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


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Kim had been about to bite back at this clone, if there was one thing her body was willing to cooperate on, it was fighting. She'd show her who was about to collapse... or would have, had it not been for the intervention from not only Christina, but Thorvald as well. She must have been even more overt than she had realized. As Chris continued with more information about their new enemy, it made it a bit easier to hold back on leaping over the table and introducing her face to the floor. At least she was being useful instead of outright antagonistic at this point.

"Alright? Not... in the slightest." She eventually replied to Thorvald's inquiry. Even if she had come down from her rage to... well, still rage but slightly less rage, it didn't change the fact that her whole body was tensed to an extreme degree. Her shoulder probably felt more like gripping a rock than a piece of human flesh.

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Aliens. Well that would explain some things. But it still seemed ridiculous. There wasn't any other explanation for what they'd seen though, so they couldn't really fight it could they? It wasn't like some of the technology they'd seen was at all close to the technology that the world had been seeing recently. But that thought process was quickly interrupted by the subject of 'Chris' being stuck in a room instead of the brig.

You can't be serious... Astin opened their mouth, about to object to the whole idea when the image of the exploding Umbra flashed through their mind. And the image of Abby charging in against Vera, completely unconcerned for the danger, fighting for a team that she had just recently been fighting against and lost her team against. They closed their mouth and sat back in their chair. They couldn't speak up against this. Not after the way they'd reacted last time.

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

Elevator Talk

 

"Kiss me."

Val stared up at Olivia, pressed gently up against her still with the other girl's arm wrapped around her waist. She'd expected the first bit as soon as she'd realized exactly who she'd ran into. The teasing flirting without actually meaning it but then... "Kiss her... She's right there. You know you want to." But still she hesitated for a second as the doors started to close. She'd been the one to push Olivia away, say they were just friends, shouldn't she keep to that? No matter what her drunken ramblings had said, that wasn't what she really wanted, was it? And yet...

Her arm slid around Olivia's waist, closing the tiny gap between them even more. And she leaned in and kissed her.

 

Val, come on, don't make this... There we go, yes, ugh... Olivia couldn't help herself, giving the girl more than just one kiss, pushing her up against the closed doors of the elevator, before pulling off and staring longingly at her neck and what it led to. She hesitated, stopping herself, the elevator ride would barely last a minute. "Please. If you don't want this, make that clear, but... If... If you do. If I can... Try to fix what I did wrong. Then please let me. Because you drive me crazy, Val." Even she was blushing now, Olivia pushing herself out of her normal comfort zone to do her best at being serious.

 

"Mmm!" Val felt herself pushed up against the doors, a shock of cold compared to the warmth of Olivia, knocking her back into her senses slightly. But only slightly. Her arm tightened around the other girl's waist as the kisses continued, needing the extra support to remaining standing. But then Olivia backed off. Gave the choice to her without pushing things further. What she wanted.... All this time, she'd been keeping Olivia at arms length, not because she didn't know what she wanted, but because she did know. And it scared her. But now...

Reaching down and grabbing Olivia's hand, she gave it a gentle squeeze, blushing as she stammered through an explanation. "I... I want this. Watching you flirt with those other girls, knowing what we had... what I gave up... it was driving me crazy. But I thought that- that I had to be strong and stay away for some stupid reason. Because of everything we both did wrong last time. How... how badly it went at the end. But I don't want to fight it anymore. I can't fight it anymore. I want you."

 

"Hah... Hearing all of that makes me feel really stupid for playing with you and those girls..." Olivia bit her lip, looking down, as the elevator door dinged open. They didn't really have much time left, so... "We... Can talk about this more, later. Sorry for making it more difficult you, Val... But, it, makes me happy, to hear all of that. Thank you." Olivia stole another kiss, before slipping off her lips and giving her a tight hug. "I won't mess this up again... I promise."

 

"It's not your fault. I was being an idiot. I think I deserved a bit of teasing." She smiled at the promise of talking more later. "I'd like that a lot. We have a lot to talk about, but it can wait." Another kiss made her melt just slightly again, before she was wrapped up in a hug. "I won't either. I promise. I'm not going to run away from you anymore. I don't think I could even if I tried." She grabbed Olivia's hand, holding it tight as they made their way off the elevator and towards the medbay.

 

The situation was a lot worse in the medbay than Val had expected. One pilot returned without his legs and one new pilot with a shattered hand and missing an eye. For now their situations were as stable as they were going to be, though both were still in somewhat critical condition, the boy more than the new girl. Megumi was watching over him though, so she and Olivia were making sure that everything was going well with Jess. She'd been stable for a bit, but Val got up anyways and quickly checked her vitals. Everything was still looking good and the pain medicine should have kicked in by now. Not that the girl would have noticed, having been sedated and still not woken up yet. A good thing for her. Give her body the chance to get used to everything before waking her up to deal with it. Walking back to her seat near the girl's bed, she settled back in for the waiting game.

Edited by scorri
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Aliza was going to need a bigger notebook to keep all this in. Clones were one thing that made her raise a brow in surprise, but cat aliens? That was something else, almost out of some kind of crazy sci-fi movie she heard about from one of her old girlfriends. She tried to imagine how these cat like aliens would look. Of course they'd have the ears and faces just like she said...but she wondered how exactly the body structure would be like.

She almost swiftly discarded that idea however given that this was all their doing of course, and things might get a bit too...funny for her liking if she even thought on it. Still she won't lie she was curious to see one, very curious. "Hmm..."

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Kim's reply was a bit unexpected. Rather than taking his question as a cue that she was out of line, and going 'Oh, I guess I was a little aggressive there, oops,' or anything similar, she almost seemed to be leaning into it, welcoming the intolerant insolence, indulging in a raw rampage of rage. Her muscles were surprisingly taut beneath his hand, and the cords of her neck were standing out almost uncomfortable to look at.

What was his next play though? Between the pair of interventions she'd at least stopped spitting fire, and things were no longer looking like a stunning role reversal of Elaine needing to hold down Kim would be necessary, as Seung-Min no longer seemed poised to leap at and throttle the clone. But, as she'd even admitted, this current state was far from healthy. Did he excuse the pair of them, and walk her to the infirmary... or maybe to Dr. Hart's office? That was likely to meet with a lot of resistance, and these meetings were important. Missing out on valuable information would be bad for the both of them. He shot a questioning glance at Jess, hoping in vain the captain could read his mind a little and offer a suggestion, as he settled into a wait and see mode.

