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

[Nanami Touko]

Standards

"Alright... I'll believe you. For now. You're getting a smack if she isn't, though. And that's a promise!" She heard the water turn off, stepping away from the edge of the bathroom and folding her arms in front of her again, sighing. "And I heard that call for a meeting from the captain. Are you going to be headed there? Did something else go wrong during the mission?"

[Phoenix]

Socks resisted even slightly damp soles, so getting them on took some doing like always. "Yeah, that's why I'm rushing," Brant said, trying to narrow down his time mentally, "I was thinking of bringing you along but that'd raise some eyebrows. Besides, Kim could use your company."

Thinking back on the mission, it was almost funny just how wrong things had gone in a sense. "The captain let Nikolai out of his cell during the mission in a panic and had him head out to help us. She went with him, so the only reason she didn't become a hostage was because ... well, I don't know, really ... woman's intuition?" he shrugged as he got his first shoe on. "The meeting's to ... address that. I'm sure some other things will come up," like Tarquin's protocol overlords, "but the mission was as close to a success as it could have been. That Apotheosis pilot only got one hostage and she didn't kill anyone else, at least not after we got here." And with the second shoe on, he was nearly ready to go.

[Nanami Touko]

Rushing

"The captain what? That nasty little gremlin?" Christina didn't quite have any other words to describe Nikolai. He hadn't cared about the rest of his squad when they'd set off, what had changed? Was that just because they were a bunch of rebels? What was it? She didn't know, and it sounded really stupid. Stuck in her sigh, she didn't quite know what to expect, really. She just wanted to get to the infirmary. Stepping outside of Brant's room, she called back in, "I'll be out here. I can't really walk around without you, but I'm really ready to go. Sorry if I seem pushy; I made myself anxious."

Edited December 6, 2016 by Nanami Touko

[scorri]

Astin was rapidly growing uncomfortable with the tension in the room. It was clear that the XO was not going to be easy on the Captain and it didn't seem like Jess was quite prepared for that. The waiting for Brant might just be a stalling tactic or she just might really not expect anything. Either way, this could turn ugly. They hesitated and then decided to just mention Juria now. Maybe it would distract the XO? "Uh, captain, very quickly. Juria seems to be ok. We likely both have a concussion of some severity but she's awake and uh..." What else was there to say? Oh right. "Uhm, her future participation in battles is unclear. I didn't think it best to bring up right away. But she was helpful. I do think it was a good idea to bring her even if... Even if she got hurt." There. Maybe that would help.

Val enjoyed the short elevator ride, though she couldn't help but wonder how Olivia was doing with the height. Oh well. Not her problem. Forcing the thought out of her head, she concentrated on the problems ahead. It would be good to have work to do, especially if she could help save some people.

Colt took back his earlier assessment. This ship was even more interesting than it looked from further away. "I'm sure someone will be here soon. Can't invite us up and then strand us. Though it might be a good thing they're not showing up right away to rush us off. Means whatever they need us to do isn't immediately life threatening."

[Phoenix]

Gremlin; that was certainly one way to describe him. Still, he had helped, and Christina had already set the precedent for cooperative enemy combatants. Brant's black t-shirt fell down around his waist as he stepped out of the bathroom, concealing both defined muscle and aging scars. His hair was damp, but it would finish drying soon enough. There was no point in wasting anymore time on it, though he did tie it back into a loose ponytail, allowing the locks right up front to stay right where they were, as he made for the bedroom door. Without the ANF uniform jacket, the look was quite casual at a glance.

Brant stepped out of the room shortly after Christina and shut the door behind him. "Good thing the infirmary's right across from the meeting room." He quietly wondered if there would ever come a day when someone was rushed across from the meeting room into the Riese's infirmary. The circumstances for that would be improbable, he wagered. Then again, Tarquin could always 'Andromeda Protocol' everyone in the meeting room with a hand grenade if things got too tense for him.

The trip to the first deck wasn't exactly uneventful. Brant had decided to fill in Christina on more of the details of the mission. It all focused on Kim though, and how she hadn't simply gotten hurt and then fallen back. She'd actually shot some people. He figured giving her more to think on would cause the positives of the mission to outweigh the negatives, at least where her injured friend was concerned.

