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

[Ether]

"Meeting? Interest, say least. Complicate... but you likely inform later, when important. Not want talk about right now..." Kim replied, gently rubbing the bridge of her nose as the arguments came back into her thoughts... what a bother.

"Am free now, though. In hangar or want me go some else?"

[Dandragon]

"Thanks." She had nodded, watching Christina go off to the mess hall. The awkwardness of the conversation had passed, and hopefully wouldn't return when she did. And as she saw her disappear around the corner, Elaine felt a small smile on her face. Even from the small interaction, Christina seemed nice. Certainly nice enough for Elaine to give her a chance over someone like Nikolai. 

The admittedly unfamiliar ringing noise gave Elaine a spook as she turned to see the wall mounted communicator within her room. She had honestly forgotten about the device, and couldn't recall anyone ever using it in her time aboard the Riese. Everyone seemed to use the wrist communicators more often. Regardless, Elaine stepped away from the doorway, the automatic door closing behind her, and walked to the device. She had wanted to take the time to be alone, though that didn't appear to be an option. So, Elaine pressed the button to accept the call.

"Hello? Who is it?"

[Balcerzak]

Abigail's lips twisted into a bit of a satisfied smirk when the other pilot wheeled back around and said their piece. Yes, that's the ticket, you fucker, give it to me straight. Don't pussyfoot around with that 'I don't trust her' bullshit, you hate me and you know it, so just show it. The exact reasons were still unknown to her, but Abby didn't need to know them to feel like she'd just won their little exchange. She'd take the agreement to fight together, to not shoot each other in the back, for what was and walk away with her head held proud. Nothing more to be gained from anything further right now, as far as she was concerned, dominance had been asserted. Her 'victory' was short-lived, however, as the short round woman in a labcoat who'd been with them crossed over and grabbed her by the collar, spouting broken English and veiled threats.

Her face slipping back into neutral, Abigail instinctively reached up to slap the other woman's hands away and straighten out her rumpled shirt. While the juxtaposition of their two contrasting frames might have been comical in a lighter situation, with the current air of tension, and the sense that anything could happen, that possibility was lost to the winds. Brant's intervention was timely, and potentially saved things from devolving to more trips to the infirmary. "Maybe you're right, me not smart like Juria. But don't worry, me stay away from where not wanted," she spat back gruffly at the engineer, cruelly mocking her speech pattern. Then she turned on her heel with a huff and hurried to catch up to the retreating plane pilot, nearly bowling over an older gentleman who'd arrived and was demanding to know what was going on. With a sigh Abby explained, "Just clearing some air, but we're done here. If you need more details, get it from them," she jerked her finger over her shoulder toward the others, before continuing after Brant. "I've got to get down to the hangar, and if I don't hurry I'll lose my guide."

~~~

Astin had been obliging enough, and it had looked like they were going to make it out of this without further issue on that front, though Juria was a little less thrilled with how he'd attempted to defuse her concerns. It wasn't exactly easy juggling all the potential time bombs that were currently in his proximity however, so Thorvald had had to settle for just doing what he could and hoping for the best.

It had appeared that things would be alright... but appearances can be deceiving. Thorvald nearly groaned when the prisoner launched their tirade, and in response he shot them a withering glare, before turning back to the elevator to make sure Astin wasn't about to do anything stupid. Unfortunately, this left Juria free to do as she pleased, and he had not expected the result that followed.

"Oh for the love of," an exasperated cry left his lips and he followed after the engineer, putting a hand on her shoulder and trying to keep things from getting any more physical than they already had. At lead this Abigail appeared to have the modicum of good sense to not escalate any further than she already had, but honestly it was bad enough starting things off like that to begin with. "C'mon Juria, let's go. We can talk this out over coffee or something in the cafeteria."

Dwight's arrival put a bit of a kabosh on that, as he seemed to want an explanation for what just transpired. Abigail's likely wouldn't satisfy him, and since he'd been staring down her and Juria the hardest, he was likely to want to hear some words from her as well before they all dispersed. Maybe he should add his own two cents in first, though, given the engineer's agitated state of mind?

