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

[MechanicalBull]

Talog raised an eyebrow again. The Elaine did not seem like she was expecting much. Ah, well - she'd soon learn that Talog's brawn only hid her brains.

"Well, the missile jammed our radio signals, yeah? But radios aren't the only way to communicate, especially in space.

We should add a lasercomm system, yeah? Basically unjammable out in space, and more secure than radio, anyways. I'm pretty sure the sensors on the mechs could pick them up. So it'd be a matter of installing a little laser, and maybe configuring a tracking system or something so it could track the mechs, though I reckon the mechs could take care of that already for the most part.

Cutting our own tongues out isn't too smart, eh? If they'd have something similar, we would have inhibited ourselves for no harm to them. Hell, with 'em we could make comms jamming more standard, even, if we got the jammers for it.

A lot of satellites already use the like, so it ain't like it's a new thing. Shouldn't even take too long, if we can dig out a few parts."

She grinned. It wasn't a bad idea, if she said so herself, and working on something together helped build ties anyway.

[Juliette]

"Thank you Astin friend!" Juria nearly tackled them with a hug, Reo even leaping up to join in. "Can talk to Jess captain soon about helping! Am sure she will be understanding." She remained in place for longer than was probably comfortable for Astin, only stopping when her stomach growled. "Hm. Juria need food when nervous. Want eat with me, Astin friend?"

[Dandragon]

Well, the idea wasn't as bad as she was expecting, but just an idea didn't give her much to work with. "...Alright. So, do you have any idea about where we might get the materials for this? What type of laser we have to install? How do we attach it to the mechs? Is the laser visible to the enemy? Etcetera, Etcetera. ...Wait, why did you come to me for this?"

Edited August 22, 2016 by Dandragon

[Phoenix]

Down from thirty-two, huh? Brant had to wonder what wound up with priority for the doctor. "First question: How many of you are out here on this assignment? An approximate number will do if you don't have the details."

The first question was definitely a good one in Brant's eyes. The Riese crew knew their own numbers and resources but not the enemy's. Clearing that up would make it easier plan move by move.

"Second question: Where is your stronghold on Colony 1? Your headquarters, operations center, deployment zone. Whatever your people are calling it."

Again, Brant mused, a good question, whether they needed to know what place to focus their attack on initially or avoid until they'd rescued the hostages. He wished the doctor would stop phrasing her questions as if Christina was still one of them. Even trying to answer her questions made her a traitor to their cause. Her history with the ANF only magnified that betrayal. That wasn't to say she was an ally, but he doubted the rebels would take her back after this if they knew what she was doing, not unless they wanted another hostage.

"Third question: Can you name any other enemy pilots for us? I'd like to run their names and see if there's anyone else of interest to the ANF working with Apotheosis. Abigail's full name would also be appreciated. If you don't know, is their any chance the information could be pulled from the prioxis wrecks we brought aboard?"

Of course the doctor would want to run more names through the ANF database. They'd gotten lucky once already, finding someone linked to the Colonial Institute.

"Fourth question," Megumi continued, not wasting any time, "How does one go about joining Apotheosis?"

Brant couldn't hide his surprise, but it quickly dawned on him that Megumi wasn't planning on infiltrating that shadow organization herself. She'd never get away with it for one thing. Based on all her previous questions, she was simply gathering information for the ANF in general.

"For the fifth question, I want to know if there are any frequencies we can tap into in order to listen in on our enemies. Assuming those transmissions are heavily encrypted, could the prioxis fighters still be used for decryption?" If they could, they probably couldn't rig all of their machines in time, but they wouldn't need to. The Riese could handle that part, and pass the information along as needed.

Brant was starting to feel a bit absentminded, having not come up with any of these questions, himself. Sure, Christina couldn't adequetely answer most of them, but they hadn't even crossed his mind, at first. Maybe given a little more time ...

"The last question," Megumi began, again, "where does this operation fit in the grand scheme of things? I'm hesitant to write this off as a simple tech raid until we know more. When they assigned you to this mission, how was it framed? How important was it to your superiors?" It was clear that some of Megumi's original questions had been combined into the final six and not simply discarded. The last one was definitely the broadest, attempting to learn as much about Apotheosis' intentions, and even mindset as possible.

