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

[Nanami Touko]

Social Cohesion

"Read very little? You? Colour me surprised, Tarquin." Cheryl smirked, glancing back at her room, before looking back at him. "Do you want advice from Cheryl, or Doctor Hart? You're free to come in, either way, but depending on what you want we could do this a few ways." It would be wrong to treat Tarquin like a child. While his socialization was that of a preteen, his mind was definitely more mature, and any attempts to deny him that would probably lead her nowhere. "Feel free to. I'll set the tea. How do you like yours? Or is that another thing you haven't had a lot of?" This was fun, in a way. She'd normally not get that attached to a child, but one that was as smart as him, but lacked nearly everything was... Endearing, in a way.

Doctor's Orders

Jess had never been in the infirmary since getting on board. She hadn't a need to, not until now. So being greeted with all of the tech and... Odd set up that Megumi had plastered around the place, well. It left her stunned, really. Especially the book corner... Why have so much on hardcover? It didn't make sense. Everyone read from their consoles nowadays anyway. Maybe it was a nostalgia thing? Jess didn't get it, but, it didn't exactly matter. They were there to make sure their latest guest didn't have a concussion and check to see if she was in the ANF registry, anywhere.

"That should be fine, Thorvald," Jess said, dropping the titles for now. She was a bit tired of the normal military routine, right now. "I'll see what I can get out of her, you two are free to ask anything that comes to mind. I doubt I'll be able to cover everything, so, it's good to have some other minds hanging around. Oh, doctor, you can ask anything you want to, as well. It might be good to get a medical mind in on this."

Things seemed to be going fine, but as soon as Megumi reached her console, Christina's worry spiked again. She took a breath, glanced up at Brant, and-- "I'm sorry Brant," shoved off of him. With her having passed out just a few moments ago, things were sluggish to get moving, but she couldn't-- not after everything-- "get away from that!" She barked her order at Megumi, scrambling towards her to try and grab her or hold her up from it.

Jess didn't react the best. Not expecting something like that from someone to timid, her reactions were stalled, as her brain tried to process what she should do. It was a bit late for her to reach out and grab the girl, but her body at least reacted before her mind made a decision, lunging after her and managing to catch Christina's leg with her foot.

The girl tripped to the floor, collapsing a few feet from Megumi, Jess herself stumbling forward some, wide eyed, staring at her for another moment. "Uhhh, I-I... What..." It seemed her regular stammering had returned as she tried to decide what to do.

Christina wasn't going to wait, trying to drag herself up. Maybe she did have a concussion, everything was starting to get swirly, though that once again may have been the sudden movement after having just woken up. "D-Don't... Look me up, p-please..."

Edited August 20, 2016 by Narmaya

[Phoenix]

Again Megumi flinched, just barely managing to subdue her combat instincts, as Christina rushed at her. Brant was only able to stagger after the fearful pilot, but didn't move to restrain her just yet. He might have if she'd continued closing in on the doctor, but now she was simply pleading, the captain's maneuver having apparently taken some of the fight out of her.

Megumi's eyes narrowed as she turned to face the girl. She read Christina's expression and desperation, trying to put together the pieces before asking the question. At the very least, the doctor knew one thing for certain. Christina was already in the ANF database. "Why not? Would you prefer to tell us who you are or let us pull that information, ourselves?" Despite the sudden outburst, or perhaps because of it, Megumi stepped away from the screen on the wall and retrieved a scanner. It greatly resembled a crash helmet, but gave off a soft hum as it came to life. Indicator lights flared on at key points across its exterior. Save for one blue light at the device's front and center, which denoted power, the indicator lights were all green. "Put this on," Megumi said. It wasn't a request.

Brant frowned as he reached down to try and help Christina up so she could receive the scan, hoping things wouldn't escalate again. He wanted to thank the Captain for intercepting their prisoner before things got truly violent, but the time and place were just ... wrong. He'd do it later, he promised himself.

[MechanicalBull]

Talog watched the captain go thoughtfully.

Huh. For a captain, she seemed remarkably concerned about destroying the enemy.

Talog had never had a problem with it. War was war. People fought and they killed and they died, and none of it needed forgiveness or apology. Seemed a bit odd to become a captain, should one not wish to fight. She gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. Maybe she'd harden up.

Ah, well. She had to change and start putting her mech back together. She had a proposal for the head engineer to say as well, since it felt rather silly they'd cut off their own communications for that battle.

She headed down to her room briefly. Her weights were still in their bag, her cactus was placed on the empty desk, and the bed was untouched.