"Clearing the air? Ha, more like poking the bear," he scoffed at Abigail's characterization of the event, clearly unamused. Then continuing on, half for Dwight's sake and half directed at Abby, Thorvald added, "Clearly a dumb idea with tensions running as high as they are, especially given what had just happened between Nikolai and Elaine. Next time think before you just spout off whatever you feel like. Whew, right little tempest in a teacup we have here..."

[scorri]

Dammit... Their reaction to Abigail was not the best, but by itself it would have likely escaped any significant notice. Juria's reaction was worse, and Dwight showing up was the perfect ending to the chaos that was going on now. It looked like Abigail was content to throw fuel on the fire and walk away, leaving Thorvald to answer Swight's question. He'd, hopefully, restrained Juria for now, so Astin just shook their head. "Our newest pilot had some opinions she needed to express. So did I. We now know where we stand. I think Juria is understandably angry given someone who invaded her home is now supposed to be treated like a friend and an ally. It's not the easiest news to deal with." They realized belatedly that Dwight might not know the news about Abigail but if not, now he did so it was a moot point.

Val looked up from her music player and pulled out one earbud. "What?" Oh. It was the nosebleed boy. That was a bad one. "Alright, yeah, hand on." She got up and walked over to the cabinet, rummaging through it for a few seconds.  "Uhhhhh... Oh, here we go." Pulling them out, she headed over to Olivia, and held them out. "Here. Do you need help resetting it if it is broken or do you have it?"

Colt rubbed a hand over his eyes, staring up at the mech he'd left late last night. He was pretty sure that it was all good at this point, but he wanted to give it one final check. No reason to send a pilot out in a mech that hadn't been triple checked. He headed up the lift into the cockpit, and powered the system up before starting a basic systems check.

Edited July 9, 2017 by scorri
I have other characters besides Astin

[Juliette]

Juria clenched her fists in anger, barely restraining herself from lashing out with them. She wasn't just horrible, she didn't even intend on respecting them! "You are horrible... just because my English not good... grr! [Don't ever touch me again, you whore!]" the young engineer began in her native tongue, much more rapidly. "[Run away while you can! It's not as if you have any form of courage anyway, seeing as you're the type of heartless, pathetic excuse for a human that tries to attack defenseless civilians anyway. You are the worst form of scum, and don't ever expect me to forget or forgive you for your wrongs. Nor should you expect me to try and help you. I try to be understanding, but you are well beyond any hope of redemption! I don't care what the captain says, if it comes to me to save you, I'd rather leave you to die, and you'd deserve it! There is NOTHING you can do to atone for your crimes in this life or the next hundred! Not so clever when you're the one not smart enough to understand this, huh?!]"

At least she hoped nobody here understood that... she shrunk back meekly at both Thorvald's attempts to calm her, and Dwight's intervention. "Am sorry friends saw Juria so mad... not sorry to Abby, but others. Am not sorry for anything said to her. She is terrible." She hid her face behind Reo again, sulking over to the elevator. "Juria little hungry again."

[Nanami Touko]

Complicated?

"Oh, yeah, sure... I'm in my hangar, door ain't locked no more. Now that th'Mark.III ain't a secret, it's all good for people to come in iffin they need me... But, well, y'all should see this one first. Gonna be a real big surprise fer ya, Kim. You'll love it! Avery out, don't make me wait~"

Ring Ring~

"Hello~ My, you sound just as lovely as you did in the meeting. Tell me, what was all that anger about? I've never quite heard someone so explosive... It's piqued my interests. Does working with the rebel turn you off so much? I'm sure she's a lovely lady..." The unfamiliar voice brushed itself out of the receiver, with intimate knowledge of how Elaine had acted during the meeting.

"What do you do with all of that anger? Where does it go? Does it just sit there and brood in you until you can't deal with it anymore? What's it directed at? You're such an interesting individual, Elaine~"

[Dandragon]

The voice that came out from the communicator was from a woman, that much Elaine could tell. She could also hear the condescending tone from the woman. But, she wasn't pissed off by it. Far from it. The voice that came out from the device unsettled her. She didn't know who it was, or how they knew about what happened in the meeting. Elaine had frozen in place, standing in front of the communicator, confused and uncomfortable.

