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

[Nanami Touko]

Why The Long Face

"What's wrong, guys? I just zoned out fer a second. Y'don't gotta worry 'bout me. You go ahead, Astin, Don't make any plans later, yeah?" Avery winked, trying to focus on the robots coming in, to get a scope of the repairs needed. She'd only just noticed the smoking robot, but Buck had a handle on that already, getting the crew to help wash it down. So it really was just a repair session. That shouldn't take them all too long. Almost let that slip. Can't go back there. I'll be a mess. Can't do it. Jus' focus on th' mechs in front'a ya...

Oh!

Was the Regalia opening? Christina heaved a sigh of relief as the cockpit opened and miss blonde in a mink coat stepped out. "Oh. Huh... You're younger than I was expecting. Er... What?" What... Am I? Christina looked down, grabbing at her arm. "I don't really know. Sorry... I just, ended up this way. Lotta testing gone wrong, I guess." That was all it really was, to the best of her knowledge. Whether or not she was some failed science project or a weird TK wasn't something she could answer.

Brant's call up to them made her jump, her motions in the dumb suit more than exaggerated, making her blush and curse not changing first. "Uh, g-guess we should go back down." She hit the button for the lift, sighing, again. "I should take your idea and wear a coat when I get out of the mech. These suits suck..."

Oh...

"I... I see. That does make sense. My apologies for bothering you." Hannah sat still as Abigail clearly denied her request, processors firing in all directions to try and solve this new, complex feeling. They weren't succeeding. She remained still a few moments before radioing to Thorvald, still outside the ship. "I was rejected. Would you be able to bring me back inside the ship?" Rejected. Why say rejected? Abigail had made sense with most of her points, even if there was an obvious disgust behind them. Still it felt... Like regret did. Only sharper, and more focused on herself. Troubling. It didn't make sense. Why have I been made to feel? I do not understand why this development has come to pass.

And previous talks with Brant and Abigail in the hangar only had her thinking about one thing, as she looked down at the obviously robot arm she'd re-attached, the broken layer of synthetic skin showing off her inner parts. She felt that urge to cry come on again, stifling the program line, not knowing why it had come across. "This does not make sense. I do not understand... Why is this so difficult?" She didn't know. How could she know? She shut down the process line on her questions, before they overwhelm things in her damaged state.

On The Other Side Of The World

 

It was like clockwork. As soon as Rex's message had ended, Troy walked in, cane at his side, slowly stepping into the room, and locking the door behind him. The captain ran a hand through his hair gently, sighing as he did. He didn't exactly want to do what he was about to do, but it was necessary. If someone else looked into this, accessing the satellite or otherwise, it would be his ass on the line.

"So. Abrams. You're going to tell me what you're doing in here... Sending unscheduled messages to Russian vessels. I don't quite care about any personal dealings you might be doing, but... I have to cover my ass. And I'm not about to have upstart you getting it in trouble. So, start explaining, now. Don't make me wait." His narrow eyes glared into Rex's, hoping there wouldn't be any struggle involved. His new medication meant he could deal with it, but he didn't quite want to... It'd be quite the hassle, even for him, to wrestle down Rex.

Rex winced slightly at Troy's impatience. He only cares about the transmission ...? He supposed the potential danger involved would have sent the captain into survival mode before anything else came to mind. Still, military politics was a bother, not that Rex hadn't come prepared for that. He'd even managed to get rid of May for a while, which had been essential to pull this off.

"Well," Rex turned halfway in his chair to see just how big the scowl on Troy's face was, "the transmission aside, I've been gathering combat data on Apotheosis for the Athena." Rex briefly gestured at the largest monitor, where satellite footage of Great Lake Base and the surrounding area was in full view. "Normally it wouldn't be that helpful, but I lured them into this one ... and they're losing quickly, if you can believe that." Rex gestured at the monitor again as he slid his chair a little to the side to give Troy a better view.

"Transmission aside? No no, I don't think you understand, you're... Apotheosis, you say?" Maybe this would be worthwhile. Troy hobbled closer, giving the monitor a watch. Any captain worth their military salt recognized the ship fighting there immediately, even at a distance. "That's the Heion Riese. It hasn't been destroyed? Fascinating... I wonder what sort of man their captain is, to be fighting off Apotheosis like this." It was quite the spectacle, really. Europe was getting slowly taken apart, from the recent reports. Even if it was their newest model, how was one ship taking all of this on its own? Maybe the squadron... But has ANF tech advanced that far, that quickly? I haven't heard anything through my channels. Curses...

"This is quite interesting, but you didn't answer me. What are you messaging Russia about? If it's a personal call, I can let it slide, but you do realize how something like that looks, I hope. If HQ starts calling me with questions, I have to give them an answer." He narrowed his eyes at Rex again, hoping he wouldn't dodge the question again. "We can discuss the situation on the satellite feed after."

Well, at least he was interested in the actual battle. "I understand, but it wasn't the Russians, technically," Rex clarified, "I don't make diplomatic calls. The transport Apotheosis ambushed belongs to the Alkaev company. They may be based in Russia, but they whore themselves out to everyone for the right price or technology; China, India, etcetera. That's why they've been flirting with the ANF, lately." Since it wouldn't do either of them much good to get into the grim details, Rex decided to give Troy the gist of his reasons. "There was someone on that transport I wanted to pass my personal notes along to before they died. They needed to see a few specific entries." Mission accomplished for the most part ... "If you want a copy of them I can get you one, but there are thousands of other entries."

It sounded like the truth, but perhaps Rex was a good actor. Well, no point being paranoid about everyone, Troy just had to watch his back. "That works just fine... Send me a copy of them when you're done here. Now, can this zoom in any closer? I haven't used this in quite a while. It would do to get some more intel on whatever robots Apotheosis are using. And how the ANF is holding their own against them."

"One second ..." Rex had kept the overhead as zoomed out as it could be while still preserving the clarity of the moves each side was making. He didn't want to miss anything if more of Apotheosis' reinforcements popped in like before. They were definitely overdue judging by how the fight was going. Just as he zoomed in, hoping to get a closer look at the most important Apotheosis machine on the field, the Deimos, it disappeared in a flash that was just barely contained by that pesky green barrier Apotheosis loved using so much.

"Confirmed," came Haro's voice from somewhere off to the side. It was plugged into the console, but otherwise didn't stand out much. Its voice was another matter. Rather than the squeaky, annoyingly high pitched voice May had somehow forced it to use during their first sortie together, Haro now had a somewhat menacing and lower pitched voice, devoid of all emotion. "Deimos has been destroyed. Deimos has been destroyed."

"This is going really badly for them," Rex winced, "but it's good data for us, at least." They could use this to set up and flip more of Apotheosis' ambushes up here in space and turn the tide in this sector, but it would take some work ... and a lot of upgrades.

Troy grunted as the most imposing suit on Apotheosis' side went down in quite literal flames. "That barrier must contain the explosion to incinerate any remains of the suit. Clever bastards..." Trying to ignore the Haro-- voice or not, the contraptions were entirely annoying to him --he focused on the unknowns that had aided in taking down the big boss.

"What's that?" he asked, to no one in particular. The one next to it seemed like an Alkaev make. Advanced, definitely, but resembling things he'd seen in documents. The other one, though. "How many prototypes does the Riese have its hands on? No wonder they're cutting a swath through middle America. Must be housing an ace, too. A machine's only as good as the person inside it, after all. Wouldn't they just get surrounded and beaten down, though? Or... Haha."