She tossed her flight suit in the laundry and put on some clean trousers. No point something over the tank top, it'd just get greasy.

That done, she headed down to the hangar via the lifts.

Edited August 20, 2016 by MechanicalBull

[Shin]

"It's not normally a topic that interests me too much, Doctor Hart." he replied, making his answer very clear. "I don't mind how the tea is, I'm not allowed sugar though." He'd never really asked why, but then again, he had no reason to queston anything that was provided for him... he just did as he was told. It barely even occured to him that he had preferences for things at times. Stepping into the room obediently, Tarquin took a seat.

There was a striking parallel to his upbringing in the lab. He remembered it clearly, he was perhaps only nine or ten years old. He'd be marched to an interview room, asked a series of questions and then measured and scanned, only to be taken back to his "room". The opportunities to ask questions nearly arose, mostly because his entire world had been contained within a single facility. Back then he thought he knew the entire world, and now he was travelling beyond it. There were more choices for him to make, but at the same time, there were some that he didn't want to make. Why had he come to see Doctor Hart, was it just to find a solution to his problems? If anything, Elaine should be the one looking to fix things, she was the one who was wrong.

Escaping his train of thought for the time being, Tarquin sat ready to explain the situation. "Doctor Hart, there's another pilot I take issue with. Hedrick." he began. "She's aggressive and rude... and her piloting is questionable. I know that she's part of the team, but after our first exercise she snapped at me. If the Captain hadn't intervened, I'm sure she would have punched me."

[Nanami Touko]

Restraint

Christina didn't respond, letting Brant help her to her feet. She didn't want to tell them who she was, not one bit. But, there was no getting around things. Megumi produced an MRI scanner, Christina no longer fighting her as she slipped it around her head.

Jess felt a bit embarrassed. She'd succeeded, sure, but that had just been an automatic response, nothing thought out, and she even froze afterwards instead of trying to secure the captive. Had they been any more determined than they were, Megumi might've been hurt, or worse. She didn't want to think about that, but... Why do I get stuck on these sorts of things? Why? During the test, now, ugh... Jess put a hand on her face, looking through her fingers to watch the three work.

"Just don't look me up... Please. I'll tell you whatever you want to hear; the rebels, apotheosis, the colony... Everything I know, just..." Christina mumbled out of her scanner, wondering if anything would stop the good doctor, at this point.

"Do it, Megumi," Jess piped in, Christina visible flinching. "You've been compliant so far, and I'll be happy to hear everything you have to say about those subjects... But if you're in the system, and it's this important, then we can't just ignore it. I'm sorry."

The girl's shoulders sank.

And How Does That Make You Feel?

"It might be something worth looking into, considering your position on the ship. A crew has to function, after all. I don't know how well you do, but friends on the battlefield are never a bad thing." Until one of them gets shot down, but... Covering your back until then is fairly useful. "One sugar, then," she said, dismissing his claims. Whoever his caretakers had been before had sheltered him far too much if he hadn't been allowed sugar, of all things.

Tarquin made himself comfortable on a nearby chair, as Cheryl made her way to a small wooden desk, turning on a kettle for their water. The room itself was far different from the rest of the ship, a red, patterned carpet on the floor, leather chair and couch, a reclining one for Cheryl to sit in. The walls were a burgundy, the room lit by one bright ceiling light. There was a bookshelf, sprawling, covering an entire wall, filled with medical journals and textbooks on the mind as well as the body. Cheryl had a desk in the corner with a computer on it, though it was off at the moment. It felt like an earth office, not a room on a ship, and that was better for most. It helped get out of that military mindset.

"Hedrick... That's Elaine, right?" she asked, taking a seat on the edge of her chair, not relaxing until the kettle had clicked. Tarquin's issues with Elaine made Elaine sound like a rather awful pilot, but Cheryl knew better. She'd read the files of everyone on board, after all. While Elaine wasn't exactly exemplary in her statistics, she was by no means awful. Her attitude was an issue, but that seemed more due to her history than anything else. Hmm. "Can you think of anything that might've happened to upset her like that? Seems it would take a bit for someone to snap... Maybe her piloting wasn't up to snuff during the test, or she'd missed a fairly easy shot. I'm glad the captain intervened, we don't need you all beating each other up." Cheryl had an idea of what had happened, but accusing Tarquin without having him realize it for himself would go over poorly.

