Phoenix

May 27

Doctor's Appointment

It might still be too early to tell if things were actually going well, but at least Dante was going to get onto that CEN warship. He doubted he would get to see much more than the infirmary if he didn't come up with some excuse, but he couldn't be too ambitious here. This was already about as dicey as breaking into a police station, but at least he still had his cover, and a few legitimate avenues of inquiry to pursue.

"Before we actually get there, I assume a ship like that is run fairly tight. Is there anything they're going to need to know about me before letting a civilian through? Anything I'll have to sign?" He had half a mind to ask about any copay or other random thing that might come up in a regular doctor-patient scenario, but he was half serious about this. After all, he had a number of lies to keep straight. The fewer curveballs he had to deal with, the easier it would be to maintain his fake identity.

May 24

Outsider

"If I turn down your offer and walk away, you're just going to keep worrying about it, aren't you?" That was good enough on the 'resistance' front, Dante decided. "Fine, I'll let your doctor look me over. I'm ready when you are."

Kazue's take on the local situation wasn't something Dante could honestly comment on, though he definitely felt the anti-establishment sentiment in his brief run of the Jovian moon. It was only natural for local governments to get out of hand operating so far from Earth, but Dante was mostly indifferent to it all. He'd spent his life operating outside of civilized society. Walking around with a fake identity reminded him of those old spy movies he used to watch with Zinaida. Nothing felt quite 'real' to Dante right now. It was doubtful stepping foot onto a fancy new CEN warship without being shot at was going to change that.

May 23

It'll Dawn On Him

Kazue was handling the situation quite well, though Dante felt she was a bit too nice for her own good. It wasn't just guilt pushing that offer forward. "Nothing broken," Dante grinned, "I know what that feels like, even when the adrenaline's pumping." With that, he rose to his full height, content to let Kazue help if she really wanted to.

"The 'Dawn' you said?" Unfortunately, even though Dante had looked into the name of the CEN warship when he first arrived, he'd eventually forgotten it. He would have made notes to keep track of the intel he was gathering, but if those turned up somehow, he'd have some explaining to dodge. "The name sounds familiar--wait, you're from that CEN ship? That explains a few things, like what you're wearing."

May 22

Pain

That combination looked familiar, but from this angle, Dante could only deal with it in a visceral way. The punch was the least of his problems, but even so he moved to fully deflect it, knowing at least one of her attacks was going to hit home hard. That was fine ... that was part of the plan regardless of Kazue's personal situation. Even as Dante forced her hand away from him, her leg crashed into his ribcage, sending him flashing back to one of the few fights he'd lost in his youth. It was brief, but the flurry of fists and boots grinding his adolescent self to dust were only dissipated by Kazue's leg coming up from the other side in a blur.

There it is! The last time Dante had seen that particular combination, Kazue's opponent was flipped onto the ground and didn't get back up. All he could do in that moment was make sure he did get back up, or better yet ...

A flash of white overtook his vision as the force of the blow sent him through the same motion he'd once seen from an old dingy monitor, and Dante brought his leg as far up as he could to give him the momentum he needed to do what Kazue's other opponent hadn't had the chance to ... stick the landing. As Dante completed his 'assisted aerial', he carefully brought his arm down into his normal defensive posture. The damage was definitely there; the arm he'd blocked the roundhouse kick with was useless for punching for the moment, and his ribs didn't appreciate that flip he'd done any more than being kicked in the first place. Even so, Dante didn't have any fractures as far as he could tell. He almost regretted guarding his head, but he couldn't risk being knocked out and waking up anywhere but the CEN warship's infirmary. That would be a colossal waste of effort.

"Haah ... that's more like it," Dante gave a pained smirk. "Move your body, move your mind. Don't half ass it and expect to figure out anything."

May 22

Pow!

Dante had been expecting some kind of kick as her opening move; given the small gap between them, she risked telegraphing a punch or anything else that required her to close any distance first. The kick was the fastest option, but Dante felt odd about the placement. With no time to question it, he opted to absorb most of the blow with his bicep and forearm. His entire upper body yielding in the same direction as her leg slammed into him to absorb the blow. Instead of attempting any kind of counterattack in the split second between Kazue's attack landing and pulling away, Dante took a step back, moving just far back enough to reset their engagement.

Any pain he felt from his arm was only enough to remind him of simpler, but far bloodier times ... that, and make him suspicious. Dante had seen plenty of qualifier opponents 'disqualified' after failing to weather one of Kazue's roundhouse kicks, which meant she was probably holding back. If this were a real scuffle, he wouldn't care, but Kazue wouldn't benefit from this at all if she was fretting the whole time. More over, Dante wouldn't benefit much either if this fight didn't go a certain way.

"Come on," Dante barked, "What are you worried about? Me? The cops spotting us?"

May 21

Never Meet Your Heroes

Dante felt awkward trying to put himself in Kazue's shoes. He couldn't think of anyone he personally idolized or even looked up to anymore. At some point he'd overtaken everyone in his life so completely that his personal drive came from ... well, certainly not that angle anymore. Maybe arrogance had a firm hold on him, or maybe he was simply that self assured at this point in his life. Either way, Dante felt Kazue was getting just a small taste of some of the horrific realities he'd come to accept as a teenager: People change, and often times for the worst.

He smiled faintly at her and shrugged. "It's easier to ask a stranger than someone who might be around to make you regret opening up." Now that Dante had a better idea of what was bothering Kazue, he knew there was definitely something more he could offer right here and right now. "As for what I'd do, Ms. Mixed Martial Arts World Champion," Dante slowly eased himself back into a fighting stance, issuing a friendly challenge, "I'd make sure I was thinking clearly first, not just thinking hard."

"The body and mind are one. Move the body, move the mind." Dante recalled words he'd heard as a child, though he couldn't remember for the life of him who said them to him first. "Punching a wall isn't going to get you there, Kazue."

May 21

Dan
Dante gave an amused shrug. Even his earliest memories were of cramped starship corridors and fantastic views of the Earth from afar. "I don't remember where I was born exactly ... but it wasn't Earth." He stepped closer to introduce himself, but made sure that his body language was on point; no need to make her nervous, not for nothing anyway.

"My name's Daniel," at least for the moment, he mused, "Just call me Dan." He offered his hand to shake, wondering if she would insist on his fake name rather than a portion of his real one. Normally Dante wouldn't care what she called him, but out of a vague sense of respect for his fellow martial artist, he offered up what genuine aspects of himself he could. There was a bit more he could offer though ...

"You look frustrated, almost like you've got bigger problems than me~"

Hitching a Ride

Spoiler

Zinaida stepped onto the bridge of the armored hauler Enceladus only to be greeted by a pair of obnoxious rappers spitting foreign lyrics from seemingly every direction. She reached over to a terminal on the wall and with a few juts of her finger and a long, smooth sliding motion, she silenced the both of them. "Are you actually focused on docking the Rusalka? This isn't a standard maneuver."

"Oh I know!" Carla, the Rusalka's helmswoman, leaped up from her seat and turned to face Zinaida. The two women were near complete opposites of each other. Zinaida had a calm but somewhat frustrated demeanor and wore mostly dark, form fitting clothes, while Carla's shirt clearly belonged to someone much larger than her--there was no telling what she was wearing beneath that though. The only thing Zinaida saw beneath it was a pair of gym shoes. "You said when I've got the bridge I can listen to whatever I want, though."

"I need you on the comms with Luna at all times," Zinaida said, "You can have your music back after we finish bolting the Rusalka to the keel of this thing ... and after I get the hell out of here," she glanced away, irritably. She and Carla had wildly different taste in music, as well as in preferred sound levels.

"Sure ... oh, by the way, you never told me WHY we're having the Rusalka ride along instead of flying itself. That's not going to save us any money. We're still hauling the same mass."

"Because the Rusalka is the most recognizable ship of her type in Libra," Zinaida scowled, "A radar return at most angles won't give away the ship's profile if we attach it to the Enceladus this way, but if it's flying alongside and Libra or anyone in the CEN with an IQ above room temperature spots it ... well we've got the Rusalka, and three fighters. I want to get to Callisto alive, preferably."

"You really think Dante's there? I'd be on vacation if I was him."

"He's probably heading that way. Besides, it's our only lead on the data archive we stole from the CEN," Zinaida reasoned, "Either way we can't keep searching the Earth sphere anymore. If Shun tracks us down again she's going to kill us and take the archive for herself. We're leaving so we might as well head to Jupiter. If something else comes up we can make a detour or-"

The comms suddenly blared to life. "Rusalka here. We're thirty meters from the target and closing." Luna was piloting the Rusalka and it sounded like she was on her final approach.

Carla leaped right back onto the helm took on an almost professional demeanor. "This is Enceladus. Acknowledged. We've got you on all sensors. Just keep your current course and we'll match you. No need to overcompensate. Are the drones ready to secure the ship?"

"Just about ..."

Zinaida grinned. She really didn't want some eighteen year old rich kid like Carla piloting any of their ships, much less one as important as the Rusalka, but she had a knack for it, and despite her quirkiness, she was a better helmsman than Zinaida herself and almost as good as Dante. Gerald didn't like his daughter being caught up in all of this, but she wasn't sure anyone still cared what he thought. The poor businessman was becoming something of a joke within their little circle.

"Ten meters," Luna reported.

Zinaida could swear she could hear those two rappers steadily creeping back into the audible spectrum.

"Steady as she goes," Carla said, rocking back and forth to a beat that kept getting louder and louder ...

"Carla."

All Too Easy

Spoiler

Shun looked over a report from the display on her seat. All around her were guards and crewmen of the Azure faction of space pirates. "Callisto? Why there? What's out there anyway?"

Several of the crew pulled out out various portable devices to answer that very question and Shun's display was being bombarded by notifications within seconds. She only bothered with the first few of them, but she was admittedly intrigued. "Terraforming ... and little CEN oversight?" The crew exchanged looks as they watched the Azure Princess's gears slowly turn. A wicked grin soon found its way onto her face. "I still want to find that data the dog took from us, but even if we don't find him there, I think we can make this a profitable trip~"

One of her guards quietly leaned closer and asked, "Profitable in what way, Captain? Are you suggesting we raid one of the colonies?"