The last question, while a little vague, would likely prove to be the most important down the road if these kinds of moves were going to become the new norm. Brant hoped that wouldn't be the case, even if that meant little more than boring patrol missions going forward for the Heion Riese. That was just fine by him.

[riariadne]

"We can discuss that afterwards, then," Dwight confirmed to the Captain. The doctor's questions seemed intriguing- they would be a good gauge of what sort of information was common amongst Apotheosis, and any of it being known could prove useful to the mission. Christina, for her part, seemed to have calmed down- perhaps realizing that she was not in any sort of danger so long as she was helpful from here on. Still, the full 180-turn in attitude was a bit surprising, and worth keeping in mind.

[Nanami Touko]

Sincerity

Tarquin seemed entirely sure of himself that he was telling the truth and had done nothing. It wouldn't be very polite to the boy to press him further or imply he had done something wrong. With his upbringing, it was more likely that he didn't realize he was doing something at all. Perhaps it was an automatic response. Or, once again, perhaps Elaine was truly troubled, and needed to be attended to before anyone else. "That's very unfortunate to hear about her, then. I'll have to see if I can speak to her. But, don't worry, I won't mention anything you've said. Hopefully after I talk to her, you won't have anything left to worry about. Unless there was more?" She sipped her tea, not producing anywhere near the reaction Tarquin had. Lavender was always relaxing for her.

"You'll get used to it, promise. Or, you won't. Tea is fine either way, if you ask me." Coffee was another story, but if he hadn't been allowed sugar, that much caffeine was probably something forever off limits from his original providers. "How was your first adventure into space?" she decided to ask, wondering it he'd felt anything in particular about the void sitting just outside the metals walls of the Riese. "I've flown through it a few times, as a passenger, and it was unnerving, to say the least. It's always interesting to get actual pilot accounts on how it felt for them."

For the Press

Six questions... That was a lot, Christina thought, having already mentioned everything she felt was necessary. The doctor felt differently, and far be it for Christina to disagree with her and shut up about it. The Captain had been kind enough to bring her here instead of the brig, if she was useful enough, perhaps she could avoid it entirely. First question, how many rebels... "If I had to give a rough number of how many rebels were active around the colony right now, I think eighty would be an accurate estimate. There's a few squads patrolling, ours and I think two others, the rest holed up in the colony. You'd face... Uhm... Maybe thirtyish, on a full assault?" That was just from what she had seen, there could have been more brought it or stowed away on their main ship.

"Stronghold? Uh... Abigail had this, big freight ship, that she landed inside the colony. I'd guess that'd where they have everyone settled in, trying to break into that office... It was set down in the middle of the colony the last I checked, right before the residential district." There wasn't much else to say about that one.

Third question, Christina shrunk a bit. "Not past first names, and not for a lot of them... Uhm... I-I know you might not believe me, but... Being Apotheosis, the... Th-The other rebels didn't trust me, very much. They seemed pretty tight knit, like a family. Our small group, well... We got shunned pretty hard. Not that it ended up mattering, but, other than numbers and positioning, I can't get very personal with answers..."

The fourth question... Christina chuckled nervously. "I don't think my... 'recruitment' was standard. I was on mission, and... W-Well I got shot down. Instead of killing me, they brought me with them after they caught my name. I... I was in a different mind frame at the time, and I went along with everything, so... I don't think I can be of much help, there. I've only heard the standard rumors. Follow their instructions online, solve their puzzles... That sort of stuff."

Number five... Another disappointing answer. Mostly. She shook her head. "The... Prioxis and Heracles all use their own, separate frequencies. I think, again, this is to do with our robots being different, gifted; whatever their thought patterns were. The Heracles would switch over to our frequencies to offer instruction during the mission, but we were never told their frequencies. If there are any Prioxis models inside the colony, you could try to use mine to decrypt your way into them, but you wouldn't get the Heracles..."

Six, hoo boy, this doctor really did hit the hard ones, didn't she? "I'm just an initiate-- or, was... I was told to work with the rebels, make sure they get in to access the data, and keep any attackers out... Doing a pretty stellar job, aren't I?" She managed a chuckle, but it was short lived. "Uhm... Why didn't I mention this-- that, ominous robot... I don't know who it is, but we were told that one of the Lieutenants would be accompanying us this mission to assure that it succeeded. I don't know which one, I don't know her name, but... We were given, months ago, a display of their piloting prowess and... J-Just, please, stay away from that robot. It's more than a little dangerous." With the questions concluded, Christina fell silent again, holding her arm and standing there, awkwardly.

