Imminent Dawn: Callisto

[Ether]

"Not shy, so much, just a lil' disappointed in m'self. Can't give you a good toime if Oi can't keep up, aye? Don'tchu worry, Selu." Catrin perked up, resisting the temptation to steal the presented tongue in a passionate display. Selumine would get what was coming to her later on. Scanning the arcade for their next options, Catrin moved up to Selu and gave her hand a squeeze, before pulling her date to the side, and towards a pair of brightly lit machines, neon arrows streaming down the screen in time to the blaring music.

"'Ow 'bout dancin', then? Always good t'get the blood pumpin' Oi say~"

[Phoenix]

Dan
Dante gave an amused shrug. Even his earliest memories were of cramped starship corridors and fantastic views of the Earth from afar. "I don't remember where I was born exactly ... but it wasn't Earth." He stepped closer to introduce himself, but made sure that his body language was on point; no need to make her nervous, not for nothing anyway.

"My name's Daniel," at least for the moment, he mused, "Just call me Dan." He offered his hand to shake, wondering if she would insist on his fake name rather than a portion of his real one. Normally Dante wouldn't care what she called him, but out of a vague sense of respect for his fellow martial artist, he offered up what genuine aspects of himself he could. There was a bit more he could offer though ...

"You look frustrated, almost like you've got bigger problems than me~"

Hitching a Ride

Spoiler

Zinaida stepped onto the bridge of the armored hauler Enceladus only to be greeted by a pair of obnoxious rappers spitting foreign lyrics from seemingly every direction. She reached over to a terminal on the wall and with a few juts of her finger and a long, smooth sliding motion, she silenced the both of them. "Are you actually focused on docking the Rusalka? This isn't a standard maneuver."

"Oh I know!" Carla, the Rusalka's helmswoman, leaped up from her seat and turned to face Zinaida. The two women were near complete opposites of each other. Zinaida had a calm but somewhat frustrated demeanor and wore mostly dark, form fitting clothes, while Carla's shirt clearly belonged to someone much larger than her--there was no telling what she was wearing beneath that though. The only thing Zinaida saw beneath it was a pair of gym shoes. "You said when I've got the bridge I can listen to whatever I want, though."

"I need you on the comms with Luna at all times," Zinaida said, "You can have your music back after we finish bolting the Rusalka to the keel of this thing ... and after I get the hell out of here," she glanced away, irritably. She and Carla had wildly different taste in music, as well as in preferred sound levels.

"Sure ... oh, by the way, you never told me WHY we're having the Rusalka ride along instead of flying itself. That's not going to save us any money. We're still hauling the same mass."

"Because the Rusalka is the most recognizable ship of her type in Libra," Zinaida scowled, "A radar return at most angles won't give away the ship's profile if we attach it to the Enceladus this way, but if it's flying alongside and Libra or anyone in the CEN with an IQ above room temperature spots it ... well we've got the Rusalka, and three fighters. I want to get to Callisto alive, preferably."

"You really think Dante's there? I'd be on vacation if I was him."

"He's probably heading that way. Besides, it's our only lead on the data archive we stole from the CEN," Zinaida reasoned, "Either way we can't keep searching the Earth sphere anymore. If Shun tracks us down again she's going to kill us and take the archive for herself. We're leaving so we might as well head to Jupiter. If something else comes up we can make a detour or-"

The comms suddenly blared to life. "Rusalka here. We're thirty meters from the target and closing." Luna was piloting the Rusalka and it sounded like she was on her final approach.

Carla leaped right back onto the helm took on an almost professional demeanor. "This is Enceladus. Acknowledged. We've got you on all sensors. Just keep your current course and we'll match you. No need to overcompensate. Are the drones ready to secure the ship?"

"Just about ..."

Zinaida grinned. She really didn't want some eighteen year old rich kid like Carla piloting any of their ships, much less one as important as the Rusalka, but she had a knack for it, and despite her quirkiness, she was a better helmsman than Zinaida herself and almost as good as Dante. Gerald didn't like his daughter being caught up in all of this, but she wasn't sure anyone still cared what he thought. The poor businessman was becoming something of a joke within their little circle.

"Ten meters," Luna reported.

Zinaida could swear she could hear those two rappers steadily creeping back into the audible spectrum.

"Steady as she goes," Carla said, rocking back and forth to a beat that kept getting louder and louder ...

"Carla."

All Too Easy

Spoiler

Shun looked over a report from the display on her seat. All around her were guards and crewmen of the Azure faction of space pirates. "Callisto? Why there? What's out there anyway?"

Several of the crew pulled out out various portable devices to answer that very question and Shun's display was being bombarded by notifications within seconds. She only bothered with the first few of them, but she was admittedly intrigued. "Terraforming ... and little CEN oversight?" The crew exchanged looks as they watched the Azure Princess's gears slowly turn. A wicked grin soon found its way onto her face. "I still want to find that data the dog took from us, but even if we don't find him there, I think we can make this a profitable trip~"

One of her guards quietly leaned closer and asked, "Profitable in what way, Captain? Are you suggesting we raid one of the colonies?"