Shun looked at him as if it were obvious. "Of course~ We can assess the situation when we get there, but Libra's gaining strength again, and as long as we limit ourselves to one or two raids before we leave, the CEN won't be able to catch us."

The guard knew he was straying close to a line that might see him punished, but like all of the guards chosen by the late Jin Huang Liao to protect his daughter, her safety was his top priority. "We don't know the Jovian Sphere particularly well, Captain. There may be threats beyond just the CEN to contend with that far from Earth. Your father steered clear of any territories beyond the belt for a reason."

Shun cocked an eyebrow at him. "Are you saying we shouldn't go at all or that you'd feel better about it if we did our homework first?"

The guard hesitated, expecting a more ... animated response than that. "It's not my place to stand between you and your ambitions, Captain. I only advise caution as we approach the planet and its moons. Libra is gaining strength, this is true, but we could lose it all very easily at this stage."

One poorly chosen target had started Libra's ridiculously quick death spiral, Shun quietly acknowledged. She wouldn't make the same mistake. "... point taken. Tell our people in Horizon to halve their reporting windows and bring us as much fresh data on the big players near Callisto as possible." Shun hated how difficult it was to move data around in this day and age, but her father had left her a far larger empire than anyone outside of the Azure faction ever realized. Even that fool Gerald Van Rossem didn't realize that every tenth person in his company was a mole (wittingly or otherwise). Shun knew where Dante and the Sirens were heading, the names of the ships they were using, and she even knew exactly how much of Horizon's money they were flushing down the refresher trying to stay hidden from Libra. It was too funny, and all too easy.

May 20

Wander

Callisto wasn't anything like Earth, but Dante never felt he'd directly set foot on either of them. Having spent most of his life aboard one starship or another, he was a spacer through and through. Unfortunately, that left him feeling incredibly out of place when he arrived. At least back on Earth, his ally and most trusted financial victim, Gerald, left him an aid. Once he was out of the hospital, he was shown around and got familiar with his new surroundings quickly. He even got to fool around with a fake identity. Way out here, with majestic Jupiter looming large, there wasn't much to do but wander around listening for information relating to his mission. At least he had his cover story straight until things started heating up again.

Dante's mission wasn't any easier than acclimating to the Jovian moon. Before his old life went up in flames, Dante's people had picked up a rather interesting, and hilariously well encrypted data archive from a CEN transport. Without Rosenfeld Dynamic's support, it would take them forever to decrypt the thing, but right now, he had bigger problems than satisfying his curiosity. The CEN probably still wanted to reclaim that data, and they probably wanted to deal with whoever stole it just as much. The transport that had been carrying it originally was making its way out to Jupiter for whatever reason. No one in Dante's crew thought much of it at the time, but with the CEN's latest warship now planet side, Dante felt he'd made the right choice coming here first. In order to make this whole trip worthwhile, he needed to learn everything he could: Where that transport was heading, exactly where it was going to drop off its special cargo, and what the CEN knew about that cargo's disappearance. It probably wouldn't hurt to also find an unnetworked CEN computer, something portable Dante could send back to the Rusalka to deal with that decryption problem.

They needed a lot more than that if they were going to protect themselves from Libra. Even though he had been lying low, Dante still managed to keep himself up to date on Libra's activities as he made his way farther and farther from Earth. Azure's little princess had been making big moves to unite the tattered remains of the organization under her banner and was doing surprisingly well for herself. Dante almost didn't mind the new leadership, but there were two problems that turned him off of ever supporting Libra again. The first, Shui Huang Liao, or just Shun for short, had a higher body count than most warships, and she was still a minor. The girl was positively crazy, and that was coming from the former 'MadDog of Libra.' The other problem was that Dante himself was at least partially responsible for her father's death, and if Luna's reaction to that sort of thing was anything to go by, Dante shouldn't approach her without a plan. Getting shot the first time was kind of funny, but now he had work to do.

Speaking of work, and the CEN, Dante noticed someone unusual as he continued on his way. At first he wasn't sure if he recognized them, but as he got closer, he was sure he knew who she was. The fact she was dressed somewhat like a CEN official was something of an afterthought. After all, about the only thing that could get Dante in front of a television was a good fight, and the woman standing in front of him was the Mixed Martial Arts World Champion herself.

A brief detour from wandering around aimlessly wouldn't hurt, and Dante reasoned that it probably wasn't nothing that she was wearing CEN colors. He'd ask her about that if he didn't get distracted by other things. ... and then suddenly a nearby wall, which was just minding its own business, also found out who she was. Everyone got frustrated sometimes. Maybe he could help.

"I thought I recognized you," Dante said, waving casually as he approached, "Kazue Fujiwaru, right?" It really was something; what was she doing out here on this moon?

November 12, 2020

"Tch," Firmia wasn't buying into Trel'Vaar's unique spin on events. "They wouldn't need defending in the first place if people like you weren't always starting wars." While her hatred of Sacarians in general was beginning to waver slightly, the Alkaev wasn't about to show one ounce of mercy to the architect of this war, and by extension, so much of their suffering. She didn't have an actual plan for addressing the knights and their king just yet, but maybe once they had a better idea of what they were capable of.

Avalon moves to 17,24!
Regalia moves to 18,25!
Anarchy moves to 16,29!

October 23, 2020

Avalon moves to 20,21! (To the past's future!)

Regalia moves to 19,26!

Anarchy moves to 20,27!

October 13, 2020

Once the Regalia launched, Brant took in the surroundings. Snow, rocks, frozen trees and still more snow. The one thing he hadn't checked before the mission started was the mission area. Fortunately the weather was clear and the area wasn't quite frigid enough to affect MS performance, not even high speed transformations. Of course, decent weather for them was also decent weather for the enemy, so they still had that to contend with. Brant was also still concerned with Firmia and Rex working together. They had bother agreed for the sake of survival, but was Rex really going to take orders if it came down to it?

"Lancelot, it's Merlin," Brant contacted his brother when he noticed the Anarchy moving into position a little ahead and a few dozen meters above the Regalia, "Are you going to be able to keep up with us?" He tried to phrase the real question a bit differently, but realized he might have veiled it a little too much. "Vivian's going to have us pulling all kinds of maneuvers. That's what I meant."

"Yeah, I figured," Rex said, "Again, I'll take any good suggestions under advisement."

"I guess that'll have to do," Brant conceded.

With that, it was time to activate the T-link and muscle through the Sacarian malice already washing over them.

Regalia deploys at 19,19! (Plane Mode)

Anarchy deploys at 20,20! (Airborne)

EndWar Parts One (R.R.) & Two

Traditional methods of warfare seemed to have gone out the window when it came to fighting the Sacarians. The looming threat of another attack on Statlas Facility had Gabriel and others floating the idea of launching smaller raids on known enemy positions in the hopes of keeping them on the defensive while the main attack force was prepared. The strategy didn't even make it past the conceptual phase, as issues with both high speed attacks and warping technology all but eliminated the potential benefits, and threatened to prematurely kick off the final battle. The anxiety ran high for the first few days, but in the end they had little choice but to focus on their own preparations, and trust that Shia'Naar wouldn't take any further interest in them until it was too late.

Even with Shia'Naar ignoring them for the most part, the situation wasn't completely going in their favor. Within the first two days of their preparations, the situation at Kalten Facility went nuclear. Despite Ziva's efforts to covertly stall the inevitable until after the battle with the Sacarian Knight, elements in Rosa's faction finally broke the unstable peace with the Dima loyalists. It happened as Provisional Government forces descended on the facility to acquire weapons and personnel for the war effort. A bloody battle ensued, with Rosa's faction sabotaging Kalten's defense network, hijacking several transport planes, and destroying every AMS unit that wasn't already in their possession at the start of the battle, both those with and without pilots. With Magnolia Curtis, Clara Kozel, and other veteran Alkaev pilots backing her up, Rosa was able to hold off both Dima's pilots and the Provisional Government Forces while the transport planes escaped. Unfortunately, before Gabriel could even think to intervene, history repeated itself, and just like at Voronin Facility, the main reactors were sabotaged. While most of the Dima loyalists were wiped out with Kalten, the man himself was whisked to safety in the chaos.

It was a real mess.

Embittered by her own losses, and not willing to lose anyone else in the fighting, Rosa declined Gabriel's offer to remain at Statlas. Instead, the group's stay was incredibly brief, and only data and fuel were exchanged before they took off again, heading south, away from the worst of the fighting. With his own battle preparations to deal with, all Gabriel could do was wish her and her people the best, and focus back on the liberation and unification of Russia.

For Statlas, the top priorities were getting the Vaska up to snuff and finishing the three new Praxis models, the Delta, Rho, and Sigma. There wasn't a soul on the base that wasn't bogged down in busywork or training during early preparations. While Captain Petya retrained his remaining crew to utilize newer and more relevant anti-MS tactics in battle, Nemesis Squadron and the other pilots attached to the Vaska trained in simulated battles, nearly all day, every single day. Veteran pilots from the Vaska were also able to acquire the new Dominion Alkaev Mobile Suits, and they trained to use them in the simulators as well as conducting live exercises over Statlas. Eva continued her training, both in piloting the Gilded Throne and in the use of TK weaponry. Her progress wasn't as startling as the career pilots involved in the operation, but within a few days, in addition to steady gains made in her piloting skills, she also attained some much needed tactical thinking. Gabriel also had to familiarize himself with the Archangel's numerous battlefield sleights, which had him spending much of his spare time in simulated environments as well.