[Dandragon]

Elaine tapped her foot impatiently. She hated elevators. They always took the longest and someone was always using them. Either that, or they were broken and the buttons wouldn't work and you were stuck there with no way because some asshole thought it a great idea to not even put emergency stairs. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with stairs? They were fully functional, didn't require buttons, and they only broken if they were old or if someone did it on purpose. But somebody wanted to be lazy and didn't want to walk as much, so they created elevators. God dammit, why was it taking so long!?! OK, maybe it wasn't taking that long, but Elaine was impatient as much as she was tech savvy. What's more, she didn't even have her music device on her, but that's because the stupid suit didn't even have pockets. Who DOES that? Who the heck makes an article of clothing without po-

The elevator had finally opened up, and Elaine gave a sigh of relief and satisfaction, though it looked like she didn't need to use it after all. There was Kim standing in the doorway, dried blood all over her. Wait...BLOOD?! "Christ, Kim! What the hell happened?!"

Edited August 20, 2016 by Dandragon

[Balcerzak]

When the girl pushed away from Brant and bolted toward Rapunzel, Thorvald quickly dropped a hand to his sidearm, but as things played out it certainly wasn't needed. The captain had stuck out a quick leg and tripped the girl. Her initial effort thwarted, she slipped back to her previous mode of pleading and bargaining. Stepping into the room, he walked up behind Jess and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, as she'd started to look like she'd frozen up, second guessing herself.

"If I may be so bold, captain. Her identity can wait can't it? We have to keep our focus on the mission right now; can you think of anything there could possibly be in those files that would help defuse the situation at the colony? I know I can't, but being as you're higher up maybe you've got some reason to believe there is. If that's the case, I'll drop the objection, no questions asked. But if not, I gotta say that what we need right now is for her to cooperate and get us that intel and help us save as many lives as we can. Her family history, her criminal record, whatever it is might be on those files, she's probably blown it out of proportion anyway. I can get that, nobody likes big brother knowing everything about them, and we all have some embarrassing secrets somewhere. Are you sure this is our priority?"

[Ether]

As the elevator opened, Seung-Min was greeted by Elaine. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but in all the distractions from earlier, she had forgotten to clean the blood off from her... incident with the Mk III. And so, naturally, Elaine was a mix of surprised, confused, and concerned, and had already begun to question her on her condition.

"Am fine, knocked around bit during mission, delay nose bleed. Change in pressure, probably."

[MechanicalBull]

The lift over pinged open, and out strode Talog. She stopped and regarded the two.

One was covered in blood and looked unphased, the other looked rather worried.

"Am I interrupting something here...?" she said jokingly, an eyebrow raised.

Edited August 20, 2016 by MechanicalBull

[Nanami Touko]

Record

Thorvald brought up a good point... And it wasn't like there weren't others on board with a rather checkered past. Jess immediately thought about Elaine and figured that, if they weren't going to address that at all, then Christina could wait. It was obviously putting her through some stress, getting pushed into finding out. Jess sighed. Had that walk with their other captive bothered her so much that she was bullying someone who had already been through recent trauma?

"Alright," she managed, letting her hand down. "Megumi, check her head, and then we'll talk to her about what she knows... If it's causing her that much stress, we can find out her records after. But, Christina, I want you to know... You're making it plainly obvious that you're in the system. If you're a criminal, I'm not sure what you're hesitant about. You've already engaged the ANF's newest battleship and crew in live fire, so... It can't get much worse, can it?" That left the other option as... But Jess hadn't heard of any military personnel going missing recently.

Christina perked up a bit, but then sank again, as Jess pressed her more calmly about things. She did have something to lose from telling them, and that was her family's reputation, or whatever was left of it. She shivered, and sighed, sniffling back some more worries. "I'll tell you... Just... A-After, please? Not right away..."

That was a step forward. "Alright. Doc, do your magic." Jess smiled a bit. Depending on what Christina told them about the colony, they could actually pardon her actions, and legally. Considering she didn't actually hurt anyone, despite her affiliation with Apotheosis... Well, Jess would have to see, but she was sure High Commander Vance would be happy to have inside intel straight from the horse's mouth. Even if it'd take a bit to get Christina back to Earth.

Edited August 20, 2016 by Narmaya

[riariadne]

The battle was over, and though it had started a bit rough, Dwight was pleased to see that Jessica and the crew adapted quickly into working together. He didn't speak up to the Captain, as the situation didn't quite look dire enough, though he did provide some defensive support for Lieutenant Kim. Afterwards, he took a few moments to assess the situation on the bridge. The crew that remained was working well and headed in the right direction, so after a brief check of the camera monitoring, Dwight headed off towards the infirmary to speak with Jess.