Shun looked at him as if it were obvious. "Of course~ We can assess the situation when we get there, but Libra's gaining strength again, and as long as we limit ourselves to one or two raids before we leave, the CEN won't be able to catch us."

The guard knew he was straying close to a line that might see him punished, but like all of the guards chosen by the late Jin Huang Liao to protect his daughter, her safety was his top priority. "We don't know the Jovian Sphere particularly well, Captain. There may be threats beyond just the CEN to contend with that far from Earth. Your father steered clear of any territories beyond the belt for a reason."

Shun cocked an eyebrow at him. "Are you saying we shouldn't go at all or that you'd feel better about it if we did our homework first?"

The guard hesitated, expecting a more ... animated response than that. "It's not my place to stand between you and your ambitions, Captain. I only advise caution as we approach the planet and its moons. Libra is gaining strength, this is true, but we could lose it all very easily at this stage."

One poorly chosen target had started Libra's ridiculously quick death spiral, Shun quietly acknowledged. She wouldn't make the same mistake. "... point taken. Tell our people in Horizon to halve their reporting windows and bring us as much fresh data on the big players near Callisto as possible." Shun hated how difficult it was to move data around in this day and age, but her father had left her a far larger empire than anyone outside of the Azure faction ever realized. Even that fool Gerald Van Rossem didn't realize that every tenth person in his company was a mole (wittingly or otherwise). Shun knew where Dante and the Sirens were heading, the names of the ships they were using, and she even knew exactly how much of Horizon's money they were flushing down the refresher trying to stay hidden from Libra. It was too funny, and all too easy.

[Nanami Touko]

"Then, if you are not from Earth, where are you recognizing me from...?" He wasn't presenting himself as a threat in any way... Her caution was likely needless, relaxing her shoulders a bit, but kept herself ready to react just in case. Her guard didn't settle unless she was absolutely sure she was safe. "Alright, Dan... I suppose... You could say that I am having a big problem, yes. More, a crisis of faith-- but not, in the religious sense... Mmm..." She didn't want to speak on the details... Especially to a stranger. Why am I even bothering to tell him? But... Maybe an outside point of view would help? Everyone else on the piloting team is well aware of what happened in that office...

"If... If someone you looked up to, idolized, even, and used as a point of self motivation for many years of your life, became... A bad person, doing unforgivable things, for reasons you could not understand... What do you think you would do, Daniel? Heh... It all sounds so... So ridiculous. And why am I even asking you? I should not... Ahhh, I am not thinking straight today..."

---

"You think you gotta keep up with me so I can have fun. Ahah~ Catrin, c'mon. I'm just happy to be out on the town... I'm glad you're here. You don't have to do more than that-- but I'll be happy to kick your butt if you try~" Selu smirked and squeezed her hand as they made their way over towards... DDR. "Oh, boy..." Selu grimaced at the machine, but shook her head, huffing. "You're an adult now, Selu. You can do this." In a rare turn of events, one of the kids passing through Mars long ago had one of the plastic console plug in DDR mats, and she'd gotten the chance to try it... But, all she had were two left feet, tripping all over the place and failing miserably at it. "Now's gonna be different... Alright, cat girl! Show me your moves!"

 

[Phoenix]

Never Meet Your Heroes

Dante felt awkward trying to put himself in Kazue's shoes. He couldn't think of anyone he personally idolized or even looked up to anymore. At some point he'd overtaken everyone in his life so completely that his personal drive came from ... well, certainly not that angle anymore. Maybe arrogance had a firm hold on him, or maybe he was simply that self assured at this point in his life. Either way, Dante felt Kazue was getting just a small taste of some of the horrific realities he'd come to accept as a teenager: People change, and often times for the worst.

He smiled faintly at her and shrugged. "It's easier to ask a stranger than someone who might be around to make you regret opening up." Now that Dante had a better idea of what was bothering Kazue, he knew there was definitely something more he could offer right here and right now. "As for what I'd do, Ms. Mixed Martial Arts World Champion," Dante slowly eased himself back into a fighting stance, issuing a friendly challenge, "I'd make sure I was thinking clearly first, not just thinking hard."

"The body and mind are one. Move the body, move the mind." Dante recalled words he'd heard as a child, though he couldn't remember for the life of him who said them to him first. "Punching a wall isn't going to get you there, Kazue."

[Nanami Touko]

"Wh-What!?" Kazue's eyes went wide as she gawked at this Daniel, taking a step back. "Y-You know who I am and you really want to fight me, right here, right now? I... I agree with your sentiments. I would think more clearly after a proper bout of sparring, but... I..." She tried to calm down and study him for a moment. His stance was far from amateur, leading her to steel her gaze and focus further. If I injure a civilian in CEN attire in the middle of Remansburg it would not look good for the Captain or the ship... But he does not seem to be offering this lightly. I will hold back, but... If he truly is capable, then-- Kazue stanced up and immediately spun to deliver a snap of a roundhouse kick into his shoulder, hoping he could handle that much-- she'd have aimed for his head if this were serious.

[Phoenix]

Pow!