Troy stood back up, resting on his cane. "They don't have the manpower to force the Riese down. How interesting. No wonder all of their attacks are going for the outlier first, and working their way in. Apotheosis must not have the forces it needs for an all out strike... Which means we can expect the European front to switch tides soon, Rex. And you know what that means for us? Deployment~ Ahh, how exciting." If Apotheosis could only handle making quick, strong strikes, and not large, full scale battles, the EU's overwhelming numbers would eventually push them back. It would come at a great cost, but that was war.

"I'd hope it goes badly for them. Unless you wanted the Russians to die. Seems like those Alkaev machines are doing just fine... By the way, where's Greenfield? How'd you manage to detach her from your hip? The woman seems to cling to you like white on rice..." Troy was asking for his own sake again, hoping for some advice on how to remove May from the vicinity in the future.

Admittedly things would have been better for Rex personally if Firmia and the mobile suit shipment had been destroyed en route. He'd clearly underestimated just about everyone involved there, while simultaneously overestimating Apotheosis' grunts. He'd be sure not to do that in the future. As for Firmia, he still planned to kill her, but his options were extremely limited for the time being. It might be time to focus on a different Alkaev and let the Riese crew play heroes without anymore interference for a while.

The captain's ace assessment seemed about right. If nothing else, this battle proved that the pilots were just as important as the machines they used. As Troy zeroed in on the suits that had been fighting the Deimos, the overall picture of the war seemed to come into focus for him.

"It would be nice to get our hands dirty more often," Rex cracked his knuckles as he thought back to his own squad's bout with the two Deimos pilots. "Simulations and live exercises are fine, but we got more use out of that one fight than from more than a week's worth of exercises." While Rex was less interested in the pure carnage and combat highs involved, the crucible of battle still held tremendous value to him.

The topic of Greenfield had come seemingly out of nowhere, but Rex supposed Troy had a point; May usually was pestering him about something or other, and finding some alone time that didn't involve a locked door had been neither easy, nor especially long term. "I told her my room was unlocked," Rex shrugged. Unfortunately, it was. "I said if she wanted to learn more about me, she should try snooping around while I'm still busy." At least she wouldn't find the notes, since Rex had the only shipboard copy on his person. "She knew I was playing her ... but she's as curious as a cat."

"Well, no need to wait for orders from HQ. I don't think they'd be coming through any time soon with how bad things are on the ground. We'll make for the nearest re-entering platform and get the ship setup for it. Should see combat within a day if things are frantic enough..." Troy let himself grin, not really caring if his true feelings about combat snuck through. Really, he just wanted to plow through one of these Deimos models himself, with the beam cannons on the Athena. See just how effective pure energy was against these new toys.

And he was quickly shocked out of that by Rex's revelation. "You what? She's probably setting up cameras and grabbing literally every piece of information she can find from inside there. I wouldn't let that woman into my room unless I was trying to get her into bed. You're either very brave, or this was more important than whatever was in there." He could only shake his head. While May was a competent pilot, and brought along an interesting machine, her personality was... As obnoxious as her chest. In your face and always bouncy. He felt himself shiver.

"In any case... It looks like this fight is ending. How unfortunate. Good talk, Abrams. And good luck with your personal business. Just... Inform me, in the future, if you're using these channels again. I can cover it up if it's more dubious than what's acceptable. But-- only if you tell me in advance. HQ gets their hands on these before I do, and we're both in shit." He gave the man one more stern look before standing up straight, and sighing.

"Now... Let's go correct course, and get down there."

"I know, I know," Rex groaned, "but this was definitely more important, so I'm glad I didn't miss my window." It wasn't a total success, but there was still a part of him that would rather see Firmia change for the better than see her die. It was a tiny part of him, but it had been more than capable of asserting its influence, before. Then there was what Tonya said ...

"There probably won't be anything else for a long while," Rex admitted, figuring his options were too limited for the time being, "but I'll let you know well ahead of time if anything comes to me." That was a fine arrangement; Troy got his violent jollies and Rex got to keep his career. Normally he'd have to be in a female captain's quarters at late hours to get a scheme like this working long term.

"Wait, we're going to Earth?" Rex's brows perked up at the news. He couldn't help but grin as he held back a laugh. Troy's urge to get into the fight was definitely going to cost him.

"Yes? Of course we are. HQ's too wrapped up in dealing with these morons that they don't have time to give one space vessel orders. So I'm giving orders. We're going to find the nearest re-entry platform, and get back to Earth, as soon as possible. You might want to suit up now, honestly. And... Extract Greenfield from your room, however much damage she's done to it."

Troy noticed Rex's grin and held back his own, shaking his head. "Don't get too excited, Abrams. That's my job..." Now, time to get the ship moving. I wonder how worried the bridge will get when I issue those orders~ Troy hobbled himself out with a small hummed tune leaving his lips.

Edited September 8, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Balcerzak]

When the enemy broke things off, there was finally the time for Thorvald to take a closer look at just what had happened to Hannah's Velite. Her message to him had been a great relief, and he had indeed focused on the remainder of the battle over her (for the most part), per her wishes, but now that things were calming down it was the proper period to pick up the pieces. Kim's news of another survivor from the Russian transport crew was also worth noting, and he was determined to be the last to return to make sure they got aboard safe, on the million to one odds any of the Apotheosis craft broke off their retreat, or warped back in or something. The Hyperion's strange manner of disappearance weighed on him perhaps more heavily than it should.

So needless to say, it was mostly with relief that he watched as all the other pilots peeled off from their final positions and boarded the Riese, though the fact that none of them at all had stayed behind to help their fallen robot friend was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps she'd sent out other messages in addition to the one he'd received. She was an android, juggling multiple simultaneous lines of communication was probably a piece of cake for her, though why she didn't choose to give just one public message in that case was a bit of a stumper. Was her developing personality craving the personal touch just that much more?

When Hannah's next broadcast came through, she used a very interesting choice of words as she made her request. Curious. "Don't worry Humpty, nobody's rejecting you, they're probably all just caught up in their own circumstances. There was a lot going on, you know. Anyway, it was always my intention to make sure to come help get you put back together again, was really glad I could actually both stand guard over you at the same time as finishing the fight, in fact. So of course I'll be grabbing both you and your leg--as long as you can point it out to me from amid the debris. As for the Velite recovery, that can be left to the mechanic crew that usually does the scrounging for scrap from the fallen foes, no need for you to pay any mind to that either."

Reassurances to the robot sent, it was then just a matter of going about fulfilling the task at hand. The Legionary he was piloting hadn't taken the sort of damage that would interfere with moving what parts of the wreck needed clearing away to get at either Hannah, or her leg, barring something unexpected cropping up.

[Ether]

"Okay... don't need be stranger, Avery. Hope you know that." Kim replied with a sigh, biting her lip as the mechanic shrugged off her offer to help... whatever it was, she didn't want to talk about it in the open, at least. Turning around and looking over to the gathering of Russians and Christina, Kim walked over to the pair on the ground, the man talking to Brant that she didn't recognize must have been Sasha.

"Brant, Sasha. Good see everything turn out well at end."

[scorri]

"I..." Astin hesitated as Avery walked off and Juria got distracted by Reo. Their face still pink, they quietly mumbled, "I-if you want to talk about anything, I'm here and... I... er, thank you for looking after my robot." Quickly turning and fleeing towards the changing room, they didn't turn back to look at the mechanic as they finally escaped to some peace away from people. Sitting down, they let out a long deep sigh. I don't get why she's so interested... I just... Not sure this is a good idea. Rubbing at their eyes, they barely managed to keep a yawn in as they slowly changed into their normal clothes. Lack of sleep and stress from battles was finally starting to catch up to them it seemed. Maybe tonight the nightmares wouldn't be as bad...

