then added less confidently, "...Probably." Why was he so focused on her hair? Whatever, it didn't really matter. She'd rather focus on the other half of that. "Mn. I just want to, lay here with you, too. Maybe, forever..." 'Here' was warm, comfortable (for a bed), and... safe. It was only natural she'd want to stay here. "What do you mean, by that? By love? Is it like... like?"

"Love? Mmmnhh..." Tristan had to take a moment to gather his thoughts, waking up a bit. As he pondered, he ran his hand around her 'hair', prodding around her neck... Ho, is this actually hair? Interesting, nice and fluffy. Messing his fingers around that for a moment, he looked up and away from her a moment, before smiling. "It's... A special feeling, that someone you care about makes you feel. Like being with them is enough to brighten up your day. Something like that. Waking up to you, here and happy... I felt something like that wash over me. So... Yeah. I think love is, definitely coming down the pipeline."

As Tristan felt around her neck and eventually found her neck fur, usually hidden from sight by her 'hair', she tensed up and let out a high pitched "Hyaa!?". As he ran his fingers along, around, and through it, she felt as though weak jolts of electricity were coursing through her body. She managed a "Wh-Where, do you... think! You are, touching...?", but that was all the resistance she offered up. Thankfully, he stopped soon after and the feeling faded. While she knew she had fur there, no one, herself included, had ever touched it before. What was that feeling and why had a simple touch triggered it?

Moving on, she readjusted herself as she listened to his explanation of love, making sure her 'hair' was flat against her neck and covering her fur. She didn't quite get the metaphor at the end, but the rest of it was simple enough. "Ah. I understand, now." But did apply to her? She liked seeing Tristan, but that was because she was attracted to him, apparently. Though, she had started to lean on him a little. There was also part of her telling her she needed to fight him, for some reason. "I, uh, do not know... if love is, 'coming down, the pipe-line' for me." In the end, she just wasn't sure enough to commit.

Whoa. Tristan wasn't expecting a reaction like that at all. Was she that sensitive? It almost made him want to keep prodding at her, but she'd moved his hand before he could try again. Probably get her growling if he tried to test his luck, so with a sigh, he relented.

"If that's how it is, that's fine. You can't force someone into love, after all. You do seem very comfy here, though... And that smile's probably the happiest I've seen you. Call me cocky, but I think I'm working my way into your heart bit by bit." He leaned in to kiss her forehead for emphasis, smiling brightly and hoping no announcements came to sortie. He could afford to be late to the bridge just once in his career, right?

Edited by Ursali
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firmia wanted to be in a good mood this morning. She wanted it so badly since so much had been going well for her lately. The Riese's defense drones had been delivered and were combat ready, the Avalon's original six drones had been supplemented by two more drones by Brant and all of them upgraded into a more useful configuration, the battle preparations aboard the Athena were going well according to the last report, Sasha's Eidolon project was progressing quickly and was nearly ready for live trials, and Firmia had even managed to get in touch with Brant's parents, who were quietly aiding her with another important project with the help of an AI they called Faber. She even had an early morning drink courtesy of Hannah to help her ease into the daily grind. Everything was going well ... except the news coming out of Russia, that was ...

Archangel (Chapter I)

Spoiler

"I've almost reached the AO, but something's different ..." The man behind the golden visor had to trust his instruments when they returned MS profiles that were unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The readings were only becoming more clear and precise as his large fighter raced toward the ongoing engagement. "Our intel may have been wrong."

"Wrong? Wrong how? What's going on, Captain?" A woman's voice came in over the comms. Her concern was obvious, though her Yiddish accent was so faint as to almost go unnoticed through the slight radio interference.

"See for yourself," the pilot said, his machine passing along its data back to his allies.

"New models, maybe?"

"I'm going to test them. No reason to abort the mission over a few unknowns, right? I'll be careful, don't worry. Keep everyone informed."

There was a brief pause. The woman didn't have much else to add, it seemed. "Right. Continuing with the attack. Reinforcements will reach the AO in two minutes."

"Still on schedule," the pilot smirked and pushed the throttle forward. The fighter picked up speed as blue fire erupted out from behind. The five unknowns came into view. They stood triumphantly over a disorganized and broken mess. It wasn't something anyone would rightly consider opposition at this point. "If anyone on the other side survived that attack, I hope they're feeling grateful." Either way, the lone pilot had their attention, and he was focused chiefly on them, as well. He took in as much as he could in the little time he had, trying to pick the best target to start off with.

"I believe this one is the lead unit," the woman said, and immediately the fighter's IFF tagged the unique unit of the bunch. "It's probably the strongest."

"Let's find out. I'll keep the others busy in the meantime."

There was no slowing down or breaking off from this dangerous approach. Instead, the fighter released four small fliers. Just before they broke away, they seemed to vanish into other fighters, visually identical to the first. The entire unit broke apart in a flat sunburst formation just as they reached the unknown mobile suits. That was when this man she'd called 'Captain' revealed his weapon of choice. Two hatches at the bottom of the fighter opened up, allowing two missiles to finally see the light of day, and not a second later they were launched. With just a few seconds to spare, the daring pilot broke away from his target, leaving his high-speed, anti-ship missiles to decide their fate.

"Clean up here, then prepare to return to base. These monkeys have no ability to stop us, it's amazing that the king is getting pushed back so severely." A disgruntled voice complained as violet laser fire soaked what remained of a once standing military base. "No use worrying about it. Wrap things up here, and-- what's--!?" A new signature, a presence, and, what, five machines incoming? Wait, no, no response from four of them, only one was manned, and it was--

Too late, as the missiles slid through the i-field and hammered the main chassis of the lead praxis model, obliterating the torso and sending it spiraling down to the base below.

"What!? Lead unit is down! All units, assume individual response!" One machine broke free, as three turned towards their new foe. "Foolish human, you should have flown the other way!" This one wasted no time in laying into one of the projections, a violet beam of energy wiping it out of the sky. "Face me!"

"Not invincible," the pilot nodded at his IFF, pleased with the result. Admittedly, that may have been a bit overkill. The salvage team wouldn't appreciate his methods against the new mobile suits.

"Captain ... it's gone ...!" the pilot's distant helper squeaked. She quickly gathered her wits. "Erm-lead unit confirmed destroyed."

"We the missiles are highly effective, if nothing else," their captain said, entering a sharp turn to come back and face the others.

"One of the fliers is down," the woman warned.

"Looks like we're even, again. It could be a rough couple of minutes ..."

Another mission, another pitiful lack of meaningful resistance. Raay'Xel wouldn't have called herself quite so much a warmonger as one of the knights or their accord, but the humans in this area had put up a disturbing lack of a fight. What she wouldn't have given to have been deployed in North America... their forces had been in actual fights! Taken real losses! Nothing like this Middle-Eastern front. Both here and in Europe, nothing had stepped up to the challenge, it was dreadfully droll.

And that was when a new arrival appeared suddenly, in range and firing at their commander by the time any of them had noticed the new challenger. And by some stroke of either luck or genius, the missiles that unit had fired actually took down the squad leader. Could this be it? What she had been waiting for? With the commander down, that left each Sacarian to decide their own course... and Raay'Xel's was obvious. Firing a shot from the Praxis Gamma's Mega beam rifle to forcibly clear a path and ESP bits ready to intercept missiles, decoys, or otherwise, the Sacarian cleft through the air at blinding speed, Hyper beam saber coming alight in a violent violet as she brought the blade down on the only plane that contained a mental signature. The others could toy with those unmanned units as they wished... this fish would  be hers to fry and subsequently devour.

"Finally, a monkey with some fight! Don't disappoint me, human!" Raay'Xel roared into an open channel as she engaged. Hopefully this human would give her some level of enjoyment before succumbing.

Raay'Xel was charging after the lead unit, but there were still others fluttering about. That just left her and the other unit that had decided to think about this more carefully, wondering what to do about the other three targets fluttering about. Haal'Sen tried to calm down, targeting another, and letting off a volley of blasts. The first two missed, the last one struck it, but... Something felt off when it hit, like it had phased through some of the plane before exploding. "Holograms...?"

An odd decoy, but just that. Two left, then the lead, no way to fire on it while Raay was so close. Trying to take out another of the remaining two, she was met with new dips and dodges, grumbling in frustration. "Learning, are you? Damned machines..." Rifle down, bits out, it was time to make this personal. "Raay'Xel, I am coming as backup!" Engines hot, charge. There was no way this human was getting away from two of them.

"Two of them are on you!"

"They might be TKs," the lone pilot concluded, flipping his fighter around with barely any change in its trajectory. Only once the thrusters ignited a second time did he start heading straight toward his opponents. Their bits were out by that point, and it was obvious what he was dealing with. "Remote weapons. Almost certainly TKs."

One of the enemy pilots bellowed over an open channel to him. They were quite bellicose, and the captain wondered if the others had similar feelings with their leader dead and a fair challenge in front of them. He could only imagine how distraught his people would be if he went down here. They certainly wouldn't back down from finishing the fight, but ...

"A whole unit of them? I'm initiating kamikaze protocols ... just hold on until help arrives."

She'd clearly finished updating the fliers before her captain, since the remaining two almost destroyed themselves prematurely, releasing all of their limiters in preparation for their suicide attacks. Their engines were pushed beyond the limit, creating spectacular bursts of blue that dwarfed and obscured the fliers themselves. Even the holograms began to flicker with instability as they moved, outpacing the bits in pure acceleration, and beginning similar, eye-straining maneuvers.

The captain's lips parted as if he was about to say something, but he seemed to think better of it and focus on the fight. His fighter's more conventional weapons revealed themselves, twin beam cannons. They immediately fired a short volley, just another test to see what would and wouldn't work. Unlike the first pass, he didn't wait to break off. Doing so here would have been a fatal mistake with the enemy charging at him with a vicious looking beam saber. He just barely slipped past the blade by releasing his own fighters limiters, which left the thruster nozzles thoroughly cooked, and the captain pinned to his seat. A brief bout of tunnel vision served to warn him that he was well over 9Gs at that moment, and would have to mind his maneuvers if he was going to keep going like this. All the while, the captain had to decide when and how the fliers would sacrifice themselves to buy their reinforcements time to close in.

What was this!? It had suddenly gotten faster, jetting away from Raay's attack and propping out beam cannons. Haal payed them no mentioned, the beams fired shimmering against her i-Field. "Raay'Xel, we have to regroup! Even our bits cannot keep up with that sort of speed!" And those decoys, they were starting to... Change... She couldn't feel anything from them, there were no pilots, what were they doing?

"Dammit!" Another beam fired its way towards one of the decoys, which was promptly dodged, a snarl escaping her lips. "You, unknown pilot!" Time for threats! "Retreat or face the full force of our squadron! Surely you noticed one of our machines leaving, they will return and you will be killed! Just because you are fast enough to avoid us, does not mean you can defeat us!" It felt like a surrender, but Haal wouldn't stop fighting once her ultimatum was issued. A Sacarian wins, or dies gloriously... I shall prove myself!

Engaging some sort of boost mode, the enemy fighter pilot had just managed to evade being torn apart by her sabre, and took off hard into the sky in an evasive maneuver. Shrugging off the counterfire with her Gamma's I-field, Raay'Xel had already begun pursuit as Haal'Sen's message came through, warning to regroup and drawing the forward Sacarian's attention to the decoys, which had begun to behave in a rather odd fashion. Swarming her bits to attempt to corral the boosting decoys into a trapped position, it seemed that approach wasn't having much effect.

"Keep tabs on the decoys, Haal'Sen! Surely a burst of speed like this cannot be maintained, I can feel the human's stress already. We simply need to wear them  down and not allow distance to build!" Raay'Xel countered, firing a few rounds of the beam rifle up towards their evasive target as she continued to pursue with the beam sabre, thrusters at maximum.

"There ..." The daring pilot's eyes locked onto the one enemy that wasn't close enough to engage him. His fighter's FCS and IFF were following his eye movements, and his target lit up on the HUD as one of the delimited decoys began zigzagging toward it.

The other flier, the only one left after the previous one plunged itself into its target and exploded, quickly closed the gap between itself and the captain. It began flying around him in jagged patterns as he came in for another attack run.

"Thirty seconds," the woman radioed in.

"Picking up the pace?" the captain asked. He should still have another minute according to the original time frame.

"Someone's getting impatient," she said, with a hint of bitter amusement. "I'm not sure about the range, so you'll have to climb when the shooting starts. Try to keep them at their current altitude or higher."

"Very well," he shrugged. He then fired off two more missiles, though these were more conventional missiles, faster and more maneuverable, but without the payload necessary to seriously damage a warship or a sufficiently well armored mobile suit. The flier had its own weapon, a small rapid firing beam gun, which began shooting at the nearest enemy's bits, trying to encircle them with violet fire as both sides closed in on each other. "The fighter loadout isn't suited for this. I might have to switch over ..."

"Ggrrrhh, fine!" She wasn't catching up to the two of them now, it would be better to leave it to Raay, and then she and the other could-- "What!?" One of the decoys had sped up further, and dive bombed the other Praxis, the resulting explosion leaving little left of either machine. "Tch, more human tricks! Raay'Xel! Be prepared!" No response from the human, either. They were either confident, or too stressed to talk. I can feel it as well, but this is nothing like what these EU monkeys have been putting up before. Damn it all!

Bits flew out to meet the incoming missiles as Haal'Sen tried to get a shot to hit that last decoy. It was just, so fast, all lock-ons were broken immediately, her remaining bits couldn't land a direct hit. A graze here or there but it was still flying. "Go down! Go down, damn you!" If they could just, take this out, they could both focus their bits on the main model, and--

New targets? "Raay'Xel, we have to leave! He has reinforcements!" Long range scanners weren't giving much more than 'incoming', but they were down three suits, and unable to pin down this fighter. If there were more like this one... HQ had to know. This was dangerous.

What? One of the others had just gone down out of nowhere, leaving Haal'Sen and herself as the only remaining members of the Sacarian force. Against a lone human, they should have been more than sufficient, but this one... there was something different about them. The missiles fired at her weren't much of a problem, Haal'Sen had eliminated them before Raay'Xel had even needed to worry about them. The only serious threat the human seemed to pose was this pilotless decoy flying around in turbo. She could track it visually, but just, and it was taxing to her ability to fight. A ping from the system registered that it had left her line of sight for a moment two long, two bits had gone offline. 

That was when horrid news came from Haal'Sen. The human had reinforcements on the way. There was always a chance that they were regular humans, and with this one only having one phantom plane remaining, whichever of the two Sacarians managed to evade it's assault could likely wipe them out. But it wasn't impossible that there could be more units like this, or that the fighter could have more cards to play.

"Grr... I do not like it, but fine." Raay'Xel acquiesced, halting her upwards acceleration and beginning to reverse back towards the ground, gathering her remaining bits in a defensive formation and firing a few volleys of her beam rifle upwards towards the fighter and it's double.

"That's not where she wants them," the captain muttered, once again short on options. Without another word, he engaged a special sequence inherent to his fighter. Pieces of armor began to break away as they were dislodged and carried off by aerodynamic drag. Once the excess was gone, the fighter ceased to be. What emerged from the fuselage were a pair of arms and a distinct mobile suit's head. The engines became legs and came out beneath the rest of the body as the atmosphere began to slow it down. The flier quickly took on the shape of a mobile suit, though one that was impossibly fast and blinking in and out of existence, seemingly at random. It even brandished a beam saber and began maneuvering toward the enemy mobile suits. Unlike the flier's projected MS form, its beam saber wasn't flickering and seemed to be supported by a lanky boom arm beneath the hologram, revealed for the briefest of nanoseconds with each flicker.

"What's wrong?" the captain switched to an open channel, his voice strained from fighting but cool and collected, "You aren't disappointed, are you?" His mobile suit's arms both made throwing gestures as soon as he began to speak, and two blades sprang from its wrists. They sprouted so quickly that they separated into well over two dozen segments each, held together by some sort of central spine. The 'chain blades' began to glow yellow hot as they raced to ensnare the blade wielder by the torso. "Or are you just buying time for that runner ...?"

"Disappointed? Not at all. I'm impressed, human. None of your race has come close to this level of prowess before now." Raay'Xel replied, her tone notably less aggressive and dismissive than earlier. Even if it was borne of what felt like mechanic tricks more than raw skill, it was something. And until now these monkeys had lacked any somethings to speak of. Watching as the fighter shed it's outer plating and transformed into a more traditional mobile suit shape. Rather than continuing to run, the human had lashed out with what appeared to be some sort of heat whip... had the beginnings of a retreat emboldened him?

"Do not think that means you can disrespect me so blatantly!" Raay'Xel added as she swiftly maneuvered the body of her Gamma away from one blade, meeting the other with her beam sabre. As soon as she came into meaningful contact, a harsh twist of the blade wrapped the flexible whip around the sabre, beam blade beginning to eat into the chain blades as contact extended past a few moments. With one blade ensnared, Raay'Xel gave a hard tug at the enemy suit. He'd either be forced to purge the weapon or come down with it.

"No!" Damn her pride, Haal'Sen turned to face the re-engagement and kept trying to deal with the decoy, bits chasing it, rifle aimed. It was just too small and quick for a decisive strike, even if it had decided to change its appearance. "Throwaway your pride for one minute and flee! If we are defeated here, this suit remains a mystery to the rest of our clan, we cannot afford this!" The other machine had fled before witnessing this transformation and they weren't in range to transfer visuals, what a mess!

An open channel now, the human finally spoke. "Your prowess is impressive for one of your inferior race, but do not think a tactical retreat anything like disappointment! Lower soldiers we may be, but even high command could see the benefit in returning such information to HQ." Just... Get, hit, you... Stupid flighty, little... Raaaghh! Her bits were moving faster, her anger spurring on her abilities, just a moment longer and she could trap the damn thing and blow it out of the sky.

"Inferior race ...?" The captain's helper caught that part, too. Add to that the monkey comments, and something was definitely off about these unknown fighters ...

Either way, the captain had gotten more or less what he hoped for from his own attack. "If you wanted details, all you need do is ask," the captain smirked. As soon as Raay'Xel tried to pull him by his suit's chain blade, the thrusters in its legs countered at full thrust, aiming to pull on them with more than twice the force. He had plans other than initiating a tug of war match his blade had no chance of surviving. As the other blade retreated, the last flier disengaged its hologram, moved its beam saber out in front of it, and in the blink of an eye, began its blisteringly high-speed suicide run on Raay'Xel's machine. By then, it was catching fire and trailing smoke. The beam saber's blade disappeared and the nozzle returned to its prior role as a gun, firing repeating shots in a spread pattern to suppress everything near and around it.

"I'm gonna shoot'em," a male voice came over the captain's comms.

"At your earliest convenience ..." the captain gave his well-wishes with a perplexed look on his face. They were probably just coming into engagement range for the artillery, but they would need guided shells for machines like these ...

"Rrrgh!" Raay'Xel snarled as her pull was countered by the unknown machine's thrusters firing at full tilt, keeping her Gamma locked in place. Out of the corner of her eye, the Sacarian saw the incoming charge... so that was his play. The decoy was blindingly fast, she only had mere moments to try and counteract it. The only opening she had left was the human's pull, it was further straining the already ailing chain blade, that had to be her entry point to try and escape this mess...

Engaging the gamma's own thrusters at maximum, Raay'Xel pulled back on her beam sabre, the extreme heat and torque from the tug of war causing the blade to rip out of the heat whip, slicing clean through. It was a start, if she could just deflect the suicidal decoy his attack would be halted, swinging her sword as it came in for impact-

Just too slow. Raay'Xel had crashed her beam sabre into the charging flier, and had managed to stop it from impacting it's intended target of her cockpit, but... 

"Grrraah... still took a blow. Thrusters offline. Haal'Sen... I will cover your retreat. Without flight, my chance of escaping without destroying the enemy is null." Raay'Xel noted solemnly, aiming her rifle up at the mystery machine as she began to lose altitude to gravity. He had no more decoys to throw, and his missiles and remaining sword paled compared to her arsenal. Unless he had more tricks, she could still fend him off. And so the violet beams began to fly.

"This is why we had to run, you fool!" Haal had nearly took the decoy out, but when it started its suicide run, she'd lost all targeting on it again. Time to cut and run, then... It was disappointing, but they couldn't let this information stay here. "Thank you," she muttered, turning and pushing her thrusters to max, in an attempt to escape. Surely this unknown was out of surprises, and whatever reinforcements were on the way were--

A swift dodge to the left, Haal'Sen barely swerved past an incoming rifle blast. "Reinforcements are here already, then... Bits, cover me!" Just have to get away from the combat zone... Then I can setup my machine's warp and flee.

Approaching swiftly over the horizon was a large transport plane, the same make used by the Russian armed forces and the Alkaev company. Beneath the transport's massive wings were over a dozen pylons, each with a pair of slumbering fliers attached. Perched precariously atop the transport were two mobile suits, one, a gray mobile suit with four large cannons, the other, a blue Volkov variant with a whole assortment of weapons arrayed around its feet.

"Hold still, lady!" The artillery suit began firing its cannons one after the other, each sending off an explosive shell that could guide itself to the fleeing machine. They lacked the agility of missiles but carried a devastating payload and could strike with even more kinetic energy. The Volkov meanwhile ditched its rifle and picked up a fairly worn in railgun. A faster projectile ought to make hitting the target easier, but the transport would be somewhat vulnerable to those bit weapons without more fliers to distract them.

"Just hang on, Captain. We almost have them. Send more fliers to provide cover!" The woman, the captain's helper, was apparently the pilot of the custom Volkov. As ordered, a pair of fliers disconnected from their shared pylon, and sped off in front of the transport, making sure to avoid the outgoing fire. A separate pair of them broke away and flew toward the engagement between the captain and Raay'Xel.

The captain meanwhile, having lost the business end of one of his chain blades, raised his mobile suit's shield to intercept the incoming fire. There wasn't much choice, as his suit's thrusters needed a couple of seconds to level off, otherwise, the heat buildup would have reached critical levels. The shield held up enough to keep him alive, but he wisely dodged subsequent volleys as he put more distance between himself and his damaged opponent.

"Dammit, just... Take out the incoming fire, find something to hide behind!" They hadn't destroyed every building on this base, at least, the bits taking out two of the incoming shells, the third one dodged and the fourth one... Making its mark. Somewhat, at least. "Gragh!" Her Praxis' leg had been struck, just as she'd made to dip behind one of the still standing buildings, hastily inputting teleportation codes. Her bits were keeping up the pressure as best as she could, though, they were starting to get shot down. "So close... Almost out of here...!"

There was the cavalry... and it seemed they were intent on shooting down Haal'Sen, most likely perceiving the damaged Gamma to be not much of a threat. Fools. More pressing on top of the transport and it's accompanying suits, were more of those blasted suicide decoys. They had not yet engaged whatever system allowed them such speed, Raay'Xel immediately aiming to destroy the incoming fliers, bits and beam rifle adjusting aim to shoot them out of the sky. Haal'Sen had found cover but warp protocol had yet to engage, she was too close... they needed more time, and the one who had initiated it all was now retreating to his allies. Nothing about this was going right... Raay'Xel had to find a way to draw more attention. Turning and aiming her rifle at the transport vehicle, two suits were perched on top of the thing... they would have to lose those fliers in order to intercept, or risk taking a shot at their pilots or vehicle. No fancy evasive maneuvers in a setup like that.

"Humans! The one you should be concerned with is me!" Raay'Xel roared as her Praxis Gamma landed on it's feet, quickly bracing itself and aiming down sights. Bits locked on, they were moving into range... a hit to either suit or the transport's bridge should more than suffice from her rifle. Locking on to the cluster, the Sacarian began unloading round after round. Everything they threw to prevent a killing blow wouldn't be thrown at Haal'sen, she only needed draw enough to buy a small amount of time and prevent anything that would clear cover like that artillery or railgun.

"You think I'll let you fire that gun? Die trying!"

"That's admirable," the captain commended Raay'Xel over the open channel as his undamaged chain blade sprang back out and his machine doubled back, ready to flank his opponent.

"Captain!" The Volkov pilot hadn't chosen a target for her railgun, but with their artillery unit turning slightly to aim all four of his guns at Raay'Xel, she knew it was best she try to line up a shot on Haal'Sen somehow. There was no evading the incoming fire, so she and her partner were relying on the fliers first and foremost. "How many are we going to lose ...?" she hissed as the railgun charged. She still had no visual on her target, and one after another the fliers were being shredded while staving off the incoming barrage.

"Not sure the next batch will make it in time," the transport pilot warned the mobile suits topside, "Might wanna jump." Despite the warning, four new fliers leaped down from the wings and moved to protect the transport's cockpit just as the last batch were brought down in flames. The shots that got through either grazed or bored into the transport's wings, though the engines were spared.

The Volkov leaned over, grabbing a rocket launcher while still carrying the nearly full charged railgun, and jumped off of the transport just seconds ahead of the artillery suit. "Activating Werewolf System!" The Volkov's visor changed from red to intense yellow and its thrusters flared to life, rapidly slowing its descent. With two swift motions, she fired a rocket off toward the attacking mobile suit, and then fired the railgun at the building the fleeing machine had taken cover behind, hoping against hope that they hadn't kept moving after that.