"I know we're all varying degrees of on edge here, but try to be a little more... professional about all this," Thorvald offered, trying to straddle the line between letting her know she'd overstepped, but not rubbing her face in anything. "And, after the briefing wraps up, let's go see if we can't get things checked out, have you feeling better."

With that immediate concern hopefully handled, something the captain had mentioned earlier finally percolated back up to the surface, having been unfortunately pushed aside by the somewhat more immediate and obvious issues 'Chris' had brought to the table. Addressing her with one of many questions relevant to the subject, Thorvald asked, "Wait, you said the pilot we rescued was Jess Barnes? Really? What on earth was she doing out here by Central? Kind of a long way from Canada." He frowned, catching himself before asking how she was. It'd already been mentioned Megumi was seeing to her.

 


 

Abigail was breathing a little easier after it sounded like she and hers were safe from clonedom... clonehood? Whatever. That said... something about the girl wasn't clicking entirely right with her. Like, how did she seem so familiar with the crew already? Sure, Apotheosis probably briefed her on some things, but knowing others just didn't make sense.

Narrowing her eyes, she led off with "How did you know I was an Abby? And what led you to single out 'Kimmy' (really, you went with that?) for taunting about shooting down Christinas version three point oh and onward? Why not go after Brant, or Thorvald, or hell, even me, with that particular barb?"

There were very likely quite good explanations for all of these things. There had to be right? But in case there weren't, well, that would be important to hear too.

Edited by Balcerzak
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Secrets

Chris stared blankly at Abigail before her eyes lit up, realizing why she was asking."... Wait, you... You don't already know?" Chris almost smiled. How sad for this poor crew... It wasn't like she knew who, but she did know what, at the least... "Well... For most things, turns out memory transfers pretty well during cloning. So I get ditz's memories, get to see all her happy times before getting picked up, all while I lay on a table and get stabbed by needles. Cheery, don't you think?" Her mood had turned around some, and it was all because she got the joy of revealing this to them all without any reservations.

"But you're right. That doesn't cover everything else. Christina might've met you at some point in her memories, Abby, but she didn't know Kim until you all picked her up. How am I supposed to know, then?" She scoffed, unable to stop the smile from happening. "I could lie and say that, 'oh, I was just told because, she's such a prominent pilot on the Riese, of course all Apotheosis members would know her'... But that's no fun, is it?"

Chris let her legs down from the chair, folded them, then folded her arms under her chest. Should've asked the doc for a change of clothes along with these glasses... But who cares. Time for the show.

"You've got moles, Captain Gefalscht." Hopefully the intended meaning sunk in readily, and didn't require extra explanation, but just in case, "several spies on board the ship, relaying us all the information we need... There's one in this room right now. Not that I know who they are, or I'd point them out in a heartbeat to fuck over Helena, but at least that narrows it down some for you, doesn't it? Wonder which pilot's gonna betray your trust when the time comes..." Chris' smile faded after that, her fun had, glancing back over at Kim as if almost welcoming an advance. She could radiate her own anger, she wasn't a broken machine like Christina. If the lieutenant thought she could try anything in that state, she'd be receiving a rude awakening.

"M... No. There's-- you're lying!" Jess stood up at that, staring at her, then around the room. "There's no way... Everyone's been screened, background checks, all gone over multiple times-- there can't be!"

"Wow, it's like the ANF is corrupt, and someone wants the Riese to fail. Big fucking shock. How naive are you, Captain? I'm gonna make this sink in just a bit harder for you. There are three."

Jess froze, and swallowed hard.

"Three lovely little spies relaying everything back to home base... Now, if I'm done, lock me up or store me away in a room... At this point... I think I'd be okay with either." Jess' despair was rather delicious, wasn't it?

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
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They won- Astin had good data on the bot, as she'd requested. Nikolai barely lived... that was about the only good news. Juria could hardly believe anything she heard. Clones developed so fast, catlike aliens- she glanced at Reo nervously- and spies, three of them. And the new Christina- or Chris... well, wasn't very nice. "B-b-but..." She scrunched up in her chair, clinging onto her robotic cat. Three. Who was trustworthy? Astin, right? "Aliens are real? And mean?" Even to someone as fascinated by cats as her, the fact that they had feline features still didn't mean so much to her as the fact that there were hostile aliens that existed for real. It explained why they were up against such advanced technology, if nothing else, but it left far more questions than answers overall. She was practically shaking in fear at everything Chris said.

"Why people in ANF want Riese to fail?" They put a lot of time and money into the ship, only to not best set it up for success...? That must mean the corruption went very deep. Was I set up to fail, putting a young girl in charge with engineering? But the ship was definitely still engineered properly, that hadn't been an issue at all, had it? Juria whimpered, leaning into Reo even more. What if they got Reo! Okay, that thought at least she could dismiss as ridiculous- what was a cat that spent most of its time in her room and with fairly minimal programming going to be of use for? But Reo being the only thing she could be certain wasn't a traitor was hardly reassuring.

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If Elaine’s pupils could shrink anymore than they already had, there would be nothing left but the white in her eyes. There were moles. Not just one, but three different people aboard the Riese had been relaying information back to Apotheosis. ...Back to Louise. And there was one in this room, right now.

There was a chance that Chris was lying, but that chance was insignificant. Between knowledge that she had and the calls that Elaine had received, it all fit. She looked around, staring at each and everyone now standing in the briefing room, the same wide-eyed stare that she had given Chris meer moments ago. Elaine already had trust issues, but now... Now she felt even more alone than ever before. More afraid. 

“Which one?” She spoke quietly at first, before she raised her voice to start yelling at everyone. “Which one of you has been fucking spying on us?!” 

Edited by Dandragon
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Astin stared at Chris, numb with shock. She can't know that. She... Three? Who... What if... Avery... No. No don't go down that path. It's impossible. Don't even think about it. The numbness was starting to turn into panic, rising up on their chest. Their hand scrambled for the pin on their chest, a switch flicked, a tiny flare of relief. At least now their starting panic attack was safe from being sensed by the three, no four... five? TKs in the room. Their emotions were their own to deal with.

Their budding panic was cut through by Elaine's explosion at the room. They stared at her for a long second before laughing hysterically, tinged with fear. After the short outburst, they stared at her, shaking their head. "Really? That's your plan for this?" Their tone was harsher than they maybe intended but they were too caught up in their own emotions to realize. "You just... What? Expect them to own up? Oh yes, I've been secretly spying on you without any of you realizing it but now that you've demanded me to reveal myself, I'll just go ahead and give up on all of that. Grow up. This isn't a game or some fairy tale with a happy ending. Or did you forget about Niko already?" They slumped back into their chair, still holding tight to the pin on their chest.