The split in the hallway came up soon enough, but Brant decided to step into the infirmary with Christina once they arrived. Some slight aversion to the negativity coming from the meeting room may have played some small part in that. He did want to make sure nothing had changed since he'd last been here. Kim's immersion tank was a little too far away for Brant's eyes to comfortably focus on, but nothing seemed amiss. What was happening much closer to the entrance was a surprise, though. When did Thorvald become a medical assistant? Granted, with age came experience and Brant had no doubt the man had at least some knowledge, if not experience. It was probably just a temporary thing. Very temporary if the man planned on participating in the meeting.

Silently, Brant made a gesture toward Kim, pointing her out for Christina. "I should get going, but I'll stop by once the meeting's over." While he was getting tired, seeing his fellow telekinetic lying there, submerged in medical science and surrounded by mechanical leprechauns, was a little disheartening. He might eventually succumb to his urge to tease her, but he felt some sympathy was first in order once he got back.

Edited December 6, 2016 by Phoenix

[Nanami Touko]

Status

"Oh. That's good, Sergeant Doyle... We'll talk about that more at another time. I don't think she should be out with you if she's going to get herself hurt, but I'll see about the details of that, before I make a concrete decision." She'd chosen her words quickly, not precisely, and Roxanna was probably going to pick at her for one specific thing she'd just said, but she had to get it out quickly, before the meeting began proper. Still, it was good to know that their head engineer was still alright... And hopefully not scarred.

Brisk Pace

Christina nodded, following after Brant. His recap of the events of the mission were appreciated; it was definitely pleasant to know that Kim hadn't simply been laid into and then left. Hearing that they both performed really well was impressive, and helped to calm her further. She was going to need it.

Brant had explained that she had been lucky, but that she was fine... Christina wasn't expecting to see her friend in a vat. She slapped a hand quickly onto her mouth to avoid the squeaking gasp that was about to occur, nodding to Brant as he said he'd stop by once the meeting was over... She let him go, and stepped into the room.

The doctor, er... Megumi? That was her name...? Maybe. She seemed busy with another patient. Christina made sure not to touch anything, taking quiet step towards Kim's tank. She gently pressed her other hand against the glass, lowering her safeguard and trying to smile.

"Hey. Don't even know if you can hear me... Hope you're feeling alright." Any more and the waterworks would have started, but she shut herself up and sniffled back that tiny crying fit before it could get going. It was probably odd to a few that she'd latched onto these TKs so quickly, but it didn't feel odd to her. Two people giving her support and friendship in a foreign environment, so far away from home and anyone she knew... Brant and Kim were her rocks stranded at sea. And they had to be okay. Otherwise, she wouldn't be.

[charlie_]

Despite her attempt to reach the elevator first, Lyra found herself greeted by a small crowd as she arrived. Dammit. Holding back a sigh, she instead put on a cheerful face and waved widely as she hurried over. "Are you all the volunteers? We're glad to have you, really." From what she'd heard, the injuries they had were fairly serious.

"Anyway, I'm Lyra Walsh - the navigator." she continued. "The captain, XO and a couple of others are all in a meeting at the moment, so you've got me instead." Maybe this should've been dealt with by a more senior crew member, but it wasn't like she was incapable. "If you'd like to follow me," She set off down the corridor, gesturing to match. "I can take you to the medical bay. It's a pretty big ship, so make sure you don't wander off!" The comment was jovial, but the navigator didn't want it on her head if one of the volunteers wandered off and did something they shouldn't.

[Ether]

Things had been mostly as expected in the infirmary. Seung-Min had laid back and allowed the immersion tank to do what it was meant to, vaguely listening to the small amount of commotion from Juria as the rebel leader was brought in for treatment... as expected to be honest, the engineer had proven that she wasn't very good at keeping her emotions in check, after all. Aside from that, things were rather peaceful, with Thorvald apparently being held back from the Captain's meeting to play medical assistant... well, peaceful until the next visitor arrived. Despite her outwardly calm appearance, as soon as Christina arrived it was vividly evident to Seung-Min that the ex-apotheosis pilot was in a bit of a tizzy over her own situation.

"Am okay, can't feel much. Strong drug." She replied, giving Christina a light smile under the oxygen mask, hoping to alleviate her worries a little.

