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

[Nanami Touko]

Patience

"That'd be one reason, yeh. That, an' iffin I get 'em sooner 'an later, it means more fun stuff fer just us. Just the crew. I ain't gonna pull like the Alkaev's an' start broadcastin' that stuff out with a grin on m'face. I like m'secrets, I like bein' ahead of the curb, an' once I got more stuff t'stay ahead, then I let the old stuff out. I guess you could call me greedy." Avery definitely was, because if she wasn't on the up-an-up on whatever tech was out there, she got anxious. And right now, she was anxious. She'd even started tapping her foot! Which wasn't exactly a weird action for the average person, but, well it was her prosthetic foot, and that meant a lot with her.

Now, Brant knowing the entire family, Avery couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. "I'm gonna be gettin' you t'knock back some hard ones an' seein' if I can't sneak whatever yer hidin' outta yah with that infermation, Brant... Y'know th'whole fam'ly as just a test pilot." Avery rolled her eyes a bit. "Yeah, I guess it can wait... But soon as we're clear o' the colony, I'm comin' t'find you, Brant." There was a fire in Avery's eyes, one Brant would do to watch out for. Perhaps showing her this information wasn't the best for his own comfort.

Lucky for him, Thorvald was there. That meant priorities. "Right, right, yer both right! I get it. I'll put a damper on it all raight now," she started, her foot stopping, "Gunlance and module? You got it. And from the sounds of it," she started, as Brant answered with his choice of repair module, "yer gettin' the resupply one. Hope the stuff on the Legionary's enough fer ya, Thorvy, without any extra arms. I know the shoulder cannons can pack a punch, but they ain't the most accurate." Then again, the most accurate thing they had free was the machine gun, and the Legionary, with its chain guns, was pretty much already packing. She shrugged. "Izzat all then, you tease?" she mocked, sticking out her tongue, "'cause if so, I'd better get t'work on all that-- Shit!"

Avery slapped a hand to her face, having entirely forgotten because of the excitement. "Brant, d'you want yer beam rifle on yer plane, or those funnels I scrapped t'gether? I know I ain't had time t'show you, but I got 'em done. They should work, just haven't had time t'test 'em." Whichever he wanted, she'd outfit.

On Course

"Sir!" Tristan saluted readily and without pause, like the textbook definition of a good soldier. "We are on course towards Colony One, and should arrive at the destination for our assault within an hour, given no hassles to the ship or the her engines..." He paused a moment, very much unlike him. "I must say, Sir... Are we ready for this?" He kept his voice quiet and stepped closer to Dwight as to not rattle the bridge. "I realize how well we did against that patrolling squadron, and... I can't disregard Captain Gefalscht anymore, after that performance, but this is a much different scale... Especially with the hostages. What's your take on this, sir?"

One Isn't Enough

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!" came Christina's pained gasps as she cried, clinging ever tighter to Kim. She felt like she'd crush the girl at this rate, squeezing her so tight, but she didn't want to let go, having been offered this pillar to lean on. "I c-can't, stay in this room," she muttered, finally attempting to suck back the pain, still pushed against Kim. "I have... I-I have to give, something back, I've... I've taken, lives, I made th-this awful, mistake, I c-can't... Lay around here, j-just waiting..." I have to help this crew, I have to make up for what I did wrong... "I know, it's... It's not enough... It'll n-never be enough, but I want to do something...!" She finally looked up at Kim through her tears, staring at her, trying to figure things out.

"Please? Please, speak to the captain, Brant, Th-Thorvald, anyone... Please, Kim..." She was desperate.

Insight

Cheryl was like a child in a toy store, and her parents had just given her free reign on whatever toy she wanted. Not only was their prisoner becoming slightly pacified by speaking to Tarquin, Tarquin himself was offering up some wonderful information for her. She'd have to walk away if she stood there any longer! She was almost smiling from ear to ear, managing to contain it to her smirk, but gosh, the temptation was too real. Most people didn't open up this willingly!

"Cheryl," she spoke up as Nikolai asked who Tarquin's friends were. She wasn't his friend, obviously, but she was there, and it wouldn't be right to stay out of this loop. Likes books more than people, eh? Books, you can sit down and figure out, people... We're weird. Odd. Don't make sense a lot of the time. No wonder Tarquin would choose books over us. This was really good for her.

Nikolai, too, giving his 'interests'. We might be able to bribe him with some music, then... I'll have to check the security cameras to see if he was singing or humming anything before we spoke to him. If he'd been idle enough to perform what he had in the cell with the mattress, perhaps he'd amused his ears as he did. People that like music tended to listen to it during busy work, after all...