Dante had been expecting some kind of kick as her opening move; given the small gap between them, she risked telegraphing a punch or anything else that required her to close any distance first. The kick was the fastest option, but Dante felt odd about the placement. With no time to question it, he opted to absorb most of the blow with his bicep and forearm. His entire upper body yielding in the same direction as her leg slammed into him to absorb the blow. Instead of attempting any kind of counterattack in the split second between Kazue's attack landing and pulling away, Dante took a step back, moving just far back enough to reset their engagement.

Any pain he felt from his arm was only enough to remind him of simpler, but far bloodier times ... that, and make him suspicious. Dante had seen plenty of qualifier opponents 'disqualified' after failing to weather one of Kazue's roundhouse kicks, which meant she was probably holding back. If this were a real scuffle, he wouldn't care, but Kazue wouldn't benefit from this at all if she was fretting the whole time. More over, Dante wouldn't benefit much either if this fight didn't go a certain way.

"Come on," Dante barked, "What are you worried about? Me? The cops spotting us?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Wh-- Y-You! Of course! You know who I am, do you not!? I can not just... Harm a civilian because they egg me on!" She frowned and huffed, taking a step back into range again. "What is your deal?" It wasn't normal for anyone to just, walk up to a skilled fighter, her title aside, and demand a fistfight... If he was going to push the envelope, was she just meant to give in? I don't want to... But I am not going to get anywhere getting muddled up in my feelings and concerns. What am I doing here? What am I doing!? Only my fists and my feet can answer that for me...! "Fine...!"

She closed with a punch aimed at his opposite shoulder, other arm focused on blocking any counterstrike, turning on her foot to deliver a leg to his side, and already beginning the motions to spin the other way and roundhouse him-- properly, if everything went as planned...!

[Phoenix]

Pain

That combination looked familiar, but from this angle, Dante could only deal with it in a visceral way. The punch was the least of his problems, but even so he moved to fully deflect it, knowing at least one of her attacks was going to hit home hard. That was fine ... that was part of the plan regardless of Kazue's personal situation. Even as Dante forced her hand away from him, her leg crashed into his ribcage, sending him flashing back to one of the few fights he'd lost in his youth. It was brief, but the flurry of fists and boots grinding his adolescent self to dust were only dissipated by Kazue's leg coming up from the other side in a blur.

There it is! The last time Dante had seen that particular combination, Kazue's opponent was flipped onto the ground and didn't get back up. All he could do in that moment was make sure he did get back up, or better yet ...

A flash of white overtook his vision as the force of the blow sent him through the same motion he'd once seen from an old dingy monitor, and Dante brought his leg as far up as he could to give him the momentum he needed to do what Kazue's other opponent hadn't had the chance to ... stick the landing. As Dante completed his 'assisted aerial', he carefully brought his arm down into his normal defensive posture. The damage was definitely there; the arm he'd blocked the roundhouse kick with was useless for punching for the moment, and his ribs didn't appreciate that flip he'd done any more than being kicked in the first place. Even so, Dante didn't have any fractures as far as he could tell. He almost regretted guarding his head, but he couldn't risk being knocked out and waking up anywhere but the CEN warship's infirmary. That would be a colossal waste of effort.

"Haah ... that's more like it," Dante gave a pained smirk. "Move your body, move your mind. Don't half ass it and expect to figure out anything."

[Xinnidy]

Hobbies weren't something that Esther intuitively thought to talk about, like Cheryl suggested. Rather, it felt safer as quiet endeavors, distractions away from everybody else, as to not spur judgement, so when Cheryl brought it up as a topic, Esther couldn't help a discomfort twitch, staring at the floor. "Mmm..."

Esther couldn't remain quiet and hesitant through Cheryl's dialogue, however. "I'll think about it. How to reach out to him." Markus seemed pretty nerdy and dorky, so it was probably fine to share some hobbies... yeah, that line of reasoning made Esther feel better. "That sounds alright. I don't think I want to do much today... but I'll try to message him in the evening. At least something." It also helped to have a time in mind. Helped prepared the nerves.

I still should be doing better... but I guess I'm kind of crumbling right now, huh? I'm doing so poorly... "This is so stupid..." Esther blurted out without thinking, tensing up at the realization. "Ah, no, sorry doctor. I was thinking, uh... how bad I must be looking, again. All broken up over an argument and a bad day..." But you're not going to let me think this bad of it, huh? Then again, I have no idea how to judge this display... ugghh...

[Nanami Touko]

"Christ," she muttered, dropping all pretense and running over to Daniel, trying to help him up. "A-Are you okay...? I... Hhh..." She was frustrated with herself. Both for taking out her haze on a stranger, and knowing how right he was, all at the same time. "... You are right. I should not be walking around town in a daze, I should be going right up to the problem and handling it the only way I know that I can... I will do just that. For now, are you going to be okay? We have doctors back on the Dawn... If I broke anything, it would be better that we have it handled there. Then you can explain more of exactly who you are... Mr. Stranger, asking the world martial arts champion to a spar in the middle of the streets of Remansburg." She sighed, shaking her head... If he said he was fine, she had half a mind to drag him back anyway, but he had landed, somewhat... Where do all of these weirdos come from? And how do I manage to run into them...? Hahhh... Tanvir. I will not wait until the next time we meet. I will walk up to your doorstep and make you answer me.