"Captain, well done in the battle," he began, saluting. "We are proceeding with the route as planned to be ready in a timely manner." He nodded quickly to the other crew members as well, and though he didn't recognize the young captive woman, she seemed oddly familiar. "Hmm... deja vu, perhaps. Regardless, is there anything that needs attending to I can assist with, Captain?"

[Phoenix]

As far as Megumi could tell, a compromise would have been just fine; Christina's information didn't have to leave the infirmary anytime soon since it would be irrelevant to most of the crew. She would have suggested such a compromise eventually, but Thorvald convinced the captain to focus on the information they truly needed right now, intelligence on their enemies at Colony 1. Fortunately, this extra time seemed to placate their prisoner, and she promised to tell them who she was at a later time. That was good enough for now.

"If it's nothing major," Brant spoke up, "we don't have to spread your identity around," he offered. If she was going to tell them, great, he thought, but there was no need to take things any further than necessary. "Honestly as long as the captain knows, that's really all we need."

The scanner Megumi had retrieved had begun broadcasting its data. She could review the information on any console in the infirmary, and certain others around the ship, but she chose the nearby touchscreen she'd almost been jumped on for attempting to use, earlier. She stood slightly to the side of it as she pulled up the scanner's feed, just so Christina could clearly see what she was doing. Occasionally, indicator lights on the helmet would flicker or change color, from green to a somewhat concerning orange, but these were seldom and never lasted more than a second or two. The truly telling data was being displayed on the screen, and should have put everyone at ease.

Dwight arrived before the scan was finished, saluting Jessica and letting her know that they were making good time. Even more reason to get what they could out of Christina, forthwith. It would take even longer to get anything out of the boy. Megumi wasn't even confident she could drag anything out of him. There were two critical thresholds of fear and pain that had to be carefully considered when it came interrogation. The first, was the point at which the victim would tell you the truth in order to end their suffering, real or imagined. The second, was the point at which the victim would tell you anything in order to end their suffering, regardless of its validity. Reaching the first threshold without inadvertently crossing into the second was the trick to successfully prying information from the stubborn. Those who didn't at least value their own lives, however ... for them, these two thresholds practically overlapped, and they were by far the toughest to deal with. Getting around that kind of defense required things they just didn't have at their disposal right now.

All the results were now clearly visible on the monitor. "No real damage," Megumi noted, "no bleeding, and there doesn't seem to even be a concussion." She tapped a button on the screen and the scanner seemed to turn off. The blue light was the last one to go, and the humming grew quieter and quieter until it too was gone. The doctor stepped over and gently removed the scanner. "One more scan to do, but it looks like you're just having a rough day, so far." No one could argue with that. "How are you feeling?"

Edited August 21, 2016 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Rough Day

Dwight came in after Jess, the man near startling her with how suddenly he had appeared. Jess hadn't been expecting anyone, after all. "Dwight, hello... I suppose, since you're here, you can assist me by listening in to whatever Christina here has to say about who she is." With all the bluster, Jess was expecting her to be some high ranking military officer's daughter, but she seriously hadn't seen a Christina on any MIA lists for that... She could be lying about her name, but Brant would have said something-- probably. That aside, they had good news. Their new friend didn't have a concussion, or anything wrong in her head, which meant she was just incredibly tired. As they had hoped.

Christina herself was happy about the news, and happy about what Brant had said, hoping that the information didn't leave the room. Whoever the new face was, he seemed old, and that probably made him... Wait, she said Dwight? That would make him Dwight Turner, then... Her father had mentioned him a few times in the past, but she'd never met him. Fate sure has a weird way of pulling you around, doesn't it? She nodded at Megumi as she mentioned one more test, not bothering to ask what it was going to be, but... "You can... Look me up now, if you want, doctor." She ended up looking down at the floor, but she remained as stoic as possible. "It should be... I-It should be fine. If it stays between us, all..."

Jess tilted her head some. What changed? Huh... She didn't get it, but protesting wouldn't be a good idea now, would it? If Christina was suddenly up for filling in that blank last name, then, by all means.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Narmaya

[Phoenix]

"Telling us what you know about our targets would be more useful right now but I suppose we can do both," Megumi noted as she retrieved a second scanner. This one had a grip on it, as well as a small display just above said grip that faced toward the user's face when held at stomach height. In front of the grip and display was a plate-like fixture bent slightly inward at the sides to better conform to common body shapes. All in all, this scanner looked like a large pistol whose entire barrel was swapped for a radar dish with no feedhorn. It could take its most accurate readings when placed near a patient's torso or thigh, whichever was a better match.