"Who is this?" She asked. "Who's speaking to me?"

[Nanami Touko]

Greetings

"My name is Louise," the woman offered, a small chuckle following. "I was just hoping you'd be able to answer me... You're such an interesting person. Who knew there were people as angry as you in the ANF? It is because of your allies? Your enemies? The captain, that Abigail? Please, Elaine, tell me..." Louise stifled another chuckle, hoping for a proper answer.

Reset the Schnoz

"Resetting it? Best you do that, then, and I'll handle cleanup. You're the actual med student here. I remember going over similar with you, but I didn't do your exams." Olivia was fine with cleaning up the kid's blood, but actually bugging with his facial features, less confident. If she made it worse, that'd probably get her kicked out of the room pretty quickly.

Edited July 9, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Dandragon]

"I..." How was she supposed to answer that? 'How did someone as angry as her exist' is not a question she ever got. And it left her speechless for a moment.

"...I got a temper. I never knew how to keep in check. ...Didn't have anyone to teach me how." Elaine didn't know why she answered. Every single part of her screamed to turn off communications and wait for Christina. But, she answered either way, curiosity getting the better of her sense of danger. "Not any parents at least." She mumbled. Her parents had always been so busy, there was no time for her to teach her anything. It was why they had sent her to her admittedly just as busy Uncle. But, her temper only started flaring as much as it did...well, after the day on Colony 2. After that day, she had become much more aggressive. But, she wasn't going to say that to a stranger.

[Sandalphon]

Niko's eyes stayed glued to the floor as he stepped into the medical bay for the second time that day. The conditions this time were not much more pleasant, although hopefully he would require less poking and prodding to deal with his bloodied nose.

"It does not matter if broken, is not first time what I get punch in face," he groaned as the medics drew nearer. "Will heal with time, no need to touch face with hands."

He flinched back as he spoke. The less people touching and fiddling and poking at him like some sort of science project, the better. Besides, the thought of Tarquin being worried by any excessive attention didn't particularly sit well with him. He was fine, as long as he still had one it wouldn't matter what was wrong with him.

[Nanami Touko]

And...

"...How would you feel about joining an organization that would let you use that anger for good, rather than trying to keep you in check? Getting slammed into a table can't be all that fun... Why do you fight for the ANF? Pride, honor, victory? Beliefs, ideals? What if some other organization could promise your ideals be safe, but still give you the freedom to be who you wish?" The voice was trying to charm her, the giggling coming every little bit. "You're just such a convincing pilot, I don't want that all to go to waste."

[Dandragon]

"...I'm going to ask you, again. Who. Are. You?" The more she spoke to this woman, the more Elaine felt like this was not a person to associate with. This Louise was offering her to leave the ANF? What sort of group could possibly be out there that would let her be the hero that she needed to be? Was this someone from the EU? A third party? Or...No. No, it couldn't be. No one from that group could be contacting her!

[Nanami Touko]

What a Shock

"Eheheeeehehe~ You're such a delight... My name is Louise Park. I'm the second Lieutenant for Apotheosis... And I would like to offer you a place in an organization that isn't about to stifle your feelings towards helping the world. You shouldn't be punished for feeling as strongly as you should, should you? No, no that's just not right. Please, allow me to try and change your mind~"

[Ether]

Well, that seemed settled with Avery cutting the line with a quick out. There likely wasn't much else to occupy her time at the moment, so Seung-Min made her way over to Avery's formerly personal hangar, opening the door as she arrived. 

"Here Avery, what want show me?" Kim began, though it seemed her question wouldn't go unanswered for long, as on display within the hangar was a large rifle, set to match the Mk.III.

[Phoenix]

From the sound of things, Tarquin and Nikolai had finally gotten around to paying them a visit in the infirmary. It hadn't really been that long, Megumi just expected them to be twenty seconds behind her or less. It didn't matter, though. Her minions were on the case, and she was looking a bit further into Elaine--and a little Roxanna on the side. Well, trying to anyway. Authorization was one of those barriers that Megumi found herself running into far too often these days. She might be more upset if the alcohol hadn't already kicked in.