Jess was stunned that she'd both handled the questions so well, and seemed to know so much. Maybe Apothesis was more loose with information because they expected all their pilots to not make it back if things went poorly... It was a good thing Thorvald was so skilled. I'd like to suggest we don't throw her in the brig."

Christina perked up.

"Don't get any ideas, Private. You're still in a hell of a lot of trouble, for more than a few things... But you've been incredibly compliant, and depending on how much what you've told us is true, it could reflect very well on my assessment of punishment for you... So, for now, I'm going to put you under house arrest in one of the spare pilot cabins, on the lower deck."

Christina still smiled. It was far better than the brig. She had no idea what this ship had installed for those rooms, but it had to be better than what she imagined was practically a jail cell. "Yes, ma'am! Orders understood."

Jess wasn't sure what to make of her getting so happy and talking like she was already back in the ANF, but no matter. "Thorvald, Brant. Can I ask you to keep an eye on her, while we're out here? If she wants to leave her room, I'll be counting on either of you to escort her. To that end, Christina, you'll be given a communicator with their frequencies only... Thorvald's the one that brought you in, and Brant's already all over you, so I figure they're the best to keep tabs on you if you need anything... And as long as they're with you, I suppose I don't mind you wandering around the ship. SUPERVISED, let me make crystal clear... If I, or any other officers catch you alone in the halls, it will mean the brig." Jess was being far more lenient than she should have been, but it felt wrong to punish someone who had obviously just gone down the wrong path. She was nothing like the other one they'd brought in.

Christina felt... Privileged. She almost started crying, but felt another spell of tears wouldn't be appreciated. Who knew this was how her day-- how her life was going to turn around? It was stunning.

"Are there any other questions, then? Brant, Thorvald, Dwight? Megumi again? I've heard more than enough, personally, but I won't stop any of you from speaking up if you have something else to add..."

[scorri]

Astin blinked in surprise at the enthusiastic hug, having almost fallen over. At the mention of food, they considered the options and then nodded. "I shouldn't eat too much but I don't think having something would be bad. Not too much though since I don't want to be fighting on an overfull stomach." They carefully disentangled themself from the engineer, stood up and stretched. "Right, after you?"

[Shin]

Tarquin... in Space!

The mention of space made him freeze, his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. By the end of the encounter, his nerves had settled but the terror he'd experienced was like no other. Not even Elaine had been that scary, he knew that she'd have only hurt him... space would have been his end. Looking down into his cup, Tarquin couldn't think of how to put his feelings into words, something that often plagued him. Swallowing, he looked back at the doctor nervously, almost trying to hide himself on his seat.

"It was... different." he replied, lost for words. "I knew all the details and accounted for the lack of gravity, but it wasn't quite what I expected."

He couldn't bring himself to say that he had been scared, she was already treating him like a child, he didn't need to give her any more reason to do so. Everyone else had been fine, so he needed to be as well - or at least on the surface.

[Nanami Touko]

Treat

Cheryl watched his reactions like a hawk. That bad, huh? Of course, he hadn't said that it was bad, but the wide eyed moment, his swallowing, the pause. It didn't take twelve years of learning to tell when someone was upset about something. Hmm... I wonder how far I can press him before he leaves... "It's not a bad thing to be afraid of space, Tarquin," she began, setting her tea down and closing her eyes, trying to remember her first time in space. It gave her goose bumps. "You'd be incredibly weird, in my professional opinion, if your first space flight didn't scare you, at least somewhat. Forgive me if I'm pushing a boundary, but your reaction belies your words." She sat up some and stared at him again, smiling a bit.

"What are you trying so hard to prove? Is it because... Of your 'upbringing'?" She could tell she was putting a bit more Cheryl and less Dr. Hart into the pot, but she wanted to stir it up some.

