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

[scorri]

Astin glanced over at the girl before the launch started, but stayed quiet until after the launch. After they reached the point where the artificial gravity settled in, they shook their head slightly and then smiled at her. "Sorry I just... I've never done that before. Well... simulation but that hardly counts. Uhm, I'm Astin. My robot is the one with uh... no guns." They turned and faced the window that looked out over all the robots. "Mechanic, huh? That's pretty impressive. I've always thought that would be interesting but never really got the chance to get into it... I may end up asking you some about what you're doing though. If that's ok?"

[Ether]

Thorvald had taken a moment to perform what was basically a do-over on Jessica's speech, after the Captain had left for the bridge. While Seung-Min could appreciate the sentiment behind what the Captain had said, the Specialist, now Squad Leader, was right in his approach to... fix it, a little. Jessica was certainly new to all this, it couldn't be denied, and Thorvald's more experienced approach would likely help with morale. Of course, in Kim's case, it wasn't strictly necessary. Already pumped up by a chance to redeem herself, and more than comfortable with the idea of space combat from simulations, she was feeling rather elated. All they needed to do was punch through some unsuspecting rebels, capturing what they could in the process. They may have had to endure radio silence for it, but Seung-Min was more than confident in her ability to properly assess and act upon whatever situations might come up in such a rudimentary mission.

Takeoff, however, was a slightly different story. They had undergone physical simulations of takeoff within the facility, but they didn't quite compare to the real thing. She was fully strapped in for the procedure, so it wasn't a problem perse, but the rush of g forces did catch her slightly off guard. It was more than the simulation had provided, at any rate. It only lasted a few moments, and soon Seung-Min was out of her secured seat and back in the artificial gravity of the ship, feeling no different from when they had been on Earth.

But what to do to pass the time? She wasn't particularly hungry, having eaten just before the meeting. For the time being, she supposed it would be best to simply head to her quarters, and double check that everything was in working order.

[riariadne]

Spaceflight was a familiarity to Dwight by now, the liftoff not terribly different from many that he'd been a part of before. Jess seeming more positive brought a smile to him as well- there was quite a level of difference between her when she was calm and collected, or a nervous wreck. "The ship will remain steadily on course, Captain," he acknowledged her, looking over the path carefully. Flight programs were generally advanced, but vigilance in case manual correction was required couldn't hurt.

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald had managed to catch up to Astin and give him a few quick words of reassurance, before making it up to the bridge just in time to get buckled in. He was initially disappointed when the shutters came down and the monitors lit up instead, but that brief letdown was quickly wiped away by the awe of the takeoff. The captain's incredibly elated demeanor actually put a full stop to any ideas Thorvald had been contemplating about confronting her over her method of motivation, no point in bringing down her morale before the big mission. That would be high priority once they returned successfully though.

As for Brant, well, he'd been struggling to think of what to say to him since leaving the meeting room, and whether anything even needed to be said. Perhaps it was best to just let things lie on that front for now. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to actually exchange words with the XO?

Thorvald stayed seated for a while, contemplating, in no hurry to leave the bridge, and contenting himself with watching the various officers do their business on the bridge.

[Phoenix]

It was Brant's first time ... on a warship's bridge, not blasting off into the unknown. He took in the scene for a moment, giving it his full attention as he imagined how things might look during a heated engagement out in space. He wanted to know what the captain and bridge staff would be dealing with from their own point of view during a dangerous mission. If nothing else, he could tailor any future advice he gave the captain a little better. There probably weren't many other ways to make use of the sights and sounds of the place.

He didn't have long to commit the bridge's atmosphere and layout to memory; it was time for launch. He strapped in and began to relax, thinking to some of his more turbulent takeoffs. He had gone to space before, and that launch had been memorable, but it was nothing compared to the personal thrill of blasting from a catapult at top speed in a craft that was solely under his control. That might explain why the captain seemed so excited as the ship began to point skyward. She was definitely in the zone, Brant realized. Somehow that made him feel safer despite what was about to happen. He let his muscles ease even further, practically melting into his seat just seconds before the Captain Gefalscht launched them into the heavens.

Suddenly, the Heion Riese blasted off. The forces the ship fought against to reach space were immense, but Brant didn't let his body fight back. The stronger g forces matched the speed of his fantasy craft as he let it carry him over a sea of clouds, climbing higher and higher. It was a short lived fantasy, and Brant slowly opened his eyes as the shift in gravity became more and more difficult to ignore. If he hadn't opened his eyes, it might have felt like a simulated takeoff. They could have still been on the earth for all he knew. The retreating shields dispelled any doubts he would have had, though. They were in space. Earth could be a cruel mistress ... but space was far worse, almost sadistic in her quest to isolate all things.