"How important is this ...?" she mused quietly at the console. Roxanna's information probably wasn't, not unless she felt Jessica was making a strong point with regard to it. Megumi glanced up, checking to see how things were progressing with Nikolai. All things considered, he didn't look too bad off. Still, for all the arguing about trust, they had a potentially more dangerous pilot than Nikolai or Abigail with them from day one.

"... I'll see what happens, I guess," she murmured, reaching over to activate a built in radio in her desk. "Captain, it's Doctor Amparo. I'd like to request clearance on two personnel files." The doctor wondered if the captain would be able to guess which two she had in mind or not. It seemed obvious at first, but then Astin abruptly came to mind, being equally as vocal as Megumi's main targets. Come to think of it, there had been something unusually defiant in Astin's argument in particular ...

"Erm--three ... personnel files." If the captain couldn't guess now, she was probably distracted.

---

Brant kept the lift he'd picked out open until Abigail arrived. Once she was inside, he let the door shut, and they began their descent to the second deck. "Well now you're going to have to down a whole squadron, save them both three or four times, and send them christmas cards to win them over," Brant said with a shake of the head and a forced, bitter smile. "Urgh, my head." Even Firmia didn't give him headaches, of course, she was never so enraged as to induce a similar state in Brant.

[Nanami Touko]

Personnel

Jess jumped, not expecting any sound to come out of her wrist, thinking herself alone with her thoughts in the empty meeting room. Evidently not. Megumi wanted permission for the files on a few people... Three people? She could guess two of them. Not the third. "Who are they, Doctor? And... I need to know why, in full detail. These sorts of things are confidential. While you are the d-doctor, I still need to kn-know. I can guess... Two of th-them are Elaine and Astin. Wh-Who's the other one?"

The Gun Show

"Hey! Kim! Check'er!" Avery propped her hands onto her hips and grinned wide, chucking to herself. "This here's the ol' prototype M.A.R.S. rifle! Stands fer Myriad Assault Radius System. Ye got yerself a beam weapon, melee weapon, an' physical rounds all in one gun! An', I gotcher funnels ready~ Ain't I the best?" Avery gestured to the wall where the Mk.III had once stood, the MARS rifle stationed neatly on a holding rack, with a set of two funnels resting next to it.

"Now, ah'm sure y'all got plenty o' questions fer me, so go ahead, lay 'em on. This thing's a marvel o' technology, an' it ain't fer mass production. S'all mine, baby. An' it works cuz of how good the Mk.III is. So... Well, ah, th-thanks fer givin' me a reason t'get so fired up, I s'pose." Avery got surprisingly bashful for a moment, adjusting her hat. "Ain't gotten t'make somethin' in my name fer a long while. Feels good gettin' the creative juices flowin' again. And th' Mk.III's a fantastic canvas t'decorate."

Edited July 11, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Shin]

It still wasn't clear what role the two women actually played, trainees... assistants? Their attitude was more that of the teenagers trying to do a chore than the diagnostic clinician Megumi portrayed herself as. The pair weren't exactly instilling him with confidence, but it was best for his own peace of mind if he tried to trust Megumi's supervision - someone as particular as her would most likely ensure her underlings were up to the task. He was fairly sure that if all was well, they'd need to just stop the bleeding, clean it up and give Nikolai whatever painkillers he wanted. His own medical knowledge was rather limited, mostly related to any potential injuries he could encounter on the field. Even then, it wasn't as if he'd had any actual experience, other than during the mission on the colony. He needed to learn to trust others, even if he felt that he knew better.

"Nikolai, can you breath through it OK? They can at least clean it up a little." Tarquin replied, his friend's concerns allowing him to take his mind away from the medbay's coordination. The blood's red glimmer against Nikolai's pale skin was a stark contrast, and a reminder of Elaine's brutality - how hard had she even punched him? If it hadn't been for Jess, he may have ended up in a similar situation only a few days prior. Admittedly, it may have been somewhat provoked, but was it really the right response? "At least let them look, then they might not need to touch it at all."