"My babies!" the artillery suit's pilot bellowed over the radio, and fired off four shells, hoping to smash the offender to pieces for all of the downed fliers.

"Systems charged... Initiating war--" A hefty shot, something, a railgun perhaps, tore through the building, and the entire left side of Haal'Sen's machine. The Praxis' arm went flying, the damage so substantial that she could see outside when all was said and done... And her systems were shutting down. With a sigh, and a resigned collapse into her cockpit's seat, she regrettably snatched the communicator, hailing the unknown's code. "Masterfully done, human. You have us beaten... To the victor go the spoils. My name is Haal'Sen. You may do with us what you wish." A gentle breeze from the outside air tussled with her white hair, an annoyed claw moving to fix it, grumbling. Hopefully our deaths are swift.

There were just too damn many of the blasted flying decoys, she couldn't get a decisive shot in without one of them intercepting. If nothing else, Raay'Xel had managed to draw the majority of the human's fire. The initial target was coming back in, four shells from the artillery machine, and a rocket from the sniper... had she proper mobility, not at all a problem, but...

Well, she'd put up a damn good effort if nothing else. Bits training on the rocket first, a few bits of concentrated fire quickly detonated the explosive projectile in midair. Sabre out, the chain-blade was parried simply enough... she hadn't the time to lock or destroy the second blade this time, so merely deflecting it would have to do. That just left the artillery shells. Incoming fast... one streak of violet, one down. A second, two down, hard swerve to the left to evade the third and-

The fourth was simply too much. As the last shell collided with the Praxis Gamma's shoulder, nearly half of the machine was ripped out, and her blade arm was lost. Bit control down, the remote weapons began to plummet from the sky. Haal'Sen's message came through... they had failed. Not that her own outward comms were functioning anymore. It was all she could do to level her rifle at the Volkov and take one final shot, before her systems shut down and the chain blade came in to disarm her fully. One last streak of violet...

"Tch!" The Volkov cut power to its thrusters and threw the rocket launcher out in front of it just as the beam came. The launcher was obliterated by the incoming shot, and what little plasma slipped through only managed to scorch the color from the Volkov's right shoulder and radiator fin. The thrusters came back to life just in time to soften the landing. "... is that it?" The Volkov's visor returned to its normal red appearance ...

"According to them," the captain said, retracting his blade again once the Praxis' rifle hit the ground.

"That's right," the artillery pilot boisterously affirmed, "Revenge!"

"To the pilots we just fought," the captain tried to reach his two surviving opponents, "Can you hear me, Haal'Sen, and your squadmate? My name is Gabriel."

Gabriel Ziv Alkaev Katz, was the son of Yuri Alkaev Katz, and both men were in the Alkaev Journal, though with no significant information about either. Yuri was Rosa's older brother, and he was also dead. Gabriel was alive and exceedingly well. A former EU light infantryman, he was uniquely suited to not outright dying in the kinds of situations Apotheosis had forced most of their enemies into ... and he was the one severely pissing Firmia off, right now. Thanks to Gabriel, things weren't all quiet over there. According to her grandfather, the Vaska, Russia's sole battleship, had suffered a mutiny, one Firmia's own sister had aided in, and was now working right alongside Gabriel. Firmia would never plainly admit it, but hidden deep in her own notes were plans for acquiring the ship for herself. There were both legal and illegal methods listed for consideration, but they were all practically worthless, now. How a former foot soldier from the EU could suddenly swoop in and affect so much change would have been a mystery to her, had Dima not explained that he was giving her cousin some financial and material aid. He didn't have to explain. Firmia knew the implications. Dima always had a backup plan, in case she failed to live up to his expectations or simply died.

That wasn't all Dima told her, though ...

Apparently, there were Sacarians aiding him. That sounded eerily familiar to Apotheosis' Faustian deal with the Sacarians, and helped explain how the Vaska was captured so quickly. What Firmia wasn't sure of were the finer details. Were the Sacarians using Gabriel and Juliya to weaken the remaining Russian forces since Apotheosis was taking too long? Wouldn't both Alkaevs be able to see through a scheme like that and reject it out of hand? Were they both just fine with Russia collapsing in the end? The curiosity was painful and infuriating. It seemed like the moment they defeated Apotheosis, Firmia would have to take her own people and prepare for more fighting back in her home country ... though it wasn't clear right now where the battle lines would be drawn, or just how much the ANF could afford to get involved. Gabriel was a nuisance, but was he a friend or a foe? Juliya was a moron, but was she a friend or a foe?


One benefit of sending over the defense drones to the Riese was that they still ran on the same programs as the Avalon's and had some residual data feeds set up. Relying on the Riese's sensors and sharing data continuously, they realized enemies were coming the very moment Jessica did, and as a result, the Avalon's alarms went off at almost the same time. It might not have been optimal, but with things set up this way, the Avalon could fly close to the ground during travel, making it significantly harder to detect from long range, though at the cost of its own radar performance. Flying below a juggernaut like the Riese only obscured the enemy's view further, barring any advanced Sacarian technology they might be using. Having already been dressed for T-Link use, Firmia started off toward the bridge from the cafeteria. She let Hannah go to prep the Reign and addressed the crew from her tablet along the way. "Still every few days it seems like ... Ahem ... all combat teams, get to your machines and launch, immediately. There are unknowns incoming, probably a vanguard. We're going to shoot them down and press forward, just like always."

Arriving at the bridge, Firmia said, "Tonya, bring us down to combat speed, and keep us just above the ground. Marcia, make sure that Excalibur move is ready."

"Hah!" Tonya clearly remembered that move, and the name never ceased to be amusing.

Firmia could sense something was still bothering Tonya, but it was way too late for anything personal. Whatever it was would have to wait until later. As long as there was a later, Firmia reminded herself, she could resolve just about any problems her crew was having. The Alkaev quickly plopped herself down in the captain's chair and hailed the Riese. "Jessica, my suits are about to launch. If you have any battle plans in mind, I need to know ASAP. Otherwise, we're focusing on targets of opportunity." That essentially meant killing the closest, most weakly defended enemies first."

Edited by Phoenix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The journey had given Tarquin plenty of time to reflect on the events of the meeting. Their enemies had become allies and their allies had become enemies, the only real indicator of who to fire at was whether or not one considered themselves friends with a sentient feline race. It made sense, history has shown a common enemy united even the most unlikely of forces.

They would need them though, especially against the power that Louise had described. Jess' announcement hadn't particularly shocked him, although it had interrupted his reading. It was unlikely that they could approach the enemy base without some sort of altercation. Putting down his book, titled Rehabilitative Physiotherapy, onto the table, he rose from his seat. The battle ahead was going to be a large one, but it was the last obstacle to his future. Tapping away at his communicator, he dropped Makoto a brief message before he emerged from his room.

"Did you hear the captain's message? I shall see you in the hangar."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy Birthday

"That... Sure is the alarm." Another fight, and so soon... The Riese was entirely fixed, right? Hopefully... They couldn't afford to have it going down this far into things. If it did... If Apotheosis had time to regroup or build some new machines... Christina felt herself shiver, nodding along. "Y-Yeah... Sorry Kim." At least watching her work out had been nice. Hopefully a SKIN suit wasn't uncomfortable with all that sweat... "Let's go, Esther."

Dragonfly

"Firmiaaaaaa~?" Louise's voice sounded over her communicator, a giggle following, almost evolving into laughter. "Shall I launch? I'm already ready to... Mmmnn, I just can't wait... I can't believe I have my hands on the Luna. THE Luna. Ahahaha~! What a beautiful machine!" Now she was laughing, likely worrying the bridge crew. "Would you like to assign any special targets to me? Leader units? Battleships? A specific model~? I'm itching to crunch through anything, right now..."

Battle Plans

Lots of incoming... One at a time. "Gefalscht," she corrected, "but you can just call me Jessica, Tycho. It's good to have reinforcements... I don't quite recognize the rifle you're carrying. If you have a moment, please forward me the data so I can--"

"I can provide that, Captain." Miller's voice came over her communicator as well, the data appearing on her dashboard.

"Miller! Thank you. This seems to be... Quite the rifle. Is this standard issue for Velites, now?"

"It is indeed. The ANF's been using the downed alien machinery to develop some rather impressive weaponry... Despite our smaller numbers, I feel like we're going to be able to put quite the hurt on these terrorists." Miller seemed confident, enough to smile. Jess just hoped it wasn't overconfidence.

"That's good to hear... Thank you again, Captain." Jess saluted, received one back, and Miller nodded.

"Any time, Captain Gefalscht. You're piloting the ANF's biggest hope. Let's take back our safety today."

"Yes, sir..." The call cut out, Jess huffing out a sigh. "Biggest hope... Sergeant McNair, you can stay afloat near the Riese. Our units will be moving to join you soon, so just remain in airspace and prepare to engage. Do your best out there, soldier."

Next was... "Alriana, yes, feel free to deploy. Take care as the enemy approaches... We don't know what we're in for, this time around." Jess had everyone's vitals up, everyone in machines, at least. The alien seemed fine, for now... Why was she so worried? They were more than stocked now, this fight couldn't be worse than the last...

"Firmia, I'm going to be commanding units to focus on enemy battleships. They could be housing other mobile suits, and are generally going to be the units on the field with the most firepower behind them... So long as no more like that monster show up, again." The Sacarian they'd fought the other day, his machine was massive, powerful, intimidating... Was she scared of that? She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Otherwise, command your men as you will. I trust your judgement... We're ending this today."

A Tail of a Task

Two days. Two days worth of sorting out her feelings, both by herself and with Tristan and Cheryl's help, had worn out the small space lizard. She needed a break from all of that heavy thinking, she didn't really care what. Rather than laze about in her room, she'd had enough of sitting around, she let her mind wander as she aimlessly traversed the halls of the Riese, occasionally heading up or down an elevator. Eventually, her wanderings led her into the hanger; though, it was admittedly not the best place to be on a whim. The mechanics were still busy handling the aftermath of the sabotage and subsequent combat; hardly the place for an absent-minded alien.

Still, since she was here, she might as well as check on the Almydis. She'd been stupid and got hit by one of the lesser cats and hadn't really stopped to look at the damage after the battle. Looking at the damage, assuming it hadn't already been repaired, would be a good motivator to prevent a repeat performance. On her way to her precious partner she spotted a familiar face amongst the horde of mechanics: Buck. She changed course and headed over to the equally small mechanic, struck by a sudden revelation. While the Sacarians had, for some reason, always denied a particular request of hers, the humans would have no reason to.

Stopping reasonably away from the boy wonder, she announced herself. "Hello, Buck. Are you, very busy. Right now? If you are not, I have a, request."

"Gotta check on the Artemis, make sure the Crescent is still workin'... What else... Huh? Oh-- Uh, h-hey." This was a bit of a surprise. He hadn't expected Alriana to come and talk to him personally... "Uhm... I-If it's about your robot, it's fine. We repaired all the damage. Nothing's broken!" After the incident with Avery, all these people who used to be their enemies... It was getting him just a bit nervous. Alriana was nice, right?

"Is there anything else I can help you with...?"

Buck certainly wasn't the same excitable mechanic from last week. Now he seemed nervous, almost like he was wary of her presence. She wasn't sure if it was just because he was likely under a lot of stress from his work or if there was some other reason. Either way, it slightly bothered her. "Are you, alright, Buck?"

So the Almydis was already repaired. That made sense, there was no telling when they would have to sortie again when the enemy could just warp in. "Ah, that is good. But I'm not here, for that. I wanted you to... add, a tail. Like mine. So I could, use it in combat."

"Am I alright? Ah..." He shook his head. "A tail, huh? Well... If you don't mind me poking around the Almydis' system, I could see about attaching something that functions like a tail. Is that alright?" Hopefully it was alright. "And... No, I'm, not... My best friend turned out to be an evil maniac. I'm just... Jumpy. It's not good. Sorry... But I can totally do that! As long as you're, okay with it."

"I do not, mind, if you need to... examine, the system. But, will you need help? It does not, know English." Alriana herself didn't understand how the Almydis functioned in a technical sense, but in the very least she could read the displays for him. "I do not think, that any human, knows my... language."

"A-ah..." This was a direct result of Avery's betrayal, then. She had yet to experience such a thing, so she couldn't imagine how that felt. It was clearly affecting Buck though, so she felt the need to give him some encouragement in the only way she knew how. "I have seen much... bigger, and older, humans, break down over less... than you went through. You are stronger than them. And that is good."

"Yeah... I am, aren't I?" It got him to smile a bit. He'd managed to help save Christina's life, after all. Even if this would likely scar him for life... He was still here, fighting. He sighed. "Yeah, uh, if you wanna help, that'd be nice. I can't say I know your language... You speak another language?" He didn't actually know that, cocking an eyebrow. "Well, either way, I'll give you a call when I have the chance to work on that, then. No problem trying to make that work for you, Aly. Thanks."

Somehow she had managed to cheer up Buck, even if only a little. It left her feeling like she'd eaten a good meal after a day of hard work. It was... satisfying to have helped Buck. With a bit of a proud grin, she answered his question by slipping back into her native tongue. "Y' ahor aimgr'luh ehyeahog ng Y''ll ymg' mgr'luh ephai ng... That means: 'I do speak, another... language. And, I'll see you, later.' Thank you, for your help, Buck."

"Whoa... That's... That's so cool!" Buck was almost back to normal, between the praise and having heard an alien tongue. "Yeah, sure! Wow... That was like... Yyyaarrr, horr... How do you even, do... A-Anyway yeah! Cool! See you later Aly!"

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Understood. I will, be more careful, this time. Shark out." She muted her comms and took a few deep breaths as she walked the Almydis over to the launch pad. It still felt... awkward to treat Jesicka as a superior given her feelings on the metal woman, but that wasn't the cause of her brief deep breathing exercise. Rather, it was an attempt to ready herself for the coming clash. She had no way to know what was in store for her; it was a very real possibility that he would make an appearance. She needed to be ready for that possibility... Ready to reach out, if needed. With concluding light slaps to her face, as if snapping herself awake, she unmuted her comms. "Shark, deploying!"

Dropping out of the Riese, Alriana engaged the Almydis' active camouflage. She wouldn't squander her advantage in a panic this time. Assault Rifle in hand, she prepared to unload on the approaching enemies once they entered her range.

Edited by Ursali
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Red Alert

Unknown signs wasn't what Roxanna was looking forward that day. Fighting the aliens put them in dire straits before... now they had the numbers, but the aliens' ridiculous machines could bring some casualties. The Riese crew was fairly sturdy, leaving Roxanna worried moreso about their allies. Some fleet losing numbers would be dreadful... moreso if they lost a ship. That'd set them at a large disadvantage for the battle to come.

"On standby..." Seemed like Roxanna wasn't going to leave her seat anytime soon...

Sprint to Order

Oh, that was a siren, alright. Makoto had taken his time at the simulators near the gym, practicing as usual --he was getting decent at this piloting thing--. Once he processed the sound, Makoto ended the simulation and sprang out of the machine quickly, leaving the gym in haste. While running to his room, the boy picked up a message that had been just sent to his communicator. Tarquin, huh.

"Yeah, I heard the alarm. I'll see you there!"

Fancy seeing Tarquin starting a conversation with him, that was nice. Makoto wanted to show his friend how much he'd improved.

A quick change of clothes and Makoto was now leaving his room to the elevators, in his pilot suit.

Birthday Gift

Esther was disturbed by the alarm, nearly jumping on the spo--ah, she died in the game, whatever--. Putting aside the hand-me-down phone, Esther let out a silent sigh as she stood up. "Guess it's happy birthday for you indeed." The chance to finally kick Sacarian butt had come, and Esther would finally get to go on a mission of her own... even if this mission was against Apotheosis itself. "Let's go get our SKINs."

Meanwhile...

"Haah... this is a big one, isn't it...?" Caroline was almost getting used to the calm before the storm, almost too comfy. Considering her combat prowess was nowhere near the rest of the crew made Caroline wonder if she really had to go... "No, I shouldn't... I was going to help whichever way I could. I should go..." Time to pack things up in the kitchen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gefalscht, he quickly repeated a few times in his head. Now he won't mess it up again. And going with first names already, too? This would take some time to get used to, but here's hoping. He might just get stuck calling her ma'am from instinct...

Just as he was about to transfer data on his... Graviton Rifle, he was quickly beaten to the punch by his superior in Captain Miller. He took his time looking at the data on what it was supposed to do. He (let alone squads of Vellites), will start carrying this normally? Tycho ponders what it will look like, or how actually strong it'll be. He understands the whole 'fighting aliens' thing, but this seemed a bit... He didn't know, but he guessed he'd find out soon enough.

And he heard the order to standby. Annoyed as he was, he knew that his arrival was meant to be urgent, and a fight was definitely about to happen. And with her last comment, he gave a confidant reply, "I guess with an order like that, I've got no other choice. I won't let you down ma'am." He muted coms again and leaned back, taking a moment to think about the fight ahead,

"Time to pay 'em back double for Central."

Edited by Silver Gallade
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Ah shit, here we go again." Marcia muttered to herself as the telltale signs of upcoming battle made themselves known, namely the blaring alarms and sudden spike in activity. With the Captain arriving in short order and giving basic starting commands, the gunner already had the targeting and shield systems online by the time the words were in the air. That she had explicitly mentioned the admittedly silly name she had given the ship's cannons was slightly embarrassing, but the appraisal seemed closer to positive than negative.

"Aye aye, Captain."

_____________

"I can't say I'm surprised... we probably would have made it there before nightfall if they hadn't come out anyway." Seung-Min noted with a short sigh. It was what it was, after all. They had a job to do.

"Hopefully those warmongering cats will give me a nice present of their own. They can all just up and die off, for me." Kim added with a bit of snark, as the trio left the gym and made it down to the hangar in rather quick time. As they entered, Kim couldn't help but gaze up at the Artemis... it had been a hell of a time working with Buck to remove all of Avery's sabotage... it was mind-blowing just how much she had bogged down the systems whilst flying under the radar, but now it was in the best fighting form it could expect to see during the war... it would have to be enough.

"Well we're here. Let's get suited up."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firmia doubted they could take out any battleships before they launched all of their units, at least not without a bit of luck. Then again, deploying all of their machines wasn't necessarily an Apotheosis tactic, to begin with. These people generally kept a lot in reserve, so maybe Jessica's strategy had merit beyond taking out the biggest guns early on. As for Firmia, she still preferred to take out the grunts first. Thinking back to when she had been surrounded by Cressidas at Great Lake Base, it was always going to be her preference to keep enemy numbers down ...

"Alright then. You'll know if we're changing tactics, but for now, the Avalon's priorities are enemy mobile suits." She had more or less the same update for Louise when she radio'd in. "I want to make sure we don't have to worry about getting surrounded or outmaneuvered, so focus on enemy mobile suits until the situation changes. Just carve them up one by one while we close in on whoever's leading this attack."

"You sure love to pick on the weak, don't you?" Tonya teased.

"If Apotheosis was weak, I wouldn't waste the ammunition," Firmia countered sternly, her eyes fixed on the radar display. Having said that, Firmia found herself thinking beyond the war, again. What was going to happen once Apotheosis was out of the way and only the Sacarians and the EU were left? And what about Gabriel and Juliya? The former was in bed with at least a few Sacarians now, so where would that lead ...?

Archangel (Chapter II)

Spoiler

"Gabriel..." So that was the name of the human who had defeated them... Mostly. He had allies, but he'd led the charge, distracted them, killed their allies... What an impressive human. And since he had won, and they were still alive... She was still alive, at least, then--"

"I swear fealty to my new king, Gabriel. My life is yours. You may do with me what you wish." All on an open channel, there was no need to dance around that. It was how things were, now. He had won, they were his.

That was it, then. The battle was over, and they had lost. Haal'Sen had already sworn fealty to the victor, as was custom... Raay'Xel held the same sentiment, but her outward communications were down. Pressing the button anyway, she could only hope the harsh static would imply that well enough on its own. Were they to misinterpret and shoot her down, well... dying in battle would have been more glorious, but it was not her right to decide.

"Fealty to her new king?" the Volkov pilot's confusion was evident, though she wasn't communicating over an open channel, yet. "Did we just take down a bunch of knights ...?"

"Heh ..." Gabriel couldn't pretend the thought wasn't a little amusing at first blush, but this clearly wasn't a joke for Haal'Sen. In fact, it was probably humiliating for her, given her new king was part of an 'inferior' race. Better to keep that in mind going forward.

Another transmission came through, but it was just noise. There didn't even seem to be any message mixed in with it. There was a chance this one's comms were down after Jack's attack. 

"What should we do?" the Volkov pilot asked. She was already making her way over toward Haal'Sen's machine. Jack meanwhile was walking about, searching for higher ground and a good view of both of the unknown machines. The transport had completed its pass over the battlefield and was now sizing up the terrain, looking for something approximating a landing strip big enough for it.

"Clean up while we hear them out." Gabriel glanced at the Sacarian machine beside him. He tapped on its armor a few times with his mobile suit's finger. If nothing else, she would know he was out here and not intent on killing her. "You said I'm your new king. You'll have to explain that to me in detail later. First, I'd like to establish a time table. That unit that escaped ... about how long would you wager we have until reinforcements come? I'd like to be gone by then, naturally."

Static? That was Raay'Xel's signal. Her comms wouldn't have turned on randomly, she was still alive, then. "My comrade is still alive, and will serve you as well," she added, climbing out of her machine and standing atop the wreck. Her hand clung to her hair to make sure the wind didn't blow it like crazy, she still had to maintain her looks, defeat or not.

"My life is yours. I'll answer almost anything you wish, Gabriel... I would give you about five minutes. If you wish to take us and our machines aboard, I would suggest making haste. I have disembarked, and am standing upon my wreck. Any unit that wishes to come and pick me up, please do so. I offer no resistance."

Tapping? On the chassis of Raay'Xel's shot down Praxis Gamma... this must have been their new King. Well, he held no ill towards them, that much she could ascertain readily. Attempting to open the hatch... nothing. It seemed that the machine would not release her until it was cut open. Focusing on the man's presense, Raay'Xel began to communicate directly with his mind.

'My new liege. My name is Raay'Xel, a Sacarian warrior. I can feel you just outside of my machine, however the hatch is jammed and will not open. If it is not your intent to take my life, then you will need to force the cockpit open within your vessel.'

Five minutes ... not enough time for a salvage run. Not even enough time for their transport to land and take off again. Fortunately, they still had a 'method' for securing assets in situations like these. "Lo, we don't have time for you to land, so get the 'sky crane' ready."

"Just great ..." the transport pilot clearly wasn't too happy about that. "On it. We'll have a pickup point marked for you in a few minutes. Don't be late."

"I'm not sure whether we can trust them, Captain," the Volkov pilot made her concerns known as she approached Haal'Sen and her badly damaged suit. "She just told you we have five minutes, but what if they lead their allies right to us after we leave?"

"Well then at least we'll already be on the move," Gabriel offered. That was all he managed--and not to the desired effect--before he heard ... felt? ... some indescribable combination of the two ... Raay'Xel was speaking to him in the most direct way imaginable. Apparently, not only were her comms down, but the hatch leading into her cockpit was jammed, as well. "That's unfortunate," Gabriel winced. He could probably get her out of there, but he would have preferred a less forceful method. No time for that, though. They still had five minutes, if that, so Gabriel lined up his mobile suit's hand with the cockpit and tried to get a good grip on the offending hatch.

Meanwhile, the Volkov came up on Haal'Sen and her wreck, and a lot of things swiftly fell into place when she laid eyes on the former. "What on Earth ...?" Blinking once didn't dispell the illusion. Blinking twice didn't either. "What are you?"

"You cannot trust me? Idiocy. I have sworn myself to your leader. What more do you require?" Did these humans not understand this concept? Was betrayal something common to them? Haal'Sen could only hope not, what a paltry race this would be were that to be true. "I will relay nothing, I work for you now. Honestly, such foolishness..."

At least her ride her come to pick her up, waving at the incoming machine to hail it over, though receiving an odd set of questions. "I am a Sacarian... Does your race not know of what we look like? Curious. You're fighting something you don't even recognize. You, woman, gather me, so that we may leave before a larger force descends and ruins us all."

So he simply intended to pry the hatch open with his suit? Well, it was certainly a more direct approach than Raay'Xel had expected, but no matter. Moving to the back of the cockpit to give this Gabriel more clearance, the defeated Sacarian waited for either the hatch to open, or for him to give up.

The pilot scowled as she brought her Volkov to a halt beside Haal'Sen and her machine. She put the railgun on the Volkov's back since she likely wouldn't be needing it for a while. "I'm certain some of us know about you," the pilot said bitterly, popping the hatch and pulling herself halfway up out of the cockpit. Instead of a flight suit, she was wearing navy blue coveralls with a harness, a radio headset, and large goggles. Her raven black hair was worn completely down, and so it was taken up easily by the wind as she climbed up. That seemed to be the least among the things bothering her right now.