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Great. Paranoia was just what they needed, right now. Megumi sighed as the yelling started, figuring that was how at least some of the reactions would go. Everyone knew the crew just barely got along during these meetings ... including Apotheosis, apparently. As for these moles, Megumi wasn't ready to place any bets, just yet, not until she understood the pilots a little better. She might want to be more careful about taking DNA samples in the future, though. That could be misconstrued very easily, what with this cloning business. The doctor wondered what she should say if suspicion ever fell on her. She had a lot of guns locked up here in the infirmary, and Megumi herself was a clone, one who's origins became more and more convoluted the further back people looked. Just the same, she was none too eager to go digging up her past, especially since doing so wouldn't necessarily vindicate her. Thanks, Nicholas.

You bastard.

"... oh well," Megumi shrugged. She would cross that bridge if she took a wrong turn and actually wound up there.


They were beginning to slowly ease themselves into the reality of these hostile Sacarians when Abigail inquired about Chris' knowledge of the crew. Brant, who wasn't all there at first, absently chalked it up to the fact that the lieutenant was a well known idol working aboard the Riese. She couldn't possibly be that hard for Apotheosis to look up. Also, if Firmia's suspicion that their outbound and inbound communications were all being intercepted by Apotheosis, then they had likely built up an extensive profile on the team. They really ought to know who was who, and what they were each piloting. Chris' admission that there were multiple moles on the ship was unexpected salt in the wound, though. It had obviously been meant as such, some very important information thrown at them to both prove her sincerity in hurting Apotheosis, while also scaring the tar out of the people she didn't like here. That was a dangerous game to be playing, right now ...

Brant glanced at Firmia around the time Elaine called for one of the moles to out themselves. The Alkaev looked exactly the same as before, though his sense of her was making an eerily subtle shift. She was going deeper and deeper into contemplation. She ... wasn't all there either, it seemed. Brant supposed she'd want to tune out the others to try and piece together the most likely spies for herself. There was no telling what she'd do once she was sure of her choices, though. In fact, Brant couldn't help but gawk briefly when he caught the faintest of grins from her. It was so brief, he wasn't sure it'd actually happened. He wouldn't have even seen it at all if he hadn't already been completely focused on her. Maybe she'd just put together her own list of suspects.

"Well, now I'm glad I took matters into my own hands," Firmia said, her eyes initially on Chris, but soon shifting to the captain. She definitely had that look about her. For better or worse, Firmia's stance on the crew had changed. "I think it's too late to change your routine much and get good results, Captain, so I would just shelf this information for now. I'm not saying keep being lax with your security and pretend nothing's wrong ..." God forbid she keep things up exactly the way she had been ... "but the best we can do right now is start monitoring everything and lock up the most suspicious people we can find. That would lower your manpower even more. I do need to have a word with you after the debriefing if you have time ... especially since this just came up."

Brant couldn't figure out Firmia's suspects based just on what she'd said, though it made sense that he wouldn't be able to. She probably wanted to talk to Jessica in private about that, just like everything else. Brant didn't have any suspects in mind, himself. Thinking back to the situation with Chris reminded him that he was just a gun in all of this. All he could do was shoot whichever teammate had been in league with Apotheosis when the time came, assuming he had the opportunity. He hoped he wouldn't be in the area for that, and that the burden would fall on someone else. Granted, a mole on the ship could probably be captured with a little effort. They might not have to kill any of them, but Brant was convinced he wasn't the person to convince someone in league with Apotheosis to stand down, not while they were the underdogs in this war. He would have to try and take them out like Firmia would have him do ... that or, again, just not be in the area.

Edited by Phoenix
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Moles. Moles on the Heion Riese... that idea was... not as preposterous as it seemed at a glance. Vera had known her by name, which had been odd, but so much had happened that day that it had slipped her mind... but she also knew that Christina had survived, and was roaming free instead of rotting in the brig. How had she known all of those details? Well, this would explain it... and the clone's emotional state lent more credence to that idea... she had none of the telltale signs of someone telling a lie. She remained purely confident and elated that she got to drop her bombshell, with none of the unavoidable mental background noise that came about with fabricating a tale. So it was true then? Not entirely confirmed, but the facts seemed to line up with that being the case. The aura of the room wasn't doing anything to calm Seung-Min's turbulent mental state, but she took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. Someone had to, and even if she was the worst choice, adding onto the fire wouldn't make things any better.

"I don't... think she's lying. Elaine, stand down... I know I'm not... one to talk, but that isn't helping." Kim noted, squeezing Christina's hand tightly, though she caught herself before squeezing too harshly, and went hard on the poor stress  ball in her other hand. Gods, at this rate she was actually just going to pass out again...

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Whilst it was an unpleasant thought to know that there were Apotheosis agents within the Heion Riese, it didn't exactly come as a surprise. Their command's adherence to regulations and safety protocols were rather loose, which was evident considering how many outsiders they'd invited into their ranks. Chris had mentioned that cat people were orchestrating the whole mess, but somehow the situation didn't seem much stranger. Tarquin had become willing to believe the strangest tales, if only because he'd come to experience most of them firsthand. Existence had become more complicated than trying to appease researchers against a faceless enemy. His own objectives had changed considerably in his time on the Riese, was survival against all of this possible?

His separation from most of the crew had been a double-edged sword. Whilst his minimal interaction meant that relatively few knew most of his details, he had very little clue as to who could possibly be an infiltrator. It didn't help that his very own creator was now sided with the enemy, so any secrets as to his composition were entirely open for their feline foes. That being said, were these spies even functional? It hadn't prevented the vast damages to Apotheosis' forces, and Corona Ten had been the only mission where they'd acquired anything of use.

Elaine's outburst was expected, but still rather disappointing. As snarky as Astin's response had been, directly asking for the identity of the mole was perhaps the least productive course of action possible. Mentioning Nikolai was a low blow, the charred body of his friend was a little too fresh in his mind.

"Whatever advantage Apotheosis gains from said infiltrators has not allowed them to avoid their losses against the Heion Riese. They either lack the necessary means to affect outcomes or have not acted enough in order to do so. I see no significant advantage in searching for their identity." Tarquin announced, standing himself up. Ordinarily he would have obediently sat through a meeting like this, but part of him had given up caring about the squabbles and paranoia. He walked towards the door. Their extraterrestrial espionage could wait for the time being, he had a friend to visit. "I shall be visiting the medical bay if I am needed."