---

"Mmmm... Well. I think you had an image of how things would go once you got to this stage in your life, and that image is turning out to be harder to piece together than you expected. I don't think it's as simple as a 'bad day and a bad argument'. I think you'll agree if you think about it a bit, Esther... Either way. Your feelings are valid, both on your expectations and how you've reacted to it all. What comes of them is what you do next... And I think that making a plan to contact him later is a great idea." Cheryl smiled, hoping it was helping to validate her; she didn't want to come across as placating her, but it was difficult to separate cloying sweetness from genuine acceptance at times.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, Esther?"

[Mercenary on the Winds]

"AHI cares about one thing and one thing only. If blowing up the moon with everyone on it was worth more to them then just abusing everyone one it to work for them, then they'd do it with a smile." An extreme example but she was past the point of mincing words; all it took to understand AHI was being under their thumb for a couple weeks, Marianne was twenty-three years old, born and raised on this moon. If AHI said jump, everyone jumped, and then AHI shot the people who didn't jump high enough. Fortunately, while Azame seemed to be not entirely up to speed on all that was going on, her enthusiasm was infectious and it was a good distraction from her own frustrating thoughts. A single glance at the car told Marianne that she wouldn't be squeezing anywhere if she sat in the back--her figure was impressive, but not that impressive--but she wasn't going to turn down the offer. "Sorry to take your seat, red." She still didn't know his name, but she was sure that she'd get it at some point--Azame's full name and title were already memorized, as was Senri's, and AHI bitch was going to remain even if she got a name.  

On the one hand, this would be a nice distraction, but on the other... as much as this was a good chance to figure out things that would be nice to 'borrow' for the rebels, this was also a good opportunity to get a feel for this ship, and her captain. On the off chance that these weren't more AHI-aligned lackeys, it would be nice information to pass onto Alouette. Who are you kidding... nothing ever changes on this moon like that. 

---

"You seemed to have a pretty good handle of things during the fight," Sia took another breath, letting the medicine work its way through her body, "I have to admit that I thought the same way when the Hubble administration came to me when I flunked out of marksman school because of my propensity for weakness and illness. Really just had an tendency for overthinking things... but here I am." There was more to being a captain certainly, but the qualities were at the very least budding. Louise had performed expertly in the heat of combat, perhaps almost too well for her first real combat. There was something in that, and perhaps a lot of it was related to that part on her dossier, but so far... so far she'd been managing it well. 

Sia then nodded, "While I would prefer to just... get to work and start figuring things out, I can tell that I'm really wearing myself out, between all of this, and our meeting with Tokiwa... my body handles stress rather poorly, and that compounds itself... I should visit Doctor Delarosa, both for a checkup, and refill for my inhaler... and then I can see about some rest. Not before explaining things though... at this point in the game, not having everyone up to speed as much as possible is dangerous..." Sia then turned to key to start the engine, and then pushed open her door again, "Though, if it's rest I need... I can start a bit now. I am find to drive, but I'd rather not press my luck, and the less I have to recharge back at the ship the better." 

---

Elsewhere, watching what looked like a fight in broad daylight, a short redhead stood a distance away out of sight of the fighters. She knew that she should have probably dragged one of the others along, she simply just didn't know the city well enough on her own. Even with a map in hand, there was too much to figure out--she was probably on the opposite side of the city from where she was supposed to be. She was supposed to find an ice blue haired woman named Marianne, a dancer that was supposed to be performing at Elegy, though in truth, she was an informant, and supplier for them--though Alouette had called her more of a thief and smuggler. The brains behind the theft of what was one of AHI's latest HEX designs, but they'd discovered that they needed a bit more in order to complete the machine--more that they were hoping that Marianne would know where to find. 

She touched her blue flower pin, before her hand drifted back down the long white glove on her right arm. So far it looked like things were fine; the taller man seemed to be still awake and moving, but the shorter woman... she was incredibly familiar. She'd not watched much herself, but it didn't take a genius to recognize the Mixed Martial Arts World Champion, further confirmed by her nightmarishly fast combination--faster than her mother's by a good margin. She sighed, and pulled herself away from the sight, they weren't going to need any assistance--she had prepared to assist Kazue, but her help was not even slightly required... what was required was to figure out how to get to Elegy...

"...I knew I shouldn't have come out here alone... Where the hell did Senri go... He was supposed to come with me... Ugh."

Edited May 22 by Mercenary on the Winds

[Nanami Touko]

"Not a problem, I can drive." Louise got out and made to cross over past Sia, but seeing the captain so tired and hearing her stress... She took the opportunity to hug her, holding her tight for a moment before pulling back to arm's length, hands on Sia's shoulders. "You're not alone. You have me. You have Alrenne. You have the rest of the bridge, the rest of the squad... I just want to remind you that we're all doing this together. We're all trying together... So whenever things become too much, you can always take a step back and rely on us for a bit. I promise." 

She didn't linger on that moment longer than necessary, stepping past her and sliding into the driver's seat, gently brushing some of her hair over her face to hide her growing blush. I'll always be there for you, Sia. No matter what... we'll find what we need and see this through.