[Shin]

The battle was over, and they'd managed to repel Apotheosis' forces. Leaving survivors would only mean more would come back to fight them another day. As much as trying to pick the last few off would aid things in the long run, they had all taken significant damage - Hannah was in especially bad shape. It was reassuring to hear that she was still operational, that had been enough to put his mind at ease. Elaine's outburst was expected, but he'd finally lost the willpower to call her out for her antics. Nikolai had things more than covered, albeit a little less colourful than previously.

"Nikolai, wie ist der Schaden? Haben sie irgendwelche Verletzungen?" Tarquin asked, hoping that Nikolai hadn't received harm to his posterior. "Es gab viele Feinde. Ich frage mich, wie viele Einheiten Apotheosis haben?"

The only thing left was to reunite with Kim and Brant's Russian allies. They'd held the base relatively well, although that may have been a result of the main group's efforts. He'd done his part to contribute to the mission's success, credit or glory were things that he didn't particularly crave from his allies.

-

The return to the Riese highlighted the damage they'd all received, Tarquin's own unit wasn't in the worst condition by any means. There would be a lot of repair that needed to be done before their next mission, Hannah's Velite would require particular attention. However, Avery seemed a little more preoccupied with Astin. Their behaviour was incredibly alien to him, and he wasn't entirely sure what they were doing. Adults sometimes didn't make sense, they could be just as confusing as teenagers at times.

He couldn't help but be curious about their Russian allies, their strange flying units were nothing like the standard ANF units. Considering how well they'd peformed, it made sense to why Apotheosis would target them to either claim or destroy them. He counted two pilots, a man with Brant and a younger woman being dealt with by Christina. He slowly approached Brant, Kim and Sasha. Glancing up at Christina and Firmia, he had a feeling that there was something unusual about their new ally - it wasn't every day that teenagers were put in prototypes, it wasn't some dumb cartoon.

"Your defense of the base exceeded expectations." Tarquin pipped in, standing alongside the other pilots. "Especially with regards to their leader and his technical advantage."

 

 

[Dandragon]

"Who the hell are you calling 'numbnuts', ya jackass?" Elaine was in the process of stepping out of the mech and onto the elevator, and took off her helmet to get a good look at the familiar old mechanic she had met earlier that day. "You're really surprised it got so much action out there after it tore up the place? It's a battlefield, not a god damn fashion show!" The elevator lowered as she slung her helmet underneath her arm. She actually hopped off before it was fully lowered to the ground. "Besides, all the dents show how much of a beating this thing can take. It's got plenty of armor to go around, and it's fast, too! Kept me alive, well enough. So quit your whining already! If you really need help fixing it up, I'll lend a hand to make ya feel better, 'kay?"

[Phoenix]

So this was the lieutenant, Sasha noted. Cute for an Apotheosis slayer. "Well enough, I guess. I'd say we've got a bit more work ahead if we want to break even on this one," Sasha said, thinking back on the prelude to Apotheosis' retreat. Sure, they'd accomplished their objective and humiliated Apotheosis by taking out one of their stronger machines--and there was more humiliation to come--but those insufferable bastards had instigated the fight by killing dozens on top of dozens of people. Sasha had been about to note that the ANF was lucky to have not had any casualties on their end, but then Dry Lake Base sprang to mind, again. Apotheosis was definitely well ahead of them in terms of body count.

"Still waiting to see how Hannah's doing, but at least we're all alive," Brant said shortly after, glancing toward the launch bay. That's when he began to wonder who was stuck in the AMS Prototype kneeling off to the side. It was being hit with hoses at multiple angles in a quick bid to cool it off. It seemed to be working, thankfully, but the fact that it was so overheated to begin with suggested it was pushed a little too hard for a little too long.

Before Brant thought to ask Sasha who the third pilot was, Tarquin approached, complimenting the survivors on their performance, from the sound of it. "Thanks, and boy do the lieutenant and I have some fun stories about that moron. By the way, you're a pilot too, right?" Judging by the flight suit, most likely. "You're the youngest I've seen so far. What's your name?"

---

Christina turned out to be just full of surprises. Between not knowing much about her unique situation, being deployed in spite of that deficit in knowledge, and walking around without some kind of coverage while in a SKIN suit, Firmia had no choice but to peg her as a 'follow the leader' sort; no major considerations in life, just do what you're told and don't ask questions. Firmia's sister would absolutely love her, as would her wretched mother and controlling grandfather. As for how Firmia herself felt ... well, the jury was still out on that one, for now.

"I'm surprised you don't cover up, already," she said, her tone low and slightly disapproving. "It's not a problem as long as you have someplace to put it once you're in the cockpit. Someplace secure so it won't go flying around during maneuvers." The more you know ... "Let's just ... lower this thing and get this over with." She wanted to get her obligatory hellos out of the way and change into ... "Wait ..."

Without another word or waiting for a response from Christina, Firmia rushed back into the Regalia's cockpit. She sat down in the pilot's chair and started powering up the systems, again.

---

Target acquired. Without any further delay, Megumi made her way over to the Phalanx and Abigail. The sight of the former wasn't very encouraging; the way computers interpreted damage to a machine was very different from the ways humans did, and so to Megumi's eyes, the Phalanx's story was more dramatic and nerve wracking than the bridge's monitors had indicated. "You piloted the Phalanx?" Megumi winced, "Why? It's ... not an inherently bad choice, but ..." ... now how was she supposed to explain this after the fact? Abigail was back and no worse for wear, and the Phalanx had proven to be more than just a mechanized coffin in the right hands. "It's better suited to urban conditions ... I suppose that's what I was getting at." She also hoped no one put her up to this as a means of testing her. That would just be stupid and reckless.

[Nanami Touko]

All Hosed Off

With the AMS cooled down, Buck ran off to check his personal work, not as shocked as the old man was to see it so damaged. "Hey, hey it's fine. Don't start arguing over nothing, both of you. I told her not to break it, and she didn't break it. That's all that matters. So... Go see if something else needs work, Ignatius. I'm sure Elaine's tired from fighting. Good work out there, by the way. I think Makoto was watching the whole thing, I kept hearing a lot of 'Wow!'s and small yelps of excitement. Guess you guys gave Apoth what for." Buck sighed wistfully at the damage done to the converted Heracles, but it was still in one piece, and that was what mattered to him.

Wrong Floor

Jess stepped out of the elevator... And heard the immediate clamor of the hangar. She blinked, shaking her head some, and looked over... Yeah, that was definitely the hangar, down the hall. "Must've pressed the wrong floor... ugh. Well... I'm here. I should... Deal with some stuff. My head's feeling a bit better since the battle finished, but..." Sighing and downing the pills as best as she could without water, Jess took a deep breath and steeled herself for dealing with people. Though, everyone looked fairly occupied, as she stepped into the hangar proper, so... Oh, Abigail had just gotten back in. That was a good place to start. Oh, Megumi was there too, how nice. Jess dealt with small groups better than one on ones.

"Abigail. Good w-work out there. It's nice to know m-my choices weren't wr-wrong... And hi again, M-Megumi. My head was f-feeling a bit better a-and I got off on th-the wrong, floor, so... I f-felt I should talk to some o-of the crew." She smiled up at Abigail and saluted. "If a-anyone gives you anymore t-trouble, just tell me. You've d-done more than enough t-to prove your trust." It was kinda nice, making all the right decisions... But there was a small worry of just how much it would hurt when she made a wrong one. Until then, I'm happy with how things are going here. And Abigail was a really strong pilot. I'm glad we have her.

