Super Robot Wars ∀: Deep Space IC Thread - Part 2: Of Dire Tides

[scorri]

Astin quietly mumbled under their breath as they followed after Avery, not entirely sure how to respond. Finally, they just reassured her, "No, I won't forget. My goal is to come back unharmed. That includes my bot. Can't give you too much work." Smiling at her, even with their cheeks still pink, they turned back to the problem at hand. Food.

The real problem was boiling an egg would take too long because of the water needing to heat up. They'd never been great at cooking in general, so they opted for an easier route. Grabbing a packet of instant oatmeal and a mug, they added some milk and stuck it in the microwave. After letting it heat up, they added a bit of brown sugar and were ready to go. Passing by Avery, they gave her a quick one armed hug and smile. "Gonna go eat in my room and get ready. Should be back in the hangar ten minutes or so before we reach the target." They needed a bit of quiet if they were being honest. A moment of peace to calm their mind before a battle was just what the doctor ordered... 

[Shin]

It was reassuring that Tarquin wasn't alone in his evaluation of T-2. Both Nikolai and Kim seemed to share the same conclusion. All three of them making the same evaluation was rather unfortunate for his predecessor, it only further confirmed how unsuccessful she really was. There was the returning sense of pity from before, a feeling that made him rather uneasy. Surely there would be something for her to do to help the crew? Her ability as a pilot was rather suspect, he would be hard pressed to choose her in any situation, perhaps even over the likes of the chubby cat lady or the insane janitor. She'd simply been unlucky in the genetic draw, she simply didn't have the potential to tap into. Either that or her work ethos wasn't quite up to standard, but her anxiety and poor psychological reserve were likely a byproduct of her futile efforts.

"It may be better if she finds a less stressful role than piloting. Her genetic composition is likely very similar to mine, there may be other fields she is suitable for." he replied, his own words also applying to himself. Would he be a pilot for the rest of his life? Life had so much to offer, the prospect of being a tool for the ANF long term wasn't fantastically tempting. He was never entirely certain how much Kim or Brant could pick up from their abilities, it was entirely possible that Kim had picked up on T-2's emotions herself. "I was meaning to discuss it with her directly, but I am unsure that she would take it well from me. I'm not entirely sure why, but I feel as if she is not particularly fond of me."

[Ether]

Tarquin seemed to pity his elder sister to an extent, or at least that's how it felt. When he brought up his concern that Talia wasn't fond of him, Kim thought back to her encounter with the girl the day before. She seemed so... frightened. Froze and broke down at the slightest provocation, terrified of reprimand... yes, that sort of personality could have lead her to have a disdain for Tarquin, if the progeny that had lead to them was meant to create highly-talented soldiers.

"Yes, it would be good for her... if she could find something that she enjoys doing. Having something like that... would probably help her mental state... quite a bit. As for disliking you... if I had to guess, I would assume... that she is envious of you. Clearly piloting isn't her forte... yet you've picked it up with relative... ease. It was likely that you... were something like a crown jewel at the facility... that is, if I properly understand the... situation, I was in the infirmary during the debrief. For someone like her... seeing you succeed might be a heavy reminder... of her previous failures." Kim surmised... that sort of situation seemed highly likely, all things considered.

[Shin]

Kim had raised several valid points, many of which he hadn't considered. Would T-2 really resent him for his own successes? Admittedly his aptitude was incredible for his age and relative lack of training. Two years of simulations and about a week of live exercise had put him on par with fully trained pilots, whilst T-2 could just about get by with heavy support. Would she feel worse with him around as a constant reminder? He didn't feel particularly guilty, he'd had his own work cut out for him growing up, he wasn't going to feel bad for being better than someone else. He'd managed to go toe-to-toe with Mateus when they'd first played football, was his innate aptitude really something that gave him such a massive advantage?

"I've never considered it that way. Both of us were designed to be genetically superior compared to general troops, it must be painful to fail at one's reason for creation." he replied, Kim's response raising one question he had for his comrade. "You appear to possess a natural aptitude along with your own efforts to improve. Have there been times where people around you have been made unhappy about it?" 