With some reservations, not just from Lo but also from Gabriel, the final attack on the Sacarian Knight Shia'Naar would include the transport plane, Gambit. Having a heavy transport tagging along eliminated the need for the Vaska to ferry any more machines to the battle than necessary, acting as one of two jumping off points and allowing for a more effective two pronged strategy. The plane couldn't be left as it was, however. The Vaska crew decided to donate one of its spare railcannons to Gabriel's people, who, with the help of the Statlas and Vaska's engineers, attached it to a large gimbal on rails inside the Gambit's cargo area. Now, when the starboard side doors opened, the cannon could be deployed from the plane and fired, either by remote control, or by an accompanying mobile suit. For the upcoming attack, Ziva would be manning the gun from the Volkov Werewolf.

News from around the world was that the war in the American continents was ending, but the Federation's victory did nothing noteworthy to change the situation in Eastern Europe. They still had to defeat the knight holding down the region and retake the country. Equally important, they had to make certain that Gabriel was the one to deal the final blow. Politics was the last thing anyone wanted to involve themselves with in this war, but unifying the country under a relative outsider was going to be an uphill battle at best. They needed every advantage they could get, and good optics were crucial in gaining support.

The Vaska's upgrades were completed in time, though much of those upgrades involved integrating the new mobile suits, improving communications, and introducing enough automation to get by with roughly half of the original crew. The ship's weapons were also tuned up where possible, and the bridge was significantly reinforced and up armored for the operation. Overall, the improvements to the comm systems were likely the most important. Captain Petya needed to be able to quickly adapt to changing conditions in the fighting, and being able to maneuver not just his ship, but also his MS teams effectively was the only way to meet that need. The new system had a much faster datalink for the ship's units, which would allow the Vaska to help them obtain firing solutions in battle, as well as vice versa. The 'shared' processing power would go a long way toward making them strong enough to push back against the Sacarians, and later on, whatever forces the Provisional Government could muster against them.

Once the three new Praxis models were completed, many minds were put at ease. Now they were certain an early attack wouldn't be as crippling as the previous engagement with five Sacarians in five powerful mobile suits defending the base. Preparations for the battle were far less tense from that point onward. The good news seemed to keep coming in after that, as Vasile was able to successfully reproduce the Regulus Drives, as well as several propulsion systems based on the technology. Although the Alkaev variants of the original drives were of lesser quality, they exceeded Ziva's optimistic 'half as good' low balling remark. They managed somewhere in the 60% range for power and throughput compared to the originals. These new drives were slated for use on the Dominions, but weren't backward compatible with any of the other units; they needed Sacarian engineers to figure that part out ... but Vasile's people were still able to augment the thruster systems of existing AMS units to keep them relevant. The machines of Nemesis Squadron, the Gilded Throne, the remaining AMS units of the Vaska, and the MK.II drone fliers all benefited from the upgrades Vasile's team derived from those drives. For the sake of the pilots that wouldn't be on the front lines, their suits' limiters kept expected performance to pre-upgrade levels. All front-line pilots had to get used to the improved speed and maneuverability, particularly in MS mode. It was right back into the simulators with the predicted stats as soon as word reached them.

Haal'Sen's time spent in waiting was a mix of both anxious and infuriating. Gabriel had not gotten back to her with an answer... It was to be expected, he was going to lead the country, defeat the Sacarians, and usher in a new order of leadership. He couldn't be seen parading about with a 'cat' on one arm. It wasn't just her troubles with Gabriel that had her anxious, but the impending idea of combat with Shia'Naar. He was such an imposing foe, even with their new machines, their numbers and their technological advancements... Did they really stand a chance? Gabriel and Ziva had both assured her that they would win, and even Raay'Xel had scoffed at her claims of defeat, but...

She just couldn't shake it. It had kept her up at night for a while, though dulled enough now, to allow sleep. She found herself taking her stresses out on the ground forces in combat training exercises, especially with Eva. The girl didn't know the meaning of the word lose. Even if Haal'Sen had put her down to the point of passing out once, she was back the next day, ready for more punishment and training.

Simulations aided her as well, making sure she didn't do anything stupid. It all just left her a rather irate mess, as the date continues to approach...

Eleven days after the crews of the Heion Riese and the Avalon faced off against the Sacarian King, Gabriel's Strike Force assembled at Statlas, preparing for the final assault. The two pronged attack would consist of Apollo Company and Artemis Company. The Vaska, her MS teams, Nemesis Squadron, Raay'Xel in her Praxis Zeta, Viil'Hayn in his Praxis Delta, and Eva in the Gilded Throne comprised Apollo Company. The Gambit, Gabriel in the Archangel, Haal'Sen in her Praxis Psi, Diiar'Xen in his Praxis Rho, Sool'Vay in her Praxis Sigma, Jack in the Jack II, Ziva in the Volkov Werewolf, and forty-some drone fliers comprised Artemis Company. Initially, Apollo Company would attack Shia'Naar's base from over the horizon, laying down as much fire as they could to cover the approach of the Zeta, Nemesis Squadron, and the front line AMS units. Precision long range fire would only begin once both sides had fully committed to the fight. With Apollo drawing as much attention as possible, Artemis Company would flank with railgun and artillery fire. Finally, once both companies had converged on the base, Gabriel and the Sacarians would focus entirely on Shia'Naar. That was the plan, at least ....

This was the day. The day they would either remove Shia'Naar and put Gabriel's name on the map, or die trying. And Raay'Xel, at least, had no intention of dying. It admittedly left a sour taste in her mouth to be positioned opposite her Liege... she would have no recourse to offer Gabriel were he to be engaged before their two companies converged... she would simply need to trust that the others would be able to provide him the necessary support.

They had no room for mistakes this time, after all. As the Vaska and her long range support began their bombardment, Raay'Xel in her Zeta took point, the transformed machine naturally pulling slightly ahead of the other units in formation. She was a frontline fighter regardless, so acting as vanguard felt natural.

"It's time," Petya nodded at the radar from his seat on the bridge of the Vaska. They were close enough to launch the remaining AMS units and begin the bombardment. He just hoped their intel was good.

"Signal received from Artemis Company," a comms officer reported.

"Of course. Begin Operation: EndWar! Blast them out!"

"Your king is dead and you're about to join him, Shia'Naar," Juliya hissed at her main monitor, "You too, Neo. Don't think we've forgotten about you, asshole."

"I think we're ready," Cyclops quipped. Nemesis Squadron had launched earlier and all flew just above the Vaska in an escort formation right alongside the Praxis Zeta and the Gilded Throne. "We've been training for two weeks now. Not to mention those thruster upgrades. There's no way he can keep up with our moves now. Right?"

"Don't get cocky," DW warned, in her oddly soft, high pitched tone.

"Right, this isn't over until he's scrapped," Juliya nodded, "And don't forget about that barrier. We need to be conservative with our melee attacks."

"Final hit's yours, Neme," Assassin said, gesturing at her, "Just like in the simulation."

Juliya couldn't help but smile. It was wonderful having squadmates she could trust, especially in a war as cruel as this one.

"Do not get too cocky, human. Shia'Naar is someone to be feared and taken seriously, not someone to toss idle threats at. You would do well to be careful, and rein in your anger." Viil'Hayn sighed as the pilots of the Vaska began to prepare themselves. He would be flying about, or standing atop the battleship, shooting from as far away as possible... Getting near that Knight was a deathwish, one he would have little to no part in.

"At least you've steeled yourself, I suppose..." He sighed into his communication with Juliya, wondering just exactly where he'd went wrong. Gabriel was worth following... But for this? Perhaps there was something wrong with their way of thinking, after all...

"Haha... Viil'Hayn is correct in that overconfidence could prove your downfall here... however, the opposite is also true. Shia'Naar will feel as though he cannot lose on this day... that is the weakness we must exploit to remove him. With our upgraded praxis models, we will prove superior to the pawns in his guard. We strip him of support and then overwhelm him."

...

"They got the signal," Lo reported from the bridge of the Gambit, "Attack's starting. We'll have to restrict communications a bit until we're in range to start shooting, ourselves. Otherwise, the jig's up."

"If the Gambit's detected early, it won't have much to do with us," Gabriel reasoned. Haal'Sen was able to find the Vaska easily when she searched, so the Gambit wouldn't be difficult to pick out a bit early if they thought to run some scans of their own. The first phase of the attack would still succeed as long as Apollo kept the enemy in the same area in and around the base. "It will come down to whether they think to run any long range scans while the more obvious threat is lobbing several months of pent up frustration at them."

"Hey, lemme see that!"

"H-wait, jackass!"

"Heeey, you're Gabriel, right? Future king of Russia? I'm Adam! I'm with RN! Pleasure to meet you!"

"Sorry, boss," Lo sighed, "Not even sure who let this punk in here. Could have sworn we were locked down up here."

Gabriel grinned inside the Archangel's cockpit. That must have been one of the wartime reporters they had brought in to help spread the word after Shia'Naar's death. "Likewise, Adam. The battle's already started, so I need you to get your people ready. Save the interviews for after the battle."

"I hear ya, Your Highness. Looking forward to that interview~"

"Alright, now scram!" Lo chased the man off the comms.

"My liege," Diiar'Xen spoke up, his Praxis Rho kneeling directly in front of the Archangel in the cargo area, and facing out the open forward hatch of the Gambit. Since the hatch was open, much of the inside of the plane was exposed, and so it did make sense to keep the Rho at the front at the very least. "Are we going to have to participate in these 'interviews' as well?"

Gabriel shrugged at first. "Only if you want to, but until the country has a better grasp on Sacarians in general, it's probably best if you don't."

"Excellent."

"Gabriel," Haal'Sen chimed in, heart racing, and not for him. "Should you need me to aid in this interview, or stop whoever is trying to force you to speak... You need only ask." She was starting to fall back into odd habits, now that they were so close. She'd even followed Diiar'Xen in kneeling in front of the Archangel, but it would end today. Either she would die, and these feelings had been pointless... Or they would win, and she would survive, and be free of her fear of the knights.

Either way... It will be soon.