It wasn't as if the task were beyond their level of training, but Tarquin hoped that at least one of the pair knew how to approach it. He didn't want to find out Nikolai's response to them botching the job. The mental image of Nikolai flinging his own faeces had somehow slipped into his mind, and he'd avoid it if he could.

[Ether]

Well, looking at it, and based on Avery's explanation, it seemed that what was to be the MK. III's main armament was quite the technological marvel, acting as a compact multi-tool, of sorts. She certainly seemed proud of it, at any rate, even seeming to get a bit bashful as she thanked the Lieutenant for giving her a chance to work on it.

"Glad able help, you do same me when in bit funk, after all. Well, specific question can wait, suppose. Tell more how work, what capable of."

[Balcerzak]

Seeing the depths of Juria's rage was a bit of an eye-opener for Thorvald, especially when she slipped into Chinese or something. He was glad that physically restraining her hadn't become necessary, maybe the light touch on her shoulder had been reminder enough to keep herself checked to at least some degree. After the prisoner had gone, she seemed to revert back from Miss Hyde to Doctor Jekyll, bashfully apologizing for her outburst. "Well, Juria, even though you did get rather worked up there, I don't think anybody can blame you too much. Especially since nothing happened that can't be undone, if the outside chance might arise to require it."

He wasn't entirely sure if the old navigator had been fully satisfied with their explanations, but figured that keeping Juria calm took priority for the moment. If Dwight needed more from Thorvald, he knew how to get in touch. So, with that in mind, he followed her back to the lift that Astin was holding for them. He still did have questions and complaints for the younger squad leader, but now was no longer an appropriate time or place for them. Hell, once they got to the cafeteria, he might see about slipping something into his own coffee, maybe make it an Irish. With the morning having been one situation after another so far, it was certainly fitting occasion for a bit of a stiff drink, after all.

"Punch the button, Astin, take us down," he said once they'd all boarded the elevator, feeling slightly defeated.

~~

Following Brant into the elevator, Abigail quickly moved to one of the corners, leaned her back into it and looked up toward the ceiling, her hand covering her eyes. The high from the exchange with Doyle had crashed quickly. She doubted it was due to the string of foreign curses hurled her way from behind her. That little tramp earned every bit of her scorn. Was it the sea of disapproval from the rest of the onlookers? She hadn't exactly said anything wrong, but of course everyone was going to take the side of their friend first. It was probably just the settling realization that things were going to be hard. Way harder than she'd expected. Even if everyone had been as understanding as Megumi, or hell, just on Jessica's level, it would have been a bumpy road having to work with people she'd need to struggle not to hate for what they'd done, to try to turn a blind eye to the lost comrades, just because their common enemy was worse. But this? Maybe she should have said 'no', even if...

Her guide was trying his hand at humor now, was he attempting to cheer her up? The ragged in-draw of breath as she went to respond, and the feel of slight moisture by her fingers, warned her she was dangerously close to breaking down, needed to pull herself together. Can't look weak in front of anyone.  ...She wished she had Calina, so she could be weak. Just for a little while, in private, at least. But that was not a wish that could be granted, so she would have to make do as best she could without.

"Those two? Heh, by now I doubt an all-expenses-paid trip to the best spa and hot springs would soften their hearts. Christmas cards might work on some of the others, those who stuck around and watched or showed up midway through, but I wouldn't be surprised if that also turned out to be a gesture three sizes too small." Somehow Abigail had managed to work her way through a couple decent sentences without her voice cracking too badly, things were almost under control, but she was still hiding her face. "Sorry about all that yelling fixing you up a nasty migraine though, pretty much the opposite result of what I'd intended there..."

Edited July 11, 2017 by Balcerzak

[scorri]

Astin didn't look at Thorvald as they punched the button for the bottom deck. "I think I'll pass on the food. Not especially hungry after all that, but you should get some food Juria. Unless you still want to go to the middle deck..." They quickly pushed the second button in case she did. Nothing about this situation was ok, but it wasn't anything they could do about it at this point. The captain had made her decision and no matter how angry it made them... Or how much the former rebel taunted them, it was their job to fight. Hopefully Thorvald would be content with just going and getting food and not push the issue further.

