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

[Dandragon]

Apotheosis broadcast was at approximately 8 o' clock in the morning. At that time, all pilots and crew members were aboard the Heione Riese. The closest set of known people to the meeting room-

Elaine was going over the facts in her head, once more, when she heard another set of knocks on her door that startled her out of her deep thought. She flinched, and caught herself staring at the floor of her room, sitting on her bed with both of her hands in her lap, together. She blinked a few times, her eyes now getting used to no longer staring in one single position for who knows how long. She had lost herself in her thoughts, which was an oddly refreshing change of pace. She hadn't been able to ponder like this ever since she got assigned to the Riese.

"Y-yeah! Yeah, I'm in here!" Elaine slowly got up from the bed. She could feel a tightness in her chest as she stepped towards the door that was not present before. It certainly wouldn't have been there around the pilots she had worked with before, but the communicator conversation was still so fresh in her head, and it was likely it wouldn't disappear from her mind any time soon. The door opened, and there stood Astin with a smile on their face.

"Hey there. Wha-what's up? What's going on?" She said, trying to return the smile, though it came off as an awkward attempt that wasn't really working. She saw the agender pilot differently, now. What was once an ally was now a possible suspect in her eyes, and she was paying attention to every detail she could, as if she were looking at blueprints or schematics. Now, she had to be more careful than ever.

 

[Ether]

"Yes, yes. Fine. Just... strange feeling... feel like from hangar. Know if anyone go that way?" Kim replied, giving her head a bit of a shake as Thorvald asked what was up, the Lieutenant only passively taking in his answer to her own question as she regained her composure... the feeling had lasted only for a moment, and had faded just as suddenly as it had leapt to the surface... there was no follow up to it, no fear, no concern... perhaps it was just a fleeting thing with no real meaning...

"I see. Should likely report Captain, going difficult enough get everyone work together as is, best Captain know things get worse expected." Kim noted, before Astin chimed in a bit, before heading off to do... something else. Giving the Sergeant a quick salute as they left, Kim turned back to Thorvald and Juria, letting out a light sigh.

"Food sound good, is why come here, anyway. Everyone seem very tense today, understandable, still sort awkward."

[riariadne]

"As you wish, Captain. I'll get to it immediately." Dwight saluted, but didn't waste any time with pleasantries, moving quickly to the bridge, and after taking the short elevator ride, pressing on button for the ship's main speakers. "This is Dwight Howard speaking on behalf of Captain Gefalscht. We will be leaving towards Great Lake Base, preparations for which begin now. All pilots, consider yourselves on standby, effective immediately. Takeoff will occur as soon as all preparations are completed. Thank you"

[Balcerzak]

The 'head mechanic' kept trying to upsell the whole ANF aspect of the wares in the hangar, which frankly wasn't endearing him any further to Abigail, but at least he knew how to operate the lift and open the hatch. What a laugh it would have been if he'd had to call Mama Avery over to do that for him. She almost wished that had been the case, and imagining it brought her close to a smile. Looking up at the Legion, it seemed just like what she'd expected, but before she could get in there and take a look from the pilot perspective, a new face dropped by to introduce himself. Tall, dark, and handsome went by the name of Colt, and was amusingly polite. Too bad she had next to no interest.

"Abigail," she offered back, giving his hand a quick shake so as not to leave him hanging. "I'm... also new here. Trying to decide what I'll be piloting, if I can't convince Elaine to change her mind." As the announcement filtered down from the speakers, she was forced to grimly add. "And it looks like I might have to settle, if there's really not that much time."

Edited July 24, 2017 by Balcerzak

[scorri]

Astin blinked in confusion. They'd expected the girl to be mad, or frustrated, but instead she was... nervous? Something didn't fit quite right. Still, pressing on. If she wanted to explain, she would. "I figured I'd come check and see how you're doing. Everything alright? You were obviously upset but you seem more... nervous now. Something happen after you met with the Captain? From what Kim said, everything went alright there. Or at least as well as you could expect it. After everything kind of... exploded. I mean, I get your frustration and everything but..." They trailed off, before blurting out, "Let me teach you how to fence."

Well you could have been more random. Just explain. "You see fencing is really---" And then they were cut off by the call for all pilots to standby. "Guess we're getting ready to leave... They must expect some danger around the Great Lakes... Still, only on standby. Nothing we can do except stay ready. So, right. Fencing. My point was, you pretty clearly have some frustration and anger built up. I get that. Clearly, given my reaction too but... Back in high school and in the Academy, the best thing I could do for my frustration and stress and whatnot was to just go fence. Fight some people, get some exercise, get some aggression out, that sort of thing. But I don't have anyone here to spar with. So... let me teach you how to fence."

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

Colt gave her a firm shake before releasing her hand and nodding. "Well, good to have you with us. Suppose more pilots are always better, right? You keep us safe out there, and we'll make sure you're fighting in a tip top shape mech." The announcement caught him by surprise, and he looked over to Buck. "That mean they're going to be getting into mech's now? If not, me and some of the others could probably get a final check on all of them. Well, except that new fancy one and the one you've been poking at. I wouldn't want to step on your or Avery's toes."

[Balcerzak]

Astin managed to extract themselves from Juria's grasp, and after speaking their piece, vanished down toward the corridor where the individual rooms were located. Fair enough, Thorvald wished him well, and that when they all got back on the field things would be back to normal. Or as close to it as possible.