[TheRoon]

Azame really was quick to bounce back from her regret, it was a little amusing. But it also helped break the tension. "Heh, I'm losing shotgun now? Well I guess I'll be a gentleman..." He turned to Marianne. "As long as you call me Leon going forward, or I could call you Blue in return." With that all said and done he resigned himself to the back seat, it wasn't as crammed as he expected. Though truth be told he wanted to be in the back seat, just so neither of the girls would see his next move. He pulled out his phone and started to text the group chat. 

Leon here. Was out with Azame when we ran into an AHI member at a bar named Elegy, the tailed one in a biker get up and helmet. We're heading back to the Dawn, if anyone else is out be careful. Steer clear of Elegy, and if you know anyone who is still out and isn't in this group text let them know too.

With that done he slipped his phone back in his pocket and leaned back into his seat with a sigh. Man...gotta take my mind off this.

[Bluemask 96]

Gean followed closely behind Sen, openly scanning the lot for any unwelcome parties listening in. This place, as both Sen and this... colorful saleman had pointed out, this place was fairly seedy, and as the half of this duo who wasn't in charge of technical vocabulary (or price negotiations, thankfully) Gean felt obligated to keep and eye out.

Their salesman was right at home here from how his introduction came off, and by the fact that he corrected his name, this was definitely under the table business.  "The name's Gean, and me and my partner here are a couple of ship techs. She can speak on the specifics." Gean leaned to the side and put her hands in her pockets, looking at the truck. If this place had such a variety that they needed to be specific, maybe some window shopping was in order.

[scorri]

"Mmm... Interesting." Sen tilted her head, taking in the man in front of her and then giving a mental shrug. Whatever they'd found themselves in wasn't her concern unless it ended with a gun pointed at her, and the risk of that seemed low for now. Pulling out her list, she glanced past him into the truck. "I know it's not a shop, but all the shops around here failed to produce what I needed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, etc. I'm sure you know how it is. Some people will do anything they have to do to get their hands on what they need~ Thankfully we're not quiiiite that desperate. You may call me Sen, Norm." His was obviously a fake name, given how he'd stumbled over it, but she didn't care about sharing hers. After all, it was a nickname in and of itself, and she hardly looked like a CEN employee. The chances of him stumbling into her profile were slim enough that she didn't want to make it more obvious that she was hiding something like he had. Better to stick to the truth where needed. After all, they had nothing to hide. If he did, that was his responsibility to manage. "As for what we're looking for, the main thing is a crystal prism, large enough to aid in beam splitting, preferably say, ohhhhh, a beam of a standard battleship? If you have a housing for it, that would be even better, though I can always fab one up if needed. Few other, smaller things here, let me check..." She skimmed the list, rattling off the last few parts that they needed, before looking back up at 'Norm'. "Any chance you can help out two ladies just trying to follow orders?" She smiled, leaning forward ever so slightly as she did, certainly not obviously flirting but giving just enough of a hint at it to possibly fluster him.

---

Iskra watched Bonner leave, giving him some time to get a decent bit away before she slipped out of her room, wrapped in her coat with her headphones on, music playing loudly. Moving through the hallway, she was headed for the kitchens, hoping to get a bit of a snack. She wasn't really paying attention, hoping to drown out the thoughts around her in the music. It worked well, too well even, as she suddenly found her foot sliding out from under her due to an unexpectedly wet floor, and then she went crashing down, running into a man that she had missed. She grabbed onto him out of instinct, but quickly released him out of panic, and found herself thudding to the floor. "O-ow... I. I'm sorry. I didn't, uhm, I didn't s-see you. I hope... you're ok." She could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks as she couldn't make herself make eye contact with whoever she had run into. How could she have been so stupid?

[Ether]

"Well Oi'm glad to hear it, Selu. We got all day, so there's plenty a town and plenty a me for ya, promise. Truth be told, Oi'm not all that much of a dancer. Can get a bit of a rhythm goin' but anythin' technical? Nah... still, Oi keep comin' back t'this game, it's good to get the blood pumpin', aye?" Catrin noted, giving Selu's hand a squeeze as she seemed apprehensive about the game. From what she had commented in her little pep talk, it seemed she had a prior, not so great experience with the game. If nothing else, she seemed primed to give it another go. Tapping her card into the machine and hitting a few options, the display changed to show a two song chain, a high-energy hiphop track having been locked in for the first, the screen prompting a song selection for the second half.

"We should both pick somethin', aye? Whatever jumps out at ya."

[Phoenix]

It'll Dawn On Him

Kazue was handling the situation quite well, though Dante felt she was a bit too nice for her own good. It wasn't just guilt pushing that offer forward. "Nothing broken," Dante grinned, "I know what that feels like, even when the adrenaline's pumping." With that, he rose to his full height, content to let Kazue help if she really wanted to.

"The 'Dawn' you said?" Unfortunately, even though Dante had looked into the name of the CEN warship when he first arrived, he'd eventually forgotten it. He would have made notes to keep track of the intel he was gathering, but if those turned up somehow, he'd have some explaining to dodge. "The name sounds familiar--wait, you're from that CEN ship? That explains a few things, like what you're wearing."