"Time to see just how trustworthy you really are. Get inside." As for the 'Sacarian' mobile suit, she'd have to haul it over to the pickup point using her Volkov. Not an easy job, but definitely ... doable. She imagined Gabriel would have an easier time with the other machine ... and on that note. "Jack!" she held her headset's mouthpiece against the wind, "Don't just stand around, grab one of the other wrecks and move it to the pickup point."

"Alright, Ziva."

"It's Keeper right now, Jack ..."

"Almost ..." Gabriel's grip tightened little by little until he was certain the hinges securing the hatch would give before the suit's fingers slipped. With one good tug, he managed to rip off the hatch completely. "Are you alright. Raay'Xel?" he broadcasted his voice over a speaker system in light of the comms situation.

"Curious. No flight suit. I suppose I do not wear a helmet, but..." Haal'Sen shrugged and casually moved past the woman, not giving her any regard, to enter the cockpit of her machine. "How... Interesting..." Human machines were rather archaic... How was she meant to cover all of these options, anyway? "I suppose they don't use their minds like we do... Poor humans." Squeezing in behind the cockpit's seat, Haal'Sen settled herself in for a rather uncomfortable ride. "Shall we be off, then? I need to meet my new king."

'I am physically unharmed.' Came the reply, directly into Gabriel's head. Stepping out of the cockpit into view, Raay'Xel looked over the unit that had done in their squadron practically single-handedly. Who was Gabriel, and where had such an able pilot been foolishly stowed away for so long while the human forces were wiped out en masse? There was so much that this encounter might bring to light.

What was with this 'king' business, anyway? "Yeah, we're heading back now," Ziva said, pulling the hatch closed behind her and strapping herself back in. She had to hit a few switches before she could get the Volkov's arms working more like general purpose manipulators, but once she did, getting the Sacarian suit hoised up didn't take long.

King ...

Ziva turned toward her passenger as the Volkov carefully and sluggishly hauled the wreck. "Why are you referring to the Captain as your king? You may have sworn an oath, but why something that extreme?" She didn't really want to ask the question; no doubt there was more condescension on the way, but the information could be valuable.

Gabriel smiled at the news, and his smile widened ever so slightly as Raay'Xel stepped out of her machine. Gabriel knelt his machine down and held out the right hand while the left slowly loosened its grip on the busted hatch. "I can carry that, but it's better if you're in here with me while we get moving." As soon as he'd uttered the words, his own suit's hatch opened. From outside there wasn't much to see ... a pressurized flightsuit, a helmet with a golden visor obscuring the pilot's face completely, and a control system that would fit an advanced fighter more so than a mobile suit. From Gabriel's point of view, however, it felt like being some kind of cyborg. The augmented visuals his helmet provided, along with his flight suit's feedback system, made many of the gauges present in most vehicles unnecessary.

"I'm glad I was flying alone today," Gabriel said, indicating the empty copilot station behind him. All AMS units came with room for a copilot by default, to fit the current Russian style of MS combat, but these machines were quite easy to handle alone.

Haal'Sen could only stare blankly at this human, before narrowing her eyes and sighing. "Is this concept truly lost to your kind? He is the strongest person here, and you are calling him captain... Thus he deserves the title of King. Once he is defeated, I shall serve whoever defeats him. I am simply rank and file, I hold no pride for giving this life to one deserving. Shall he see fit for me to die, then I will die for him. My life was no longer mine as soon as I was bested in combat."

Whether or not the woman would understand what this all meant, Haal'Sen cared not, it was simply the way of things. Even those up to the rank of Rook would understand, if you were somehow captured in combat, and survived, you served the one who defeated you. It had simply been centuries since another race had managed to do so... There hadn't been intelligent enough races in the past. Whenever they had been defeated, they died. Capture? It was out of the question. "Perhaps some of you have merit after all," she muttered to no one, idly thinking on it.

Leaping onto the outstretched hand as it moved into place, Raay'Xel looked up at the cockpit of Gabriel's machine as it opened, finally seeing the man inside. Or well, most of him. His helmet entirely obscured his face, but that wasn't important for the time being. Taking a moment to kneel in the machine's hand in deference, Raay'Xel stood after a moment to carry out the implied instruction of entering the machine's cockpit.

"As you say, My Liege."

So all they had to do to keep these aliens--Sacarians in line was to keep Gabriel alive ... and 'undefeated' as it were? Ziva was almost relieved to hear that. Almost. With their leader invariably riding into battle ahead of everyone, they were relying on good fortune as often as skill.

As for kings as a concept, Ziva was definitely familiar with it. "Not that it matters these days, but human kings have rarely been the strongest. In fact, the overwhelming majority of them weren't. People living in more secure nations can vote for their leaders in elections."

If Gabriel had any doubts before, Raay'Xel's brief kneel put them down, again. The Sacarians were not joking around about this king thing. Some of his people were going to be far too amused by this ... "Welcome aboard, Raay'Xel ... and to the team," Gabriel said, his voice implying a smile as he closed the hatch. He got to work right away picking up the slumbering mobile suit.

Now seemed like as good a time to ask as any, so ... "You were speaking into my mind before. That's quite the ability you have. Is it common for your people?"

"What? What!?" That was... The most foolish thing she'd ever heard! "But... That... Strength is the most important quality in a leader! And I do not mean just physical strength, the ability to lead, the ability to outsmart, to overpower your opponents, to win! What if your people vote for someone entirely unqualified to lead!? That's... Such a fool's gambit!" She was distraught, how did they go about that? "Next you'll tell me your kings used to be decided by something stupid like bloodline. Ugh. Imagine..."

"Incredibly so, My Liege. Sacarian children are capable of telepathic communication with a bit of focus, being unable to do so by adulthood is unheard of, in even the most inept of cases." Raay'Xel replied to Gabriel's inquiry. It seemed the humans truly did know very little about the Sacarian people, if that was something he needed to ask.

"Most kings actually did inherit the title from their fathers, yes," Ziva nodded, almost looking forward to Haal'Sen's distress. If she was going to be condescending to humans, it was preferable that she did it while in complete and utter disbelief. "Though maybe you'll appreciate the fact that quite a few of those kings had to defeat their rivals in order to be crowned." Unfortunately, it was quite often their own family members, other potentially legitimate heirs. Could modern humans really be blamed for wanting a nonviolent exchange of power after thousands upon thousands of years of gruesome takeovers and bloody successions?

Ziva wasn't really a fan of modern or ancient governments, herself. Gabriel didn't fit into the politician mold at any rate.

"Pickup location marked," Lo contacted the team, "We're setting up for our pickup run and the fliers are moving the sled into position. Don't fall behind. We get one shot at this and then we're gone."

"I have two of them!" That voice was Jack, apparently quite proud of managing to drag two wrecks from the battlefield.

As Gabriel moved Raay'Xel's machine over to the pickup point, he got quite the revealing answer in regard to the Sacarian's telepathy. Apparently, it was so common among her people that even the children could pull it off with some effort. That meant the entire race essentially had the ability. Humanity only had a small percentage of TKs on the other hand. "Interesting. I wonder if the telekinetics might be able to do that at some point ..."

Haal'Sen stared at Ziva with her mouth agape, unable to find words. Was she lying? Was she trying to trick her? She certainly didn't feel like it. There was nothing to say to that. It was beyond reasoning. For what purpose could humans possibly live like this? "Rubbish," she managed, quietly placing a hand over her face to try and dull a now building headache. "I would hope he doesn't fit the mold. I would like to serve someone intelligent and powerful, not selling themselves to the masses. Just... You are all incomprehensible."

"It is not an impossibility. Human telekinetics are the first race to display abilities within the same sphere as our own... far less potent, but provided enough time to develop, such a thing could occur." Raay'Xel replied to her Liege's inquiry. It was a possibility that had been briefly considered by command, but it had been swiftly ruled that humans in their present state simply did not have the aptitude, and there had been little expectation that the race would last past its current generation in any significant quantity. An opinion that may need to be reworked, if tales of losses in North America were to be taken at face value.

"Hmm ...?" Ziva didn't recall saying anything about a mold, but she'd definitely been thinking it. Haal'Sen's phrasing seemed to naturally follow from it ... though maybe it was only a coincidence. Maybe. "Consider yourself lucky. There are a huge variety of humans, and you managed to wind up with us."

"I have arrived!"

Ziva glared at her radar display, wondering how Jack had managed to grab two wrecks and move them to the pickup point before either she or Gabriel could move just one. Yes, the pickup point had been closer to him, but it was still twice the work ...

"Great," Lo replied, "Pick up anything else you can find in the next seventy seconds. It's time for the bonus round, Jack."

"Got it."

Gabriel glanced at the transport plane on his HUD, making a mental note to not miss their ride out of here, even at the risk of putting too much stress on his machine's frame. "If that kind of potential exists in our TKs ... then my little cousin could prove to be quite the headache in the future. I wonder if my grandfather knows anything about this."

A short ways in front of them, Gabriel could see Jack II, Jack's heavy artillery mobile suit, jogging away from a makeshift 'sled' with two ravaged Sacarian mobile suits splayed on it. Each of the four corners had some hefty cable bundles attached, and the two in the rear were currently being held up in the air by four fliers, two linked to each of the bundled cables. Their job with the sky crane maneuver was simply to keep the sled level in flight as the transport reeled it in along with its cargo.

"And yes, I can read your mind, Ziva..." She seemed a bit confused about that, so Haal'Sen nipped it before it could become a question. They were at least coming up to the lift in question, Haal'Sen sighing at the sight of the destroyed machines. "Taken out by unmanned crafts... We were careless." A shake of the head, she felt a familiar presence, likely Raay'Xel, and another, new, likely Gabriel.

'Simply think in response if you can hear me, Gabriel. It is Haal'Sen, I am simply testing the mental waters between us. It would do us no good were I unable to reach you this way.' His mind seemed unclouded, perhaps excited, there were no problems contacting him in this manner.

'I wish to ammend one thing of what I said previously. I work for you now, I shall not try to escape this, my pride will not allow it... But, out of respect for my mother, the Queen, there are certain pieces of information that I shall not relinquish if asked. The location of her ship, how well it is armed, her goals or planned attacks... Anything else, I shall gladly reveal to you. My apologies if this is a hindrance, and if you wish to take my life over it, so be it.'

There. Necessities addressed. Haal'Sen waited for a response, mulling about his mind, eyes closed, almost comfortable.

Ziva was glaring at Haal'Sen now, but didn't have much else to add. She was more worried about getting them and both machines onto the sled before Lo came around for his next and final pass. They had about a minute left if she'd heard him right, though he'd probably given them that time limit assuming they would need a moment to get everything secure. This was going to be close either way ...

This time, when Gabriel experienced a voice in his head, it wasn't Raay'Xel, but Haal'Sen. She was apparently trying out the Sacarian's natural method of communicating. Given what had happened to Raay'Xel's comms during the battle, it was probably crucial for them, and an incredible boon for Gabriel and his people. Haal'Sen didn't limit the test to a simple feedback request, however. She wanted to make it clear that the Sacarian Queen wasn't any business of his. That was fine by Gabriel. Until the situation changed, he didn't see himself fighting against her. Anything was possible, but for now ...

Keep on living, Haal'Sen, Gabriel thought back in amusement.

She nodded... How kind of him. A Sacarian commander denied information would have resorted to subjugation or torture. 'You are odd, human, but I like it so far. I pray you continue to be unlike other humans I have dealt with before.' A small grin found its way onto her face, staring contentedly ahead. Ziva's glare meant little to her, not paying it any mind or replying in kind.

"You have a wonderful leader, Ziva. If he remains that way, perhaps I will come to enjoy this loss, much as I doubt it... Still, for first impressions, I can definitely say, I don't hate this human." Even if he was still an inferior species...

Ziva felt like she'd just missed a productive conversation. Haal'Sen hadn't even spoken to Gabriel in person, and yet ... "While I agree, I feel I'm missing something ... Do you sense something you like from the captain ... with that mind reading of yours?"

Finally, they were here, a little bit ahead of Gabriel and Raay'Xel. Ziva moved Haal'Sen's machine onto the sled and suddenly realized they were going to run out of space, among other things. "Great. Going to need the Werewolf system to get back ... and Gabriel's going to have to fly, too. We're two suits too heavy, otherwise." Stacking suits on top of each other to save room might have been an option, but the hooks the cables were attached to couldn't possibly handle the strain.

"If you're right," Gabriel said, "then that will make things simpler for us in the long term. Unfortunately, I have a knack for finding exceptional people, and one of them is undoubtedly going to become an enemy in the near future." Speaking of exceptional people, Haal'Sen seemed to think him one. She seemed somewhat satisfied for the moment.

"Hmm? No, I was speaking with him. Let me make this clear to you, Ziva, you may think of us as... What was the terminology..." Haal'Sen seemed to be trying to think of something rather foreign to her, something she'd read once on these humans' online websites... "Superhuman? Hmm. I can read your mind. I can speak to you through your mind. I can even force you to move as I wish, were I to concentrate." That was the gist of things. "Allow me to show you."

Ziva's mind was different, but compatible or not, at this distance, it wouldn't matter. 'I was relaying to Gabriel the few things I will not reveal to him. That is all. He commanded I live on, rather than ask for my life in return, and I find him curiously impressive for such kindness.'

"Human telekinetics are simply not at a level where developing such abilities would be feasible in any length of time worth worrying about. If there are more impressive specimens in reserve, I wonder just how much they intend to lose before releasing them." Raay'Xel replied, though it seemed the prospect was not particularly welcome to Gabriel.

"I would be interested in seeing such a thing. To see if human potential goes so far, and to do battle with such a rare opponent."

So even at that distance, Haal'Sen could reach out to Gabriel. That wasn't exactly comforting information. Neither was having the female alien behind her speak directly into Ziva's mind. She could 'hear' Haal'Sen in a manner of speaking, but Ziva's ears weren't getting anything. It was almost like she was hallucinating ...

"I see ..." She said, watching as Gabriel brought Raay'Xel's machine to the sled, "but unless it's necessary, please don't do that again." What sort of place had Haal'Sen come from to expect Gabriel to kill her over that? Even if they were fighting the Sacarians specifically, these two unusually loyal recruits were more valuable than the intel they were keeping, at least by Ziva's estimation.

"We'll need to get back to the transport on our own power," Gabriel warned them, "Be ready to use the Werewolf system again. Jack, time is up. Get back here."

"On my way!"

"I was thinking the same thing, Captain," Ziva nodded at the Archangel, "We're standing by."

Gabriel started running some checks after setting down Raay'Xel's machine. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. If we run into any ... I might call them 'ascended telekinetics,' I'll be happy to let you face them if they're our enemies."

"Thirty seconds. Move it, people," Lo interjected. Sure enough, the transport was coming, and it had a very large pair of boom arms extended. The plane was getting closer and closer to the ground as it approached. These boom arms would catch the front mounted cable bundles and pull the sled along the ground. Then, once the transport pulled up, the sled would be hoisted into the air. The transport would support it from the front while simultaneously reeling the sled and its contents into the cargo bay. The fliers, meanwhile would support the sled from the back, keeping it level from start to finish.

Now, Haal'Sen scowled. 'I will enter your mind as I please, human. Conversing like this is far more natural for me, thus, unless ordered otherwise, I will make use of this in single conversation... As for the place I have come from, Sacarian commanders demand answers for all information. Denying them what they wish could easily result in torture, or death. That Gabriel is so understanding is a feature I suppose I will have to get used to, maybe a useful boon of your race.' A measured response was something that Haal'Sen felt several Sacarians could learn from, even herself.

Suddenly, her ears perked up, eyes wide. "You're out of time. My guess was off. The advance force is already here, so I suggest we leave. Now." At the edge of Ziva's radar, three pings for new machines began to register. More Praxis models, with several definitely following.

Raay'Xel had been about to respond, when a familiar... and in this case concerning feeling came into the warrior's head. Normally approaching Sacarians would be a good thing, but the situation had obviously changed.

"My liege. I can feel Sacarian reinforcements approaching... we are out of time. If you do not wish for your entire crew to lose their lives, we must depart immediately."

This was hardly a conversation by Ziva's standards, though one thing in what Haal'Sen had 'said' to her stuck out. She seemed fairly set on following her king's orders, and not having to worry about random mental prodding would certainly make life easier for her going forward. Right now, they had to get out of here. Convincing Gabriel to corral the cats could come later.

"Hey, Gabe," Lo came in over the comms, "... we've got incoming. Just showed up out of nowhere ..."

"Send some fliers out to distract them. We don't have the element of surprise this time," Ziva called back, "Activating Werewolf System." That was twice now ... and there wouldn't be a third. Once again, the Volkov's visor changed from red to a brilliant, almost blinding yellow. In much the same fashion as the fliers, a number of its limiters were switched off. Getting the Volkov airborne and up to speed under its own power required just that.

"Losing even more of them, huh ...?"

"It can't be helped," Gabriel put in gently. He was almost surprised to not hear Jack yelling about the decision. "Consider it an investment in our new friends ... and our future."

Jack arrived just ahead of the transport, stepping onto the sled as the massive arms in the transport swept down and caught the two front cable bundles. There was a hard jerk as the cables went rigid, but the transport kept on moving. The arms of the 'sky crane' had absorbed most of the shock, and that left the sled and fliers no other choice but to be towed along for the ride.

"Time to get airborne ..." Gabriel said, gripping the controls and causing his mobile suit to leap into the air. It quickly transformed and began an upward ascent.

Ziva followed suit, activating her Volkov's thrusters and blasting off into the air. She couldn't afford to take the scenic route to the transport, and made a beeline for the open cargo bay, passing right over the sled in a straight 45 degree upward jump. Several more fliers detached from the transport and flew back in the other direction, aiming to distract the reinforcements for as long as possible.

When Ziva landed at the edge of the cargo bay, she knelt her suit down and deactivated the Volkov's Werewolf mode for the final time. A series of snap-hisses and groaning metal, easily heard from within the cockpit, confirmed what she already knew, that her Volkov was 'tired.' It needed some rest and some maintenance after the aerial maneuvers. She still planned to help move the salvage from the sled into the cargo bay proper, that way the sled could be stored back in its slot once they were finished.

Gabriel meanwhile, transformed his suit again and landed it on top of the transport plane. Heading inside wasn't a bad idea, but he opted to be available in the event another fight broke out near the transport, or the fliers were brought down too quickly.

"Going up," Lo warned, beginning a steady climb and nudging the sled into the air. Soon the crew could start pulling in the valuables.

"More like hurry up," Jack interjected.

The humans were rather swift in their escape, which would likely serve to keep them alive. The advance force wouldn't chase further than the full group could reach, and would give up as soon as they saw it was foolish to continue. Good. "Then, we're safe." Haal'Sen breathed a sigh of relief, the humans hadn't let their technological greed get the better of them. They had plenty with their Praxis models, anyway. And this machine...

Its limiter removing was rather surprising, was this a common implementation in human technology? Dangerous, but effective, as had been proven. Effective enough to give this machine necessary burst to make it into their transporter. "Impressive, human. Though..." The creaking and groaning that followed as she machine was set down was alarming, and unimpressive. "That needs addressing. Now." Haal'Sen reached forward and disengaged the main hatch, having made sure to watch Ziva close it earlier, to know where to press. "I need to meet with my king."

What followed was a quick slip out of the opening hatch, into a jump, followed up with a roll to land properly. The Volkov had knelt over, which made things much easier, as she brushed her suit off and fiddled with her hair again, for a moment. "Meddlesome wind..." Either way, this certainly was the inside of a human vessel, though it seemed rather... Simple, compared to some of the major ones she had seen. Combine that with a slew of mechanics that were beginning to gawk and point, and it was a rather disappointing first impression. "Continue staring and you shall quickly come to understand the consequences."

"It seems they have given up pursuit, my Liege." Raay'Xel noted after a short while, the Sacarian force not daring to advance too hastily, given the original ground force had been wiped out.

"Could you not-" Haal'Sen was above and beyond the hatch by the time Ziva could get half of the words out. This wasn't the time to be running around near the mobile suits. They still had to transfer the cargo into the bay proper and this was hardly safe. Unfortunately, the mechanics had forgotten themselves seeing the unfamiliar tech being carried just outside. No doubt the alien standing nearby would prove an even greater distraction. Idiots ... this was dangerous ...

"What on Earth are you, lady?" This guy wasn't the only one jutting a finger at Haal'Sen, but he was the first to speak up.

Raay'Xel seemed sure enough that the pursuit had been cut short. If they were about to be engaged, Gabriel very much doubted she would have taken such an even tone. Gently, Gabriel thumbed the comm controls as he watched the shrinking battlefield behind them. "If they aren't going to give chase, then we should be able to retrieve the fliers without much trouble." It wasn't long before Gabriel decided to give the order. "Call the fliers back now, Lo."

"Whew, thank God. We lose too many of those and we're sunk. Return signal sent. They're on their way."

"Good work. We're coming inside, now."

The mechanics were already in shock at the sight of this ... catwoman, but then Gabriel and Raay'Xel arrived in spectacular fashion, swinging into the cargo bay from the top of the transport. There was a short slide as metal ground against metal, but overall it was a smooth transition.

"This is Archangel," Gabriel addressed the crew, both over the loudspeakers and the comm systems, "The mission was a resounding success."

Ziva sighed. "I wish he would save that part until after we get the salvage inside. I don't want to relax until that's finished ..."

"That said, we have two new recruits, two allies that will be fighting with us going forward. You'll be properly introduced later. For now, focus on your duties." With that, Gabriel switched off the comms and prepared to disembark. "Better if you and Haal'Sen stay close to me for the time being. Some in my crew believed we humans were alone in the cosmos."

Humans were so painfully curious, weren't they? If they didn't know it was hot, would they stick their hands into fire just to see if it would burn? A scowl met the onlookers, she wished not to deal with them, but doubted they would scurry along if she ignored them. "I am a Sacarian, humans, from beyond your solar system. My race has come here to conquer your feeble world... You are all lucky you have such a powerful and clever leader." What she wouldn't give to just, take out frustrations on this crowd and walk away satisfied, but that would likely anger her new king...

He had just returned, as well. No good would come from upsetting him. As soon as his suit was stopped, she made her way next to it, taking a knee and bowing her head while she waited for him to disembark. 'I await your command, my liege.'

"Yes. It would seem they took a cautious turn upon finding out that those who remained were defeated. In waiting for the rest of their force, they have fallen far enough behind to eschew further pursuit." Raay'Xel confirmed, and soon afterwards, Gabriel brought his Archangel into the carrier's hangar. After declaring the mission a success, he opened the hatch, warning Raay'Xel to remain close to him. She wasn't sure what exactly his statement meant, but if that was his desire, then so be it.

"As you say, My Liege. I shall remain close by to you." Raay'Xel affirmed, leaping out of the AMS unit onto the hangar floor. Compared to Haal'Sen, the more warrior-inclined Sacarian was notably taller and more built, but no less lithe, landing easily on her feet despite disembarking from the full height of the Archangel without assistance of a lift or elevator.

While Gabriel was still young and tough enough to stick a landing at this height, he opted to take his mobile suit's personal lift down. The Sacarians were waiting for him below and the last thing they needed to see and sense was their new king's agony clumsily hidden behind a smile.

There were still some mechanics too curious about the new arrivals to get back to their duties, though a few of them had the excuse of being on standby. Some of them would be responsible for examining the wrecks being brought aboard. Just the same, Gabriel shooed them with a hand and a knowing grin. That got all but one of them to disperse. "I am ... honestly not certain whether I prefer the kneeling or the typical salute." He was only half joking; Gabriel really hadn't given formalities much thought to begin with.

"For now, Ziva and Jack can take care of things here. We're going to make a brief stop in my quarters. After that, I'll be debriefing the crew and getting proper introductions taken care of."

Gabriel then took a moment to call over to that one remaining mechanic. "Wade, the debriefing is in fifteen minutes. Make sure Lo takes us straight back to the airfield when the fliers return."

There was the typical salute from Wade. He was young, likely in his mid-twenties, remarkably average save for the subtle signs of firm muscle on his forearms and the light scar on the bridge of his nose. Whether the scar was a mark earned on the battlefield or merely the result of an accident involving a flying wrench was anyone's guess. "Got it, Captain. Uh ... hi, Sacarian ladies," he waved sheepishly at them.

Haal'Sen only stood once Gabriel had descended from his machine, hand closed tightly into a fist over her heart as he approached. "Well met, Raay'Xel, and Gabriel, my Liege. Shall we accompany you to your quarters? I do not know what this debriefing is, but I would be happy to assist in it, if I may." Relaxing momentarily while she waited for his command, one of the other humans offered an awkward, and rather timid greeting.

"Hello... Wade." These names were so odd... How was one to denote how strong one human was from another? How silly...

"Well met indeed, Haal'Sen. If you would prefer a different method of exaltation, My Liege, you need only ask. We do that which comes naturally." Raay'Xel chimed in at Gabriel's quip towards saluting and kneeling after he had taken the lift down, giving Haal'Sen an affirming nod in addition. The humans were expectedly curious, though most were swiftly shooed away by Gabriel. Only one remained, soon introduced as 'Wade'... just Wade? Perhaps it was a pet name of sorts. Either way, he seemed to know his place... shy and tepid in front of his superiors.