"Tch, my anger is why I'm here," Juliya huffed. She knew Sacarian knights were no joke; Gabriel's loyal followers had been making a big deal out of him since the big group merger. Still, getting timid and fighting without every intention and expectation of victory wasn't going to help anyone, or avenge the people she'd lost. "Just keep him busy so we can win this ... and if you see the Gachirin anywhere, mark it for us. We're taking him down today no matter what."

"What if he's not here?" Seraph asked over the comms, "A thought just hit me. This is a surprise attack we're launching. What if he's off on his own mission? We couldn't scout the area ahead of time, so it's a possibility."

"He's here. I can feel it in my gut. And if he's not, he'll come back when they call for him. When you see him, kill him."

"Mrgh, Zeta, you're getting ahead of us, now," DW noted, her tone getting lower and somber. Granted, the Zeta needed more maneuvering room than a formation attack would allow for, but until they were close enough, DW definitely preferred the tightly grouped attack force. Growing up on aerobatic team airshows would do that to a person.

"Go on, Ray," Cyclops spoke over DW, "Do your thing. We'll pick up the slack."

"The Zeta should be ahead, just-- !! Juliya, to arms, now!" Viil'Hayn rocketed himself out of the Vaska without another word, boosters rushing for him to take position on top of the ship. Laying his machine down, he began to scope out the enemy units, until he noticed what he was worried about. "No... They finished it. Dammit!" He was too slow, as a bright red laser slammed into the Vaska, burning plate and wire beneath it alike. "Captain!"

... meanwhile back on the Gambit ...

"Hahah, I'm sure I can handle a little aggressive journalism, Haal'Sen." Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle at the imagery her offer brought to mind.

"The media might surprise you, Boss," Wade joined the channel from the hangar, "They can turn a cat into a Sacarian if you know what I mean."

"Heh ... I'll keep that in mind, then. Your offer, too."

Lo let out a long whistle as he watched the horizon from behind the controls of the transport plane. "It's faint but I can see the fireworks from here."

"That means they'll pick us up on conventional radar, soon," Ziva noted, "We're coming over the horizon."

"Mm, yeah, I should lower us a bit. Just a bit. Be ready to let loose with that railgun. Just warn me. We've got to work together to compensate for the recoil and keep the Gambit on course."

"Right."

September 27, 2020

Was this new fangled Jessica being serious? Firmia wasn't sure she wanted to know. What she did know was that these battles rarely topped twelve minutes, and that meant their reinforcements were officially out of the equation. Maybe they could catch up in time, but the Alkaev wouldn't count on it. They'd had a similar problem with the Athena and it was clear that they would have to just deal with this themselves.

On the plus side, if they lost, there was at least help on the way. Unfortunately, ten to twenty minutes was a long time in a battle, especially having to deal with a manic high school girl piloting Jessica's body, Rex existing within ten kilometers of the Avalon, the Deliverance crowd, and a homicidal, extremely powerful Sacarian with strong allies challenging them. "Acknowledged," Firmia said warily, not wanting to get any more distracted than she already was.

"Will the battle last that long?" Tonya asked, having overheard the transmission.

"No," Firmia shook her head at her helmsman, "not unless we royally screw this up."

To be fair, Brant mused, they had already--and quite thoroughly--mangled the Arthurian legends as far as name assignments went. At some point Hannah and Chris should be at each other's throats over something crown related, but thankfully that wasn't going to happen. Though, wasn't Lancelot raised by the Lady of the Lake? Wasn't Vivian one of her names, the same one Firmia had taken? He definitely picked the name at random. The odd assignments would only get sillier the longer he thought about them, so Brant put the amusing thoughts and his resulting smile away and prepared to launch.

"Well at least it's just for this one mission. This is Merlin and Mordred in the Regalia. We're taking off."

September 11, 2020

Firmia had been hoping to link up with the Athena before they finally reached Apotheosis, and by extension, the Sacarian's main base in North America, but the ship had come a long way and wasn't exactly moving through friendly territory. More over, there was a small tactical opportunity offered by them showing up a bit late to the party. With the Armadura and Merrygate providing fire support, the Athena's eventual arrival would make for a good pincer maneuver. All in all it was a good way to close the net on the enemy and close the book on this violent chapter of their lives. Firmia just hoped that the timing would work out in their favor. They still had another operation running right alongside this one, and the conditions on the ground when all was said and done were going to have an enormous impact on it.

Firmia checked the MS readouts on her console when pilots started reporting in. She was aware that the Riese was already beginning launches, but she wasn't a fan of playing her hand this early. On the other hand, the sooner Rex was off the ship, the better she'd feel. He seemed to feel the same way, since he'd moved the Anarchy into one of the sublaunch bays rather than waiting in line behind the catapults.

"I guess there's no point in waiting if they're taking the initiative. All mobile suits are cleared to launch. Eidolon, same as last time. You're the Avalon's first line of defense while we move up." Kind of like a really big funnel, the Alkaev mused. "Everyone else, wait until we have a read on the situation before attacking."

"Lancelot in the Anarchy. Launching."

"W-what?!" Firmia was beside herself having heard that. No one in the Avalon was using that callsign, and that almost sounded like Brant. It was obvious who it really was given the name of the mobile suit he'd called out. 'Rex.' What kind of game was he playing at, anyway? "... tch, Lancelot ..."

Tonya sighed. "I kind of wish we could just convince him to stay with us. Aside from the whole trying to kill you thing, he's not so bad."

"Focus on the mission!"

Brant had briefly considered launching the Regalia from the sub launch bay opposite the one Rex was using, but unlike his older brother, he wasn't in a rush to get into the battle. It was a scramble, but not a mad scramble. They still had a smidgen of momentum left. He waited for the launch lift to come back down for them while the Reign launched up above.

After a moment, Firmia gave the go ahead to launch. The elevator was already coming back down for them when Brant overheard Rex's takeoff confirmation and had a brief chuckle over it. "So that's the one he picked, huh? That's funny." He didn't know how fitting it may or may not have been but there was one thing he was certain of, and that was Firmia's irritation. It wasn't so much him picking a callsign she wouldn't like, but that he'd even try. Best not to activate the T-Link just yet, as he could already feel the anger building overhead from the bridge, and he'd appreciate a lighter dose of that.

"Are we ready, T-Link aside?" Brant glanced back at his copilot, having left some of the setup work for her while he fiddled with the hyper beam rifle in particular. A small part of Brant regretted having to bring his pregnant fiancee into yet another battle, but at least she wasn't that far along yet. Furthermore, this ought to be the last battle for quite some time. Firmia was going to find all sorts of problems that required mobile suit levels of violence to solve, but without a war going on, she wasn't going to be able to manage it nearly this often. There was a much needed vacation from this madness already lined up for them. They just had to get through this one last fight.

"I'm ready to be done with these insane murderers once and for all."

"Everyone else, wait until we have a read on the situation before attacking," Firmia instructed her pilots over the comms. Rex wasn't following Firmia's orders. He was just hitching a ride to the final fight ... but he'd still take any sound ideas under advisement, even if the Alkaev twerp was the one that came up with them. This particular battle was a little too important to be petty. That was why Rex wasn't only playing nice, but even donning the SKIN suit Firmia had left him.

Finally, the sub launch bay door was beginning to open up. There were no catapults since the sub launch bays were meant for underwater use, meaning Rex would have to take the Anarchy out of the ship under its own power. Thankfully, the suit was quite nimble with its flight pack installed.

Time to head out. "Lancelot in the Anarchy. Launching."

While not caring much for Arthurian legends, Rex figured out all too quickly that some of the names associated with them had been taken up as callsigns by the Avalon's pilots, Merlin and Mordred for Brant and Chris, Arthur for Hannah, and Vivian for Firmia. They weren't all using them, but Rex figured he'd have some fun with it before they parted ways. Of course, he would have to return to the ship one more time to pick up his son. He wasn't sure what else would happen between now and then, but as long as he kept himself alive, and Firmia did the same for Vasiliy, things ought to work out. They would be on their way to bigger and better things soon enough.

August 21, 2020

Rex started off back toward the hangar, only glancing to make sure Vasiliy was following him. "See you later," he waved back to the others.

"Later," Brant returned a smaller, listless wave. For an in person reunion, that had been quite underwhelming. He imagined seeing his parents face to face again would be a similar experience, especially after having already spoken to them or video. Ready to head back to their room, Brant said, "You can still make the waffles. He may be fine with military rations but I'm not. Hell, I'll chip in if you want."

"They're waffles not a wedding cake," Tonya sighed, seemingly still on edge over Rex's investigation ... among other things. "Why's that blue hound so certain, anyway?" she began murmuring to herself, "I should introduce him to Louise. I'm sure that recruitment recap would shut him up."

It wasn't a long walk back to the hangar, but Rex didn't plan on waiting until they arrived to try to find some common ground with his son. The ride over had been quiet enough for the most part, and Rex was acutely aware that he still had to actually sell Vasiliy on the idea of leaving to who knows where with his old man. As far as he knew, Rex was the only one that truly believed that. Everyone else seemed focused on recruiting him to Team Avalon or simply making sure he had the final say with his own child. There was no reason to expect them to have strong opinions one way or the other when even he didn't know where they were going. Maybe Europe, but if travel there wasn't too heavily restricted post-war.

"I hate to ask, but how do you like it here?"

"Everyone's nice," Vasiliy said, not sure what to say about the ship itself. "Things were more strict at the estate where we grew up."

Rex cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? How strict?"

"Karla wanted us to focus on our studies, and the servants were always keeping an eye on us. We couldn't leave and we couldn't go to most places on the internet."

Studies? Rex suddenly felt really uncomfortable, the realization of something troublesome catching him completely off guard. "Studies ..." He and Brant had also been put through some rather focused education while coming up at Voronin, but the place hadn't gone up in flames until long after they finished. Vasiliy was only twelve years old, so he had a ways to go. He was probably only at the middle-school level. Unfortunately, until they were well established somewhere, the best Rex could really offer were some online courses courtesy of the Anarchy's computer. That was far from ideal.