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Thin strands of singed hair stuck to Nikolai's forehead, plastered to the delicate skin by the copious amounts of semi-fluid around him. He shuffled slightly, his chest heaving with the effort as he let out another gentle moan, something akin to the sounds of a whimpering infant. In a sense, he truly felt like a newborn, tender and small and malformed as the heavy medication kept him wrapped in a blanket of haze and amniotic fluid. He only wondered if this was what it was like to exist before one existed, to be a frail and nascent thing. 

A runt whose legs had been chewed off by a confused and disturbed mother rat in a laboratory cage.
(Legs, none of them. Wrong Wrong Wrong.)

He wanted an explanation, anything as he tried to make out the blurry shapes behind the glass, behind the veil of swollen and damaged eyelid from his one slit of functional eye.

He didn't quite know when he would be able to speak, but perhaps he could get someone, anyone, to tell him what was happening to him, when he would wake up from his nightmare, if this was heaven or hell or life. If he'd died or not, if he was the sole survivour or an iconoclast... If there was still a place for a tool that could no longer serve its purpose.

Please notice. Please. I'm afraid.

Edited by Sandalphon
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Meeting with Chop Liver

The rest of the battle went as expected, though once again Apotheosis' head unit had warped and escaped, with a few stragglers. It really made Roxanna wonder why they picked a fight to begin with, and why these advanced machines had just vanished as randomly as they showed up. Ugh, what a mess. Shaking her head, the XO could only spend the rest of the mission deep in thought, waiting for the pilots to retrieve whoever sent out the signal. Currently there were too many things in her mind to focus on right then, but maybe later she could make some sense for it. Right now, all that was left to do was write notes and hope a meeting was due.

---

The first surprise had been the near identical, if in face only, Christina that they had picked up. One that seemed too bothered by her similarities to the first and just seemed as immature considering them part of a terrorist group. Spiteful, hmm.... The notion that the advanced machines were piloted by aliens was a bit hard to swallow at once, even, and Roxanna seemed to stop for a moment to glare at Chris with a frown. None of this makes a lot of sense. Why would they contact Apotheosis first? Who ARE the ones behind Apotheosis? There was the one they had identified as Helena Wayne, former ANF field Major, but she couldn't possibly have this level of influence. All of her immediate family had disappeared from ANF territory, which only made it harder to track her and any accomplices. Just how deep did Apotheosis' rabbit hole go?

Roxanna came back to her senses once Jessica stared straight at her, but then 'Chris' had to distract her further with that talk of moles. Even Roxanna seemed staggered at the notion, "But, my uncle would not allow that... He was overseeing." He wasn't the top of the top brass, but he had enough influence, and her family had enough power to stop executive meddling. "That can't-- was that why, father..." Her tone was quiet, she felt completely shaken. Even the pilot's bickering seemed to go over her head, as much as it would normally irritate her. "I... I don't know, Captain. I don't know if I trust her, but we can't ignore what she said. It isn't impossible. Though..." Roxanna placed a hand over her mouth, eyes almost laser guided to the clone. "She's the only one so far that has actual experience with Apotheosis and is willing to talk. It might be worth providing some custody as long as we keep her with watchful eyes."

Villainous News

Despite the warnings, Tarquin had desired to stay by for a little longer. Makoto wasn't going to fight with that. Thorvald himself seemed to be almost on the same boat as Makoto, once the boy paid attention and looked behind them. It really was a predicament, and the shock of a friend's mortality was definitely big for someone as young as Tarquin. Even Makoto was just hanging there because he wasn't sure how to feel... this was probably not a good time to think too hard about it. At least, until they got back to the ship.

---

It was the first meeting Makoto had shown himself to, since he was technically a pilot, but the boy couldn't help a case of stage fright, receiving all of that information and being able to provide nothing in return. He knew about the aliens from overhearing Kim, but this... not Christina showing up out of the blue and being fairly unpleasant to the real one was a bit disconcerting. Furthermore, once the topic shifted to moles, tensions had practically soared, and some of the pilots started bickering. Did Makoto have any right to speak up? He was practically a conscript of war, though in his case he had volunteered. It was really a mess...

"C-can you really give nothing else on these moles?" Makoto spoke up, trying to look at this other Christina... goodness, it just, was so surreal to see Christina this prickly, even though this one technically wasn't her. "Just... sorry, but it feels like you're trying to turn us against each other, without anything else to go on." Kinda like those episodes where the heroes broke up for their divergent views. Hopefully they'd reach the episode where they set aside their differences and team up again before season end?

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Tensions Lowered

"Calm down, Elaine!" Jess was tired of this girl's nonsense during meetings. Did she not understand the atmosphere? This was not a place to act like a child and lose your cool, no matter how shocking a revelation. "That's not going to help things. If you can't handle what's going on, then leave... As shocked as I am, I'm not about to start freaking out over who it could be." Tarquin had a rather good point on things, before he excused himself. If there was a mole, or several here, and the Riese was still succeeding in its missions, then their presence didn't matter, did it? Well, it mattered, but not in a dangerous sense. Unless information was suddenly about to overthrow the Riese, they could cautiously continue as they were.

Firmia's advice was expected, but Jess didn't hate it this time. Talking after the meeting, though... "No, Firmia. I'm not humoring you anymore. If it hits my ears, it hits everyone else's. Unless you'd rather I record conversations and send them to the crew after, which can also be arranged." She was tired of this girl dictating how things would go, and was going to put her foot down from now on.

Roxanna weighing in was nice, and despite the obviously cruel intentions, Chris' information was very useful. "Mechanic, take her down to one of the empty cabins, lock her in and give it her name. I don't suppose your last name is also Troy?"

"I guess it is..." The family name seemed to bother her far less than the first one, maybe because it wasn't immediate connection to Christina by herself. Jess sighed, leaving that to them, but Chris wasn't entirely finished-- not that she knew that.

She hadn't expected someone to call her out so innocently like that. This was Makoto, right? "Poor kid." He might've been helping the Riese, but he wasn't an ANF soldier, and what had happened at the colony was still terrible. He didn't deserve to get mixed up in all of this... Even if her almost constant scowl may have made the remark come across as sarcasm.

"F... Fine..." Chris was... Blushing? It seemed that giving up more was making her uncomfortable. Maybe it was just Makoto's genuine approach. "I... They were talking about moles before your ship hit the colony. So... One of them is at least from before then. I don't know anything else... Sorry." Whatever she'd mumbled at the end was lost. The other revelation of that sentence did upset someone else, though.

"You've been around for that long? I was still with them back then... What the hell..." Christina wondered just how deep this clone rabbithole went...