[Shin]

Cat's out of the bag

His facade had been poor, and Tarquin knew it. He'd pieced together Doctor Hart's role among the crew, and she was a lot sharper than he'd hoped. More worryingly, she seemed to know a lot more about him than he was comfortable with. His cover story had been given to the Captain, why did this woman know? He hadn't told anyone, not even Bruno had known about it. He knew if he tried to lie his way out, she'd only pick up more information. His eyes darted towards the door, he wanted nothing more than to escape this woman's quizzing, but he knew that any retreat would only be temporary. Omission of information would be easier than fabricating it, or at least that was his logic behind it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he replied, denying as much as he could. "I'm only fourteen, all teenagers would find space scary... I didn't want to look bad compared to the grown ups. The academy didn't really prepare us for actually being in space."

[Nanami Touko]

Truthfully...

"Tarquin, you don't need to put up the ruse with me. Remember that I said nothing you say leaves this room? It goes both ways. Client confidentiality, I'm sure you're heard the term. Now, I don't think I need to go into your life's story, but if I said you were raised in a lab, that would say enough, no?" She didn't smirk like she'd won a prize, she gave him an honest stare and let it sit for a moment. "It's going to be very difficult to have people stop treating you like a preteen. You look the part, which is hard enough... But, I wouldn't sell yourself out, yet." She was taking a few logic leaps from what he'd said, looking bad in front of the grown ups. That translated well enough. "You've probably started turning a few heads already... Probably the captain. She's an amateur, so something like your performance today, it must be impressive to her. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if she started to rely on you more."

Now Tarquin was definitely talking to Cheryl, to which she cursed herself for. But she couldn't get through to him with what he needed to hear, or at least she felt she couldn't, as Dr. Hart. "You can go if you want to, but... I felt it would be better to get the facades out of the way. Give you some place you're more comfortable with." Or so she hoped.

[Shin]

Speechless

It was impossible, she didn't just have a hunch about him...she knew the truth. His entire life was like a book she'd read, some lab experiment that had been typed up. There was no escape, no lies or denial that he could use to get away from it. No senior researcher who could cover up for him, it was as it was. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, a vulnerability had gripped him, it was like being back in space.

he way she put it made it sound like everyone would find out eventually, nobody would look at him the same again. His achievements, his effort, nobody would think anything of it from a boy designed specifically to excel. He'd worked so hard for everything he'd done. The more attention he drew to himself, the more people would know. He wouldn't be a young prodigy... he'd be a constructed machine, where the expectation was perfection. There wouldn't be any praise, just disappointment when he slipped up. This wasn't the attention he wanted at all.

"Nobody was meant to know, they said nobody would know." he panicked, putting his hands to his head. The reassurance was nothing compared to how exposed he felt. If Doctor Hart knew, who else would find out, who else already knew? His supervisors had promised that he'd be safe, had they lied to him?

[Nanami Touko]

Panic

Ohhh, that wasn't good. Cheryl wasn't entirely sure why Tarquin had panicked, but there wasn't much she could offer him to try and bring him back. Nobody would know? Well, maybe the crew, but we can't keep the doctors in the dark here, Tarquin... "The medical staff knows... Which is myself, and Doctor Amparo. I don't know if you've met her, yet. We were informed because your 'caretakers' felt it best, should something happen to you, that we know exactly how to take care of you. I'll say it again, nothing leaves this room... If you're uncomfortable with your past being public knowledge, no one will ever find out. Do you understand?" That was all she had, without the miraculous ability to read his mind. Whatever worries were being concocted due to this, he hadn't said enough to clue her in.

[MechanicalBull]

"Because you're an engineer, aren't ya? Thought an idea might go down better with the chief engineer or Cappy, whoever, if I had a longer-standing crew member with me as well."

She shrugged, her smile wide and guileless.

"And I ran into you on the way, which is also a main reason, heheh."

She shrugged again at the questions.

"Materials? Little lasers are used in a lot of things. Rangefinders, scanners. Can probably cannibalise something like that, if nothing else. As for distinct materials, it's your ship, right? Thought you'd know what it has better than I do.

Just install it on a mech, no sweat. They have a few panels for parts installation anyway, and everything by the lens and sensor can be internal. The laser's only going to be visible if they're in the way, at the power it would be. It's only a signal."

She grinned.

"Better idea than having to keep mum, yeah?"