"Yeah," Vasiliy nodded, "I was going to be starting tenth grade next year, but then Casey and Zeus caused a huge fire and Firmia and Hannah brought us back here. I don't know if the building is still there."

"Sounds about right. So you're what ... two years ahead? Almost in high-school? That old harpy had you kids skipping grades? If they were just hiding you there, I don't see the point." Of course, if there was a bigger purpose behind their accelerated learning, it was probably too late to find out what it was; Karla was long dead.

Vasiliy frowned and looked away. "Not skipping," he corrected his father, "we started early and we study longer and harder. There wasn't much else to do in that place."

Rex was about to shift focus back to Vasiliy himself, wanting to compliment his son on his advanced progress, but he noticed a figure coming from the direction of the hangar. He sensed her first, so even before getting a good look, Rex could tell it was Firmia coming their way. She seemed to be actively avoiding eye contact.

"Hi, Firmia," Vasiliy waved at her. He was genuinely surprised to see her briefly wave back considering how annoyed she looked. What was that briefcase she was carrying with her? He wanted to ask her about it, but that would mean striking up a conversation, one it looked like neither she nor Rex wanted to have.

The three were just about to pass each other when Firmia, glaring at the ground, stopped and stepped sidestepped in front of Rex and Vasiliy. "What is it?" Rex said, resigned to whatever spite was coming his way, "We're not heading out yet. I'm just talking with my son for a bit."

"I was going to wait," Firmia mumbled to herself, "but it just wouldn't make sense, now." She held up the briefcase and offered it to Rex. "Take this."

"What's in it?"

"That's what I was wondering," Vasiliy said.

"It's for Vasiliy, but it's also your responsibility," Firmia gave the most cryptic answer she could come up with, then urged the case toward Rex, "Take it."

"That did not answer my question," Rex said, a little amused. Before he knew it, Firmia had shoved the briefcase into his arms and chest and brushed past him. That prompted another sigh from Rex. Well, at least it hadn't been a whole lot of spite.

"Are you okay?" Vasiliy asked, watching Firmia head in the direction they'd come from. "She pushed you pretty hard."

"I'm fine," Rex said, inspecting the case from the outside. "What is this, your course work?" That was the only thing that came to mind. He knelt down to open the case and sate both of their curiosity. What they found inside wasn't anything directly related to Vasiliy, but Rex got the idea behind it. The briefcase was holding little more than a SKIN suit designed for a male of about his height. It might have been a spare belonging to Brant, but Rex couldn't be sure. The message was clear, though. It was silly that Firmia wouldn't just come out and say it, but Rex decided he was grateful, both for the free gear and for not having to actually have a lengthy exchange with her.

"Responsibility, huh? Whatever. Alright, let's get a move on," Rex said, shutting up the briefcase and standing back up.

August 14, 2020

Megumi almost chuckled when Monty spoke to Bennet. She supposed she couldn't expect him to know exactly who did and didn't originally belong to the bridge staff. Speaking of which, not everyone who survived was still in the infirmary to be counted among the living. Tristan left to do something and some were doing more harm than good being so panicked and had been quietly ushered out a bit earlier. Not naming any names. The doctor made a mental note to double check the list once Monty got that to her, to fill in any people he'd inevitably miss.

Next for Firmia should have been handing off the briefcase she was carrying to Rex, but beside it feeling too soon to talk to him again, it was more of a going away gesture. Hopefully he would be going away as soon as she gave it to him. Deciding to keep the briefcase with her for now, the Alkaev pondered going to the cafeteria for a much needed drink. A small part of her wanted to make a brief trip over to the Heion Riese instead, to see the situation for herself, but with Rex loitering over here that was next to impossible for Firmia to seriously consider.

It was off to the cafeteria then.

"Thanks, but I knew it was going to be a long day and filled up on rations on the way here," Rex explained. "Besides, some of you aren't exactly dressed for lunch," he noted, eyeing Brant and Chris in particular.

A fair point, Brant bitterly mused. They should probably shower first and then try to encourage Rex to hang out during what little downtime was left. "Yeah, we'll deal with that but you can at least talk with us for a bit," Brant said, not expecting a whole lot of good to come of it, but feeling it was at least something normal he and his brother could do for once in their lives. The 'Alkaev' situation seemed to put a minimum distance between Rex and 'Firmia's people.' Even him.

Rex sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm gonna have a chat with Vasiliy first, though. We'll meet you there later."

"Don't forget!" Tonya grabbed Rex's attention by raising her voice. He found a finger pointing straight at him when he glanced back at her. "Ilya's alive. Believe it."

"For once I'll trust my own eyes over your gut feelings," Rex shook his head, some unsettling memories coming to mind. It'd be different if they hadn't recovered the man's body, but ... they recovered the man's body. Even if he'd been secretly revived with some far flung space wizardry, he wouldn't be in any condition to settle down with Tonya, much less breathe unassisted.

August 7, 2020

Aside from the video recording, Firmia hadn't found anything particularly noteworthy in the Anarchy's systems. With that, she made a few calls to the Avalon's mechanics. There were some improvements to be made, but very little of it she could manage alone. For now it was time to disembark and wait for the crew to bring what she asked. "Well, I'm done here for now, so it's time to find something else to do," she muttered, glancing down at the blue Haro, now safely back in its bowl terminal, "and less annoying company."

"Alkaev is bad company! Alkaev is bad company!"

"... please die in the next battle somehow," Firmia scowled, climbing out of the cockpit and grabbing onto the lift.

"Hey, he said we can talk about it," Tonya noted bitterly. As far as she could tell, there were only two options, Rex and Vasiliy both staying or both leaving ...

"I'll think about it," Rex gave Chris a noncommittal answer. "I've got a lot of other things on my mind right now." While he planned to head back to the Athena at least once before finally blasting off over the horizon, he didn't have the order of events or the timing all worked out yet. In theory, he ought to be just fine loitering on the Avalon for a while, deploying from the same for the final bout, and then settling matters on the Athena before leaving. That would be the fewest number of trips ... but possibly the most stressful route to fatherhood and freedom.

"And yeah, we can sort that out first since things are tense enough already," Rex continued, "I've got a question for you specifically, Tonya. I don't really mind you having Vasiliy as a student if he doesn't, so why don't you come with us? I know Firmia has Brant anchored on the spot, but there's not much keeping you here. You get your student and no one has to worry about whether Vasiliy's safe."

Brant winced, not because of what Rex had said about him, but rather his recent conversation with Tonya. While it was vaguely true that she had no strong ties to the Avalon itself, the situation was more complicated than his brother knew.

"I-" Tonya froze, suddenly realizing precisely why she had such a bad feeling when Rex arrived. The realization left her dumbstruck and embarrassed, staring at nothing.

Rex waited a few seconds, not quite sure what had stopped her from answering, though he figured it was some attachment to the group rather than a serious obligation.

What was really going on was that Tonya's instincts were warning her about Rex the same as they had with Brant. She'd been fighting herself in order to put Brant and Chris' relationship to the test; going with Rex put her own relationship with Ilya at even greater risk than before because she wasn't being pushed away by another woman or held back by anything other than a feeling. It was the same instinct that kept her from getting too familiar with Monty or Carlos and the same one that screamed at her constantly to stay faithful to her fiance--her fiance whom most reasonably believed was dead. How to explain this?

Rex came to his own conclusion after the few seconds he'd given Tonya to come back with an answer and decided to take a shot at it. "New boyfriend?"

"Old," Brant murmured, trying not to actually join the exchange but wanting to at least chime in.

That one word caused everything to fall into place for Rex. "What? Ilya's dead," the older Abrams noted with a hint of frustration. Tonya was about to argue, but he was having none of it. "And before you say something like 'I know he's alive! I can feel it,' remember I compiled as much information about the Alkaevs as I could before this war started. I was thorough researching the murders because of how important they were. Dima had Ilya killed."

"Uh huh, just like he had Vasiliy, Lily and Aki all killed," Tonya fired back, pointing to one of the miracle children standing beside Rex.

While that was a devastating riposte, Rex probably had enough hard evidence on hand if she wanted to keep making excuses. He'd already lost May over this Alkaev situation. Being shot down by Tonya over a decade old charred corpse, even with her precious student on offer, would be heaps of salt in the wound.

Firmia wasn't waiting long before some of the mechanics had shown up. One of them had a briefcase. "Captain," the tech at the head of the pack greeted her, "you wanted us to update the T-Link to our version and assess the funnels, right? Can we actually get system access?" Word traveled fast onboard the Avalon and more or less everyone knew now that Firmia and Rex weren't on good enough terms for something like this.

"I did," Firmia shrugged, "I just can't update it by myself. I honestly thought they would have taken care of that on the Athena, but everything related to the T-link was ignored for some reason." She accepted the briefcase from the man carrying it and nodded to him. "I'll hand this off myself, though. Thanks. If that 'sub-computer' in there gives you any trouble, ask Galatea to help you with the system. You can also smash the little bastard to pieces. That works, too."

"Err-right ... Captain."

July 31, 2020

With Monty having just arrived, they were all set as far as the medical staff went. Megumi felt a little guilty about Monty's first 'assignment' but since she was busy logging events--as best she could--and Bennet and Tambre were busy tending to the living, that just left the casualty log. Maybe there was a more effective way to finish up here, though ...

"I'm writing up a report so the ANF has a better idea of what happened here. While they handle the minor injuries, would you check the ship roster. Bridge staff, specifically. Just give me the names. If they aren't here in the infirmary then we'll list them as KIA." The only difference between tagging bodies and this was that they had no effective way of actually reaching the dead right now. That was a grim task in and of itself, one reserved for the androids.

"After that ..." Megumi glanced over at Jessica, still curious about one or two things, "I'd like to see what's really going on with the Captain." Megumi wasn't confident she would learn anything, but that was no reason not to try. Ignatius would be a while getting her body fixed anyhow.