Val was in the process of handing over the cleaning supplies to Oliva when she finally got a good look at their patient's nose. "Hmm... Do you mind if I touch your face for a second? It might hurt slightly, but it shouldn't be too bad." The nose wasn't overly crooked or showing any major signs of trauma beyond the bleeding. If he didn't mind, she'd be able to get a better feel for it, but... "It doesn't look like your nose is broken. I just want to check how it feels, that's all. If you'd rather we just cleaned you off, that can work too. If it is broken, it would be a bit before we could set it anyways."

[Nanami Touko]

Skip The Pleasantries

"Alright, alright... 'Nuff'a that mushy stuff. Y'all gonna love this. First off! Gun's got three fire modes. Y'got yer short range, 's a scattergun, beam, short range. S'all good fer when somethin' closes in on yah. Just discharge off in someone's face. Easy as it gets. Second mode's medium range, it's a railgun, so y'all could prol'ly fire it farther, but the gun ain't scoped out fer that. Best fer mid to almost long range engagements, good fer punchin' through barriers iffin yer beams ain't cuttin' it.. An' the last firin' mode, 's'a beam magnum. Y'all ain't seen nothin'. Takes th' stored energy in th'gun an' makes it inta a ball o' charged energy, before firin' it off, hella fast, straight at yer target. Since it's an energy diffusion, works better'n space, but it suffers less from gravity in atmosphere. Should be good fer mid an' long range all the same, and melt through any armor."

Avery was already smiling wide, really happy with herself. "An' top it all off, iffin someone somehow manages t'get right up close t' ya, y'got a real strong beam at th'base o' the gun. Ain't no beam-- 's'a heat blade, so it ain't gonna stand up t'another beam sword in a clash, but it's way better'n some knife fer personal protection, an' it's huge t'boot! No one's gon' mess with somethin' like that iffin they see you turnin' it on."

Avery sighed, hand on her face. "An' yer funnels are standard issue, personally constructed, an' ready t'go at any point. She's a beauty. She ain't entirely done yet, but th' last bits are gon' take me a long while. The V-Drive installed on board ain't done by me, so I gotta figure out these damn blueprints, heh... Anyways, that's all. S'all ready fer combat, all calibrated, an' everything... You gon' have that Christina girl fly with ya, anymore? Need t'know, so I can fixer up yer cockpit."

Edited July 12, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Juliette]

"Mn... Juria not as happy about go back to engineering room after that see Abby..." Juria sniffled, not outwardly crying but clearly upset. "I am sad that she not get punishment deserved. Jess Captain not make lots of sense from how am understand, but probably not care what Juria thought about issue is. Not invited to meeting, anyway, so not valued..." She waited idly as the elevator went down, not wanting to stop at the lab- at least not before she ate again. "Juria not even should be here, so why expecting be listened to. Tag with ship for visit of Earth, very hopeful, but world so sad now. No time for visit bunnies or puppies or kitties, or all the other cute animals, or see new places and persons, just sad fighting and zoom around, no time for anything. So many people not care about peace..."

[Dandragon]

 

 

 

Silence filled the room, save for the small gasp that came from Elaine as her eyes widened with the identity of the person on the other side of the communicator was revealed to her. She had been speaking, and still was, to not just any member of Apotheosis, the same terrorist organization that had sent out a message of war to the entire world. The same group of people she had been fighting for the past few days. The same group who was no doubt now invading her home on Colony 2, killing innocent civilians in the name of their twisted cause. Shock was soon replaced with anger, and Elaine grimaced with her teeth clenched before responding.

"Why the hell would I ever join you? After what you just pulled?!" Her signature temper was flaring, and she was not going to hold back her words. She felt insulted that anyone from a group of radical idealists like Apotheosis would ever try and recruit her. They certainly didn't care to do their research. Or maybe, it was yet another way the world was just mocking her ideals. "Do you have any idea who you are talking to?! What I believe in?! Or did you only catch the last bit of that meeting?!"

"Ahhhh, there's that anger again~ It's rather becoming. Do they let you use that? Or do they tell you to shut up, and force your hand? You should be able to user everything at your disposal for what you believe in, no?" Louise chuckled, nearly a cackle, sighing.