-

The next day had come slowly for Talia, she hadn't been sure when she'd fallen asleep. The stress from the day before had kept her awake, her mind unable to settle after the emotional rollercoaster. In the end, she'd resulted in watching the adaptation of Shin Megaman Tension: Purse Owner to distract herself. The concept of ethereal handbags may have seen daft to some, but the pairings were simply superb. Not that she'd know what that was like at all, after failure her defining trait was her utter isolation from the rest of humanity. The announcement from the XO washed over her ears, deep within her she knew that she couldn't have possibly meant her.

"It doesn't even matter, me being there wouldn't change anything." she sighed, rolling over in her bed to look up at the ceiling. If only she could turn back time, there were so many things she'd redo, so many second chances she'd jump at. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't someone else suffer like she did. "I only wanted people to like me... I tried so hard to please them, and now I have nothing."

She pulled the duvet over her head, she didn't want to face the world outside of her four walls, they were the only place she could be truly safe.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Shin

[Ether]

It appeared Tarquin hadn't thought of that angle before, though it wasn't likely he had thought much of the other prior T-series in recent times, at least until Talia had emerged. When Tarquin asked if Kim herself had ever had such an effect on someone, it showed quite succinctly that the young pilot still had a lot to learn about people and the world... despite being relatively close in age to the telekinetic, his real-world experiences seemed quite lacking in comparison.

"Yes, there have... many times, in fact." Kim began, pausing for a moment. Her idol work especially had caused many rifts between former friends and colleagues, especially when unit cores or advertising decisions were made, but that was unlikely to register particularly well with Tarquin.

"There were... many types of people at the academy. Especially in our division... comprised of telekinetics, everyone was... used to being at the top of their groups. Whether due to... problematic self-esteem or ego, many recruits... did not take well to being in the bottom half of the division. Even if the worst... pilot in it was still exceptional by a normal standard. I was at... the top of that group, so I drew most of their... combined ire."

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald had been in the process of dictating a video journal when the alert came. It wasn't something he did regularly, particularly not when he could just talk with Anya about how things had gone any given day, or about his worries, fears, hopes, whatever. But without that outlet, he figured he'd give a whirl at clearing the old brain out a different way. He'd been near enough to finished that he simply shrugged and stopped recording. It might be amusing, if he ever went back and watched it in the future, to see the sudden glance at his communicator and then a cold break, but then again, it would probably just be all the better at conjuring up the actual memories for it.

Standby within the hour, huh? Well, Thorvald had already eaten and taken care of most business. Part of him contemplated heading to the bridge to find out a little more information, but that really wasn't quite his place, and might only end up causing trouble. Better to just be in the hangar at the ready in case the time-frame changes from expected. Shrugging, he left his room, closing the door, then made his way to the elevators, waiting for one to arrive to convey him to his intended destination.
 

---

Unlike Christina, though entirely unknown to her that their situations were even remotely similar, Abby was still in the shower when the message came. She even had some music playing, and everything combined to drown out her communicator's efforts to make itself known to her. It wasn't until five minutes or so later--when she'd finished the nice leisurely cleansing she was enjoying and stepped out onto the bathmat to begin toweling her hair dry--that she was aware of not only the message waiting for her, but that Jess's was buzzing for attention too.

"Hey babe, there should still be enough hot water for you, but what's the deal going on out here?" It was more of a rhetorical question than anything, as Abigail let drop the towel to the floor and picked up her communicator. A quick check, and her message was received and taken care of. The contents warranted a frown. The captain's was still going off though, was she that worn out after... a slight chuckle, actually that wouldn't be too much of a surprise.

Padding into the main room and digging up Jess's, Abby hit a button to silence it at least, but decided not to actually open up the waiting message. Invasion of privacy and all, plus, probably the captain's clearance would mean there'd be a lot more details involved, maybe even classified material. Which actually made it all the more tempting to check! But biting her lip, the rebel stayed firm, and tossed it back down to the bed, silent and unread.