Cover Up

"I-I was going to. This is my second time wearing it, so... I hadn't thought of it until today. Then I saw your coat, and... I feel even dumber not thinking about it. I'll definitely bring one with me, this thing is... Far too revealing to be comfortable. Not that Kim or Brant seem to care... They walk around like they aren't even wearing it." She looked down at the two of them, talking to who she could only assume was Sasha. None of them seemed bothered by the ridiculous outfit they were wearing, and it just made her confused. What was even more confusing was Firmia going back into the mech.

"Huh? F-Firmia? What's wrong?" She gently leaned into the cockpit, looking at her with a tilted head. The thing was starting to whir back on, what for? "Did you forget something...?"

No Leg to Stand on

Hannah nodded at Thorvald's explanation, but seemed confused by what he meant. "Oh. I did not tell you. My leg has been lost entirely; it was crushed by the Hyperion's sword when it pierced my robot. I managed to re-attach my arm, and it is functional. If I cannot fit inside your cockpit, sitting on your Legionary's hand will suffice. One moment." While it was difficult for her to balance, she managed to stand up on her one leg, waving at Thorvald's robot, hoping his camera would notice her. Though, that balance didn't last long, as she collapsed on her butt, continuing to wave. Hopefully Avery wouldn't have much trouble crafting a new one for her...

[scorri]

Astin finally pulled on their jacket, back in their normal clothes. Quickly checking to make sure the small maple leaf pin was still affixed to the collar, they headed out the door back towards the hangar. Spotting Megumi, they started to head towards her, a goal in mind, but stopped short when they realized just who she was talking to. Great. Captain and rebel. I'll avoid that conversation, thank you very much. the taunting during the battle hadn't changed much and while she hadn't failed them, Astin still had no reason to like Abigail. Quickly turning and instead heading towards the elevator, they were pleased when one opened up immediately.

Entering in and hitting the button for the top floor, they slumped against the wall. No one had been badly hurt outside of Hannah, and her problems would be solved in the hangar or a workshop, so they didn't need to feel guilty about taking up someone's time in the medical bay. Surely there was something in that room for sleep issues. Maybe if they knocked themself out with pills, the nightmares would go away.

[Ether]

"Oh, hello Tarquin. Couldn't keep track other side battle much with jam, but assume shooting as well as usual, today? Oh, Sasha, this Tarquin. Tarquin, Sasha." Kim replied as the young sharpshooter came over with a rare compliment on their defense of the base... well, the rubble that remained where the base had been... how had Apotheosis done this much damage in so little time? It was a chilling thought... what if they had made their move earlier? From what they were seeing, it seemed more and more like the Heion Riese was the only battleship capable of forcing Apotheosis assault squads into a retreat... at least where they had been so far.

There wasn't much time to deliberate on it though, as a surge of emotion from Christina drew Kim's gaze in her direction, to witness the Regalia powering up. That was... strange.

"Why Firmia power on Regalia now?"

[Phoenix]

"Almost," Firmia said, her answer to Christina likely too vague to be helpful. Once the Regalia's limbs were green lit, Firmia grabbed the flight sticks, currently locked in their MS mode positions. Carefully, she nudged them bit by bit, opting for fine tuned movements to get both arms positioned exactly where she wanted them. "You should get in here," Firmia warned, as the arms drew closer to the chest area. A snap hiss escaped the right forearm as the compartment there unsealed itself, and the opposing arm's hand extended to catch the stored contents that soon fell out.

Continuing the job of unloading, Firmia set her luggage down on the lift, and then repeated the process with the left arm, retrieving the Edict's flight seat and placing it there with the rest of her things. "There," Firmia sighed, "those compartments are for cable storage ... but sometimes you have to improvise ...." Fortunately, the cable that was actually present in the left arm hadn't been disturbed by the flight seat, and so hadn't been dislodged. If it had been, the entire thing might have unraveled and Firmia would have to waste time reeling it all back in before shutting the Regalia down, again.

[Xinnidy]

Super Justice Fighter, Go!

The mechs had slowly made their way in. Makoto couldn't help but smile with glee as he saw the large planes turn into mechs in their own right just before landing. It was awesome seeing predicted technology made use of, especially something as versatile as that! Were they able to withstand punishment in battle, or were they just really fast? Probably the latter from their entrance speed and deceleration. Still, what a show!

Makoto couldn't help but realize a sizable minority of the pilots seemed to be TK, judging by the ones wearing SKIN suits. The first time Makoto heard about SKIN, he was disappointed it wasn't as hi-tech as expected, usable as a motion tracer and allowing the pilot to engage in real martial arts during close-quarters combat. What was the point of having it all over your body if it was just meant to sync with your brain? Such wasted potential, really... not to mention it was a bit too showy. W-was it really okay for that blonde girl to be walking around like that? He blushed and violently shook his head, focusing on what really mattered next:

The Phalanx! It had landed, and Makoto took the opportunity to drop to the docking level where the pilots were gathering, making a straight line to the Phalanx with a hasty step. Nothing was going to stop his curiosity now! "Heeey! You actually went out there with that Custom model?" The teen called out, ecstatic. He quickly identified one of the women approaching the pilot as Doctor Amparo from the infirmary, hailing with a quick wave. There was also another girl that didn't look too far from his age there. An ensign maybe? With a quick "Hi there," Makoto shifted his attention near instantly towards the woman whom was getting out of the Phalanx --it took quite a beating, but did it do it's job--. "That was awesome out there! You showed them despite the height difference, really good call with those maneuvers. I was almost scared they'd crush you in there, but you did great!" Praise be where praise was due, Makoto greeted her with a thumbs up.

Ginger and Irate

"Jackass?! Why you--" Ignatius had a few choice words for Elaine, taking a step forward, but Buck was clever and quick to defuse the situation. After a brief wince, the old man shook his head. "Praise the dents as you like, it's hard to get spare parts for a refurbished model like that. Besides, the thing has very good mobility, I would hope you're able to be more careful with a machine like that next time." He continued on his demands, though his voice and tone were far more subdued in front of the boy. Ignatius certainly respected his decision despite their age difference. "We are more than capable of fixing it, but if we run out of spare parts too soon, it's back to using a Velite or Legionary for a while. Try to give your most while piloting this."

Edited September 9, 2017 by Xinnidy

[Sandalphon]

Nikolai clicked his tongue as he considered the question.

"ich bin gut... aber, ich weiß es nicht. Es ist lästig, ja?" he finally replied in tentative and deliberative German. The truth was that, before this moment, he hadn't really paused to think about the size and scope of whatever he was involved with. He just simply obeyed whatever the person with the biggest gun said, everything else falling into the category of things that were simply too troublesome for him to bother with.

It seemed like the more he got involved, the more he had to think. It was bothersome, to say the least.

He awkwardly watched as the younger pilot socialised with the others, probably giving off the appearance of a particularly sulky and creepy looking guard dog, were that dog standing on its hind legs and muttering under its breath. It was probably preferable, knowing him he would probably blurt out something inane and vulgar again, and the possibility of dealing with that fallout struck Nikolai as being unnecessarily tiresome.

