Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 1: The Culmination

[scorri]

Astin had wandered over near to where Juria was and quietly whispered to her, "Hey, it'll be ok. We've got this, right Thorvald?" They smiled at the man who was clearly trying to comfort the engineer as well.

[Balcerzak]

"We sure do, kid," Thorvald replied back with a broad smile, to help keep morale up. "It'll be funny when we end up looking back on this mission and thinking that the hardest part was waiting for the coats of paint to dry after the mechanics put it on. Or maybe the wondering how long it'll take the engineers to decipher the codes from one of the rebels we captured will be worse. Hard to say at this point."

[scorri]

"Naw, I bet Juria here will be able to crack any code we find. So it's gotta be the paint drying thing for sure. Though..." Astin trailed off for a few seconds before starting up again, "Juria, are you sure you want to come with us? I mean... I know you'll want to hear that your friends are safe, but it could be pretty emotional knowing we're fighting in your home. It wouldn't do for you to put yourself under a lot of stress if it could be avoided..."

[Juliette]

Juria sniffled quietly still, a bit surprised people had paid much attention to her. "Oh... thanking for niceties. I just worried for home. First colony all I ever lived in until visiting here, hoping family and friends ok. Just want not to be hindrance to mission." She shook her head when Astin asked if she wanted to stay behind. "No way! Have to help! Codes or other stuff, will not be away from saving home! No leaving me behind."

[Xinnidy]

Ready for Departure

"Very well..." Alphonse relaxed his posture slightly, taking a deep breath. It seemed that most doubts within the crew had been dealt with. It seemed one of them was native to Colony 1 itselt, the girl clearly shocked by the news. "The faster you are, the greater the chances are that the hostages will be liberated." It seemed to be the most comfort that came to the Admiral's mind at the time, "You are dismissed. Good luck, and stay strong, all of you." With a final salute, the Admiral parted ways, a slight haste on his step --he was certainly a man on a mission.

Roxanna returned the parting salute, looking at her uncle with some clear distress, though her foul mood had burned itself out --it was no more apparent than her concern. This isn't going to be a walk in the park... is he really sure we're the ones for this kind of mission? She sighed, turning a defeated glance back to Jessica. "Well... Captain," Pause, she could barely believe that word could come so neutrally out of her. "... Where do we start?"

Edited July 7, 2016 by Xinnidy

[Nanami Touko]

Panic

Good, good, everyone seemed to be alright with the plan... Except for Jess, but there wasn't any way to go against the Admiral's orders. Thus, she would have to captain that boat and save that colony... The weight of which just hit her, saying it out in her head. She stumbled back a step and stared down at the ground; there were hundreds of lives now on her and her crew's shoulders. Perhaps she would have vomited if she'd eaten breakfast yet; luckily enough she'd skipped it in her rush to make it to the meeting. "Uh, w-we have to, uhm..."

"Well... Captain... Where do we start?"

The words hit Jess pretty hard. This was her first real sortie. And it was... It was a lot. "Where do we start, uh, we... H-Have to, uh..." Her eyes glazed over again, she stood there near motionless, focused on the pavement. Finally she jumped, literally, back into reality, landing with a small stumble and grounding herself. "R-Right! Right!"

"XO, uh, g-get the engineers up and working on moving the mechs onto the ship's interior hangar! We only need the ones used in the test yesterday, and a spare of each model! D-Dwight, Juria, both of you need to come with me, we h-have to get the ship up and running and make sure it's ready for space travel... Uhm, w-we have to make sure that all the extra weapons and parts get stored as well, a-and-- Everyone!"

She turned to face the crew in her panic, swallowing hard. "Uh. G-Get on the ship. And all that... Er, okay, uh..." She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and placed a hand on her face. "Right, okay... Go to your rooms on base, pack up everything you think you'll need, and then make your way onto the ship." She was speaking clearly enough, keeping her eyes closed as she put her hand down.

"Each of you have a room on the ship, they have everything you requested-- as much as we could get --when you were assigned here. Your quarters are on the bottom floor of the ship. Make sure everything's in order and then gather in the ship's meeting room-- that's on the third floor, near the bridge. Uh... Uhhhh... R-Right!" She opened her eyes and looked around before focusing on Juria and Dwight.

"Y-You two, with me... We'll have this ship ready by one PM if it kills me..." With that said, she left addressing the mechanics in Roxanna's very capable hands and headed towards the hangar. There was an elevator ride with her name on it.