Speaking of which, still no response from the redhead, who'd buried herself beneath a pillow, likely to escape the noise. "Looks serious, Jess," she said, taking a brief seat at the edge of the bed and pulling at her defense mechanism. "C'mon, look alive."

[Nanami Touko]

See You

"Hey, that ain't no egg! Change yer mind that easy? Y'got a whole hour, y'know." Avery snickered and got her bread in, surprised but not disturbed by the sudden hug, smiling just as brightly back. "Come back alive. I'll kill ya iffin y'don't." The best threat, the one that didn't make sense. Her toast was gonna take a minute or so, so there wasn't any catching up to Astin. How unfortunate... She always did hate seeing them go. Avery did her best to be chipper, but she wasn't about to lie, the thought of some unknown weapon hitting Astin and just--

She slapped her face, shaking her head. "Don't you dare go there, Avery. Y'ain't goin' down that road this soon since th'last time, no way no how. Focus. Y'got toast t'eat and a crew t'prep."

Quiiiiiieeeeet

Jess groaned as Abby tugged at the pillow, not wanting to let go, but the sound had stopped... So she did, reluctantly. "I just got back to sleep... What is it?" Fumbling awkwardly for her communicator, Jess dropped it once, finally getting it up right enough to slide her password across the screen. "What's... Ugh, fuck... Roxanna sent this... Fucking, shitty XO..." Jess grumbled louder, trying to sit up. Her legs weren't having it, but at least her back was fine. Abby's shirt clung lazily to her smaller form, like a nice tiny t-shirt poncho. "Unknowns... If we don't know it's Apotheosis, I'm... I really wanna sleep more. It's your fault. Can I sleep more...?"

She blinked a few times to try and get herself awake, shaking her head, her vision only getting a bit less blurry... And her head was starting to hurt. She sighed, rubbed her eyes, and then smiled weakly at Abby. "Heyyy... Not a morning person, if you can't tell. If it's Apoth and it's really bad, can you like... Just, send me a message, or something? I'll wake up. I promise... I know I look really irresponsible right now, but... S-Still trying to come to terms with last night... And this morning... A, And, you, and me, and... My legs, and yeah..." Jess' face grew redder with each added thing, hands together, gently rubbing the back of her left one. "S-Sorry... Ahah..." A-Awkward...

Edited December 19, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

Astin let out a small content sigh as they made their way back to their room, food in hand. Trying to take a bite, they bit back a small yelp as the oatmeal burned their mouth. Reaching their room, and entering in, they set the mug down by their bed and collapsed down into the bean bag chair. 

As they stared at the ceiling waiting for their food to cool, an ideal retort to Avery's threat popped into their head. It would make her laugh and didn't have any downsides they could see. Noting would come of it after all, besides making Avery smile. So why not do it? Shooting off the message to her, they grabbed the mug and took a careful bite. Better.

I'll come back safe if you come give me a good luck kiss.

[Shin]

That sort of petty envy existed in far more places than Tarquin expected. He'd have considered a given within the likes of his training cohort, but even specialist telekinetic units were victim to it. It made sense, gathering those with the most potent of abilities, there was inevitably someone who was going to be the worst in the group. With expectations and pressures to be the best, resentment sounded destined to happen. For the T-series, it was likely T-2 had found her in last place, at least out of the remaining members. Tarquin didn't particularly care about being the best or number one, success was more than enough of a motivator for him.

"For the last few months of my training, I was placed with the other junior cadets. I had a distinct individual advantage over the other recruits. Comparing myself to them was unnecessary, a mission's failure negates any sort of ranking within a group." Tarquin replied, slowly making his way towards the gym's exit. "It is best that we make preparations for launch, Lieutenant Kim. It is likely that any briefing we receive is minimal and we will be deployed at short notice."
 

[Ether]

"That's just... how people are. I was similar, when we first came onto... the Heion Riese. I didn't... live up to my own expectations, and I took it poorly... to begin with. You can either... wallow in it, or move on. I chose... to move on." Kim replied, shaking her head... in retrospect, how she had reacted to those minor incidents had been foolish indeed. With Tarquin noting that they should get moving, Kim nodded in response before following Tarquin out of the gym.