Seung-Min's response was direct enough, it hadn't been anything she felt she needed to avoid explaining, and was actually kind of interesting and stirred up some curiosity of his own. "I think, I think that Brant had been guiding Abigail to the hangar to get her set up with something actually. As far as choices for escorts, he'd probably have been the one I trusted most, next to you, so I'd think things would be under control..." Thorvald wasn't exactly sure how TK got their readings, or if this was something she was going to follow up on, and it felt a little uncomfortable to just ask, so he left it that.

"You might be right on keeping the captain apprised on the situation, but I'd guess that the our navigator is probably on top of things there, given he also caught the tail end of the exchange, and seemed like he'd been going to meet with her--" Then almost as if on cue, Dwight's voice came down from the speakers, practically confirming that, and also alerting them to keep their recreational activities to an easily droppable level.

"I suppose that means no five course meals, huh?" He cracked a bit of a smile as he pushed open the door to the cafeteria. "Ladies first."

Edited July 24, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Juliette]

"A-Abby big meanie in hall," Juria stammered. "Am n-not happy about see her walk on Riese ship after make attack on people of Colony, but also she j-just not niceness showing to Juria. Am have hard time b-being accept for Captain order that she okay n-now." She rubbed under her eyes, trying her best to get a handle on the situation, but was more distressed when Astin mentioned they weren't hungry. "Oh. Sorry for drag, Astin friend." She returned her leader pilot's hug and reluctantly let go, Reo crawling into her arms to take their place. Doctor? Where doctor on boat?

She didn't have much time to ponder that before Dwight spoke up on the speakers, almost causing her to lose her grip on the robocat already. "Um, ready... well, not right this second for readying. Am, um..." She thought of running to Astin to tell them that she would help with co-piloting even despite her reservations, but her stomach disagreed with her. "Juria am want cupcakes," she mentioned, dashing off into the cafeteria.

[Nanami Touko]

How Far

"Good luck," Jess managed, before the video cut off. She didn't really know what to say after that. She stumbled back a bit, collapsing onto the desk, and sitting on the edge of it. "Hahhh... Wow." That's... That's happening. God, why? Why, why are they all... Jess didn't get it. She sighed. She didn't understand their goal-- rather, she didn't understand the lengths they were willing to go to reach it. World unification at the cost of the world? Surrender or be destroyed? It sounded like some childish weekend cartoon, but it was real, and it was happening. She couldn't stop it, could she--

"H-Huh? What? B-Base... Uh. Two, three hours at best. We can't fly at full speeds because of the atmosphere, so we have to slow down considerably, with the size of the ship. Any faster and we r-risk tearing things up underneath, or o-overheating the hull..." She pulled herself off the desk as Dwight left, looking at Brant, as the message came over the speakers. "I... I guess we have to get ready to move, huh?" She gulped. "Uh... B-Brant, if... If things go poorly, for the... N-No. I won't s-say it, I... We'll make it. And w-we'll save them. Okay? I--" She didn't quite have the words for what she did next, stepping closer and leaning up to plant the most gentle kiss on his cheek.

"G, G-Good l-l-l-luck, suh-soldier!" With that stammering done, she rushed out and headed for the bridge, a forming shade of crimson making itself very comfortable on her cheeks.

Hurt

"Saying whatever hurts best, huh... Go ahead. These people are soldiers, right? Not like they don't hurt other people. They'd be pretty big hypocrites to not be able to take it back, don't you think?" Olivia seemed to have a rather jaded outlook on the workings of the military, finishing in cleaning up Nikolai's bloodstains. "Maybe it'd teach her something. Not that she'd be able to use it, you know, being a flaming death ball. Still, I think you're right. Wars aren't about idealism. They're just about who's stronger..." She sighed, grabbing a bandaid for the bridge of his nose. "You're gonna be pretty bruised up... Just make sure nothing bad happens to--"

The announcement came over the speakers, Olivia pausing. She slapped the bandaid on after, sighing. "Try to make sure nothing happens to your nose. Good luck."

Flippin' Burgers

Christina nearly lost the food she was trying to plate as the orders came out over the speaker, taking a moment to stabilize herself with a deep breath. "Just a call to be on standby... Don't have to suit up yet." That was probably the best part of this setup. If she had to sit around for half an hour or longer in that SKIN suit... She'd probably drive herself crazy. Speaking of driving herself nuts, a big group of people just walked into the cafeteria: Thorvald, Juria-- and Kim! A half smile formed on Christina's face, quickly diminishing, but not for any replacement.

"H-Hey guys! Just getting something to snack on before you find your way to the robots?"

Snicker

Buck could've been a real jerk for Abigail's reputation, telling Colt who she exactly was, but that would've just been petty. The guy could find out and get upset on his own time. "Hey, no small talk, get inside the robot and--" orders, coming out loud and clear. "Get inside, now. Check it out. Sounds like we don't have time to play around, anymore... Colt, you can go ahead and get some other checks done, I-- What the ffffffiddlesticks?" There was a rather large rifle coming through the transfer channel from Avery's workshop, something Buck hadn't ever... Was it even a rifle? It had a giant blade on it. "Jesus, Avery!"

"What?" she said, running into the hangar in time to catch Buck's outcry. "Wha's wrong? And qui'cher swearin'. S'just the Mark III's gun. Ain't no biggie. Hannah, you runnin' alright?"

"Jesus isn't swear--"

"Yes, Miss Avery, I am running perfectly fine." Buck groaned, as Hannah's timing was as great as ever.

"--that's not the point! Ain't no biggie, what the crap? That thing's way too damn big, Avery. Can it even lift it? That's... Seriously..."

"Totally can! ... In th' simulations at least. Shouldn't be an issue. An' if it is, better t'find out now than later. Ain't got no time fer field testin'..."