"Then tell me, Elaine, tell me~ What do you believe in? Because I'm sure it's not far from our goals..."

"I believe in stopping scum like you from murdering innocent people!" She yelled, slamming her fist onto the metal wall that held the communicator. "I believe in saving people, civilians, from terrorists looking to further their own goals by killing everyone! Saving them from those who are looking to hurt people, for whatever reason!" Every time Louise spoke, she felt herself get angrier. Every time, she could hear the condescending tone that she held. She was making fun of her. Elaine was sure of it.

"How many people...How many civilians have died?! On the Colony? On the Earth? How many?!"

"Probably a lot," Louise replied with little hesitation. "And how many of those were killed by the ANF? See, Elaine, that's the problem~ You try to act like you're on the side of justice, but you don't know the horrors the ANF puts up with just the same as we do. That's what War is about, darling. You just think you're on the side of good because that's what they tell you. Humor me, what was the ANF's contingency plan, should you all have failed at Colony one? What do you think they're going to try to do with Colony two and five, now that the Riese isn't around?" A knowing grin formed on Louise face, not that Elaine would know.

"Tell me~"

Elaine stood quietly, eyes still widened, but now hesitant to speak. She knew exactly what the contingency plan was should they fail. To nuke it. Blow it up. With everyone who was still alive on it. That was what would have happened if they had failed. And that was what was going to happen to the Colonies. ...To her home. And it pained her knowing that she could do nothing about it.

"How about you tell me," She said, gulping and holding back tears, knowing that everyone she knew on the Colony would likely be dead. "What makes you so much better? If you hadn't attacked, then they would have never been in that danger, right? So what are you doing that is so important that so many people have to die for it?"

Elaine's silence told Louise all she needed to hear. "We're trying to change the world, Elaine~ The ANF and the EU aren't going to settle for sharing the planet... So we're going to take it from them, before they destroy it all~ Unless that's what you would prefer... A slow burn, conflicts between both nations, until it all boils over into total world war... You really think both sides would sit quietly forever? That's foolish hoping... If you wish for something to change, you have to change it yourself, not wait for it to change for you."

"So, that is what we're doing. The humanity's advancement, towards a better future, where we can all progress together... These organizations must fall, before it can be brought to light. And if you don't agree, well... You can continue living in your fantasy world, struggling for as long as you wish."

"Changing the world...And how is your rule over everyone gonna be different?" Elaine was not done with her questions. Not yet. And she certainly wasn't rolling over and letting this Louise convince her to join. The ANF may not be everything she had thought, but when she joined, she joined not only to get people to see her as something other than a criminal, as a hero instead, but she joined to protect the people. The civilians that everyone seemed fine with butchering. And some lady on the other side of a comm system wasn't about to change that about her. "What makes you so sure that everything is gonna be fine when Apotheosis is in charge of everything? You really think that's gonna solve all the problems? That it's gonna save the world from being split apart?"

"We don't know. Do you think people are fine with the current ruling parties? I'd wager they aren't, and I'd wager some won't be happy with ours. But we're going to do it anyway~ Because at the end of the road is a race of people that will join together and progress humanity further. Sitting and waiting isn't going to fix anything... Nor is playing hero, Elaine~ But I can see that you're too blind for that... If you aren't going to change your mind, then I suppose our talk here is done. And, feel free to tell your captain about this... When they find no traceable call, no evidence, no source, I'm sure it will reflect well on you."

"You..." She said, almost growling. They had planned for everything. She was most likely being recorded as they spoke. All the evidence to support whatever they wanted to was in the palm of their hands, and all Elaine had was her word. She had been outsmarted, as usual. For all the intelligence she had, it meant nothing if she barely ever used it. And this was a perfect example. Once again, Elaine was cornered, with no way out.

"I'll take your silence as a maybe, Hedrick~ Have a good day." And then, stifling silence on the other end. Elaine was left to her own devices.

The communicator automatically turned off, the connection having been severed, and it left a fiery red-head standing alone in her room, unsure of what just transpired being real. The small pain on her hand from hitting the wall told her that it was. Now, she wasn't sure who she could trust, or which side to believe in. The moral grey area had never been as big as it was now for Elaine.