[Phoenix]

Brant only stuck around until he saw the blurry thumbs up from Kim. Things should theoretically be alright, now. He turned around, exiting the infirmary and crossing over into the meeting room. His mental clock told him he was a few minutes early ... but it sure didn't feel like it. Maybe fifteen minutes was a longer wait time than most, particularly the XO, would have wanted.

"Right then," Brant murmured, turning left and finding a spot on the wall as he entered the room, "I'll just take this spot."

[MechanicalBull]

Talog grinned.

"Well, couldn't even make a buckler, but was thinking of how it'd go together. Miniatures, you know? Wondering what would be best. Tungsten-alloy here would be good... heavy though. Maybe I should put some explosive-reactive on it, just for the fun!"

She slid her datapad across the table, showing a rough sketch.

"The notch here-" she pointed - "would let me rest any mech rifle in there for support, so it wouldn't be taking up the whole arm. Circular design, to make me ancestors proud, eh?"

[Dandragon]

Elaine picked up the data pad to take a look at the thing, then started laughing. "If you want something to actually block things, it's gonna have to be bigger than this." She placed it back on the table. "Right, first thing's first. If that's the size you're gonna be going with, I'm pretty sure even a standard shield is bigger than this. Second, that little circular cut you got there for your weapon ain't gonna do much to steady it when it's taking blasts and being shook up. Not to mention, enemy bots could shoot right through that opening and into you. Plus, do you even use any weapons that could use that opening to their advantage?"

"Still...if ya really want something like this...Right, give me a moment." Swiping the sketch off to the side, Elaine opened up a 3D editing software, and brought out a rectangle. The first thing she did was shorten the width of it. No need to be so thick. She ain't carrying a brick to protect herself. From there, she took at look at the standard legionary, and adjusted the height of the rectangle accordingly. Next was the shape. Creating points on both sides of the rectangle, about one-fifth down from the top, she dragged out the points slightly to form a hexagonal shape. The sides weren't equal, but for this design they didn't need to be. From the top, the sides went diagonally down outwards to reach the two new points, then diagonally inward to reach the bottom. This widened the supposed sheild protecting the more important parts, the arms, when holding the shield in front. Now came the difficult part; insert some sort of opening for Talog to use some supposed gun through it. It took a moment for her to think of something, her right hand cradling her shin as she pondered, until finally she had an idea. First, she made a smaller rectangle shaped hole at the top of the shield. Then, she a similarly sized, flat rectangle and placed it directly into the hole. With that, she nodded in satisfaction.

"Right, Tal, I think I got something." She turned the datapad to face the larger redhead of the two. "Now, this shape is much bigger, and should be able to protect you more. Plus, you don't need have you robot kneeling to completely cover you, so you can walk around with it. Now, here's the interesting part. You see this here outlined thing." With that, she placed her finger on it, and slowly slid it down, revealing the hole that she had made. "Now you can slide whatever gun you're using in your other hand into this here opening and fire through it, while still holding your shield up! And, when you're not using a gun," She slid the smaller rectangle back up. "You can move this back into place so it covers you completely!" She stood up, with her hands on her hips and her elbows out, quite proud of herself. "Well? Whaddya' think?"

[riariadne]

Dwight watched as the rest of the attendees of the meeting arrived, speaking up when Brant entered after a few minutes. The impatient attitude of a few of those gathered left no time for pause upon the last arrival. "While Roxanna's attitude may be somewhat brusque, her point is completely fair, Captain. Most of the bridge was shocked by your decision to allow a prisoner that had been captured so recently to be allowed free, in a mech no less, with no true assurance of loyalty. Perhaps your thoughts on the action are different, but to those around you, it came off as a reckless and foolish decision first and foremost. So you would be best off explaining your thoughts on the matter."

[Xinnidy]

Timely help.

"They're the volunteers." The officer gestured towards the others, "I'm from the station, just call me Grey. Officer Grey." With a thumbs up, he kept going, "Two of them for the medbay, two to help your ground crew... if I'm not wrong here." He shrugged, "Let's go to the medbay first, yeah."

Open the saltworks.

Roxanna felt pretty neutral about Astin's interjection. Juria was somebody he didn't know much, but seemed harmless and on her own world. "Sergeant Doyle, if she wasn't a detriment, consider whether that engineer is up to it after that." Having somebody that could relay data from the field without needing to get too close herself could be a boon. She didn't pay much attention to Jess' words, it didn't sound immediately offensive, and she was in no mood to pick on it.