---------

Ready for Lift Off

That had been... The worst hassle of Jessica's entire life. The ship had to go through a full inspection: the engines had to be cleaned and tested, the bridge's main systems had to be run through twice, and then twice again. Once the mechs were loaded into the ship's interior hangar, they were also checked, diagnostics were run, and their weapons were checked for ammo, energy, functionality-- everything. Even once they'd finished that, Jess had the engineers, who were probably done putting up with her double and triple checks, check everything once again, just to make sure. The ship also had to be tested to make sure it was entirely air tight! Luckily it was, but that sort of error would have cost them more than some launch time.

Now, Jessica's watch read "12:24 PM". She nervously sat in the meeting room, waiting for everyone to assemble. They've have time to go over the specifics of the plan, get informed on it, make their own plan, and then strap in for lift off and leaving the atmosphere. She tapped a nervous finger on the desk. She expected Dwight and Roxanna to arrive soon, or she hoped they would. She didn't know if she could run this meeting with her stress levels as they were, all by herself. At the least, with everything on the ship done and ready to go, the only challenge left was making it into space.

Her room had been prepared down on the bottom deck. A nice, bright, orange room, with a fluffy bed and plenty of stuffed animals to comfort her when this thing was all over. People would call it childish, but having something fluffy to hug and sleep with was incredibly comforting. People who thought otherwise were just acting tough! She did hope she could get in a good nap like that, after they'd set their trajectory to meet up with Captain Miller. Nothing would happen between space entry and that meeting, anyway. The ANF controlled all the space near the atmosphere, so even if the rebels could manage to get into the colonies settled around the earth, sneaking a force worth anything into the ANF sphere of influence past those would take some serious infiltration. Infiltration that Jess believed the rebels to be incapable of, on their own.

No matter. The meeting was nearly at hand, and Jess already had the information spread out in front of her-- she'd actually read over it twice already, just to make absolutely sure she was ready to talk about this, explain everything, and answer what the crew wanted to know.

Work is Killer

Avery groaned and stretched her back. That Captain had driven them all like slaves, seriously! Checks and re-checks and scans and diagnostics and ugh... The machines were working fine before they were moved onto the ship, what would change between a meters? "Honestly..." She shook her head and drank from her water bottle-- at least the ordeal was over with now, with everything packed and ready to go. That left Avery with one thing to check.

She broke off from the rest of the engineers and followed a few hallways down the ship to a door, nothing suspicious, just a normal looking door like any other on the ship. She entered her code in, slipped inside, and grinned at what the room held. Now, it wasn't a normal room; it was as tall as the mech hangar, for good reason. Sitting inside was her pet project, something she was going to be working on as long as she was assigned to the Riese. Something that she couldn't let just anyone see... But she had a good idea of who to let see first.

With a smirk and a sigh, Avery fixed her ball cap and walked on over to it. Despite the hard labor, working on this never felt like real work. It was fun, trying to get something to run better, move faster, process smoother... That Buck kid could probably help, but, if he made something explode, she'd never let him hear the end of it. Best to work alone.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Melissa

[Phoenix]

They were leaving at 1pm, many hours from now, yet still close enough to make Brant want to use his time wisely. He answered the Admiral's parting salute with his own, a stark contrast to Avery's departure, yesterday. The captain nervously handed out her orders and then cut them loose. He hoped he'd get a chance to talk with her about the mission a little later, but his first destination was the mech hangar ...

The engineers were working hard, and like last time, Brant learned that things were far different with the ANF mechanics and the Alkaev mechanics. There was hardly anything for him to do besides make sure his alpha tool could hook up to the system. Checking that, and copying a few files from the Accensus to peruse on his own time took all of ten minutes. He had several hours of free time now, and puzzled over what to do with them. When the first silent protest from his stomach came, he knew how he was going to spend a small fraction of that time. "Fair enough," he mused aloud, deciding to get something to eat. Sooner or later, he thought, he would stop skipping meals to meet deadlines, especially the more lenient ones.

Brant decided on some oatmeal, a large bowl of it to tide him over until after their launch. He made sure to eat alone this time so he wouldn't lose track of time, and so he could peruse some of the files he'd copied without getting too distracted. The more he learned about his machine, the easier it would be to use, and the further he could safely push the thing, but he wasn't satisfied yet. He hadn't gotten through 3% of the information he'd copied before he'd finished his breakfast, and sitting in the cafeteria reading for an hour wasn't his idea of time spent wisely, at least not until everything else on his plate had been taken care of.