On the one hand, the ANF had indeed planned to nuke Colony 1 should the Riese pilots have failed. With Colonies 2 and 5 compromised as they were, according to Louise, it was logical for them to do the same to them. But, then again, why should she believe anything a Leiutenant from Apotheosis says to her? For all Elaine knew, they were telling her well crafted lies to sway her to their side. But, if they were right, then how could she still remain a part of the ANF? They expected her to follow every command to the letter, regardless of how she felt.

To the ANF, she was a soldier. To Apotheosis, she was a possible recruit. And to the EU, she was a former convict. None of them were anything close to what she wanted. Yet, how much longer could Elaine 'play hero', as it were. Being a hero wasn't just some lofty dream she refused to let go off, no, it was something she strived to become. Someone who could save those who were being threatened. But, with all sides having no remorse to the death of civilians, how could even protect any of them?

There were too many uncertainties for Elaine to focus on, each of them swirling in her mind like a chaotic vortex. So, she took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, choosing to instead focus on what was certain and known by her. The ANF were willing to nuke an entire colony of people should the need arise. Apotheosis were just as willing to kill innocents to further their goal. She, as a soldier, was expected to follow such orders and obey. She was now on bad terms with the captain, and been given one last chance before being thrown out. Colony 2, her home, as well as Colony 5 and the Earth were being attacked by Apotheosis in order to wrest control from the two major powers. Finally, there were two people on board who knew about her criminal past, Captain Jessica and Cheryl. ...Things did not look good for her.

Elaine reopened her eyes, and looked down towards the floor. As far as she knew, she had just been contacted by a 'Louise Park', a lieutenant to Apotheosis, and offered a position within that very group. That meant that there was some way they could hack into the communication systems the Riese had, not to mention vanish without a single trace. Louise was able to, at least, recount her anger and being slammed onto a table, which meant she had at least known what had happened within the meeting. Either they were also able to hack into the monitoring systems or...there was a mole. But, even with that much information, Elaine couldn't go to anyone with it. As Louise had said, 'no traceable call, no evidence, no source'. Hell, they might have been recording the conversation, and had enough dirt to make her look far worse, and Elaine would have was her own word. Who would believe her? ...Who would believe her about anything?

Everyone had seen her lash out, and so far, she wasn't exactly trusted by anyone. Her interactions with Tarquin were a testament to that. Even if Makoto could put in a good word for her, that wouldn't help anything. She was in a poor situation, her mistakes adding up, and Elaine had no one to blame but herself...

Edited July 12, 2017 by Dandragon

[riariadne]

Dwight frowned as he observed the buffoonery that took place in the halls, and the explanation he received was rather unsatisfactory- but still, the chaos by the elevators at least seemed to have broken up. In that sense, things could have been much worse, but he also likely wasn't there to see the worst of it. "How very opinionated indeed... well, if the situation is calm for now, then that's good enough." He gave a quick nod as they made their way down the ship, not wanting to interrupt the people who seemed so hurried to leave after the verbal scuffle.

Instead he walked into the meeting room- the Captain sat alone, although she was speaking over comms. "Good morning Captain... I'd like to discuss these recent events with you, when you're available," he spoke up. "Many others seemed disinterested in talking about them at the current moment, but I think it's best to find out now rather than if something comes up later."

[Ether]

Kim nodded along as Avery explained the various firing modes of the rifle. It all made sense, until Avery began explaining this 'Beam Magnum', she hadn't heard of that before... though the explanation seemed simple enough, after using it in live fire there shouldn't be any problem with that, she knew the basics of it, a long range beam weapon designated as anti-armour. Taking mental notes on the rest of the explanations, Kim allowed Avery to finish before fielding her questions.

"Seem straight forward... not heard beam magnum, but seem long engage anti-armour beam. Say heat blade not stand up beam saber in clash, is only blade lock, or heat blade no good parry either?" Kim asked, before addressing Avery's final point... about Christina.

"Chrissy not take combat well. Just be safe, install second seat proper, but not sure if will keep flying. Said she wants try, but is hard for her."