 

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Was Nikolai fully conscious, again? Ohhh dear. Megumi slipped off her headphones, letting them rest on her coat collar as she gave his vitals a fresh look. Still not ideal, but when were they, ever? He was definitely awake, though. There was no telling how long that would last. Between whatever pain was cutting through the medication, and the medication itself, the boy had plenty of incentive to let the darkness take him, again.

"Nikolai," Megumi spoke as softly as she could without having her voice muddied beyond recognition, "You're in the infirmary, it's alright." People tended to want to know where the hell they were after a good stint of unconsciousness, so the doctor began with that. "If you can understand me, I want you to nod your head. Gently ... No sudden movements."


Firmia didn't recall Tarquin or anyone else being dismissed from the debriefing, but she agreed with what he'd said up to that point. That was the Captain's lax leadership for you. Makoto spoke up afterward, wanting to know if Chris could tell them anything else about the moles. Firmia had mixed feelings about that question, but was just slightly in favor of it. More information was almost always a good thing, but according to Chris, one of the moles was right there in the room with them. They had to be careful about what they said, or even implied. That was one reason Firmia had stopped giving her input when and where she had. The rest of it was for the captain's ears, like always. Perhaps the XO's as well, since they seemed to come as a pair during those post-debrief talks.

When Firmia glanced over to check in on Brant, she found herself making eye contact with him. She nearly glared on reflex; he had that look that just begged to know what she was thinking. Annoying, but Firmia knew she'd been in all sorts of moods, today, and he could scarcely ignore them. Now they had both just learned that someone in this very room, along with at least two others on the ship, were trying to undermine them. Firmia just hoped her friend wasn't getting too attached to these people, because even if they weren't leaving right away, they were still going to have to kill whichever ones were feeding Apotheosis information. Well, they didn't have to kill them, necessarily. Knowing Jessica, they would somehow be reabsorbed into the crew in a similar manner to the prisoners if she got her way. Still, if it could be justified in the moment, the Alkaev had every intention of putting all three of them in the ground. Let the the traitorous pilot help out with the fighting for now, and then once they revealed themselves, try and survive the betrayal. That was the tricky part, but if they could get that far, then all that would be left was getting what information they could out of them before killing them. With next to no information, it wasn't a plan Firmia really liked, but seeking out the mole was a useless distraction at best. Furthermore, the enemies among them might have some 'insurance' in place, and fighting one of the people Firmia most suspected aboard the ship itself would incredibly difficult. A whole fireteam would likely be stopped cold.

The Captain had picked a very interesting time to put an end to the post-debrief discussions, but that wasn't what really bothered Firmia in the moment. It was that stupid, pointless notion of making certain everyone heard what she did. To what bloody end? Firmia decided to brush past that part of it and focus on the thrust of her point. Of course, once she did, Brant's day would be thoroughly ruined. She waited until after Chris' last bit of information before addressing Jessica, again.

"I don't know why you would keep every last person in the loop when you know that information is going straight to Apotheosis, but it doesn't matter, anymore. At least not for me. If I can't trust you with confidential information, now of all times ... then I can't trust you at all." Firmia stood up from her chair and held her bulky tablet at her side. "Here's what was for your ears only, 'Captain,'" Firmia began, enough contempt in her tone to make Brant wince, "You. Are. Weird. So weird, and with such a backwards style of leading that I thought you might be one of these moles Chris warned us about. You keep recruiting people from Apotheosis instead of executing them, and I've got no doubt you'd try to spare the other moles if we found ever them. Maybe you'd even do something stupid like 'forgive and forget.' You're just going to keep making us more and more vulnerable. I had no intention of spouting off conspiracy theories and making people even more nervous about a problem we can't properly address, right now. I just wanted to speak with you in private and see how you would refute a theory like that. I thought if I kept talking with you, maybe I could start to trust you, but this is a complete waste of time. You're far more dangerous than any mole, whether you are one or not, and worse still, you're my only tie to this damn ship and the ANF. These people here? Most of them are your subordinates. Not my allies. Your subordinates. There is a difference. If there's any fighting at Central, I'll help you one more time, but after that, I'm leaving. This arrangement of ours has to end."

"Wait, leaving?!" There it was ... Brant's inevitable shock. "How is you leaving going to help anything, especially now?!"

"You can stay if you want," Firmia tried to shrug but couldn't quite manage it, "but don't even think about trying to talk me out of it. The Kremlin already contacted me yesterday. They gave me two weeks to return to Russia with the AMS units. If I don't make their deadline, my assets will be frozen, they'll take the suits anyway, and I'll be imprisoned for the rest of my life ... if I'm lucky. No one here can help me, and now is as good a time as any to cut my losses and try to find some other way to survive this damn war. At least I won't have to be around when this pleasure cruise of hers finally runs aground."

Brant froze, wondering why the Russian government would try to get back just three suits. Were they losing that badly ...? Just how much more important was the Riese's crew, then? It was just bombshell after bombshell today, and Firmia was definitely serious about this. Beneath the bitterness she held for the captain, there was a deep sadness. Chances were she'd never let it to the surface. Brant wasn't sure what to say or do now, and Firmia looked like she was just waiting for the chance to leave the meeting room, likely for the last time ...

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Oookay, so that worrying sensation had actually been justified. Well fuck. Where do we go from here? Abigail chewed her lip a moment, gaze sweeping the room. Nobody's body language was giving anything away, not that she'd likely be able to tell. She kind of wanted to flip 'Chris' off for her terrible attitude, but Elaine made a bigger scene before she had a chance to. Maybe her glasses would have a bit of an accident later though, maybe.

Shit. Having finished the sweep and bringing her gaze back to Jess, it was obvious the girl was shook. Hard. Wishing another silent 'fuck you' to the asshole of the day, Abby stood up and stretched, her shirt lifting up a little as she did, as shirts are wont to do. Tarquin had also already stood and left, so she wasn't breaking any new ground here, but Abby wasn't walking out, no. She circled round the table, walked up to Jess and put her hands on her shoulders. Reassurance.

"Don't panic. Things could be worse. I know, I've been there. Come find me if you need to talk," Abigail pulled the captain in for a quick hug, no theatrics, nothing to call the presses for, then turned and also made for the exit. The meeting was well and proper fucked now, no point sticking around to have to start listening to people accusing her of bullshit once again. It was bound to happen, honestly. Goddamn.

Maybe going to see Niko like Tarquin had wasn't a bad idea? Poor bastard didn't deserve that. She'd wanted him to surrender, to live, if shit got too bad in the first place, and now for it to all end up like this? More weight on her shoulders. Responsibility sucked. She made sure to give Firmia the stinkeye on the way out. Haughty bitch wasn't making things any easier on Jess, that's for damn sure. Such nerve. Abigail couldn't fathom what Brant saw in her.