[Nanami Touko]

"Y-Yeah? I guess so... mm." Selu tapped through the songs, trying to get a feel for the pad as she did. It didn't seem to need a lot of pressure to activate, so she just had to focus on tapping them in time. "I think I can... do this. Maybe..." She hadn't exactly trained her center of balance; she'd never needed it as a pilot, being seated so often... It would be funny if she fell over, at least. "A-Alright. You can hit start... I'll-- oh, righ, a song, uhhhh..." She tapped through everything until she landed on some anime song in japanese-- something about angels and writing papers. "That'll do? I guess? I'm, gonna do it on normal... Try to catch me if I slip."

---

"You? Get scared of an old game like this? C'mon, Markus~ There's no way, right?" Miz leveled her gun at the screen as they started, and things weren't exactly that difficult to begin with. A lot of the zombies moved slowly, and while there were some jumpscares to try and catch you off guard, as long as it was undead shambling figures, she was holding her own with her shots, eyes focusing hard, shooting outside of the screen to reload, trying to flick the gun to as many targets as she could...! When the later chapters came upon them, she began to panic some, as the enemies got smaller, faster, and she started missing shots. "Kyahhh! This is too hard! Markus, save me!"

---

"Y-Yes, the Dawn. The Imminent Dawn, the CEN ship that touched down on Callisto recently..." He hadn't been at the AHI headquarters, so it was probably fine to tell him. It had been all over radio news, anyway, and you'd have to have arrived after it to have missed it. "If you are sure that you are alright, but I would feel more comfortable having the Doctor check on you, especially since this was my fault. If you are willing, I parked my transport just a few blocks down... If not, I understand. The people of Callisto do not seem to take well to, the CEN or AHI... it is a very troubling situation."

[Phoenix]

Outsider

"If I turn down your offer and walk away, you're just going to keep worrying about it, aren't you?" That was good enough on the 'resistance' front, Dante decided. "Fine, I'll let your doctor look me over. I'm ready when you are."

Kazue's take on the local situation wasn't something Dante could honestly comment on, though he definitely felt the anti-establishment sentiment in his brief run of the Jovian moon. It was only natural for local governments to get out of hand operating so far from Earth, but Dante was mostly indifferent to it all. He'd spent his life operating outside of civilized society. Walking around with a fake identity reminded him of those old spy movies he used to watch with Zinaida. Nothing felt quite 'real' to Dante right now. It was doubtful stepping foot onto a fancy new CEN warship without being shot at was going to change that.

[GoldsbroTSG]

"I'd believe it, I scare pretty easily." He commented with a small laugh. "But I like to be scared by games and stuff, it's all in good fun."

As they played, he actually maintained a level of coolness to his gameplay, trying to remain calm, as rail shooters like this could easily become like a bullet hell with too much to fire at. Even as the game progressed, and enemies became harder to both hit and kill, he tried his best to remain almost unphased. It was when Miz suddenly panicked, that he shot into action. "H-Huh?! Okay, hold on." Markus almost shifted tunes, going from how he was normally playing to almost inhuman speeds. He had to get them out of this predicament of enemies swarming before they game over'd.

"Not on my watch!" His shots rang so fast the screen was barely visible with all the gun flashes. There was some temporary respite when he'd shoot off screen to reload, but soon he'd be back to it. Within a few minutes of his cleaning up, they got to a level clear screen. As the duo got their chance to breathe, Markus forgot he hadn't been. He gave a big sigh, and some heavy breaths, with a bit of sweat.

"Haha... Sorry, I got a little carried away."

[mcd900]

Alrenne looked around the hangar some more, listening to Vivien as she rattled off her nicknames; 'just a few', she'd said, but it was about one for... well, to everybody who was making any effort to stand out, intentionally or otherwise. He chuckled quietly. "Well, it's not much secret where you're getting most of these from... I suppose I should be thankful that the 'normal' one is the one on my bridge." He put a hand to his chin, thinking briefly. "If you can't tell what she's getting distracted by, that probably means it's not a person, right? That leaves... her comm, I suppose, and two guesses as to who's on the other end of the line. First one doesn't count... I'm sure he'll be quite motivated on the bridge, at least."

Turning his gaze down towards her - still wrapped around his arm some - he shrugged. "A little. That, and I was wondering about what you thought of everyone. You do have somewhat of a different perspective, what with the different angle you get to see everyone from."

It seemed everything was well enough in the hangar. He wasn't sure if Vivien had the willpower to carry on the rest of the ship inspection with him... or if he did himself, to be honest, what with her clinging to him. It might've been too late, actually; the techs did so like to gossip...

---

Hmm... oh, that's interesting. Deployment statuses from the last battle... unused spacefighter? Now that's--

"--oof." There were some hands grabbing him from behind - momentarily, - then the thump of a collapse to the ground. His eyes went wide for a moment, broken from his train of thought, then he blinked twice, the stream of information crossing his gaze winking away in an instant. He reached up, pulling the brim of his cap just a bit lower over his face, then turned. "Whoa there. Are you alright? I thought I put up the wet floor sign, did I forget...?"

Uh, can she even hear me with those headphones on? Wait, she's one of the pilots... eh, guess it's too late now. Wonder if I've got one of those forgettable faces...