It probably wasn't the wisest use of time to try calling Firmia, again, but at least if he did that now and kept things brief, the thought wouldn't gnaw at the back of his mind, subtly tugging at his attention until he did. He searched out the same phone from yesterday, and hoped to the cosmos Rosa wouldn't show up on the monitor, again.

[spoiler=The Queen]

"Hello?" Brant smiled at the familiar, high pitched voice, though his smile faded almost instantly. Firmia sounded miserable today. "Oh, Pobornik, it's you." Not only did she sound miserable, but her words were slightly slurred. Brant could only conclude that there was a half empty bottle of something sitting somewhere just out of view. "I trust mother gave you the news like she said?"

Brant nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry you got saddled with even more training. Did you get any details?"

Firmia scowled. "They want to improve my mental endurance ... by a lot. At least twice what you and Rex could handle."

Brant couldn't hide his shock. "What the hell for?" He and his brother were past the point where feedback from the destruction of their remote weapons would be much of a distraction. Increasing Firmia's endurance beyond that was like trying to push someone's tolerance for pain and stimulation as far as it could possibly go. He couldn't think of anything useful for that off the top of his head, not when coupled with the initial shock. He couldn't help but think Rex would have been a better candidate for this, but he'd left to join the EU before Brant and Firmia even began their TK training. "There's got to be some reason they would want you to have that kind of mental ... fortitude."

"Of course there's a reason," Firmia winced, "that's why I know whatever Grandfather and those 'scientists' at the testing facility are planning is going to be awful ..."

He couldn't argue with her there. You get someone's tolerance for something up so you can pound them relentlessly with it and not reduce them to a broken heap on the floor. Firmia was likely going to be getting fitted with some experimental equipment, something to test some new theories or stronger remote weapons, though, again, Brant couldn't come up with anything that would require her to be tougher than him or his brother.

"I'm sorry," Firmia said, wiping her eyes.

"No need to apologize," Brant grimaced.

"I should have asked you how your first day went," she clarified.

"Went on something of a field trip," he smiled grimly, "there's always something unexpected in a test."

"Tell me you crashed, totaled your mech, and now everyone thinks you're an idiot," Firmia smiled weakly, her words steadily becoming more deliberate and articulate.

Brant laughed. Firmia was often a good example to point to when the phrase 'Misery loves company' came up, though at least for individuals like himself, it was harmless teasing. "No such misfortune, sorry."

"Yeah, I guess a telekinetic wouldn't crash," she said, the word 'telekinetic' coming out with a razor's edge. Brant knew why. When he'd first met her, she'd insisted on referring to them both as telepaths. He understood her reasoning, but insisted they use the same terminology most others used to avoid confusion, pointless explanation, and argument.

"It's just the way they classify things." Brant said, trying not to smile as the serious looking girl glowered at him.

"Well good for them; they're wrong" she shot back.

"It probably has more to do with the remote weapons. From afar ... 'tele-' ... giving remote weapons motion ... '-kinetic'," Brant said. "To the military, a telekinetic's ability to control those is always going to be seen as the more prominent and more important of the two."

Firmia turned her head away from him. "Stupid foreigners and their naming conventions. All we can do on our own is pick up people's baggage, so we should be called telepaths, but fine, I'll say telekinetic, since people are too stupid to put two and two together ... or name things properly."

Good times, Brant mused. "I took a hit but it was my own fault for messing with power distribution without a plan. And that's all I'm going to say about that."

"Of course," Firmia's rose, and then slowly came back down. "You hardly ever crash unless Grandfather starts cheating. Anyway, how are you doing? If you're not an outcast yet, that means either someone else is stealing your thunder, or everyone's too busy to form some of those classic group dynamics."

"Hmm," Brant considered that for a moment. He certainly didn't talk to the others much, but that was a combination of not really wanting to at times, and just plain bad timing the rest of the time. Even just yesterday when trying to reach Firmia, he'd run unexpectedly into Rosa ... and consequently, another conversation he'd have avoided if possible. He did want to speak with the captain in private if he ever got the chance, but not for social reasons. "I'm not here to make friends, to be fair," he forced a smile, "it'll either happen or it won't, and I'm not put off by either outcome, to be honest."

Firmia scowled again. "You don't need friends. You have me, the Queen," she placed a hand over her heart, "two telekinetics surviving Grandfather's cruel training and coming out stronger and more capable than ever. Why devalue that with other heartwarming stories?"