"Yes... you're right. We should head to the hangar."

[Dandragon]

Elaine rushed out the elevator door and through the hallway, towards the hangar, having gotten the time to actually look back at the message and see that it would be about an hour before they reached the unknowns. A bit embarrassing, but it didn't slow Elaine's pace down. There were plenty of things she could do in an hour. As she rushed into the hangar, she called out.

"Buck! Hey, Buck! Where are ya?"

[Phoenix]

She wanted Tonya to treat her more like a person than a machine? She wanted to shrug, but her response would have to be a lot more nuanced than that. Either way, it was nice to be veering away from Rosa territory, if only to keep Brant's head clear for whatever was coming up, this morning. "Honestly, Brant, I wish you'd treat normal people like machines," she forced a smile, "you might be able to handle them better, that way." Having prodded Brant and gotten a satisfying scowl in return, she focused on Hannah. "I won't say anything rude, but I'm not taking it as far as my student here is. Ignoring reality never works out in the long run. Besides, someone's going to get themselves killed trying to save you if what they're seeing in their heads is a flesh and blood woman ... just saying."

Brant hadn't considered that, though it didn't affect his stance all that much, either. If he was the only one giving Hannah the human treatment, well that was just fine by him. Still, he'd taken his own share of stupid risks with Hannah even before this. One slight misstep from the captured Heracles and he would have fallen to his death. Hannah, of course, would have been just fine after she was linked up to a power source. As long as her 'mind' was protected, she didn't need much in the way of protecting.

[Balcerzak]

"You two sound like you're on the best of terms," Abigail quipped in reply to the complaint about Jess's 'shitty XO'. But there were more important things she needed to do that listen to a laundry list of grievances right now. "But sure, tell you what. I'll stop off at the bridge before hitting the hangar and let them know you're laid up for a bit."

Grinning a bit maliciously as she stood back up and began doing up her hair, Abby asked, "Should I tell them the truth? Or maybe that you're hungover? Or just wimp out with a more general 'feeling under the weather'?"

[Nanami Touko]

Dare

"Oh ho... Yer gonna play me like that, huh?" Avery grinned as her toast popped. It could wait. She popped off a quick message and was already going down the hall.

Quote

"You're messing with the wrong girl, baby."

It had maybe been a minute since Astin had sent that message, before there was a knock on their door. Who else was it going to be? But she wasn't going to barge in just like that...

Still Watching

"What is it!?" Buck had heard his name called from... Someone, somewhere in the hangar, and there was only one guess where he still was... That tiny voice was coming out of the Crescent's cockpit, door still open. The boy had been watching the video feeds from the machine all night. He'd conked out at some point, but when he woke up, he'd went right back to them. "Ahhh... This is still so cool. Elaine just likes to shoot stuff, that's cool too, but this... Oh, man~ I made a robot that went toe to toe with that Apotheosis creature! I'm so happy!" Buck was still smiling ear to ear, letting the fight with the Luna repeat over and over again. It was a bit irritating that Abby's vocals cut off at a point, but the video feed from the main camera was still in tact.

"Woulda been better to hear all the sick insults that she musta been throwing, but I guess something went wrong... I'll ask her about it. If it was a problem, I can fix it!" Another play couldn't hurt, right?

Truth

"Best of terms... Yeah... I thought things were getting better but she was still hiding shit behind my back. Ugh..." Jess was just whining now, and she blushed for it, realizing how pathetic she must've sounded. Wahh, the XO, wahh, I'm tired, wah wah wah. She sighed. "S-Sorry... You can tell the bridge whatever you'd like, o-okay?" Jess hoped that irritating stutter wasn't coming back. She was probably just embarrassed. Clinging tightly to the pillow, she trained her eyes along the bed sheets, trying to figure out how to phrase this.

"We didn't... Break any protocols. And... I'm not, embarrassed about you. So... So if you want to be blunt, th-then... Then you can. I might get in trouble for shirking duties, but... That's what the rest of the bridge is there for." Thanks, Dwight. "And everyone needs a b-break, once in a while. Just... Just glad it was with you." Realistically speaking, Jess could've done a lot worse. "So... So I'll get up after that hour, and make my way to the bridge. Promise. Just... Wanna rest a bit more." She bit her lip. Even after saying all that, resting didn't really... Feel all that right. If you let all this weight drag you down, you know you won't get back up. You better make sure it's just this hour, Jess...