Buck grumbled, even if she was right. Avery only smiled and sighed, before spotting their new blonde addition. "An', whozzis, Buck? Didn't catch us gettin' another looker on the squad."

"Her name is Abigail, Miss Avery, and she is--"

"SHE'S a new assignment from the captain," Buck cut in, giving Hannah a glare, that she caught and tilted her head at. "I'll give you the details later."

"Huh. Alright. Nice t'have more pilots 'round. Keep them girls safe, y'hear? Ain't wantin' more work when we're already pushin' it t'the bone. Name's Avery Wright, by the way. Head mechanic, jus' above Buck. Nice meetin' yah, Abigail." Another hand was presented for her to shake before finally checking out the Legionary.

Preparations Start

Tristan turned to see Dwight coming in, presenting a call from the Captain's desk. Was she unavailable? "Dwight, should I start getting the ship ready for take off? Or will the captain be along shortly?" He hoped that she would be, she'd been doing rather well as of late... Though, if she was still busy with whatever meeting had been called, it would make sense that she be kept, should talks still be happening.

Edited July 24, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[riariadne]

"Ensign Calvin." Dwight gave a nod to the younger man after he was finished using the speakers. "Captain Gefalscht was busy after the meeting, but I would expect that she shouldn't be too long. It was a fairly urgent call, so her not coming to the bridge as quickly as possible would be quite uncharacteristic." He opted not to explain any of the details involving Russia just yet- if the Captain wanted those to be known, she would tell them herself.

[Xinnidy]

Scene Fright

Makoto stood silently, watching the argument explode and dissolve, people throwing threats, curses, and parting their own ways. What was he to do? It was especially awkward as a civilian. Furthermore, a lot of the subject was just baffling to him. It couldn't be... was that tan woman a colony terrorist? He was probably the only one who understood Juria's outburst in her native language, for it was his as well. A few of the dots were able to be connected after then, but Makoto was just too scared to reach to one of the pilots.

Why was that woman walking around like nothing. I-I don't get it... that's dangerous, isn't it? Of course he understood the notion that a bad guy could have a change of heart --it happened all the time in the shows!-- but that didn't seem like a convincing act by the woman. It certainly didn't help with the air of tension surrounding the others that did stand up to her. That's just... weird. He couldn't really think about it straight at that point, and it was starting to feel like the negativity was seeping into him too far. Repressed memories of the mall and the civilian bodies came back to mind, as well as the guy that chased him on a Heracles. Yeah, that was enough to give the boy a shiver through his spine.

An announcement resounded throughout the ship, raising the boy's head to attention. Wait, where is everybody? Makoto was finally aware of his surroundings again, and realized he was alone in the hall between elevators. Oops. It was time to move on... seeing his mother was probably the best he could do right now. He wasn't actually allowed to deploy with the pilots and serve those terrorists some justice, he was just a civilian! "If only I could... I'd show them a real beating with real hero moves!"

Wishful thinking aside, the young teen walked towards the infirmary, the door opening with a whirr to reveal the place had become rather busy since early morning. "Oh. Um, hello." He awkwardly waved to those inside. He recognized one of them --Tarquin, right? The super special kid soldier!--, but the other boy that was being attended to was unfamiliar. He wasn't too familiar with the girls, but he had an idea they were helping out Doctor Megumi. "Uh, what happened?" He couldn't help a curious question as he saw the boy's face being attended to. That didn't look any pleasant!

 

Simmering Down

Somewhere along her moment of weakness, Roxanna had flopped back to her bed, and then dropped to the room's floor, curled up in a fluffy blanket. She'd sent off Dwight without a word, and had since retreated to her own world, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Why am I doing this?

Somewhere along the way, people just lost control of their lives, that was more normal than most admitted. Roxanna was no exception, but looking back at her life was not a thing she'd ever want to do. Nothing that was negative was worth looking back at, was it? In that case... what was there to look was terribly little. She was so proud of who she was, but what that meant in the end was very ambiguous. Why was her moment being constantly stolen by a stuttering 19-year-old? The more she looked into it, the less Roxanna wanted to remember how she got there.

That wasn't a good thing at all, was it?

She shifted uncomfortably, remembering her politician days. It was a fun memory to have gunned for Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, but the scrutiny for her lack of age and experience was a bit much. Couldn't she be afforded some slack? Her father was and still is the Minister of Finance! What would go wrong with family blood in the desk... she never understood the old farts in the Canadian desks. Maybe she should've tried going to US soil at and early age and... Where am I going with this?

Roxanna sighed, the white ceiling inviting her gaze again. The way she looked at things, somebody was always at fault... that was what life was all about, in the end. People in power shoved others aside to further their family, and the less fortunate got the breadcrumbs that dropped from the table. When she was the least fortunate, no matter how much she proved her presence, none would take her serious. Laughing stock. She held livid offense to that word. Just like here, what a joke. They'll have a reason to kick me out after that, and say 'good riddance' among other things. Damn it, I just... was set up to not be a captain, I guess. She bit her lip. As much as she could ruminate on the negativity, Roxanna couldn't find an answer to her issue that wasn't sitting around festering her negativity. Maybe that were true in a political party, but it was somehow different in the military. There weren't as many cliques, people never seemed fueled by spiteful reasons --aside from the instructors--, and she had... far less support than she expected. Her uncle barely cared about her, sometimes Roxanna wondered if he saw her as an embarrassment, even. "Is it... me?"