Firmia continued sifting through the Anarchy's files, looking for anything that could tell her anything. Rex didn't seem to keep anything locked, not that it would do him much good while his suit was inside the Avalon anyway. Of course, it made sense that Rex wasn't hiding anything, since there were almost no personal files in the system anyway. In fact, the only thing of interest the Alkaev had found so far were the location of his and Brant's parents over in Europe, along with their contact information. Firmia suspected that was his next stop after the war.

"Intruder is snooping! Intruder is snooping!"

Firmia glanced over her shoulder to see the Haro clinging to the back of the pilot seat with its long wiry arms and cartoonishly round hands. "Would you be quiet? I don't know how Rex puts up with such an obnoxious toy. Note to self, no talking worker bots."

"That's oppression! That's oppression!"

Firmia sighed and leaned back in the seat, unwilling to keep searching with the Haro still on her case. "Why don't you do something useful and tell me more about Rex?" It was the 'sub-computer' after all. Maybe it had files and information the main system didn't. "What's he been doing all of this time?"

"Rex is sad! Rex is sad," was the Haro's surprisingly quick reply.

"So far so good," Firmia almost smirked, "What's he sad about?" Before the Haro could answer, Firmia reached up and grabbed it. She'd rather have it chirping up from her lap than directly into her ear with that awfully high pitched, repetitive voice it had.

Suddenly, the Haro's red eyes flickered. The main monitor's interface changed, preparing a video call playback Firmia hadn't seen yet. The wireless interfacing potential it seemed to have was worrisome, but as long as that self destruct nonsense was indeed just nonsense ...

"Hmm?" The resolving image suddenly took all of the Alkaev's attention.

"Hey ..." A blonde woman appeared on the screen looking distressed. Firmia immediately recognized her. It was May Greenfield. The Alkaev also noticed the timestamp on the video. This call had taken place only a couple of hours ago. Curiosity piqued, Firmia watched. She also instinctively put her hand over the Haro's 'mouth' as May spoke.

"Definitely," Brant smiled at Chris. The situation wasn't ideal, but given their circumstances, it was the best they could hope for, right now. And this way, at least Rex had something he could be happy about. Life wasn't all Alkaev abuse and compulsory military service.

That was when 'the question' came. What was going to happen with Vasiliy? Tonya flinched at Lily's question, struggling with her desire to keep Vasiliy around and not ruining the wholesome scene unfolding right in front of them. There was no escaping Brant's notice with that near audible reaction. Rex also noticed, but ignored it for a moment.

"It's all up to Rex," Brant answered Lily with a faint shrug. He hoped said answer wouldn't put Tonya into Tonya mode--that woman tended to go off the deep end when she was dealing with things she actually cared about. Brant was still a tad sore from some of those love triangle beat downs.

Rex gently broke off his hug and stood back up. "... we can talk about it ... if it's really bothering you."

"It's really bothering me," Tonya said, stiff as a board, "Isn't there some way to convince you to let Vasiliy stay here? Hell, you could stay here. Just talk to Firmia and-"

Rex held up a hand hoping Tonya would stop right there. "I really need you people to stop making that pitch," he forced a smile.

"Why did you blast out of here like that?" May asked, worry and guilt plain on her face, "We were already about to rendezvous with Firmia and the ANF."

"The Anarchy's fast," Rex began, though Firmia could only see the conversation from his perspective, "I might be able to get there and reinforce them."

"You're coming back, right? This isn't about us? Right?"

"My son is on that sad excuse for a warship, not to mention my brother and nieces," Rex noted, "I'm not sitting this out. ... and yeah, I'll probably be back. I'd rather deal with the crap on the Athena than whatever's waiting for me on the Avalon."

Firmia scowled.

"Okay then ..."

"Alright, why are you so down? It was your decision, wasn't it?"

May curled up slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the reminder. "That doesn't mean I'm happy about it. B-besides, you keep saying you're leaving after this, but where are you going to go?"

Firmia nodded at the question, the same one she'd asked.

"What's wrong with staying here on the Athena? Just because we work for her doesn't mean you have to see Firmia all the time. You don't have to nope out of everything just because of that."

"I will never work for an Alkaev ever again," Rex insisted, "I will never be a soldier ever again. I haven't decided where I'm going yet, but there's time to figure it out. You don't have to worry about that."

"I really wish you would at least consider the first one," May sighed, "I mean ... I can't go back to Europe, and I've got a lot of guys I have to look after now, too. We can't afford not to take Firmia's offer. Things would be so much better with you around, too."

Debatable, Firmia mused.

"I just ... urgh, can't you two just kiss and make up, already?! This isn't fair to anyone!"

"I'd rather die." Firmia recoiled at the sound of her voice and Rex's lining up perfectly. That was a little disturbing and it sent a shiver up her spine.

"J-just ... bury the hatchet! Please! That's all I mean. That way everyone wins. You have your son, a steady paycheck ... m-me ... without the green hair. Just like you asked ...?" May began messing with one of her blonde locks as she reminded Rex of her prior and current looks. "There's no reason things have to end like this."

Firmia could hear Rex sigh into the silence. "Maybe next time, May. This isn't something I can compromise on. You need to stay, for your and your people's sake. I need to go, for the sake of my sanity and my soul. I can't keep allowing myself to wind up in these situations. Not for anything."

"I know you don't want to hear this, Rex, especially from me, but," May paused for a long moment, seemingly weighing her words carefully, "You know that as much as you hate the Alkaevs, they're part of your family too, right? Your son and your nieces? They're Alkaevs. There's no point in running away from that name or the people who have it. Doesn't what you get out of this outweigh one stupid name? Even a little? I know I'm being selfish but you're being way more unreasonable about this."

"Well, I know it should," Rex eventually admitted, "I've bent or broken a lot of my principles since I went to the EU, but this is one I just can't. I absolutely can't. I'm sorry I got your hopes up, May. I was being way too overconfident. I honestly thought I could just shoot down some enemies, grab you and my son, and leave for good. I'm still trying to think of a way to convince Brant and his girls to come along too, but so far I'm coming up short. I've got to start thinking farther ahead."

"Do you ... regret it? What we did?" May looked like only one answer wouldn't devastate her, which had Firmia tensing up, wondering what Rex had to say about the implied relationship.

"No," Rex answered simply, "I never regret a good thing, no matter how it happens or how it ends up. I'm just sorry about ... well, everything. Let's just leave it at that, alright, May? We can talk more when I get back to the Athena."

"... alright, Rex." May reached over to the monitor, preparing to turn it off. "Say hi to Vasiliy for me, and don't die."

Firmia exhaled as the video call ended. So it turned out Rex's brief relationship with May was coming to an end because of the Alkaev name of all things. Firmia had mixed feelings about it. She did feel it was a stupid thing to be so adamant about, but not only did Firmia not want Rex around if it was possible to avoid, she also knew she had similar feelings for other people and could somewhat relate. She didn't care about names in particular, but keeping a comfortable distance from Abigail was a hill Firmia was prepared to die on, even now. Considering Jessica was some sort of deceased, her position on the Riese's captain--or what was left of her--was becoming a tad malleable.

"So that's why Rex is sad, huh?" Firmia considered the situation for a moment. "He did it to himself. I almost respect that fact that he's sticking to his 'principles' on this. It's kind of refreshing, but at the end of the day, it's all on him."

"Alkaev is evil! Alkaev is evil! Ruins love! Ruins life!"

Firmia resisted the urge to chuck the Haro out through the open hatch this time. "They made their choices. It's not my fault. Besides, I don't want him here. He might try to kill me again. He's obviously not sorry about that. He's lucky he still has Vasiliy. If that's not enough for him then too bad."

July 24, 2020

A suit that amplified Trel'Vaar's abilities. That sounded like more trouble than even the four knights together had given them. Worse still, their fighting potential was down from before. No, that wasn't right. If Ayyl'Vern and the other Sacarian captives were really willing to fight with them, then even without the reinforcements from the ANF, as well as the Athena, they would be significantly stronger in the upcoming battle. Funnily enough, Ayyl'Vern had picked Firmia of all people to warn about taking an enemy lightly. As far as the Alkaev was concerned, any tactical maneuver that didn't involve suicide or some other nonsense was always on the table. Always.

"I'll keep that in mind ..." Firmia trailed off, having suddenly been reminded of her troubles with Rex. She hadn't really 'known' the people he had indirectly killed. They had simply died for the petty crime of being aboard the same transport as her. It was infuriating just thinking about it. Firmia didn't even want to reconcile the situation per se. There was nothing on the line with Rex, no friendship to restore or understanding that needed to be reached. He was simply her enemy. That made Ayyl'Vern's situation seem a lot more serious by comparison.

"I'll try to keep that in mind, too," Firmia said, starting off again. "Take your time. I'm not trying to force anything. I'm just trying to keep my people alive."

A short time after leaving Ayyl'Vern to his machine, Firmia approached Rex's mobile suit, the Anarchy. It looked just like the data she'd sifted through, only a little more interesting up close. Given Ayyl'Vern's warning about the Sacarian King, Trel'Vaar, she could easily justify taking a closer look at Rex's machine. Maybe there was some easily fixable problem that could significantly improve his chances of surviving the upcoming fight. Sure, Firmia wasn't his biggest fan, but no one on her crew would be happy to see Vasiliy's father murdered. The SKIN suit issue was bad enough. Firmia rode the Anarchy's lift up to the open hatch on the chest. What she found inside set her back a step.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" A high pitched shriek caught the Alkaev off guard and nearly made her stumble back out onto the lift. It was a beady eyed blue ball, a robot with a lifeless gaze and flickering red lights for eyes. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

Firmia blinked. "... wait, this is the sub-computer? It looks like a toy."

"Not a toy! Not a toy! Haro is Haro!"

Haro? That's not what it was called in the file.

"No response from Rex! No response from Rex! Anarchy compromised! Anarchy compromised!"