"Hello darkness, my old friend," Brant smiled as he began to unbuckle himself. "Wait up," he called after the captain as she made for the elevator. As he past Thorvald on his way after her, he quietly said, "She's a pretty good pilot~"

Brant caught up as the captain entered the elevator. "You really enjoyed that," he smiled. It wasn't a question. Suddenly aware of his ponytail, which was only really meant for the meeting with the Admiral, Brant plucked out the tie holding most of his hair back, letting it fall to its usual place.

[Nanami Touko]

Take Pleasure in Your Work

"D-Did I?" As Brant caught up to her and let down his luscious locks are you really allowed to have that much ha-- uh, his ponytail, he accused Jess of enjoying take off. Thinking back on it, yeah, she did. "It went perfectly, and for some reason, Space feels safe to me. I've never been in it, but I get this... Incredibly nostalgic feeling. Isn't that weird? Maybe my adrenaline's still going from the take off, who knows..." The statement made her smile, knowing she could still do something properly. "You're right. I really did enjoy that... I guess, after all my failures so far, doing something important so well, really set my spirits higher. Gonna be happy for a bit-- until I mess up the next thing, of course." She laughed at herself, finally able to poke fun at things without getting depressed over them-- for now. The high would last a bit.

"Was there anything else you wanted, Brant? I was going to retire to my cabin to read for a bit, until we arrive at our destination or I'm needed. You should explore the ship; familiarize yourself with the layout. There's plenty on it, it's so big, after all... I think we even have a pool, huh. Maybe I can soak there, later... Anyway!" That was a thought for another time. "Take your pick."

She stepped onto the elevator and pressed down, giving Brant a moment to follow after her or stay where he was.

Smooth Ascent

Avery laughed as the pressure from the launch faded, yelling out a fairly hardy "Woo!" along with it. "That never gets old! This's th'fourth time I' been launched into space and it's always a blast! Ain't no theme park ride ever gonna one up this~" She unstrapped herself and chuckled again, still shaking a bit from the whole experience. It was nearly euphoric for her. "Astin, huh? Oh, you're the one without any guns! That's crazy, haha. Yer crazy~" Avery gently punched Astin's arm while she laughed, not judging them, but finding it hella amusing. "Hey, whatever floats for ye! Sounds like y'all did well during yer test, so, ain't a problem by me. Sure, ye can ask whatever ye want 'bout my mechs and what I'm workin' on." Except for one thing, of course.

Avery headed out of the side room, stretching and smiling wide. "Well! First thang's first! That Brant wanted some funnels fer his plane, an' I'd love to tinker with some TK weapons. Y'all free to watch, Astin! Just gotta... Well, actually, it ain't gonna be that easy..." Avery suddenly put her hand on her chin, going over schematics and plans in her head, that happy from moments ago on pause. "I gotta calibrate one o' them darn TK thingers to match with his wavelength, strap it inside, make th'gun's balance enough that it ain't gonna fly back once the beam fire an' he can use it in the atmosphere... Can't test that 'till i get back down, though... Crap." Maybe this was more of an ordeal than she'd thought it was going to be.

Test

An apple, a coffee, and a yawn. Cheryl stepped out from behind the counter in the cafeteria and cracked her neck. The launch had gone well, despite the new blood... It wasn't exactly a surprise; it was hard to mess up a launch with all the tech aiding you. Still, no mistakes was a good feeling. Cheryl figured it wouldn't be long until all the strapped in people started to slip into here to either get something to eat, something to drink, or just relax. Lo and behold, there was the first of the caravan, though not who she'd been expected. "That's..." He's that Tarquin kid, right? Some... Young pilot prodigy? Something like that. Hmm. She leaned onto the counter and started at him, sizing him up. "He's pretty small," she said to no one in particular, wondering if his body could handle the strain of piloting. "Wonder if he's ever taken a big hit from an enemy robot before... Well, he wouldn't be here if he couldn't handle the physicals in simulations, right? Guess that answers that." She took a bite of her apple and kept staring.