[riariadne]

Dwight sighed as the battle concluded. Even though it had gone well, the fact that Hannah had the difficulties she did meant that there was room for improvement. "Well, not all battles can be completely smooth sailing," he remarked off-handedly. Fortunately, what seemed to be the group's biggest difficulty yet was still not a complete failure by any means, seeing as they were victorious, after all... and that Hannah was ultimately much tougher than any human. Jess had left, but Roxanna and Tristan both remained as far as people he spoke with very much at all went. "There's room for improvement, but ultimately it was a fine battle. We have plenty to look at for ways that future battles can be made better, and unfortunately, we will likely have to keep engaging in these sorts of battles with Apotheosis. Still, when approached correctly, no situation is truly impossible."

[Shin]

His age had caught attention from other pilots before and now appeared to be no exception. "Yes, I am. Specialist Tarquin Herrington, fourteen years old. My training program was accelerated and I was assigned to the Heion Riese. Tarquin replied, giving a sharp salute. He was gradually refining his cover story, which was almost necessary after his disaster with Thorvald. "Unfortunately Hannah was shot down during the previous mission, but our coordinated efforts were sufficient for the most part, Lieutenant Kim. Thankfully we were able to divert most of their forces away from the base itself."

Attention seemed to be on the Regalia, he couldn't quite make out what was happening but the pilot appeared to be unloading luggage? It was somewhat unusual, but then again, he was hard-pressed for normal allies.

 

 

[Balcerzak]

Thorvald Transportation

"...Oh, I misunderstood." For some reason the fact that Thorvald had gotten it wrong upset him more than it should have. He'd been trying to think of Hannah as more of a robot--like she'd always been wanting, always been asking--but then here was the situation where she actually lost a limb, in the way a human would have used it when they lost a part of their body, not in the sense of having misplaced ones luggage. The android's antics at making herself visually known to him were also strangely unlike a machine. Something about her was changing. Despite it being a little comical, as she lost her balance and tumbled on her backside, it wasn't enough to change the gravity of the situation and bring a mirthful smile. But not for lack of trying.

"Whichever you'd prefer," Thorvald replied, letting her know she had a place in the cockpit if she wanted it, then maneuvered the levers to bring the Legionary's hand down to where she could board it, and then depending on her reply either carefully carry her as-is, or convey her up to where, after opening the hatch, she could take a ride on the inside instead. "But let's hurry up and get you back, the sooner we do, the sooner we can get you properly looked at."

 

Awesome Abby

Abigail had just finished stretching when Megumi had sighted her and strode purposely over. When she'd made it close enough, the doctor seemed to have a pained look on her face, and began what felt almost like an interrogation. Raising her hands, palms forward, to about chest level, she began, "Whoa, hang on a sec. Yeah, I was using the Phalanx, and sure, it would have been even better in a city, or if we'd gotten all the way to the ANF base proper, but it's not too difficult to make use of its speed and agility in the forests and hills either, you know? Sure, wide open plains, not the best environment for it, I'll grant you that, but..."

More visitors, it seemed, Abby trailed off of the unexpected defense of her choice of craft as she saw the captain also making her way over. If this wasn't the royal welcome back, she had no idea what would qualify. Truly speaking, Jess was looking pretty drained, maybe even a little green around the gills, but she'd made her way over to the pair and begun addressing her former prisoner as if nothing were wrong. "Sheesh, still worried about that, huh? I guess in your shoes I probably woulda been too, but glad to hear I didn't disappoint. I could have done better, should have even, but they had a lot of nuisances in the air today," she punctuated her own assessment of her performance with a sigh and a slight roll of the eyes. "As for trouble? I don't expect much more in the way of that, hopefully everyone saw how serious I was out there, but if there is I'll probably prefer to take care of it myself rather than go running to hide behind your skirts, if at all possible."

Abigail was in mid-shrug when she spotted the boy make his jump down to the deck and come scampering over in their direction. A small 'ah' of surprise escaped her lips as it seemed he might pounce her like an excited puppy and start licking all over, but that ended up not becoming an issue, as he eventually stopped up short, and switched from the call to attention he'd begun on the way over to heaping on verbal praise for her efforts on the field. It had been a long time, if ever, since Abby had had this sort of innocent fan attention, the admiration of her crew was of a different flavor, more weighted down from acknowledging their shared realities than this balloon of pure excitement. It was a little embarrassing, almost ticklish even, and she felt the tips of her ears begin to heat up a little. Scratching the back of her neck with one hand, while awkwardly returning his thumbs up with her other, she answered, "Y-Yeah, it did take a few more lumps than I'm proud of, but we made it out alright in the end, 's what counts. Who are you, again?"

Edited September 9, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Nothing is Impossible

Tristan leaned back in his chair, after forwarding the XO's instructions to the crew. What Dwight said had made sense to him, but there was something he just couldn't fit into battle calculations. "Why is Jessica a captain?" he asked, to no one in particular, but not minding if anyone tried to answer. Some of the bridge looked at him, like he was going somewhere Roxanna would with this, but that wasn't his intention.

"Her aim with weaponry is beyond what's expected of any soldier in the ANF. She managed to aim the barrels of a Leviathan class warship, at an MS size target, while both were moving. That's... Pardon my surprise, XO, Dwight, but that's no small feat. You'd find maybe ten pilots, or captains total, in the entire ANF, able to pull off something like that with such ease. And she did it twice! The third time, she only barely missed, which I can only credit to her headache... But..."

He put a hand on his forehead, leaning back. "I don't understand her position. Would she not be better served manning the guns, or even playing back line in a mech? She's such a good aim, but... Her skills as a Captain as a bit lacking. As much as she's been impressing me these last few battles, it hasn't been for her commanding prowess. I don't know... Maybe I'm over thinking this. Maybe a good captain only needs to know how to win the battle, but... It's been eating at me. My apologies, if this is speaking out of line."

Watch Out!

Christina yelped and stumbled inside as the arms started to move, watching... Luggage? "Wh-What's all of that doing inside the arms? I... I don't... Who exactly are you? And, why is... Oh my God. You, you said your name was Firmia, Alkaev, on the radio, right?" Christina looked at her with some shock, the gears starting to turn, as she finally smiled. "I-Is your mom's name Rosa? Wow... Talk about small world. My dad works... W-Worked, with your company. Sorry if I'm jumping the gun. Just feels kinda exciting. You're kind of like a, foreign princess, huh? I guess I'm kind of the same... Not that I feel like royalty." Firmia certainly carried herself like royalty, if not just an odd one out. Who put luggage, and an entire chair, in the cable compartment of a robot, and fought in battle with all of it? What if she'd needed those cables? It was sort of a mess.

Not really wanting to has that out, Christina stepped back onto the lift with Firmia and all of her things, hitting the switch to finally bring them down. The crowd had grown by one Tarquin, which... Was probably fine. Still, she took a step back and was practically hiding behind Firmia and her things when they finally got down. "I-I got her out. Hi." She nervously waved at Brant, Kim, Sasha, Tarquin... Gosh, why were there so many people here, now? She eyed the changing room and thought about making a mad dash, but what would look sillier; what she was wearing, or running off like that? It was hard to decide.

Unexpected Excitement

Jess turned to the boy that had walked over, so jubilant and full of energy over Abigail's performance. Jess was seeing something she'd not thought possible, Abby was actually fitting in, and going as far as blushing over all the praise. The captain could only smile, managing a giggle through the dull throb in her head. "How c-cute. Well, Abby, enjoy y-your fan club. I actually... Ah, wow..." Now that was a crowd... Six people? Really? "Never mind, I-I suppose. I had to s-speak with Brant, and the new pilots, but... I-If I go over there right now, I'll probably just g-get overwhelmed. I can ask you a few m-more things then, I s, suppose."