Her embarrassment was shining from her cheeks, and he felt a roundabout sense of relief about his cover. Maybe it'll be one of those awkward memories you try to block out, or something.

"Sorry about that. Let me help you up, there..." He extended a hand for the fallen pilot.

---

"A-hem. Nice to meet you, and all that, misses. Gean and Sen, alright." The quieter one seemed a bit inquisitive, on guard, maybe - he'd seen it on a dozen faces as they came through here, slipping him scrip for all manner of things. HEX weapons, man-portable anti-armor rockets, power plants for tanks and HEXes... wine. That'd been a good week, some disgruntled employees had slipped into their lead's penthouse and made off with a whole cooler of red and white--

"...where was I? Eh, yeah, I follow you on the, er... inclin-ation for alternative... ehh... sourcing. Ah, the hell with it, ain't any secret what I'm running here." He paused, one eyebrow raised high as Sen described her search... then higher as she leaned forward, eyes darting a bit as they liked, certainly not by his own doing, no sirree.

"Rrrrright. Massive... crystal prism. For... for a battleship size? Uh, either you two are some kinda serious scientists, or..." The thought crossed his mind about that ship that had come in, the one that left a shadow on half a city sector. "You know what, I'm not asking. That's not a question. Prism, prism..." He racked his brain, tilting his head from one side to the other. "Okay, okay. The little parts, sure, I can hook you up for those. Prism, uh... Yeah. I gotta big ol' thing, way I hear it, they were trying to do some kinda thing where they send power... beams... something... from satellites down to the moon surface or something, but then they kinda realized they had enough moon to just put generators everywhere... yeah."

I can't believe I'm finally selling this stupid junk. So damn big it's making the floor of the warehouse sag, and it's just sat there for over a year.

"Anyways, the housing's your problem. Can't really help you with that, I dunno the first thing about what your ship wants. I don't think it'll fit in your car... I can have my guys load it up in a truck for ya, but it ain't gonna be the cheapest thing around. But, uh, I s'pose I can give you a discount, since your... uh, you're, such good customers...?"

[Ether]

"Oi'll keep an eye on ya love, no worries. Oi'll catch ye iffin' y'fall... good reflexes, promise. Just focus on havin' fun, aye?" Catrin replied, watching Selumine as she made a selection, certainly a tonal shift from the first song in the set, which began to play shortly afterwards. Catrin's selected track starting off fairly slow for a few bars before transitioning into a more punchy beat, the notes coming down increasing in tempo accordingly. For Catrin's part, between getting a bit too into the bit and throwing out unnecessarily flashy moves and hip twerks alongside keeping an eye on Selumine next to her, her score wasn't anything impressive, with a few missed notes sprinkled between greats and goods aplenty, perfects mostly absent as she bobbed around, rapping along with the machine.

[scorri]

Sen brightened as Norm admitted he did have a prism that sounded like it would work. Her smile also deepened as she noticed just how distracted the man was getting as she leaned forward. This could be fun. Time to see just how much of a discount he would be willing to give with a little bit of encouragement. She turned back to Gean, a serious look replacing the smile on her face. "Hmm, Gean, I think that sounds like what we want, though we're going to have to be careful about the price. Boss didn't want us spending too much after all." She gave the girl a quick wink, hoping she would understand the situation, before turning back to Norm, grabbing his hand, pulling him closer to her. "You have no idea how much you'll have saved me if this works. Truly, I was getting so desperate, you have to understand~" She pulled his hand closer, seemingly not realizing that she had pulled it up against her chest as she smiled up at him. "And you're willing to transport it for us? Such a gentleman~ The only question is the cost... The boss really keeps a tight grip on the purse, you understand I'm sure. While he'll be glad I got the part, if I spend too much I'm risking my job. You said a discount though... Did you mean that?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes, giving him a coy smile. "I really would appreciate it if you were able to help me out here, sir~"

---

Iskra looked up at the man, his lips moving, words barely piercing through her music. She sighed, pulling the headphones down, the classical music audible now that they were off her ears. "Mmm, n-no, not your... my fault. S-sorry." She hesitated, looking at his hand before finally accepting his help to get back on her feet. "I... uhm, We, haven't met, r-right? I'm Iskra... One of the pilots here." She started to ask him what his job was here before realizing that the answer was obvious. "I don't think I saw a sign...," she added, finally answering his question. His emotions were pushing at her, none of them especially strong thankfully, manageable for now, though she was a little surprised at what she noticed. Startled made sense, generally calm, but what stood out was he seemed slightly nervous. What reason... Did he think she was going to get him in trouble? She shook her head. That wouldn't do. "Y-you don't need to be nervous. I won't, this was my fault. I'm not going to try and get you in trouble o-or anything... Uhm. What's, your name? I-if you don't mind me asking..." He seemed nice, worried about her being hurt. Maybe she could actually do what Bonner had suggested and talk to someone, not isolate herself completely...

[Xinnidy]

"Eh... uh..." Esther took a moment to wonder on Cheryl's insight. What did she see herself doing at this point in her life?