There was Brant, his entrance awarding Roxanna's attention as they had been waiting for him to start. It felt... unusual to see him last, with the expectations held, but he probably wasn't that late. What did warrant a shift in mood was when Dwight opened his mouth. Roxanna tried her best not to roll her eyes. While Roxanna's attitude blahblah up your ass grandpa. It was clear as day how much he dissapproved of her, and she had to wonder what she'd done to be called out during Jess' explanatory meeting. If you're going to critique me and her, then who's going to captain this ship? Dwight's retired self wasn't an option, so who? "I'll reiterate: This mission was incredibly delicate." She forced herself to intrude the conversation. "Your reasoning has to be really sound." She disliked this roundabout way of dealing with it sometimes. It reminded her kof her politic pursuits. Gosh, that was a trainwreck.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Xinnidy

[Snowy_One]

"Greetings Ms. Walsh." said Melissa as she raised her hand in a salute, not really certain of the proper company protocol here. However she was going to try her best. "Mechanic Melissa here, employee i.d. number 1938829, willing to provide assistance in accordance with company guidelines. I have already rendered aid in seeking to aid the scientists being protected by police android Hannah and endeavor to continue to provide aid in any mechanical means possible."

[Nanami Touko]

Let The Games Begin

Jess sighed. Dwight was pressing her now. Roxanna kept pushing. Brant had arrived, but was she really ready for this? This wasn't a slap on the wrist, if anything this was a slap in the face. Lord knows Roxanna wants to...

Jess had little patience left for her impatient XO, so she looked to Dwight as she began to explain what had gone through her mind. "That's what you want first then, is it?" She almost sounded annoyed, but if she was annoyed with anyone, it was herself. "I didn't want anyone to die. And I wanted to help."

She let that sit with them for a second. It was about as basic as her thought process could have been. "Tarquin had never taken a hit like that before. Even before, in practice, his records against virtual and AI run machines are flawless. So when he took that hit, and reported in damage, I panicked. 'Who else can we send out?' We don't have any other pilots on board; none of us on the bridge are qualified to fly anything other than a battleship. I have basic training in suits, but only in a zero-G environment... With gravity affecting things, I would've been even more of a liability."

She sighed. "So... I turned to the next most available person. And normally, I would never consider anything like this. But he's just... He's just a kid. I don't care who he was running with, he's..." She placed a hand on her face. "Tarquin and Nikolai understood each other like I would never expect two strangers to. Perhaps it's their upbringing, sheltered, young, but... He's not bad. Just rude. Blunt, probably hates a few of us just because of his situation. That didn't mean he wouldn't be able to help."

Jess thought back to her frantic running down the halls. She'd been so panicked. She hadn't even thought, at all, of Nikolai taking her hostage. "He's... I don't know if any of you remember the report, it was in the news, it was a huge scandal... A large group of child soldiers, all bio-medically engineered, were... 'saved' is about as appropriate as I can say, from a russian rebel war monger, Sergei. Nikolai was in that group. So, it's..."

This was going to sound far more humanitarian than she knew was allowed of a military leader, but she didn't care. That was her whole issue in the first place. The lack of care for life in this entire engagement.

She was going to stick with it.

"He's not a bad kid. He just got stick with the wrong people... I knew he wasn't going to try anything because he cares about Tarquin, the one person on this ship he doesn't want to see dead. And since Tarquin was the one that got hurt... I turned to him as the only available pilot left on board. If he tried something in the cockpit, I was confident I could overpower him. He's small, sickly, malnourished... I know I'm not the prime example of fitness, but I know basic ANF CQC. And that's about as close quarters as it gets."

Was there anything else to explain? Had she covered her bases? Had she covered them well enough... No matter. I'm sure Dwight might see some reason in what I did, but Roxanna's going to tear it to shreds regardless. Bring it on, then...

"You can ask any other questions. I still feel what I did was the best option, even if it wasn't right. There's no telling if things would have gone worse without an extra machine intervening."

Strong Drugs

"Y-Yeah... Haha, I said I wouldn't cry, but... I'm just glad you're both alive. Don't scare me like that." She smiled through the small tears that were forming as she wiped a sleeve against her eyes, trying to stay positive. If Kim wasn't hurting and things were going well for her healing, then Christina didn't have anything to worry about.