Jess, meanwhile, was a bit disturbed by Tarquin's sudden opinions. That isn't right... We're definitely better than books. Tarquin just hasn't met the right people, is all. We'll have to sort him out on the ship! Jess was glad that Tarquin was a good soldier, but talking like he was, that wasn't something she could ignore... She really wished Bruno and Mateus had stayed on the ship before take off; as small as their interactions had been with him, they'd been able to speak with him, at least. She sighed, placing a hand gently on her cheek.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Narmaya

[Ether]

"Okay, is okay." Seung-Min replied softly, continuing to pet at Christina's hair as the girl let out her emotions, allowing her tears to fall as she clung to Kim. Her grip was tight, but nothing she couldn't deal with really, though it didn't take long for the ex-rebel to begin pulling back on her own pain, trying to steady herself, speaking even while she was still buried into Kim's chest.

"I'll talk them, but best... you talk to. Will try contact Captain." Kim replied, still petting Chrstina's blonde locks as the girl looked up at her, eyes still teary.

[Phoenix]

The Alkaev family ran a huge company, not a military organization, so while they did have their fair share of secrets to keep, their highest priority at the end of the day was accruing more wealth. Their rivals were probably frothing over the leaked info, but the gap in technology would always close eventually. Who stayed ahead depended on a slew of factors. Avery had an extremely American approach to staying ahead of the pack. Brant, not having a competitive bone in his body, didn't see the appeal, and could only look at it practically.

Brant sighed when Avery promised to get him good and drunk so she could extract secrets from him. Unfortunately for her, most of what he knew about the Alkaevs had little or nothing to do with secret developments and projects. It mainly boiled down to extremely difficult training, a guinea pig's eye view of various T-Link experiments, and a few human rights violations.

She quickly addressed Thorvald and noted his selections, while also confirming he would be getting a resupply module. At least ammo wouldn't be a concern. Suddenly, her emotions shifted again, and with only that warning, she addressed Brant, again, asking whether he wanted to go into this next phase with the beam rifle or funnels equipped. Fighting the prioxis fighters made using the beam rifle difficult, but he didn't have reason to think he'd be anymore accurate with funnels. At least he had options, now, but neither seemed particularly useful, right now, while the latter required some additional setup on his part.

"I'd need a skinsuit for this kind of T-Link use, wouldn't I?" Brant winced. He wasn't sure he was ready for a flightsuit he hadn't had a chance to get used to, yet. His training was below military standards in some areas, and above them in others. Where he was lacking severely was in the ability to tune out distractions. The skinsuit wasn't going to be doing him any favors in that area if he didn't put the thing on in the next five minutes and keep it on until the mission was over. There was also the T-Link. While that was active, he would be hyper aware of the mental state of those around him. That was a tactical advantage, as well as an emotional burden he'd been steeling himself for for a while, now. He didn't have a strong excuse to put it off, even though he'd like to. "If you want me to test out the funnels, I can; the rifle's definitely not a good choice for those fighters. I am worried about the timing, though ..."

[Sandalphon]

"...So you are like me then," Nikolai said darkly, "you just do what people need you to do. you are a tool. a weapon."

He stretched as he eyed the others suspiciously.

"You know what happens to people like you and I when they no longer need us ja?" He smiled grimly, jabbing his head at the crowd of women. "Did you tell him yet, ladies? Did you let him know that when you don't need your tools you just throw them out. Someone else's problem, am I right? It's ok you put ankle monitor on leg and say 'we look after you' but you don't care if little prodigy become worthless garbage like me."

It was unfair that this sort of thing happened here too. In the hospital he had almost thought that, maybe, in the more "civilised" world, the world that Funf- Johannes had come from and told him about in the books he loved, there were no stray boys to turn into killing machines. That that world didn't take little children with soft voices who loved books and quoted poets and throw them into the jaws of wolves. Still, there he was, the living confirmation that Nikolai was completely right not to trust any of them.

"Tell him then. He does not deserve that. He still can be more, ja. Don't lie."

He spat angrily.

He never knew what Johannes had meant by Be More. He had just taken it for granted when the red haired boy put down his books in the dead of night and promised that one day they would run away from that awful place and be more.

"Tell him the truth ladies."

[Balcerzak]

"Yup, the lance and that module in addition to the chaff and beam saber we were discussing earlier should set me up, just fine," Thorvald confirmed. "If you've got time to make some other adjustments, though, I'd like you to goose up Tarquin's Sniper with some extra juice, throw a few more plates of armor on the new girl's bot, and see if you can't do something to increase the responsiveness of Kim's thrusters. Nothing too fancy, mind, but enough they should be able to feel the difference. I'm not sure how much of a stickler Captain is with the budget, but I'll file the forms and take responsibility if needed, so don't worry about that. If I think of anything else, I'll just radio it down to you and you can complain to me that my advance planning needs work, yeah?"

There was some talk about more adjustments Avery had in mind for Brant's plane, maybe even setting him up in some SKIN, but it didn't seem like anything he needed to stick around for. Thorvald gave a friendly wave to the both of them, and prepared to depart for the elevators.