Thorvald was taken quite a bit aback at the clone's revelation, which understandably pushed all other questions or items of discussion right off the table into one glorious heap. A sinking pit began to form in his stomach, and for a moment he was filled with the terrible certainty that he was never going to see his family again. Closing his eyes, and pinching his nose, though, he forced that aside. At least Lieutenant Kim seemed to have ramped down a little. Funny that the Christina situation was affecting her more than this, wasn't it?

Big sigh. And of course, now everything descends into a shitshow. It'd been that way for too many of their meetings, even the ones he'd not been present for, like when Jess had wholloped Roxy something fierce. Thorvald found himself wondering how progress had been coming along on that front, and it was a welcome distraction, to be perfectly honest. There hadn't been any more overt conflict, and neither of the two had been coming to him with problems about the other, even after he'd done everything to set himself up as a mediator should they need it.

His musing came to an end when the young Russian they'd saved the other day started in on her tirade, culminating with a pointed ultimatum. Thorvald really regretted not having spent more time getting to know what exactly was going on there, and the sense that there was something he maybe could have done was never more apparent than right now.

"Maybe she is your only tie to the ANF, but you can't say you really tried all that hard," Thorvald started in, before tempering his disappointment some. "Still, the blame goes both ways, I suppose. At any rate, you and your people will be missed. As for getting yourself some truly reliable allies? Удачи. Это понадобится."

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Final Words

Jess hadn't quite expected Abby to be so forward about things in the middle of a meeting, so she did end up tensing up a bit, and turning red. The woman didn't do anything distressing past the hug, so that faded quickly, and entirely, once Firmia got to talking. It was the same old song and dance that she always had, with some extra doubt peppered in, the only thing surprising Jess being the ultimatum that she'd be leaving if Jess was going to be this way... She'd have been upset, had it not for being so utterly shocked enough by everything else that had come to light, and if she hadn't been getting tired of Firmia for a while now.

"You're right," she started, "that I can't prove I'm not a mole. I can deny it, of course, like I assume everyone else here will, and if they're well covered up, we wouldn't be able to tell who really is spying on us... So I don't care." She stood her ground on that one, not wanting to bite into the insults spread in alongside that. "There's nothing we can do to solve it, so tip toeing around it isn't going to do anything but give the entire ship anxiety. If it wasn't obvious, that's pretty much what Apoth wants. If we panic over a mole, we trust each other less, and then everyone gets it like Nikolai did. One after the other." Trusting me, hah. "I don't think you could trust anyone if your life depended on it, Firmia. I'm also pretty confident you weren't trying to trust me, and never would, unless I bent over backwards for your wishes. This ship's going to make it. I'm going to make it happen as its captain. If you think you'll be better off somewhere else, then leave."

There wasn't going to be any begging or trying to make her feel better, if she wanted to be immature about this, by all means. "The only danger to this ship is us getting at each others' throats, so to that end, while I know I'm not going to get anyone to stop thinking about it, try not to worry about it. If there really is a mole here, they'll get what's coming to them. No matter who it is..." Maybe Firmia had been expecting Jess to crack over what had happened to Nikolai, but seeing the inevitable had only steeled her harder, past her initial moment of weakness.

"I'll see to it that Central does what it can to help set you up. Good luck with the Kremlin. If you aren't buried in a Russian prison by the time those weeks are up, Brant can join you when his contract with the Riese is finished. Hope you find what you're looking for, Firmia... Whatever that is."

Jess sighed. It was disappointing, yes, but this girl was too paranoid and too self absorbed to deal with anymore. Jess had heavy doubts that Firmia would survive on her own, especially with the Russian government bearing down on her, but if she didn't want to play compromise, that was her business.

Hannah stood relatively shocked, trying not to look at either Russian, wondering what was going to happen. She didn't want Firmia to close up like this, but she had no easy solution to make the girl open up. She was so convinced that Jess was a liability, it would take a miracle to prove otherwise.

"If that's all, then, you're all dismissed. We should be at central by midnight. We're almost home, so... Do what you want today, get your rest, and be ready to ship out again once we have our orders."

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Firmia was actually quite confident the ship would survive the war with Apotheosis. What she wasn't sure of was which faction's symbol it would bear by the end of it, the ANF's, or Apotheosis'. Or perhaps whatever image the Sacarians preferred. Anything was possible. At least it wasn't her problem, anymore ... in a manner of speaking. Firmia still had a lot of things to do, and depending on how events played out at Central ... well it was going to be a rough couple of weeks no matter what happened. The Captain's retort about trust rubbed off easily with Brant gawking at her down there. She trusted him, Tonya and Sasha, though in Brant's case, it was something born of both guilt and gratitude. Brant didn't stay seated past Jessica dismissing the room. He still clearly wanted to discuss this, but had no idea where to even start.

Firmia meanwhile, managed to smile at Jessica when she promised to make things a bit easier for her at Central. "I appreciate that. Thank you." To Thorvald she added, "This is fine. The plan was to destroy Apotheosis and then leave. I had no intention of being friends with anyone here. That's too complicated, and it's why I only spoke to the captain when I could get away with it. Russia's not really the place for reliable allies right now, Thorvald, but ... но спасибо ..." She smiled again, though it was weaker, more somber this time around ... and it quickly faded to a dead serious expression as she eyed the door.

"Hannah, I need to talk with you," Firmia said without looking back at the android, "but it stays between us ... and Galatea, I guess," she rolled her eyes and started for the door. Given where they needed to go to speak in total privacy, she didn't have much choice in the matter.

Brant still hadn't found his voice by the time Firmia started off, so he smiled an apology at Jessica and then started after her.

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Having calmed down a bit might have been better for the overall nerves within the meeting room, but further outbursts and tension had brought the scenario back to a similarly heated pitch as it had been before. And Kim in her current state was having none of it, to be frank. Squeezing Christina's hand even more tightly than she had been, by the time that Firmia had been leaving the room, Kim found herself releasing Christina's hand to instead bring her own up to her mouth, catching a rather sudden cough, which soon transitioned into a rather heavy dry heave. Luckily the contents of her stomach had stayed put, but it wasn't a good look, to be certain.

"Just what I needed today..." The Lieutenant grumbled, muffled by her own hand as her sweats and convulsions grew in severity with the dire talks having ceased, removing one of the major things distracting her mind from it's current state of affairs.