Before doing the second scan, Megumi stepped back over to the touchscreen and with her free hand, quickly pulled up a search menu. She received a prompt, a request to input some kind of data, and then a puff of air shot out from a nearby machine protruding from the wall. Megumi reached over and placed the cylinder from earlier into a slot that was just the right shape for it. The machine ate the little cylinder and a single profile appeared less than five seconds later.

Megumi opened the profile and approached Christina. The screen was big enough to read from a distance, and most of the details were in plain view. She could handle the scan at the same time. "Christina Troy," she said, placing slightly more emphasis on the surname they'd been so patiently waiting for. The scanner came to life. It was practically silent compared to the MRI scanner, and save for the display and one blue indicator light at the interior center of the dish, there weren't any other ways to tell it was active at a glance. Other details about Christina had shown up. She was nineteen years old, same as the captain, which was interesting, but not all that surprising. There was other basic information, sex, height, weight, measurements, hair color, eye color, and blood type, but what really got Megumi's attention was Miss Troy's late father. "Wasn't Frederick Troy once the CEO of the Colonial Institute?" she asked no one in particular as she held the scanner just inches from her patient's stomach.

The Colonial Institute? Right, the ones who started these T-Link shenanigans, Brant reminded himself. He wasn't one for keeping track of specific bigwigs, especially deceased ones. He was more interested in the technology itself, with a few exceptions. If Christina was the late CEO's daughter, then he could understand why she wouldn't want it getting out that said daughter had joined the rebels holding Colony 1. Having engaged the ANF directly wasn't helping matters either, but at least she hadn't actually harmed anyone. It wasn't all bad, just a little worrisome.

"I believe you're in luck," Megumi said, almost smiling but not quite pulling one off, "this is interesting but nothing to announce to the whole ship, and I doubt it will affect the mission in the slightest." That was the Captain's call, but they had far greater concerns than the Troy family's reputation.

[Nanami Touko]

Reputation

Christina only had a few moments to think about the scanner being aimed at her stomach before all of her details-- literally every single personal one, came up on the screen Megumi was viewing. There were some numbers she didn't want people to see, blushing and bringing her hands up to, hopefully cover Brant's face. "C-Come on, doc..." That wasn't very nice-- "Er... Uhm..." She brought her hands back down and remembered her position. She'd let the atmosphere get to her, with how pleasant everyone was being. Troy... Why does my name have to matter so much... She sighed and tired to deal with the embarrassment of everything currently going on.

Jessica, the poor dear, had only been thinking about military MIA lists. She'd not thought to check the list of industrial MIAs, and that made her groan. Pulling up her bad, one quick flip through and-- "There you are... Last seen in Canada, on mission. What were you... Why would you... Ugh." Jess scowled, directing it at the girl. Why would you ever do something like that? You threw away your name, endangered the company that you look to one day inherit, and for one? Revolution? Ughhh... Some people are just... Considering Jess had taken a side in the war, it felt a bit sketchy to judge her for fighting for what she believed in, but... To toss all of that away on a whim was... It was something.

"I'll leave those for another time. If the good doctor is finished with you, Private Troy, then I'd like us to get down to what you can tell us about these rebels and about Apotheosis."

The tone, there it was. That's exactly what Christina was expecting, but it wasn't the time or place to go off on someone over it. Hearing her name like that, her family name, it did cut pretty hard. She regretted joining Apotheosis at the moment, but she wasn't about to grin ear to ear and suddenly hop back into the ANF's arms.

"Yes... Ma'am." Despite that, there wasn't scorn in her voice. More like a resigned tone that new things would probably get better, but not before she went through some more trial by Jessica.

"I guess... I can start with the rebels. They've got the colony pretty well covered... Outside and in. You're all lucky this ship is state of the art, otherwise it'd probably have some heavy issues holding them all off." She started to get a little more comfortable, turning to face everyone else in the room, except Megumi, leaving her to her scanning. She held her arm and tried to avoid eye contact, but Jess had since stopped her scowling-- Christina's nerves were the lingering remembrance of her situation.

"Their leader, uh... Sh-She's a lady named Abigail. I haven't spoken to her much, but most of the group respects her. She got some higher up lackeys, and her Heracles has some serious modifications done to it, so... She's going to be a pretty tough customer if you're trying to brute force this... Uhm... O-Oh! The civilians are still okay."