[Nanami Touko]

Weak

"...I can't believe you're letting me sit here and cry on you... We just met..." Christina sniffled again, letting out one, soft chuckle. "You're too nice, Kim... I'm still a stranger, you know? Even if I'm wearing your clothes..." She finally let her go, still crying, but not violently, and not enough that she needed someone to hug, anymore. "I'll see if I can talk to the captain soon... But you're all heading off to a mission, aren't you? Blowing my squadron up isn't going to save the colony, after all..." She wiped her eyes on her sweater sleeve, new tears forming quickly, but not streaming down her face.

"I'm not a very strong person, Kim... I only joined the ANF because my father did, and I wasn't old enough to run the company when he passed away. So, despite that, if I can help the ship in any way, especially if that help lets me save someone on the colony... That's all I can do." She smiled, sadly, shaking her head. "I think I'll be okay to be alone now, Kim... Unless you want to stay, that is. I don't exactly own the room, or even the clothes on my back, haha. But you can choose, either way. I'll probably watch something funny on CheckIt, or something, if you go. I think I could use a good laugh." She curled her legs up on the bed, gently swaying a bit, but she did look and feel fine-- as fine as she was going to get, today.

Upgrades

Avery quickly took down Thorvald's full list on her pad before smirking at his proposed upgrades. "Budget schmudget. We'll use what we got from th'wrecks an' whatever else we got on board. Those're simple enough to do, so don'chu worry 'bout that. Well, the armor and the thrusters... Tarquin's sniper? Hmmm... Could kerjigger the pistons to slam it a bit harder... Tune the stabilizers... Kid's aim's good'nuff tho', dunno if that'd so much... Eh, I'll figure it out. Ain't nothin' doin' worryin' 'bout it right now. It'll get done 'fore y'all take off again!"

Thorvald walked off, and that left Brant. Avery smiled, raising an eyebrow. She walked over to him, stood next to him, spun around to match his facing and gave him a nice 'friendly' pat on the ass. "You'd be needin' that, Brant. I can help ye fit in it, iffin yer havin' trouble?" She laughed, leaning away from him, trying to contain her snickering. "I'd like fer ye t'test it this time, but iffin yer not confident with it, it can wait. An' I wouldn't complain 'bout seein' you in somethin' that tight; let's kick subtlety t'the curb, yeah? So, again, makin' it yer call. It's win win fer me, and yer gonna wear that suit eventually, Brant."

How Things Are

Jess didn't want to listen to this; Tarquin was too young to hear this, and it was all a lie! Throw him away? He was a human being! When he was done with the ANF he could do whatever he wanted, retire, keep working on Earth, pilot a ship-- whatever he wanted! "Listen here you--"

Cheryl held a stern hand up, quieting Jess. She wanted to hear this. All of it. And she wanted to hear what Tarquin had to say. What his caretakers had told him, bringing him up, or if they had at all, about his future after the ANF. Were they going to offer him a real life? Or were they going to shut him down and call his existence successful... If it was the latter, she'd have some fighting to do down the line, but she wanted to hear what he thought.

[Ether]

"You need someone cry on, no? You want help, are friend, no stranger." Seung-Min replied with a smile, letting Christina get her piece out. It was good that she was willing to open up like this, it meant that hopefully her mental baggage wouldn't weigh her down too much in the end.

"Talk Captain, stronger than give credit for, show you mean help. Even if not in battle, would be not good have fight." Kim further encouraged, before Christina said she would likely be fine... she did feel better than before at the very least, though Kim herself didn't really have much else to do in the interim until their mission. She tried to recall what had been up on her computer back in her room.

"Don't mind stay bit. Ah, have subscribe. Can watch CineWeb, chill. Fun yes?" Kim asked, looking over at Christina with a friendly smile. Really, she needed to socialize a bit more anyway, and they had seemed to hit it off well enough, may as well start here. And what could be more fun than watching a fun CineWeb original series with her new friend?

[Phoenix]

Brant wasn't sure what to think when Avery positioned herself to his side, not until she smacked his rear all of a sudden. A stronger clash resulted, however, one in the telekinetic's own mind. On the one side, he knew full well she didn't mean any harm and was just teasing him. On the other, this was near the level of attention he'd probably never be able to truly enjoy. He suppressed his discomfort and smiled, letting the awkwardness he felt shine through. He hoped it would actually help, in fact.

"I can manage," he said, forcing a chuckle. This was definitely an awkward situation to find himself dropped into, cold. Avery hadn't really seemed the type, before, and that caught him completely off guard. She also reminded him that he would be wearing the skinsuit sooner or later. Brant knew that all too well, and decided that it should come down to what was best for the mission, and the ship in general. If having another fully functioning TK pilot would be more useful than a normal one, then he'd fulfill that roll, instead.

Brant sighed, not bothering to hide his disappointment. "Alright, equip the funnels and store the rifle. I'll be back about twenty minutes before it's time for takeoff to make sure everything's green," he said, suddenly all business. "Also if you've got the skinsuit, I'd like to have it, now. The sooner I get used to wearing the thing, the less of a distraction it'll be once I'm airborne." It was all he knew how to do, make the best of the situation, and not be too much of an inconvenience in the process.