Eventualities

"Ignoring reality... I see." Hannah didn't seem at all pleased with that response, directing her gaze to the floor, trying to come up with anything to say, or a way to respond to this with a smile. "So I should... Stop playing human?" She hadn't really expected an answer to that, turning to leave faster than Brant or Tonya could've tried to. The door opened and closed in a moment, as she stormed down the halls, processors burning through queries almost faster than she could handle. "I should... I should, speak with Galatea. I should... I do not know... I am overreacting. Brant was kind, and I am... I am sure that there will be others that understand, this. Despite..." Hannah had started shuffling through her memory banks at everyone that had commented on her... Abigail hated her, she was just a monster to the woman. Elaine thought this was a malfunction, even Buck at first had been scared. The captain didn't seem entirely pleased, now, Tonya was...

Firmia isn't better, either. She's just using you to pilot her machine. No. No you can be friends. You're overreacting. This is a common human response-- you're not human. So why are you overreacting? Hannah stopped just short of the elevators, staring at her hands. The skin looked real, but there were circuits and plates underneath it. For whatever reason, she wasn't crying. Maybe she'd ran out of whatever fluid was producing that... No, there it went. "I need to stop overreacting. I should go back. Apologize. I... I am... I'm still, Hannah." Galatea, why does this hit me so hard?

Edited December 20, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

That... had been a far faster response than what Astin had been expecting. They'd barely taken a bite of their oatmeal before the knock came on their door, having been distracted by the response on their communicator. So she wasn't playing... Setting the oatmeal aside, they stood up and walked over to the door. Opening, they smiled. "Didn't really expect any response, much less one this fast... But uh, come on in?" Astin wasn't sure if they were going to just get a quick kiss in the doorway or if Avery would actually come in, but it didn't hurt to offer. And even if it had been meant as a joke, it was sort of nice to have someone that was willing to drop everything just to come give a kiss.

[Xinnidy]

A Second Prod

"Alright, you go ahead, Ensign." Roxanna had a mind to follow him, but honestly, she also would appreciate doing things at a slower pace. She'd barely slept these past few days. Leaning against the wall, Roxanna first checked her tablet for any responses... it seem most had received the message, by the looks of it... including Jess, whom had not replied back. You're the captain, where are you...? Pipsqueak sure knew when to not be a captain, ah well. Getting her captain position back was such a faraway dream that Roxanna couldn't even bring herself to stew some anger directed at Jess, she was just annoyed... and resentful from last meeting. Honestly, talking to my uncle was a personal thing... I shouldn't even have brought it up.

"Captain, we will be waiting for you on the bridge. If you are still around, please respond."

Hopefully that would be enough to force a reply from Jessica... but that was enough worrying about the pipsqueak. Taking the elevator, Roxanna quickly saw herself to the bridge... she could've used the extra time to switch to her uniform, but hindsight was 20/20. Besides, these were potential enemies they had no info on. "Good morning." A greeting was enough, and then she saw herself to the XO's seat, a sigh escaping as she checked her device for no reply on the pipsqueak's end. "Did we receive any more information about the distress signal?" Hopefully that'd give them a lead, too.

[Phoenix]

Brant was about to follow after Hannah when Tonya said something that caught him at the door. "What ...?"

"I said 'ironic.' ... that felt a little ironic."

Brant shrugged and opened the door, prepared to try and catch Hannah before she reached whatever her destination was. "I'll be back ..." With that, Brant took off running. The door shut behind him, but he wasn't the one responsible. Tonya was on his tail, running silently behind him. Brant didn't know if Hannah had made her way toward the elevators or back further in the ship, but it seemed far more likely she would go to the hangar, even if that wasn't the ideal place for most people to work through their feelings. When he rounded the corner to the elevators, he was relieved to see that she hadn't gone on up, yet. "Hey hold up ..."