Order of Operations

The bridge was rather quiet after the successful take off, a few of the crew smiling and talking to each other. But there seemed to be one individual who was taking things a bit more seriously than the rest, issuing out a few orders and making sure things were okay. He stopped with a sigh, and made his way over to Dwight, up near the captain's terminal. "Mr. Turner, Ensign Calvin reporting... Everything seems to be fine with the ship's systems, and we're cruising properly on course to the designated meeting zone with Captain Miller. Are there any further orders?"

Ensign Tristan Calvin, main gunner of the Heion Riese. Twenty seven years old and already having served on two other spaceships, though they were Kraken class, thus, much smaller. He'd been picked for the Riese as the main gunner because of his sense of duty on board ships, and his accurate skills with aiming and working the guns. Though, to poor Tristan, sometimes he felt he was picking up after their new Captain as she went, rather than performing his regular duties. She really should be checking on things before leaving the Bridge... Even if things are fine after launch. Still, she was new, and as long as these habits didn't persist, he wouldn't hold it against her.

[Shin]

Get Lunched

It was strange, sitting in the middle of the cafeteria. Perhaps even a little pleasant, he'd always been forced to find a corner for himself, the freedom came as a new experience to Tarquin. It only had to be his for a little while, his peace would inevitably come to an end. It took a few moments for him to notice Cheryl, he hadn't anticipated anyone else to be there, although thinking about it, it was probably somewhere around lunchtime. She wasn't one of the command staff, or a pilot, she was probably one of the domestics.

Tarquin turned his head to get a better look at her, rather perplexed to see that she appeared to be watching him? Was he too early, or had he sat in the wrong place? Then again, there were unlikely to be many children aboard the ship, if any, especially in uniform. He looked down at his hands again, he couldn't pretend to be doing anything, there wasn't a book or a distraction in sight. He'd have to strike up conversation, otherwise he'd have to sit there awkwardly. Making a brave face, Tarquin stood himself up, walking towards the counter and preparing himself mentally.

"You... uh..." he began only to trail off into nothingness. Why was he doing this? He had no idea how to talk to a lunch-lady, he wasn't sure if they could even read. His youth had been so much easier, instructions were far simpler to deal with. "Do you have menus?"

For a boy with an IQ in excess of 150, he hadn't really found the solution he was looking for. Was there really nobody he could start a proper conversation with? Bruno's terraforming or even Mateus' bizarre football obsession would have been better than this.

--

Scrubscription

The Heion Riese, a marvel in modern technology, featuring weapons and computer systems at the cutting edge of the war development race... as well enough floor space to send an industrial floor sweeper to the grave. The great wars and battles of the world's nations were all well and good, but those were things for people who wiped out armies to deal with. The only things Bill wiped out were stains, smudges and occasionally his bank account's overdraft limit. Still, it wasn't all bad. A stable income, a comfortable place to work and live, even free trips into space!

It hadn't been long since take-off, but Bill had decided to put a few finishing touches on the crew quarter corridors. Everyone was up and about elsewhere, it meant that he had a little time to get some work in. Of course, safety was key. Even in this day and age, wet floor signs never went a miss. With his bucket down and a mop in hand, Bill had begun his campaign of cleanliness.

Much to his surprise, one of the crew had made her way down. She must have been in her teens, quite the looker too, probably would have been on the front of some magazine if she wasn't floating around in space. Something about the girl seemed familiar, Bill had seen her somewhere else before, he couldn't quite remember where though.

"Mind your anchors, little miss. This floor's slippier than a jack rabbit on ice skates." he warned jovially, pointing to the wet floor signs. "Don't mind me, just one of the garbos, these floors can't quite keep themselves clean quite yet. Good thing too, I'd be out of a job otherwise!"

Edited July 13, 2016 by Shin

[Dandragon]

Elaine rushed into the hangar, eager to set everything up with her Legionary, possibly tinker with the Gauss Rifle. She looked around, trying to spot a free engineer to talk to about this, when her eyes focused on Astin, of all people, with a pink haired mechanic. At least, she assumed she was a mechanic.. A familiar face was welcome to her, especially one that she hasn't blabbered her past to. "

"Yo! Astin!" She said, jogging up to him. "What's up? You here to get something messed with, too?"

[Ether]

Seung-Min had already noticed the wet sheen of the water on the floor before she had stepped into the area, but the warning was appreciated nonetheless. Looking over to the source of a voice, she saw a rather average looking man tending to the floors, appearing rather uplifted over the whole thing.