[Nanami Touko]

CineWeb and Actually Chill

"You're really nice." Christina smiled, chuckling a bit more. Until Kim made her suggestion. Then she blushed. "Uhhh, w-wha-- ...L-Like I said, we just, met... You don't get what that saying really means, do you, Kim?" She decided to laugh it off, sliding off the bed and hopping up. "Well, if you have a subscription, then it should be fine... Er... W-Well the TV in here doesn't look that good... I-Is it alright if I leave the room if you're escorting me? It's just down the hall, right?" That would be alright, surely... She was just going to another room, and she was still with someone. "What d'you think?"

Awkward

Avery was no TK, but she could tell an awkward atmosphere when it was apparent, and by the time Brant was asking for the skinsuit in a no-nonsense tone, she'd caught on that she'd fucked up. "Hey, er... Sorry 'bout that. Won't happen again, don't wanna go further than I'm s'posed to, y'know?" She tried to smile it off, finding herself unable to muster more than a grin. "I, er... Sometimes I forget that I'm more than a mechanic. And when you see the same people every day, covered in grease from working, well, it... It really kills yer drive, iffin ye catch me." She fiddled with her ball cap some.

"Yer hot, Brant. Not gonna beat around that. And yer gettin' friendly, so I figured I'd get friendly, but I'm guessin' I got too friendly, huh?" She shook her head, trying to be serious. "You don't worry 'bout that anymore, 'kay? Iffin ye want us gettin' friendlier than small chat, well... I'll let ye let me know instead, howzzat sound? Call me quick er whatever ye want, but workin' all day, an' suddenly y'remember there's more t'life than hittin' a robot with a wrench, well..." You get kinda lonely, out here in space. She hid her face under her hat, knowing that he'd be able to feel how she felt despite it.

"A-Anyway! Ah'll get on that. Suit's In storage in th'pilot changin' rooms... Should be near the take off rooms, here in the hangar. Sorry 'bout that." She saluted, keeping her hat down, and rushed off. Christ, Avery. Hot guy gives you the time'a day and yer all over him. You need to take some time off. A lot of time off. Maybe some cold showers...

[Ether]

Seung-Min tilted her head in confusion as Christina got all... blushy and embarrassed, before writing it off as Kim not knowing what a saying meant. Well, she was correct on that matter, Seung-Min had no idea what had set her off... well, she knew what it was she was saying as Christina's emotions flared, so it was most likely that... but what could it mean? She'd have to figure it out, but asking Christina seemed like a bad idea at present.

"Will ask Captain. Just sec." Kim replied, stepping outside for a moment, giving Christina a light wave to indicate she'd be right back, as she turned on her personal comms and dialed up Captain Gefalscht.

"Captain Gefalscht, is Lieutenant Kim. Request permission, bring Ms Troy outside room, to mine. Kill time, help acclimate, all that." She began, deciding that it couldn't hurt to ask the Captain about her earlier quandary.

"Also, Captain. What CineWeb chill mean?"

[Nanami Touko]

Not The Time

Kim certainly didn't quite know what the phrase meant, but that was fine. She could figure it out on her own time... Which was right now. It also seemed to be time to call the Captain, whom Christina hoped wasn't busy.

Boy howdy was she. Her radio turned on, Kim's voice coming out with her question. Jessica flinched, the unexpected noise hitting her harder than it should have. "K-Kim? What is it?" She took steps away from the situation, hoping that she wasn't close enough to bother anything going on with the talk, anymore. "Bring her to... That sounds fine. I trust you to keep an eye on her. If she tries anything... Then, I-I guess..." It was hard to say, so bluntly, to knock her out, but... "Incapacitate her and, bring her to the brig. I'm sure you can handle things. I'm turning off my radio now, until the interrogation is finished." She cut off, and made sure it was off. If anyone else really needed to see her, they could find her themselves.

Apparently it wasn't properly off, as Kim's next question came through loud and clear, Jess squeaking and fiddling with the damn thing. "Wh-What? Why are you asking me? Th-That's inappropriate to ask the captain, go G-Google it or something!" She shut off her radio properly this time, huffing.

After the call ended, Christina couldn't help but laugh. It had been pretty amusing, really... "Hee... Er... This is kinda awkward to say, Kim, but... Well, most of the time you're inviting someone over for... Ehhh... No, I-I really don't wanna say it, ahaha..." She shook her head, still a bit red, unable to bring it up fully. "You should just look it up, like she said."

Edited September 1, 2016 by Narmaya

[Phoenix]

Avery had a decent amount to get off her chest, so Brant let her, making sure his silent expression conveyed both the understanding and forgiveness he couldn't find an opening to convey through words. It wasn't quite enough to calm her down, not with her avoiding eye contact, as so many embarrassed individuals did. "That's fine," he just barely managed to say between Avery's nervous ramblings.