The thought wasn't one followed with a gasp of surprise, or a shake of the head. Roxanna just remained still, laying down on the floor at that point. Somewhere along the uncomfortable thoughts, she'd fell from her bed, but barely felt it. It was a lazy fall, as lazy as she felt. She was too proud to admit loss, but then what wasn't working? She couldn't discern it. Well, she probably could, if her mind bothered to dissect it. Roxanna had come to realize something a bit scary.

When was the last time I looked back at what I did? There was the time where she retold her days as a Captain to Thorvald, but that was way in the past to her. She barely felt the same person, but was she? ...Did she want to know?

Roxanna nearly jumped of surprise when Dwight's voice echoed through the room, coming out from her communicator uninvited. "What... oh God." Right, things weren't done after that meeting. They were still in the middle of an attack by a ridiculously large terrorist cell. What luck... And I burned bridges... She bit her lip again, forcing herself out of the floor. Pipsqueak asked for it. Whatever now, that was... way too much of thinking in that self-depreciative manner. Roxanna was good. Probably.

It took a few minutes for Roxanna to get herself presentable again, but thankfully she hadn't really bothered to switch from her formal clothes after the meeting room. It was mostly her hair and face that was a mess, but nothing that a comb and reapplying her makeup couldn't do. A sizeable amount of minutes later, Roxanna was out of her room, back to normal, save for a few wrinkles on her uniform. She'd live. A few turns, and Roxanna took the lift to the upper deck, heading for the bridge with... a bit more spirit than she left the meeting.

[Juliette]

Juria had made her way in quickly, two cupcakes ready, before she noticed Christina, and all of a sudden she was upset again. "Oh... hi, Chrissy. Juria am hungry before am needed for suiting, yes. Um, ah..." Her head tilted towards the floor, having a hard time thinking of what to say, much less the words to do it. "Th-there still time before having readiness needed, so Juria thought have food good idea, yes, and, and... Ch-Chrissy, why you make story up to Juria?" So much for properly asking.  "When first met, you am said new person in training, but find out little before now, that not true. Juria not like hear fake stories so have friend... it all hard enough see Abby walk around ship, was very sad hear Chrissy n-not tell Juria truth either."

[Nanami Touko]

Pretty Little Lies

"Ah..." So someone had told her. Great... Another line of guilt to deal with. Not one she felt considerably bad about, but, still. "You didn't need to know," she answered plainly, trying not to react poorly. "It wouldn't make you happy to know, and it didn't help any at the moment. That's all. I don't know who told you, but they didn't need to... I don't really have anything else to say." That was the truth of it all. What good would knowing where she'd been do for the mechanic? It wouldn't do any good for anyone related to the colony...

[Shin]

Whilst it was reassuring that Nikolai had vowed to keep his distance from Elaine, his comment about her untimely demise in an inferno was somewhat unsettling. Perhaps it was a joke Tarquin couldn't quite understand, much like most of the jokes he'd ever heard. Tarquin had never said anything to get a rise out of anyone, he merely wanted to communicate his thoughts - complimentary or critical. The medical duo had dealt with Nikolai's nose, making him appear slightly less brutalised than he had been only a few moments prior, but Tarquin was still uncertain how to continue the conversation. As much as he disliked Elaine, her death wasn't quite on his agenda at the current time.

Thankfully, Dwight's announcement was the interruption he needed. Their mission had come perhaps a little sooner than he'd expected, but from the nature of the message most people probably hadn't expected it either. "I think we need to get going, Nikolai." Tarquin replied, hoping that piloting didn't count as strenous activity in the world of nose injuries. He'd have to thank the medical staff properly at a later date, an awkward smile was the best he could muster. "Thanks for helping Nikolai." he uttered, readying himself to head out.

-

Bill's Mayflower was coming to completion, the main mast had been erected and stood proudly in the centre of his ship. On the Heion Riese, he was but the chief custodian, but for his Mayflower, he was both the chief engineer and the captain. He'd have preferred to be with the rest of his team scouring the ship for grime, but he appreciated the pursuit of his other interests. Design and building had always interested Bill, but the maths needed for it was slightly beyond his brain. It didn't bother him too much, without people like him, the clever folk wouldn't have anything to do!

Stretching his arms, Bill sat back in chair, casually listening to the announcement. He hadn't been present for the briefing, he was as much involved in combat as a chicken was in deciding which sandwich it ended up in - he was just along for the ride! The world's politics were incredibly complex, although that was due to the nature of the scale of it all. With so many peoples' differening opinions, it was inevitable that there would be some disagreement. He'd always been happy to go with what he was told, but there were some groups that took matters into their own hands using less than pleasant methods. Even on the ship, he could tell that certain folks didn't quite get along, hopefully they could put aside their differences to keep everyone safe.

[Ether]

Abigail, huh? That certainly didn't bode well, but the lack of any significant follow up was easing Kim's worries... there would be multiple mechanics in the hangar, if anything had happened, there would be a flood of panic in the air by now, and if Brant was there as well, then he should be able to preempt anything drastic about to take place. Thorvald also mentioned that Ex-Admiral Turner had witnessed the scuffle, and had spoken to the Captain directly afterwards, so it was likely all well and reported. Speaking of the man, it seemed that they were to move out soon, and were to be on standby, Thorvald tossing in a quick lament that it seemed any large meals would have to wait for another day and offering for both Juria and herself to enter first, the Engineer obliging with a note that she wanted... cupcakes? A bit of a sweet tooth, it would seem.