Firmia hadn't learned of any potential weapons or other nasty surprises the cockpit's systems might have in store for so called 'intruders,' so she quickly composed herself and eased into the pilot's seat, electing to ignore the protesting blue ball for now. For the moment, she didn't know what she was looking for. It wasn't necessarily a good idea to distract herself from Rex's presence on her ship by poking around in his mobile suit, but maybe ... something. Maybe she would learn more about the shady idiot this way.

"Initiating self-destruct! Initiating self-destruct!"

Firmia gawked at the suicidal robot. The ball tended to say everything twice, so she'd definitely heard it right. A mobile suit detonating inside the hangar would kill almost everyone and leave the Avalon in tatters. Firmia's shock gave way to determination as she swiftly grabbed the suicidal Haro and ripped it out of its bowl terminal.

"Ow! Ow! Bluffing! Bluffing!"

"You and your bluffs can go straight through a stone crusher!" Firmia chucked the Haro over her head and sighed in relief. After a minute of taking in the situation, Firmia focused in on the Anarchy's main interface. She still didn't know what she was looking for specifically, but there ought to be something in the system that could tell her what was going on with Rex. If not, then at least she could pass along some instructions to the ANF's loaned mechanics and address a couple of the obvious issues.

"Yep, that's your uncle," Brant grinned. He was in a relatively good mood, though he couldn't ignore the fact that Rex was teetering back and forth with his own. Brant didn't know much about his brother's life in the EU armed forces, but the fact that he only had a few squadmates left on the Athena was telling. He considered broaching the topic once there was a good opportunity.

Rex accepted Chris' hand almost passively while wondering how all of this had unfolded. His own people tended to die, but Brant was bringing new members into the family from all directions. An adopted sister here, a sister-in-law there, some nieces, and even his own son, whom Rex assumed had died a humble zygote. "Good seeing you all," he said, sparing Lily a nod as well. It was at that moment Rex realized that no matter what he said or did, he could never convince his younger brother to leave with him and Vasiliy after the war. Spouses and children had a way of forcing people to root themselves ... and that was something this Alkaev cage, the Avalon, was perfect for. Firmia had already asked the big question, where would he go? Brant and Chris would have similar questions and Rex couldn't answer them. The issue was settled long before he even arrived.

"By the way, Hannah," Tonya quietly chimed in on the side, "Where's Firmia? Is she just letting you handle this?" If that was the case she was probably taking the long route to the cafeteria to get herself a tall drink or something like that.

Deciding to worry about Firmia later, Brant nudged Vasiliy forward. "Go on. You're the one he's here to see."

"R-right," Vasiliy nodded his understanding. That cued Rex too and, with a bit of hesitation, came over to him. "I'm happy to finally meet you, father," Vasiliy tried his best at a proper greeting.

"... same here," Rex smiled down at his son, "I'm glad something finally went right. Just for once." Seeing how nothing else would, Rex couldn't help but kneel down and embrace his miracle child. "I don't know how it happened and I don't care, but thank you ... for surviving."

July 24, 2020

"I'm glad I asked," Megumi frowned, realizing they were a little behind on procedure. Her minions still had things well in hand, so the doctor went back to making some posterity notes, trying to keep the events in chronological order as best she could.

Still, she wondered if the Riese could enter the next fight in such lousy condition. The pilots were fine, but there was no way they could complete even a quarter of the repair work needed to get the ship back up to its full potential. She supposed it didn't matter; there was an increasing sense that it was too late to turn back anyway. They just had to hope that nearly wiping out the Sacarian vanguard here would lead to a much easier final battle.

July 8, 2020

With the feast over, it was time to return to a dormancy of sorts. There was no use complaining about Xalrei's willingness to rely on her inferior weapons when speaking alone carried a small toll. Things would certainly be easier going forward, but now was the time for patience. If the trend held, it wouldn't be too long before this group was at odds with someone else.

Eventually there would be another battle.

Eventually, Requiem would consume them as well ...

...

... heat. It was something like heat the cursed blade sensed from Xalrei. It was unclear how much time had passed, but it couldn't have been too long. Reluctantly reaching out with its senses, Requiem was able to see one side of an argument unfolding. Xalrei wanted to know what the other soul knew about her. A quest to uncover one's origins. What was the point of knowing such things? The cursed blade's interest immediately faded with the presumption that this was just another confrontation that wouldn't go anywhere. The other soul and Xalrei were allies, after all.

Still, it was difficult to ignore the rage building up. Requiem would have preferred Xalrei to simply strike the other down with it. Surely that would satisfy both of them. The confrontation seemed to go on and on with Xalrei's energy flaring up in a way the cursed sword had never experienced before. A frustrated hope, that the dragon girl would unsheathe Requiem and lash out was building more and more in the blade as she grabbed hold of the fox woman. The timing had been perfect; Requiem could only make out the fox when she was in physical contact with Xalrei, and it was for that reason alone that her petrified arm could be seen. The experience seemed to snuff out much of Xalrei's fire, but Requiem could only wonder about the future ...

Tundyssa Adozosi, was it? That was the origin Xalrei had been seeking, and now had found? The cursed blade considered this 'true name' and whether it held any value. That would likely depend on its wielder. More important was the implication of this ability to petrify others. It was obviously useful if it could be controlled and utilized like any other weapon, but would this address Xalrei's weakness in a way that benefited Requiem or not? Would this power discourage the use of the cursed blade, open up opportunities for less lethal means of fighting, or would it make the gathering of souls and magical energy easier, being used in conjunction with the cursed blade in its various forms? That wasn't a question that needed to be addressed right now. Perhaps at a later time, after things settled back into silence and the tears stopped.

As Requiem let go of its senses, zealously conserving its hard earned energy, an unwelcome thought occurred. What was its origin?

July 7, 2020

So that was it for the casualties, then? Good- ... good enough, Megumi mused, taking a moment to sit down at her desk. "Thank you for your help, Monty. We'll be waiting for you in the infirmary."

Megumi was momentarily free until Ignatius was done getting Jessica's body repaired, so she took a moment to begin logging everything she remembered thus far, the injuries and the fatalities that resulted from the battle. A drink would have been nice, but the only alcohol going around for the time being would be for disinfecting wounds. "Has anyone sent word to the other ANF ships?" Megumi asked the infirmary in general, though she was eyeing Roxanna and Jessica in turn. She did recall the announcement, but that sounded like a ship-wide broadcast and not something the Krakens would have gotten. If they had, then at least they knew what to expect. They did have a rendezvous coming up, so it was important to keep their allies informed, at least now that morale was more easily manageable.

Sure, it sounded like a fine idea on the surface, but even the advanced Sacarians wound up with a leader that sent scores of their finest to their deaths and it was only going to get worse from here. What did the Sacarian king gain--other than a headache--from all of this pointless fighting? Regardless, it wasn't a debate Firmia was fully prepared for. She was more interested in trying to find some common ground with her new pilot. "It's not like your people were strong enough in the end, were they? I know the war's not over yet, but unless your king's going to blow up whole continents next, we're going to win, divided and all. It's all logistics from here."

"I just don't see the appeal ... At least with humanity divided, we've got multiple ways of dealing with problems, different points of view, different methods. Even the potential for survivors in the worst case scenario. If someone doesn't want to pick a side, they can go and do what they want." By that point, Firmia couldn't help but picture her group in the ANF vs EU situation. Siding with the Federation directly was out of the question, but an alliance gave them some breathing room, and kept them out of troublesome hierarchies. For her, it was the best they could hope for.

"And no, I don't really need anything, right now." Firmia briefly imagined what having a pilot around that could read her thoughts on a whim would be like, and what steps she could take to make herself more comfortable with the situation, but things were just too uncertain right now. Despite what she'd said about the war, their own survival past the next battle was no guarantee, even if 'Earth' ultimately triumphed over the Sacarians. "I'll try to find something else to distract me from Rex being here," she said, standing up from the Praxis' foot, "I hope we can get along, Ayyl'Vern."

"Yeah sure," Rex said, following along. He made sure to take in the sights as he did. Of chief interest to him was the crew. So far he'd seen almost nothing but mechanics. He quietly tried to work out their origins, whether they were survivors from Voronin or from the ANF. While Rex personally thought it was asinine to loan out men to crew a ship captained by some random teenager, he had to admit that the ship would be useless if understaffed. Pilots were one thing, but the ship itself had to be at least minimally operable. The real question was what happened once the war was over. Was the ANF taking back its loaned staff or was some other arrangement made?

"It's okay," Vasiliy assured Akilina.

Brant wanted Rex to meet both of his nieces, but he supposed there was still time for that. Leaving Aki here by herself was another matter, but ... at least there was no danger. "We'll be back soon."

Tonya wound up trailing behind the most as they headed toward the hangar in search of Rex, and dodged Brant's glances as she put together an idea of her own. She had to shelf that plan when Hannah and Rex appeared in front of them in the hallway. She was surprised to see him wearing a--mostly--ordinary flight suit rather than a SKIN suit. Sure, the things were a bit much out in public, but the man's funnels wouldn't be nearly as responsive without one. What kind of bonehead would deliberately go into a combat zone with that kind of handicap? Her own student apparently ...

Brant was glad to see his older brother alive and well, but there were definitely some surprises. He was slightly envious of the flight suit his brother was using. Rex wasn't just wearing that, though; he had an almost tangible aura of frustration around him. Brant doubted Firmia was the cause since the sense he was getting was more consistent. Regular emotions rose and fell like tides. This was a mood, something he brought with him to the ship. There wasn't much to do but greet his siblings and try to get introductions going.

"We were just coming to find you," Brant waved.

"Long time no see," Rex replied, noting everyone in front of him. While it had been years since he'd seen Brant and Tonya in person, this was his first time meeting the rest. He noticed Vasiliy right away, being the only one who fit the 'son' bill. He smiled weakly at the kid at first.

"... hello, father," Vasiliy mimicked Brant's wave.

Somehow, Vasiliy's cautious greeting broke through whatever was bothering Rex and made him laugh. 'Another Alkaev stronghold. When I said we'd be together in hell, this isn't what I meant ...'