 

[TheRoon]

Man was she bad at memorizing the lay out. Took her a while to get to the cafeteria but she had some time to relax for a bit with some toast. She approached the toaster itself to load it up but lo and behold...there was one poor piece of roasted bread inside, left alone by some cruel mistress. A dark turn of fate. Well Aliza was never one to waste food so she liberated the piece of toast of it's loneliness and took it out. As a bonus she also spread jam on it. Delish!

She took a step out into view with the toast and a glass of OJ in her hand, a small breakfast but she wasn't very hungry at the moment. No that's what her favorite BBQ chips are saved for in the mission later. She took a glance around the room. No Abby or Olivia in sight. Shame. She wanted to shoot more fun stories at them too. Well at least the room wasn't empty. She took a stroll down trying to find a seat while taking a nice chug of the orange juice.

[Dandragon]

"Buck? What are you doing up there?" Elaine placed her hands on her hips. Didn't he realize that they needed to prepare the bots for deployment within the hour? She shook her head, as if to say 'what am I gonna do with this kid', but she still had a smile on her face. Elaine made her way over to the Crescent, and took the time to inspect it closely.

The design itself hadn't changed that much. From her view of the mech itself, she could only see that the arms had been swapped out for a pair that was only slightly bulkier than the previous, sleeker pair. The color was a much brighter red, one that Elaine could personally appreciate, but much of the yellow from the original form was gone. Still, even the most minor of changes that Buck did made the mech look, and apparently work, so much better. In a way, it made Elaine a little jealous that Buck, someone much younger than her, had the brains to make such design changes to two different robots they had salvaged from the enemy. She would have to discuss the details with him later.

"Buck! Did you get the message the XO sent out?" Elaine called out again. "We're deploying in an hour! I was gonna help you with preparing the mechs, if that's alright!"

Edited December 20, 2017 by Dandragon

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald had begun to grow impatient, tapping his foot as he waited for the elevator. Clearly he'd managed to pick the one tube that actually had been transporting someone, and he'd half a mind to head down the hallway and try another when it finally opened. But hot on the heels of that, he heard fast angry footsteps stomping down the corridor from the direction of the private rooms. That was something that bore investigating, and he could always catch another lift later.

Turning the corner, Thorvald came upon Humpty Dumpty, staring at her hands and muttering something about apologies. This was the last person he'd expected to have come storming down the halls, and he'd only just managed a, "Hannah, what's troubling you," when Brant rounded the corner seemingly chasing after her. There certainly was a story here, alright.

 

---

 

Abigail frowned as she head that Roxanna was causing trouble and trying to keep it out of sight, that didn't bode well for the future. A shame, she'd actually earned a bit of respect with her actions in battle the other day. Maybe she'd have to dig deeper and see if she couldn't help take some of the burden off Jess's back.

Speaking of, though the captain claimed not to be embarrassed about what they'd done, she certainly was stuttering and blushing with the best of them. Reaching down and ruffling her hair as she hid behind the pillow, Abby smiled gently. "Alright, I'll think of something. Now don't you worry, and get some rest. I'll turn the lights out when I leave so they won't bother you."

After that, it was quickly finishing getting dressed, and heading to the bridge. Abigail still hadn't settled on what excuse exactly she was gonna provide, but she still had some time in transit to make that final decision.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Shin]

Tarquin led the way out of the gym, Kim accompanying him towards the hangar. With how hard Kim had been pushed to succeed and work, it made sense that she would have impossible standards for herself. It didn't take a telekinetic to see the disappointment in her expression, Tarquin would have been impressed that he'd been able to pick it up if it hadn't been for how uncomfortable it was. Kim wasn't a liability by any means, if anything she was one of the more talented members of the crew. He didn't want to imagine how high the bar she'd set for herself was, or consider if they were even achievable.