"Do you wanna talk while you're in there? I don't mind being quiet, if you're too drowsy to think of anything. I saw some stuff in your room, and all that. It might be personal, but... Well, I thought it was interesting." It was something, if Kim wanted to take her mind off of the... The goop. What was this stuff, anyway? She turned to ask the doctor, but they seemed preoccupied. She wouldn't want to interrupt something important. No chairs either, so... Standing would have to do.

Med Bay, Ho!

Olivia was glad that this mechanic was going the other way that she was... She seemed like a real bother to be around, and her little burst in the drive over hadn't inspired much. "I can definitely see that," she replied, at Lyra's mention of the ship being big. Big was an understatement. It was gargantuan. Their walk to the med bay would likely take a few minutes. "How many of the pilots were injured?" she asked, getting started on knowing what sort of work load they'd need.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Nanami Touko

[MechanicalBull]

"Hrhm. Don't think it needs to be quite so low-reaching. The legs aren't a common target, and if it's too tall, it'll be more unwieldy. Might get in the way. After all, I'm not just protecting meself, but others too."

She reached over and fiddled with the design, until it was more of a kite shield.

"The moveable slot ain't a bad idea. Makes it more complicated, but complicated is fun, eh? Protection is good, but too largeof a shield will sacrifice mobility. But there's also the most important issue, too."

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald was slightly taken aback at one of the possibilities the good doctor had raised. How many people have severe reactions to anesthesia? That was the sort of thing that would have never crossed his mind, but she was already working on contingencies for it. No wonder she was the paid professional. Apparently she'd also seen the message he'd fired off to Jess, informing him that he was 'sort of free to leave', but in the kind of way that really implied he'd better not.

"Oh, I'm not needed, per se. I was just letting the captain know I'd probably be late to the meeting she'd called. Definitely a lower priority than saving a life, am I right? I mean, yeah, if magically someone competent and responsible shows up, I'll probably end up passing the buck, but..." Thorvald shrugged as he trailed off, illustrating just how likely he found that scenario to be.

At about this time, surprisingly enough, Christina showed up, escorted by Brant, who only stayed every so briefly, apparently noticing he was present and feeling comfortable enough passing off guardianship from one to the other of the two that Jess had assigned to be her escort service. "Oh there you are, Christina, you were with Brant after all, huh? I'd tried leaving a message at your room, shortly after we'd arrived, but there was no reply. Guess with you here now, that means I can cross swinging by and checking in on you off the list, haha."

The chronically unlucky pilot, had quickly stepped over to Kim's tank, and started up a conversation, and the large amount of concern that was so obviously evident in Christina's behaviour had him wondering when those two had gotten so close. He also felt a momentary jab of guilt, as with Kim actually responding, he realized she was actually awake in the tank, when he'd assumed otherwise, and not bothered to check up with her himself. Not that he hadn't had other things to distract him at the time, but regardless, it was a bit of a miss. He gave the TK a sympathetic nod of acknowledgement as well, before turning back to Rapunzel.

"Start us off, doctor." He was as ready as he'd ever be.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Balcerzak

[Xinnidy]

No more of this.

It seemed like Jess was just going to tough it out and ignore Roxanna for as much as she could. That was more insulting than annoying at that point. Is this how she saw Roxanna now? A nuisance? Not once had she the courage to speak face-to-face with Roxanna, always wanting somebody else to be there, to reassure it was Roxanna that was the bad apple, she could see it hadn't changed.

What a coward.

Roxanna crossed her arms, wondering what to expect of Jess. To her surprise, the pipsqueak had the gall to start with an annoyed tone. That rose an eyebrow, Roxanna was going to pay full attention to her speech now.

...

Roxanna didn't know what she was expecting. That was soapy, appealing to emotion. It just exacerbated the point that made Roxy angry with Jess since she entered the meeting room. She just didn't want to face the criticism upfront. There was this whole story about how Nikolai was risky but for whatever reason his background and Jess' intuition made him reliable. That her decision was the "best option". Was this girl allergic to admitting she was wrong, that she made a hasty decision? That she shouldn't have panicked, as a captain? What the fuck was wrong with that? She wasn't that special. Roxanna faced scrutiny from her peers all the time, it hadn't magically started once she set foot on the Heion Riese, and look where she was now.