"Yes... greetings, Wade.It is as Haal'Sen says. Lead on, My Liege."

"Yes, let's get going," Gabriel said, starting toward the back of the cargo bay and the living quarters of the transport.

"Heh ..." Wade stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as his boss and the two extrasolar conquers left. "... still alive. They were even pretty polite, too. Came here to wreck our stuff and now they're working for us? Boss is amazing."

 

Edited by Balcerzak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has been a few days since the last meeting, quite a few bombshells were dropped. Some of which Aliza couldn't quite handle. Though now that time has passed she had enough thoughts to herself to take it all in. Betrayal by Astin was one thing, they had to work with their former enemies on top of that. Louise seemed like a very unpredictable element, especially with Alriana around. Something Aliza feared would completely backfire on the crew if they misstep. But still, it was out of her hands. All she could do was go forward and do the best she could. That's more or less how she accepted the situation, just to do her best and hope for the best, and keep an eye on Aly and Tristan.

Those thoughts aside, Aliza was already on her way to the hanger with her notebook in her hand. This time around she wasn't using it to rate girls, but rather to organize her thoughts. Something she had trouble doing. When the alarm went off it only hastened her footsteps. About time to get some of these thoughts off the page and into her trigger finger. She rushed to the ranger mech standing tall and took a nearby lift to get in ASAP. "...Aly's already out there. Can't keep her waiting anymore..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thorvald was visiting the brig, when the alarm went out. It had gotten to be a bit of a pattern, visiting Esther, that even after the girl had been released into Lieutenant Kim's custody he found was hard to break. That said, it's not like the place was empty. There was still a very interesting person being held "guest" there. There was no particular motive behind the morning visit, just, small talk and keeping busy, really.

"Well," the man turned toward the source of the noise, as the alarm was sounded, piped in from the intercom speakers. "Guess, that's that." Thorvald didn't have to wait for the text from the captain to come through to figure out what he should be doing next. "A little early yet, can't nearly have made it to Nunavet, but I guess we're getting a welcome party. Hopefully it's mostly cats, and not your misguided friends or relatives, but either way I guess... Can't really back down now." He paused and shot the cyborg a deliberative glance. Astin and Avery, Marianne. It was still hard to really wrap one's head around.

"You were, coming along for this one right? Sorry, I don't have a key to this," he gestured at the cell, "So I'll be heading on down to the hanger first, looks like." Pushing himself up to standing, Thorvald ambled to the door, resting up against the frame for a moment before turning and looking back. He wasn't really sure how to say what he was feeling. He wasn't even sure he quite knew just what he was feeling.

 


 

Jess had had another session with Cheryl, after getting more details about that fateful day. It... might have helped? It was hard to really know for certain. Attacks of anxiety, floods of dark memories, phantom pains: none of them really sent ahead calling cards, letting one know when they were dropping by for tea. But past day or two she'd felt reasonable well, and the prospect of helping to pilot again was more a cheery thought than not. She didn't approve at all of Elaine being out on the field again, not after what she'd done to Tarquin, but the Sergeant didn't have any real say in that matter. She was just going to have to try to make sure they were kept far enough away from each other, if she could manage it.

When the alarm came, she'd just finished putting together some sandwiches for lunches, thinking ahead and all. With an engage this early in the morning, it was doubtful they'd need them, but... just in case, she tossed them in a pair of paper bags and brought them along with her as she made her way to the hanger.

She shared the lift down with another girl, Silvavolke. Aliza. The sergeant specifically remembered her because she was not Elaine, which had been a matter of some amusement to Doctor Hart. She hadn't spent much time with her, and had been debating how best to start off a conversation but they reached their destination floor before she managed to get anything out. And no sooner had they reached the hangar proper than the other pilot bolted toward their machine. It sounded like they'd called out a nickname of the alien's too, so they were friends? Interesting.

Jess slowly walked over toward the Aria, thoughts all aswirl, about nothing and everything.

Edited by Balcerzak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Elaine had been given plenty of time to think about her actions, the isolation had also meant she hadn't really faced anyone after her incident. Jess at least considered her useful enough to have on the battlefield, but she had a feeling it was a matter of necessity rather than one of trust. Even walking down the hallway felt awkward, she had no clue who she'd bump into and what they could possibly say to her. It was sickening, feeling like a villain whilst walking in the place where she was meant to be fighting for good. Fighting against an evil alien race and terrorists made it a little easier to stay focused, but the looming threat of a trip back to jail after it was all over made her uneasy. Could she really prove herself to be trustworthy again?

"Shit, fightin' and doin' my best is the only thing I can do." she muttered, averting her gaze from the crew passing her in the hallway. She'd never felt so small, a disgusting little part of her had wished she'd taken up Louise's offer before - surely it couldn't be much worse than this?

Ignoring the mutterings of people around her, Elaine entered the hangar, keeping her head low as she approached the Oberon. She looked up at her machine, smiling gently. "At least I got something that don't hate me. Ain't that right buddy?" she chuckled, turning her head to the side. It took her a few moments to process it, but her Oberon was parked right next to the Aria. There was no sign of the plant, but his eye patch wearing sidekick was there. Visibly flinching, Elaine unintentionally made eye contact with Jess, quickly attempting to return to a more normal posture.

"Shi-... oh hey, uh... how's it going? Uh, you look ready for a fight... I mean not with me, the aliens." Elaine laughed, trying to play her poor wording off as a joke. "Is the pla-... Tarquin about? Gotta have him to do that snipin' thing."

The best outcome would be awkward silence, the worst was a punch in the face - it certainly wouldn't have been unwarranted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Focusing Mobile Suits

"Affirmative, Captain Alkaev." The Avalon crew had Hannah and Brant on it, they could handle any machines they came upon. "You won't Sergeant," she then replied to Tycho, "I've got full faith in every soldier here. Win today and come back smiling." There wasn't much else to be said. Pilots were scrambled, the bridge was ready, suits were launching. "E-Fields to max, ahead standard. Guns primed... Bring it on, Sacarians."

Carve Them Up

"Ahah! Ahahah! You couldn't have put it into better words, Firmia! Louise Park, Luna, launching~!" Elevator up, launching platform out, the Luna sprang forth from the Avalon, a streak of purple flying out ahead of the ship. "This flies better than I'd ever imagined it would... Ahhhhhahahaha, time to play around with the insanity I still have left~ I'll stow my guilt until they're all dead!" Sword already out, the Luna performed several rolls before settling back into pace with the Avalon, open hand's fingers flexing, ready to grab hold of some unassuming pilot's suit.

Suited Up

"R-Right, Kim..." Christina was still a bit apprehensive, but she swallowed her worries and heading for the changing rooms.

"Kim!" Buck bounded over as soon as he spotted her, hefty pants escaping as he tried to catch his breath. "Just, quick run down! The ARES system should be all good for use! Hoof. One, sec... Deep breath Buck!" One gasp and exhale later, he nodded, trying to contain himself. "Okay! ... There was actually a lot hidden in Marianne's little hangar. Now, all of it's on the Artemis. An add-on booster backpack, which should increase your speed and help the machine fly better, along with two shoulder mounted railguns. I figure she was expecting this to all go up with the Artemis and that bomb... Sucks for her! It's all ours now. There's also a few extra funnels attached... I hope you can handle it all. Get Christina to help you if you need it! I... I think that's it. It was a blast working on the thing... Just..." He furrowed his brow, hand on his chin.

"There's something else in there that I just... Can't figure out. Dunno what it is, if it's a system or a weapon, but I can't access it, no matter how hard I tried. Just be wary, it might be something dangerous, but we can't afford to uninstall and reinstall a new OS at this point. I trust you, Kim! Kill it out there!" Long winded explanation over, not giving her time to ask questions, Buck was bounding off to the next machine.

Partners

"Wait! Esther!" Christina was... No, that wasn't Christina. The SKIN suit was the default color, it looked to be a spare, and she was sporting glasses. "Esther... I... Uhm, I want to help. I know how the Metis is supposed to fly. I know Christina will probably be upset at me... But I don't want to sit around, while she's going into combat. Can I fly with you? I can help. I promise." Nina wasn't the most resolute, but she'd push if she had to. "I have to keep her safe."

No Key Necessary

"[That is alright, Specialist Eriksson. I have a key.]" Tiffany had shown up right on time, unlocking Vera's cell and stepping aside to let her out. The former lieutenant sighed and got herself up, stretching her arms, as she made her way out.

"You're right, Thorvald. We can't back down... None of us can. If I can't save them... I can't. But I can't do anything sitting in here." Vera wasn't smiling, but she at least wasn't doubting herself, anymore. "Thank you for taking Esther in. Looks like it took some time to get her out of her cell... It was good for her to meet all of you. She'll lead a better life following in the footsteps around here, rather than my own... It's too bad you're married, Thorvald." Finally she smirked, heading towards the elevators with Tiffany in tow. "Do your best to make it back for that family of yours."

Round Tour

 

Having followed Firmia straight to the cafeteria, Louise was quite intrigued by this little battleship. What class even was it? She'd never seen this when she was serving... What a fossil~ Still, it was in perfect working condition, and even seemed well kept. Whether that was Firmia's doing or the ANF enjoying paying janitors for extra cleaning, Louise didn't quite know, but it was amusing to think about. "Little miss Alkaev swabbing the deck just to look impressive..." Making herself chuckle, she stood by as Firmia began fetching a drink, looking at her hand, inspecting some of the joints once again.

"So. What's your first order of business for me, Firmia~?"

Hannah was standing by, just to make sure Louise didn't do anything untoward. Hopefully this wasn't an act. If it was, it'd been very convincing so far.

The first order of business? Firmia supposed she should give that some thought before she started drinking. It was easier to think sober, after all. Come to think of it, aside from combat duties, most of the crew had it fairly easy aboard the Avalon. It wasn't a military ship, and combat wasn't nearly as regular as it used to be. Outside of piloting the Luna, Louise might find herself bored much of the time ... "Once we pick out a room for you, you're actually free to do whatever you want. You should make sure you're ready to pilot the Luna for the next mission, but the mechanics are going to be working on it tonight, so that can wait until morning. I did want to ask you about Doctor Watanabe, though ..."

Firmia wasn't expecting much, but she still wanted any sort of hint she could get. If she had enough to act on, then she could fully commit to retrieving Watanabe along with Gaertner. That was the purpose of the android assault the Alkaev was planning, but the devil was in the details. "Do you think it's possible to copy someone's memories ... no, their actual mind into an android or something similar?"

"I've been ready to pilot the Luna ever since I saw Vera first fight in it. I may not be as fancy as her when it comes to weaponry, but I've got more years in mobile suits than everyone else here... Except maybe Brant~ But he was being tortured in planes, wasn't he?" Dima's AMS units were definitely new. It was kind of amusing, and worrying, to think herself the veteran around here... Maybe she hadn't met some of the crew?

"Copy memories? Maybe. I don't really know much about what was used to make me. It was mostly Sacarian tech, Watanabe simply made it work. They said they were having issues with it... Alien even to them, picked it up off of some planet, gave him the specifications... And I'm the first success. I suppose you'd have to talk to him if you wanted to know in detail~"

"Brant trained in mobile suits, too," Firmia explained, "The planes were to make sure Alkaev pilots could handle AMS units in both modes. Tonya's been piloting longer than any of us, though. At least since she was a teenager." That was a solid two decades if Firmia remembered right. Looking at it that way, she felt almost embarrassed to have the woman simply helming the ship, but with how precious the Avalon's passengers were, and even the ship itself, she wanted more than just luck, she wanted experience and strong combat instincts, and Tonya had a wealth of both.

Louise hadn't given Firmia the answer she was hoping for, but it wasn't a wasted question. Apparently, this was an experiment with technology discovered someplace else. Still not the answer she was hoping for, but Firmia could work with it, and maybe figure out what this technology was capable of. "I was already planning to bring Gaertner back here," Firmia said, pouring herself a glass of vodka. She would have bothered mixing it with something, anything, but enjoyment was a little low on her list of priorities. "That's why I need all the androids that aren't piloting mobile suits ready to raid the base and get the scientists back. I'm keeping Gaertner, but if Watanabe can help me, I need to speak with him, too ..."

"Ah, I lose to Tonya, alas." Louise shrugged and smirked, pretending to care, and brightening her smirk as Firmia mentioned Gaertner. "You really want Jessica's mother on your ship~?" If she did, she did... What an odd girl.

"Firmia, come on. I'm right here, you know?" Hannah had already moved over as soon as Firmia poured her vodka straight, sighing. "At least let me mix the darn thing..." She'd fetched a bottle of orange juice from the fridge while pouting, hoping the captain would hand over the glass.

"Well, whatever your plans, Watanabe chose to join them of his own volition. You'd have to provide a good argument for why he'd want to help you instead of just turning himself in." Louise shrugged and sat herself down next to where Firmia was standing. "Nice stools. So, how do you sell a scientist who's only interested in making weapons of mass destruction?"

Firmia let Hannah take the glass and waited, pondering the situation with the scientists in general, not just Watanabe. Yes, Gaertner was Jessica's 'mother' in a sense, but she was also Hannah's mother. As long as the woman didn't cause trouble or hurt one of her friends the way Jessica had, it should be fine, shouldn't it? Brant knew a little about Gaertner and followed her work closely, so maybe there was a risk of his idea of her being crushed, but that was nothing compared to what happened on the Riese. Everything should be fine with Gaertner ... probably.

Watanabe on the other hand ... well, Firmia was less worried about convincing him to at least talk to her, and more worried about his knowledge not being enough to get the Alkaev the results she wanted. As for working with her, turning himself into the ANF seemed just as stupid as what Vera was doing, only markedly worse. Reason being ... "I'm trying to keep my people ahead of the ANF technologically. Unlike Apotheosis, I'm not trying to take over the world, so I don't care what he builds in his free time as long as it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. That's hypothetical, though. I need to keep Gaertner off of the map regardless, but I figured the ANF would want Watanabe back when this was over." ... if he did prove more useful, though, Firmia could arrange for his disappearance. Again, the devil was in the details ...

"Thank you." Hannah sighed again, though this one was about the conversation details. She didn't really like the idea of bringing Gaertner or Watanabe on board, but Firmia wanted to stay ahead of everyone else. This would be the way to do it.

"Go ahead and talk to him, then~ Keeping Gaertner off the map because you're worried about the world making more of me and Hannah? Want to keep that harem technology all to yourself~? I can already see you reading in bed with an android on each arm and others resting against your lap~"

"Louise, please. I'm more than enough of a pillow already." Hannah frowned as she mixed Firmia's drink, if the Alkaev's reasoning was that shallow, she wouldn't have made it this far. She'd be Juilya, wouldn't she? "Firmia just doesn't want more Jess cases. If the world gets access to androids like myself, the face of war changes. They'll use us as assassins, near invincible ground troops, spies, everything... It'll be insane."

"It sounds like a good time to me~" Louise was still smiles, giggling at the thought of herself being used for some of those things.

Firmia's eyelid twitched at the harem comment, but didn't want to address it over the real problem. Thankfully, Hannah brought it up and easily covered the issues Firmia was concerned about. "Unfortunately, I doubt we can stop the ANF and other groups from eventually making and using their own androids." It was going to be insane ... "... but at the very least I can make sure we're stronger and better prepared. How are we supposed to deal with corrupt officers in the ANF if they're guarded by androids that are stronger than you two? How are we supposed to deal with them if they ARE androids stronger than you two? We have to win this arms race no matter what ..."

"Stronger than me and Hannah? Firmia, you wound us both~" Louise scoffed, shaking her head. "Well, since I know how your little grudges work, this might make you happy... Did you know I'm technically even better built than Jessica~?"

"Wait, what?" Hannah had just finished pouring Firmia's mix, pausing and staring a bit dumbfounded.

"I've got limiters I can't turn off, but I'm sure you can fiddle around in me and change them... I'm made of mostly what the Luna is. More durable, stronger, lightweight... Just... Limiters. I assume Watanabe put them in place so I didn't go on a rampage after waking up... Still almost killed him, but, I suppose he wasn't worth it. I didn't, for some reason..." Louise seemed confused by that, losing her mirth and staring at the floor.

"Louise?" Hannah slid Firmia's drink over and tried to wake the woman out of her stupor.

"Wha, yes, what? What is it?"

"Are... You okay?"

"... No... But... I'll, manage."

Better built than Jessica? Firmia supposed if Louise was made from the same materials as the Luna's armor, then she was better built indeed. Aside from some aesthetic damage and maybe some slight joint fusion, she could probably take hits from a mobile suit or even a warship. Despite feeling vaguely less 'safe' than before, it was definitely good news to Firmia, if a little shocking. As soon as Hannah gave her back her drink, the Alkaev gulped down half of it. "Whew ... that's ... good news."

Firmia glanced over, noticing Louise's mood had gone down sharply. Hannah had already inquired about it, but ... "Just what are you trying to manage?" If she knew how Firmia's grudges worked, then the other end of the spectrum should be obvious, though, that did have the Alkaev wondering how to treat Watanabe exactly. He clearly wasn't Louise's favorite person, right now ... and Firmia knew how that worked ...

"... I, have a conscience again, so all this... Murder on my hands is weighing fairly heavily. That's all~ Nothing to get bent out of shape over." Trying to brighten back up to standard Louise, she shook her head and waved away the concern, smiling again. "You just kill a few hundred people while you're clinically insane and when the insane goes away, the guilt washes back in~ Nothing I can't handle, or I'd have gone insane again already!"

"Uh... Huh... That... I'm so sorry, Louise..." Hannah wasn't really sure of what else to say... Was there anything else to say?

"You're sorry? For me? Gosh, what wonderful company I've suddenly found myself in~ Helena was right, I did need you fools."

What a mess. Louise put on a good front, but even she couldn't ignore what she'd done forever ... "Even if you can handle it, don't forget that we're here for you, too." Maybe not everyone, but enough of them. Firmia knew Louise wanted to think of herself as the original Louise born anew, but this guilt she felt wouldn't be nearly so strong if she considered herself a mere copy. That one benefit probably didn't outweigh the identity crisis that came with it, though, and Firmia had agreed not to suggest anything like that or even bring it up, and she wouldn't ever go back on that. Besides, she didn't know what it was like to feel like she was the same even though her entire body was gone. It wasn't clear that Louise could convince herself she was a copy even if she wanted to.

"Just remember, as long as you're alive, you can make things better for the people that are still alive ... not that I'm trying to help the whole world, but ... at the rate we're going, it's still going to be a lot of people."

"You're here for me? What is this, an AA meeting? I'll be fine. Goodness." Louise shrugged off the care and tried to focus on the rest, whatever had bubbled up was buried again. "Yes, I'm sure we're going to be a wonderful band of vigilantes, killing those who deserve it and making the world a better place... Would you mind showing me about your little tugboat? Is there even enough space in here to fit another body? Shall I go into sleep mode in some corner at night instead~?"

Hannah wanted to press things further, but Louise was definitely... Volatile. Too much so to risk Firmia getting hurt, being so close to the android. She was certain Louise wouldn't do anything intentionally, but if pressed to bursting, there was a chance she'd react poorly. Her deflection to a tour was very clearly an attempt to escape whatever care had been offered as well... Why? Pride, some, sense she didn't deserve-- that was definitely it... If she was guilty, now, being cared about like the average person was probably getting under her skin, so to speak.

Firmia sighed and downed the rest of her drink. It always hit her quickly, so she was less irritated by Louise's crude subject change than she normally would have been. "Alright, let's go for a walk ... and no, you won't be sleeping in a corner anywhere ... not unless you hate your bed that much." She was definitely getting a room. They still had some available, even with people like Tonya and Sasha having rooms all to themselves. Most, including Firmia, were sharing though, and that left some spares.

"We'll start with the bridge and work our way back," Firmia said, heading for the exit.

"It's a good thing this body can still feel, or I definitely would~ Thankfully, I could really go for a nice mattress about now. Already so late..." It was only the middle of the evening, really. Her day had been long, though, so the yawn that followed was definitely real. "Take me to the bridge, Captain~ Oh, Captain... It really is nice to say, isn't it? Much better than Commander, hmhmhmhm~"

"Just don't cause anyone trouble, Louise." Hannah was already at Firmia's side, ready to go.

Better than Commander? Firmia supposed ... it was strange hearing Louise call her that, though. This whole situation was weird to think about, rally; it didn't matter what Louise called her at this point. Louise Park was on the Avalon, reborn stronger in some form than Jessica Gefalscht, was the designated pilot of the Luna, and was officially Firmia's friend. 'Wow' didn't cover this. Even Hannah was still on edge, and all things considered, that made sense. Firmia was still trying her best to give Louise the benefit of the doubt and not treat her any worse than the rest of her people, and she'd manage.

As Firmia led them to the bridge, she pointed out the processor suites, or rather, the room they were in. It was right next to Brant and Chris' room, and the 'Garden of Avalon' plaque was finally in place just above the door. "You're probably going to be spending a lot of time in there, too. That's our information center and its where we do a lot of software upgrades. ... and since we're going to the bridge anyway, I guess I should point out that it also has shipwide digital controls set up, so it can function as a backup in case of an emergency."

"Garden of Avalon... Well, you're not King Arthur... Morgan le Fay, maybe?" More fitting for Firmia, Louise narrowing her eyes just a bit as she glanced at the captain. "And I'll be spending a lot of time in there because...?"

Hannah tilted her head. "Because we're androids, so we can process data a lot better?"

"Er. Maybe you lot can... I can't." Louise seemed fairly puzzled.

"What?" More surprises for Hannah.

"I'm just Louise, Hannah... Any advanced processing that you and Jessica can do as androids, I can't. All I have is this body's strength, reaction times, and my abilities to pilot. I do hope you're not too disappointed."

"Oh... Well... I mean I... I guess that makes sense. You weren't made as an android... Maybe the functionality is in there and you just don't know how to access it?"

"Maybe~ But if I can't, I can't." Louise shrugged, shaking her head.

"Well, that's..."

"Hey, Lily, slow down!" Footsteps suddenly sounded out the hall, one head of blonde hair popping into view and stopping, the other almost blonde nearly crashing into her, managing to stop herself as well.

"Oh. Hi Firmia! Who's the new person?" Liliana waved, all smiles... Akilina wasnt't as jovial, hiding behind her sister.

"Ah, great..." No getting around this now, Hannah would just have to play damage control. Of course, Louise was already smiling.

"Ohhhh, hello~!" Bending down to their height level, Louise waved at the girls. "I'm Louise~ Firmia's new best friend."

"Oh... Hi Louise. Nice to meet you~" Lily waved back, Aki tried her best to do so as well.

"H-H... Hi..."

It hadn't been terribly unlikely Louise would bring up the name of one of Firmia's projects, the very one the Alkaev had been alluding to while they were discussing Gaertner and Watanabe in the cafeteria. Whether Firmia's little siblings showing up in the hallway was unlikely or not, she didn't know, but now certainly wasn't the time for this encounter. All they could do was hope things went smoothly ...

"I'm giving Louise a tour of the ship," Firmia explained, "She's going to be working with us from now on. Louise, this is Liliana, and this is Akilina," she gestured at both in turn, "they're my younger siblings." The same ones she warned Louise to behave around.

"Well, aren't they just precious~" Louise was chuckling up a storm, motioning at them with her hand. "Come come, I don't bite."

Lily was find with things, hopping over with a bright smile. "You're another android! That's so cool... Firmia has a lot of really neat AI and tech stuff on board. I'm trying to program my first one, and it's going okay, but she's not going to be anything like any of you... Not yet at least." 

"That's fine, isn't it? You're already able to make one at such a young age... I'm sure your future's going to be wonderfully bright, Liliana~" Louise moved to ruffle the girl's hair, Hannah tensing up a moment... Not that anything more than that happened. Brant's eldest was all smiles, appreciating the praise, oblivious to any threat that could be.

"Aki, come say hi! She's nice!" Despite trying to urge her sister, Aki still seemed tense...

"I... O-Okay..." Hesitation quite apparent, she stepped over, still hiding behind Lily.

"Oh my... Am I that scary~? You've nothing to worry about Akilina. Auntie Louise is just getting shown around the ship."

"I just... You, uhm... You don't have any, I can't feel you."

"That's because I'm an android, my dear. You can't feel Hannah either, right?"

"I guess not... S-Sorry..." Fear slightly beaten, she also received headpats, despite the mild flinch that came from them.

"Your sisters are darling, Firmia~"

"That's why we shot down a Throne and razed whole acres of forest to rescue them," Firmia forced a big smile. That wasn't really how it all went down, but it was a fun story to toy with. At the very least, in conjunction with the drink she'd had, it helped her nerves. The Alkaev's mind was still busying itself with apocalyptic worse case scenarios regarding Lily and Aki and how utterly ruined her people would be if anything happened to them ...

"I bet they were quite happy to be away from Russia... You two are so darling. I could just, eat you up~" Louise traced her hand down Aki's face before running a finger along her chin. Hannah's nerves were shot at that point, snatching the android's arm and pulling her up. Louise just gave her a smile and a cocked eyebrow. "What? Something the matter?"

"You can mess around with Firmia and I all you want, but these two? You leave them alone."