"You're like a fluffy ball and chain, you know that?" Brant jabbed. He decide telling her there was another telekinetic in the group wouldn't be tactful. She'd be some level of annoyed regardless of when or how she found out, so he decided to save that for when she had gotten over her own troubles with her upcoming endurance training, whenever that was. "I can't make any promises."

"Put a giant picture of me on your wall so you won't forget to try," Firmia demanded, "the one with the throne."

Brant winced. He wasn't a fan of posters or pictures sitting everywhere; that's what electronic devices were for. "People would get the wrong idea ..." Suddenly he wondered what the rooms on the Heion Riese were like, how spacious there really were, and how much time he'd have to get adjusted.

"Why would you let people into your room?!" Firmia asked, looking mortified.

"Might not have a choice," Brant shrugged. Firmia had gotten a bit loud there, but that was normal for her. At least the tidal wave of emotion that usually accompanied such outbursts wasn't around to bowl him over this time. "Maybe a senior officer wants to have a word with me and decides my room's the best meeting place ... they ask about the portrait on the wall and ..."

"And you tell them to mind their own business! The Queen's orders are never to be questioned!" She'd tried to sound serious and dignified, but she was no actress, and Brant laughed again.

"I'll give one of my AIs your voice," Brant offered, "how does that sound?" She gave him a look, a look that asked why he hadn't already done that. He had an answer, luckily. "You never set up a voice profile, so do that in your spare time and send it to me."

"Fine," Firmia relented, though she kept her chin up.

"It's settled, then. I should go, but I'll try to keep in touch," Brant said, glancing off to his left side.

"You sound busy," Firmia noted, her eyes narrowing, slightly.

This mission info would most definitely be classified, Brant thought. "Trust me, you won't need the details from me," he smirked, realizing that their activities were definitely going to breaking news. "Be sure to let me know how your training starts out ... even if it's bad. I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Pobornik," she replied, sighing. "Don't die on your mission. Queen's order ..."

Immature, but sharp, Brant noted.

The Heion Riese itself was rather spacious. At least the name made sense. Tracking down his room on the lowest deck wasn't difficult, and he was delighted to find his things there. The bed and couch were new, purchased with Alkaev money practically the day he got here. The computer was also new, but was modular in design, and would be broken in in minutes once Brant got to work on it. He didn't want to bother with all of that at the moment, though. He was more curious about the room itself, how he would decorate it, and wondering how much more he could fit inside without it becoming uncomfortable for him. He had plenty of space to exercise, and he didn't want to sacrifice any of it for anything less than the necessities. A flatscreen television wouldn't have hurt, but he could always use his computer's large monitors for that. They could be detached and placed virtually anywhere, after all. He only ever watched the news and an older show on its fifth or sixth run that Firmia had gotten him into.

The room was good enough for now, and there wasn't much for Brant to transfer from the base to the ship. The white walls were vapid but wouldn't do any serious harm, fashion-wise. It was unlikely he would have anyone in here anytime soon anyway. He checked his uniform over again and then left the room, heading to the meeting area. He figured he wouldn't show up early enough to have a word with Captain Gefalscht before the meeting started, but he could hope. For once, his timing might not have been so bad ...

"Huh, that's convenient," Brant said, as the door opened, revealing a nearly empty meeting room. He almost smiled but kept his expression neutral as he checked his wrist for the time. 12:25pm. Okay then, he likely had somewhere between ten seconds and five minutes to try sorting out something, or he'd have to try again later. He stepped inside and let the door close behind him. "Captain before the meeting starts I wanted to ask you something."

[Nanami Touko]

First Arrival

"Oh, Brant, hello! Er, hi, or... S-Something... Ugh." Jess slapped her anxious fingers to her face again, not sure how to address anyone at the moment, but knowing that talking to him like he was a friend so casually was probably not correct, not at the moment. "Ask me? What about? Of course, go ahead. We have some time. Or at least, whatever it is, I'm sure if others show up while we're talking we can finish it before everyone does..." She sat herself up and wondered what it could be about. He wasn't a perfectionist like Seung-Min seemed to be, was he? About to start apologizing for getting his plane damaged? She had been beating herself up fairly badly for taking some scratches, and Brant was also a telekinetic; maybe it was something their type of person shared.

Oh well, no point in assuming. He'd tell her what was on his mind.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Melissa

[Shin]

Everyone else seemed to accept, and even be happy with it. Did they not see it the same way Tarquin did? If their captain's previous performance had been anything to go by, they'd be short of luck. They'd barely handled a simple training mission, Tarquin couldn't help but question the Admiral's decision to send them on such a delicate mission. There had to be some sort of reasoning, but no matter how hard he pondered, he just couldn't find it. There were only a few hours until they were set to launch, the time seemed both far too long and far too short at the same time. Not uttering a word, Tarquin left as he was dismissed.