"Shame, look like no fire up grill today, hmm? Sure have plenty dad aprons want use and show off." Kim ribbed gently as she stepped into the kitchen proper, returning Christina's smile, though it fell from her face just as quickly as the other girl's had, Juria confronting Kim's co-pilot over... something. It seems they had been briefly acquainted, and Christina had, rather understandably, not felt it particularly prudent to announce that she was ex-Apotheosis. It was also becoming quickly apparent that Juria was unlikely to adjust well if prisoner integration continued to be a recurring method to bolster their troops from the Captain, especially if, as she was not directly one of their pilots, she was to remain in the dark about the identities of those new recruits via not being called to meetings of that sort.

Christina had answered Juria herself, rather promptly and without much of an emotional charge, so perhaps this would blow over, as Christina had less direct involvment in the Colony incident as Abigail had... but then again, she had no way to know just what Christina had told Juria, or what anyone else had told her, for that matter. Hopefully there would be no need to intervene.

[Juliette]

"B-but... Juria would find out at some time. It less sad to know bad thing from start, than learn when think situation different. Why nobody tell Juria things?" She sniffled again, holding Reo closer to her. "Nobody think of feelings for me... am kept secrets from for everyone! They not think am able to handle s-serious news. Juria am not that young, and not idiot, am helped making Riese ship already, but grownups not think okay to tell anything to Juria! Why not! It not fair that everyone else know more than me, and expect keep secret from so that am not knowing... that make Juria sad."

[Nanami Touko]

Secrets Best Kept

"I didn't do it for you!" Christina shot back, biting her lip. "Wh-What makes you think I lied for your sake? I lied for my sake! Who wants to g, go around introducing themselves like that? 'Hi, I'm Christina, ex-apotheosis soldier, pleased to meet you.' A-Are you crazy? Yeah, I didn't want to upset you. But I don't know you; this isn't about you. I don't know anyone, on th-this ship... Whatever. Now you know. Are you happy?" Christina sighed, biting her lip some more. What the hell? I hope she isn't acting like that with Abigail, too... Nobody thinks of your feelings? What about my own? Just because you aren't told something, doesn't mean it's because of you. This food was looking a lot more appetizing to just eat for herself. Elaine could get her own... Christina looked away from the group, taking the plate and sitting down, trying to find the will to eat it.

Taking Command

Jess stepped into the elevator for the bridge, swearing that she saw Roxanna right before the doors closed. She'd just come out of the elevator hallway, but still. "Done moping, huh... Not my problem, anymore. I'm... I've got a ship to run." She took a deep breath, stepping into the bridge, just as Tristan was about to answer Dwight. He cut himself off, pleased to see that the captain wasn't late.

"Captain," he saluted.

"Ensign Calvin, Dwight. Start up the ship's t-take off setup. We've got a base to get to. Navigation s-set a course for Great Lake base, Arkansas... They should really rename it." She shook her head a bit, taking a seat in her chair.

"Aye, captain. I take it the meeting was urgent, then?" Tristan figured that it was worth breaching.

"Yes... I'll explain details once we're within an hour's ETA of the base."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

Edited July 25, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[Juliette]

Juria sniffled as Christina snapped back at her. "That not what Juria say! Juria not crazy, but Juria not m-make ship for l-l-liars! Asked you for where from then, not say you introduce like that to everyone, but you make up fake answer to make trust from you. What good that do for anyone?! When finding out, it only bring more problem! Maybe you not liking wh-what happen before in Apto... Aposis, but make hide of that bring distrust only, not doing good! A-and other people are knowing already of that, so Juria would find out!" She punched weakly at where Christina had been before walking away, collapsing herself on the nearest table as Reo scampered off and sat at Christina's feet, mewling at her. "Mr. Thorvlad said in w-way that make seem not even secret, but Juria not been told before! Why not? J-Juria just want be real help, not be asked make thing then not hear why happening anything. Am thought Chrissy was friend." She started on one of the cupcakes, tears dripping down her cheeks.

[Dandragon]

This wasn't the first time Astin had suggested fencing to her. Their first day on the Riese, they had come to her while she was in the mess hall of the desert base, and offered it as a way to get out their frustration. In all honesty, Elaine was surprised that sword-fighting was still such a practiced thing in this day and age. Maybe it was her preference for firearms mostly speaking, but she felt like they were just impractical. Still, she had pent up aggression, and hitting something was certainly a form of catharsis she had used before, but never with a weapon in her hand.

"...Sure. Why not?" She said, shrugging. "Probably best to get all that out before we're deployed, next, anyways." Plus, it would give her more chances to observe Astin. Really, Elaine had little idea how to try and find any sort of mole or spy within the ranks, but she didn't have anyone she could confide her suspicions to, thanks to 'Louise' (if that was her real name) and her earlier call. "So, is there like...any place we can do this thing?"

[scorri]

"Ah, really?" Astin's whole face brightened as they reached out to grab Elaine's arm. "Yeah, we can go to the gym. I made sure they had it stocked with equipment when I first got my assignment here. They had a whole list of things we could ask for, you know, like the decorations in our rooms, that sort of thing. So I asked for them to get fencing equipment. I think they have the boxes set up and everything. I haven't actually checked though." As they were rambling, they were gently but insistently pulling Elaine after them out of her room and down the hall. "Ok, fencing! It's quite a bit different from most sports. For one thing it's just you and your opponent. And you have swords..."

They trailed off, considering what they had just said and shook their head with a giggle. "Well of course you have swords, that's the point. Basically, you try and hit your opponent before they hit you. It gets more complicated than that once you get into all the rules and everything, but that's the general idea." They finally stopped talking to take a breath, leaving a space for Elaine to say something if she so desired.