"I haven't done anything~ You're overreacting, Hannah, eheheheh~" Ahhh, what fun... I was never going to hurt them, but getting close for a reaction like this, how very worth it~ Hannah let Louise go, Lily and Aki having both backed up some.

"Firmia? Is something wrong?" Aki was just back to hiding, gently clutching her sister's shirt.

Hannah sighed. "Nothing's wrong, we just... Have to keep showing Louise around the ship. You two go and see Brant, okay?"

"Oh... A-Alright. Let's go, Aki." They were off again, Hannah folding her arms and scowling at the wall.

"Really, Hannah... And here I thought we were all going to play nice. I'm wonderful with children~"

"Shut up..."

What should have been a sigh of relief became a grunt as Firmia turned to face the two androids. "You did that on purpose, Louise. Could you please not make this any more difficult? Brant and Chris are already having a hard time with this." Of course they were. Firmia hadn't gone over this with anyone beforehand. Louise was as fresh and unexpected here as the Luna she would be piloting. Firmia was grateful the crew was going along with the decision, but even she felt a bit guilty over it. The Avalon was her safe haven in particular, but that didn't mean everyone else shouldn't be comfortable.

Louise simply shrugged. "What can I say~? It was just a bit of fun. I'm not going to hurt anyone... Really, to children... You must think I'm actually a monster." With a hefty chuckle, Louise let her shoulders fall, sighing. "Where to next, then?"

Hannah had to place her face in her hands and let out a big sigh. This was going to be difficult...

"To the bridge," came Firmia's lackluster answer, "Focus on fun later. This is a tour and you have a reputation to fix." The bridge was just around the corner from the server room and across from the captain's quarters. Not especially large, but highly functional ... and almost empty at the moment. Tonya was there, but she wasn't at the helm. She was leaning on the side fingering through a list of pages on a tablet.

"Well, this is the bridge," Firmia held out her arms, "from which we destroy evil and stupid people alike."

"Hey," Tonya waved. She kept her eyes on the tablet.

"Yes, yes, Captain~" Louise sighed, following after her to the bridge... What an unassuming little bridge. "Hello, Tonya. Successfully destroying evil over there?" There was Tonya, and that other hand, over there... Marcia? She was new, wasn't she?

"Hm?" Tonya looked up at the sound of the unexpected, though familiar voice. Was that Louise? Wasn't she dead? ... and not mechanical? Must have been some shenanigans over on the Riese. "... apparently this is happening, now ... and no, I'm just reading the journal. Dima's a sick bastard, more at eleven."

Firmia wanted to ask what specifically Tonya was reading, but thought better of it. She didn't really want to get into a chat about her grandfather, right now. Her fleeting buzz was already ... well, fleeting.

"Oh, the old Alkaev bastard, huh?" Louise was intrigued, stepping her way in and over to Tonya. "What exactly are you reading~? Pilot program? What's that all about?" Tonya leaned the tablet away before Louise could read further, the android smiling and narrowing her eyes. "That's the right attitude..."

"Uh huh ..." Tonya smiled defensively, "It's just another reminder that Dima's crazy. This looks like a secret government training program, complete with intense mental conditioning. Erm, brainwashing--no brainbusting is probably a better word."

"What do you mean?" Firmia asked. She squinted at the tablet, wondering what more conditioning would be needed besides what was already in place. If Alkaev pilots didn't fear their own deaths in combat, then that seemed good enough to her ...

"It's supposed to get rid of all 'emotions and appetites,'" Tonya explained, "The pilot functions as a 'combat program' for the machine and that's it. A team of fully fledged Alkaev pilots aren't even supposed to recognize each other or communicate verbally. Their responses and tactics are universal and based on their position in the team and what's happening in the moment. Also ..." Tonya scowled at the floor, the real reason for her jab at Dima bubbling up to the surface, "the only two pilots that the final conditioning was tried on are Brant and Rex. They didn't finish because Rosa got involved, but I don't think she knew what Dima was really up to ... it's more than just mental neutering, they'd be even less human than Jessica and Stephanie ..."

And that's why Firmia didn't want to talk about her grandfather. He hadn't been trying to suppress the Abrams brother's sex drives so they would be useless to Rosa, he was trying to finalize their training ... and erase everything that didn't fit into the combat program. That would explain why some of the conditioning techniques she'd looked up for herself were so extreme. She figured they were discovered along the way, but about half of them were probably intended based on what Tonya was saying.

Louise scrunched up her face as Tonya spoke. She was clearly not enjoying what she was hearing. "Why is this man still alive?" She looked at Tonya, then over at Hannah and Firmia.

Hannah shrugged. She didn't get it either.

"How very disgusting... Even Apotheosis wouldn't sink so low. At least the clones we made were emotionless at base... Imagine breaking a person down so much and not receiving your comeuppance for it? Someone needs to put a bullet in that wrinkly skull of his." Louise huffed, bothered to her core by what she'd just heard. "At least you're wonderful to look at, Tonya. Just going to... Stare for a bit, take you in, and brighten my mood. Ahh... Already working~"

"I'm not a peepshow, you know," Tonya grimaced.

Firmia was a little put off by the comparison given. "I fail to see how Apotheosis is any better. Their clones may be made emotionless, but they aren't all like that. Wasn't the person they were made from, Christina, supposed to die? Wasn't Chris, a failed version, supposed to die?" She sighed trying not to escape her own point, "I'm not saying my grandfather is a good person, but Apotheosis isn't just doing bad science, they're murdering thousands of people with it, even people on their own side."

"I've got a feeling the Alkaev pilot program is for a new special forces unit in the military," Tonya added, still a bit wary of Louise, "and we're the guinea pigs ..."

"Yes, Apotheosis is awful, horrible, and all things in between. So is Dima. You're trying to destroy Apotheosis, so let's take care of him after, yes~? If they're both horrible, they both deserve the same end, of course." Louise snickered, sighing at Tonya. "You may not be a peepshow, but I'm not exactly peeping, am I? This is just... Appreciating art~ A natural beauty. You know how it is, right~?"

"I ... okay, but can you be a little less obvious about it?" Tonya pleaded, her hands fiddling with the tablet all on their own. "Where'd you even come from?"

Louise had a point, but Firmia quickly came back with another of her own. "That's fine, but keep in mind we haven't killed everyone in Apotheosis. As much as I wanted to destroy the organization down to the last pilot before, we somehow wound up recruiting a lot of you."

"So he's going into the brig?" Tonya cocked an eyebrow at the young captain.

Firmia could only wince at that ... "Not this ship's brig ..." She didn't know exactly how she was going to deal with her grandfather, only that she wouldn't let him pull the strings from the shadows anymore once she was free from this war. Once she could do something about him herself, she would. The details were for later ...

"Then, I'll just have to help you kill all the old members of Apotheosis, including myself. That'll give you no reason to let Dima off the hook~" She could play Firmia's game, even if it sounded ludicrous. "And no, Tonya. Blame yourself for looking so wonderful~ I need to wash my mind out with something good after hearing all that filth." Louise stuck her tongue out, chuckling and taking steps back over to Firmia and Hannah.

"And I came out of Apotheosis' science lab. You'll have to ask Dr. Watanabe why I'm still alive~" She shrugged and shut her eyes, there was really no explaining it from her end. "So... Firmia... What happens if someone else gets to Dima first~? And does what some of us wish we could?"

"Preachin' to the choir," Hannah mumbled.

"I didn't say anything about letting him off the hook," Firmia scowled. Dima was definitely her most complicated and least favored topic, but here they were, and Louise even threw an unexpected hypothetical her way. "As for someone else ... Apotheosis already attacked us and he was fine." She didn't know what she would do if he wound up dead, but she did know that she would warn him personally if she thought he was in imminent danger. She was sure Hannah and Louise would be put off by that, but it wasn't just a familial instinct on Firmia's part. She knew her best chance to stop Dima from hurting any more people without killing him was to be someone he could trust, at least not to attack him. Eventually, he would let his guard down and she could detain him somewhere, though she hadn't thought about it much beyond that, this being her least favorite topic ...

"Wait," Tonya looked thoroughly bemused, "So they revived you ... in an android body."

It was more complicated than that and yet ... Firmia couldn't really add to that without confusing the technologically handicapped woman. She also suspected bringing up the details would convince Tonya that Louise was just a copy of the original, just like Firmia first thought. There was sufficient evidence for and against the idea. In favor of it was the fact that she wasn't bent on killing Alphonse or any of them. Against was how these memory transfers didn't seem to work at all until the original person was flatlined ...

"Oh, Firmia, darling, if Apoth was so great at killing people, you wouldn't be about to win this war, would you~? I wouldn't be worried about some washed up terrorists turned alien harboring group... There are plenty of rogue elements out there that will use the confusion of the war to try and deal with him. I know of a few~ One starts with R. Can you tell who it is~?" 

And to save Tonya the headache... "Yes. My old body was totaled, thanks to all of you. My genes weren't exactly clone material, given the time I met Helena... This was the next best thing~ Now I can walk normally and see with both eyes! Quite the improvement, I'd say." 

"... wow," Tonya breathed, trying to visualize the latter half of the process.

"We aren't turning you into an android, Tonya," Firmia warned. Thinking Louise's pestering, the only R name that came to mind was Rosa. She'd had her shot and aborted because of Brant, apparently. "Anyway, Louise, there isn't much I can do until the war's over, but my mother isn't a threat to him ... never has been. Once this is over, I'll stop him."

"Didn't say anything about that ..." Tonya murmured.

"Your mother? Hah! Ahahah!" Louise couldn't stop her sudden laughter, what a treat! "You're such a card! Ahah~ No, Firmia. Rex. You really believe he's going to join you once the Athena's all under your command? Once Apotheosis is dealt with... He's going to fly back to the EU, and start planning again~"

"Rex?" Firmia held back a snicker. He was an even bigger failure than Rosa as far as she was concerned. "The last time he tried to kill an Alkaev, he wound up helping Apotheosis take out everyone else ... and now he's even working for my father, another Alkaev. A homeless person with a steak knife has better chances than a worthless idiot like Rex."

"Well that's harsh," Tonya winced.

Louise shrugged. "We'll see. Maybe your doting girlfriend will fly off one day to deal with things herself."

"I plead the fifth," Hannah spouted, looking away from the situation.

"Either way... Your confidence will bite you, and I will be there to console you and laugh, all in the same breath. Don't say I didn't warn you~"

"A warning about Rex isn't a warning," Firmia retorted, slightly more annoyed now that her buzz was completely gone, "I know he'll try something once he gets bored again, but he'll fail just like before. He can't do anything on his own and he's not even committed enough to deal with my father."

"You don't want him to kill Stan, right?" Tonya asked. Stan was awful, but for entirely different reasons from Dima.

"No," Firmia shook her head. Wasn't that obvious? "I just ... I'm not worried about my father. The fact that he's still alive is proof that Rex is too stupid and too scared to actually get his hands dirty. He's more pathetic than anyone in Apotheosis."

Rex had crossed a line, but he was still Tonya's student, so she felt awkward listening to Firmia lambast and tear him down so relentlessly.

"We'll see. Where's next?" Louise was thoroughly through with Firmia's teasing on this subject. She was confident nothing could touch Dima. War was never that fair, or clean. Something would happen by the end of it... Or right after. She was sure of it. Not just for Dima, but for the Avalon's crew, and the Riese's. None of them were out of the woods yet.

"I will say though, riling you up is quite enjoyable. You always have an answer for everything, even if the answers aren't always great~"

"You're just like Chris," Firmia groaned, "I can't wait to sick the two of you on Soor'Kan. He could use the frustration." Assuming losing all of his pilots and then being forced to withdraw wasn't frustration enough ... no, it wasn't. He could do with some more.

"Anyway, you've seen the cafeteria, and we can pick out a room for you once we're finished, so next we'll stop by the Garden. Even if it's not relevant to you now, you should still get familiar with it."

"I don't think Chris," she bit out, "would much appreciate the comparison... Nor do I, frankly." Louise huffed and stepped out of the bridge ahead of Firmia and Hannah, glancing back at them. "The Garden, yes? I don't know what you expect of me with this, but even if I have the functionality to use it, I don't know how to access it. It's not like I was born an android and all of this is normal. I'm still running like a regular person."

Firmia got why Chris didn't like Louise, but the feeling was obviously mutual and the Alkaev didn't quite understand why. Either way, they both liked to have fun at her expense, so the comparison was warranted, at least in that one area. The two women were fairly different apart from that, yes.

Stepping out of the bridge and back into the hallway, Firmia picked up her pace to try and get back in the lead again. "It's not like you can't learn how. It's just a tour, so nod and take pictures or something." It wasn't a joke she would normally make, but Firmia figured she would try to keep the tour more focused going forward.

"Fine, fine, I'll take pictures. See you later, Tonya. And Marcia~?" Louise winked over at the gunner, chuckling as the door to the bridge shut, and they headed off again.

That was... quite the bit to take in. Marcia had been minding her own business in the bridge, when the Captain had arrived with Hannah and a new android in tow. It didn't take long for it to come out that this new addition was... Louise? The crazy snake terrorist that they had killed at Central? Who was now apparently not only not dead, but not flesh and blood anymore? According to what they were saying on that matter... hard to not pick it up on a bridge otherwise devoid of much noise, it had something to do with Dr. Watanabe. He was the one who they had nabbed on the colony, if she recalled correctly. How peculiar... if Firmia thought having this android Louise on board was a good thing, she'd trust it until given a reason not to... their Captain wasn't naively trusting, so she had to have some sort of reason after all.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was a bit much, as it seemed Tonya had been reading up on some of what Dima Alkaev had been up to, and well... it was far from pleasant. And on Brant, too? Firmia was clearly tense at the idea of removing a member of her family, but Marcia couldn't question that he seemed like the type of person that the world as a whole would be better off without...

And then as they were leaving, one more thing. Their newly acquired Louisebot had called the gunner out specifically, with a clearly flirtatious lilt and a parting wink. Before she had even gotten the chance to properly reply, the trio was gone.

"Never a dull moment in paradise, huh?" She noted, glancing over at Tonya.

"Next thing you know, we'll have a Sacarian in here trying to school us on fighting," Tonya chuckled.

"Please don't mess with the crew like tha--" Hannah tried to say, but...

"I'm not messing with anyone, Hannah," Louise cut in, giving her a curt pout, "and don't even begin to tell me that crew relationships are a bad idea with how attached to Firmia's hip you are. Goodness. Marcia is cute, and I don't know if she's straight or not, so pardon me for flirting."

"O... Okay... S-Sorry." Whoa, there... That was a lot more defensive of a response than Hannah had been expecting, but she'd been on edge over Louise the whole time, so maybe it was her fault Louise was snapping so hard.

"Hmph... As long as it doesn't distract from our duties, it's fine. I'm sure Firmia understands that."

Were those two going to be able to work together? Really work together? Firmia supposed once they understood each other a little better, maybe. "It's ... fine, just try to take things one day at a time, Louise. Most of the crew doesn't even know you're here yet. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to make that announcement, though I guess word's spreading fast enough already ..."

"Just tell them, 'Louise died and they remade her into an android, who now works for me. Any questions?' It'll go over splendidly, I'm sure." Louise quieted a cackle, and Hannah sighed.

"This is why i'm so tense around you, you know... You're just... Can't you at least pretend, to not be... This?"

"What? Me? No, no I can't, Hannah. I like to rile people up and poking fun at everything lets me smile through to another day. Would you prefer I be a depressed pile of guilt? I can stop, and we can see which you prefer."

A grumble, Hannah gave up. "Fine! Fine. I get it... Just... Going to have to get used to it."

"You damn well will."

Firmia didn't plan on ambushing her crew with news like that and playing it off like it was no big deal, but it was probably too late to avoid the former. As for how any announcement would be taken, she didn't have a clue at this point, just like she didn't know if Louise's coping mechanism was really a good idea in the long term. Laugh so you don't cry wasn't an approach Firmia knew anything about ...

Continuing with the tour, Firmia led Hannah and Louise into the Garden, which, as one would expect, was filled with dozens upon dozens of server racks lined up together and against many of the walls in the room. The large machines were humming away, crunching numbers in quantities completely unassailable by human minds. When Firmia approached one of the consoles Brant and others used to access said servers--or chat with Galatea's onscreen avatar, a small point came to her. "Even if you're not taking new software onboard, you can still use a regular interface. It's not important right now, but I'd prefer it if all my pilots can at least navigate certain high-level systems if they need to."

"Of course I can do that much. How could I pilot a mobile suit if I couldn't at least use a terminal? Really..." It was an impressive little setup, at least. Lots of powerful terminals, probably all linked together, likely running Firmia's main framework for her ship. How she'd gotten this setup so quickly after receiving her ship was just as impressive as the setup itself...

"Alright, maybe you're a better captain than I gave you credit for. This setup will do wonders for you going forward..."

"And it's better maintained than any other," the suddenly appearing pink avatar claimed.

"Oh... You're Galatea, right?"

"What, no surprise? Bah. Yes, it is I. Hello Louise... Taking a tour?"

"Mostly. Getting hazed a bit by Hannah, but otherwise, having a fun time~"

"As long as they aren't tearing you apart, I suppose..."

It looked like Galatea was back in local cyberspace, and a bit disappointed by Louise's casual greeting. Firmia sighed. "I'm not actually used to giving tours. It wasn't that long ago when Commander Vance was showing Hannah and me the ship." ... that wasn't the best topic to bring up either, come to think of it.

"And now he's dead. So, next room?"

"Oof, savage." Galatea whistled at that one, leaning against the edge of the monitor.

"A bit... but, I will give you credit where it's due, Firmia. This ship, despite its size, is rather impressive. Well kept, full of a crew that doesn't seem bothered with their station, a full staffed bridge, a proper network center... And the hangar was in wonderful motion when we came in~ I think I'll enjoy working for you, Firmia. Good work."

"Ah... So you can be genuine." Hannah was happy with that, at least.

"I've been genuine this entire time~"

"Thanks ..." was all Firmia managed while thinking of Vance. It was good that she could impress someone like Louise with the Avalon, but the person she really wanted to hear back about it from was gone forever. It still hurt ... "Next is ... the meeting room ...?" That was going to be underwhelming at best. It was a meeting room. People were hardly ever in there. "After that the hangar. I'm not sure the infirmary, brig, or storage areas really need touring, especially not the brig, but if you're curious about any of them ..."

"We can skip the meeting room and go straight to the hangar if you'd prefer. It's just a room to meet in. Nothing special, hmhmhm." Firmia was really choked up about Vance, wasn't she? Well, he was one of the few people in the ANF that Louise hadn't hated before...

"You really cared about him, didn't you?" she prodded, dismissing her smirk. "I'm sorry, Firmia. His loss affects us all. Even me... I'm sure it'll be a while before you're able to move on, so do your best to keep your chin up. The captain's mood hits their crew's mood, after all~"

Firmia definitely wouldn't mind just heading to the hangar next. Thinking about something other than Commander Vance was probably for the best, too. It was easier said than done since the tour reminded her that the late commander's name was already scheduled to be added to the memorial wall. That was probably their last stop before calling it a night ...

"Yes, I know," Firmia said, well aware of the domino effects she could cause based on her own actions. That was why she made sure as few people as possible were around before she broke down. Probably not healthy for her, but this was a war. "Just one more reason to make sure the ANF doesn't get any worse or more incompetent," she added, leading them down the hall toward the hangar.

"I'm sure Alphonse will make a fine replacement. As much as he doomed myself and my squad, it was a sound tactical decision~ And while he did put Jessica on a bit of a pedestal, with her gone, he'll have no one to revere... And be forced to focus on his job~ It should work out. Hopefully..." Louise could only shrug at that. What came in the future for the ANF would come to pass when it did. They could only react to things... Right?

Alphonse really was putting too much faith in Jessica. The fact that she was essentially done with the ANF was proof of that. Firmia wasn't sure what to think of the man as a leader, but with Louise vouching for him ... well, there it was. Louise of all people was vouching for him. "Well, if he loses his way, I don't mind you gently reminding him."

With the hangar entrance coming into view, Firmia wondered if the same crowd would still be there, or if it was late enough now that many of them were heading off to bed. Normally things started to wind down well before midnight, but on nights before and after battles, the hangar tended to be busy past midnight. They were getting more efficient as time went on, but that would still probably hold true today.

"Gently? Ohohoh~ That sounds fun. I wonder what the look on his face would be..." Louise snickered until they entered the hangar, her face lighting up at the sight of the Luna being walked on. "No time like the present, let's go and see my machine~!" Hopping up onto the safety rail, Louise spun towards Firmia and Hannah before saluting and leaning back, letting gravity do the rest.

"Louise--!"

Hannah couldn't grab her before her body plummeted to the floor below, a heavy thud resounding, followed by a hefty bought of cackling. "God, dammit... I figured she'd be fine, but... Ugh... My nerves..." Hannah sighed and hopped down like a normal android, staring at the cackling mess on the floor.

"That was crazy! And I didn't feel a thing~! Ahahahaha~!" Clutching her stomach, sprawled out on her back, Louise just couldn't stop laughing at what would have killed anyone flesh and blood.

"Why is she like this?" Firmia groaned. She hoped no one else would go on a durability trip like this down the road. Some of the mechanics looked over to see what had just happened, probably worried someone had just gotten hurt, or worse. Louise's laughter dismissed their worries, and nearly all of them got back to work. Androids ...

Firmia took her time heading down to the ground floor, taking in the hangar as a whole. All of her machines were being tended to by at least one person, but there was a cluster of mechanics poking around the Luna ... naturally. That was the mobile suit, the one everyone knew about. It reminded her of the Edict in some ways, a unique machine that had a great deal of potential. It too was squandered over some grade A nonsense, but at least the Luna could be something more than a symbol of terror, now. The Alkaev wasn't a fan of the color, but out of fairness to the current pilot, she would leave any reasonable aesthetic choices up to her.

"Ahhhh... Firmia, that was so much fun~ I want to go again~" Louise picked herself up by the time Firmia made it down to them, giggling even further at the slight indent she'd made in the hangar floor. "Oops! That'll buff out, I'm sure~" All too happy and laughing now, Louise practically hopped her way over to the Luna. Firmia and Hannah could keep up.

"My beautiful little butterfly... Your machine is mine now~ All the wonderful things I'm going to do with it, all the people I'm going to kill in the name of 'righteousness'... All the moves I'm going to butcher trying to perform like you did, eheheheh~" With a longing sigh, Louise placed her hand against her face, holding her elbow with her other, and smiled at the Luna.

Firmia didn't know if the dent would really come out or if the entire floor panel would need replacing, but Louise definitely wasn't going hangar diving again. Ship maintenance was already a financial hydra and keeping the ship spotless on top of that was hard enough. The minor damage did remind Firmia that Louise wasn't just a typical android, but that her body was constructed from the same materials as the Luna's armor. The Alkaev didn't know what to expect in the long term, trying to service and maintain a material she couldn't replace ...

From the sound of things, Louise's guilt over all the killing she'd done was a bit skewed. To be fair, so was Firmia's. She had no remorse whatsoever for the people she'd killed so far. Killing innocent people was what she couldn't stand, in either herself or other people. That was the distinction between angels and demons. If it weren't so ... they couldn't really fight this war in good conscience.

"I'm glad you're happy with it." Just then, Firmia noticed the odd displacement on the Luna's feet. She'd seen them before, but the Luna was airborne so often, she didn't really notice just how ... narrow said feet really were. The Luna and similar models really did have high heels. That was terrible for the ground--and the Hangar's floor panels, but her people could figure out what to do about that if anything needed doing. "By the way, is there a reason the feet are designed this way?" she pointed a finger at them, "I can almost imagine someone door kicking another suit with them."

"Like it? Firmia, I'm in love. You spoil me, dear captain..." Louise's smile was definitely twisted, looking up at the Luna. She only came back down to reality when Firmia asked about the feet. "Ah... Those were a stylistic choice. Somewhat. There's a miniature V-Drive in each heel, allowing for more complicated ground and air maneuvering, so long as the pilot is capable of maling such calculations during battle. Vera could barely keep up with it. I think I'll manage just a bit better, eheheheh~!" Back to smiling just a bit too wide, and putting Hannah back on edge.

So that was why ... as well as the what. This was a fair bit more complicated than the upgrades that allowed the AMS units to fly in MS mode. It was different from piloting the suits in plane mode, and much of it had to do with the positioning of the feet. Tonya was a natural, but Firmia had a hard time with it starting out, despite training to fight with 'controlled descents' in MS mode in the past.

As for the technology involved here ... "I wonder if we could use similar methods on the Avalon. The more maneuverable the ship is, the more effective Tonya gets ..."

"I don't believe a ship could make use of it, else we'd have done it already. Maybe. I'm not entirely sure, actually... The Avalon is quite small. Perhaps it's worth testing~? By the way, Firmia, where is that plucky mechanic fellow you had with you on the Riese? I'd been wishing to speak with him~"

Always with the small comments. A hill wasn't small, but if you always comparing them to mountains ... Firmia pushed the thought out of her head; it wasn't worth fighting back against the label every single time it came up. And who was this plucky mechanic Louise mentioned? Sasha? Firmia supposed that was one way to describe him.