Jess was most surprised to hear about the civilians, honestly. Her gut had expected them to be all dead by this point, but they were alright, at least the last time Christina had been back at base. "Go on. What's keeping them alive?"

Christina smiled a bit. "Well... Ahaha, uhm... It's a security bot, ma'am. It's aim and combat efficiency is too much to rush, and it's got the scientists all cornered off in a big office. They'll probably be able to get past it eventually, but... Last I heard, they were still having trouble. Abigail didn't want to send people in to waste ammo; said something about losing too many men..."

Jess was surprised to hear that as well, both about the bot and the concern for her men. If this was such a pressing thing for the rebels, wouldn't this Abigail be doing whatever she could to get to the scientists and their data? She placed a hand on her chin, thinking it over. Maybe she was just far too caring for this sort of business.

"Uhm... C-Captain... Gefalscht, was it?" Jess perked up. It seemed Christina had more. "There's, uh... There's one other Apotheosis member at the base. I don't... I don't know anything about them, just... Their mech, it's... Well, I-I've never seen anything like it. It's... Black, and purple, and it's just... It's really ominous. I wish I knew more about it, but... I-I just know I'd avoid it, if I were you and your crew." Worry and more than a tinge of fear resounded within her, hoping they'd take her seriously.

Jess was... Taken a bit aback. She didn't look like she was lying, but she looked at Brant for a moment, wondering if he'd picked up anything. She didn't ask, but hopefully he caught the glance. "Alright... Anyone else have any questions? That was quite a lot to get given to us." She'd definitely have to schedule another briefing with her debriefing, this time...

[Phoenix]

Was she trying to keep him from looking at the monitor, Brant wondered? Why? Was it embarrassment? What was on there that could possibly warrant blinding him, specifically? Maybe it was just a reflex and she'd have covered everyone's eyes if she had enough arms. Somehow he doubted that, but it wasn't worth interrupting the interview over. She'd given up almost immediately, anyway.

The captain seemed none too pleased with Christina after taking a closer look at her profile. She'd gone missing and it was becoming clearer all the time what had happened. "Almost finished," Megumi gave an update, "but from what I can tell she's simply at her limits. My 'professional' recommendation at this point is bed rest. My personal one is toughening up."

"Private Troy?" Brant quietly repeated the name to himself. So she was with the ANF before he was. That was interesting, but it didn't ease his concerns. At least they were finally going to get the intel they were after. It was just a shame she probably couldn't tell them anything that could help them improve on the original plan. Having to brute force their way into the colony was far from ideal, but even now, at the eleventh hour, it was still their only way forward.

Brant should have expected to get a name or two from someone who had actually been a part of the rebel force, but he simply hadn't been. This Abigail was certainly one to be on the lookout for, especially if she was in an upgraded Heracles. The standard ones were already a pain to deal with, especially in his Accensus. The next bit of information was equally surprising, so much so that Brant couldn't hide it. The civilians were alright. "Really?" Apparently the rebels were still trying to reach one group in particular, but even that was something. Were they not committing enough forces? If so, why not?

"I expected most if not all of them to be dead by now," Megumi admitted just as the scanner finished its work. There weren't any new readings that would change her diagnosis or recommendations, so she said nothing of it and headed back over to the rack she'd picked up the scanner from.

It turned out that a security bot was protecting the civilians. Now things made more sense. They must have had only one route to their targets, and a killer robot waiting between the two groups, ready to spit fire at them if they tried to muscle past it. Brant imagined the security bot was inhumanly fast, had the high ground, or both. Did it have enough ammunition, though, he wondered?

One of the most important tidbits yet came in the form of an 'ominous' Apotheosis machine. Christina didn't know anything else about it, but she pleaded with them to keep their distance. The Riese crew hadn't come all this way to engage certain threats and completely ignore others, but the mission didn't really mandate taking them all out, just getting the colony back so the ANF wouldn't have to destroy the place. The prospect of not engaging a particular enemy unit was strange, though.

Jessica glanced at him briefly, and Brant hoped her orders regarding the Apotheosis mech didn't hinge on his reading of Christina. He'd hate to see the squad charge in only to get demolished by the thing, but he'd also hate to let a manageable enemy escape to cause even more trouble, just because Christina gave them the wrong impression based on her own fears. Better to err on the side of caution, though. That aside, Christina wasn't trying to deceive them, not so far as Brant could sense; this machine and its pilot were dangerous, it was simply unclear just how dangerous. He nodded slightly at Jessica. It was a nod most people would miss if they weren't looking for some sort of sign or hint. Hopefully she understood.