"While I'm g-glad things went well for you today, and... Uhm... Appreciate that y-you'd rather not 'hide behind my skirt', a-as it were. Uhm. Could you? Anyway? I-It's still going to take a b-bit for the regular crew to be used t-to you, so... I don't w-want you getting into any f-fu, further altercations with the c, crew. Can you d-do that, for me?" She looked up at her with some small hope in her eyes, not wanting her request to go beyond what would upset her.

"And, on a m-more positive note, how was the Ph, Phalanx? I can see that, i-it... Took some hits. But you still per, performed really well in it. Would it be s-something you think could stand more b-battles? We do have more, uhm... D-Durable machines." Maybe a Velite model would be better for her... It was almost as fast, and definitely better armored.

Repair Work Assessment

Avery stepped away from all of the buzz of the crew and started looking mechs over. That Nikowhoever kid was off on his own, watching things like a hawk, so getting near him and his bot was probably not the greatest idea right now. Well, Kim was away from her Artemis, as she'd coined it, so Avery felt now was a good time to get an assessment of the damage. Kim had made it sound pretty bad, having to eject the missile pods, but looking at it... It really was just a surface scratch, wasn't it? The bullet had probably gone inside, which was why she'd popped them out in the first place.

"Well, smart move. Expensive, but smart. Ain't gonna fault that..." So far it just looked like things were requiring small repairs, or the big ones for the Velites... Until she remembered-- "Awwww, dawg, gonnit... Hannah broke her whole damn machine, didn't she? Fuck. Ain't her fault, expected somethin' like this happenin' eventually, in battle like this, but, crap... That's gonna be a whole tonna work. Man..." Avery shook her head and looked around, spotting that Thorvald wasn't in, either. "Ain't got an assessment on his bot either. Frig. This ain't gonna go easy." She sighed. "Guess gettin' Astin later's gonna be harder'n I thought..."

House Call

Cheryl stepped out of the elevator, cigar in hand, resting against the wall just outside the hangar. She didn't quite want to bring the smell inside, it would probably bother a few of the pilots... But she did want to see a few cases, to see how they were doing. No one was going up to see her, how unfortunate~ So she'd just have to see them herself. There was Tarquin, and he was socializing, good. That was one worry off of her mind, as her eyes drifted over to-- "Problem child. Nikolai~ I wonder how you're doing... But if I go over right now, you'll probably put up all the blast shields. Oh?"

And what was long locks doing here? Cheryl smirked, Megumi was talking to their latest inmate recruit. "Wonder what that's all about. Hmm." There were some new faces too, but she didn't quite know how long they were staying. It was just a delivery, right?

A Handy Ride

"Acknowledged. For speed of returning to the ship, I shall sit on the palm." As the hand came down, Hannah did her best to stand up again, giving herself a small jump to grab onto the edge of a finger, and crawl onto the opened palm. "Full speed ahead!" she joked, raising a fist into the... air... What? Huh. How interesting. She never would have thought to do something silly like that before. Not that it bothered her; research into humans showed that they liked to do inane things like this in similar situations. "But I am not human. Hmmm." Perhaps Abigail's taunts were getting to her more than she had first processed.

"What an interesting development. Thorvald," she radioed up, looking towards the Legionary's camera, "so you believe that I can be instigated? In regards to performing better, faster, or more human like? I find myself drawn to miss Abigail and her taunts, it is as if I wish to respond to them in a manner than proves her wrong. I attempted to do so today, but that resulted in my machine's destruction. Is something like that healthy? I do not know. But I wish to do so, either way."

Edited September 9, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[scorri]

The ding of the elevator knocked Astin out of their brief loss of focus, and they exited the elevator and headed directly for the medbay. Entering in, they glanced around and spotted two unfamiliar faces who they assumed were the doctor's assistants. One was reading and the other appeared to be lost in thought while listening to music. Deciding to approach the one who could for sure hear them, they approached the brown haired girl and quietly asked, "Uh... Are you one of the medical helpers? I could use some help..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Val had made sure to be in the medbay at the end of the encounter with Apotheosis just in case she was needed. Even though there were no reported injuries from what she'd heard, you could never be too careful. Case in point, a purple haired boy had walked into the room and approached Olivia. He wasn't wearing a pilot's uniform, but Val thought that she had seen him earlier in the rush to get ready. Still, surely Olivia could handle it, so she went back to playing with her music, flipping through trying to find a good song.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Colt had known there was going to be a lot of work when the report that one of the mechs had been knocked out of commission had come over the com, but there was a difference between knowing and seeing. Wincing at some of the damage, he wandered over to Avery who was inspecting the new fancy bot that seemed to be something of her pet project. It looked pretty good for being in combat, so he figured she was just being over protective. "Hey boss. Got a specific mech you want me to start working on or should I just grab one? Those new ones look pretty fancy, but also don't look to need much work so we shouldn't be doing anything too crazy."

[Phoenix]

Abigail had been quick to defend her choice of the Phalanx, and Megumi could admit her reasons were 'adequate.' It was just odd thinking back on it, now; it was her choice and no one had necessarily put her up to it. A real daredevil, this one. That or perhaps the Phalanx impressed her back on Colony One. The arrival of Jessica and Makoto meant it was time for Megumi to shut up and pretend to be as positive about this development as everyone else was. About all she could manage was her usual doll like neutrality.

Oddly enough, the captain recommended the Velite over the Legionary when it came time to make some future recommendations. Megumi supposed that machine was a bit closer to Abigail's style, but it didn't feel right recommending a Velite when one had been sliced open not even twenty minutes ago. Regardless of the circumstances, that seriously inflated the Phalanx's image; it had only taken enough damage to worry the pilot's friends and family. Amidst all of this, velite pilots were either upgrading or switching to new machines. The doctor supposed as long as the team did a better job coordinating in the future, Abigail wouldn't be too endangered piloting the smaller mech. If she was wrong though, they'd be scraping the police bot off the ground with a spatula once Apotheosis started taking the Riese team seriously.

---

Firmia couldn't help but cringe at the mention of her mother, but promptly nodded, confirming Christina's suspicion. Personally, Firmia preferred the title of Queen, but given her age, and her mother's place in the company, she was far closer to a princess for the time being. Ugh. As for the connection, if Christina's father worked 'with' her family's company and not 'for' them, then it was probably important. She'd initially gotten the impression that she was speaking with the daughter of a former employee, and that wouldn't have been worth noting or remembering; everyone works for someone important at some point in their lives. However, working with them suggested a project ... which one was a mystery though, and there wasn't time to get into it, right now.

As they came down the lift to the small crowd, Firmia felt her fellow TK getting more and more nervous. It was as if they were both being lowered into a boiling pot of stage fright and only Christina was being affected. Granted, Firmia was covered from neck to ankles. No one would even notice she was wearing a SKIN suit if they weren't already informed or suspicious. That wouldn't do ... As much as Firmia disliked running around in these things herself, she was at least used to it.

"Hi," Brant smiled, sending a small wave Christina's way.

"I expect this back once you're changed," Firmia said, taking off her coat and draping it over Christina, revealing her own white skin suit in the process. Now Firmia was the one feeling overly exposed, but she'd been prepared for that, and knelt down to dig around in one of her bags for a change of clothes. The Regalia was staying on board the Heion Riese, so she didn't have to worry about wearing a SKIN suit again for a long while. "Hmm ..." That seemed to beg the question, though. What was she going to do, now? The main testing facility in Siberia wasn't the actual Alkaev residents, not truly, but literally everything of value to Firmia that hadn't been atomized in the facility's destruction was sitting right here in the lift. As much as she was longing for a second opinion, there wasn't really time to get into that, either.