"I would think of such moments as lessons to remember." Tarquin replied, the pair approaching the elevators. He'd made his own fair share of poor decisions, situations where he'd wished he'd acted differently. From nearly being punched by Elaine to nearly exploding or being caught at Corona Ten, he'd had several near misses that could have ended very differently. On the other hand, he'd had several moments of success. His track record was good, he'd visited a mall, he'd made friends. Perhaps he had more of a life than he thought? "I had once thought I could succeed with only logical deductions and planning, I've learned that it isn't the case. There are still things I want to improve at and want to learn of, I have to accept that there will be difficulties and mistakes."

His shared self-criticism with Kim was put on pause as he spotted Hannah in front of the elevators, the android strangely frozen on the spot and staring at her hands. It must have been a rather thoughtful day for Tarquin, this was the second time he'd picked up on someone else's feelings. "Hannah? Is there a problem?" Tarquin asked, approaching her slowly. "We were heading towards the hangar, would you wish to join us are do you have other plans?"

Choosing his words had been very difficult, for some untold reason, he didn't quite have the heart to speak his mind about his concerns. Despite his greater understanding of how people felt, words were still hard.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Shin

[Nanami Touko]

Don't Tease

"Yeah, naw, just stoppin' fer this," she started, taking no time to get her arm around Astin's back and the other around their neck, running her hand into their hair. Lips locked and Avery gently prodded through them with her tongue, playing with Astin's for a good moment, before letting that kiss break, resting her forehead on theirs. "Good luck, babe." With a snicker, Avery let them go, winked, and started to walk back to the cafeteria. Job done~

Snooze

"Mmn..." Jess grumbled quietly under the ruffling of her hair, taking a lazy hand and fixing some strands once Abby was done messing with it. As the lights went out again, she snuggled herself under the covers and... Ugh, right, there was another message. Roxanna... 'Got laid. Too tired. Will be there before the hour's up. Sorry.' It was blunt, but in a way, Jess was kinda proud that she was able to say something like that without hesitation... Or, type it, at least. Now, to get some proper rest... She flipped her communicator upside down and put it on silent. No vibrations or bright lights to bother this snooze.

No Captain on The Bridge

"Ma'am," one of the bridge crew spoke up, casting a worried glance at the empty captain's chair before looking back at Roxanna. "We've managed to pin down that it's coming from an ejected cockpit section of a Velite Mark II model. Its signature seems to be one of Central's machines... Perhaps it was ambushed on patrol. We aren't able to get anything else from just the signal, though. No idea what squad it belonged to, or if the pilot is alright." They simmered down, Tristan coming in as well and taking his seat.

"We've got no time to waste, either way, XO. Between this unknown group we've detected and the distress signal, we'll have to make quick work."

Lazy Arrival

Olivia walked into the infirmary with a bagel half hanging out of her mouth, took a seat, and went about applying cream cheese. This morning felt pretty dull... Well, as dull as it was going to be until Val got there. She couldn't help a smirk at that thought.

Time For Work

Buck sighed. If Elaine was already bugging him, Avery would be doing so soon, and then no one would leave him alone. Shutting down the video and jumping out of the cockpit onto the lift wire, he rode it down with his gloves and stumbled off, barely managing to stick the landing. "Whew! Always wanted to do that at least once... Anyway, I was watching the Crescent's battle data. It looks so cool~ I can't believe it went toe to toe with the Luna... And yeah, I did. If you wanna get your bot started up or poke at the others, go ahead... Just not the Alkaev machines, or the Artemis. Avery'll have my head then yours if anyone else touches that."

Buck had to get working on his own setup, mostly getting the weapons moved around to properly arm everything. They did have two new robots, after all.

Fine

Hannah had expected Brant to catch up, but not to have Tonya there with him, she only managed a worried glance back at them before Thorvald turned the corner, and Tarquin walked up. It was a coincidental cacophony of worry, and it took most all her processing to shut down those queries. She didn't even manage to get them all, just getting them archived for the moment, so she didn't lose it again. If she had another breakdown, they'd take her off flying... And then she wouldn't be able to pilot with Brant. She didn't want that. Even if her mind was overflowing with these worries, he cared. And she wanted to make sure she had that, as much as she could.