He felt a mix of guilt and gratitude by the end of it. On the one hand, he hadn't meant to get this sort of reaction out of her, and the embarrassment flowing from her had him feeling like he had been the one to overreact. On the other hand, he was grateful she was being so honest with him all of a sudden. In some ways, he wished they'd met ten years earlier, back when he would have been ecstatic for female attention. Nowadays, he was used to it in some form or other, and his time with the Alkaevs had made certain aspects of it borderline traumatizing. Waking up and realizing you were damaged goods was never fun.

Right now, Brant just wished Avery would slow down long enough for him to get this off of his own chest. The opposite seemed to occur, more or less, as she ended their little exchange and headed off to get to work. Brant let her go, hoping that maybe the skinsuit would cheer her up. Besides, he planned to be back well in advance of the launch, to make sure the funnels and T-Link were working properly. They could sort things out, then.

[Ether]

"People weird. You heard Captain, is okay, but if not good me knock out and throw in brig." Kim replied, giving Christina a grin, as she stepped back into the room and took ahold of the young Ms. Troy's hand, pulling her gently along out the door and down the hallway.

"For best, people not think you loose." Seung-Min explained, gently squeezing Christina's hand as she brought her multi-tool up to her face. If they were gonna be all coy about it, well, she would soon know the reason why both Jessica and Christina were so flustered!

"Cortana, search 'CineWeb chill'." She spoke into her wrist computer, opening the floodgates with Christina in tow. Ohh... so that's what it meant. Kim actually blushed for a few moments, giving her head a quick shake as the projecting screen dissipated.

"I see, so that what CineWeb chill mean." She noted, still a little pink to the cheeks, but no more than that. So Christina thought that she had been soliciting her for sex, did she? She looked back at the ex-rebel, looking her up and down, noting that she was still quite embarrassed over the whole ordeal. Squinting at her for a moment, apparently scrutinizing the girl, she gave an affirmative nod in Christina's direction, mostly for her own sake, before continuing on.

"Oh well, not that big deal."

[Nanami Touko]

Told You

Christina giggled again as Kim's face went red, the AI searching up what the term meant. She'd probably gotten a few joke site results, and maybe an unfortunate image or two. "I said it was embarrassing..." But then Kim started looking her over for... Some reason? She hadn't the faintest, but that was fine. Whatever it was, Kim was satisfied, as she'd nodded. "Why'd you blush if it wasn't a big deal, then? I dunnooooo..." At least the fun was back, for the time being. Christina let Kim hold her hand, it probably was for the best. If someone walked by, say, Thorvald or Brant, and she was being led around casually, or if Kim wasn't there, well, she'd probably be getting a talking to, or even getting pulled along to the brig. Passing what she could only assume was Astin's room made things fade for a moment, but she'd still do her best. She could do something... She had to do something.

"So which room is... Aha." Kim's room appeared to be the third from the front of the hall, considering the SK on the door. "Should I brace myself for anything? Your room's gonna be normal, right? You never know, with telekinetics..." She'd met some cooky ones in her time at the TCI. They weren't always eccentric, but when they were, they tended to go the full mile.

Wash it Off

Instead of getting back to work, Avery left the hangar, heading to the elevators. She started tapping her foot again, wanting the damn metal box to hurry up. This isn't the first time, you idiot, why'd ye do that, seriously... Fuckin' smacked his ass before ye even gave him a compliment or started talkin' to 'im 'bout other things... 'Friendly', yeah fuckin' right. Gahtdamn... She was really chewing into herself, and she felt it was rather deserved. This whole flirting business got hard when you were out of practice for so long. That definitely didn't excuse it, and she knew that, shaking her head again.

The elevator dinged, and she got inside. "Gotta take care of this... An' just calm down. Nice shower t'wash it away." Just gotta talk to 'im normal fer a while, right? He said it was fine, but damn, he got awkward...

Edited September 1, 2016 by Narmaya

[Shin]

The Sharpest Tool

Tarquin's eyes widened, staying completely still on the spot. No longer needed? Surely they wouldn't get rid of Tarquin after all this time? He'd always done exactly as he'd asked, getting fantastic scores in testing and in missions. In the two missions he had been part of, he hadn't missed a single shot - and he never got hit in the second. He was far better than the other pilots, almost any of them would see the chopping block before him. Bruno and Mateus had been subpar, and they'd been dropped for it. The fact that he was still there proved that he still had purpose.

But then again, the Captain was so strange, Doctor Hart was trying to pry into his mind. The only reason he was there, and existed, was to be useful. He hadn't been born like anyone else, every aspect of his life had been planned for him. For all he knew, they'd agreed to let him talk to Nikolai because it would get then what they wanted. Was every aspect of his life just to benefit others? Would he eventually be disposed of, he'd never asked nor been told about his future.

-

"You don't need to go outside, Tarquin. There's nothing interesting out there. Everything you need is within these four walls. We want to keep you safe and happy. Now come, you need another blood test."

-

Snapping back to reality, Tarquin shook his head. He wasn't just a lab experiment, he was something better. He might have been created artificially, but that meant he was designed to succeed, everyone else had to deal with what limited abilities they had. On the Heion Riese, he'd been given everything he'd asked for, free access to almost the entire ship. Surely that kind of offering meant something?