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

Colt was about to make his way towards the nearest bot that was being used when his train of thought was completely interrupted by the giant gun that Avery was bringing in. "Well that's something I haven't ever seen before. Nothing even approaching that sort of thing." He absentmindedly rubbed his chin as he took a few steps around the gun, taking a good look at it. "Impressive. If it works like you think it should, it's going to be dangerous."

Still, talking about weapons could wait. Time to get those bots inspected. "Gonna go do final inspections. Figured I'd leave the fancy new one up to you, boss. Didn't want to step on any toes, plus I'm not sure I'd be able to figure out everything that's going on in it, especially with that new addition." He headed off chuckling. That was a deadly threat to any of their enemies to be sure. So long as Avery hadn't messed anything up, the gun was something he was glad to have on their side, that was for sure. Reaching the closest bot, Thorvald's Legionary, he slapped a hand against the leg. "Alrighty then, lets see how you're holding up."

[Phoenix]

Megumi glanced up from the heap she'd slipped down into when the infirmary's main door slid open. It was Makoto, Colony One's unofficial Phalanx pilot. He was probably there to check in on his mother, but he noticed the clean up operation with Nikolai right away, and asked what had happened. The doctor wasn't all that inclined to explain, especially if it wouldn't help the situation. Speaking of things that wouldn't help the situation, as much as Megumi was learning about Elaine, Astin, and Roxanna, she doubted she could incorporate said information, and in doing so, resolve future conflicts faster, with less lasting damage. Maybe once she gave it some more thought, but at the moment, it just felt like a bad mix, and some even worse circumstances being taken to their natural conclusions.

"A disagreement got violent, that's all," Megumi answered, figuring an answer, even a vague one, would make it easier for Makoto to focus on his mother.

---

Brant managed to get one of his questions answered. The rest could wait until they were a little closer to their destination, anyhow. Dwight's announcement swiftly followed, and for once, Brant felt unusually involved. It wasn't the best feeling to know that part of the increased alert status was due to people he personally knew being in danger. Jessica, realizing she had work to attend to, tried to prepare Brant for the worst, but couldn't quite accept that eventuality, herself. She quickly took the more positive route of simply guaranteeing things would work out. Brant was neither optimistic, nor pessimistic. So many things had been flipped upside down at the last second, and he was used to that. He even expected it at times. Perhaps that was why he managed not to flinch when Jessica moved in closer and kissed him on the cheek. Instead, he smiled.

"Good luck to you too, Captain," Brant saluted her.

Brant waited until Jessica had left the meeting room before getting back to thinking. As dangerous as this situation was, he was too far away to do anything about it. What to do instead, then? It was too early to get dressed for combat, and too early still for any sort of briefing. Brant doubted his fellow pilots needed to know anything in particular about this situation that wouldn't be covered in details during any mission briefings coming down the pike. He might be hungry in a little while, but that wasn't worth worrying about. After a moment of deliberation, Brant decided he might as well see how things were going with Hannah and Abigail, and headed back for the elevators. Hopefully things weren't too chaotic down in the hangar and Abigail wasn't giving Hannah too hard a time. Or vice versa ...?

---

Rosa sat in silence for a moment. She did have a dozen more calls to make, but right now, the reality of the situation was sinking in. Apotheosis had come after them ... them specifically. They'd passed up the chance for much better targets in Asia, at least for the moment, to come after them. That had to mean something. There was a call notification on Rosa's small console. To her surprise, it wasn't one of the usual contacts. In fact, it was one of the least likely she could imagine. "Well, hello there, Rex," she greeted the eldest of the Abrams brothers, trying to disguise her unease with a wry smile.

"So," Rex scowled back at her, "what are you up to that's got the main facility in Apotheosis' sights?"

"News certainly travels quickly," Rosa noted bitterly.

"Even quicker with observation satellites," Rex said, inclining his head toward something just off screen, "It's looking pretty bad down there. You must have had a leak for them to be coming at you that hard."

"Of course there was a leak," Rosa sighed, thinking to the videos and overviews tens of millions likely had their hands on at this point. If Rex was trying to be coy with her, he was doing a bad job of it. More interesting was his mention of observation satellites; why did Rex, a pilot, have free access to EU observation satellites? Perhaps he was calling in a favor with his superiors. He might not have had to, come to think of it; it was only natural to want to witness one enemy in action while they were pummeling another enemy or some third, neutral party. Rex could also be passing along useful information about the Alkaev company's main facility, just to clear up the picture of the battlefield for them. No mystery to it at all then, really. "Yes, it's very unfortunate. We're going to lose any equipment we can't get onto the transports. Now then, why are you calling me, Rex? Surely the EU has its own troubles."

"Are you dense?" Rex glared daggers at Rosa, "I'm here to help them out. Why else would I be speaking to you?"

Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm interested in any help we can get, Rex, but what can you do for us, exactly?"

"Well, I've got free reign for a while, here," Rex shrugged, smirking at her, "we can guide all your transports to their destinations, getting around any Apotheosis units we spot along your route."

So then, Rex was essentially offering one of the very services Rosa had been hoping to obtain from the ANF post-evacuation. He was taking it a step further by offering to guide all of the transports, rather than just the one headed for America. Rosa's instincts were warning her against blindly trusting Rex, but she couldn't see a clear motive to sabotage the evacuation at first blush. She knew the EU pilot hated her with a passion, but she wasn't at the main facility. There was nothing he could do to harm her at the moment. Dima, her father, and someone else Rex despised, wasn't at the main facility, either. The only Alkaevs in harm's way right now were Stan, Rosa's husband, and Firmia, her youngest daughter. Stan's death would upset Dima, but would only prompt a frustrated sigh from Rosa. The man would truly be worthless if not for his skills in engineering. Firmia was another matter, unfortunately. Dima valued her as a potential heir and as a telekinetic, while Rosa valued her in a more natural, maternal sense; she was Rosa's youngest, amusing, and most troublesome daughter. The question was, would Rex see getting Firmia killed as a means of hurting Rosa herself? Knowing her own history with the man ... absolutely.