June 22, 2020

"Excuse me," Valerie moved in to run her checks. Tycho's wounds were easy to spot, but she checked for signs of a concussion first, her initial priorities shifted slightly by her patient's sudden drop unto the bed. "Just relax," she said, tending to his combat wounds next. Cleaning and disinfecting the wounds would come first, along with some local anesthetic if Tycho needed it. Then they could pick clean any debris and close things up with a bit of SIEG. That was the plan at any rate.

Since Tycho had much of the infirmary's attention, Megumi decided to radio Monty again. He was still out there, so he could probably update her on anything happening with the pilots and the crew. "It's Dr. Amparo again, any updates, or is Tycho the last one?" She hoped he was, even though that meant the casualties on the Riese's bridge were final and a little depressing, but seeing as they had another extremely dangerous fight on their hands, the fewer injured the better. There was no other way to look at it.

So they really could read minds, in the more literal sense. That was annoying, if potentially useful. As for the wording in all of that, Firmia wasn't keen on addressing it right now. "This is just a one time courtesy. If his son wasn't onboard, I wouldn't have even considered it." While she did want to show Rex the memorial, the names of the people he'd gotten killed via Apotheosis, Firmia wasn't sure if it was really worth having him aboard just for that. Seeing him in person had been a little weird ... probably because she could sense his feelings. There were no imaginary wicked intentions she could force onto the man himself.

Firmia wound up sitting on the Praxis Gamma's right foot. "And what's the point of all humans banding together, anyway? All that can do is create a monolithic group that overpowers and crushes others. Huh ..." The ANF came to mind, even though they didn't make up the majority of mankind or anything close at the moment. Considering she was talking to a Sacarian, maybe an overwhelming, oppressive army was the whole idea. War wasn't an unfortunate necessity for them, it was a lifestyle. Bonus points if they got any slave races out of the deal. "Either way, I'd rather keep certain people at a distance." Preferably, at the maximum range of the Avalon's main cannons or even farther.

"Not really. I don't know what you're expecting," Rex said irritably, "I flew out here to back you people up and see my son. I don't care about Firmia or her hangups, and I don't care what Brant's trying to pull here as long as he doesn't try to get me involved in it." Brant could call Hannah an Abrams and a sibling all he wanted, but Rex wasn't interested, especially since all of this, everything regarding the Avalon seemed to revolve around its devilish little captain.

Tonya didn't reply, but she looked uncomfortable, and somehow more uncomfortable than the two battle-worn TKs she was trying to convince. There was nothing to be done until they were all gathered together anyway, so Brant simply patted Tonya on the shoulder as Chris opened the door to the bedroom. Sure enough, the kids were all there.

"You're back," Vasiliy noted, though whether he was saying that to Tonya or his uncle and eventual aunt was unclear.

The news about Rex left the boy with a mix of wonder and apprehension. He knew there was a possibility that he would be leaving with his father at some point, but now? Weren't there still things that needed to happen, first? The questions were already flooding in and if not for Brant's quick thinking, Vasiliy might have been staring off into space without ever responding.

"It's alright, no one's leaving right now. We've still got a huge fight ahead of us and your father's not going to tuck and run now."

"Hmm ..." Tonya placed a hand on her chin, apparently prompted by something Brant had said.

"Let's go see him, then," Vasiliy decided. He wanted to meet his father regardless of how things turned out, he just worried that things would be similar to their rushed escape from the Alkaev Estate in Russia. They didn't have time to pack much or say goodbye to the staff. A few things were on fire back then, too.

June 16, 2020

So that was the new--freshly injured--pilot. Megumi motioned at Tambre who quickly rushed over. "Are things alright in the hangar?" She asked from over by Jessica's SIEG tank, "It didn't sound like there were many injured, but I don't have the full picture."

"Over here please," Valerie gestured toward the nearest available bed. She had set up there when word reached the infirmary about Tycho. Just like the doctor promised, they were ready to go.

"Tonya's room?" Firmia squinted.

"Not a bad place to hang out," Rex shrugged. He wasn't a fan of this 'bro' nonsense, but he had more important things to worry about right now. Slightly lower on the list of priorities was Brant. He half expected to run into him down here in the hangar, but there was no such luck. They were inevitably going to meet face to face, again. Brant probably figured as much, too.

Initially, Firmia followed Hannah and Rex as they headed up, thinking back on an idea she'd had countless times since receiving the Avalon. One day, she'd hoped that by some dumb excuse, Rex would wind up aboard the Avalon so she could personally show him the memorial wall she'd designed near the aft of the ship. It wasn't much, but it had been important to her. This just wasn't the right time ... and there never would be a 'right time;' the Alkaev had no intention of ever letting Rex back on the ship once he stepped off of it again. This was far and beyond the courtesy owed to the man who tried to murder her for merely existing.

Firmia stopped and let the two Abrams continue on without her. "I'll catch up later," she said, and turned to head back toward the center of the hangar. Once she was comfortably close, Firmia pulled up her tablet and tried to use it to radio the Praxis Gamma sitting nearby. It was Ayyl'Vern's unit. They had certainly gotten off on the wrong foot, but only someone as uncomfortable with this situation as she was could distract her long enough for Rex to talk to his son uninterrupted. If she was there, the temptation to put him on blast would be too much for her to handle.

Besides, Firmia had a much bigger problem she had to deal with. She hated the Sacarians. They were like a race of space pirates flying around and wrecking whatever they pleased. She wanted to shoot them all, but they weren't quite the irredeemable monsters she thought, even hoped they were. Now she was facing the paradox of one of them being a part of her crew. Obviously, the genocide plan was dead on arrival, but Firmia still needed time to think and adjust. For now, there was at least one Sacarian she had to find some common ground with ... somehow. "Hey, it's Firmia. ... what are you up to in there?"

Talk about a sticky reunion. It wasn't like Brant didn't want to check in with his daughters first anyway, but now they had Rex to deal with. Brant really didn't know how things were going to go down with Tonya being overprotective and Firmia clearly on edge. There was also Vasiliy himself to consider. How was he going to handle this? "Well, at least we won't miss anything," Brant said, following after.

Tonya caught up quickly and got in front of them as they all headed for her room around the corner. "You're not just coming to watch are you? What if he tries to fly out of here with Vasiliy?"

Brant smirked. "I was actually going to see my daughters and nephwew and say hi to my brother ... the one neither of us have seen in half a decade. Just try to relax. He's not crazy enough to put Vasiliy in danger for nothing. Things might actually go smoothly for a change if everyone just keeps calm." Having said that, Brant was starting to feel a little uneasy himself. If there was any meaningful difference between Tonya's instincts warning her about some obscure danger, and her just being paranoid, Brant didn't know what it was.

Tonya stopped in front of her door and sighed, unsure of what to do. "Are you sure?" she glanced back at the TKs.

"Well I was ..." Brant admitted. Good news, he was picking up on all three of the children in the room. "You're so worried we're skipping a shower for this."

May 28, 2020

It was unfortunate that they didn't get through the battle without any pilot injuries, but considering what happened to the ship itself, they were extremely lucky to not have lost a single pilot. Megumi wasn't even aware that the injured pilot Monty was sending her way wasn't a Riese pilot proper, just yet. "Thank you. We'll be ready for him," she replied, giving her assistants the signal to get things ready. With Ignatius dealing with Jessica, and the other infirmary occupants having already been treated in the meantime, it was just a matter of waiting for any new patients.

Firmia mentally braced herself after Hannah's reply. The Abrams were a little weird about family matters, so this likely wasn't going to go over too well.

"Bro?" Rex raised an eyebrow to the comment, "And yeah I'd like to see my son, thanks," he added, glancing expectantly at Firmia. "Seriously, why does she look like this? Who are you? ... what are you?" Given that he couldn't sense a thing from her, Rex already had some vague suspicions about Hannah forming in the back of his mind.

"This is Hannah Abrams," Firmia explained, "She's a Brant approved Abrams, so I would appreciate it if you saved your complaints for him."

"I don't even know where to start with that one ... and I'm guessing these Apotheosis suits are here because you captured them? Fine, whatever. Where's Vasiliy?"

"Why are you here right now?" Firmia asked insistently, "What are you planning to do, grab Vasiliy and fly out of here? Where are you going to go? We still have a massive battle ahead of us and the Anarchy isn't any safer than the Avalon. Entirely the opposite, actually. There's no point in taking him right now, so what's your plan, Rex?"

Rex almost yawned mid rant and crossed his arms waiting for Firmia to finish. "Nothing's decided yet. I came here to help out, but you wrapped things up before I got here. Right now I just want to see my son. I'll decide what to do after that."

Tonya shrugged at Chris' question.

"Well where's Vasiliy?" Brant asked.

"I asked him to wait in my room while I figure out what to do about Rex."

Brant immediately figured that Vasiliy knew his father was here in that case. This could be interesting, but either way Brant wanted to deal with this situation in his normal clothes, and with the stress of battle washed away. "Alright, just don't overreact, okay? It's only going to make the situation worse. Just give us ten minutes and we'll come make sure the situation doesn't boil over."

"Ten minutes is a long time, Brant ..." Tonya groaned in resignation.

"No kidding," Brant smirked, thinking back to how the tension of the battle seemed to slow time down to a crawl for him.

May 24, 2020

Xalrei was at least beginning to comprehend the situation, but Requiem had little to say about the lizard woman's preferences in combat. The cursed blade didn't really care about--nor truly grasp--the advantages or disadvantages of one weapon versus another. Combat wasn't a matter of strategy and tactics or disciplines, it was a feast for power. Requiem was only able to take the form of a weapon most suited to its wielder. Were Xalrei to suddenly become most proficient striking and whipping enemies with her tail, Requiem would transform and extend her reach when held. It was a simple and effective arrangement.

It probably couldn't hurt to entice her a bit more, though. 'As this power grows, so does the potential of all forms. Keep fighting, Xalrei ...'

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