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They were dismissed. Good. Time to get away... Ugh. Astin quickly headed out the door to the elevators. Thankfully one dinged open right as they called it, and they managed to get in and start heading down before anyone else could join them.

Slumping down to the floor, they stared blankly at the wall across from them. Thus was the worst case scenario they could have thought of right now. True, the captain hardly seemed concerned and maybe she was right to not be, but that didn't make Chris's revelation any less shocking. Any less panic inducing. So there was only one good solution. Avery was too busy to spare time to talk to them right now, so that left only one alternative. Doctor Hart.

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Uncomfortable Ties

Roxanna had to admit, their options weren't amazing. When one looked at the Riese with scrutiny, the possibility of being sabotaged by a higher-up was very real. From the lack of contact with central to their weird pilot agendas, it was a small miracle the Riese was functional. They absolutely needed to reach central now, in her opinion. I wonder what uncle has to say... just how many are behind this? It was a bothersome thought, but without further proof, thinking too hard about it would only give way to her paranoia. The crew's morale really couldn't afford another hit.

When richsqueak and pipsqueak started their back and forth, Roxanna felt compelled to tune their teenager voices out for the sake of her sanity, but unfortunately the matter at probably required a little bit of her attention. So she wants to quit... so what? The Riese wasn't tied to this Firmia in any way, shape or form, so if she wanted to drop out, she very well could, but the loss of her mobile suits would be problematic. "I'm sure once we reach Central we can have your needs sorted out." It wasn't like any more input was needed, with Jessica formally ending the meeting. If that girl needed to go back to Russia, anyways, it wasn't a smart idea to keep her around. The last thing they needed was beef with Russia as well...

Part of Roxanna really wanted to leave at that point, but that heavy atmosphere was going to fade as everybody left the meeting room one by one. Right now, she could well look at those still left, hoping they would made their final words brief.

In the End, Hanging Questions

This Chris did come up with a final tidbit before leaving, thankfully for Makoto's trust. "I see..." He nodded at the information, though it wasn't of much use for him, in particular. He was only familiar with the pilots since the incident on Colony 1. Nonetheless, this Chris was taken out with the mechanic by her side, but didn't seem much conflicted with the sentence she was given. Perhaps she was content enough not being on the bridge... even if she were to be locked down and stuck with a guard or so.

The matter of this Russian girl almost went over his head, he couldn't fathom why people wanted to argue so readily in the face of the bad news they just received, but apparently she got really pissed off at the Captain for not making things private. Honestly... Makoto didn't want to touch that can of worms in particular. Though he seemed to pity Firmia a little over her predicament. Having the government order you around while amidst this chaos and Apotheosis' many underhanded moves were sure to put anyone on edge. Still... it's not like voicing his concerns would matter. At least, he strongly doubted it. Well... Stay strong.

With the captain dismissing the rest of the crew, Makoto couldn't help but comply readily, nodding his head in reply. "Yes, Captain." Ah, they were supposed to say that, right? Well, too late now, no need to think hard about it. Quickly, Makoto stood up, and started to make his way outside, but not before stopping briefly by Christina's side. She still seemed quite a bit shocked by the revelation of having a clone, even multiple maybe. He couldn't help but try to cheer her up a bit, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ah, are you going to be okay? We... we will stop Apotheosis before they go too far with these crazy ideas, alright?" He wanted to give a thumbs up, but wondered if it would be forcing it. She probably wanted some time of her own. The boy made his way out of the meeting room, already feeling, a sigh of relief as he could already feel lighter outside that room. A lot of heavy news had been dealt during that, and he kind of wanted to put it off his mind for a moment. He wasn't even a proper pilot yet, maybe he could continue practicing...

At the corner of his eyes he saw Chris and the mechanic turning on the halls, presumably to take the lift. He had to admit he was pretty curious about her... whole existing thing, still. She wasn't as friendly as Christina, but didn't seem to be entirely a bad person... Yeah, maybe that wasn't a terrible idea. Makoto made hasty steps after the two, quickly catching with them once they had to wait for the elevator, and waved an arm to greet. "Uh, hey!" He made his way closer, quieting his voice some. "Uh, what you said over there. Even though you said you just wanted revenge, it'll all help us out... once we come to terms with the moles and stuff." Everybody still seemed to be taking that in... many different, not entirely productive ways. "So, uh, thanks a bunch." He bowed briefly, hoping that would be a good way to start things off.

Edited by Xinnidy
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Much to Say

Hannah took a quick double take between the captain and the Russian, before heading out the door after her. Jess didn't have anything else to add, just wondering how awful Firmia's life must've been if friends were this hard for her. Jess wasn't exactly an expert, but at least she knew how to talk to people...

As soon as they got out of the room, Hannah was already on Firmia's heels. "Please, reconsider this!" She didn't know how else to word it, the distress visible on her face. "I believe you are reacting very poorly to the situation that is currently happening, and suggesting leaving after these revelations will likely only hurt the ship more. So why? I do not understand. You say that you wish to defeat Apotheosis but you harm your chances by leaving the ship. You do not have a proper company, you have three people that are willing to work with you, and you believe that you will be able to find a solution to your issues anywhere else but here?" Hannah's speech was slowly becoming more smooth and less robotic as she stressed, looking over at Brant for a moment too, wondering if there was anything anyone could say.

"You are being reckless! And too headstrong! And... Just... Stupid!" Looking rather hurt, the android folded her arms, staring Firmia down with the most confused expression. "I will hug you until you reconsider if you do not have a good plan backing this decision." Hannah didn't miss a beat, quickly jumping the TK with one of what were likely to be many hugs.

Taking Leave

Christina tried to smile at Makoto, but it just wasn't coming. This had been a lot-- too much, being honest, but what was worrying her more than the meeting was Kim. She'd been crushing that hand, squeezing so hard, and Christina had been trying not to wince, but... "Kim, should we go to the infirmary? I... I don't know if the doctor can do anything, since this is TK stuff, but... Still..." She didn't try to take her hand away, as long as Kim was getting good use out of it, and nothing broke...

"If that's all, then..." Jess spoke up, looking at everyone left, including Elaine who had, thankfully, gone silent since her first outburst. "I'm going to go compile a report for Central... And see if my girlfriend is alright." She flushed a pale shade of pink again, before taking a deep breath, and stepping her way out of the meeting room... Really, she had to check on the machine parts they'd pulled in first. Abigail could come after.

Playing Catch Up

Oh... It was that kid from the meeting. Who was he again? Makoto, right? What did he want, a thank you for her? She sighed. "Look, don't... D-Don't get all buddy buddy with me just because it ends up helping you guys. I saw your little moment before you left the meeting room... And just because I look like her, doesn't mean I am her. So... If you're looking for a replacement because the lieutenant worked too fast for you, I'm not the person for it." She almost said sorry, but caught herself before it slipped out. Why should I apologize? I don't care about him...