"He's been focusing on a new prototype we're building from Carlos' Rhea," Firmia explained, "So if he's in here, he's probably working on that." The Alkaev accessed her comm and tried calling him. "Sasha, where are you?"

"Eidolon's cockpit," the man's voice came back, "Firmware hell. Don't mind me."

Firmia squinted, realizing he could have been referring to actual firmware, or using her name in a joke. "I'm giving Louise a tour of the ship, so make like Galatea and come say hi. It sounds like you could use a break, anyway."

"Well yeah ..." Sasha laughed.

"Firmware hell! Hahaha!" Louise let herself chuckle at that one, making sure to remember it for later use. "Oh, you captured Carlos? I'd love to stop by and say hello... I wonder how he's doing with Fatima dead~ Her explosions finally caught up to her... Eheheh~" Too amused once more, Louise spun whimsically before stepping over to Firmia, smiling down at her.

"Come and say hello, Sasha~ Everyone's been a treat to meet so far."

Firmia frowned at the mention of Fatima. She didn't seem like a good person and if she worked for Apotheosis willingly that was damning evidence against her. Still, there was a relationship there that was completely obliterated, now. "I don't mind you going to see Carlos, but don't taunt him." Had he already been through enough? Firmia wasn't really sure, but she felt a strong urge to give the man a break at this point ...

The cockpit to a fairly large and 'naked' mobile suit opened up and Sasha stepped out onto the walkway. He started surveying the hangar, looking for the captain and the two pilots that were no doubt with her. Spotting them on the ground floor by the Luna, Sasha made his way down to them. "Hello there," he waved once he was close enough, "So you're showing Louise around the ship?"

"Life is weird, yes," Firmia said, unable to help herself when she thought back to just a couple of weeks prior.

"Just a little bit of taunting," Louise shrugged, watching Sasha come down from that shell of a machine. She waved, smirking, arms folding as Firmia touted her line about weird living. "Oh, don't mind her, Sasha~" Louise said, sliding over to Firmia and hugging the girl without giving her a moment to realize what was happening. "I'm just on a tour with my bestie! She's showing me around her lovely little ship."

Hannah just sighed...

Firmia flinched.

Sasha chuckled. "You sure know how to make friends, Captain."

Firmia had absolutely no words for that disgustingly astute observation, and so she stood there, helpless against Louise's 'affection assault.'

"Well, this is the hangar," Sasha gestured around him, playing it up while he played along, "We keep the war machine running from right here: Mobile suits, weapons, funnels, drones, armor, and countermeasures. She's a small ship, but she's just about independent from the rest of the world. Still have to resupply, eventually."

"Yes, I can see you keep everything in tip top shape here. How's the Luna doing, Sasha? Will she be ready for combat, soon~?" Louise wasn't letting Firmia go, but she wasn't doing much more than gently hugging her, Hannah managing to remain calm for the moment. "I'm excited, really. I'm sure my presence will terrify some of the old guard still fighting with the aliens~ Psychological warfare is just as fun as the regular one."

"Heh, 'ready,' she says," Sasha scratched his head, trying not to laugh too much at the monster beside them, "We didn't manage anything worth bragging about, at least not to the frame. All the suit needs is some internal repairs. Fix and reinforce some damaged connections, run some stress tests on anything that didn't already break, and get our own software installed."

Firmia was particularly interested in the software part of it. They couldn't run the Luna exactly how it was before. If they were controlling Vera's limbs, they were likely able to control the Luna in a similar fashion. Even the Alkaevs had a master key that could remotely lockdown stolen, or otherwise hostile AMS units and other systems. "How long will that take?"

"Honestly not sure," Sasha shrugged, then glanced at Louise, "If you know anything about the operating systems Apotheosis uses, you might be able to help the guys get the Luna ready for you."

"Knowledge of the operating system, hmmm...? Well... As much as it pains me to let you go," Louise whined, releasing poor Firmia, "I do know how these things are supposed to run, so I might as well help while we're here... I believe that will conclude our tour, though~ You'll have to give me a room later."

"I'm sure we'll manage to put you up somewhere," Hannah replied, very tired from all of this. Fighting aliens was child's play compared to dealing with Louise's pace.

"Then... Thank you for the tour, Firmia. I hope we get along wonderfully~"

"You're welcome. I think I'm going to go lie down, now. I'll leave the rest to you two." They would get along just fine, Firmia figured, so long as Louise followed orders and didn't sleep around with the enemy. If they weren't continuing the tour past the hangar and to the back half of the ship, that was fine by Firmia. Louise wouldn't need to go to the infirmary for anything, and the storage areas and labs probably wouldn't interest her much, either. That said nothing of the memorial wall. Bridge, the Garden, the cafeteria, the crews quarters, and the hangar. That seemed to cover everything Louise would need to know about on day one.

 

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buck bounded over as soon as Seung-Min had entered the hangar, and gave a quick rundown of what he had done with the Artemis... some weapons and a booster that Avery had made... that brought a scowl to Kim's face as she thought back on it... that woman had done so much to interfere with the machine's systems, so why was she still developing extra add-ons for a mobile suit that she had planned to destroy? 

'I suppose it doesn't matter now...' Seung-Min shook the thought away, pausing as Buck brought up something peculiar... a system or weapon that he couldn't access? That couldn't be... Kim was reminded of the first time she had tested the Artemis, the dull ache in her chest as the T-link that had been far too highly calibrated had infiltrated her mind... Avery had said nothing was there, but... well, where had her loyalties lied in the end? No time to worry about it. either way. Before she could say anything to the young mechanic, he was already off to his next project. She supposed at a time like this, he had to be like that.

Turning towards the change rooms, Christina's apprehension was clear as day, even if she couldn't read the blonde. You could practically cut it with a knife... while she had been waylaid by Buck, Christina had gotten about halfway stripped down. Coming up behind the blonde, Seung-Min gently hugged her from behind, gently pressing her face against the crook of her neck, but not doing anything else beyond that.

"Hey. I know you're anxious, Chrissy... we all are. But we're gonna do this. I know we are... I'm glad that you're gonna be with me, today. I always feel stronger, when you're next to me."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once Aliza was in her machine she took a short breath. She took a look down at her notebook, and opened it one more time to quickly scratch a note in a page. "...ok..." She closed it and put it away, hoping to see that note one more time before this was all over. In fact there were a lot of things she wanted to do once this was done. She wanted to talk to Tristan, to let out a lot of things on her chest. Then of course there's the birthday wish she wanted to give her favorite idol, in fact temptation almost made her do it over comms. But she didn't notice Kim out there yet. Still there was one thing she could use the comms for.

"...Aly?" She spoke as she tried to contact her shark friend. "I know you got a lot on your mind, I do too. But no matter what happens...let's grab our vittoria. Our victory." She smiled. "Just an Italian phrase, but uh...anyway let's win, I wanna watch another show with you." With that out there, she felt a little more relaxed. "...Aliza Silvavolke in the Sagittae, taking off!" And with that the archer bot launched out and quickly morphed into it's bird mode. Ready for whatever happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"All-in," Monty bluffed, pushing his stack of chips toward the center of the table. He looked first at Lynx, then slid his gaze to Bonner, trying to get a feel for how they were reading him, but ultimately, time would soon tell. He'd bumped into the pair a little earlier in the morning, invited them to a friendly game to help waste the time, and now here they were.

Monty's 'monster hand' consisted of a two of clubs, a six of diamonds, jack-ten of hearts, and the ace of spades. A real winner. But that wasn't the point, the point was the other players at the table... until an alarm sounded and the Avalon began to transition to battle mode, starting first with the android that had also been camped out in the room, as she snapped to attention and headed out into the hallway. He wasn't 100% sure, but if he had to guess, he'd have said it was the Stephanie model. Maybe he should've invited her to sit down to cards too?

"Well," he pushed back his chair a little and made it to his feet. "I guess we're gonna have to postpone this, huh?" He hadn't had much to do on-board during the last fight, thankfully none of the injuries on this ship had been severe. Wonder what today'll hold...

 


When the klaxons began sounding on the Deliverance, Abigail accidentally dropped her toothbrush in the sink and began to curse angrily through a mouthful of toothpaste foam. If there were gonna be an enemy attack, could they not at least have the courtesy to pull their shit at a decent hour? Middle of the afternoon, maybe?

"Gahfam muvvafakkahs," a quick gargle and spit, and she maneuvered around the small room she shared with Calina whenever she spent the night on the freighter that had been her home until the bigger, fancier Riese had taken her in. Things were still a little awkward, rough around the edges at parts, but integration was gonna happen, gonna work. She'd make it. Pulling on clothes and getting suited up, she fired off a quick text to Jess.

Jxpcdsz.png

Launching soon, see ya, love ya.

Then she barreled out into the hall, making her way to the small ship's command center, or what passed for it, calling out as she went, "Cally! What's the news?"

Edited by Balcerzak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps deploying so soon wasn't the best idea for the over-eager raptor shark. Without the enemies clearly in front of her, it was hard to avoid thinking about the potential composition of the approaching force. A certain alien cat came to mind and, above all else, she hoped he wouldn't be making a comeback. Finally, some of the enemies were close enough for her to make out. They were definitely the human's machines. While that gave her some relief, she was all too aware that the Sacarians could-

"Yes?" Aliza had contacted her over the comms, interrupting her train of thought. "Our, vi-toria?" Oh, victory. "Yes. Today, we will win. And, I would like, that too. After today, when there is time. We could, do that." Still, despite Aliza's words of encouragement, the sinking feeling that had taken root in her chest wouldn't budge. As much as she tried to, she couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

Edited by Ursali
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh crap. Think of the devil. Jess had crossed eye with Elaine as she let her gaze rove across the hangar, and the wild card tried striking up a conversation. The sergeant felt her mouth fall into a bit of a frown, and didn't fight very hard to correct it.

"Ready? Well, I'm trying to be..." her eyes narrowed slightly, "The aliens deserve a good hot wad of plasma up their tailpipes." Jess shook her head briefly, answering the question about Tarquin with that gesture alone before firing back. "What exactly is your angle here? Planning an apology? I'll let him know, but I'd rather he didn't have to deal with you if he doesn't need to."

 


 

One of Hannah's friendly sisters had come by, solving one of Thorvald's dilemmas. There was still a fair bit of weight on his mind about the other: what to do if it was Astin, Marianne, and company instead of aliens. Still, seeing that Vera had come to terms with a potential face-off of that nature, who was he to let himself lag behind? He was in the middle of smiling and nodding when a phrase he'd never expected to pass the cyborg's lips came out.

Raising an eyebrow, and trying to restrain some laughter--ultimately failing, a few healthy peals escaped--he couldn't not reply. "Well I'll be, never would've pegged you as interested in boring, slow-and-steady types like me. Figured someone flashier'd be your thing, haha..." A twinkle came to his eyes and he quickly transitioned, as they made their way to the elevators. "But speaking of family, I don't think I got around to showing you one of my favorite pictures of them, did I?" He began rooting around for it, warm feelings suffusing his heart and soul.

Edited by Balcerzak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Win today and come back smiling. Tycho liked that idea. No choice but to do what he can now.

Double checking one more time before fighting started. System output was good, weapons set and ready. Energy at max, and bless Miller for sending him out with the extra propellant tank. Last thing he needed was to accidentally run out of juice due to the Graviton Launcher. Everything was green.

Cracking his knuckles, he pat the inside of his cockpit, "The shop did a good job putting you back together after the other day. I fucked you up something fierce, so let's hope we don't bring you back in pieces again." Firing up his thrusters, he moved into a battle position, one arm keeping a grip on the launcher, and another hand ready to grab a Xiphos at a moment's notice. He then put all his focus on the field.

"Tycho McNair, Velite Mk.III, standing by."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Look

Spoiler

The future was looking more uncertain than ever. There was a decisive battle ahead of them, and a post-war era completely obscured by said battle. Right now though, Brant was focused on issues much closer to home, specifically his daughters and nephew. Like usual, Vasiliy was in the simulator in the evening. He still spent a good deal of time making sure his sisters were alright, as well as helping out in the cafeteria, but Brant couldn't help but worry his nephew was becoming too interested in piloting. He knew Firmia wouldn't let him do something like that no matter what his scores rose to, but the boy's father might ... and that was just terrible, particularly since they would be rendezvousing with the Athena before the final battle. Rex would be meeting his son sooner rather than later ... and nothing was resolved between him and Firmia.

One thing they could try in order to keep Rex from being too reckless with Vasiliy was getting on good terms, somehow. Between his own rivalry with his brother and Firmia's hatred for him, Brant didn't like their chances. Tonya would probably jump him if given an opening, and Sasha was a bit too far removed from the situation. If he tried to get friendly with Rex, the elder Abrams would be rightly suspicious. The only other idea Brant could come up with was taking advantage of a situation that had been developing quietly in the background ever since the attack on Colony One. Hannah Abrams. Maybe she could help them mend old wounds. She'd need a lot of patience to endure someone as confrontational as Rex. Taking the family name was enough reason to make him wary of her, but taking on some of that Abrams look as well could make it even more of an uphill battle.

"Maybe ..." Brant mused aloud, almost unaware of the present company, or even what time it was. "Kind of weird she's going for that look in the first place, but I guess ... it makes sense in some ways ..."

"Maybe what, Brant?" Chris looked up at Brant, tilting her head and herself, as she leaned against him. "She? That look... Hannah?" Chris was comfy, so she leaned in for a hug instead of just flopping against him, closing her eyes and givin' him one heck of a snuggle. "Maybe she's finally just taking that Abrams name seriously? Or trying to get Firmia to take her appearance more seriously... Proooobably both."

"Dad pile!" Liliana jumped onto the bed and hugging Brant and Chris, causing the blonde to let out an oof, before letting the girl into the hug.

"Hey there, sport... Real excited today, huh?" Chris patted the girl's hair, getting her to squeak just a bit.

"Yeah! This ship's been a tonne of fun. Been working on my AI, running around with Aki, and I even met a really weird but nice lady today."

Akilina had stepped over to the bed, sitting next to the cuddle pile instead of jumping on like Lily had. "Yeah... She was, pretty weird... But, also seemed really nice... I couldn't read her feelings, though."

"... Louise?"

"Yeah! That was her name! She messed with our hair a bit, said we were super cute... Well, she's right! I'm adorable."

Chris bit back a sigh. That was the last thing she wanted... But it probably hadn't been that bad, then. "That's great, girls. Tell us about the people you meet more, okay?"

"Sure thing mom~" Lily smiled and squeezed the two of them.

"Okay." Aki was still a bit nervous about joining the pile, glancing over at them.

Chris was probably right, Hannah was probably taking out two birds with one stone. Before Brant could comment on it, Liliana playfully ambushed them both. From the sound of things, she and her little sister had one interesting evening ... with one concerning little caveat. Louise ...

"Heh, yeah Louise is hard to read," Brant said wryly, thinking that whether human or android, the woman could be very difficult to predict. He wondered how Firmia and Hannah reacted. If there was one thing bugging the tar out of Brant lately, though, it was the idea of bad influences on his daughters. Rosa--pre-meltdown, Jessica in the romance department, Abigail in general, sadly Elaine in general, but not the least of whom, Louise.

Chris had taken a moment to request future updates on new acquaintances ... or at least that was one way of putting it, and Brant was glad for it. It wouldn't do much, but at least they would be informed. ... now what was he mulling over before? Ah. "Erm, yeah I was wondering about Hannah's new look. I don't know whether to feel guilty or not ... hard to tell if this was always coming or if it's because of Firmia and me."

"I don't think you need to worry about that too much, Brant," Chris shrugged, yawning. "Hannah's just doing what she feels is best for her... Probably. Maybe also what she feels is best for you and Firmia, but she's learning. I say let her learn. As long as she ends up happy, in a... Fulfilling way, it's fine, isn't it?" As long as no one ended up irreparably hurt by things, they could keep moving through their problems. Firmia was... Likely the cause for most of this, though. Hannah probably wants to be what Firmia needs outside of work... But I don't know if... Hahhh... I can't get a full read on that girl.

"Is something wrong with Hannah?" Lily asked, sliding back a bit and sitting up. "She seemed a bit on edge earlier... But, other than that, I don't think I've seen her upset. Dad?"

Brant smiled in mild embarrassment, having seen Hannah upset on multiple occasions. That was part of the reason he couldn't help but worry a little. A square peg would never fit in a round hole, and it seemed like Hannah was trying to round out her edges just enough to get through. ... now if only Firmia wasn't so deeply anti-social, to begin with ...

From the sound of things, Louise wasn't doing much to ease Hannah's nerves. Brant didn't expect she would, so that was no surprise. As for the gradual makeover ... "She'll be fine ... I'm just ... curious, I guess."

"If you're curious, you should talk to her!" Lily was the first to respond to that, arms folded and nodding like some wise sage. "Isn't that the best way to get worries across? Troubles dealt with? Besides, isn't she your sister? Adoptive, or something...?" Lily understood an android couldn't biologically be his sister, but if she had the Abrams name...

"... Heh. You know what? She's right, Brant. You should go talk to sis... And while you do, I can get these little gremlins all cleaned up and ready for bed!" Despite being tired, Chris pushed herself up and grabbed both the girls, Lily laughing, Aki squeaking. "How does a nice bath sound, girls?"

"Sounds great!"

"S-Sure..." Aki was a bit meek, but she was still smiling at the sudden attention.

"Good... I could go for some relaxing waters too. There you have it, dad!" Chris chuckled out, sticking her tongue out at Brant. "You go ahead~"

"I guess if it's bathtime I'd better find something to do," Brant laughed, "Alright, I'll go check up on her." With that, he eased up off of the bed and headed for the door. "I'll try to be back in time to help tuck you two in."

Once he was out in the hall, Brant brought up Hannah's personal frequency as he made his way to the cafeteria. It was getting late, so the place would likely be empty, or at the very least nice and quiet. "Hey, Hannah, are you busy, right now?"

"Brant? One sec, Firmia." Hannah had been resting with the Alkaev while she read things over, taking a moment to help herself off the bed. "Technically I'm not. What can I do for you?"

No surprise she was with Firmia right now. Brant supposed that wasn't going to change any time soon. The new voice stood out even more now that there weren't any distractions. "Just wanted to chat for a bit. Chris is cleaning up the girls so I'm free, at least."

"Sure... Alone, or do you mind Firmia being there? Either is fine by me." Not like Hannah had any problem talking to Brant. It was a bit of an odd request, so out of nowhere, but maybe something had just popped into his mind, or something had happened today that he wanted to discuss.

"Erm, is Firmia in bed?" Brant squinted in the direction of the captain's quarters as he stepped into the cafeteria. He nearly flinched when he saw Tonya over in the kitchen. She was in the middle of a night raid, apparently, only sparing him a glance and a wave before getting back to pouring herself a drink.

"If she's lying down, maybe let her rest. She's not going to make up the lost time if she stays up, so ..."

"She's reading right now... Might fall asleep if I leave, so, sure. Let her rest. I'll meet you in the cafeteria, then?" Hannah let him go, and it took her less than a minute to show up, also a bit surprised by Tonya being there.

"Tonya? Hungry this late?" Well, it was a pretty normal thing to do... Sometimes... "Alright, Brant. What's up?"

"Can't calm my nerves," Tonya explained, "Hoping the Firmia remedy helps."

Brant stole a glance at Tonya, wondering what was wrong. Sure, he and Chris had a fairly underhanded strategy mostly worked out now, but Tonya's instincts wouldn't have picked up on something like that, would they? Maybe it had nothing to do with them ... they were in the middle of a war, and the Riese had been ambushed nearly everywhere it went. It probably wouldn't hurt to be on guard until they were up and moving again.

"Right," Brant's attention snapped back to Hannah. Taking in her new look with all the other distractions addressed nearly made him tilt his head at her. "Well, I was curious about ... this," he gestured at Hannah in her entirety, not sure what to say. Maybe a joke? ... maybe not.

"You? Nervous? Did a bomb go off in your room, or something? I didn't think anything would make you nervous..." Hannah was pretty surprised by that, even with the constant attacks on the Riese, Tonya seemed to be made of steel at all times. Was she finally cracking...? That was worrisome...

"This? ... Oh. Just, uh... Trying to go as far as I'm comfortable going, to fit what Firmia's interested in. Hard to get perfect results, though... She's not very... Reactive. I suppose. I think it's working a bit better? I just don't know if I should take extra steps yet, or not."

And then it clicked, Hannah snapping her fingers. "Tonya, are you nervous because Rex is going to be here soon?"

Rex? Hannah may have a point there. That whole situation with him using Apotheosis to attack Firmia hadn't been settled yet, and then there was the matter of Vasiliy. All in all, she had good reason to be anxious.

Tonya shrugged, though. "Don't know. Wasn't thinking about it much ... I just feel ... like something's off."

Hopefully not Louise or that whole situation. Not sure what else to add on that front, Brant hopped back over to Hannah and her explanation. "Well, I'm honestly not sure if it was the look by itself. She and I were pretty much stuck training together for months. I could have had dreadlocks and aside from some helmet issues, the results would have been the same. I wish I had advice, but Firmia's spent years trying to keep people at a comfortable distance. She's doing way better at this than I'd expect."

If Tonya didn't know, she didn't... "We're here for you if you need anything, Tonya." Hopefully her social distance wasn't as great as Firmia's. Brant not having any advice wasn't that reassuring, either. "Guess it's back to hammering myself at the wall into I get over it. We've had... Moments. Where she'd opened up, discussed her life, future, what she wants, but... That constant standard of hers hasn't changed. I don't think I want her to change, I just want to know that I'm going the right way..." Hannah sighed, a sheepish smile on her face as she messed with her hair some.

"Do you think I should go further? There are a few physical changes I can make... I'd have to take a trip over to the Riese, but, I can..."

Tonya took a shot of the vodka she'd poured for herself. "Let's give this a chance, first ... should help me relax ..."

Brant couldn't help but notice that Tonya was 'softening' herself up here. It may be time to act, soon ... and goodness, was that going to be a strange maneuver once it was finally time. Brant did have a slight change in mind, though, something Chris would prefer. Rather than straight seduction, perhaps the sort of challenge he had in mind could throw her off her game even more.

For now, there was Hannah's question, which left Brant floundering. How was he supposed to even approach a question like this? All he could start with was, "Well, definitely don't go farther than you're comfortable with ..." ... this situation really was like watching a square peg work itself into shape, and Brant could see why Firmia had been against the idea at the beginning. He didn't know how she was handling it now, but if she were still outspoken against it, Hannah probably would have stopped. She was at least going along with it, so maybe Brant should, too. He just wished things were more natural than this.

"I think..." Hannah started, pausing to think, giving Tonya a curious eye. "I think as long as I don't... Become a 'man', then I'm comfortable enough. I don't mind riding the fence, so to speak... It's just knowing whether or not it's worth going over to the Riese and saying 'hey, Ignatius, remove my tits, yeah?' Like, is that worth it, hahah." It was a funny sentence, saying it out loud, which did help her worries smooth out a bit. "If it makes Firmia more comfortable with... All of this, I think that's as far as I'm willing to go."

Thinking about things with more time and perspective behind him, Brant felt worse about this situation now than he had back then. When Firmia and Hannah decided to try a more intimate relationship, Brant felt he'd inadvertently caused it. He could only hope for the best for them. But now the square peg in a round hole analogy seemed like an even more painful fit. If Firmia was merely anti-social and mildly desensitized, that would have been one thing, but she was also straight. After all of his talk about agape, Brant didn't have any advice left that he could give Hannah in good conscience, and the advice he felt he ought to give wouldn't fly with Firmia anyway ...

"... man, and Chris thinks Jessica's situation is unique ..."

"Yeah... I guess, so." Brant seemed like he was stuck on where to go next. I have to decide this all for myself, huh? Probably. That would probably be for the best, too... "Well... I'll go see them, and take this as far as I'm willing. And if it doesn't work out, I can always go back. Perks of being mechanical... You gonna be okay? You looks like you're kinda struggling over this."

"Me? Erm ..." Brant was definitely having a hard time helping Hannah out with something like this. It was sort of the opposite of the kinds of problems he was used to dealing with ... "It's fine, I just don't want either of you to get hurt ... and you know who Firmia's going to blame if this doesn't work out," Brant noted with a melancholic grin.

Speaking of people getting hurt, Brant wondered if he should mention Rex while he had Hannah right here ...

"I know... She'll blame herself. We had a good talk about this... And I'm ready to not be the right person for her if her, that's fine. I still want to try to be. So... Yeah. I think I will. I'm gonna pay the Riese a visit tomorrow... Just don't be too surprised, okay?" She smiled, hoping Brant would be fine with everything too.

"Hmm," Brant supposed that was two people she'd blame since he'd been thinking of Jessica. Just about anything could loop back in her direction in the Alkaev's mind, but Hannah was right, Firmia would definitely blame herself, especially after this much time and distance. Brant supposed if Hannah was already preparing for both outcomes, he probably didn't need to worry about either of them too much. The situation just felt ... delicate.