"Thank... for warning. Will careful." Kim replied, giving the man a small smile as she slowed her pace. In all likelihood, she was balanced enough to not slip in any case, but it didn't hurt to be cautious... she was in no hurry, after all.

"Probably... not for a while. Self-cleaning... expensive to develop... not better than workers. Job... safe."

[Shin]

"Too right, hopefully I'll be using a cane instead of a mop before that happens." Bill replied, leaning on his mop. Perhaps he was just imagining things? He couldn't think of where he'd seen her before, she probably had a doppelganger out there. Must have been an uncanny resemblance though, it was still niggling at the back of his head. "I don't think any of us can count our chickens just yet, half the ship could probably be worked by computers one day. Don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but I think the personal approach is the best. Wouldn't want to come a gutser and have a wonky wire be the cause of it all!"

Bill pushed his mop forward, giving a patch of the floor a good wipe. "Hope you have a corker whilst you're aboard, probably got better things to do than talk to an ocker like me!" he laughed, admiring the spot on the floor. "Wonder if I can bug the captain to get people to wear slippers indoors, I heard that out east the folks do it! Must save big bikkies in the long run!"

[Ether]

"Could, but would... make job crisis. Government... would have do something." Seung-Min replied, thinking it over. If too few people were to be employed, the government would lose out on tax as well, so it really was a lose-lose for them. That sort of economic pressure generally forced hopeful opportunistic companies in line. Of course, the man's feelings were another thing entirely... she wrestled for a moment over confirming the feeling of familiarity he was radiating, but decided against it. It wasn't really a relevant thing, after all.

"Good day... you as well."

[Shin]

"An a G'Day to you too, miss." he replied, amused by her interpretation. "I'll be around if you need me, unless they find a calculator who can push a broom."

Giving a playful salute, Bill let Kim pass, still not certain where he'd seen her before. Her English wasn't fantastic, so it wasn't like he'd seen her on TV. Maybe she just had one of those faces? It was a fairly fortunate face to have, Bill expected she had more than a few dogs chasing her. He didn't know what she did, or even her name, but Bill had a good feeling about her. If she hadn't done something spectacular yet, then it was sure to follow soon. The day was just getting better by the minute, maybe he'd even be lucky enough to check for a fresh pair of gloves in the cleaning supply room!

[scorri]

Astin followed after Avery, only half posing attention to the second half of her talk, focused on something that had almost skipped past them... Something in the way they had been talking about the questions... It hit them and they were about to speak up when Elaine showed up. Tucking it away for later, Astin shrugged. "Not really. I just... Down here seemed like a better place to be for the launch I guess. And then Avery was telling me about her work and how she might show me some of what she does. I don't know a whole lot about mechanical stuff so..." Astin trailed off and glanced over at Avery before suddenly blushing softly. "Oh I'm an idiot. You... you said you were good with mechanic stuff. You and Avery should talk..."

[Ether]

Returning the janitor's salute, it had been playful in nature but there was no harm to it, Seung-Min continued on her way, reaching her quarters after a few moments. Stepping inside, she gave the room another quick once-over. It was a perfectly functional space, with a few instruments lined up... well, it couldn't hurt to get a little practice in...

Sitting herself down in front of the piano, and giving her knuckles a quick crack before beginning, Kim began to play, though rather directionless to begin with.

[Dandragon]

Elaine raised her eye-brow at Astin, then looked over to the pink haired mechanic. "Something wrong? If there's a problem, I'd be happy to help."

[charlie_]

"Yes... sir?" Mateus wasn't quite sure what he should be calling Thorvald at this point, but it seemed fitting enough. With all things said and done, Mateus hurried to the hangar and quickly strapped in for take off. It was... kind of a weird feeling, moving into space, but not an unpleasant one. Still, his legs welcomed the artificial gravity, making the ship around him feel more familliar (even though it really wasn't).

He had no idea what to do now though. Football in space was probably not that great and he didn't feel the urge to return to his room for the time being, so instead he just wandered the ship for a short while and found himself at the bridge, staring out into the endless black void. Most of the people there were probably busy doing important ship related things he didn't understand, but it seemed like Thorvald wasn't really busy either.

"It's really weird here." he said as he approached, glancing past Thorvald into the distant reaches of space. "I kinda thought something crazy would happen when we left the planet, but now that we're here it's just kind of... I dunno." He didn't want to say average or empty because it clearly wasn't, but at the same time it was kind of what he meant? "I guess it still just seems like everything out there's really far away." He chuckled awkwardly, not sure if he was making any sense. Space was really weird.