[Dandragon]

Elaine placed her right hand on the side of her head, scratching with her pointer finger as she thought about it. She had advertised herself more as a mechanic, but to say she wasn't also an engineer wouldn't be true. She has made several gadgets and the like, including her personal music device and the Marionne, her own personal robot back home. Still, she had a lot of help with the robot, with people she trusted. No, this...This was gonna be something she was unfamiliar with.

"I'd...have to talk to Avery and Buck about it. I'm honestly not sure it can be done. At least not now." She began to twirl her hair with her finger as she spoke. "And no, I don't know what this ship has. To be honest, I haven't been here long. About the same time as the other pilots. I don't work here. Buuuuut...It has been done before...and to mass produce it on a smaller scale isn't impossible..." Elaine started mumbling to herself as she thought more and more about Talog's suggestion.

"Hm....Where would it fire from?...An antennae, maybe?... And the receiver, how big would that have to be?...Probably two centimeters at least? No, it'd have to be bigger...And the extra commands on the console...And then the possible messages..."

[Phoenix]

"That should do," Megumi crossed her arms, again, "those were my most pressing questions, and her inability to answer some made it pointless to ask others. That aside, I'm going to be repeating all of this to the other prisoner if there's time before the next phase of the mission ... though I doubt it will do any good." That reminded her ...

"The Doctor recommended bed rest," Brant began, "so I don't want to put that off for too long."

Megumi headed over to her personal desk, on the far side of the infirmary, where all of the books were. She reached into her lab coat and revealed a heavy pistol. It was just large enough to make it cumbersome when held in one hand, whether man or woman. While it was no replacement for a rifle and was actually quite an old model, she'd only need to discharge the weapon once, in order to deal with an unarmored assailant. Add to that the aesthetic design, which she personally liked, and it was well worth the investment. Wasting no time, she opened a drawer at the desk and pulled out a gun lock. It fit snugly over the trigger and sealed the two objects together with an audible click. She set the pistol back down next to another firearm in the drawer. This one was the stun gun she'd neglected to keep with her. That mistake wouldn't be repeated anytime soon. She replaced the beast of a pistol with the humble stun gun inside her coat and shut the drawer, which automatically locked itself. The doctor almost managed a smile. Almost.

[riariadne]

"Intriguing." Dwight had hoped for more from Christina's answers, but it was better than no information at all. "Then that only confirms my thoughts about decisive action. A Lieutenant from Apotheosis means this is quite important to them, I would think. Otherwise, I don't believe I have much more I need to say." It was at least a promising sign that Christina was genuinely, and voluntarily, helping- it meant she was genuine, hopefully. "What was it you wanted to speak with me about, Captain?"

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald's recommendation had gone through, and the captain had backed off, leaving Christina looking a little less like a cornered rabbit, which was best for all concerned. About that time Dwight had also put in an appearance, having apparently come looking for Jessica. He gave a brief update, stating that they were on course and that their route was clear, before inquiring if there were any other matters that could use his assistance or expertise. While Thorvald replied to the senior officer's nod of acknowledgement with one of his own, he had stayed quiet for the obvious reasons of having no answers for the man on that subject, nor the authority to give them. Christina was also still in the midst of the doctor's scan, and he felt like the fewer the interruptions there, the better. Once Rapunzel finished up, it was revealed that there were no serious health concerns; nothing that shouldn't be fixed by some good rest, solid meals, and a daily exercise regime that did not include getting shot of the sky. It seemed Christina should be back on her own two feet again in no time, a result that was perhaps bittersweet for Brant? Well, maybe that would be taking the teasing too far.

Whether it was the news of her clean bill of health, Lt. Abrams's continued reassurances, or the navigator's arrival, the prisoner had sighed and decided enough was enough. While it came as a bit of a surprise, and was frankly still somewhat of a distraction from their main efforts, she told the doctor to go ahead, to run the scan and out her family name. If relief from the pressure of that figurative sword hanging over her head would help her to feel comfortable enough with divesting the rest of her information, it would be gauche to complain overmuch. When the name "Christina Troy" came to light, it did have perhaps a slight ring of familiarity, but it wasn't anything Thorvald would have been able to place on his own. Only after others had pieced together the connection and mentioned The Colonial Institute did a light of recognition truly enter his eyes.