"It's... it's different to that!" he replied forcefully, showing more emotion that he'd ever done before. "I'm smaller than all of them... and I don't like people very much. But my aim's better than them, I didn't miss a single shot last mission and made sure we succeeded. I've read over 400 hundred books since I was three too. If they don't want me any more, I don't care, because they need me more than I need them. I don't need any friends."

Tarquin could feel his heart racing. It was strange, he felt a twang of sadness within him. He couldn't understand it, Nikolai was the one that should have felt sad, not him.

[Ether]

"Blush for unexpect. But as say, no big deal. Look back, not embarrass, not mind." Seung-Min replied nonchalantly, as she lead Christina over to her room, opening the door as the girl asked her questions. Her room wasn't really that bizarre, was it? She didn't think so, though the Captain had commented on the wide array of musical instruments...

"Room normal, unless music weird. Or clothes, guess." Kim replied with a shrug, stepping through the open door and pulling Christina along inside.

[Dandragon]

Elaine clapped her hands together. "Right! Let's get this thing started, then!" Elaine dropped everything and grabbed a box of tools, dragging it over to where Talog sat. Elaine had a big smile on her face.

---

Edited September 1, 2016 by Dandragon

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai sighed, he hadn't expected the little guy to be quite so... emotionally distraught over his obsevation. Part of him felt slightly guilty about causing him distress. After all, even if he was technically an enemy, he didn't really find it in himself to hate him. Perhaps it was that he saw a little bit of himself in him, it was almost pitiable.

almost.

"I am sorry... that is just the way things are," He muttered, not really knowing how to handle hurting others. Usually, Nikolai didn't particularly trouble himself with the effect his actions had on others, "Still, you can clearly make something of yourself. Still young, have time, if they throw you out, you can make them pay."

He shrugged, "Let them know that they make their own monsters."

He plopped back onto the floor, leaning back onto his wrists. He contemplated his feelings for a moment. He wasn't used to this sort of thing. Pity, vauge concern over the fate of others... He knew these things existed within him but he had never been particularly adept at understanding or parsing these things out. If Johannes had been in his position, he would've been able to figure things out. He always assumed that humans were these foreign things that had been forever outside his reach, that the possibility of belonging to their world had been ripped out from before his eyes the moment he saw those caring eyes roll back for the last time. He wasn't meant to be like them.

Wasn't he?

You can be more, Nikolai. You just have to try.

He couldn't even believe he was doing this.

"Tell you what," He said, trying to soften his eyes a little (and probably failing), "I like you. I talk to you, ja?"

He jabbed his head at the others again before giving them a good ol' forearm jack, "not you though. All you bitches fuck off and then I talk. Think about what you did."

[Nanami Touko]

Hurt

The way things are... Maybe where he comes from, but this misconception isn't going to break down the setup this ship has... Though... Cheryl hadn't expected Tarquin to react so emotionally to these claims from Nikolai. She hadn't expected him to react emotionally at all. Cheryl had expected Tarquin and his books to be content by themselves, after speaking to him, at least for a while... There was more to him, it seemed, more he hadn't been willing to give to her, but now that it was being pulled out by a stranger, there wasn't much Tarquin could do to hide it. He was too naive. Or maybe he thought he had to answer? Either way, this was an interesting development for her-- save for one thing.

"What?" Jess came back into the window for a moment, still off put by the boy's lack of clothing, but this wasn't something she could take anymore. "Tarquin, you don't have to talk to him anymore, alright? Just let us take care of--"

"Captain... It would be for the best if we let them talk, for a bit." Cheryl was normally never this stern with Jess. They'd only known each other for a few days more than a week, but she'd been prodding, jovial, sometimes too sarcastic-- but not stern.

"Dr. Hart, with all due respect, I don't--"

"I know you don't. But I do~ So let's let them have their talk, for a bit." I want to see if Tarquin is able to stand up for himself, as well... This Nikolai is challenging his way of life so far, and judging by his reaction, he'd never expected to be thrown away. He won't be, of course, not on this ship, but the idea troubles him... So I want to see what he says, or where this leads.

Jess felt kinda stupid, getting shut down so easily. Cheryl wasn't even offering any reasoning! Though that... That's probably because we're in front of the prisoner... Furrowing her brow and biting her lip, she turned from them again and walked off, putting herself around the corner, enough that she could hear anything, but that Nikolai kid couldn't see her. That's what he wanted, right? What's his deal, anyway?

Cheryl smiled, glad she'd gotten what she wanted. "Nikolai," she said, cutting into his name, not bothering to look at him, "I don't know who hurt you, but they aren't on this ship. If someone hurts Tarquin like that, they'll answer to the captain, and to myself. So if you were thrown away, I'm sorry. Enjoy your talk with him, but try not to lie to him anymore, okay? The last thing I want is my favorite pilot breaking down because of your insecurities." Cheryl left it at that, walking off and taking a place next to Jess. Hopefully Megumi wouldn't object to the situation, either.