[Phoenix]

Space could be pretty polarizing, Brant thought, like spiders. "Space," he shrugged as he entered the elevator, "love it or hate it. I don't really think it's weird. But about what comes next ..." Brant's face grew more serious, though he was still speaking more or less casually. "Let the younger, less experienced you worry about messing things up. You just figure out what to do when the time comes." And like magic his smile had returned. "You can leave the rest to the team, of course."

It wouldn't do to keep Jessica captive after a successful launch or inadvertently rain on her parade, and she'd gotten Brant thinking about how he'd actually be spending what free time he had between now and the rendezvous. His options were somewhat limited until he finished setting up his computer, but he would have rather been moving about the ship, anyway. His alpha tool had been scanning the walls and creating a primitive 3D render of the areas he'd been in since boarding, and it obviously wasn't going to be able to finish unless Brant did a bit of exploring. "Sure," he nodded, "I'll have a look around and then finish setting up my room if there's time before the mission."

[Nanami Touko]

Previously

Jess wondering about Brant. Sure, he was this, friendly and attractive you stop that, Jess, pilot, who seemed to have her best interests in mind. But she wondered how he knew so much about all of this... His file hadn't mentioned much about his past. "You've done this before, haven't you? With someone else. The coaching." She smiled, though there was a hint of... envy, at the edge of her lips. It left quickly. "I'll leave what I can to the team, and do my best to handle giving out orders... Though, with how these next two engagements are going to go, I won't be giving that many. Hopefully. We'll see."

She'd said hopefully because, if things didn't go well, they'd have to try and get the Riese inside the colony. Without personal to open the blast doors, that'd mean blowing through the port, and busting the integrity of the colony. The stable environment would be introduced to the harsh environment of space, and all the oxygen would suck itself out... Which meant awful things for the remaining hostages.

Why did it always get grim, thinking about this sort of stuff? That was a quick way to ruin a mood, so she had to stop thinking about it! Everything was going to go fine. "Have fun looking around the ship, Brant. The staff knows the ins and outs of it, so if you get lost, find someone wandering the halls and ask where your destination lies. Your room should be fine, but it would be good to check and make sure the stasis turned on when we took off!" With that said, she let the elevator close and went down a floor, making her way to the central elevators to the other decks, and heaving out a sigh. "I really should not get too friendly with him... Haha, Hoo, boy." Jess tugged idly at the collar of her uniform and headed towards the cabins.

Lunch Lady

"Hah," Cheryl scoffed. "Do I look like a cook?" she finished with an amused smile. "Though, I guess with the culinary skills on the rest of this ship, I'm the best for the job. We don't have a menu, but what would you like? Cooking and talking isn't very hard." She set her apple aside and downed her coffee, sighing after the cup was empty. "Never big enough, these things..." She moved back behind the counter and waved Tarquin to follow. "You're allowed back here; you're crew. We don't have a chef hired because the military, the good ol' ANF assumes that all of you-- the adults, at least," she said with a smirk, "can manage to make food for yourself while on assignment. So we've got a pretty healthy stock of whatever the hell you want."

She turned on a burner and eyed Tarquin again. "Tarquin, right? Your file's rather sparse. Care to share how someone so young came to be one of the top choices for the ANF to field for a new ship? Your results prove you aren't here on some rich politician's whims, but still... It's curious."

Connect the Red Wire Here...

Avery zoned back into the conversation, nabbing Astin by the arm and dragging them over to the current goings on. "Naw! You come too! Y'all said you wanted to ask questions; ask while I'm slapping metal together. Gotta make sure it's all balanced right, can't just put a laser on top of one o' them discs an' hope it all works right once we're outta space. Elaine, right?" she asked, turning attention to the new girl. "You can watch too, iffin ye want! Come on over, both'a ya!"

She let go of Astin so they could walk on their own, heading over to the back of the hangar. There were racks with mech sized weapons on them, some folding mechanical arms lined up on the wall. She hollered at some of the boys to help her get a few excess rifles down, and one of those Ripper sets. Then she took over and started puzzling stuff out. "See! The prahblem's that I dunno how much of a strain usin' yer brain t'move this stuff around really is. I figure, tossin' discs at somethin' an' lettin' 'em explode ain't gonna be too much effort. That Kim girl didn't seem t'have much trouble doin' it durin' yer trainin'. But, keepin' a gun steady, firin' it, and returning it to the ship? That don't sound like no walk in the park. So it's gotta be light enough that it can fly about without strainin' the pilot while they're-- well I mean he's flyin' a plane. And! They gotta be balanced properly that the ol' energy blast don' toss it outta sync and send it spiralin' down to th'ground! First thang's first, though..."