Those hours were rather unproductive for Tarquin, there was no chance he was going to spend more time with these people than he had to. Management had been rather accomodating with his requests, although the list of books he'd provided hadn't been particularly difficult for them to collect. Other than the wall that had become one large bookcase, the rest of his room was oddly clinical and minimalistic. He'd never really been one for extravagance... or even comfort really, and the vast number of check ups he'd had growing up resulted in him being more at ease in the medical bay or even a dormitory.

Lying in his bed, he idly watched the seconds pass on his clock, pondering both the task ahead and the dangers of space. He'd been trained in zero gravity simulators, and now with actual pilotting experience, it theoretically made sense he'd be able to handle it. There was a sense of unease he just couldn't shake, the unknown was difficult to deal with - and the constant threat of being stranded in space... or worse loomed over him. He had to rely on his own abilities, and hope that the others wouldn't cause any issues.

--

Tarquin arrived shortly after Brant, literally seconds before half past the hour. Slipping into the meeting room, Tarquin stood himself in the corner, waiting to be addressed. They hadn't formally started and he certainly wasn't up to creating any more conversation if he could help it.

[Phoenix]

There it was again, Brant noted, that nervous streak of hers. It was cute but also dangerous. He wagged his finger in her direction a couple of times. "There it is," he said, finally letting his smile show, "It's probably not your favorite topic," he warned, "but I'm curious about those episodes of yours. I won't pry if you'd rather not get into that, but I did have some advice that might help you there ... eventually."

He'd just barely finished before the door opened behind him and Tarquin appeared. The youngest member of the crew, as far as Brant knew. He'd leave it to the captain to decide where to go from there.

[Nanami Touko]

Tic

Oh, and there was Tarquin. Good, that meant people were arriving. But, what did Brant mean? "There is it? What...? Episodes?" Did he mean... "Like... When I freeze up? It's just something that happens, but... Well, you'll see, I suppose. I'll be fine in the next battle, I promise-- not that I have a good way to prove that to anyone, yet. What, er... Advice did you have, just in case?"

Gosh, it was wrong to be thinking it at the time, but his smile was so damn cute... But, if he had some advice for her, she'd take it. Freezing up so often was bound to cause some issues, even if it wasn't a problem during simulations.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Melissa

[Dandragon]

"Yeah...Yeah Uncle, I know, I know." Elaine had been talking with her relatives over the phone for a while now. Her Uncle had been making sure she was staying in line, and Elaine was reassuring him, for all the good that it did. "Listen, nothing has happened. Everything is fine. ...Yes, I've been-...Uncle, I really need to get going. *sigh* Yes, I'll be careful. ...Love you too, Uncle. Say hi to Nico for me. Bye." With that, Elaine ended the call. She was still in her room and had to hurry. That call had lasted too long. She left the phone on the bed and quickly hurried to the changing rooms.

---

Elaine was hurrying down the hall. The quicker she got to the hanger the better. She slowed her pace down as she saw the door, but slowed even further as she saw both Tarquin and Jessica, along with Brant. She couldn't help but stop herself from walking any further. She still felt guilty about what she had done yesterday, and she was sure neither of them would be glad to see her. Kim was right, though. Jessica and not sent her away just yet, so that was a good sign. Or maybe it wasn't, all things considered. She felt her stomach knot up as she hoped neither of them noticed her. This wasn't any way for a pilot to be around her captain, and she knew it.

[Phoenix]

The captain seemed willing to hear him out, so that was good, though he had a feeling his advice might annoy the latest arrival if interpreted the wrong way. Brant minded his wording. "To start," he took a seat at the meeting table across from Jessica, "you need to take yourself out of the picture. Easy enough to say, but there's one way I know to actually pull this off in a pinch. Have you ever seen someone else try to do something you're good at and fail badly? Was there anyone you knew that just couldn't handle command of a ship during training, someone you wanted to take over for to save both of you the embarrassment? That's the trick," he explained.

"If you find yourself having a hard time deciding what to do, put someone else in your shoes, either someone you know is incompetent or a rival you'd just like to see squirm in that situation. Once you're watching someone else flailing in the captain's chair, you'll come up with a solution. Whatever that solution is, kick them out of your chair and handle it yourself. It might also help to stand up when you start if you've got that luxury." He had a few more tips, but it wouldn't necessarily hurt to let her try that, first.