...Well, she didn't expect to be here, and she definitely didn't expect to be struggling in combat. Life seemed deceptively simple, as long as she turned out to perform as she was pressured to feel. If she was that above everybody else, every sacrifice would have made a semblance of reason, but she wasn't. Her body was frail, reactions far from superhuman, and her emotional stability... well she wasn't even that self-reflective to grasp that.

"Ugggghhh..." Esther still had a youthful temper, embarrassed of her  own shortcomings while annoyed at the world at large for being so much more complicated than the assumption she worked with. "...yeah. I'll think about it. Messaging him, that is. Later. I... it's not that hard, I'll just get comfy and do it." Honestly, Esther kind of hated being the initiator, she was at her most comfortable being confrontational, and it hardly worked for making acquaintances...

"Don't really know... no, yeah, I thought, things... life was going to be straightforward, a lot more than this." Sighing, Esther's leg bounced anxiously, mustering eye contact for brave seconds between speaking up. "And uh, erm. I don't really know what this makes of all the surgeries I had. Haah... that's, I guess I'm all over the place now, Sorry, Doctor." It was a dark thought, and if she were to dig deeper now, she'd probably confront far more feelings than what she could handle at this point. "Um, I'm not sure what else to say... I'm kind of surprised I got here after all... these sessions, doctor, how often should they be?" Maybe something concerning the Doctor and the psych sessions could ease her mind a bit.

[Nanami Touko]

"Yes. I will... So please, this way." Kazue hoisted his good arm over her shoulder and began to walk him towards the transport she'd drove into town, eyes fill with determination, but not the kind that anyone on the Dawn would likely appreciate. The best chance I will have to get at Tanvir will be from within my HEX when there is an attack happening... If he is anywhere near as augmented as his boss is, I will have little chance in a hand to hand fight, but I do not have to be honourable about this. Tokiwa will not play by our rules... So I will not play by hers. Fie on you, demon fox, and your plans. I will throw them into disarray for my own needs.

---

"Wh-Whoa..." Miz tried to help some more once things had calmed down from Markus' sudden change in play posture, but it didn't seem like he needed any, clearing the stage with an intense precision that hadn't been there before. "Holy crap. If you could do that the whole time, what had you holding back?" She was smiling, definitely impressed, because it certainly wasn't all game skill... That had military training written all over it. "Geez... Guess we'll clear the whole game, huh? You gonna keep that up? Or relax again and make me work for it?" She pouted a little, but was mostly playing it up, wondering where Markus kept that sort of hidden focus and how long it was going to stay hidden...

---

"I've got plenty of thoughts about everyone on board... I just don't say them cuz some of them aren't exactly positive, and then people get upset, and unless I've got a wall to hide behind, I can't handle that. Aaaaaaaaaaaand, it's definitely not her comms. Always looks like she's working on something, but I can never see what. Maybe I should install my own camera closer--" She paused, then looked up at Alrenne and smiled sheepishly. "That's illegal, isn't it...? Ahhh, well, if she's plotting the destruction of the ship, somehow, she's doing a terrible job of acting. That joy over normal guy is pretty damn genuine... Maybe it's a secret project or something. Couldn't hurt to ask? But not me. Not doing that asking. Yet." She huffed some, really slumping against him, almost completely latching onto his arm.

"Where to next?"

---

"Alright, this... This isn't too bad." Selu was propping herself up on the back bar of the dance pad, hitting the arrows as they came up to match the frames... normal wasn't too difficult. "Maybe the difficulty was set to something dummy high back then... This is, kinda fun." That memory was quickly getting washed away with the present, Selu cracking something of a smile. It was nice to see Catrin having perhaps too much fun with it, almost actually dancing on the pad. It did end up feeling a little... Childish, to have the difficulty so low next to someone hitting it on what looked like the highest? But it was leagues better than having to deal with the fear of falling over. The song ended, and whatever Japanese tune this was came on next, and it was just about as enjoyable. Faster, for sure, but it was easy to hit stuff and there were a few small combos on her end... Mmm... Hope I can visit Earth, one day. This whole mall, this arcade, everything is just... Fabricated based on what's on Earth, by AHI, to make folks feel comfortable. But it feels a little soulless... I don't think I'd be having fun if Catrin wasn't here with me. So one day... Earth, would be nice. Yeah.

---

"Whenever you'd like, really," Cheryl said, leaning back and crossing her hands on her stomach. "All pilots and military personnel on board have infinite hours... You can walk in whenever. But, since this was tough for you the first time, let's..." she groaned a bit as she sat up, pulling up her calendar on a digital display and punching in a date a week from now. "Next week, come and tell me how things went with your friend, and if you're still feeling like you're not pulling your weight. We'll see how your feelings shift with some more time spent on getting to integrate with your fellow pilots and experience a few more battles-- hopefully not too rough on any of you. If things get bad between now and then, the door's always open, and you can come to tell me anything, or speak with Rosa about your medication, if you need to... Okay?" She really wanted to emphasize that Rosa wasn't hidden behind any meeting needs or specifications, either. Cyber Newtypes were rougher to deal with if things went out of wack with their necessary meds.

"If that's all... It was a pleasure meeting you in person, Esther. I'm rooting for you to break out of that shell some."