"So you're getting more work done tomorrow? ... as long as you're okay with it. By the way, I'm not sure what you could do or if it's even a good idea to get you involved, but once Rex shows up, he's probably going to just grab Vasiliy and fly off after the battle. I'm really hoping we can smooth things over by then."

"Handing over Vasiliy is going to backfire," Tonya warned, "Call me bias, but you know how opportunistic he is."

Brant grit his teeth. "I just want to keep him and Firmia from getting into a shooting war later ..."

"It might backfire, but we can't just deny the man his child. We're no better than the Alkaevs if we do that." Hannah frowned at the thought, she didn't want Firmia doing anything outside of what she should. It might hurt Vasiliy, but if Rex was anything like Brant, he'd at least raise Vasiliy right. 

"Yeah, I'll get that figured out tomorrow. I don't mind talking with Rex either, though I don't know how well he'll take having a sibling all of a sudden..." Hopefully not catastrophically.

"He'll hate it," Brant said, not a hint of speculation in his tone, "But if I start acting friendly, he'll know something's up, and Firmia's only going to be as cordial as she needs to be ... that just leaves you and Tonya and ..." he paused, glancing at her as she poured herself another glass, "... I'm not sure she's going to be helpful, either."

"The only reason I'm not going to break his arms and legs is because of Vasiliy," Tonya admitted, prompting a sigh from Brant.

"So basically... It's up to me to play nice. With the guy who tried to have Firmia killed..." She didn't mind talking to him, but being super nice... Maybe. "He's going to try and poke holes in me? Verbally." Hopefully Rex wasn't going to be... Too confrontational.

Brant nodded his apology. "He doesn't mind hurting people to make a point, sometimes ... but I'm still worried about Vasiliy."

"Alright... So I'll just... Have to put on my best face and try not to snap. Sure. I can manage that. As long as I've gotten a good forward notice... So thanks." That was going to be a mess. "I'm not too worried about him. Rex is your brother, right? Hopefully some of what makes you a father managed to hit him too."

Brant couldn't help but wince at that. "Honestly, I think that's part of the problem ... we thought all Rosa's pregnancies were ... well ... terminated. That's when he really changed ..."


Brant was uncomfortable enough waiting around in Rosa's office but having Rex there with him made things incredibly tense. This was probably what a TK would feel right before a mad gunman went on a rampage, killing everything in sight. All he could for the moment was watch as his older brother argued with Dima on the large monitor on the wall ...

"Just because he's not a TK?! Are you for real?! Why don't I get a say in this?! I'm old enough to raise him, dammit!"

Dima was as composed as ever. "When the possibility of you two learning details about the pregnancy came up, sex, parentage, and the like, I was against the idea. Karla changed my mind. This is a courtesy, both of you."

Rex turned to Brant and cracked a bitter grin at him before facing Dima again. "Is that why you set us up, you old bastard? Don't wanna be the only one completely whipped around here?"

Brant grimaced. Taunting Dima wasn't going to change his mind ... not now or the next time Rosa was ...

"Karla was considering putting this project on hold and letting Rosa give birth. She always loved working with children ... but perhaps you are right, Rex. I may be giving her too much say here. Putting the project on hold for nine months for one child, one that has no telekinetic potential, would not be worth much. Not right now."

The Abrams brothers both cringed at that.

Dima's smirk was a tired one, something quiet and knowing, like what you'd see after a four and a half hour long poker game's final call was made. They were helpless here. "We'll do things my way, and I'll make it up to Karla some other way. Any children that do not show the same signs of the TK mutation in their genetic code as the two of you during testing will be terminated, starting with your son, Rex."

"You son of a bitch!" Rex swung for the screen on the far wall, wishing he could knock Dima's head off, but his own momentum sent him off to his left and shoulder first into an old metal filing cabinet. Somehow he'd spent the last of his energy on that outburst, and slid painfully down the cabinet onto the office floor.

"Dima, please ..." Brant pleaded, the impending disaster starting to weigh on him more and more, "He's our family ... one of us ... ... Please ..."

"... it's probably too late, Brant. The doctors were ordered to terminate under these conditions while Rosa is still anesthetized. I could make the call ..."

The silence that followed was deafening, the swirling mess of desperate hope and bitter resentment wafting from Rex slowly broke down Brant down. As Brant looked Dima in the eyes, he thought he saw the faintest hint of remorse in the man's eyes. He couldn't tell if his own eyes were playing tricks on him, and the image faded quickly, first, as tears came and obscured his vision, and then ...

"... no, we'll do this another way. Accept your situation and endure until the end." With that, Dima ended the call.

Rex glanced over at the empty screen, and as soon as he did, that desperate hope faded away. He let his head rest against the cold cabinet, and then his own tears fell. "... I'm sorry ... you're innocent, but there's ... nothing I can do, now."

"That's ..." Brant wanted to argue, but he couldn't. There was really nothing they could do ...

"You were the one good thing that could come out of this nightmare, and now that bastard is gonna to take you, too. I can't save you ... but ... but I'll be with you again in hell ... ... bye ... bye for now, kid ...."


Rex's tears were always hard to look back on. That was why Brant hardly ever did. At least Hannah had a better idea of where he was coming from. "So, yeah ... no idea how this is going to go, but there's no way he cares about his son any less than I care about my daughters."

"Then... I'm not worried about Vasiliy. If Rex is anything like you, he's going to get more care than he's ever dreamed of. It'll probably be sad to see his sisters go, yeah... I don't know if Rex can make up for that. In fact, I highly doubt he can," she paused, arms folded, thinking. "But... I think there's some to be said about having a parent. Even if it's just one. Tonya... She wants a student, not a son. I don't think it'll be the same." Hannah glanced over at her, wondering how she'd take that. It wouldn't change her opinion, though. Tonya definitely cared about Vasiliy, but it was... Different.

"I can have both," Tonya pouted.

"I don't want to see you and Rex raising a child together," Brant looked away, "Sorry for being selfish."

"I don't think Rex would want to stay here, and Firmia letting you go? She'd die before she let you run off with Rex."

"Well then the plan's simple," Tonya put her arms on her hips, "We put'em in the brig with Carlos. Win win."

She was tipsy, Brant realized ... it was too bad she would probably sober up before he and Chris could get ready. As for jailing Rex ... "That's not ..." It wasn't like he didn't deserve it, but that incident had still happened weeks ago. It didn't feel right to try and lock him up for it, now ... plus it wouldn't do a thing to change his mind about Firmia. It could only get worse from there. Moral issues aside, it was just a downright counterproductive measure.

"... that's not gonna work," Brant sighed.

"He's going to like you even less if you toss him into a cell. There's no way to resolve this with force. You just... Have to use words, and try to ride it out." Hannah sighed. At least she could stop Tonya if something intense happened.

"Urgh ..." Tonya slowly slumped down on the counter, "... need to figure out a way ..."

"I know how you feel," Brant sighed, "Anyway, thanks for agreeing to help, Hannah. Sorry in advance. It might not be all that bad, but other than him being a dedicated father, I can't be sure of anything."

"I don't think there's a way to get him to stay, Tonya... I think you'd have an easier time getting Firmia to let go. I think that says enough..." Hopefully she wouldn't actually go and do that.

"I got a warning in advance, so I should be fine... I hope you and Firmia are fine when I look different tomorrow. Don't be too shocked." Hannah winked and turned towards the door, pausing one moment. "Anything else, before I go?"

Anything else? Brant wondered if there was a way he could get a message to Chris without Tonya knowing. Well ... worst case scenario, Tonya went into this thing a little bit suspicious ... "Mm, no, I think that's all. I'm gonna see if I can't get Tonya sober before she hurts herself." Making sure Tonya couldn't see his face clearly, Brant made one of those urgent 'look at me faces,' even as he casually said his goodbyes.

Carefully, Brant tried to make it look like he was crossing his arms, but his real aim was to make his left ring finger plainly visible for Hannah, wagging the finger beneath his arm to try and remind her of Tonya's ring challenge. The last piece he needed to put in place was the most important one. He silently mouthed the message, 'Tell Chris it's time,' and hoped Hannah was as good at reading lips as she was at other things.

"Mrgh, please don't do this right now," Tonya groaned, almost causing Brant to flinch, "I actually feel good, so I don't want to go back to being sober and worried. It's no wonder Firmia banks on this stuff."

Brant couldn't let his relief show, but oh the relief she hadn't caught his secret messaging ...

"Yeah, good luck. Apply a lot of water." And... Then he got, very serious? What does he...? His ring finger? Tonya... 'Tell Chris it's time?' Oh. Ohhhh... Now? How nasty... But this was a serious advantage. Tonya almost seemed like she'd picked up on it, but, seemingly still oblivious, Hannah simply smiled and turned to leave. "Good luck with your sobriety, Tonya!"

As soon as she was around the corner, she sent Chris a message: 'Brant says it's time. They're in the Cafeteria.'

Chris was about to hop out of the room, but paused in front of the door. If they were in the Cafeteria, Tonya would see her coming out, and then likely be on guard... Damn. "What to do..." She could try to send Brant something, but he was a terrible liar. If she asked him... She replied back to Hannah, instead: 'Let him know I know.' At least if it was Hannah, he could say it was her, and not have to lie around things.

Hannah smiled. It was amusing to see this sort of planning. 'I will.' Her next message went straight to Brant's comm, hopefully telling him enough: 'Chris knows, dunno how you're gonna alert her, but she's ready.'

By the time Hannah's message reached Brant, he was by the kitchen counter with Tonya, moving to put away the alcohol ... had to at least look the part, even if more alcohol might have actually made things easier. Using a refrigerator door for cover, Brant checked his comm. The news was good. Now he just had to give Chris an opening to sneak in here ... this would be downright impossible if Tonya was a TK ... or actually sober ...

Alright ... time for a completely new strategy.

"We're ready, Vivian," Brant's voice came over the comms, "Regalia's heading up to Catapult A, now. How are we going to play this one?"

More or less the same question as the one she'd asked Jessica, Firmia noted. "Focus on their mobile suits. Don't worry about saving ammunition, but remember we're only a few hours away from the base. Keep the damage manageable in that timeframe so we don't have to ground anyone."

"A few more hours ... got it." Brant sighed as he realized getting that stimulant in now was probably a good idea. A shot in the neck before launch was never fun, but he couldn't be fumbling around with the cylinder after takeoff. "Alright, we already got the big challenge out of the way," Brant said to his fiancee and copilot, "This is just one more for us to knock down. Let's get this pricks out of our way so we can end this war."

A Woman's Intuition

Spoiler

"Tonya ..." Brant winced, only now realizing that she'd poured herself a third glass as he put the bottle away. She downed the glass before he could stop her, so all he could do was take it from her, empty, and wash it out. "Tonya, you're not a drinker. Cut it out."

Smirking, Tonya said, "You're not my hubby ... yet. You can't tell me what to do~"

"Doubt that would change even if I was," Brant rolled his eyes. Not a bad segue into that very issue, though. "Besides, Tonya. There's no way I can do that. I get that you want to make sure things work out this time, but this is actually wrong ..."

"You were okay with it before ..." she winced, "What changed? Realized you can't win?"

Brant stared at the glass as he dried it with a cloth, wondering what it would be like to throw down with an intoxicated Tonya. She would be disadvantaged on coordination but advantaged in sheer endurance, so it was an interesting question. As for what changed ... "Less than I'd like ... more than you'd think." Brant searched for the clean glass' home while Tonya wandered around the kitchen. "I don't have any doubts about Chris left. I don't think anyone does ... not even you ... so why keep doing this?"

"... does it matter? If you two stop sucking and finally manage to beat me, then everything's fine."

"When you want two people to stay together, you support them, you don't try to break them up," Brant said pointedly, "At least before, you were giving us a reason to work together, something to fight together for ... but things are different, now." Brant's expression became pained as he imagined a scenario where Tonya actually won, somehow. That poor child ... "Tonya ... Chris ... she's pregnant, now. There's no going back from that, and I would never want to."

"Oh ... right ... I guess other girls can get pregnant," Tonya said, half joking, though with a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Well played. I definitely can't match that, not after what Rosa did to me. It honestly ... feels like I'm caught in the middle."

"Caught in the middle?" Brant managed to find another group of glasses and put Tonya's with them before coming closer, "What do you mean?"

"You know ..." Tonya shrugged, "I'm like a hybrid of a human and a machine. I've got the weaknesses of both, and the strengths of neither." One bitter chuckle later, and she added, "I've been trying to decide which way I should go ... whether I should let Monty and Megumi clone me a new uterus I'll probably never get to use ... or just let it all go and focus on fighting. Just ... replace everything inside me that starts to break down until even my skull is just tech. I don't want to be stuck in the middle anymore, either way ..."

As much as it felt like they were getting off topic, Brant didn't want to shift gears, again. This was ... important, incredibly so. He even suspected Tonya's stubbornness with the ring was coming at least partly from this. "You're wrong, Tonya. You're not caught in the middle of anything, you're just comparing yourself to Chris and Hannah too much ..." The pregnancy news definitely wasn't helping Tonya out of this rut.

"Please, just listen," Brant came right up to Tonya, putting his hands on both of her shoulders. He kept her focused directly on him, "You don't have to measure up to either of them or anyone else. You're good enough the way you are, and what's important first and foremost is that you're happy."

"Happy? That's a little ... vague ... and generic."

"Doesn't mean it's a bad thing," Brant countered, "Or that you shouldn't want that."

"I'm ..." Tonya seemed to miserable now for even the alcohol to help ... "I'm pretty sure my happiness was over once Ilya ..."

Brant couldn't blame her for not wanting to finish that sentence ... "That's not true ... and regardless, why keep at this if even I can't help you to be happy? Why take that chance away from Chris?"

Tonya barely managed to smile at him. "Soul crushing guilt, I guess? I couldn't save you from Rosa, and if there was any time to pull something like this, it was with Jessica. I'm sorry ... I just feel so ... helpless, these days."

"That's-"

"And besides," Tonya cut Brant off with a serious look, "I'm not trying to steal you from her. I'm perfectly willing to be an annoying third wheel. I already told you that."

"There was a time when I could have lived with something stupid like that," Brant admitted, "but not anymore. People with low self-esteem shouldn't let others come along and change their relationships, and they sure as hell shouldn't try to latch onto other couples and do the same damn thing to them. Now that I know how it works and why people would do that, I can't stand it. I don't want it in my life or anywhere around my family. I don't want any part of it. It's disgusting, it's cowardly, it's the definition of impatience, and it's wrong ... and you're better than that, anyway."

"Maybe back when Ilya was around," Tonya sighed.

Brant studied Tonya carefully as she avoided eye contact. "... you really can't get over him, can you?"

"... I ... guess not, huh? The harder I try, the worse I feel. Honestly, the worst part in all of this was the thought, 'what if I actually win?' ... every fiber of my being is fighting me on this ... and no, it's not just you. Spend too much time with Sasha or Monty and that same feeling creeps in ... I'm even too scared to ask Firmia to let Carlos out so we can settle things in the simulators ... too scared ... heh."

Brant wasn't sure what to say to that. Tonya's loyalty to Ilya was both admirable ... and extremely unhealthy. This was well beyond anything he could help her with on his own, and on top of that, he was technically in the middle of another 'ring raid,' so his hands were even more tied up than they looked. Though, maybe ... "Tonya, look at your hand."

Assuming Brant meant the hand she kept the ring on, Tonya held her left hand up to about waist height. Her thumb, middle and index fingers were free, but the other two fingers were covered up by the glove.

Brant wasn't sure how things would turn out, but he took a chance and grabbed her wrist, pulling it up to show it to her more closely. Tonya didn't put him on the ground or anything like that ... so far, so good ... "Look at what you're wearing," Brant continued, going after the glove's strap with reckless abandon and peeling it back. Tonya didn't fight back. Then Brant pulled the glove off by the tip of the ring finger, revealing the engagement ring Tonya was wearing. "Just ... look at it. You're too scared to get close to them, but you're forcing Chris and me to fight you for this? You're willing to be a third wheel if she doesn't give up? What do you really want? Ilya? A way to get over him? What is it, Tonya? Help me understand, please!"

"I don't know ..." Tonya began to choke up, "I don't know why my body keeps doing this to me ... n-no ..." Tonya started wiping her eyes, "I know why. I've always known why ..."

"... why?"

"I don't want to say it. I already feel like I'm going crazy."

"Please just tell me. Of all people, you can at least tell me."

Unwilling to keep fighting back her tears, Tonya gave up and finally looked Brant in the eyes, again. "No matter what I try, that feeling never goes away. Dima tricked us, Brant. Ilya's ... he's not dead. He's alive."

Brant didn't know what to say to that, either. Tonya's intuition helped make her a good fighter, and an even better pilot, but this? That seemed ... not impossible, but ... "What makes you think he's alive?"

Tonya put her hands on Brant's shoulders this time and weighed him down, her eyes pleading. "I don't think he's alive, Brant. I know he is. I don't know how I know, but I know. What am I supposed to do? Tell Firmia? Go on some crazy Ilya rescue mission? Where do we even look? ... and what if Dima's using him for something? What if I act on this and he winds up actually dying this time? I can't ..."

Brant was finally starting to understand. Ilya being alive didn't make sense unless someone was hiding him. That meant he had some value to that person or group, be it Dima or someone else. If they found out what was really going on and tried to get Ilya back ... well, there were all sorts of ways that could go wrong. Tonya was rightly worried about it, assuming her intuition was on point ... and it pretty much always was. Brant didn't think Ilya was alive, and yet, he had to believe Tonya. "I don't know what to say," he admitted.

Suddenly, Tonya wrapped her arms around Brant ... she was crying. "I know he's alive ... just like Vasiliy, and Lily, and Aki were alive this whole time ... he's alive, too ... he's out there, somewhere. Just ... just give him back ..."

"Err- ..." Brant could feel himself getting pulled down as Tonya's legs gave out. Slowly but surely, he wound up kneeling, with her sobbing into his chest. "Tonya, we'll figure this out ..." Brant could only wince as Tonya's grip on him grew tighter and more desperate. Her nails dug in hard. He could tell Tonya's mind and body were finally working in concert again. They had the same purpose now. Brant only wished that purpose wasn't so far out there. None of this was going quite the way he'd hoped.

"Give him back, already ... give him back to me ..."

Chris had ended up peeking her head out of the room, to try and see what was going on, maybe get some signal... But... "Uh..." She kept her voice quiet, sliding the door open just enough to slip through and sneak over to the edge of the cafeteria, peeking her face out and giving Brant a very confused look. What exactly was going on with Tonya? This hug seemed... Weird, and she felt like a huge mess. She tried her best to mouth 'now?' at Brant, wondering if this was the time, but...

Brant didn't know if Tonya heard Chris coming, but he sensed her well in advance. He thought long and hard about what to do next as she quietly snuck closer to them. Once she asked for a signal, reluctantly, and with a Ilya in mind, Brant nodded at her. At this point, he had doubts about Tonya fighting back, but even if she did, Chris could still get the ring if she could sneak in and slide it off in one swift motion. Brant started hugging Tonya back, ready to comfort her or take a brief trouncing, depending on how this went.

Alright... Here goes. Luckily wearing socks, Chris tried her best to sneak up on the two... Quiet your breathing, careful motions... Almost upon them, she stopped, gulping, looking down... How to go about this? Grab her? Jump on and hope? Chris nodded her head towards Tonya's arm, the one with the ring slipped onto her hand. Could Brant get it out of the hug? She seemed to be latched on pretty tight...

"Hey ..." Brant tried to get Tonya's attention and keep it. He couldn't reach her arms to loosen her grip, but he could try to calm her down ... "I don't know what Firmia's going to think of this, but ... when the war's over, I promise we'll help you find Ilya."

"... do you really think he's alive?"

Brant smiled helplessly down at Tonya. "Just going to have to trust your intuition on this one. If he's alive, we'll find him." Even before he finished speaking, he could feel the relief coursing through his teacher, and little by little, her grip softened, her nails no longer digging into him, but instead, gently clinging to him.

"... thank you ..."

No time like the present. Tonya's grip let up a bit, Chris swooping in to get her arms up and around the woman's head, full nelson. With her already on the floor, it would be a test of strength to see how long she could hold her before something gave. "Dunno who you're talking about, but I sure hope he's alive after all this too! Brant, you've got like, maybe a minute at best!"

Brant expected Chris to simply grab Tonya's arm and take the ring, but she went for a full nelson instead, leaving the ring lifting duty to him. He definitely hadn't seen that coming. Tonya might have, but even now, she wasn't even struggling much beyond keeping her fists closed.

"... you promise ... right?"

Brant immediately nodded. "I promise." With that, he reached for her left hand. Once he had a hold of it, he tried to pry her fingers open. At first, they wouldn't budge. He was expecting to have to force them open, but it seemed like Tonya's body wasn't far behind her in consent, and her fingers loosened up on their own. Brant was able to take the ring off with a kind of ease, after that. It wasn't entirely easy, seeing her so miserable, but the task itself was almost effortless.

"... mission accomplished," Brant smiled, "New mission ... figure out where the hell Ilya is ..."

"... Well that was... Anti climactic. Glad for my face, at least." Chris cautiously let Tonya go and tried to make some distance, fists up in case she tried something again. She'd gotten used to getting her teeth almost knocked in, so even if that was somehow super easy, that didn't mean she was gonna get lax. "Seriously... What's goin' on? Who's Ilya? And why was this suddenly really easy? I'd say I was disappointed, but I'm really not... Just... Kinda mad you made us go through hell if you were just gonna give it up to words." Chris sighed.

"Heh ..." Tonya wiped her eyes and sat up on the kitchen floor, "If I keep beating the stuffing out of a pregnant girl, I'll really be the bad guy ..."

"No kidding," Brant frowned, "Anyway, Ilya's ... Tonya's fiance. Her last name isn't actually Polzin. That's his. She just took the name, just like Hannah. Well, after this, I guess she really is a Polzin. Anyway, before Rosa came after Rex and me, she was interested in Ilya. Once Rosa sabotaged Tonya during a training exercise, Dima had him killed to put a stop to the feud ... well ... sort of. Tonya's sure he's still alive, so I think we should look for him once the war's over."

"Dima didn't just decide to kill him because of what happened to me," Tonya said gravely, "Ilya found out what Rosa did to me and wanted her prosecuted for it. Dima and Karla weren't having any of it, though. From what I found out, they couldn't convince Ilya to keep quiet about it, so they took care of it the Alkaev way ..."

"... damn," Brant winced.

"Yeah ... you'd be surprised what kind of stuff's in Firmia's archives," Tonya smiled bitterly as she thought back to that awful bit of research.

"I guess... Geez, what a mess." Chris sighed again, Tonya was always so... Feral. No other way to put it in her mind. Of course, there was more to it... Tonya's fiancé, was it? Dealt with in a very, old Alkaev way. Now she was just mad, without anyone to direct it at. "Well ain't that just great. Good something to do after the war's over, at least. Ugh... Are there any lengths Dima won't go to? What a goddamn mess..." There was one way to cheer herself up, at least.

Walking past Tonya, she held her left hand up to Brant, flushing a bit red. "At least this headache is over... Till death do us part, right?"

Brant couldn't help but smile. They only had one witness for this ... and one hell of a witness, but now was as good a time as any, he thought, especially if it would help cheer her up. "Yeah," he said, gently sliding the ring onto her finger, "Til death do us part."

"You know a priest or a captain's supposed to do the ... oh never mind," Tonya sighed.

"W-We're not getting married yet, Tonya. We'll get... I dunno... I guess, Firmia to watch over this later. Right now it's just..." Chris managed a smile, staring down at the little metal on her hand, gently running a finger over it. "It's something to make me happy whenever I need it... I love you, Brant."

"I love you too, Chris," Brant said, pulling her in and embracing her fully.

"... ugh ... I want that ..." Tonya curled up for a moment, "That's it, I'm getting another drink. You can't stop me."

As nice as Brant's hug was, Tonya's drinking wasn't something she could ignore. "Oh no no no! Look, I get it, you're upset, but Firmia needs you to drive this thing! It's super late, I'm not gonna let you drink yourself under the table." Chris threw herself between Tonya and the fridge, hoping the woman would make the smarter choice. "Look, I get it... I do. Trust me, just... We really need you at one hundred percent ass kicking mode."

"Mrgh ..."

"She's right, Tonya," Brant added, "Remember, we can get attacked at any time. I know it's been a while since that was a daily thing, but remember, they could hit us in the middle of the night if they wanted. The Riese is still a sitting duck, so now's probably the worst time to be drinking. I would have stopped you earlier if I wasn't so distracted ..."

"Fine, then I'm going to bed ... sad and kind of sober ..."

"You could go see Vasiliy or the girls before you crash... I hadn't finished putting them to bed completely, so they should still be awake. Might help cheer you up some...?" It was worth a shot. Seeing Tonya to dejected was... Very odd.

"I can't have my student seeing me like this," Tonya whined, "... I guess I could pester the girls and then nod off ... do they know Chris is pregnant?"

Brant could only shrug. Maybe Chris told them, and maybe she didn't yet ...

"Er... Not yet. They've been dealing with a lot, I didn't want the burden of a future sibling on their minds. I'll wait until we're done with the war to let them know. Let it be something to look forward to, instead of something to worry about." She couldn't have them worried sick about mom and their new sibling going off into potentially deadly fights, now.