Captain Gefalscht addressed their captive anew, with a bit of a harsher tone to her voice, particularly in the enunciation of her former rank. The implications carried in the delivery of that address carried bitter associations for Thorvald, having been on the receiving end of many a Specialist Eriksson during his time at Caribou Cape. He once again found himself thankful that so far all of his new captain's usage of the phrase had been decidedly genial. With luck, there would never be any cause for her attitude towards him to sour. Even if he didn't end up getting shipped away again, disrupting his family quick on the heels of this last move, having to work under a constant cloud of disapproval was quite the tiresome affair, making further infractions only more inevitable.

Christina's intel started fairly general, though still quite useful, and they garnered the name of the rebel force's leader; the safety of the hostages, due chiefly to the efforts of a security bot; and the existence of an Apotheosis ace in a black and purple custom. It was Rapunzel's much more focused inquiries that honed things to a finer edge, and really hit in on the specifics. Thorvald was rather impressed with how quickly the woman had put together her interrogation wishlist, but on the other hand, she'd also not been spending the last few hours preparing for, engaging in, and returning from a fight for her life, so her time for thought had been a little freer than his own. Now with not only solid numbers on the remaining hostiles, a slightly more nuanced description of their deployments, as well as further details on the base of operations the rebels were staging this whole affair from, the situation was improving rapidly, in Thorvald's estimation. After the Heion breached the gates for them, as it were, it would unfortunately have to remain behind, and without its firepower, or its information networks, the next mission's success would rely on snap judgements the team made on the fly, and for those, knowledge was power. The fact that Apotheosis members were not especially trusted in the rebel ranks could perhaps have been useful, but it sounded like there weren't too many other agents in the mix, aside from the one they were specifically warned against, and even if there were, lack of any means to identify them apart from the rest of the rebels limited any options as far as playing the enemy against each other.

Unfortunately, it seemed one of their prime goals in the capture mission, gaining access to transmission codes and infiltrating the enemies' comms frequencies, turned out to be (for the most part) a bit of a pipe dream. The rebels' different models each had their own channels, and while the Heracles could transmit on both they had failed to capture any such specimens. Furthermore, according to Christina it sounded like they'd need to actually rely on the Prioxis's onboard computer for the decryption, which was problematic, given that Astin and he had pretty near junked it. There was no way they could have Brant fly it on the coming mission, so hopefully Juria and her team of engineers could figure out some sort of a replacement method. Ideally they could whip up some program or something that wouldn't rely on that Prioxis itself being present, as towing it along behind them through the colony didn't seem a viable strategy either.

While Thorvald was ruminating on the wealth of developments, Jess handed down a slight surprise. Rather than the brig, Christina would be confined to one of the spare cabins on house arrest, and that Brant and himself would be in charge of alternating in escorting her when she needed to leave for meals or whatnot. It was a powerful sign of trust, that much was fully apparent. There were no compelling reasons to think that Christina was lying to them, feeding them false information, but on the other hand he couldn't think of any way to confirm the veracity of what she'd said with complete certainty. Cross comparing with what they could glean from the other prisoner would be one option, but odds of success on that front were shaky, so perhaps they would need to simply take it on faith? No, he should get someone with a good head for things in charge of considering contingencies, and Thorvald thought he knew just the man for the job. While they did spend a lot of time with their head in the clouds, he'd been impressed again with their grasp on combat and tactics, and giving that sort of daydreaming imagination a specific project to play with, scenarios to invent and evaluate, that should really be a good use of the talent they have available.

He was almost so intent on planning the next steps of who needed to be coordinated to do what, that he almost missed Jess's call for final questions, however as first Brant and the doctor, and then the retired vice-admiral weighed in on the matter, he picked up on the prompt and added his own two cents.

"I can't say I have anything further for Miss Troy here, though there are several matters to look into and some further questions. Some of which I know who to address to, but a couple others I'm not sure who would really have the answers if any. As a start, that mention of the security droid caught my attention. Would it register us as a threat or would we be able to enlist its assistance. Unlike the rebels, we're operating under sanctioned authority, but if it was owned and operated under private contract, would it acknowledge and respect the difference? Then there is the matter of the enemy's frequencies. How quickly would our staff be able to reverse engineer what we'd need from the wreckage we've provided them, if it's even possible? Or should we have our maintenance crew physically remove the computer from the craft and install it as an auxiliary in one of our own, do you think? Finally, who will be responsible for monitoring Miss Troy while Brant and I are both engaged on the mission itself? That will certainly be the most chaotic time, and if a prisoner were to try to take advantage of the situation, it would undoubtedly be then. I almost hate to suggest it, but perhaps until our successful return, the brig might be the best alternative for that very limited window?"