"I... I'm, fine. My apologies, for worrying you all... I..." She straightened up, wiped her face, and tried her best to perform a smile. It worked. Mostly. It was definitely less bright than one would've come to expect from her. "Forgive me for overreacting, Tonya. I will be alright. We should get to the hangar soon, so that we can prepare the machines for take off. I am sure that Firmia also has things she will wish to say to us about this deployment."

Hannah flashed Thorvald the same smile, before looking at Tarquin and Kim, a bit more sorrowful in her expression. The boy definitely didn't need this, she'd already give him cause to worry once before. "Of course. I would be glad to accompany you." Whether or not anyone could tell how hard she was trying to rein in these feelings, she couldn't guess. It was regrettable, but sometimes Hannah herself had no idea how extreme her expressions were. "Shall we be off, then?"

Edited December 20, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

Astin was frozen, cheeks bright red, hand over their mouth as Avery left back down the hall. That was not what they had been expecting. If anything, they'd expected a short cheek kiss or something. A long moment passed before they managed to turn back into their room, shutting the door behind them. They collapsed back into the beanbag, a small smile on their face. It seemed like Avery hadn't been kidding when she said that she was serious about all of this.

"Ahhh, I think that maybe I could get used to this..." Their concerns were slowly getting smaller and smaller in their mind. They were still there, but easier to ignore. Reaching out and taking their mug of oatmeal, they took a small bite. "I'm going to have to win that bet for sure. Make sure she gets a good break from her job."

[Xinnidy]

Laid by the Hour

"A machine from Central, is it..." The information they had a pessimistic picture at best, the fact it was a message from an ejected cockpit meant something went wrong with the machine, most likely an attack, due to the circumstances. It would be unlikely that a lone machine from Central would be malfunctioning at the same coordinates where they predicted the unknowns to be. "Can we make safe contact with the exposed cockpit? Try to set a channel if them, if possible." That was the best they could do while still a while away from the danger zone, but now they would have a clearer picture of the mission for the pilots. "We will, Tristan. I'll check with the pilots as soon as--" A beep was enough to throw her concentration, it was a familiar tone coming from her device, she'd just received a message then. Ah, it was Jessica, so she was around after...

"You WHAT?!" She brought the tablet close to her face, eyes wide and mouth agape in disbelief. "Are you-- she's just fucking... AAaaaaaarrrrgh!" Great, so she spend the night fooling around, and now was going to be late for this potentially dangerous mission. Fuck, was it Brant? That lucky... The XO facepalmed at the news she'd got, a scary, guttural sound escaping her teeth as she collected herself. Deep breaths. "So, good... news? The Captain is around... but she said she's going to be late." Exhale. She couldn't let that stupid pipsqueak's quirks get to her now of all times, Roxanna was better than that! "I... uh, let's, warn the pilots once they're at the hangar." Just... ignore her, don't need to do anything else, she'll be here at the hour. If anything, Roxanna supposed she was ready to glare at the pipsqueak again.

Still... damn, how long did she go at it last night? Pipsqueak has that side to her? That idiot...

[Ether]

It seemed that Tarquin was feeling introspective, applying Seung-Min's own circumstances to his own and looking for similarities. There were certainly some to be had, considering their origins. In a way, Kim was almost the sort of soldier that the scientists behind Tarquin had hoped to build. Attempting to cultivate telekinetics seemed an impossible task, but to create a soldier of a similar caliber without telekinetic abilities seemed enough of a success. Tarquin's failings weren't for a lack of ability, so much as a lack of practical knowledge.

"Yes... things like that always... hurt the first time, but you must learn from them if you want... to improve as a person." Kim replied, any further thoughts on the matter stifled by an unexpected commotion in the hallway. There was Hannah, seeming utterly distraught, being approached from multiple directions by Thorvald, Brant and another of the Russians, as well as herself and Tarquin. It was obvious from the android's visage as well as her responses that something rather dire had occurred... when had her expressions become so realistic? Having already declined to further explain, and Hannah being one of few individuals that she couldn't get an advanced read on... for obvious reasons, it was difficult to tell how exactly to proceed.

"If... you're sure, Hannah. You can feel free... to talk to us if you need to."