"Okay, I'll avoid bringing that up, then ..." Tonya started for the cafeteria's entrance, "Happy honeymoon, you two."

"First thing's first," Brant sighed, "Win the war."

"Yeah, yeah... Ah, geez, I'm coming with you. You look like you'll fall over if the wind blows the wrong way." Chris sighed and made pace to reach Tonya, heading out with her. "Come to bed when you're tired, Brant."

"Alright," Brant smiled. Though ... with the ring challenge conquered, Brant didn't know that there was anything else to deal with, tonight. Well ... there was one thing. "I guess I could have a look at the Golden Eyes code again before bed. I might be able to touch it up some."


"Carlos, how's the Eidolon? Will you be able to cover the Avalon?" It still felt a little weird having Carlos pilot for her, but with Louise out there, having barely changed from how she used to be, she knew it shouldn't ... at least by comparison. Perhaps it was because she was used to him being locked up and the actual recruitment process hadn't lasted more than a few minutes and only started earlier that very morning ...

CARLOS SANTANA

Spoiler

Today was the day they would reach Apotheosis' main base, but Firmia still had one loose end to work out, Carlos. She'd spoken with him before, even showed him the Avalon's memorial wall. It was only right to her since he'd put the majority of the names there, with just a couple of squeezes of an electronic trigger, no less. With recent developments, however, the idea of keeping Carlos locked up when he could be doing more useful things, just didn't sit well with her. In some ways, she even felt sorry for him ... so now it was time to put her new philosophy to the test. She was going to need a drink after this one way or the other.

Firmia didn't know how Louise had found out about Carlos, or why she was interested in tagging along, but the android caught the fledgling captain on her way to the brig. It was too early in the morning for her to struggle, so she decided to focus on the matter at hand, provided Louise didn't complicate things with her teasing. Arriving in front of Carlos' cell, Firmia stiffened up, straightened her posture, and cleared her throat. "This is it, Carlos. We're closing in on Apotheosis' base ... and we're going to win. I'm going to make sure of that. What I need to know is what to do with you, now. As you can see ..." Firmia gestured over at Louise, "Even Apotheosis' strongest fighters are on our side now. I ... think you should be, too, but it's your choice ..."

The Alkaev didn't know if Louise had anything to add, but seeing she was obviously in a mechanical body now, that was likely to come up sooner rather than later, and whether it would help convince Carlos or make him even more reluctant wasn't clear, yet.

So there he was... Carlos Santana, their best sniper, their best spy, all caught up behind bars. Louise couldn't help her chuckling as her hands pressed up against the glass, turning into full blown laughter, finally throwing her head back in a sigh. "Ahhh, Carlos~ I never thought I'd see you so sad... Poor, poor Fatima, hmmm? Getting all caught up in your business..." Hopefully her knowledge of what had transpired would sell him on it actually being her. She didn't want to bother with another round of being called a copy.

"They even managed to defeat Vera, you know? I've got my hands on her lovely purple toy. Your machine didn't quite make it, but what was left of it did~ I'm sure you could pilot it."

Well, it had been a good while since his cell was visited. Any break of the usual pace was welcome at that point... there was only so much that Carlos could do to keep himself busy while locked, and the meals weren't exactly something to look forward to.

"It's been a while..." Carlos stood up from the wall-mounted seat he laid down on, his sense of time was a bit compromised, so sticking with a short greeting felt more comfortable than thinking how mucb of the day had been waster. "I could tell the resemblance to Louise from here, but didn't expect you to have all her memories." Carlos' pokerface was on point, but his attention had remained on the android, it had caught his interest. "Well, I'd say it's good to see you again, but last time you charged ahead and got yourself killed... kind of left us there to die." Carlos forced a smirk. Resentment was clear in his tone, but he did a good job of not making it overt --it had simmered too long to turn explosive at that point--. "If you've taken Vera down, I imagine things are as good as can be for your side... except you'd rather have me out there." A few steps closer, Carlos returned his attention to Firmia. "Am I right in guessing Helena's 'supporters' made a move?" Carlos felt more important to get updated at that point, with no reservations --he'd been isolated for too long.

"If you lot couldn't handle the ANF's best without me, you weren't up for the job in the first place~" Louise smirked and rested a shoulder against the glsss between them and Carlos, shaking her head. "I have her memories because I am Louise. If I need you give you a tutorial on how they got me back once we're done with this war, by all means. Already have to deal with the twerp thinking I'm a copy." Louise leaned a finger over and flicked Firmia's shoulder in mild annoyance, crossing her arms after.

"Yes, the Sacarians have done just that. They fought them off before I flew in, and we're expecting a climactic showdown soon."

"A climatic showdown, huh?" Well, since we are nearing the Chelone..." Carlos turned to Louise and nodded, a quick mental note not to prod the 'copy' tangent again. "I'd actually like to know how you're back. I realize this isn't the usual cloning process... are you a special case, or should I expect others to come back in the same way?" Carlos was holding a good deal of concern inwardly. He did favor letting sleeping dogs lie.

Louise sighed. "I'm Watanabe's pet project. A mix of Earth science and a machine the Sacarian's picked up. I don't have the full details on how it functions, only that the person being toyed with must be dead, and their memories in tact. This robotic shell was likely used because it was the best he had available at the time. I was... A bit of a liar, when it came to properly giving Helena my genetic sample~"

"Hmm? You must be dead, but have your memories intact? I don't quite copy that." He glanced towards Firmia again. While this ultinately was meant to be about a proposal to get out there and fight, Louise's presence brought in some new concerns, ones that Carlos wanted to clear as soon as possible. "I'm surprised Helena didn't chastize you for providing false information... well, maybe not. She always let you get away with quite a bit." Well... thinking about it, it was a bit humorous. "But now you're that scientist's pet project thanks to that."

This was a strange combination of interesting and annoying. After brushing at the spot Louise had finger flicked her, Firmia decided to chime in again. "If you want more details, you can ask Watanabe in person once we grab him. What matters right now is whether you're willing to help us or not. This brig is for those labcoat traitors, not you, it's time to decide whether you want to be a pilot, or a custodian. Gun or mop." Firmia's actual philosophy for enemy personnel was 'join or die,' but Carlos had already outlived the latter option, so Firmia couldn't threaten him in good conscience, and she sure as hell wasn't sending him over to the Riese ... he would survive this war, but ... the details needed sorting, now.

Louise sighed, so to the point... "What she said, I suppose. You can ask Watanabe. I'm no longer his project, anymore... Just here messing with what I find fun and amusing~ So, are you helping, or not?" Back to business, she supposed.

Well, in the end, this was really just a recruitment attempt. Carlos had decided to go off the rails, but Firmia preferred to get on with it. "I suppose I can learn more later..." It wasn't of any particular interest anymore, as it seemed the doctors only planned for Louise to get the treatment. Less to worry about was a good thing, at this point.

"Quite frankly, I think my skills would be wasted on janitor duty." With a suave smile, Carlos toyed with the notion. Knowing Firmia's intent veered on using his services assuaded the prisoner dynamic. "I won't say I'm excited to betray my old folks, but I'll need a new life at this rate... I could do far worse than go Russian."

Interesting ... and kind of odd how 'normal' this suddenly felt. Firmia felt Louise had been a bit too eager to join her team and Vera too stuck on atoning for her crimes, but Carlos seemed to be in an unassuming middle ground. Firmia wouldn't call it refreshing, but it was definitely interesting. "I wouldn't call it a betrayal with the Sacarians involved, but that's fine. Apotheosis is a lost cause. At least with Artorias, you'll be able to do some actual good in the world, not just murdering people."

"But also murdering people," Louise corrected, giggling. "Just the right people. That way we dont have to feel guilty about taking lives~"

Louise's wording was always a pain, but she was at least technically correct. Firmia liked to distinguish between murder and 'killing' in self-defense, but honestly, where the Luna was concerned, the idea of self-defense was just laughable. Same with a sniper like Carlos. Firmia sighed. "Basically ..." She then stepped over and unlocked Carlos' cell.

That's Louise alright. "Well, I knew we had outsider influence, not that I could do much about it, so I'll try to look at putting down the Sacarians as a last favor instead of a betrayal." Freedom, that was a nice feeling. Carlos couldn't hide some relief as he walked through the door, casting a glance at Louise again, then back at Firmia. It was a passing thought, that perhaps this was a play, and he'd be jumped on and executed as he walked out. Not the most logical suspicion, but as someone stuck in a brig for a long while, at the mercy of someone whose allies he unceremoniously shot down, Carlos found himself thinking of Firmia's as too hopeful.

"Hmm." It was tiresome to switch gears after this long... Carlos gently pressed a finger against his temple as light distraction from the discomforting thought at the back of his mind. "Should I suppose you've got something ready for me to pilot?"

Louise grew a devilish grin and threw herself onto Carlos' back, giving him a hug and cackling somewhat. "Of course we have something for you to pilot~ Sasha's been working on an impressive machine with what was left of yours. I'm sure you'll love it~"

"Right ..." Firmia added, "The Eidolon was built from your Rhea. I can't say it's stronger in every category, but Sasha designed it to be customizable. We can have it outfitted with all of your old weapons, and it also has an integrated beam cannon below the cockpit to help at close range. You should be fine, though I'd run some tests with it ..." There wouldn't be any time to get comfortable with it against the Sacarians ...

At least that recruitment had gone smoothly, and could actually be called a recruitment. If Firmia could deal with every problem individual that way, her life would be much easier. After this war, though, the only people she'd have left to deal with were enemy stragglers, Rex, her mother, grandfather, and alien colluding cousin and sister. She didn't even want to 'recruit' any of these people per se, but they weren't actors she could just ignore, either, especially not the latter two. Whatever was happening in Russia was going to affect her and her people sooner or later ...

LOYALTY (CHAPTER I)

Spoiler

"I didn't expect to hear back from you so soon, Gabriel." Dima eyed his grandson curiously from behind his desk. He was completely unaware of the two Sacarians listening in from offscreen. "Did you need something?"

Gabriel nodded at Dima, his poise noticeably more diplomatic than usual ... or perhaps more regal. Without his flight suit or helmet on, the man they now called king was much better known to Haal'Sen and Raay'Xel. Tall, fit, fair skinned, with dark hair much like his second in command, Gabriel could at least fill the role of a prince, if not a king. There was some contrast between him and the room. Since it was just another room on the transport plane, it wasn't all that big. Only two people could share it comfortably, and only about six people could occupy the space at one time without it getting stuffy, but with just a couch, desk, bed, mini fridge, restroom, closet, short table, and a large monitor on the wall across from the couch ... it was serviceable.

"For the next ... seven days, give or take, I need your trust, Grandfather." Even though Dima's visible curiosity was a fresh sight for him, Gabriel continued. "I'm going to be working on an important project and I'd like to use one of the company's facilities. Information leaks are not acceptable. I require complete and total control of the facility for the duration of our stay. All systems, all communications, all staff members."

"You won't share the details with me, even ... interesting."

"I ..." Gabriel paused, and smiled teasingly, "... could be persuaded to pass the information along to you over a secure network sometime after my work is finished. I absolutely cannot risk a leak before then, however. You understand."

"Tell me one thing, Gabriel," Dima clasped his hands and leaned toward the monitor, "Is this a personal project ... or does this involve Firmia?"

"Both, naturally."

"Mm ... very well. I'll make the arrangements."

Excellent, Gabriel thought. If Dima was willing to play along, then he and his team wouldn't have to take over the facility by force. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but that most heavyhanded of options was still on the table.

"Contact me again once you're in the area, Gabriel--oh ... and ... one more thing."

"Hmm?"

Dima's eyes narrowed gravely, almost as if he was considering something important. "There may be another opportunity for you to gather strength, soon."

"Another generous handout, Grandfather?" Gabriel joked. Given the old man's tone, he suspected something Dima hadn't actually planned on for a change.

"It's Rosa. The situation here at our secondary facility is becoming unstable. Now that everyone knows the fate of the company, many of them are looking for a way out of serving the new regime."

"So let them go," Gabriel scowled at the implication. Dima clearly wasn't going to let his people run off and do whatever they wanted, not when a third of them could band together and drag the Alkaev name through the muck. These weren't even people anymore. They were slaves. And that meant ...

"Rosa ... actually confessed, Gabriel ... to everyone at the base who would listen."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. That made very little sense to him. What he'd learned of his aunt from Dima was quite sickening, and the idea of her suddenly confessing to all of that without a reason was ... not quite believable. Was she convinced to do it, somehow? Coerced, maybe?

"Remember what I told you, Gabriel. Everything I told you, she told them."

'Everything'? Gabriel's eyes widened with understanding. Rosa wasn't just incriminating herself, but Dima and Karla, as well. She was essentially sinking the entire ship, or at least drilling some fairly big holes in it. Still odd, but if it was a passionate grasp at absolution, then Gabriel could understand. "I could guess what this has to do with me, but I'd rather you just come out and tell me what you expect, Grandfather."

"Many of the staff are flocking to her ... much to my surprise. I can say with absolute certainty that she has the loyalty of at least two dozen pilots and three times as many workers. I don't know how long they will wait until they make their move, but they will sabotage Kalten and make off with everything they can carry. If you want to catch up to Firmia ... you may want to consider taking them under your wing. Otherwise, they may just find their way to her, instead."

That was ... close enough to what Gabriel had suspected, though the potential pitfalls warranted a closer look. Gabriel had been given some psyche profiles to study, so he was familiar with Rosa, Stan, Juliya, and Firmia, at least as far as their natural tendencies were concerned. Based on what he knew about Rosa, she wouldn't put in this kind of effort to escape Dima, only to have to submit to her own nephew. Her pride was too great to ever submit to a young and whimsical man like him. Even if she was in the sort of mental turmoil that could draw a full confession out of her, she would fight, and the pilots with her, if he confronted her in person.

The diplomatic route was an option. He could speak to her the way he was speaking to Dima now, via network, though there were problems with this approach as well. Contacting Rosa while she was still under constant surveillance by Dima would convince her that she was being led into a trap of Dima's design ... and hats off to Rosa, that would be exactly what this was. Dima's gambit would be a success so long as Rosa wound up as a pawn of either Gabriel or Firmia.

It was all Gabriel could do not to show any emotion at the thought of his aunt being used like this. "I'll think about it. Please contact me the moment the situation changes. I'm sure I'll have reached a decision by then."

"Very well. Goodbye for now, Gabriel."

Gabriel sighed as the large monitor on the wall turned off. He wasn't in such a good mood anymore, even with the intriguing company. "My apologies. Dima can be difficult to deal with at times. It's like staring into an abyss where a man ought to be ..."

What a... Charming, little room. Haal'Sen was finally able to see her new King's face, an almost unassuming man. Still not awful to look at, she had begun to grow used to seeing these humans and their oddly naked skin. Having to remain silent, though... While Gabriel grew ever more upset, talking to this, Dima... It was hard to do. Still, he had ordered them silent, something about, keeping secrets to not bring about trouble until he was prepared. She could understand it to a point, but still, it was hard. Was Raay'Xel feeling the same way? She'd always been a bit difficult to read, and prodding into her mind right now wouldn't make things better.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Haal'Sen began, moving forward to gently hug Gabriel, and pat the back of his head. "There there. You have us to help with all of your difficulties." Letting him go to stand back at attention with Raay'Xel, she did tilt her head just a bit. "Are you sure it was not best to have us speak with Dima? I do not quite understand the issues going on with your life, currently, and it would not do to invade your mind without permission... But, if reassurance that you are accomplishing things would make life easier... Surely defeating two of the invaders destroying this half of the world would show this Dima you mean what you say."

"I do not like that human... he seemed closer to a snake than a monkey." Raay'Xel muttered under her breath once the call with this Dima person had ended. Gabriel had ordered them to observe silently, which had been annoying, but not overtly unmanageable. Speaking wouldn't have accomplished much anyway... that sort was best left alone until their throats came into grasping distance. Either way, there was no compatibility between such a man and an honourable warrior.

"To seek to so brazenly use our Liege for his own ends... It pains me to play into his game at all, but if this is the course of action you believe best, Sire. I only hope you will allow me the honour of removing such a foul presence from your sight, when his use is at an end."

It was hard for Gabriel to stay down about his grandfather with Haal'Sen patting the back of his head. He felt like a young prince now rather than a king. That wasn't exactly a bad thing. It was certainly amusing. "Thank you both. Really."

Gabriel waited until Haal'Sen released him and chuckled lightly before he continued. "I'm not fond of Dima or his misguided goals, however, for the time being, I plan on cooperating with him. It will be limited ... but eventually, we'll become enemies. A man like him won't leave well enough alone, and that will be his downfall. So ... by all means, Raay'Xel, when we find ourselves faced with his minions, remove the serpent's head." Gabriel clearly wasn't 100% onboard with the idea of killing one of his own kin, but as a former soldier, he had the stomach and the discipline for it.

"Right ... the facility I asked him about. That's where we're heading after we gather the rest of our people. My prototype mobile suit was built there, and it's where we'll be repairing your mobile suits, as well. I need complete control of the facility to prevent any information leaks ... and after that, things are going to get interesting for all of us."

Haal'Sen smiled again, feeling a lot more calm with simply him and Raay'Xel around. "You are welcome, my Liege. We shall do our best to remove this man, once he has run out of use." He seemed quite despicable, it would do to remove such a creature from Gabriel's path. Arms folded, Haal'Sen listened intently to their future plans past that.

"If you're certain that this facility will contain the means to repair our Praxis models, then we should make haste. You seem to only have three suits and a group of planes to assist you currently. Changing that number to five, and whatever else you can produce for yourself, will surely make you a force worth taking seriously." A plan of action was good, Haal'Sen didn't like remaining idle for long. "Do you have simulation machines on board this transport? I would like to engage myself in, at the least, digital combat, whilst we are traveling."

"Good. It would be best to allow such a man as few avenues of contact as possible. Keeping our cooperation as limited as possible is for the best. When the time comes, we will rid you of him." Raay'Xel affirmed, nodding along as Haal'sen continued. Gabriel speaking about the facility they had procured access to gave Raay'Xel an idea, however...

"My Liege... if this facility is where your suit was originally manufactured, then it stands to reason that it would have the means to produce additional machines of that type, would it not?"

They were both ready and willing to put Dima Alkaev in the ground when the time came, and so that just left their individual questions. Oddly enough, Gabriel found Haal'Sen's question about simulation training, and Raay'Xel's question about producing additional machines, very closely related.

"I'm afraid the Archangel is the only machine with us right now that can support simulations, though you're free to use it ... that said," Gabriel crossed his arms in thought, "We should make the most of our time until we reach Siberia, and I do have something in mind for you both. After we reach our destination and lock down the area, we'll start production on more AMS units using the data we've gathered," he nodded at Raay'Xel. "After the debriefing is finished ..." Gabriel smiled widely at the two Sacarians, "I'd like either or both of you to share whatever you can about Sacarian martial arts and combat training."

"If you would permit me to use it... And, martial training?" Haal'Sen glanced at her ally, nodding. "You would ask Raay'Xel for that information, then. She is both stronger and more adept than I in terms of combat and piloting. I am more in tune with the ESP side of our prowess, so if you have any questions regarding that, please inquire with me." If there was nothing for her to do, then, she would accompany Gabriel and find out what she could about the crew.

"The function of your Archangel is interesting, My Liege. If you could create one of these... AMS units, using the Praxis Gamma as a core, I believe that we could greatly improve our combat capability. In particular, a reliance on beam weaponry makes Gamma units particularly ineffective against other Sacarian machines, as all are equipped with potent I-fields." Raay'Xel noted, voicing her thoughts on the matter of repairing and manufacturing new suits at this facility. As Gabriel continued on to martial arts and training, her face twisted into a smile.

"Haha! I would be more than happy to demonstrate, My Liege. Although Haal'Sen, I will require your assistance in that regard... I cannot say I trust what I have seen so far of this crew to withstand a demonstration."

"I wouldn't mind, of course... But..." a smirk crept onto her lips at the thought, chuckling quietly. "That could be quite the test, no? As long as we promise not to use our ESP, seeing how adept Gabriel's men are could be a good test of the crew, and a strong showcasing of our abilities. What do you say?"

"I am not against the idea, of course, so long as our Liege is in agreement. If he is confident in the perseverance of his men, I admit I am curious as to the martial abilities of humans." Raay'Xel nodded affirmingly, looking towards Gabriel for confirmation for or against.

Gabriel made a mental note of the two Sacarians' specialties while they discussed some of the details. From the sound of things, Raay'Xel's demonstration required someone who wouldn't break easily. They wanted to see what the crew was made of, and Gabriel saw that going just ... swell. Some would undoubtedly love the chance to fight, even if the chances of defeat were exceedingly high. Others, chief among them being Ziva, would see it as a pointless exercise and a safety risk.

The issue of improving their combat capabilities by combining the Praxes and the AMS units sounded promising, especially after today's skirmish. It was also important to incorporate a greater variety of weapons going forward. The Sacarians were too adept at countering beam weaponry for it to be a viable option much of the time. If Dima's people working together with Gabriel's could get the technology working in tandem, then it should be possible.

"There would be technical details for the engineers and mechanics to work through, but I don't see why using a Praxis' as the core of an AMS unit would be impossible. As for demonstrations ... I take it demonstrating on me is out of the question?" Gabriel smiled apologetically. Ziva would just 'love' that one ...

"Against... You?" Haal'Sen suddenly felt torn, how to approach this. "Uh." Could they do such a thing? She really didn't know. "I... I suppose, if you were to order us to, we would listen, but..." An awkward hand met her chin, so very puzzled by this. "Gabriel, we recognize your strength in live combat, as a pilot, and there is no question that you did defeat us, but in hand to hand, I worry you may become seriously injured. Even if we do not use our ESP to our advantage in subduing you, we are simply unable to turn it off, and any moves would be foretold. Combine that with our superior physical forms, and defeating our King like that, would... It would at least, put a bad taste in my mouth. What do you think, Raay'Xel?"

"If you believe it feasible, then I see no issue. The combination of the Gamma's advanced ESP framework and the AMS unit's versatility should prove a formidable match." Raay'Xel began, though Gabriel's continuation was rather... peculiar. Haal'Sen was visibly conflicted by his request to be a part of the demonstration, though Raay'Xel less so.

"If that is your wish, my Liege. But be warned, if you wish for me to showcase my abilities, my pride as a warrior will not allow me to hold anything back, even against you. I would not make an attempt on your life, but I admit I am not overly familiar with how durable the human body is. Thus I cannot recommend using yourself for such a role... however, I also cannot help but respect your initiative." The Sacarian replied, crossing her arms and looking Gabriel over.

Haal'Sen was dubious about the prospect, but Raay'Xel was all for it. That seemed only natural since the latter was the more martially inclined of the two, even going so far as to warn Gabriel that she wouldn't be holding anything back against him. That was fair, and not terribly concerning at the moment. Gabriel couldn't even recall how many times he'd been carried or dragged into a medical tent or the like at the tail end of a training session. More importantly ...

"Well, I have my reasons," Gabriel noted, thinking of his prior training, "and it's something to do while we make our way to Siberia."

"If... If that is what you wish, then I shall observe, while you spar with Raay'Xel. Please take care to not get yourself too injured. If you have other crew that with to participate with me, then by all means, as I doubt you would appreciate me inside your machine alone. Trust seems to not come easily to your race."

"Then I shall oblige you, My Liege. I can only hope you are as adept on foot as you are in a mobile suit... I would love to be further proven wrong about humans." Raay'Xel replied with a nod. What an interesting human... if she had to be defeated, Raay'Xel could not think of a better candidate.

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle at Haal'Sen's suggestion of having someone accompany her into the Archangel for security purposes. The thought was appreciated, but unless it was Ziva--and not for security purposes--Gabriel didn't see much point in having the Sacarians supervised by anyone other than himself. "Perhaps I'm simply gullible, but I'm going to choose to believe you wholeheartedly when you call me your liege. Your king. You don't need any escorts once the debriefing is finished. I'm only trying to keep the 'culture clash' to a minimum."

"And yes, we'll begin shortly after the debriefing. First I'd like to see about finding you two some spare clothes for when you need them." Given their heights, the search could prove interesting.

Haal'Sen lit up with a smile, were the room not so small, she would have taken a knee. "You honor me with your words. Truly I am not deserving of such praise... Thank you, Gabriel." If this human was to trust them, Haal'Sen would do everything to prove her words.

"Clothes? We are fully clothed beneath our pilot suits. Not that I know what Raay'Xel is wearing, but I have my uniform in underneath this. Would you like to inspect? I have nothinf to hide."

"Our Liege did say spares, Haal'Sen. Something to wear while our uniforms are being cleaned. As for the issue of trust, I am glad that you are not so distrustful as the other humans. We shall prove in time that such things are worries you need not have when dealing with Sacarians." Raay'Xel noted, a confident smile on her face. There was no doubt in her mind, why would there be?

"Excellent," Gabriel smiled at them both, "They should be finished bringing in all the machines by now. Let's get those introductions started."

(https://pastebin.com/aK0giyER)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...