She started working the arms on the wall down to the weapons, cutting and tearing out the T-Link inside the ripper's frame. "Gotta get this thing strapped and integrated to the rifles. Y'all can suggest anythin' iffin it comes to ye."

Music to my Ears

About to step into her cabin, Jess heard the unmistakable noise of a piano being played... Had one of the crew brought a piano on board? That seemed like a rather extraneous item, but... Well, it sounded nice. "Whose room is that..." It was Seung-Min's. Huh. She had been a part of an idol group, maybe she'd picked up the instrument from there? Jess walked up to her door for a moment and listened, before gently knocking. "Lieutenant?" she paused for a moment, donning a silly grin, "this is your Captain speaking. How was the launch for you?" Considering she was playing piano in her cabin, she was probably fine. Still... It would do to check up on her.

[Ether]

Seung-Min barely heard the knock at the door, nor Jessica's announcement of her arrival, over her playing, but she managed to catch it, and along with the approaching feeling, and opened the automatic doors just as Jessica's hand pulled away from knocking, Kim's own fingers fluttering over the keys as she continued to play without pause.

"Launch fine... different from sim... more G's... no problems. Come in." She replied, turning her head to look over at the Captain, her hands moving instinctively to the correct keys despite not looking at the piano at all.

[scorri]

Astin let out a quiet little squeak when they were grabbed, but kind of just nodded as they were dragged along. "Uh... So this gun... They're just going to throw it out? I didn't realize that was how all that stuff worked... I mean... I know they can sense emotions and stuff but I didn't realize they could control things with their mind too. Uhm... Does the balance..." They glanced at the different rifles as well as the thing that Avery was pulling out of the ripper and trailed off. Staring at the whole thing in silence for a few seconds, they sighed and shook their head. "I mean, unless you could somehow put one on both wings to balance out the weight, but that still wouldn't fix the problem of actually having the weapon be too heavy for the mind. Maybe it doesn't need to be the whole gun? I mean... all you need is the firing bit and a place to store ammo to move? Somehow strip away some of the extra bits?"

[Juliette]

Rushing around the ship checking for repairs was exhausting for Juria. It took hours to get everything up to the captain's standards, and she found herself wanting to fall over by the time they were finished. Unfortunately, there was still takeoff, and she needed to be seated for that.

For Juria, it was her first time departing from Earth, though in a different sense from most others. Space was fun, but nothing exciting. "Hoped to see more," she spoke aloud to nobody in particular. "Earth planet has much real animals, but didn't get to see. Wanting to go back soon already when everything okay." Her usual chipper tone was lost, both due to how tired she was and her anxiety about the situation at the First Colony. As soon as she was free to move, she wandered to her room, collapsing onto her bed as soon as she could. She smiled when Reo leapt up to meet her, hugging the robot cat. "Much thanking, kind Reo friend."

Juria's room was chaos. Diagrams were everywhere, dozens of pieces of paper littered across the room- and that was mostly in the short time she'd been here. And ignoring when she used a tablet. There were two bookshelves lined up- one with actual books, and one completely filled with stuffed animals of all kinds. Perhaps surprisingly, the walls were plain, an ocean blue across them all with only a few notes. In a darker blue were two characters in the wall, 水島, for her last name. It was easy to miss that past her bed, a desk, some electronic devices, and the bookshelves, she actually had relatively little in the room- it was just dominated by cluttered pages everywhere.

Still, she was too tired to think of much of it. The captain mentioned they had about two hours, and she knew exactly how she wanted to spend hers.

[Dandragon]

Elaine looked on as the mechanic worked her best on the weapons for Brant's plane. " 'S a tall order for under two hours. No time for testing...Unless he wants to use the next fight as his little lab." She walked up to get a closer look at the mechanic's work. The entire time her mind racing. This was what she was good at, this was what she had been itching to do for a while now, but telekinetics were something she never built for. "...Why exactly do those guns need to be controlled telekinetically? We got targeting systems and rockets of several kinds. I figure if we try and forge a gun onto one of those things, all Brant has to do with his head is control when they fire." Elaine placed her hands in her pockets. "Instead of firing them at enemies, we just gotta make smaller plane-like objects to fly around his plane. I mean, if ya let me. I, uh...don't mean brag but you're looking at the top mechanic from Florence, Italy over here. I reckon with some assistance, we can whip us up something real quick." Was this her chance? Was this the thing she needed to prove herself? She hoped so.