With that, it was time for questions. Megumi had just returned to the gathering, arms crossed. "I don't think she can answer all of my questions before we reach Colony 1," she warned. "I've narrowed it from the original thirty-two down to six questions ... if that's alright."

[Dandragon]

"Delayed nose bl-" Elaine was cut off by the sound of another elevator opening up, with the newest member to the team, Talog, coming out and asking a very simple question that, quite simply, Elaine would have a very difficult time answering, being completely flustered at the fact both women seemed to be completely calm at the dried blood all over Kim.

"It-... What-... I-... Tha-... M-... Gaaaaah!" She finally gave up on words as she left the palm of her hand hit her square in the face. Her nose flared as she let out a huge breath from it, trying to find the words. "Right! Kim! Blood! Go clean! We'll talk later!" Turning away from Kim, she faced the larger amazonian (or was it another term?) woman with a smile and a "Yes, did you need something?" said about as calmly as a morning worker late for their job on a caffeine rush.

[Shin]

It was her!

The room was a lot more homely than he had expected. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought he was in some civilian medical facility. Tarquin stopped to think for a few moments, it was difficult to understand Elaine's mindset. She was loud, boastful and short-tempered - traits that Tarquin struggled to comprehend. It had been a short while since the training mission, but he distinctly remembered her outburst, approaching him threateningly despite his calm responses.

"The Captain had told her off for something she did in the training mission. She opened communications with the enemy and was baited into acting rashly." he replied, explaining the situation. "Hedrick then asked if I had a problem with her, and she approached me. I asked her to calm down but she kept getting angrier... and she's a lot bigger than me."

He paused briefly, recalling how the incident made him feel. It had been a sharp tightness in his chest, his feet were stuck to the ground. If it had been much longer, he'd have lost his brave face. There was no telling what would have happened, or how many punches Elaine would have thrown. Why had she snapped so suddenly? Could it simply have been that she was that volatile?

"The Captain dealt with the matter efficiently, but I'm concerned that her temper will get the better of her again. I don't want to be friends with her, but I don't want to get punched in the face because she's in a bad mood."

--

Crikey!

With the strange dirty child sorted, Bill was free to return to the war on grime. As he prowled the halls, approaching the elevators, he was met by a rather strange trio. He recognised the piano girl from earlier. Her face was plastered with blood. She was fairly young, Bill hoped that she'd grow out of nosepicking eventually. He wasn't quite as familiar with other two though. One was a monster of a woman, he could barely comprehend the size of her. Wherever she had been born, there had to be something in the water supply.

The floor didn't seem too bad, but it was getting a little grotty from all the boots about. Readying his mop, he waited for his moment to strike - it was poor form to mop with ladies present. Not many people realised but there was chivalry embedded in his trade, his mop was his sword, his bucket his shield and his wet floor sign his banner of honour.

[Ether]

As the large woman that they had gotten on loan from the Ilias came out of the other elevator and asked if she was interrupting, Seung-Min simply gave a bit of a shrug.

"Not interrupt, no." She replied, feeling Elaine's outburst coming before she had even begun to stammer it out, soon transitioning into shouting vague commands in quick succession. What an odd woman.

"Am fine, Elaine."

[riariadne]

"Christina Troy?" Dwight was astonished to hear that name. "It's been some time since I heard the name Troy. I remember seeing you a few times when you were younger, at conferences with Frederick. I'm sorry about your father- he was a good man... though I can't help but wonder what made you leave a cause he was adamant about. I suppose everyone makes their own decisions, but..." He chose not to finish his sentence- the message of his disapproval was likely already clear.

"It's good to hear that the hostage remain safe. We will have to act decisively to ensure they remain that way," he remarked, switching to a tone more serious than familiar. "Maintaining a proper balance of swiftness and caution is no easy task in such battles as these. Don't hesitate to ask if you need my assistance, Captain."

[Nanami Touko]

Q&A Session

So, Dwight knew her-- or at least of her, as well. That was reassuring, for what she was going to suggest. "I won't, Dwight. I'll have something for you after we're done here, actually. For now, let's hear those questions, Megumi." She caught Brant's little nod, relaxing a little bit, enough to smile. "And don't worry about answering anything you don't know, Christina... We're not enemies anymore, at the least."