[Nanami Touko]

Take it From me

She paused, looking Brant over, wondering if he was kidding or not. He didn't seem to be. "Well that's... A bit mean-spirited to that person, don't you think?" You wouldn't go around telling them you're doing that, of course, but still, she was here to captain, not get a boost off of her old class mates. She could easily think of a few people that fit the bill during simulations, but they're learned or transferred to a suitable course. It did give her an idea, though... "I think I have something that works for me and my conscience. I'll let you know if it works after I give it a try, okay? But, no telling until then. You'll probably roll your eyes and think I didn't get your advice if I tell you what it is right away." She waggled her finger and smiled a bit, wondering for a moment if that was proper Captain etiquette, and then not caring~

With that said, Elaine came in, meaning that talks were probably ending soon. They couldn't just keep chatting with all the crew coming in. As awkward as it was to speak to Elaine again after the bomb she'd dropped, but Jessica had a job to do. "Come in. Sit down. Tarquin, you too. We'll start discussions after everyone else arrives. I assume it won't take too long.

[Phoenix]

Brant shrugged at her question. It was a calming exercise, but it could make a more virtuous person feel uncomfortable without practice. In the end, he was far more interested in the end than the means. If the captain had her own little twist to put on the exercise that would make it work for her, great. "It'll just be a surprise, then," conceded with a smile and a shrug.

[Dandragon]

Apparently, she had arrived at a very...interesting time. Was she...flirting? No, she couldn't be. All she did was wag her finger. Elaine was quickly filled with confusion and curiosity. Of course, she snapped back into her anxious state as Jess quickly told her to come in. Elaine said nothing as she walked through the doorway, trying not to look at Tarquin, in case she got set off again. Granted, that was more her problem, but until she fixed things between the both of them this was the only solution she could think of. Socialization was not one of her stronger points, despite the many friends she had back in Florence.

[Shin]

Tarquin didn't acknowledge Elaine's entrance, in fact, he had decided he'd be ignoring her from now on - she wouldn't be able to get away with being a brute if he made active measures. "Of course, Captain." he replied, placing himself down one of the chairs. Leaders were meant to inspire and keep control of their underlings, not ask them for advice. Adults had always seemed to know the answers when he was in training, but it seemed that some struggled, even when they were expected to perform. It was no longer just his own failures he needed to take into account, but those of others. That was an adulthood Tarquin didn't want to aspire to, he'd achieved far more than many adults had by the age of fourteen - he had no intent on stopping there.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Shin

[Ether]

With the Admiral's departure, Seung-Min felt even more pumped up than previously. This was her chance to redeem her earlier failure, in a mission of grand import and scope... there was no way she was going to miss this opportunity, not after having botched the last one. With everyone being dismissed, and given a time and place for their next meeting, Kim began to get herself ready. First off, she slipped into her flightsuit, the thing feeling like a second skin to her at this point... most likely intentionally. Either way, it wasn't uncomfortable anymore, so she adorned the thing to be ready for takeoff at a moment's notice, slipping a light coat on over top as she finished changing in her room on the Heion Riese.

The room itself was rather simple. Sparsely decorated, with walls in a pastel blue... scanning the room with her eyes, the first things that popped out at her were the small piano in the corner, along with several smaller instruments, and a shelf of various books... a good chunk of which were texts for studying English speaking. She wrestled with herself for a moment over whether to put a small poster on the wall, deciding against it after a few minutes of deliberation. It... wouldn't do any good to think about that anymore. Placing the roll down on her bed, not yet unfurled, Seung-Min exited, deciding on eating something before the meeting.

It seemed that the Riese itself was a tad better stocked than the base itself, as far as food was concerned. It still wasn't perfect, mind. Most of the ingredients were distinctly American, and left little room for deviation outside of what was considered normal for the classic self-absorded American citizen. This wasn't the greatest of situations for Seung-Min, who had never been overly fond of American cuisine... her palette wasn't particularly attuned to overly sized portions of meat drenched in several layers of fat and oil, but that sort of thing just seemed to be... popular in these parts. With a bit of work, she managed to make herself a serviceable meal out of the provided ingredients, and reminded herself to take the time to visit some proper ethnic markets when they were returned, and garner some ingredients for her personal use.