Fuck'em.

If nobody hates you, if everything you do is justifiable and perfect to everybody, you're doing something wrong, girl. Rule number one of politics. Roxanna knew what she was doing. She was selfish, she was making enemies left and right, she was playing the system and hoping to be promoted again if she caught flaws with Jess' captaincy, but she was transparent about it. Consistent.

Roxanna felt like staring daggers at Jess. It was a small miracle that she didn't, instead leaning against her seat, sighing. Fine. People are going to whine and join her if I just try to be real with her. You want to play appealling to emotion bullshit? Let's dissect it.

For once, Roxanna waited until silence reigned, Jessica having finished her argument, and then waited some more, before promptly raising her arm. "I do have a question, regarding what you've just said... Captain Gefalscht." Gosh, how hard it was to say that neutrally. "If you knew so much of the captive, why was that not shared with the bridge? You left the bridge in a confused state. Last thing we knew, you were in a mech with him, and left for the inside of the colony. The bridge was left without your leadership in short notice. We could've panicked. Worst case scenario, we could've let the rebels outside slip, further jeopardizing the mission." She felt like using the 'we could have died card', but it felt wrong with the Riese's capabilities, it would be an exaggeration. "Ensign Calvin quickly stepped up to establish a new chain of order in the bridge, for the sake of the mission. I have to admit, I wouldn't have done it as fast." Humility. People seemed to like it for whatever reason. Made the debater more 'human'. It was a very uncomfortable double-edge. It just let you more open to be poked holes at, even if ad hominem was out of the question.

That wasn't the end. "Furthermore, after taking a grave hit, Tarquin was convinced to not perform his protocol by Dr. Amparo. It would've caused such damage that your gamble wouldn't have changed a thing." That's right, they hadn't touched that officially yet. "By the way you've described the captive's relationship with Tarquin, it could have spiraled into a negative reaction. I'd like to invite our specialist, Tarquin, to explain what this 'Andromeda Protocol' entails." She turned to the young boy, "The bridge already knows what it means." She reassured, in case he felt like he was going to break a vow of silence concerning the matter.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Xinnidy

[riariadne]

Dwight sat with his arms crossed as Jess gave her explanation and Roxanna exploded. He took a moment to think about what the two women had said before responding. "You have your reasonings, Captain, but it was nonetheless a dangerous gambit to take and seriously out-of-line with ANF regulations. And XO Roxanna raises fair objections. Leaving the bridge so abruptly and without giving much information, or consulting others, based on a decision you came to because you believed to understand Nikolai's psyche mere hours after knowing him... even with your explanation, my thoughts remain unchanged that your plan was an irrational one. Furthermore, the Andromeda Protocol would also have very likely been quite damaging to the mission." He gave a gesture towards Tarquin.

[Shin]

Tarquin felt all the eyes in the room focus on him, their curious gazes drilling into his very being. How much could he say? How much should he say? There was no chance that he could simply not answer, and neither Cheryl nor Megumi were there to cover for him. It was the same feeling when he'd found out Cheryl knew of his record. The feeling of vulnerability and betrayal was still relatively fresh in his mind, and he hadn't forgotten it in the slightest. He wasn't entirely sure who to answer, both Dwight and Roxanna were leading him into a conversation he'd have very much preferred to avoid. Considering that they knew the general concept of the protocol, it meant his explanation would be slightly easier.

"The Andromeda Protocol is a series of instructions, where an obliged individual is to avoid capture at all costs." Tarquin began, starting with the general principles to calm his own nerves. "This includes but is not limited to situations involving injury to said individual, unfavourable tactical situations, failure of unit escape mechanisms and the possibility of capture by hostile factions. The aim is to remove the obliged individual from combat whilst causing minimal disruption to allied forces."

It had been a very formal definition, but there was likely no other way to describe it. There was likely to be a whole plethora of questions that were going to follow it, but Tarquin still had one get-out clause.

"These instructions were given outside and above the command of the Heion Riese." Tarquin continued, focusing directly on Roxanna. "Accordingly, any further information requires sufficient authorisation and seniority, which do not apply to yourself, XO. I am unable to provide you any further information."