The last thing Brant expected Firmia to do was hand off an expensive coat to someone she just met, even with the stated intention of getting it back. Admittedly, she hadn't been around any other TKs besides Rex and himself, and Christina did seem like she wanted to slip away and was simply waiting for the opportunity. "That's awfully nice of you." Firmia only grunted as she continued looking through her things. Rather than take anything out, she was feeling her way around for the most part, so as not to let anyone get a good look at her wardrobe, or what was left of it, at least.

Specialist Tarquin Herrington, huh? Sasha committed the name to memory while wondering what Tarquin's specialty was. Given the requirements on the human body to pilot a mobile suit effectively in all situations, and Tarquin's general demeanor, Sasha's initial guess was some flavor of sharpshooter. For a developing body, it really was the best of both worlds, that of effectively engaging the enemy while not having to rely too heavily on high G maneuvers. This was assuming some virtues the ANF as a whole probably didn't possess, especially if they were using children as pilots, but even the most ruthless organizations would figure out how best to utilize their assets eventually, particularly in wartime. Not wasting any time, Sasha saluted Tarquin right back. "Just call me Sasha. I'm one of the Alkaev company's test pilots." And in another day or two, an army conscript for anti-Apotheosis operations. Joy of joys.

Edited September 10, 2017 by Phoenix

[Balcerzak]

"One 'Palm Ferry', coming right up then," Thorvald acknowledged, and waited until Hannah had made herself comfortable before drawing it in closer to the mech's chest, lessening the amount of wind she'd be buffeted by as the Legionary made its way back to the hangar. While it certainly wasn't the fastest model, especially without the supplementary booster, it would still be enough that one would find themselves quite chilly if not properly prepared. Then again, being an android was probably all the preparation needed on that front, wasn't it? A bit of a crooked grin spread across his face, as he see-sawed once again between treating her like a robot or treating her like a human, and he shook his head a little calling out back, "Aye, aye, full speed ahead. Take care now, we're three sheets to the wind!"

Along the trip back, Hannah had radioed in again with a curious question that seemed to be bothering her. While she didn't phrase it as such, it seems her worries were because she didn't fully understand the underlying programming responsible for her AI. How was he supposed to know any better, though? Chewing a lip in thought for a moment, he answered back with something that hopefully was satisfactory at least. "Hmm, I wouldn't have expected it, to be honest, you're being able to be instigated. I thought I remembered hearing that negative feedback systems were more sought after in computing. You know, the better to correct backward away from unhealthy fluctuations from the norm. For something like what you're suggesting, that sounds like it would be more of a positive feedback loop, wouldn't it? Exposed to something new and strange, you find yourself taking more efforts to put yourself into similar, or even more unusual positions to experience and adapt to yet more unfamiliar stimuli. I mean, anything's possible, I don't have any idea what the person who programmed you was thinking. Maybe they had two modes for you, one learning mode, and one uh... 'standby' isn't the right word, maybe 'maintained' mode, for where everything's operating as intended? Haaa... as for this competition with Abigail you're trying to get sucked into, though, I don't think that's particularly healthy. If one of us lost our leg, it likely would've been a coin-flip if we could've gotten to them in time to save them. You saw what happened with Lieutenant Kim's arm the other day, albeit a much less severe example. Or with Abigail herself, when we brought her in. It's not wise to take for granted your advantage of not being human. Though, I feel like the last time I told you something similar you ignored me, so what do I know?"

Then it was stepping up onto the ramp leading into the hangar, and preparing to let her down somewhere gently. Hmm, where would be good, actually?

Edited September 10, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Medical Call

Olivia didn't bother looking up from the book she was reading-- almost halfway through, now --as Astin came into the medbay. Still, she acknowledged them. "Hey. What can I help you with?" Probably was one of the pilots. Had they gotten hurt during the battle, or anything like that? "The doctor's out right now, so if it's serious, you'll have to wait for her. Otherwise, we can probably help."

Unconditional

Christina was about to talk a small bit to Firmia about who her father was, but she the coat was placed on her she sort of froze, looking at Firmia just as confused as she had been before... And tearing up a little bit. "Ah, s-sorry," she spat out, quickly rubbing her eyes, "just wasn't expecting... Uhm, y-yeah. Thank you! Thank you, very much. I'll give it back as soon as I have proper clothes on." Wow... Christina hadn't been expecting that sort of kindness, even if it was a simple gesture. She felt bad about Firmia stuffing herself into this sort of situation, but wasn't about to refuse her gesture.

"My father's name was Frederick Troy, uhm... He was CEO of the TCI. We probably made a lot of T-Links that your family is using right now. I know this is late, but, uhm... It's nice to meet you face to face, Firmia." She was going pretty hard through her luggage, so Christina didn't try to offer a handshake or bug her with more than words. Instead, she hopped off of the lift, and walked up to the small group, hugging the jacket close.

"So... Uhm, you're Sasha, right? Are you and Firmia going to be staying with us?" She gave Tarquin a tiny wave, not sure what to say to him. He was definitely barely a soldier, but he didn't fight like one. He probably deserved to be treated like an adult in here.

Collapse

"I... See." Thorvald had said a lot, and it was going to take her time to process it all. She didn't know who had made her, for one. Only that she was conceived on Colony Five, and assigned to Colony One. That was all. Whether or not she was meant to remain as she had as a security model, or eventually find the drive to remove herself from that post and put herself in a more human environment, she didn't know. This seemed to be working out, so she wasn't about to question it. "I understand. It is unhealthy. I will do my best to not partake in those sorts of challenges... I cannot take this body for granted anymore, anyway."

She took a moment. "It would upset far too many people were I to be destroyed in that manner. I do not wish to see anyone upset. Not Tarquin, not Brant, not you; not anyone. So I will... I will keep myself safe. I hope that is alright." She would still put herself in harm's way, if it would save the life of anyone else on the ship, but she wouldn't make any more reckless decisions. As much as she could help it.

Though, that might've confused Thorvald, as when the Legionary stepped into the hangar, instead of waiting for him to lower the robot's hand, Hannah began to scale down the chest and leg with just her arms, collapsing between its legs as he walked along. "Thank you for the ride, Thorvald. Please do not be alarmed, I have no sustained any extra damage from the fall. I am simply reducing the time to my repairs."

Buck was the first to notice that Hannah was back, and notice he did. With eyes wide and a terrified squeak, he bolted over to her, trying to help her three hundred pound frame off of the floor, to little avail. "Boys, help! Hands on deck!" A few of the bigger mechanics ran over to help him stand her up, Hannah resting against just one once she was standing again.

"Thank you, Buck. Is Avery around? I require extensive repairs, and--"

"What the fuck did you do to yourself!?"

All the mechanics around Hannah stopped and looked at Buck, who was tearing up, and starting to cry. He'd never swore, ever since coming onto the ship, even going as far as to censor himself.

"I... I beg, your pardon, I..."

"G-Go find Avery, boys, just... You come back without a leg and your arm half attached, and you think I'm just gonna act like everything's fine!? Look at yourself! I know you're an android, but... But...!" He couldn't take it, running off to find a rag to cry into so the crew didn't half to see him.

Hannah was... Shocked. She watched him the entire time, only slowly walking along with help to get sat on one of the work benches. She looked at her leg, she looked at her arm, and she felt that urge to cry, again. I... Is, this what Brant and Thorvald have been meaning? I... That I will be making people this upset? I do not... I don't understand...