After making and eating her food, Kim began to move towards the pre-designated meeting room, just on time for the meeting, seeing that a few others had arrived beforehand... she'd have to make a note to arrive earlier in the future, it would seem. Feeling no need to interrupt whatever ongoing conversations there might be, Seung-Min opted to simply stand at attention a small way to the side of the door.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Ether

[Terrador]

There were scant few hours remaining until the Heion Riese would depart. In some way, any ego aside, this mission would rest on Bruno's shoulders. Vice Admiral Turner's hands would be more than full ensuring the Riese operated properly, and without him, Bruno knew his spaceflight experience (if not leadership experience, thanks to Thorvald) was greater than that of the rest combined. One wrong move, one nascent mistake not corrected...

The thought did not bring Bruno anxiety, but it did impress upon him the need for focus. The need to center himself.

Exertion.

Rhythm.

Peace.

Bruno's feet against the well-worn track echo for hours, as do the memories that may assist him in battle.

---

1228 hours.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade, Bruno Tian, reporting for deployment."

Edited July 8, 2016 by Terrador

[charlie_]

Uh... Mat supposed the admiral had no idea where the hostages were being held after all. It was worrying, but they'd have to make do. He quickly saluted the superiors as the meeting finished, then hurried back to his room in order to pack. He wasn't sure how travelling on the spaceship would go exactly, but he was looking forward to it all the same.

---

He wasn't the first one to the meeting, he soon realised, having arrived at the room slightly behind Bruno. He briefly tried to speak up, but the words got lost in his throat. He hadn't really though about the gravity of his new occupation through very much after he'd signed up, but he really didn't want to screw up and get people hurt. In the end, he just nodded lightly and took in a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. "Sergeant Mateus Lemos, reporting." His response was a little shaky, but he'd kept his nerves for the most part. Now he just needed to do the same for the actual mission...

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald arrived at the same time Kim did, not the first, not the last, but somewhere in the middle of the trickle of arrivals. Unlike Seung-Min, however, he made his way fully into the meeting room, taking a seat facing Jessica's, rather than hanging around near the entrance. He'd brought along a pad of paper and a pencil, to have something to scratch out some quick sketches of formations if need be when talk got technical, or to just jot down notes in general. Many folks preferred electronic notepads these days, but there was just something down-to-earth and comforting about old fashioned paper and pencil. While waiting for the meeting to begin, he began reviewing a map of the colony that he'd printed off, as well as what he'd remembered of the admiral's and the captain's earlier responses to the questions regarding the overall situation that he'd written down shortly thereafter.

[riariadne]

12:27 showed the clock- Dwight had plenty of years of training to be on time, though having been away from the military life lead to him not being quite as early as he'd liked. He had been satisfied with the way most questions were asked earlier, and still trusted in Alphonse's judgement. "We're all set from what I can tell, Captain. And I'm pleased that most everyone is here by now," he observed. "Hopefully with time, that can be said of everyone. Regardless, whenever you're ready, I am as well." He gave a brief salute.

[Xinnidy]

Roxanna almost wished she didn't ask. The pipsqueak had quite an order for the engineers, and Roxanna had to stay with them to make sure. A check up before moving into the Riese, then another inside, then another... Including the spare ones. That's a bit much... Roxanna didn't have to do anything but supervise and make sure everything went fine, but it was more tedious than anything. At least, she wasn't working her butt off, even feeling a little bad for the engineers, though only for a moment. By the time they were done, Jessica still had the idea to check if the ship was indeed airtight. Oh, please. As the chance provided itself, Roxanna sneaked back to her quarters, deciding to leave the captain to her paranoia and catch a short break.

---

Meeting

12:35.

Once Roxanna stepped into the meeting room, she quickly realized she was nearly dead last. "Oh." Was she really that bad at this? Well, she was still on time, and she was never the problem back when she was the captain, she was sure of it! It wouldn't be good to think too much about it, anyways. Deciding it wasn't a good time to add a word, she took a seat next to the captain's.

[scorri]

Astin had been inspecting their room after calling their family and was quite pleased with the result. The bed was nice, but even nicer was the rather large beanbag in one corner, and the various swords hung up on the wall. They'd flopped down on the beanbag and ended up just zoning out staring up at the ceiling. The next thing they knew, they were waking up and it was 12:30. Crap. Quickly getting up, they headed out of their room and started towards the meeting room. After having managed to get lost twice, they finally arrived in the hallway just in time to see Roxanna head into the room. Well maybe I won't be late if the XO is just getting here... Heading into the room, they quickly realized that they were in fact the last one there. Blushing slightly, they headed towards an empty seat a bit away from the others, where they sat and fiddled with the pin on their coat.