[Nanami Touko]

Music to my Ears

"Oh!" Jess jumped back a bit as the door slid open so suddenly, Kim sitting there, casually continuing to play her piano. It would take great focus to do that, talk to someone, and look at them without stopping... But, Jess could do that while typing, so maybe it was just a similar skill. "What are you playing?" she asked, after being invited in. "Er, what song. I know you're playing the piano, haha..." Way to go, Jess... "Mostly I just stopped in because I didn't expect anyone to bring instruments-- let alone a piano, on board. I can't say it's a bad thing, though... I'll take it you play everything in here? Or are some of them just for show? The piano and the violin were placed to stand out the most, so Jess assumed those were in the repertoire of playing. "Oh, and..."

"I haven't had a moment to really congratulate you on your performance during the test. Not properly, anyway. Taking out an unknown like that during your first live flight test is astounding. And you did it so cleanly, too. Were it not for you and Elaine charging them, the longer the engagement went on, well... The less chances they had to act on their ambush, the better. As much as I wouldn't recommend the action again... The results were great. So thank you for performing so admirably." Jess smiled, offering a tiny little, friendly salute.

Design Decisions

"Naw, he don't need 'em right now. Just somethin' he asked about that I feel like fiddlin' with, for whenever I can get 'er done." Avery took Astin's suggestion to heart, chopping off the stock and grip without answering. "Yer right, no need to hold onto the extraneous bits iffin it's gonna be movin' on its own." The comment about weight on the wings and mind control stuff stuck with her tho', long enough to have to answer it, despite the concentrating. "Er, I'm puttin' two on it. Naht worried 'bout balancing 'em on the ship, just worried about gettin' them-- like, on Earth, right? Like, Brant ain't gonna have much trouble movin' this stuff in space. But like, in one o' them art-o-ficial gravity areas-- like the colony y'all goin' to --he's gon' need them light enough to move 'round without it puttin' strain on him."

"The movin' stuff with their brain stuff, that's 'cause of that there T-Link." She motioned towards the device that had been cut out and set aside for installation later. "Brant got one all setup in his plane, ready t'go whenever he's all good an' got somethin' to use with it. Basically-- or at least what I can get from them crazy brain folk, izzat their T-link in their plane sends signals and their Telekinetic energy over aaaa wavelength, or somethin', towards the receiver in the weapon. Lets it follow mental instructions an' move like what they want it to. 'Course, the heavier the object, the more concentration necessary to move it an' all. Like, these things, they ain't runnin' on propulsion or nothin'! 'S'all them brain waves or whatever-- I'm a mechanic, not a scientist."

That was Avery's understanding of how the funnels and similar weaponry functioned. So, it had to be balanced and light enough for Brant to not get a migraine in the middle of the battle.

Elaine's other suggestions were interesting, though not what Avery was looking for. "Might be interestin' for a more stationary model, but Brant's flyin' fast; don't suppose he's got time to remote control some drones manually. Wantin' his brain to control 'em, 'cause that means less work for his hands. Though, iffin ye wanna try an' whip somethin' up, miss mechanic of Florence," Avery said with a slight lilt and a smile, "ah'm sure some other pilot'd appreciate it... But, naw, I wanna make somethin' TK fer Brant. I mean, if ye don't use it, ye lose it, right? Trainin' his brain t'do TK stuff while faightin's just gonna make him stronger as a pilot, I reckon."

Edited July 14, 2016 by Melissa

[riariadne]

"Good work, Ensign." Dwight smiled, pleased with the younger man's sense of duty. "As long as everything is in order to continue on a normal flight plan, I have no further orders to add. You've done well so far, Tristan- I recommend using the downtime you have to relax a bit. There's plenty of time for that before we'll be meeting with Captain Miller, so try to make the most of it. I can handle anything that comes up for the time being."

[Dandragon]

Elaine nodded. "Well, if ya don't mind, I'd like to offer my help." While Elaine didn't have her personal set of tools with her, nor was she in her own workshop back in Florence, she knew this place would have more than enough replacements for such things. Plus, this would be a good learning experience, messing with TK links and all.