"So... Don't, bow, or anything. Just... Whatever." Prickly, this one was.

Edited by SnakeMomMelissa
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Leaving the meeting gave Tarquin a little more space, the relief from getting away from the crew's arguments was quite noticeable. He hadn't been formally dismissed, but rules had stopped mattering. Nothing went by the book on the Heion Riese. Assaults went unpunished, prisoners were recruited and captains appeared several minutes late for missions - leaving a meeting early was rather low down in the grand scheme of things. Adults didn't make sense, they never seemed to know what they wanted and even when they did they'd change their minds. During his training, everyone had obeyed the instructors without question, there had been a defined order and consequences for disobedience. He'd faced that himself on the Heion Riese, but the rules only seemed to apply when it suited those in power. Even then his own punishment had been rather lukewarm, barring him from areas he wouldn't visit and preventing his launch unless authorised seemed standard. Perhaps a little more rigidity would have benefited the crew, but complete anarchy could also have its merits. The strange halfway state created several issues in itself.

Being around other people had opened his eyes to many things, and he'd learned about himself, but it was still incredibly tiring. He swiftly made his way to the infirmary, despite probably being the most mentally unhinged, Nikolai made the most sense out of anyone. The way he'd spoken of the Lost Boys showed the harsh realities of war, but there was a comradery that had been absent 

Tarquin stepped into the infirmary, the cold clinical environment rather refreshing. Nikolai and Makoto's mother were Doctor Amparo's only patients, the infirmary hadn't really seen much use until now. Doctor Amparo came into view, the doctor approaching Nikolai, suspended in some sort of recovery tank. The mangled body of his friend floated hauntingly within the tank, confirming to Tarquin that he was short a pair of legs. He approached the doctor cautiously, watching the tank with a morbid curiosity. Nikolai was akin to a doll that had been mauled by a dog, and Doctor Amparo was the seamstress with the needle. 

"Is his condition stable?" Tarquin asked, actively avoiding any displays of concern. Nikolai's outcome was well out of his hands, but there was a niggling anxiety that he couldn't quite shift. Whilst not necessarily the most affable of people on the ship, Doctor Amparo could at least be trusted in her respective field. "How long would he have to remain inside?"

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Megumi frowned lightly at Tarquin's arrival. He seemed to be coping well enough, outwardly, but Nikolai wasn't going to seem that much better once he was out of the tank. Once he was covered in bandages, and hooked up to various machines built into the infirmary walls, he would be looking quite miserable. "He's not in any immediate danger now, though that implant and third rate augmentation always have me wondering. He can come out of the tank once I find and address all of his injuries. If we need him out early for some insane reason, I could cut it down to two days, but I strongly recommend a minimum of three."

A week would be ideal, Megumi mused. This way she could fully treat Nikolai's burns without any noticeable scarring. He wouldn't need many bandages if he got a printing treatment while he was in the tank, but the doctor doubted the boy could tolerate his Atlantean tomb for that long. Such an extended stay had its own risks to take into account, as well, especially at his age. If Nikolai did leave by the end of those three days, he'd be heavily scarred physically, but that was all. Thankfully, due to the SIEG tank's small mechanical arms and other internal devices, the doctor could perform a variety of surgeries on a patient while they were still inside. Most of this could all be handled quickly once the problems were accounted for. Any internal injuries he might have suffered would take priority, though.

"If you'd like to help me with him, you're certainly welcome to." Come to think of it, if Tarquin was here, the meeting was probably over. Best to ditch the headphones, then ...


Brant wasn't expecting Hannah's hugging tactic to end well, though instead of a loud squeak or something akin to it, Firmia was completely silent. She'd obviously seen the ambush coming this time, but her reaction was still far off from what Brant would consider normal. That wasn't the only thing defying his expectations. The inner turmoil he sensed kept trying to burst free, but Firmia kept crushing it down ... down ... down ... until there was nothing left but the anger she carried with her from the meeting. "Firmia, we can help you think of a way out of this mess."

"I said that what I wanted to talk about stays between us," Firmia said, her voice so close to normal, yet so cold just the same, "If you're not going to let go, then come with me to the Mantle, but stop wasting time. I don't have anything else to say about this until then. And Brant? I'd like you to go ask Avery or Buck about some replacement funnels for the Regalia. Then I need you to find Tonya and tell her to wait in the hangar."

Brant frowned, wondering about that last part. Firmia shouldn't need Tonya for anything until it was time for the Reign to head out ... though if they were all leaving after reaching Central, that didn't leave any time for whatever other mission it was slated for. Being too rattled to think clearly, Brant didn't ask 'why' on either of those requests. Firmia wouldn't have elaborated much anyway.

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Elaine left the room, still silent from the meeting, quickly. She could feel her heartbeat against her chest, as if it threatened to burst out of her like a parasitic creature from some sci-fi horror film. Three moles. Three moles were on this ship, listening to everything, and there was nothing she, Jess, or anyone could do about it. And that wasn't even half of what was now bothering her. Clones, most likely of innocent people, were what they had been shooting down since day one. Clones forced to fight against their will, and being killed by those who didn't know any better, or those that simply didn't care. Not to mention those who did care and couldn't help them in the slightest. And now there were aliens? Aliens working with terrorists?! It was too much. It was far too much for Elaine to even handle alone anymore. But what could she do? Who could she talk to? Those were the questions that had kept bugging her ever since that damned call from Louise Park, dreaded Lieutenant of Apotheosis that sought to twist her reality and turn it into a nightmare. As if that already wasn't happening on its own.

Elaine looked up, and saw Hannah fiercely hugging Firmia, and Brant standing by. Brant... Brant... She had wanted to thank him for at least trying to cooperate with her trying to get back the colony mech, and while Kim was also responsible for it still being in one piece, she was still acting strange enough that she didn't want to even bother right now. Elaine knew little about Brant, but it was his quiet nature that made Elaine give up all plans of silence. She needed to talk. She needed someone to trust. Damn the consequences if she made a wrong choice, she needed someone right now.

"H-hey." Elaine spoke up. "U-uh, Brant? Mind if I...if I walk with you? Talk with you? Maybe? I saw you were kind of...not looking so great during the meeting and wanted to check up with you." Not subtle in the slightest, but she was too bothered to care. Please, god, Brant. I know you're telekinetic. I know you can feel emotion. Please...Please help me.

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