Disappear

Avery saw Hannah come in, about to tell Colt what he could do, but she froze solid upon seeing her injury, and had to turn away. "Uh, jus'... G, Go help the boys with, th-the an, droid... I, I gotta go!" She bolted, running back Cheryl without a second glance. The therapist watched her go, confused, but figuring it was just something urgent.

As soon as Avery was in an elevator, she collapsed in the corner and out went her lunch, as she held a hand tight around her thigh. "It's, j, jus' a rob, ot, it's not... N-Not, a person... Come on, A-Avery... Get, a fuckin' grip...!" There was no grip to get, as she waited for the elevator to ding up on the top floor, slowly trying to get a grip on the pain running itself through her leg. A fist slammed the elevator wall, as she got her footing, slowly limping towards the infirmary.

Edited September 10, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Xinnidy]

Guts and Practice

"Ah, right--name's Makoto! I'm not really personnel here, though. Uh, bit of a long story..." It would be a mouthful to start from the beginning, could he cut off some details? "I'm from Colony-1, where you guys saved our skin. Since our district got cut off my mom and other injured people got brought to the medbay here and then you kiind of had to come back to earth in short notice. I don't mind it though, it's safe in here, I think." The Heion Riese seemed all but impregnable during the battles they faced, so it was a smart idea to stick around with the military for now.

It seemed some discussion about the Phalanx had started, and despite the other women's concerns, Makoto's faith in the small mech was all but clear. "That's a customized variation of model 21 from what the colony officer was saying when they dropped it here. It's true that older models only worried about operating inside the colonies, but Model 21 tried to be more flexible in that regard, with modular frames designed for new potential issues.. There's the zero-gravity frame to deal with problems outside the Colonies themselves, and the ground frame which was made for complex earth terrain. And it's thicker than a plane, so there is that!" Perhaps it was the fact the bigger mechs like the Velite could step on it, but that wouldn't crush the Phalanx at once!

Scrap Metal? In My Hangar?

Ignatius' eyes darted after Buck, ignoring whatever the ornery ginger pilot had to say next, Buck's distress being far more the old man's concern. He jogged quickly after the boy at first, looking at the android that had crashed and was being taken to a bench by the mechanics. "What a wreck... that's the one that went out in a mech, right?" Recalling the briefing, Ignatius shook his head and frowned at the visage, and then turned to see Buck run away... perhaps after something, after Avery? He didn't feel the right to go after him, so he just stared from a distance, seeping in the awkward feeling in the hangar. Ignatius looked back at the android, sighing. "You gave him a big scare, don't concern your systems too hard. Just apologize when he returns." Androids were likely to be over-inquiring about emotions, but the boy certainly didn't need it. Hopefully this one would pick that up in their metallic logical frame.

Edited September 10, 2017 by Xinnidy

[scorri]

"What th--" Colt stared after Avery, completely confused. She'd been perfectly fine one second and the next second seemed terrified and ran away like something was chasing her. He considered going after her for a brief second, but he barely knew her and looking around the hangar, there was enough work that she was better left to someone who knew her better. Turning towards the android, he made his way over to her and gave her a quick look over. "Well then, you've certainly banged yourself up pretty badly. You know that you're supposed to leave the other guys looking like this, not yourself, right?"

Not expecting much of a response from an AI to his humor, he continued inspecting the damage. "Hmm, certainly going to need a new leg. Potentially a new arm... You got your blueprints stored somewhere or am I gonna have to work blind?" If he had blueprints, this would be easy. If he was going blind, well... he'd make something. Not as good as the rest most likely, but he'd do his best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Astin shuffled their feet, not quite sure this was a good idea before deciding to just get it over with. "Err, yeah. It's not serious exactly. I just... Do you guys have sleeping pills up here or something similar? Been dealing with nightmares and not getting enough sleep. And I can't risk that while I'm out there. I'll get someone hurt." They paused, trying to figure out if there was anything more to mention. "Oh, er, yeah. I'm Astin Doyle. Don't think we've met before."

[Ether]

With introductions starting, Kim allowed her eyes to scan the hangar, watching the goings on. The mechanics were starting to look the mechs over, Avery moving to the Artemis, and then Thorvald came in, dropping Hannah off... and she was entirely missing a leg. Even though she was an android, Kim still winced at the sight, but it seemed someone else took it harder. A massive spike of bad emotions cropped up, Seung-Min immediately turning towards it, just in time to see Avery excuse herself and take an elevator... Avery again? Something wasn't right here, something definitely wasn't right...

"Be back later." Kim replied, darting towards the elevators herself. What was the common thread, here? The most obvious one was that both Hannah and the Artemis would be extra work for the mechanics, but that wasn't something Avery would freak out over... what could it be? She'd have time to deliberate, at least. Hopping into the elevator as it arrived, Avery's ball of radiating distress had already passed the middle floor... to the top it was.

[Balcerzak]

Abigail blinked a bit, confused by Jess's question at first. 'Could she' what? Then it dawned on her that the captain was trying her hand at humor, and she allowed herself a chuckle. "Probably not, would look pretty funny if I tried, wouldn't it?" The mirth instantly disappeared, however, when the matter of her altercation with the engineer was mentioned. Her face slipping into a slightly stony expression, Abby tried to find the right words to express herself with.

"Oh, you heard about the whole 'nobody ask Juria opinion, this no smart at all, maybe you need watch self,' business? It really wasn't as bad as it sounded, I don't think she could have done anything more than crumple my collar if she tried," a shrug to help punctuate her current indifference wrapped things up nicely enough. "I'm sure it was just heat of the moment for both of us, but sure... If you think it'll help, I'll keep a low profile awhile longer. Haa, guess that means no hot-tub tonight, huh, just catching up on the news or something in my room."

Megumi had been oddly quiet throughout, and Abigail was starting to wonder if she'd made her mad. She'd clearly been worried, both before over the comms, and just now when asking about the Phalanx. She could afford to be more conciliatory and less defensive. "Look, Megumi, I'm sorry. I didn't turn back right away when you asked, and looking at it now, I can see that I should have. I let myself get a little carried away, it's a bit of a flaw, I admit. Maybe there is a better option, I was gonna talk to Elaine about it beforehand, but there ended up not being any time... Still," as long as they were on the subject, Abby turned back to answer a question Jess had asked about Phalanx, "I have to say its performance was pretty good. Quite decent output when I needed to really pack a punch, only really got to try out one of the frames, but it was the one that looked most comfortable for me. I'm not sure how it'll continue to stand up in the future, but..." she turned to the excitable Makoto, who'd begun chiming in with his thoughts on the matter, "...it certainly has at least a couple of fans. Maybe with a couple of modifications down the line it could be even better. Hard to say at this point whether it's got long-term staying potential, especially if you have more of whatever you found to put Doyle in."

Then, there was the rest of the matter of Makoto to deal with, and this certainly wasn't going to be easy for her. Especially not with how he seemed to be in hero worship mode. Leaning forward slightly and putting one hand on the scrawny boy's shoulder, while extending the other for him to shake if he wanted, she closed her eyes and explained, "Abigail, but you can call me Abby if you'd prefer. And, as nice as it would be if it were true, I didn't exactly save the colony. Not yet anyway. Still, it's a good thing you and your mom made it out okay. I really had hoped nobody would get hurt in the fighting. Haa, but boy do you know a lot about the Phalanx, don't you? You work on them for a part time job, or...?"

Edited September 10, 2017 by Balcerzak