Play me a Song

"If you say so..." It was nice to see that Kim was more than a stone wall, even if it was in an awkward way. Stone walls were good, and Christina would be telling bold faced lies if she'd said anything akin to being unhappy that she had the support, earlier, but emotions were nice to share, after the sadness. Aside from that, it was amusing to see that Kim was so insistent in her dragging, but perhaps she just wanted to let go of her hand, already. It must've been awkward to hold onto a stranger like that, for so long.

"Music?" Christina perked up, just a tad, heading into Kim's space. She was quickly corrected on what music meant, by the array of instruments hanging about the room. She scanned through them, smile perking up as she spotted a violin. "Ohhhh, do you mind if I try to play a bit? I used to a lot, back on Earth... It's been about a year, but I can't imagine I'm that rusty." What luck, that Kim would be so musically inclined. This was the perfect way to get her mind away from, and keep it away from, all the guilt running through it. Music was relaxing~

Cold Shower

Avery continued to huff her way through the ship, skipping past the sleeping quarters and heading right for the public showers. She grabbed a towel off one of the shelves, got out of her clothes, set it in a locker, and quickly stepped into one of the stalls. With a quick turn of the nob, and a hefty squeak as the cold water streamed down onto her, she finally rested against the wall, shivering. "Th-This fuckin' sucks, b-but... Ahhh, ffuck... Y-Ye gotta focus on th-the robotsss..." Ice cold water out in space was an amusing thought, for a moment, before the reality of the chilling water sunk in once again. She quickly turned it off after her rinse, wiping herself off with the towel, and sighing.

"Gotta... Outfit Thorvald's robot, g-get the others fixed up... Make sure all the ammo's set... Yeah. And ye got an hour t'do it... Hell... Let's go get Buck an' the crew put through their paces."

[Ether]

"Yeah, play instrument." Seung-Min replied, seeing that Christina seemed to answer her own question shortly enough, seeing the various instruments strewn throughout the room. She soon made mention of some time she herself spent playing, and asked if she could give it a go.

"Go ahead." Kim replied with a light smile and a nod, walking over towards her own bed. Aside from the instruments and the still-open cavern of infinite fashion, there wasn't much particularly of note within the room. Well, aside from the rolled up poster that Kim picked up off from the bed and placed aside, hoping not to draw too much attention to it. She supposed it was a nice gesture, that they still sent her signed posters and albums, letters from the girls who had been there with her, but she was running out of places to put the things, and each one... well it was a reminder. She didn't regret her decision to go along with the recruiter, even if it had been less of a decision then they had wanted her to believe, but she still missed it, at times.

Still, this was no time for that. Stepping towards the laundry area, she turned her head back towards Christina.

"Go ahead begin, going move suit to dry." She noted, taking the laundered suit from the wash and setting it to machine dry.

[Oersted]

[spoiler=Abby and Co Intermission]

Rebel HQ

Abigail paced around the bridge, having returned there to meet with her advisors but being unable to stay still. Alpha patrol still hadn't radioed in their hourly report yet. Sena and Hilling tried assured her that they had simply forgotten again, they were among one of the most forgetful patrols after all. Besides, if anything happened they'd be quick to let her know. There was also the issue of Nikolai's disappearance act to consider. They'd lost all contact with him, so either he cut his comms and ditched or something else had happened. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. But either way, whatever had happened, the current situation was being kept under wraps until they could get what they needed and get off of this damn colony.

Finally taking a break from her pacing Abigail sat herself down on the captain's, technically her, chair. "What's our progress on the data retrieval?" she said with a sigh, expecting no good news.

"W-Well, it's going about as smooth as we can get it to without thr-throwing our men at it..." a woman spoke up. Sena Leson was her name; formerly an EU pilot, she had deserted rather than return to base after her entire squad had been wiped out after they had tried to initiate an attack on ANF soldiers just a little too close to their border. How she had managed to become a pilot in the first place amazed Abigail because, as far as she'd seen anyway, Sena couldn't harm a fly even if she tried to.

"Roger, will inform Red Leader," a gruff voice denoted the only man in the room. He clicked off his radio with a small beep and tucked it into his pocket before turning to face his peer and their superior. Robert Hilling was his name, though everyone just called him Hilling. He was a long time mercenary and a stickler for rules. He preceded Abigail in age by somewhere around ten years; however, his mercenary career was nearly double the length of hers. Having grabbed Abigail's attention, he spoke after a brief nod from her. "Blue Leader has arrived at the problem area as ordered and is preparing to assist in the extraction."

"Tell her not to get herself shot," Abigail said dryly. She knew Calina well enough to know she wouldn't get shot, of course, but still.

"Roger," Hilling answered. "Mountain to Blue Leader..."

"U-Um, what are we going to d-do with the hostages once we leave?" Sena had spoken up.