Edited August 23, 2016 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Special Attention

"After, Dwight," Jess answered, because it was a bit too personal to be discussing with the crew.

Christina was almost out of this question session scot-free! And she was going to get a room? She wanted nothing more right now than to lay her head down on a comfortable bed and maybe have a good cry. As tough as she was appearing right now, the mix of regret, confusion and relief spinning in her head was causing her to have some serious thoughts, thoughts that she couldn't put at bay forever.

She was almost free, until the older fellow, not Dwight, but the other one; the one who had brought her in, suggested the brig. How many hoops... She was feeling pretty down after that, seriously... She wasn't going to do anything! She had no plans to do anything! It would be incredibly difficult to convince them of that considering they had been fighting not an hour ago, but still! She just wanted to sleep, and stop thinking about all of this... Which was too late, because her tears started to well up again. Her name being brought back up brought that weight as well. Christina Troy, sitting in the brig of the Heion Riese, news at eleven...

While Christina has her little breakdown, Jess was primed to answer some questions of her own! She could do this too, just watch her!

"The security robot should be able to identify us with a quick scan. Our faces are in the ANF database, and while the robot is controlled by a private company, it still works for the ANF. Still, I would suggest, if you encounter the robot, call our your serial number, for added confirmation. They'll be able to run it against your voice and face. Toss in your name for good measure... Honestly, it's a good thing Christina wasn't tried. You're listed as MIA, but even so, if you yelled any of that information out against it, it would pause to scan for you, at the very least. Guess we're lucky, on that."

Come on, no pauses, you can do this Jess! Come on! Her face was starting to get a bit red as she forced herself to work past her tick. "Th-The frequency situation, uh," she started to stutter almost immediately, biting her lip and focusing as best as she could, "w-would be best dealt with by speaking to A-Avery or Buck, to see if they could reverse, engineer the th-thing. If they can, then we should be f-fine..." What the hell... Can I seriously not do this? There's only one more question!

"I-I will!" she said, getting visibly flustered at her own inability to answer a series of questions with ease. This girl's stuck in the enemy's battleship and she still did this easier than me... "Ugh, even if I can't answer s-simple questions, I can multitask that... The room will be locked, and there is a surveillance camera. I will have h-her view open on my main console at all times, w-with someone posted outside the door while y-you two are on mission... Mmmmost likely ensign Calvin. I can direct the ship's fire myself, as some of you m-may have seen." She was stuttering, but she was finishing the question without much other difficulty. Unfortunately, her face was a bright red afterwards, sighing and shrinking back some. It seems verbal ticks were not as easily conquered as that.

Christina did have one more thing to say about Thorvald's accusation that she might take advantage of anything. "Listen, I... I already passed up the prime opportunity to do that when you brought me onto the ship... Brant knows why." She motioned towards him and held herself, not wanting to think about it, but really wanting people to believe her, all the same. "My plane... I-It has a self destruct device. If I wanted to do the most damage I could have to your crew I would have pulled it upon entering. That would've... Done the most." She didn't want to go into detail what it would have done; the bombs on the Prioxes were volatile.

Jess stared at her for a moment, making a very heavy mental note: Get Avery and Buck to remove that right away. "Since that's everything, Lieutenant, can you escort Private Troy to the room marked B-10? She can edit the name on the door herself once she gets inside. It should be at the end of the hallway." It was an empty room, for the most part. It had a bed, some replacement clothes, though they were all white, and a washroom. There was a computer, which Jess would be restricting access on, but if Christina wished to do something, she would have access to a few channels and some internet. She would be immediately blocked if she pushed her set boundaries, and any attempts to hack the console would be met with the power cutting itself off, so there were fail-safes in place.

"Dwight, meet me outside the room... After that, I need to speak with Doctor Hart, and then see Avery. Thank you for mentioning that, Private." Jess saluted the room, her shoulders dropping. It had been a good show, up until the end, but at least it was done, now. She exited the infirmary and collapsed herself against the outside wall, rubbing tired hands on her face. She could still feel how warm her cheeks were. "What is wrong with me?"