"This is suspiciously charitable of you, Rex," Rosa admitted, deciding to voice her concerns, but leave the specifics to Abrams' imagination.

"You think I'm going to guide them all into an ambush," Rex concluded, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner, "Give me a break. You honestly think I could get away with something like that?"

Rosa didn't know what Rex could get away with in the EU at this point, but she didn't want to find out, at least not the hard way ...

"I'll help!" That wasn't Rex's voice, just now, Rosa noted. It was a woman's. Before she could inquire about who was butting into the conversation, Rex was all but crushed by a woman in a green jacket. The jacket wasn't all that was green. So was her hair, and Rosa could have sworn she saw a giant green smiley face disappear between the woman's breasts and Rex's hair. "Hi there, Mrs. Alkaev, I'm May, Rex's conscience. I'll keep him from doing anything neFARious with the network, okay? Just let us know where the planes are headed and we'll send them a heads up if there's trouble in the area."

"You heard her," Rex bit out, shoving May back out of view after freeing himself, "Listen, Rosa. I'll admit it, it's very tempting to screw you over right now. It's not worth my position, though. More importantly, I'm not interested in hurting your people. Some of them were my friends. Hell, some of them are actually good people, despite working for you."

He couldn't resist the insults, could he? Oh well. Rosa supposed she still had plenty of options to protect the transport planes, even if Rex was lying about his intentions. She was only truly worried about the Regalia's transport, and Firmia. The former had to cover a huge distance to reach its destination, never mind making its way to the secondary facility in the south, post delivery. Taking a page out of Brant's book, she said, "Call me back in five minutes. I'll have an answer for you by then." Hopefully she would have a genuine answer by then, but right now, she wasn't sure. Rosa needed a chance to calm down, to think. She had to come at this from every angle before either accepting Rex's help or refusing it. Those other calls would have to wait a while, after all.

"Five minutes," Rex nodded. The feed cut instantly after that. Rosa could just imagine him counting down the seconds ...

Edited July 26, 2017 by Phoenix

[Ether]

Well, that wasn't going so well, was it? Clearly this wasn't just blowing over like she would have hoped, but what really was the best way to go about tackling this? Kim wasn't exactly sure, but well, here went nothing.

"Understand why upset, Juria, but maybe take step back. Christina not work Apotheosis willingly, was taken and forced. One of us now, past not important, just want be able to move forward without always drag back. Didn't mean make you upset, and not relate to Captain meeting today. Understand both happen similar time, make emotional, but not related. No one out get you, just talk Captain let you in meeting now on. Probably forget you co-pilot Astin with so much worry about, since usually Engineer." Kim noted, walking towards the both of them, giving Juria a light tap on the shoulder and a quick squeeze before walking next to Christina.

"Feel any better yesterday, Chrissy? Know not easy, all this."

[Juliette]

"Oh... why Chrissy not say that?" Juria asked after finishing her first cupcake. "Now Juria am feel rude... it just frustrating. New Aposis threats and zoom all across Earth hard for Juria adjusting, am in scary situation and not feel like have people understand. All happen so fast, when people am shout at for not know thing or what do, that am made sad for Juria when just want be help for everyone." She took a minute to eat her other cupcake, then slowly moved across the room, her pouting frown turning to a smile when she saw Reo sitting at Christina's feet. She sniffled a bit, then offered a hand to the blonde girl, sniffling again. "J-Juria am sorry... am just confused about meeting, talks, everything, but end up being mean. Am know of science, not have training for be brave in hard time. But that not fair to other people in hard time, too. So... am s-sorry. Am that okay?"

[Xinnidy]

Sound of Trouble

"Gone violent?" Oh dear, what's going on? Everybody seemed so jumpy in the hallway too... With Makoto's expression halfway through a frown, he took a few steps closer to the two boys, glancing past the bloody nose and fixating his sight on Tarquin. "You might be going out there in a mech again, huh? Good luck! I don't know how you do it, but we're trusting you!" He cheered for the boy, whatever encouragement it served as. "Oh, and you too... I don't think I've got your name." The other boy seemed like he was about his age... now that made Makoto a bit jealous, how cool it'd be to just pilot a military-grade mech like that! Well, it came with a lot of responsibilities, and military school sure never sounded easy... but still.

Entrance

While her elevator took a bit to show up, the journey to the bridge was simple and free of conflict for Roxanna. A calm before the storm indeed, as she showed up rightfully last, staring at the others as the door whirred open to reveal the bridge. "...Captain." She acknowledged the girl, too tired to argue, and positively drained from her weird reflection. "I've caught the announcement. Great Lake Base, correct?"

[Balcerzak]

Juria had wasted no time dashing into the cafeteria as Thorvald held the door open, something that ordinarily would have been a source of amusement. However, Christina's unexpected presence put a wrinkle in things. And just as expected, the engineer's slight recovery, due to his and Astin's earlier efforts, resumed a tailspin into negativity. Because of that, he couldn't even give a proper belly laugh to Kim's laser-guided jibes: How had she known about his aprons? Still, he managed a chuckle of sorts and a promise for the future, "You better believe it. Some of the best damn barbecue you'll ever have... when we get the down time for it."