[Nanami Touko]

Details

Everyone else started to file in, one by one. Seung-Min, Bruno, Mateus, Thorvald... Dwight and Roxanna. The clock was getting on in minutes, and she really wanted to start the meeting, but their last member wasn't there yet. Roxanna sat down, and Jess opened her mouth to get started-- luckily, Astin slipped in at the last moment, relieving Jess of one small worry (the others were being overshadowed by Roxanna sitting so close to her, anyway). No matter! This was what she was best at. Talking about things she knew! She was ready for this one, and everything was going to go fine. She took a deep breath, and focused.

"Alright... If you would all direct your attention to the monitor behind me; in front of me-- whichever one is best for your field of view--" Jessica pulled out a small remote and pressed a button, the four walls of the room lighting up with displays, pictures, and some diagrams. She had been getting this information compiled concisely ever since she'd made sure the ship was ready to go. It was only an hour's worth of set up, but she hoped it would do the trick. The lights dimmed.

On screen, the colony-- a large cylinder in space --sat spinning slowly, like nothing was wrong. "This is Colony 1. It houses our deep space travel tech and the engineers and personnel that work on creating and assembling it. They are the ones responsible for the ships that made it to Mars, and the anti-gravity drives on our Kraken and Leviathan class ships-- even the Riese's. Currently," she paused for a moment to press her button again, the slide changing to multiple screenshots of mechs. They were small on the image, but with the training mission so fresh in their minds, they could definitely make out a few Heracles.

"Currently, the rebels are occupying the colony, with small scouting groups making patrols around its airspace. We haven't gotten visuals from inside of the colony yet, but outside we've confirmed that they have a healthy supply of Heracles class mechs, equipped for space combat, and a large supply of the Prioxis model space fighter. This isn't something we see often, and it does confirm one suspicion: these rebels are most likely working for, or with, Apotheosis." It felt silly to talk about that group under the circumstances, but it made sense.

"Feasibly, taking an entire colony would be impossible without advanced tech and aid from another group, and the Prioxis, while obtainable, is not something you'd see in such bulk. It's the signature fighter that we have records of Apotheosis using for infiltration missions, both the space and air variant. While I'd like to believe that a phantom group is not involved in this," the implications being rather dire, "that seems to be the case, and we must take extra caution when entering the colony's space."

"But, I'm getting ahead of myself." She pressed her switch again, the mech images focusing in and displaying a Heracles and Prioxis in detail. "You all know about the Heracles, or I hope you got enough of a glimpse from our unknown yesterday. As far as combat goes, they're strictly worse than the ANF Velite Mk.II, though they do have some superior qualities. Their armor is a bit thicker, mostly on the joints, and their generator produces more energy, though it is more volatile. They're close up fighters, and rebels typically lack the firepower for sustained range combat. Try to pick them off before they get close. They have one thing that is a danger to your mechs."

The picture of the Heracles zoomed into its right hand, focusing and sharpening. "This is the Vx.17 Plasma Buckler. It concentrates that volatile energy into a concentrated burst coming from the three holes on the fist, tearing through metal and causing large amounts of damage. Dodge, or avoid getting close enough for their use."

The image went away, and the monitors focused onto the Prioxis this time, once again zooming in and sharpening. "Compared to our Accensus, the Prioxis is a bit more bulky, though it doesn't share the same mobility. Nevertheless, these are the space models, and are equipped with thrusters suited for zero gravity environments. Lieutenant Abrams, while we can outfit your craft to fly in space, these things will be much more agile compared to yours. They can turn on a dime, roll near instantly, and move in whatever direction they feel. While you will be faster, they will outmaneuver you. Be careful-- this goes for everyone."

She clicked again, the monitors turned off, the lights came back on, and she sighed-- heavily. It was the real deal, so it was so stressful, but just like during class time, she'd managed to give a debriefing without messing up once. That was bringing her confidence back. "The plan is to paint our mechs, intercept one of their scout patrols and capture a pilot-- alive--, interrogate them for the radio codes and any other important information, then get as close as we can to the colony before the alarm is raised. Once it has been-- as we expect it to do, we will push full bore towards it and get inside as quickly as possible, taking down any rebels we come across. We have to act quickly; once we're inside, we take out any rebels as safely as possible and try to find where they have the hostages held... I can only hope they're still alive when we find them."

Jess shivered, visibly. That weight had come back, despite her confidence. Human lives were at stake, here. "A-Any questions?" Almost instantly, her professional persona had shut off, nearly shrinking on the spot. Q&A was always difficult, even in class...