Christina was glad that the Captain seemed to care about her so much. Maybe it was the relief of getting all of that information, but whatever it was, after her stutter show, Christina had been granted a room, even if it was going to be restricted and monitored. That was fine by her. It made sense that she wouldn't be given free reign. She turned to Brant, looking down, messing with her fingers. "Sorry if I shouldn't have used your name, like that, Lieutenant... C-Can we go? I'd really... Really like to lay down."

[Juliette]

"Okay! Will take lots, you can pick from it," Juria took Astin's hand with a smile, leading them to the cafeteria, a room she was quickly becoming familiar with, helping herself to quite a lot very quickly. "Food important. Don't think well when hungry," she remarked. "Want pastry? Or maybe toast? What food does Astin friend like?"

[scorri]

Astin had been somewhat distracted by the whole holding hands thing and somewhat just naturally distracted, so Juria's question caught them somewhat unprepared. "Uh, food? I mean..." They blinked and s rubbed their face with their free hand. "I, yeah uh some toast with peanut butter sounds not terrible right now. Just some simple food. Don't want anything too heavy or rich. Don't want to see what it would be like to pilot with vomit in my helmet. Err, I mean, was that too much information?"

[Shin]

Science Project

Another doctor knew? He was wide open to so much. He felt far safer when he was in his own little world, only being poked and prodded by his research team. He didn't understand why, but at least there he felt like he wasn't an outsider. On the Heion Riese, he was becoming more distant from everyone else and more alone than ever before. He'd always been assuring himself that he didn't need to associate with them, but at the same time, the fear of being rejected as a freak loomed over him. He'd never had to think about these things before, the lab seemed almost comforting in comparison.

Looking up at the doctor, still noticeably distressed, Tarquin nodded his head. "Please don't tell anyone else." he begged, attempting to regain his composure. "I don't want them to think I'm different."

[Nanami Touko]

Not a Soul

Things were starting to fall securely into place. Tarquin's want to be treated like an adult, the way he acted, his upbringing, and now this worry about being seen as 'different'. "You're worried they won't treat you like a pilot if they find out, aren't you?" Cheryl sat up properly, offering Tarquin a smile. "Your past doesn't define who you are right now. I won't get into a lecture, so that's all I'll say. And no one will find out. We were warned not to tell anyone, and I rather like my job. Your secret is safe with us, alright, Tarquin?" She leaned back a bit and took some more of her tea, finding that it was already starting to get lukewarm. Alas. "Are you going to be okay? I wish your previous caretakers had told you who was going to know. I feel like I've ruined a part of your life on this ship, but we've only just started living it." She didn't quite want to offer him a space to speak with her whenever he wanted, not yet. If he started relying on the adults too much he'd probably hate himself more.

[Shin]

Wiping his eye, Tarquin didn't see any choice other than to accept Doctor Hart's help. He'd never really had the option of support before, his supervisors had only ever provided adjustments and corrections based on what they wanted, they never made it feel like he had any say. He still felt like his hand was being forced, but so far Doctor Hart hadn't given him too many reasons to not trust her. It was unnerving how analytical she was, he didn't even want to know how much she could see.

"That's fine, really." he replied, his only consolation being that only a handful knew his background. Dragging it out would only make things more stressful, if he could put it to the back of his mind, and pretend nothing had happened, things could go back to normal. He just needed to forget about it. "I'll get used to it, it's just another puzzle for me to solve."

[Ether]

After a little while, Seung-Min had made it to her own room without incident, stepping inside and letting the door close and lock behind her. If anyone needed to speak with her, they could access the sound-only comms device at the side of the door, after all. Hitting the release on her Skinsuit, the outfit puffed out considerably, allowing Kim to slip out of it without much effort, moving it aside to be cleaned before stepping into her attached washroom, and into the shower soon thereafter. It hadn't been a bad suggestion by any means, Elaine's repeated insistence on it just seemed... odd. Did she grow squeamish at the sight of blood? She supposed it was possible, she hadn't managed to pinpoint just what type of distress had overtaken the hotheaded pilot. Still, it probably wasn't something worth bringing up, Kim decided, as the hot water began to pour out from the shower head.