The professor never said that anyone would question his actions, or try to pry into him. Even Tarquin had begun to see how poor his assigned cover story was, nobody was going to believe that a child soldier would be involved in such a complex set of orders. Why did they have to ask him all these questions? He'd come to try and help Nikolai and the captain, but now he was on the spot. Was there really nobody who would support him? Maybe Bruno was wrong after all, maybe he wasn't meant to be with other people.

[charlie_]

"Hey there." Lyra held up a hand in reply to Melissa's greeting, even though it mostly went in through one ear and out of the other. There was no chance that she would remember her engineer number if she gushed it out at that speed. Although she probably wouldn't have remembered it anyway even if she said it slower - there were too many digits there. Either way, she hadn't known about the engineers coming, but there wasn't exactly an issue with it as long as they all did what they were told.

She nodded in agreement at the policeman before calling back to Olivia. "There weren't too many injuries, luckily. But one of them sounded pretty nasty." She grimaced slightly. She hadn't seen exactly what had happened to Kim, but it hadn't looked pretty. "I'm not familiar with the procedures or anything, but I think you'd be a big help. And we're just... yeah, we're here." She gestured to the room on the left.

"Could the rest of you just wait here? Thanks." She pushed the door open without waiting for a response, nodding at the volunteers to follow her. "Hey, we have some volunteers here to help out if you'll take them." Lyra couldn't imagine why not, unless Megumi was really strict on regulations. But then again, Thorvald looked like he was joining in, and as far as she knew he wasn't qualified for any of this stuff.

[scorri]

Astin had been getting more and more uncomfortable as the tension rose but then Tarquin's comments jolted them too much to remain quiet. "Wait, at any cost? You can't mean... Were you going to kill yourself? Or... Explode your robot or something? If you'd done that, you could have gotten us all killed! Why are you even out in the field if it's that much of a risk?" And he'd been going on about how Juria was a risk to have out in the field. How was he any less of a risk if he'd kill himself at the first injury?

Val followed the navigator into the medbay, taking in the beds, recovery tank with it's occupant, and the current procedure happening now. "Valerie Tambre, I'm a physician's assistant. What do you need from me doctor?"

Colt leaned against the wall, waiting for their guide to come back and take them to the hanger. This part held no draw for him. Humans were too delicate and putting them back together too messy and complicated. Machines were where the interest was. Well that plus the projects the colony had been working on but given the state of the colony, those were on the backburner for a while if he had to guess.

[Shin]

Kill them all? It appeared that Astin wasn't familiar with the protocol, but then again, most people outside of his development hadn't even heard of it. "That's not technically correct. I stated that minimal disruption to allied forces, any detonation within range of allies is strongly advised against. My deployment and instructions are a direct request of higher command."

That would at least cover the misconception, or at least Tarquin thought it would. He hadn't intended to detonate adjacent to his allies, but conveying that convincingly was simply outside of his communication ability. There was no way he could fully explain himself to the others. Both his orders and his own fears prevented him from divulging anything. None of them would ever look at him the same way again, and he was already enough of an outcast already. Part of him wished for Cheryl to be present, even Megumi would have been able to help him out a little.

"I had never been injured in combat before, I required Doctor Amparo's input in order to gauge the severity of my injuries correctly." Tarquin replied, hoping that the meeting would soon shift back towards the Captain. People like Elaine could just shout and get angry, maybe even storm out. Tarquin didn't know how to do any of those things - part of him wished he could.

[Ether]

"Not like tried get hit. End mission, outnumber surround, try stop rebel retrieve commander." Seung-Min began, gently turning her head towards the operating table that the Doctor and Thorvald had been working around, before continuing.

"Got box in, could not proper evade. Focus fire cockpit, repeat hits small breach, round glance arm." Kim explained, being a bit too out of it to clue into what Christina had been referring to about her room.

[Dandragon]

Elaine shook her head. "The bigger the shield, the better. You don't know what you're gonna be facing out there, so it's better to cover all your bases." She was a little irritated that the image she had worked on was being disregarded for a smaller, less useful design. Didn't she know that? Or was she too stuck in this medieval age she seemed to be emulating? Regardless, she lengthened the design, once again, determined that hers was the better of the two. "It'll be better this way. Otherwise you might get hit with something too big for a smaller shield to protect you from."