"Huh?" Abigail asked, caught off guard by the sudden question. In truth, she hadn't really thought about it that much; she'd been pretty much winging everything up to this point with some crucial help from her advisors and Calina to carry her. If things went according to plan, ideally, they'd be able to just leave the hostages where they were once they had gotten what they needed to from the scientists. It's not like she was going to slaughter them to prove a point or something. "Well, ideally we'll bargain them for our escape," she answered.

"O-Oh, ri-right, of course..." Abigail frowned at that. Sena knew they were in a precarious situation where one misstep could get them all captured. 'Though at this point it'd probably be death', Abigail mused to herself.

"Message delivered Red Leader," Hilling spoke up. "She says to leave it to her to take care of it."

"Well, all that's left to do it wait then," Abigail spoke out loud, not really expecting an answer.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Oersted

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald had taken the elevator down to the floor where the private quarters were located, as he had to take care of a slight call from nature, and while there were restroom facilities scattered about the ships, there's just a certain aura of comfort that surrounds one that you've claimed as your own. The brief lull was a welcome respite from the near non-stop hustle and bustle, and gave him some time to get his thoughts in order, and revisit his mental checklist of things to get down before their next sortie:

• The state of the mechs for the next engage had been addressed, and was now firmly in the hands of the competent crew whose job it is to keep them up to snuff. Nothing more needed to be done on that front, and he had faith in their abilities, with no reason to doubt them.
• Information on the area of operations had been obtained, and from what he'd gathered was currently in the process of being cross-checked. While he was sure he'd find it interesting hearing what the other prisoner had to say, he considered that ship to have sailed. Too many chefs spoil the broth and all. The information still had to be diseminated, and as he was thinking about that, he revisited his earlier idea of working with one of the crew to plan for contingencies, that was certainly a viable next move.
• Speaking of the crew, morale should be high; they'd just come away from a decisive victory, with only a few minor hiccups along the way. He still intended to talk with Jess about her pre-launch speech, but that could wait a little longer at this point. It might do well to investigate that outburst Kim had made partway through, but maybe he should ask Brant if he thought it might be TK related first? Elaine had also panicked a bit near the beginning, too, after taking some early hits. Much of the rest of the fight was somewhat more of a blur than he'd like--maintaining a fully comprehensive record of all the others in addition to keeping himself alive was a bit too high of a bar, it seemed--so maybe he'd have to ask someone who'd stayed aboard the Heion. Avery clearly had been watching, and had a good eye for attention, but with her long list of duties and responsibilities that conversation would definitely be an 'after' one. Someone on the bridge might be a good source, the XO or one of the ensigns probably, Dwight had seemed like he'd had business with captain and might be tied up. No matter how he ended up shaking things down, it was a much more roundabout path to take towards much more uncertain results, and so got knocked down the priority pegs a notch or two.

That pretty well covered the big three topics of equipment, intelligence, and morale, so with his mental realignment all wrapped up, Thorvald made to act on what seemed the most profitable course of action. In this case, that amounted to walking about five doors down the hall and knocking on Astin's. "Not sure if you're in there," he called out, "But I was thinking we could maybe do some productive brainstorming for the next leg of the mission. We did get some good information from one of the captives, so now it's just a question of putting it to proper use." If no-one was home, he'd try the comms, and if that struck out too, he'd have to settle for a different member to bounce ideas off of.

[scorri]

Astin was laying on their bed, staring up at the ceiling when someone knocked on their door. Sitting up quickly, they relaxed slightly when they heard Thorvald start to talk. "Ah, uh, yeah come on in. Doors unlocked. Dunno if they even can lock actually..." They trailed off, laying back down on the bed. "Guess talking strategy would work, yeah. Guessing it was that girl with Apotheosis that gave up information, right? Yeah, I ran into her with Kim just a bit ago. Said she gave up everything so that's good." Their voice was flat, seeming nowhere near as interested in this as they had been previously when talking to Thorvald about strategy and the like.

[riariadne]

Dwight nodded towards Tristan. His question was a valid one, but Dwight spoke with certain when he answered it still. "I have faith in Captain Gefalscht. She may be hesitant out of battle at times, and still a bit of a rookie, but each and everyone here is competent enough on their own. We are as ready as we can be- and even if that is not one-hundred percent ready, we must be as close as we can. The citizens of the First Colony depend on us taking action, and hesitation or doubting each other mustn't happen for their sakes. Do not fret, Ensign- instead have faith in the Captain. Morale is a true factor in battle, and that goes for you too." He sat down in the navigator's chair, observing the course. "Now then... let's get to the colony and save those people, shall we?"

[Sandalphon]

Don't lie? Who does this cow think she is?

"You first," Nikolai said to the woman in a clearly facetious amicable tone, "I do not know how to lie, ja? Never learn how to. Maybe after you fuck off and die we can meet up in hell and you can give me lesson. It will be like tea party, we can talk about cute boys and do our nails..."

He must've ruffled some feathers but at least she seemed to be acquiescing to his request. As she should, because frankly he was being nice about the whole thing.