Christina was really surprised that there were so many people in this room alone that had met or knew of her father and her name. It was intimidating, embarrassing, and despite her convictions, made her second guess a few things. Especially Mr. Turner, his disapproval clear over her actions. That was just the way of it, though. People were going to be disappointed in her for a long while. Maybe I can make a different right now, at least... Save some civilians. "Yes. I'll do my best. Megumi, right?" she asked, turning to her again. "Ask whatever you need! I'll try my best." She could deal with being scared later. Right now, she could do something for these people.

Smug

Cheryl listened, smiling ever so often, eyes closed as she waited for him to finish. Hmm~ "Was it just the Captain that spoke to her? Did anyone else say anything, make any gesture? She's definitely in the wrong for snapping, attempting to hit someone so young, but... Well, it would be best to know where she got the motivation to do so." The water clicked, Cheryl standing slowly to go make it. Lavender should do, right now. No cream, one sugar. Poor kid. Cheryl felt it oddly pitiable that Tarquin had been denied so many foods that a child would normally get rewarded with as they grew. Never having sugar, honestly. No matter where his intellect fell, the people that had raised him were definitely not suited for bringing up a child.

She brought his cup over and set it down gently in front of him, sitting back in her chair, getting more comfortable and leaning back a bit in her chair. She'd let her own tea cool some before she had any. "I suppose what I'm trying to ask, Tarquin, is... Do you ever make any faces at anyone? Say things about their performance? Nothing you say leaves this room... You can say whatever you want, or have to." She didn't want to blame him for Elaine's actions; anyone that got upset enough over a child's prodding to hit them was always in the wrong, but he did have to learn that it wasn't right to do things like that... Now, if he was confident he had done nothing, perhaps it would be worth speaking to Elaine...

Repair Schedule

Avery had returned to the hangar, gotten a stern yelling at from Buck who had been looking for her, patted him on the head and went back to her own workings. She'd gotten all the calibrations she needed from Kim, which meant all that was left was finishing off the base systems and the weapons~ And maybe finding some time between missions to take the thing out. Maybe at night. Less people around would mean less hassle, less explaining, yadda yadda. Less stuff to deal with! No matter. Avery saw that someone had finished working on that pesky Legionary, so she moved over to... Astin's Velite. She'd spoken to them once, right? About not having any ranged weapons? Save for the Chakram, but that was wired, so it was really like a long melee weapon. "Ah, well, can't expect one o' them melee folks t'come back with their bot in full workin' order. Let's get on it..."

Edited August 21, 2016 by Narmaya

[Shin]

The Blame Game

Something that he did? He hadn't done anything to Elaine, she'd been the one who started with him. Unless simply looking at her was enough to trigger her, then at that point he didn't see any solutions. Why was Elaine so sensitive? The doctor's questions were confusing, was she treating him like a child? He was far too mature to be pulling faces at people or calling them names, those were things that the teenage cadets would do... and he certainly wasn't anything like them.

"No, Doctor Hart, I didn't say anything bad to Elaine. All I told her was that she shouldn't get so angry after she shouted at me because it would make a bad impression. Then she got really unpleasant, all I did was tell her that it would be better if she didn't cause trouble. I never once told her she was a bad pilot." he replied firmly, his naive self-perceived innocent shining through his eyes. This was why he didn't like the people around him, all they did was mess around and make fun of him. It was easier when he had Bruno to talk to, at least he treated Tarquin like he wasn't a child.

Accepting his cup, Tarquin took a test taste from the vessel. His face scrunched up as he drank, the boy quickly putting the cup back on the table. It was strange, it tasted far too different from what he was used to. Not innately awful, but his palate didn't quite appreciate the sweetness.

[MechanicalBull]

Talog grinned at Elaine's frantic look.

"Little bit of dried blood never hurt anyone. Relax, my friend. But yes, there was something."

She glanced towards the hangar and the mighty machines within.

"We cut off our own comms last battle. Not so good, eh? We should do something to sort that, and I have an idea."

[Dandragon]

Elaine looked back at Kim with a confused and frantic face. "You are definitely NOT fine! And I said we'll talk later. Just go clean yourself up or something." She gave out a heavy sigh, turning back to Talog once again. "Alright...What's your idea?" This is gonna be great. She thought to herself, forgetting Talog had been introduced as somewhat of a mechanic, herself.

[Ether]

"Okay okay, go clean off. Calm, Elaine." Kim replied, deciding it was better to acquiesce to her fellow pilot's request than try to fight with her over it. A shower would likely do her some good regardless. Stepping in the elevator to head back down to the lower deck, Seung-Min left the other two women to their business.