Following the lieutenant in, he moved over to his high priority, the coffee machine, while Christina and Juria continued to hash things out. Compared to the confrontation with Abigail earlier, she was much more defeated, and there didn't seem any immediate chance for harm, meaning direct and immediate intervention wasn't quite necessary. If that changed, however, Thorvald was prepared to quickly step in, and he had faith that Seung-Min would do the same. But sure enough, a couple quips back and forth and most of the uncomfortable atmosphere had cleared. He started a bit when he heard his name, butchered slightly, nearly spilling hot liquid onto his hand, but it was an innocent enough reference and not one he felt he really needed to defend. Christina's origin really hadn't been secret. Anyone who'd been in the hangar when she'd been pulled out of that Prioxis wreck knew full well, as would have anyone who'd gone been around for the interrogation, and well, after that it had been just something to be assumed as a matter of course. While Thorvald did feel slightly guilty that Juria had never gotten in on things, he wasn't sure whose responsibility it would have been to fill her in. Probably Jess's, in anyone's?

When Kim stepped into the mix to offer a better defense of Christina than the accused was giving for herself, the conversation became increasingly hard to follow. Not because the subject matter suddenly became more difficult, but because the Broken English Olympics were now in full swing, and Korea and Japan were in close competition for the gold. There was still time for Australia to sweep in and take Bronze, he thought to himself, looking around for that janitor who always seemed to pop up when least expected. Though, maybe there needed to be a mess nearby? Not about to test that theory by spilling grounds all over the floor, however, Thorvald simply finished filling up his cup.

"Who else wants a cup of joe while I'm pouring?"

 

~~~

 

"Y-Yeah, that's the plan," Abigail managed in response to Colt's statement summing up the quid-pro-quo relationship between mechanics and pilots. Thankfully he didn't seem too interested in any more in-depth prying, and the announcement heralded an uptick in activity he'd need to be a part of. She was less charitable toward Buck's scoldings, urging her to hurry and check out the robot. "I know, I'm moving, don't get your knickers all in a twist," Abby fired back as she turned toward the lift, moving to make her ascent. The arrival of Mama Avery slowed that a bit, and Abigail was sadly forced to revise her earlier opinion. The actual head mechanic would have had to have started very young, or there would have had to have been some serious medical speed up or slow down for either Buck or herself to have the relation she'd arbitrarily assumed. Well, so much for that.

Quickly caught up in another introductory handshake, Abigial was thanking her lucky stars, Arcturus and Vega, that Hannah hadn't been able to spill the beans just yet. She didn't need another dustup right now, and wasn't in the mood anymore--hence her lie of omission to Colt just earlier. "I can introduce myself, you oversized rust bucket," she grumbled before adding on as she pumped Avery's hand, "The last name's Casson, by the way. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future. If you don't mind though, I need to finish checking this out out..." She gestured behind her with her thumb to the Legionary. "Well, start checking it out is a little more accurate."

Edited July 26, 2017 by Balcerzak

[Nanami Touko]

Just...

Christina shook her head gently at all the rambling from whoever the galaxy head girl was. "Just, shut up..." she mumbled, finally managing to dig into the meal. It was pretty well cooked. She mentally patted herself on the back for cooking a mean burger! That kinda helped to make things feel better. Kim was playing mediator too, which was good. She really didn't want to deal with any of this, right now. At all, if necessary. It was already enough of a stain on her conscience, and with her apprehensions of fighting at all mixing with her obligated feelings to force herself to help... It was enough of a mental roller coaster to make someone barf.

"Yeah... A bit. I'll... I'll be okay. Just, uh... Don't, make me wear the suit, until we have to get inside the robot. Okay?" She hoped that wasn't too much to ask. Having people look at her in something like that was... It was too much, on top of everything else. She shivered.

And of course, space case was coming over to apologize. Christina didn't really feel like taking her hand, but it wouldn't do to keep things hostile. "It's fine," she mumbled, looking over at her and trying not to glare. "Try not to worry about it."

And a cup of coffee from Thorvald? "Sure," she called over, glancing back at him.

Great

"XO," Jess replied, cold, and almost callously. Her opinion of Roxanna had fallen from bad to worse during the meeting, and it wasn't a feeling she could easily discard. Maybe when they did finally reach Central, she could have her replaced. Until then, the Tristan option is looking pretty good... She sighed, shaking her head. "Yes. That's where we're headed. I'll explain the details once we're closer."

Final Rounds

"Y'all have fun!" Avery said to Colt and Abigail, tipping her hat at the mention of a last name. "Gonna make sure Kim's bot's all runnin' fine an' ready fer combat. Ain't gonna do me no good t'have the gun ready but the bot walkin' funny." She hopped in place, before taking off towards Kim's bot, whistling as she went.

Buck sighed, waving Colt off to do some work, snickering at the rust bucket snip. "Ten bucks bets she--"

"I apologize for my confusion, Abgail, but I do not believe myself to be at all rusty. My parts have been properly cleaned and taken care of. I do not understand the meaning of your phrase."

Buck had to contain his chuckles, sighing. "Couldn't even make a bet. Abby, I'm gonna leave you with the droid. She can take you over to the Velite and the Phalanx once you're set. I'll keep 'em open for you. Get acquainted, but don't take too long! Gonna see if I can't check on Astin's robot, that thing's still a prototype..." Buck went off too, leaving Hannah staring at Abigail with a smile.

"I hope to be of service."